Writing and the Young EFL Learner Sarah Coutts

Writing and the Young EFL

Learner

Sarah Couttssarahcoutts@sen.go.krwww.smoeworkshopsources.wordpress.com

Phonics Systems

Jolly Phonics

Teaching a SoundSammy the snake likes to explore.His friends say that he is silly to explore by himself because it isdangerous but Sammy doesn’t listen to them. Sammy knows what to do when he is scared. He says, “Sssss.”

Learning to Write

New Vocabulary

Moving on to Blends

What other words start

with /s/?

Other Words with /s/

Developing Vocabulary

Writing is usually more intimidating for teachers than

for students!

Moving on to Sentences

Human Sentences

AudienceDeveloping a sense of

audience is an essential part of communicating in writing and it is possible even at an early stage of

writing.

Levelled Writing Tasks A Day in a Caveman’s Life Letters

Advertisements Menus

Autobiographies My New Jellybean

Birthday Cards Opinions

Cartoons and Comics Personal Ads

Crosswords Picture Prompts

Daily Routines Poems

Descriptions Postcards

Dialogues Potions and Spells

Directions Puzzles

Emails Ransom Notes

Extraordinary Jobs SMSes

Finish the Story Stories from the Past

Fortune Telling Story Frames

Gap Fills (Mad Libs) Thank You Notes

Instructions Tongue Twisters

Invitations Wanted Posters

Word Level

Labels for Pictures/Diagrams

Crosswords

Anagrams (words with scrambled letters)

Word Puzzles

Picture/Word Dictionaries

Charts for Surveys/Questionnaires

Classifying Words into Word Families

Concept/Word Webs

Menus/Shopping Lists

Purpose: Learning new vocabulary, handwriting and spelling

Sentence Level Purpose: Learning new vocabulary, handwriting and

spelling as well as practicing new structures and functions

Captions for Pictures

Speech Bubbles for Characters

Writing Information from Charts

Writing Simple Questions

Unscrambling Sentences

Text LevelPurpose: Learning new vocabulary, handwriting and

spelling, practicing new structures and functions as well as planning, drafting, editing and understanding layout

Diaries

Descriptions

Advertisements/Posters

Instructions

Invitations

Letters

Poems

Stories/Simple Books

Dear Diary

BasicWeather: Hot, SunnyFriends: Play, LaughFood: Delicious, Hungry

Intermediate Today, the weather was hot and sunny. I played with my friends.We laughed a lot.

Alternative Gap-Fills

Invitations

Postcards

Picture Prompts

Dialogues

How can we improve this?

Comics

Short Writing Prompts

Write about the best day of your life.

Describe your ideal bedroom.

If I were the teacher, I would….

Write about your favorite TV show.

Short Letter Prompts

Poems

Text Messages

Wanted Posters

Simple Book Reviews

Editing and Proofreading

At an elementary level, students can check simple things like:

Spelling

Sentence Structure (i.e. Every sentence has a subject and a

verb)

Capital Letters (Names and at the beginning of sentences)

Punctuation (Full Stops and Commas)

Spelling

Grammar

Mixed Review