skkn HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS OVERCOME THEIR DIFFICULTIES INESSAY WRITING

Do HĐCNSK cấp trên ghi SÁNG KIẾN HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS OVERCOME THEIR DIFFICULTIES IN ESSAY WRITING Người thực hiện: Bùi Ngọc Xinh Lĩnh vực nghiên cứu: Có đính kèm: Các sản phẩm kh

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SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI

Trường THPT Chuyên LƯƠNG THẾ VINH

Mã số:

(Do HĐCNSK cấp trên ghi)

SÁNG KIẾN

HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS OVERCOME THEIR

DIFFICULTIES IN ESSAY WRITING

Người thực hiện: Bùi Ngọc Xinh Lĩnh vực nghiên cứu:

Có đính kèm: Các sản phẩm không thể hiện trong bản in sáng kiến

 Mô hình  Đĩa CD (DVD)  Phim ảnh  Hiện vật khác

(các phim, ảnh, sản phẩm phần mềm)

Năm học: 2019-2020

SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI

Trường THPT Chuyên LƯƠNG THẾ VINH

Mã số:

(Do HĐCNSK cấp trên ghi)

SÁNG KIẾN

HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS OVERCOME THEIR

DIFFICULTIES IN ESSAY WRITING

Người thực hiện: Bùi Ngọc Xinh Lĩnh vực nghiên cứu:

Có đính kèm: Các sản phẩm không thể hiện trong bản in sáng kiến

 Mô hình  Đĩa CD (DVD)  Phim ảnh  Hiện vật khác

(các phim, ảnh, sản phẩm phần mềm)

Năm học: 2019-2020

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ……… …2

1 Context 2

2 Reasons for choosing the topic 2

3.The scope of the research 3

4 Research aims 3

I./ RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH 3

II./ RESEARCH CONTENTS ……… 4

1./ Reality of teaching writing at the school 4

2./ Procedures 4

FINDINGS ……… …… ……40

CONCLUSION ……… ….………41

REFERENCES ……… …… 42

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1 Tên sáng kiến:

Helping gifted students overcome their difficulties in essay writing

2 Lĩnh vực áp dụng sáng kiến: Phương pháp giảng dạy

3 Tác giả:

- Họ và tên: BÙI NGỌC XINH Nam (nữ): Nữ

- Trình độ chuyên môn: Thạc sĩ

- Chức vụ, đơn vị công tác: Tổ phó CM _ Trường THPT Chuyên

Lương Thế vinh

- Điện thoại: 0918155005 Email: buingocxinhltv@gmail.com

- Tỷ lệ đóng góp tạo ra sáng kiến (%): 100%

4 Đồng tác giả (nếu có)

- Họ và tên: ……… …… Nam (nữ):

- Trình độ chuyên môn: …

- Chức vụ, đơn vị công tác: …

- Điện thoại: …… ……… Email:

- Tỷ lệ đóng góp tạo ra sáng kiến (%):

(Ghi số lượng % đồng tác giả đóng góp vào sáng kiến) Title: HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS OVERCOME THEIR DIFFICULTIES IN ESSAY WRITING

they are students but also after they graduate and have to write in a professional role.

An essay is defined as a short piece of writing that expresses information as well as the writer's opinion Essays are popular at high schools and colleges People may even need to write essays in the business world (although they are usually called "reports" at that point) Students

nowadays, especially those who study at high school for the gifted have an

insatiable hunger for how to write an effective essay

2 Reasons for choosing the topic

English-majored students of Luong The Vinh High school especially students of the elected English team (grade 12) who take National English Examination are in need of having a perfect writing skill, but the national

curriculum set by the government cannot satisfy their need

In the past few years, I have been responsible for helping gifted students practice their writing skill, and I have found that a lot of gifted students at this school show interest in writing especially academic writing However, their essays still contained mistakes These mistakes ranged from minor ones such as spellings to major ones such as sentence structures and the organization in an essay Thus, it is imperative that I should do something to help them overcome their difficulties in writing so that they can improve their writing skill and write coherently, effectively, and academically

