TYL Week 4:Teaching Writing

Agenda

• Very Young Learners: – Writing Videos – Short writing activities

• Older Young Learners:– Running Dictation– Description Guessing Game– Accordion Story– Stories with Fun Prompts

How can you teach Very Young Learners (VYLs) to write?

1) Letters

2) Phonics: Put letters together into words

3) Memorizing words (sight words and other common words)

4) Sentence frames

WRITING INSTRUCTION: ELEMENTARY ESL IN AMERICA

Annenberg Videos(Stretchy Activities)

Take notes as you watch.

Think, Pair, Share

• Which activities could you see yourself using in the future? – Why would you want to use them? What’s their

value?

“Stretchy” Activities

• Activities that you can recycle every day or week with different EFL themes– Shared Reading– Shared Writing– Writer’s Workshop / Journal Writing

POSTER SESSION!

Poster Session

• Ideas for Very Young Learners:– Write Around the Room– Making Lists– Labeling– Sticker Stories

Older young learners

RUNNING DICTATIONA “STRETCHY” ACTIVITY

Directions• 1) Partner A = Runner

• 2) Partner B = Writer

• 3) Runner = Read and tell writer

• 4) Writer = Write it!

• 5) Finished? Guess the answers together and write them!

Follow Up

• Have groups write the riddles on the board. – Check for grammar and spelling

• Take away the texts and have students re-create the riddles from memory

Other Versions

• The students don’t read the riddles—you whisper them to them (listening, speaking, writing)

Let’s Talk!

• How can we adjust this activity . . . – For different skills and subjects? (Grammar,

pronunciation, etc.)– For different ages? – For different English levels?

• Use for grammar or pronunciation – Minimal Pairs: Cheap chips made him really ill.

ACCORDION ADD ON STORY

Directions

• Get in groups of 8 people.

• You’ll each write one part of a story on each flap of an accordion. – You can’t look at what the others wrote.

• In the end, we’ll read your stories!

What to write

GUESS THE PICTUREA “STRETCHY” ACTIVITY

Directions

1. Choose a picture. 1. Shh! It’s a secret!

2. Write a 2 sentence description of the picture.

1. Don’t be too obvious.

3. Read your description to a partner. 1. Your partner will guess which picture you’re describing.

#1 #2 #3

Let’s Talk!

• How can we adjust this activity . . . – For different skills, subjects, and topics?– For different ages? – For different English levels?

Differentiate

• For lower students– Sentence frames (She is wearing ____, She has ____, She is

_____)– Pre-teach the necessary vocabulary; label the pictures– Write fewer sentences

• For higher students– Give advanced sentence frames (compound sentences)– Pre-teach advanced vocabulary (floral, polka dots)– Write more sentences

STORY PROMPTS

Write a story using prompts

Write a story using pictures as a prompt

What’s wrong with the photograph—describe it.Write a story—how did this happen?What will happen next?

Homework

• Assignment Page = Back of Handout

• Mid-Term