WRITING Parallel structure: writing words in a series

A WRITING SKILL
Suggested 5–10 Your actual
teaching time: minutes teaching time:
●
Write I like dancing, painting, and to sing. Ask Is
this sentence correct? (no) Ask Do you know why? If
students cannot answer, ask a volunteer to read the
first explanation in the rules and the correct example
sentence. Correct to sing in the sentence on the board.
●
Write parallel structure on the board. Ask What does
parallel mean? (similar; going in the same direction)
Reread the second sentence of the first explanation All
words, phrases, or clauses should be in the same form. Call
on volunteers to read the three other example sentences.
●
Have a volunteer read the second explanation and
example sentence. To quiz understanding, ask a volunteer
What are three things you like to do in your free time?
Write the sentence on the board. Elicit corrections. If the
students repeated to before each infinitive, elicit another
way to list infinitives. (just mentioning the first to)
●
Give students a few minutes to read the remaining two
explanations and example sentences.
Ask students to work in pairs to practice forming parallel
lists of three following the models in the chart. On the
board, write:
gerunds
infinitives
●
Have students compare answers with a partner. Circulate
and assist as needed.
●
Tell students to choose two or more statements which
they will fill in with information about themselves. Return
to the example on the board and rewrite the sentence
with new information. For example, I like hiking,
swimming, and dancing. Tell students that they will
use information about themselves to write a paragraph
describing their interests and personality.
Option: [+5 minutes] Time-permitting, students should
complete any of the items they didn’t replace above with
information about themselves. They will be able to use this
information in the writing skill in Exercise D.
Challenge: [+5 minutes] To practice parallel structure,
students can think of a person they know and fill in the
blanks with information about that person. For example,
write on the board:
My sister Diana
1. She likes to swim, paint, and write poetry.
2. She’s been a student, a swimmer, and a lawyer.
Have students complete the statements and then share
with a partner.
D APPLY THE WRITING SKILL
Suggested 5–10 Your actual
teaching time: minutes teaching time:

passives ●
To warm up, have students look at the paragraph in
adjectives Exercise B. Say Find an example of the present perfect.
(I have always been) Find an example of a cleft sentence
nouns with What. (What I think is) Find an example of a participial
Circulate and assist as needed. adjective. (this is very surprising) Is it a present or past
participial adjective? (present)
B ERROR CORRECTION ●
On the board, write:
Suggested
teaching time:
5
minutes
Your actual
teaching time:
Lately I’ve been . . .
What I like is . . .
●
Give students a few minutes to correct the errors individually.
Then have them compare answers with a partner. What I am like is . . .
●
Circulate and assist as needed. Focus students’ attention I think X is . . . -ing
on the rules in the chart in Exercise A. I’m . . . -ed by . . .
Tell students to use the structures on the board to write
C PRACTICE about themselves. Refer them to the vocabulary describing
Suggested 5 Your actual personality on page 4, Unit 1 and participial adjectives on
teaching time: minutes teaching time: page 23, Exercise F.
●
Write the first item on the board. Elicit different ways to
●
Refer students to the Writing Process Worksheet to help
write this sentence. Write these on the board: walk them through the writing process and peer review.
1. I like reading, listening to music, and going to the ●
Encourage students to use the Self-Check in the Student
movies. Book to go over the paragraphs they wrote.
1. I like to read, listen to music, and go to the movies. ●
Then ask Did you include an example of the present perfect
OR continuous? a cleft sentence with What? a participial
adjective?
I like to read, to listen to music, and to go to the
movies. Writing Process
●
Give students time to do the exercise individually. Remind
students that there may be more than one possible
answer. Refer students to the rules in Exercise A.

UNIT 2 WRITING T24