2 The scope of the research

6 The research focuses on how to help gifted students find essay

writing easy, how to improve high school students’ writing skill and how

to help them write more effectively

The participants of the study

The English-majored students of the two English classes (grade 12)

of Luong The Vinh High school were chosen to take part in the

innovation The innovation was carried out in writing periods of the

two semesters of the school year

The reason why the students of the two English classes (grade12) were chosen as the participants of the study were that:

- They are gifted students They usually have to write essays

- They are interested in writing

- They often have to sit exams of English around the year

3 Research aims

The innovation focuses on

- How to teach gifted students some basic academic writing skills

- How to help them write well and effectively

- How to help them find essay writing easy

- How to help them develop more confidence in their ability to write

- How to help them show their skills in organising their ideas

systematically

I./ RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH

It is significant that high school students / gifted students / college students acquire good writing skills because the most important aspect of a college education is to learn to communicate clearly and efficiently That is

why general college education prerequisites include a number of

compositions and reading courses that students must complete before they graduate

7 According to Oshima and Huge, “Writing is a form of communication that encourages students to put their feelings and ideas on paper, to organize their knowledge and beliefs into convincing arguments,

and convey meaning through well-constructed text In its most advanced form, written expression can be as vivid as a work of art

Therefore, writing is never a one-step action: it is a process that has several steps.” (Oshima and Huge 1997: 2)

II./ RESEARCH CONTENTS

a./ Reality of teaching writing at the school

As far as I am concerned, tasks designed in English textbooks for students are not in a systematical way, which causes difficulties for students who want to enhance their ability to write a good essay Tasks for writing in the textbooks also lack skills necessary for writing an effective essay

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B BASIC WRITING SKILLS

I./ The Basics of Sentence Construction

1 PHRASES

a./ Noun phrases

e.g : The bright blue dress was Helen’s favourite dress

b./ Prepositional phrases (phrases that start with a preposition

Prepositional phrases work to modify nouns or verbs)

e.g.: The man near the door is talking with Nathan

(in this sense, they work very much like adjectives and adverbs)

c./ Verbal phrases (phrases that start with either : a gerund , an infinitive ,

or a participle Verbal phrases can work as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.) e.g.: Working in a factory had left him broken in body and spirit

d./ Appositive phrases

e.g : My uncle Jack, a diligent and serious man, taught me the value of

hard work

Exercise 1: Read the following sentences Underline all the noun phrases

and circle the prepositional phrases Then draw an arrow to the word that

each prepositional phrase modifies

1 The leopard’s spots help it to hide from its prey

2 When the right foot of the player touched the foul line, the referee blew the whistle

3 Average winner temperatures in the Arctic Circle drop below zero

4 The vast majority of start-up companies fail their first three years

3 Ned came home to find his door forced open and his belongings

scattered on the floor

4 Planning the trip scheduled for next week is Helen’s responsibility

Exercise 3

Read the following sentences Underline any appositive phrases in them and put a comma at the beginning and at the end of each appositive

phrase Then draw an arrow to the noun modified by the appositive

1 The Tigers the only team to go undefeated are the favorites to win the championship

2 The film about King Kong a giant ape who destroys the city was

entertaining

3 The dancer a girl of both beauty and grace was the star of the show

4 The climbers decided to attempt their ascent of the mountain during the spring traditionally the safest time of year in terms of weather

2 CLAUSES

a./ Independent clauses

(Independent clauses can stand alone as complete sentences Independent clauses can function as sentences because they express complete thought e.g.: He got out of his car

b./ Dependent clauses

Dependent clauses cannot function as complete sentences because they do not express complete thoughts Dependent clauses come in three forms: coordinate clauses, subordinate clauses, and noun clauses

