how to teach writing

Why write? • To communicate over distances• To communicate across time• To participate in society• To remember and record• To “make thought visible” and express

your inner self

Notes emails letters essays stories

Signs advertisements subtitles articles

Diaries/journals magazines plays recipes

Labels/brands brochures maps textbooks

How we write

These are the steps in

the writing process

.

What are the steps?

PrewritingDrafting

Editing / Revising

Presenting

#1 Prewriting Planning and Thinking

Getting yourthoughts down on paper.

Free-write, outline, notesDiscuss, think

EXAMPLES

• Brainstorming / Vocabulary

• Surveying / forms• Researching / Discussion

Authors must think about….

• The purpose of their writing• The audience they are writing for• The content (structure / sequence) ( genre / register)

#2 Writing First Draft

Putting your ideas and thoughts

togetherForming sentences

and paragraphs

#3 – Editing

Revising and Reflecting

Rewriting or rearranging sentences.

Getting feedbackProofreading

# 4 Presenting

Final Draft

Sharing your work

publishing, speaking

The whole process

Conclusions? What are the BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS of using the Writing

Process in our classrooms?

DRAWBACKS• Takes too much time • Loss of student focus / interest• Not suited to some personalities• Students need to be taught it (peer

editing / planning / stages)• Restricts spontaneity and range of

writing activities.

Benefits• The creation of a product• Writing seen as a communicative and

purposeful activity• Teaches students to plan and research• Student collaboration is developed.• Feedback and response given.

• “Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted.” -- Jules Renard

• Isn't it surprising how many things, if not said immediately, seem not worth saying ten minutes from now?  ~Arnot L. Sheppard, Jr.

Speaking Vs Writing

Speaking Vs Writing

We have produced a Venn Diagram object. Each part is a separate PowerPoint object, so you can colour them as you please

Impermanent Permanent

Immediate (unplanned) Delayed (planned)

Variation / Casual Conventional / Stylized

Low lexical density High lexical density

High Paralinguistics Low Paralinguistics

Communal activity Solitary Activity

Universal Learned

Simple sentences Complex sentencesVoiced Thought / Read

Pronounce SpellFeedback No feedback

Pause / Intonation Punctuation

Speaking Vs Writing

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http://eflclassroom.ning.com