skkn SOME EFFECTIVE WAYS IN TEACHING WRITING GRADE 12

They don’t know how to begin, make an outline, provide evidence to support ordevelop the point of view.- For many students writing is probably the most boring but the least important oft

SOME EFFECTIVE WAYS IN TEACHING WRITING-GRADE 12

PART A: REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH

In learning English, writing is considered one of the most difficult skillslearners are expected to master When students write English for a genuine purpose,they need to write more than good sentences; they need to write a whole text that willconvey what they mean successfully

Since writing is a productive skill, it is not easy for teachers to teach and forstudents to master It is the fact high school students are very weak at writing Most ofthe students not only have limitation of English vocabulary and grammar but lackideas and social knowledge to write With the hope that teachers can help theirstudents to write better, I suggest some appropriate teaching strategies and usefulactivities

I hope that the topic "Some effective ways in teaching Writing" of Grade 12 –will be interesting in order to attract students' excitement during writing periods That

is the reason why I choose the topic

PART B: REAL SITUATION BEFORE THESE SOLUTIONS ARE CARRIED OUT

1 Advantageous conditions

- High school students have learnt how to build a paragraph, how to make outlines,how to organize ideas etc in their Vietnamese Literature classes

- English is one of core subjects, which are compulsory in GCSE This will

encourage students to spend more time learning and practising English

2 Difficulties

- Most of high school students are lack of language knowledge such as grammar,vocabulary and structures Besides, they do not have writing techniques

They don’t know how to begin, make an outline, provide evidence to support ordevelop the point of view.

- For many students writing is probably the most boring but the least important ofthe four skills, so they lack motivation to write

- Teachers do not have enough time to correct students’ writing work in class

PART C: CONTENTS

Let’s have a look at the national curriculum High school students are required towrite letters both in formal and informal style They are also asked to write somekinds of paragraphs including narration, exposition and description of some kinds

Syllabus overview

English 12

1 Homelife Writing about family rules

3 Ways of socialising Building sentences based on given words

Reordering given sentences to make complete paragraph

4 School education system Describing school education system in Vietnam

5 Higher education Writing a letter of request

6 Future jobs Writing a formal letter of job application

8 Life in the future Describing the world you would like to live

10 Endangered species Writing about measures to protect endangered

species and possible results

12 Water sports Giving instructions

13 The 22nd SEA GAMES Describing a sporting event

Southeast Asian Nations

Writing a letter of recommendationWriting seems to be a challenge to both teachers and students Identifyingapproaches in teaching writing can help teachers find out effective techniques to

overcome difficulties in teaching, therefore help students improve writing skill Toimplement effective writing lessons, I have conducted the following stages:

 CHARADES GAME:

- Students work in small groups of 6

- Teacher asks the students to think of one thing they are allowed or not allowed to do

at school and write it on a piece of paper

- Representatives take turn to act out thing they are allowed or not allowed to do at school with gesture (without speaking or writing).The others in the class try to guess what thing it is

- Each correct answer gets 1 point

 Unit 1: HOMELIFE – Part D: Writing

Ex: We are not allowed to smoke

- Teacher prepares some cut up sentences and places them on a table at the front

of the class

- Teacher arranges the students into two teams, standing behind a line or marker

- The students have to run to the table and arrange the words into correctsentences

- They are not allowed to breathe in To prevent this the students have to repeat

“kabadi” over and over If they stop saying the word they have to return to theirteams

- The first team to arrange all their sentences correctly is the winner

 Unit 3: WAYS OF SOCIALIZING – Part D: Writing

Ex: an expression / for something/ An apology is/ of remorse/ wrong

 QUICK THINKERS GAME

- Teacher chooses two volunteers

- Teacher reads the questions and asks the two volunteers to write the answers onboard

- The winner will be the quickest

 Unit 4: SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM – Part D: Writing

Ex:

1 Write the name of your school

2 The age when you started to go to school

3 Write 3 core subjects

4 Double your age and write the result.

5 Draw a big circle

6 Put a small square in the circle

7 If it is Monday, write X; if not, write the letter X in the English alphabet

 PICTURE GUESSING GAME

- Teacher divides the class into 4 groups.

- Teacher reads 4 clues, one by one about the picture and asks the students to guess

what the picture is about

- The first group calls out the name wins the game

 Unit 5: HIGHER EDUCATION – Part D: Writing

Ex: - It’s one of the most famous universities in the world

- It was established in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

- Bill Gates used to study there.

- It begins with letter H

- Teacher leads to the new lesson: Harvard University is one of the most famous

universities in the world If you plan to continue your study at Harvard University, what will you do?

 VIDEO CLIP WATCHING

- Teacher asks the students to watch the clip

- The students answer the question: “What’s the clip about?”

- Teacher leads to the new lesson

Ex:

 Unit 8: LIFE IN THE FUTURE – Part D: Writing

 Unit 6: FUTURE JOBS – Part D: Writing

Illustration : (CD included)

- Teacher leads to the new lesson: Today, you will write a paragraph about theworld you imagine in the future.

