TEACHING WRITING MICRO CLASS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The learners will have the opportunity to learn and practice the English

language using the basic skills; reading, writing, listening and speaking..

COMPETENCES:

Learning a foreign language, Self. Autonomy, Digital, Outlining,

Editing, Communicative, learning to learn, Demonstrates confidence

using English, Personal initiative.

METODOLOGY AND TECHNIQUES:

Audio Lingual Method, Visual Learning, Summarizing, spelling and punctuation usage,

Improve reading comprehension, build sentence and paragraph structure, Explain the

different types of writing, Product approach.

 TOPIC # 1

WRITING A PARAGRAPH

This lesson will lead you through the process of organizing, drafting, revising, and editing a

paragraph. It is intended as an overview of the writing process for a paragraph and not as detailed

instruction on the parts of the paragraph. In this lesson we use one example, Beth´s paragraph

“Ready for the Junk Heap”” to illustrate the steps of the writing process. Because the best way to

learn the writing process is to practice it, we suggest that for each step of the process, you respond

to the prompt in Writing Practice to develop a topic you have chosen or been assigned.

The steps in the writing process described in writing a Paragraph are:

• Stating the Main Idea

• Organizing Supporting Ideas

Mapping

Outlining

• Drafting

• Revising

Peer Feedback

Instructor Feedback

Self-Evaluation

• Editing
Stating the Main Idea

The main idea of a paragraph is expressed in a topic sentence.

Before you began generating supporting ideas, you formulated a tentative main idea, the point you
thought your paragraph would be about.
Organizing Supporting Ideas
Before you start is an important step in creating a successful paragraph. Using a map or outline can
help you plan your supports so that you don´t leave out important supports or wander away from
your main idea.

Dividing generates ideas by breaking the topic into its component parts. Use the journalistic
questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how in order to divide a topic.

Outline
An outline is a formal structure that helps you organize support topics and subtopics
Use as many main headings, support headings, and details as you need to develop your
topic. However, each heading that is broken down should have at least two subheadings.

PARAGRAPH OUTLINE

Topic sentence:

I. Support #1
A. Specifics
B. Relation

II. Support #2
A. Specifics
B. Relation

III. Support #3
A. Specifics
B. Relation
 EXAMPLE
Reliability

A. Breakdowns, noises
B. Safety Cost

A. Tires, brake, gas

B. Hard on budget appearance

A. Dented door, rusted fender

B. Kids embarrasse
Drafting

Once you have organized your ideas, you´re ready to write a first draft.
In a first draft, you focus on presenting your ideas as clearly as possible, without worrying
about mechanical errors such as spelling.

Revising

Revising is the process of examining the content and organization of your writing to see how
they could be improved.
You may decide you need more supporting details, or you may decide to delete details that don´t relate
to your topic sentence

PARAGRAPH REVISION CHECKLIST

1. Form

Title: Are the major words (including the first and last words)

capitalized? Does the title reveal the topic of the paragraph?

Does it catch the reader´s attention?

Is the first sentence indented?

Does the paragraph have the required number of sentences?

Does the paragraph have the required organizational pattern?

2. Topic Sentence

Does the topic sentence fit the assignment?

Is it appropriate for the intended audience and purpose?

3. Support

Is there enough support (three to five supports, depending on the

assignment) to explain or prove your topic sentence?
Are there clear transitions within and sentences?
 Is the language clear and precise? (Are there strong verbs, specific
nouns, and colorful adjectives and adverbs?)

4. Conclusion

Does the conclusion tie together the paragraph?

Does it introduce any new ideas or arguments that might confuse the reader?

Editing Checklist

As you learn about the following skills, add them to your editing checklist.
1. Check every verb. Do subjects and verbs agree? Is proper verb tense used?
Be sure to check the problem phrases such as there is/there are and pay
attention to singular subjects such as everyone.
2. Use the dictionary or computer spell check to catch capitalization
errors and misspellings.
3. Remember your personal list of errors.
4. Check commas.
5. Check pronouns. Do they agree with their antecedents? Is the reference clear?
6. Look for any missing words or letters by reading the writing slowly
from the last sentence to the first.

7. Check for dangling and misplaced modifiers.

8. Check semicolon and colon use.
 ACTIVITY # 2

WRITING A PARAGRAPH

A paragraph consists out of different parts:  Topic Sentence

➔ Supporting detail
➔ Closing sentence.
Topic sentence:
The first sentence in the paragraph and it introduces the main idea.

• Supporting sentences:
These sentences come directly after the topic sentence, and form the body of the
paragraph. They give details to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

Closing sentence: The last sentence in the paragraph and it restates the main idea of your
paragraph.

Topic and closing sentences: Need be interesting and catchy… this will determine the
success of your paragraph.

LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE OF A PARAGRAPH ON WHY

CANADA IS SUCH A POPULAR PLACE TO LIVE:

There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada
has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a
reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by
well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally,
Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots
of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

Activity:

Write a paragraph of 7-8 sentences (70-80 words) on why Israel is such an interesting
country.

Make sure that you do decent planning (make use of a mind map) and that you follow the
writing process to the letter (first draft, editing and publishing). The planning will make up
an important part of the final mark.
EVALUATION CRITERIA OF WRITING PARAGRAPH