- Coordinate clauses are essentially independent clauses However, they

cannot function as complete sentences because they begin with

coordinating conjunctions, and this makes the thoughts they express

incomplete

10 e.g.: He got out of the car, but he left the car running

- Subordinate clauses always start with a subordinating conjunction

Subordinate clauses can be joined to independent clauses, coordinate

clauses, or other subordinate clauses

e.g.: He got out the car, but he left the car running because he was planning

to return quickly

- Noun clauses: Within a sentence, noun clauses serve the same functions

as nouns They can work as subjects, objects, or complement Noun

clauses are introduced by one of the following words: that, which,

whichever, who, whoever, whomever, what, whatever, when, whenever, how, however, and whether

e.g.: Mike always buys whatever Mary wants

Whoever ate the last piece of cake is in big trouble

The big question is how we are going to fix the problem

2 Although the modifications to the ship’s design were thought to be

minor they had a significant impact on its performance

3 Most wild animals are afraid of humans but they can still be dangerous when they are threatened

4 While Mark usually displays excellent sportsmanship he was thrown out

of the last game because of his behaviour

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2 That he had committed the crime was understood to be a proven fact

3 Although Nick is actually from New York, Miami is where his heart is

4 When Jessica found what Mark had hidden under her book, she

screamed at the top of her lungs

a./ Simple sentences

A simple sentence is made up of a single independent clause However, simple sentences are not always short and easy An almost unlimited number of phrases and modifiers can be built into a simple sentence structure, so sometimes these sentences can be quite advanced

e.g : My dog loves to play fetch

My dog, a beautiful and playful Labrador puppy, loves to play fetch on sunny afternoon in the park near my house

b./ Compound sentences

e.g.: My dog loves to play fetch, and I take him to the park almost every

day

c / Complex sentences

e.g.: My dog loves to play fetch, even though he is very old now

d./ Compound- complex sentences

e.g.: Even though he is very old now, my dog loves to play fetch, and I

take him to the park almost every day

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Exercise 1

Read each of the following sentences and indicate whether it is a simple sentence, a compound sentence , a complex sentence , or a compound- complex sentence

1 Justin apparently misplaced all his textbooks, or at least most of them, during the ride from the library to his house

2 The hurricane caused severe hardship for working class members of society, but the rich, having access to far greater resources, viewed the storm as little more than an inconvenience

3 Even though the Constitution guarantees all citizens the same essential rights, in practice, many groups have been denied the full rights and

benefits of citizenship

4 The government claimed that the recent restrictions on the press were in the interests of public safety, and it promised to ease the restrictions as soon as it is deemed to be safe to do so

Exercise 2:

Combine the simple sentences below Try to combine them into a single

sentence using as many different sentence structures as possible

The team began to lose any hope of victory The team realized it was

thirteen points back with only minutes to go in the final quarter

1 Combine the sentences into a compound sentence

The team realized it was thirteen points back with only minutes to go in the final quarter, and it began to lose any hope of victory

2 Combine the sentences into a complex sentence

The team began to lose any hope of victory when it realized that it was thirteen points back with only minutes to go in the final quarter

3 Combine the sentences into a single, simple sentence

Realizing it was thirteen points back with only minutes to go in the final

quarter, the team began to lose any hope of victory

4 / PRONOUN USAGE

13 Antecedents of pronouns:

If a pronoun is used in a sentence, there must be a noun before it of the same person and number There must be one, and only one, antecedent to which the pronoun refers

Examples of pronouns without antecedents:

Incorrect: Henry was denied admission to graduate school because

they did not believe that he could handle the work load

Correct: The members of the admissions committee denied Henry

admission to graduate school because they did not Exercise:

Rewrite the following sentences so that each pronoun has a clear

antecedent If you have to supply a noun, use any noun that will make the sentence correct

