ACTIVITIES FOR WRITING CLASS

A key feature of young learners is that they are often still developing their literacy abilities
in their first language, which means that they cannot draw on as much prior knowledge about
text structure or rhetoric as older learners can. Young learners often have a shorter attention span
and less awareness of their own future goals and needs than older learners. They are also still
dependent on their family for guidance when they are outside of school, which means they are
less likely to be able to seek out language models and practice opportunities on their own.
Nevertheless, young learners are ready and eager to learn how to write in a new language.
Unfortunately, in many settings, a child is given a writing task in the form of a statement or
instructions and a template on which to write, but no context has been set and no world has been
formulated for the child to enter. This means writing has become a laborious task and something
to get done as soon as possible. This will probably end in frustration, boredom and unfinished or
poorly finished tasks. But there is a solution, and it involves a few processes and strategies.
Set a Clear Context
Children need to write for a purpose (Cameron, 2001) and this is where a context needs to
be set. One way to do this effectively, and to the benefit of your colleagues, is to connect
literature to content area studies (Helman, 2016). In simpler terms, it is useful to introduce a
range of books, stories and texts of various genres and topics to spark creativity. This can be
related to what goes on in other classrooms, subjects or learning areas. Making the writing task a
feature of an overall theme, or topic is a very effective and simple way to create a context.

4 PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING WRITING TO YOUNG LEARNERS

When teaching writing to young learners, there are four principles that require our
attention:
1. Draw on kids’ sense of play and imagination: We expect children to be serious, but they
like to play. If we design activities that allow them to learn language at the same time as
having fun, they will both feel more positive about the language and learn to use it for
communicative purposes.
2. Start writing from the beginning: Don’t wait until learners have mastered the language
before letting them write. Even low proficiency learners can do creative things with a limited
vocabulary and incomplete knowledge of grammar systems.
3. A little goes a long way: We don’t have to teach many different things in one lesson.
Instead, children learn through repeating. They even like to repeat the same activities and
games because it is familiar and because they can gain skill—each time, they can do better.
4. Focus on progress, not perfection: Children should not be expected to create perfect texts.
Instead, we should value their ability to make progress and get better at what they are able to
do. Provide feedback for development, and don’t grade based on error.

WRITING PROCESS
A simple framework with steps to add information is very helpful and makes it easy for
learners to visualize their writing journey and add a much wider range of information into their
work. Showing the learners this process and marking their journey through it makes it a very
visual experience which boosts their motivation to keep going as progress is tracked. The writing
process is usually divided into six stages below:
1. Pre-writing
The first stage is pre-writing which is all the activity that happens before learners construct
their written piece. A context should have already been set. This is where the learners will
brainstorm, use graphic organizers, have discussion groups, sequence events, talk about them and
add notes. The aim here is to build the skeleton of what they will write and build up a bank of
information to add to their writing later on. It is helpful to teach students how to use a wide range
of graphic organizers so they use ones specific to the purpose and ones they prefer. Modeling
discussion groups and different strategies also empowers students to be more independent in this
stage.
2. Drafting
Now is the time for learners to use their pre-writing tasks to construct complete sentences
and paragraphs. It is helpful at this stage to have some form of template for students such as a
graphic organizer, or clearly mapped out space so the learners are clear on how much to write.
Teachers can provide input on using better adjectives, fronted adverbials, varied vocabulary, and
examples of sentences or chunks of language that contributes to your overall aim. It is important
that at this stage, learners are putting thoughts to paper and the focus is not on spelling,
punctuation and grammar.
3. Revising
The hard work lies in this stage. This is where the students will be pulling apart their work,
fixing it and putting it back together. In this stage, learners need to make sure they stay on topic,
add details, delete unnecessary words and details, use descriptive words, re-write sentences to
make them easier to read and make sure the writing is appropriate for the audience.
4. Editing
All good writers will meticulously check their work, but one character I have found to be
even more meticulous is a peer in the classroom. This is a stage, I find, best done in three
approaches: self, peer, teacher assessed. Creating a checklist of details needed in the story will
help. Get the learners to check their work, edit their sentences and make sure all the errors have
been dealt with. If this is tricky, give them a task to correct commonly found errors, check
answers together and try again. Then move on to peer assessment. This will be more effective if
the learners are taught to do this and given specific things to look for. Three stars and a wish is a
great tool for learners. You could also encourage learners to borrow ideas that they think will
make their writing better. Finally, it goes without saying that teacher involvement in this step is
crucial. This can be done in small groups, or individually, or after class and handed back the next
day with teacher feedback.
5. Evaluating
Learners can be reflective on their own work and others’. This provides a very valuable
experience for the learners to be self-reflective and to have time to really come to terms with
what the aims of the task actually look like. The teacher should also have a set of criteria to
evaluate the work against, which should be shared with the students, and needs to align closely to
the aims, and preferably be shown to the learners at the beginning of the process.
6. Publishing
When done well, this stage will propel your students into high-flying writers. Children love
stickers, stamps, and praise in all forms, but honoring their work is one of the more powerful
tools a teacher can use to make a learner intrinsically want to perform to their highest standard.
Work needs to be presented beautifully, and placed in a prominent area, at student height so that
it can be read by both adults and students, and also shared with the learning community. Writing
can also be read in the classroom or a more public setting, parents can be invited to see the
writing or to a recital of it. After all this, adding the work to a portfolio is a wonderful thing for
both children and parents.