 MIMING GAME

- Teacher gets one student to the board The teacher gives him/her list of words

- The student uses actions to describe the words He/she cannot speak or spell the word in the air

- The other students watch their classmate and try to guess the words

 Unit 13: THE 22 ND SEA GAMES– Part D: Writing

Ex: A student uses actions to describe some sports He/she cannot speak or spell the word in the air The other students watch their classmate and try to guess the words

Illustration : (CD included)

- Teacher leads to the new lesson: + Which of the sports above you enjoy watchingmost?

Expected answer: football

+ Do you ever watch a football match?

Expected answer: yes

- Teacher : Today, we’ll learn how to describe a football match

 TREASURE HUNT GAME

- Students work in small groups of 6.

- Teacher tells students to follow the given instructions to the treasure and collectthe letters on the way

- The first group to find out the treasure (the word) wins the game

Ex:  Unit 15: WOMEN IN SOCIETY– Part D: Writing (Describing a chart)

The first letter is on the car.

The second letter is next to the pine

I The third letter is under the dolphin

The fourth letter is next to the rabbit

The last letter is on the left of the treasure chest

Expected answer: Chart

- Teacher leads to the new lesson: Today we will learn how to write a chartdescription

II PRE- WRITING

Pre- writing stage is the time for students to think and develop ideas about atopic If students do not prepare well enough they cannot write well The pre-writingstage lessens students’ anxiety and builds their confidence Therefore, pre-writing isthe most important part of the writing process

As we know, the nature of learning is moving from easy to more difficult things.Experience shows that in writing, the difficulties students face with come from theirpoverty of language resources In other words, they lack ideas to write If teachers donot guide them what to write, students would probably find it difficult and make manymistakes However, it is very time-consuming for the teacher to correct their workpaper by paper Meanwhile, the best time of correcting work is correcting mistakesimmediately in class rather than returning it the next day

To solve the problem, the students’ lack of ideas to write, I suggest some solutions

Step 1: A model is given.

Step 2: Students work on the model, analyze its typical features, and pay

attention to the language and structure of the model

Step 3: Students work in groups/ pairs to find out the ideas for the writing topic

and produce an outline Teacher gives out the checklist And then students do theirown writing based on the format, ideas, the outline and the checklist

Ex:

 Unit 5: HIGHER EDUCATION –Writing a letter of request.

- Teacher asks students to read the model carefully and work out the format based

on the model

475 Le Thanh Ton St, District 1

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam September 15th, 2012

Mr Micheal Swazz - The University of Birmingham

I would be very grateful if you could send me information about tuition fee, accommodation and exams

Now I am in the last year of the high school and will finish secondary education in 9 months And I have got 7.5 for the last IELTS test

Could you please send me information as soon as possible so that I can start the course next year?

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Yours faithfully,

Nguyen Nhi

Yours truly, / Yours faithfully, …

5 Signature: (full name)

- Teacher can provide some useful expressions and the checklist

a Introduction

- I am writing this letter to………

- I am writing to you because I need ………

- I am interested in applying to a course in ………… at ……… … university

- I would like to apply ……… ……….………

b Request - I would be grateful if you would provide me information about ………

- I wonder whether you could give me some information about ……… …

- I should be very grateful if you let me have the following information ………

- I should be very much obliged if you could let me have full details of ………

c Further information - I have recently graduated ………

- I am in the last year of the ………

- I have a good command of English - I believe that my academic background and language skills would help me………

d Conclusion

- I look forward to hearing from you

- Would you please let me know as soon as possible whether …

 Unit 15: WOMEN IN SOCIETY –Describing a chart.

- Teacher asks students to read the model carefully and work out the

format based on the model

Checklist

 The letter has 5 parts

 Your address is at the top of the right hand side of the page

 Their address is on the left hand side of the page

 The date is on the right hand side of the page, underneath your address

 Paragraph to introduce yourself

 Paragraph to explain why you are writing

 Paragraph to say what you want them to do about it

 It begins and ends in appropriate ways

Ex: Dear Sir /Madam, => Yours faithfully,

Dear Mr Jones, => Yours sincerely,

 All sentences begin with capital letters

 There is a punctuation mark at the end of each sentence

 All words are spelled correctly

 The verbs are in correct tenses

of one or two children, men maintain approximately the same number of time doing housework as in childless households, but women’s number of time doing housework as in 50 per week because it takes them more time to take care of their children

With families that have three or more children, women have to work harder They spend 55 hours a week doing housework while their husbands share with only 10

These numbers shows the unequal distribution of housework hours per week between the two sexes Therefore, if women are to gain social quality, they should first be liberated from familial responsibilities This can only be done if men lend a more helpful hand to women in doing domestic chores

Expected format:

I Introduction (Introducing the topic)

II Body (giving details)

Expected outline of a chart description

I Introduction (Introducing the topic)

What the chart is about

II Body (giving details)

- Topic sentence 1.

It is clear from the chart that….

- Teacher can supply language input

+ The chart represents/illustrates/shows…………

+ The chart indicates the average hours of housework per week done by married women in comparison with married men

+ It is clear from the chart that…

+ It is noticeable that…

+ As can be seen in the chart,…

- Teacher can provide the checklist

 Unit 13: THE 22ND SEA GAMES –Describing a sport event.