1 The dispute between the faculty and the administration was not resolved until they got better working conditions

2 Ellen spotted her friend as her friend as she walked towards the student Union

3 Foreigners are easily impressed by the bullfighters as they march into the arena

4 In their spare time, many great books have been written about the

famous Greek and Roman heroes

5 Dr Byrd’s book was accepted for publication because they thought it would be beneficial to students

6 Bob and Helen hate flying because they make too much noise

7 Casey was not admitted to the country club because they thought he was not socially acceptable

8 Mary loves touring the country by train because it is so interesting

9 The colonel was decorated for bravery, having fought them off

10 The children were frightened because they made eerie sounds

5./ SUBJECT / VERB AGREEMENT

Exercise

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Read the following sentences Then rewrite the sentence to correct the error

1 The biggest problem facing many new companies are  is the dozens

of regulations that are often unfamiliar to the company management

2 Most of the talk, including the portions on political reform, financial stability , and future economic growth , are  is available on tape for anyone who is interested

3 Seemingly minor breakdown in social etiquette, the failure to apologize after bumping into someone, for example, is  are Michael’s complaint about life in the city

4 In the suspect’s house, underneath his mattress, was  were found the murder weapon and the stolen property, which was enough to convict him

of the crime

5 Not only the investors, but also the company itself are  is expected to suffer severe financial losses after the world of financial analysts learns of its improprieties

6 / PARALLELISM

Definition:

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or

clauses is called parallel structure

By convention, items in a series appear in parallel grammatical form: a

noun is listed with other nouns, an -ing form with other -ing forms, and so

on Failure to express such items in similar grammatical form is called

faulty parallelism

Ordering of ideas:

Generally, when making a list of ideas, the shortest and most

grammatically simple ideas should be placed at the beginning of the list Look at this example below:

Under the judge’s ruling, the company must compensate its

shareholders for their losses caused by the company’s

makes the sentence somewhat hard to read The sentence would be simpler

if the shortest and most grammatically simple ideas were at the beginning

of the list Look at the example below

Under the judge’s ruling, the company must pay a fine, open its books to inspection every year, and compensate its shareholders for their losses caused by the company’s mismanagement

2 "They are laughing at me, not with me."

3 "Voltaire could both lick boots and put the boot in He was at once opportunist and courage, cunning and sincerely He managed, with

disconcerting ease, to reconcile love of freedom with love of hours."

4 "Truth is not a diet but a condiment."

5."Our transportation crisis will be solved by a bigger plane or a wider road, mental illness with a pill, poverty with a law, urban conflict with a gas, racism with a goodwill gesture and we can use bulldozers to pull down slums."

6 "Buy a bucket of chicken and having a barrel of fun."

7 "The loss we felt was not the loss of ham but the loss of pig."

8 "Immature poets imitate; mature poets stealing."

9 "The value of parallel structure goes beyond aesthetics It points

up the structure of the sentence, showing readers what goes with what and keep them on the right track."

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10 Freedom of speech and being able to vote in election are the rights

of every citizen

Exercise 2

Change the following sentences so that they are parallel

1 The puppy stood up slowly, wagged its tail, blinking its eyes, and

barked

2 Ecologists are trying to preserve our environment for future generation

by protecting the ozone layer, purifying the air, and have replanted the trees that have been cut down

3 The chief of police demanded from his assistants an orderly

investigation, a well- written report, and that they work hard

4 Marcia is a scholar, an athlete, and artistic

5 Slowly and with care, the museum director removed the Ming vase from the shelf and placed it on the display pedestal

6 The farmer plows the fields, plants the seeds, and will harvest the crop

7 Abraham Lincoln was a good president and was self-educated, working, and always told the truth

hard-8 Children love playing in the mud, running through puddles, and they get very dirty

9 Collecting stamps, playing chess, and to mount beautiful butterflies are Derrick’s hobbies

10 Despite America’s affluence, many people are without jobs, on

welfare, and have a lot of debts

Exercise 3

Read the sentences below Each sentence contains proper parallel structure, but can be revised for clarity and simplicity Revise each sentence by reordering the parallel structure

