“Words DO Come Easy” – Enhancing your writing lessons

Gladys Baya (gladysbaya@yahoo.com.ar ;http://www.pageflakes.com/gladysbaya)

Abstract

: Do you find it hard to motivateyour students to write? Do they tend to facewriting tasks as mere language practiceinstead of true opportunities forcommunication? Are you frequentlyoverwhelmed when it's time to correct theirproducts? Do you ever wonder how you canhelp them profit from their mistakes? If youranswer to any of these questions is "YES",then you must know things needn't be thattough. In this session, we will look at thefeatures to take into account whenselecting writing tasks for your learners, andsuggest ways in which you can easily enhance published tasks, especially to meet theneeds of large or heterogeneous classes. Help the writers inside yourstudents blossom!

Understanding writing: myth or fact?

What do you think? Write M (myth) or F (fact):

1.The writer is alone, in a world of their own.

Adults are better writers than children.

Good writers approach writing in similar ways.4.Feedback contributes to enhancing writing.5.Weak writers draft and redraft. Good writers just put thoughts down on paper.

Read the anecdote below and discuss in triads: does this text support your answersabove?

Writer to Writer

The other day I called an elementary school principal to ask if he would introduce me to one of his students. I was working on a book of student writing samples, and I needed to talk to oneof his fourth-graders...We met in a quiet corner of the office lobby. She was a delightful young lady, bubbling overwith insights and strategies on writing. She told me of the stories she had written: the sciencelesson on lions she had written as a radio talk show, in which the whole pride was interviewed;the fantasy about the “Land of the Garbage People,” where the entire economy was fueled bygarbage. She told me that she makes her most important decisions about revising just beforeshe falls asleep at night. She told me what a special thing it is to have a father who can makegood suggestions on your writing but does so only when asked. She asked me about the bookI was doing. How many other fourth-graders would be in it? How much was I writing, and howmuch was I collecting? Who would be reading it? Had I ever written a book before? Had I everwritten anything before? What? We had a delightful chat, writer to writer, and then went onwith our day.…We hear talk these days of a community of writers. I don’t have to be convinced that it exists.Why else would a shy child open up to a total stranger? We shared a community of interest,and she was secure in her role there. Because I too am a writer, I have a new neighbor. Andthat’s reason enough for me to keep writing.

Adapted from “Writer to writer”, by A. Frederic Cheney, as quoted in The Whole Language Catalog p. 49

Evaluating writing tasks: 6 key questions

Unscramble the letters

•

Who ITEWSR?

•

TAWH do they write? (genre)

•

HWY do they write? (aim)

•

Who would usually DEAR this text? (audience)

•

HEERW is it going to appear?

•

How would readers usually CREAT to a text like this one?

Before assigning a writing task, ask yourself:

To what extent does it help my students appreciate writing as a communication task? How does it support student-writers through the writing process?

In groups of 4: evaluate the following writing task in the light of the questions stated above:

Selected from

Adventures Elementary

, by Wetz (2002) (p.59)

Now, in pairs: work with ONE of the tasks on the following page. How may youenhance it?

Selected from

Top Score 1 - WORKBOOK

, by Kelly (2007) (p.45)Selected from

English Zone 2

, by Nolasco, Arthur and Newbold (2007) (p.48)

Evaluating writing products: survival skills!

Finish the stem sentences

Mistakes ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………Correction should ……………………………………………………………………………………………… The teacher’s role at this stage is ………………………………………………………………………….My main challenge when providing feedback on written products is ………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………