- Teacher asks students to read the model carefully and work out the format based

on the model

Checklist

 The description has 3 parts

 It has a general remark

 Topic sentence

 Supporting ideas for topic sentence

 Conjunction of contrast: while, whereas, however, on the contrary,.…

 All sentences begin with capital letters

 There is a punctuation mark at the end of each sentence

 All words are spelled correctly

 The verbs are in correct tenses

The match took place in cool weather, which was good for both teams From the beginning, two teams played very excitingly In the 1st half, we always kept the ball away from our goal and led the ball towards our neighboring team However, after 30 minutes, the opponents scored a goal The goal was so fine that all of the audience jumped up and cheered From then on, the match became more exciting In the second half, our team played in greater determination One

of our excellent defenders, Hung, took the ball and passed it skillfully to our striker, Lam, who gave a final kick into the goal The stadium was “broken” again in the shouts and the whistles of the spectators It was one against one The atmosphere at the stadium made the match became tenser and tenser Both teams tried to win Many good chances to make more scores were missed Everyone had tried their best but no more score was given

The match ended in a draw but all of us were very happy I felt very proud

of my school’s football team They had shown a wonderful way of playing, a sportsmanlike style-young, fair and impartial

- Teacher has the students write the outline, teacher can supply language input.

Expected outline

1 Introduction

- Why the football match was held.

- What teams took part in the match.

- When and where the match took place.

2 Details of the match

- The weather on that day.(cool, hot, warm,…)

- How each team played.( excitingly, fair(ly), unfair(ly),…)

- The spectator’s attitude.(excited, bored,…)

- Who scored a goal.( make a goal against/ score a goal, )

3 Conclusion

- The result.(draw, gain victory over,…)

- What you thought about the game.( boring, competitive, exciting,…)

Useful expressions:

+ To celebrate the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s Foundation Day,… + To celebrate the Teachers’ Day,…

+ a friendly football match between …and … football team

+ The match was held at … on … on …

- Teacher can provide the checklist

Teacher can also conduct an oral preparation Teacher generates ideas by

brainstorming, discussing and listing Teacher uses ideas from the different groups Students draft theirs writing thanks to the checklist and the format provided by

teacher Teacher can help students by giving a set of guiding questions By answering these questions, students can write the paragraph required

Step 1: Generating ideas by brainstorming or discussing Teacher provides

language input if required so as not to prevent students from the production of ideas

Step 2: Students extend ideas into note form.

Step 3: Students organize ideas and produce an outline Teacher gives out the

checklist And then students do their own writing based on the format, ideas, theoutline and the checklist

Ex:  Unit 1: HOMELIFE –Writing about family rule.

- Teacher puts students in groups of 4

- Students discuss and complete the charts

Checklist

 The description has 3 parts

 There is the climax

 The writer expresses his/her impression about the match

 Transitional words (First, next, then,and,….)

 All sentences begin with capital letters

 There is a punctuation mark at the end of each sentence

 All words are spelled correctly

 The verbs are in past tenses

At home, I have to…

At home, I have to…

do the household chores

prepare meals when my mother is out

scrub the toilet three times a week

get up at 5:30

I am not allowed…

to go out with friends at night

to listen to loud music after 9 p.m

to watch TV after 10 p.m

to come home late after 9:30 p.m

Yours truly, / Yours faithfully, …

5 Signature: (full name)

Some useful language: - I am writing this letter to………

- Every family has its own rules Mine has a few.

- Teacher can provide the checklist.

 Unit 4: SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM – Describing school education system in Vietnam.

- Students work in pairs to ask and answer questions about school educationsystem in Vietnam, using the information shown in the following diagram

Nguyen Huu Canh high school Nguyen Ngoc Khanh 22

Checklist

 The letter has 5 parts

 Your address is at the top of the right hand side of the page

 Their address is on the left hand side of the page

 The date is on the right hand side of the page, underneath your address

 Paragraph to explain why you are writing

 It begins and ends in appropriate ways

Ex: Dear Mai, => Love, Yours sincerely,

 Connectors: Firstly, secondly, next, then, at last,…

 All sentences begin with capital letters

 There is a punctuation mark at the end of each sentence

 All words are spelled correctly

 The verbs are in correct tenses

 Your signature

SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM IN VIETNAM

Primary education (5 years) Secondary education

Lower secondary education

1 How many levels of education are there in Vietnam?

2 How many classes are there in each level?

3 How long does it take to finish the lower secondary education/ upper secondary education?

4 When do children start to go to primary school?

5 How many weeks are there in the academic year?

6 How many terms are there in a school year? When are they?

7 When can students take the national examination for GCSE?

- Teacher has the students write the outline, teacher can supply language input

Expected outline

1 Education system in Vietnam :

+ two levels: Primary education and secondary education

2 Primary education: compulsory

+ Start grade 1 at …….years old

+ 5 years to complete primary education

3 Secondary education:

+ lower secondary education: compulsory - four grades from grade 6 to grade 9

+ upper secondary education: three grades from grade 10 to grade 12

- GCSE