1 The company manager set out three goals for the year: to increase productivity by streamlining the construction process, to increase sales, and to decrease accidents on the factory floor

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2 Strict regulation of the media, imprisonment of political enemies with little or no judicial process, and public intimidation are all characteristics of totalitarian governments

7 SENTENCE FRAGMENT AND RUN-ON SENTENCES

After the meeting had ended, Mitch and Katie got into a huge argument But later they apologised to each other

In order to fix this sentence fragment, we can replace the coordinating conjunction “but” with an adverbial conjunction like “however.” Look at the example below:

After the meeting had ended, Mitch and Katie got into a huge argument Later, however, they apologised to each other

b./ Run-on Sentences

In theory, there is no limit to the number of clauses that you can link together in a sentence In practice, however, if you link too many clauses together in a sentence, your sentence will be long, disorganized, and confusing Look at the example below:

Bob and Jessica wanted to go to the beach, but their sister Diane

didn’t, so they planned to go into the city instead, but the traffic was

2 Air quality in many parts of the world has grown drastically worse in the last three decades Because of a greater reliance on coal to generate power Coal, which is full of impurities that make their way into the air, is utilized

by many developing countries for power generation due to the simplicity

of the technology Coal-fired plants are easier to build than plants that run

on natural gas or oil because it is easier to safely store coal than either natural gas or oil, and coal-fired plants are obviously simpler and safer than nuclear power plants But they also cause far more pollution than other types of power plants

a The structure of the introduction:

- General statements about the subject/ topic

- Specific thesis statement

Parts of a Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is the most important sentence in your essay It is the main idea for the whole essay, and it frequently shows (directly or

indirectly) the number and content of the body paragraphs of the essay

“Clear thesis statements are essential for good essay writing in English The thesis statement of an essay is made up of the same parts as the topic sentence in a paragraph

The thesis statement in an essay has the same function as the topic

sentence in a paragraph

Topic and Controlling Idea

- The thesis statement generally consists of two main parts: the topic (the subject of the essay, what the essay is about), and the controlling idea

(analysis, explanation(s), or assertion(s) that you’re making about the topic)

- The thesis statement is a very specific statement and generally it appears

at the end of the first paragraph of an essay

Example:

There are three main relationships that dogs have with people

↓ ↓

20 controlling idea topic

Since they were first domesticated, dogs have helped human beings a lot

(In this essay, you would discuss the various types of dogs.)

An English setter and a Gordon setter have a few obvious differences, but they are mostly similar

↓

controlling idea (In this essay, you would describe the differences and similarities between two breeds of dogs: an English setter and a Gordon setter.)

Predictor

In addition, some thesis statements may also have a third component called predictor The predictor of a thesis statement tells the reader how many body paragraphs there will be in the essay and what their content will be For example:

Wars in the twentieth century were fought for three main reasons: ethic, economic, and religious

In this thesis statement, the topic is wars in the twentieth century The controlling idea is that they were fought for three reasons The third part of

this thesis statement lists the three reasons that the author believes were

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most important: ethnic reasons, economic reasons, and religious

reasons We call this third part of the statements the predictor because it predicts the number and content of the essay paragraphs

PRACTICE:

Read the following thesis statements and answer the questions

- What is the topic?

- What is the controlling idea?

- If there is a predictor, what is it?

1 Modern methods of building houses have greatly increased their ability

to withstand earthquakes

2 Its beauty, history, and location make Washington D.C., a fascinating place to visit

3 There is considerable evidence to show that there is life on other planets

4 Three characteristics of the houses in my country show that it gets very cold there in winter: the thick walls, the two-door entries, and the steep roofs

5 Living in a city is more exciting than living in the suburbs because of the many people, the variety of things to buy, and the fun places to go

6 Discrimination, lack of economic opportunity, and inferior education are the three main causes of poverty today

7 People can avoid burglaries by taking certain precautions

8 There are several advantages to growing up in a small town

9 Most US universities require an 85 point TOEFL iBT score for a

number of reasons

10 Air pollution in Mexico City is the worst in the world for a number of reasons

Rules for Thesis Statements:

1 A thesis statement must be a statement, not a question

Thesis statement : Dogs are good companions

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Not a thesis statement : Are dogs good companions?