WRITING ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

WRITING LETTERS AND WORDS
When they are just starting to learn a new language, low-proficiency young learners need
practice forming letters and writing individual words. These activities give them that practice in
ways that are more fun than just tracing letters with a pencil.
Tactile and tasty: The same letter-formation activities that beginning first-language
writers do can help second-language writers practice as well. These include finger painting
with pudding, creating letter shapes with licorice strips, or placing chocolate chips on
pattern—all of which not only allow for writing practice, but also provide a sweet treat
when the learners have completed their tasks.
Kinesthetic letter formation and spelling: If you don’t want to bring food into the
classroom, you can also have students form letters using ribbon or clay. They can play a
game by writing words with their fingers or a chopstick on classmates’ backs; the
classmate has to guess what word was written.
Games and art: When students are able to write single words, they can play hangman,
which requires attention to the alphabet and spelling. Those who like to draw may enjoy
various forms of word art, forming images with the letters that spell a given word (see
examples of word art animals, or typography art objects). They can also start writing
acrostic poems in which you write a word vertically and then choose a related word that
starts with each of the letters.

USING IMAGES
Incorporating multimodal elements allows lower proficiency writers to create meaningful
texts that go beyond what they are able to say in words. With technology resources, learners can
tell complex stories or illustrate their thoughts in more detail.
Picture stories using PowerPoint: Students select a series of pictures that convey their
story, and then draft simple sentences for each slide to add information. This can also be
 done in a digital storyboard app or an ebook creator if you have access. The point is that
students are able to draw on their full imagination to tell their stories rather than just on
their limited second language vocabulary and grammar resources.
Make your own manga: Make Beliefs Comix and other comic-creation sites provide
structure and images, which students can use to put together as they wish; they then add
dialog to complete their stories. Even low-proficiency learners can make simple dialogues
using language they have learned in class; kids are often able to combine everyday
dialogues in humorous ways when they can put them together with pictures.
Postcard to a penpal: Using richly detailed pictures out of magazines or travel websites,
students write a postcard to an imaginary English-speaking friend about their visit to that
place. If each child has their own copy of a picture, they can start by drawing themselves
into the scene and then writing about what they are doing in that place.

GRAMMAR GAMES
Even learning the grammar necessary for writing can be turned into games. Because
learning structures requires practice and repetition, making the process fun instead of tedious has
the additional bonus of being something students will actually look forward to.
Silly sentences: If you’ve ever studied a language on Duolingo, you may be familiar with
such logic-defying sentences as “The elephant is in the sugar on the plate.” Kids can make
these kinds of sentences on their own. Make flashcards with vocabulary words (be sure to
have both nouns and verbs, as well as adjectives and adverbs if relevant). Students can
manipulate the cards to come up with the silliest sentences possible, as long as they
maintain grammatical order. You can either provide additional cards with articles,
prepositions, and other function words, or you can have students fill those in when they
copy their sentences onto the board to share with the class.
Erase and replace: Write a paragraph on the board or project a text for the class to see.
Students take turns replacing one word with another that fits grammatically. They can
choose to maintain the logic or to change it to be humorous.
Sources:
 http://blog.tesol.org/activities-for-teaching-writing-for-young-learners/
 https://hongkongtesol.com/blog/2019/10/writing-young-learners
EXERCISE
Option 1:
Of all activities to teach writing (using letters and words, using images, using grammar games),
which one do you think is the best? Explain your answer in 250-500 words!

Option 2:
1. What are the four principles of teaching writing for young learners? Explain with your own
words!
2. What are the six stages of writing? Explain with your own words!
3. Give an example of activities of teaching writing using letters and words!
4. Give an example of activities of teaching writing using images!
5. Give an example of activities of teaching writing using grammar games!

LINK VIDEO: https://youtu.be/OrLnL4GkvrA

REFERENCES:
1. Helman, L (ed.) 2016, Literacy Development with English Learners, The Guildford Press,
London.
2. Cameron, L 2001, Teaching Languages to Young Learners, Cambridge University Press,
U.K.
3. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/writing-young-learners
4. https://www.eslkidstuff.com/esl-kids-games/writing-games.htm