2 A thesis statement must be a complete sentence This means that it must have a subject and a verb with a tense

Thesis statement :City living is hazardous to your health

Not a thesis statement : City living hazardous to your health

3 A thesis statement is an opinion; it cannot be a simple statement of fact

A fact does not need any support, and therefore you cannot write an essay about it

A thesis statement : I have much more in common with my younger

brother than I do with my older brother

Not a thesis statement : I have an older brother and a younger sister

4 A thesis statement must state the controlling idea This means that you must state your position on the topic; you cannot simply announce the topic of your essay

A thesis statement : Recent methods of reducing air

pollution are showing some positive results

Not a thesis statement : This essay is about air pollution

5 A thesis statement should have only one controlling idea

A thesis statement : Public transportation in my hometown is too expensive

Not a thesis statement: Public transportation in my hometown is too

expensive, and it is slower than the transportation in Tokyo

Practice:

Put a tick in front of the sentences that are thesis statements

-1 Japanese cars are better than American cars

-2 A Mitsubishi is a Japanese car

-3 I’m going to show you why seatbelts are necessary

-4 Are seatbelts necessary?

-5 Wearing a seat belt can save your life

23 -6 Students who work while they are studying meet a lot of people, and their professors also work hard

-7 There are both advantages and disadvantages to working while you are an undergraduate

-8 Work-study programs have more advantages than disadvantages -9 Work-study programs: an analysis

-10 In this study, I will compare working on campus and working off campus

PRACTICE:

Read the following thesis statements and answer the questions

- What is the topic?

- What is the controlling idea?

- If there is a predictor, what is it?

1 Modern methods of building houses have greatly increased their ability

5 Living in a city is more exciting than living in the suburbs because of

the many people, the variety of things to buy, and the fun places to go

6 Discrimination, lack of economic opportunity, and inferior education

are the three main causes of poverty today

7 People can avoid burglaries by taking certain precautions

8 There are several advantages to growing up in a small town

9 Most US universities require an 85 point TOEFL iBT score for a

number of reasons

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10 Air pollution in Mexico City is the worst in the world for a number

of reasons

11 Fixing a flat tire on a bicycle is easy if you follow these steps

12 There are several enjoyable ways to travel between the US and

15 Industrial waste poured into Lake Michigan has led to dramatic

changes in its ability to support marine life

16 In order to fully explore the wreck of the Titanic, scientists must

address several problems

b Body

The body will provide most of the details and support for the essay

The body paragraphs of your essay are where you will explain all of your major ideas

The Basic Elements of a Paragraph

Topic Sentence

What is the topic sentence?

Topic sentences usually appear at the beginning or end of a paragraph and tell the reader exactly what the paragraph is about

Topic sentences should always contain both (1) a topic and (2) a

controlling idea

The topic is the subject of your paragraph It is what you are writing about

25 The controlling idea limits the topic of your paragraph to the aspect of that topic that you want to explore in your paragraph

Examples:

1 New York is a fun place to be in on New Year’s Eve

↓ ↓

Topic controlling idea

2 New York has great entertainment

↓ ↓

Topic controlling idea

3 New York is the world’s most famous city

↓ ↓

Topic controlling idea

Expressions for controlling ideas:

- The precautions for …

- The advantages of …

- The reasons for…

- The causes of…

- The effects of …

- The steps for…

- The ways to …

- The methods of…

- The different countries …[parts, kinds, types]

- The qualities /characteristics / traits of…

- The difficulties of…

- The obstacles of…

Sometimes, a paragraph will not have a topic sentence, but that does not mean it does not have a main idea Main ideas are often stated