helping gifted students overcome their difficulties inessay writing

SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI Trường THPT Chuyên LƯƠNG THẾ VINH SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI Trường THPT Chuyên LƯƠNG THẾ VINH DIFFICULTIES IN ESSAY WRITING HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS OV

SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI

Trường THPT Chuyên LƯƠNG THẾ VINH

SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI

Trường THPT Chuyên LƯƠNG THẾ VINH

DIFFICULTIES IN ESSAY WRITING

HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS OVERCOME THEIR DIFFICULTIES IN ESSAY WRITING

Người thực hiện: Bùi Ngọc XinhLĩnhNgườivựcthựcnghiênhiện:cứu:Bùi Ngọc Xinh

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)

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

Năm học: 2019-2020

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

1 Tên sáng kiến:

Helping gifted students overcome their difficulties in essay writing

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

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 expressesinformation as well as the writer's opinion Essays are popular at highschools and colleges People may even need to write essays in the businessworld (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 especiallystudents of the elected English team (grade 12) who take National EnglishExamination are in need of having a perfect writing skill, but the nationalcurriculum set by the government cannot satisfy their need

In the past few years, I have been responsible for helping giftedstudents practice their writing skill, and I have found that a lot of giftedstudents at this school show interest in writing especially academic writing.However, their essays still contained mistakes These mistakes ranged fromminor ones such as spellings to major ones such as sentence structures andthe organization in an essay Thus, it is imperative that I should dosomething to help them overcome their difficulties in writing so that theycan improve their writing skill and write coherently, effectively, andacademically

2 The scope of the research

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 theinnovation The innovation was carried out in writing periods of thetwo semesters of the school year

The reason why the students of the two English classes (grade12) werechosen 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 studentsacquire good writing skills because the most important aspect of a collegeeducation 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 theygraduate

7According to Oshima and Huge, “Writingis a form ofcommunication that encourages students to put their feelings and ideas onpaper, 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 severalsteps.” (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 studentsare 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 thetextbooks also lack skills necessary for writing an effective essay

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

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 thechampionship

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 Independentclauses 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

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.

Read the following sentences and circle the independent clause in each sentence Then underline any dependent clause in each sentence Where

it is appropriate, place comas between the independent clause and any dependent clause.

1 The city’s air pollution is the result of high number of cars on the roadand of its outdated factories but little is being done to solve the problem

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

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

Exercise 3:

Read the pairs of sentences below Then combine them into one

sentence using the type of conjunction indicated in parentheses ( ).

1.Most professional sports are seasonal in nature Athletes need time torest and recover between seasons (subordinating conjunction)

2.The waves in Hawaii are better than in most of California Hawaii is the surfing capital of the US (coordinating conjunction )

3 CD players were released for mass marketing in the late 1980s CD

players quickly replaced tape players (subordinating conjunction )

3 SENTENCE STRUCTURES

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 unlimitednumber of phrases and modifiers can be built into a simple sentencestructure, 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.

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 ofsociety, but the rich, having access to far greater resources, viewed thestorm 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 rightsand benefits of citizenship

4.The government claimed that the recent restrictions on the press were inthe 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

13Antecedents 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 towhich 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 wasnot 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

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

1 The biggest problem facing many new companies are

is the dozens ofregulations 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 complaintabout life in the city

4.In the suspect’s house, underneath his mattress, was 

were found themurder 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 tosuffer severe financial losses after the world of financial analysts learns ofits improprieties

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: anoun 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

Orde ring 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

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

Read each of the sentences below and underline the section that is

not parallel in structure Then revise each sentence

1.He's quite a man with the girls They say he's closed the eyes of many

a man and opening the eyes of many a woman."

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 agas, 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."

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 fromthe 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,

hard-working, and always told the truth

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

9 Collecting stamps, playing chess, and to mount beautiful butterfliesare

Derrick’s hobbies

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

welfare, and have a lot of debts

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 increaseproductivity by streamlining the construction process, to increase sales,and to decrease accidents on the factory floor

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

of totalitarian governments

a / Sentence Fragments

Sentence fragments are parts of a sentence that do not express a

complete thought Look at the example below:

When Jack grows up, he wants to be a police officer Because his father

is a police officer.

Generally, sentence fragments are pretty easy to recognize and avoid, as inthe example above Many people unknowingly create sentence fragments,however, by starting a sentence with a coordinating conjunction Thismakes the sentence a dependent clause, and therefore a sentence Look atthe example below:

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 coordinatingconjunction “but” with an adverbial conjunction like “however.” Look atthe 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 linktogether in a sentence In practice, however, if you link too many clausestogether in a sentence, your sentence will be long, disorganized, andconfusing 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

Read the following paragraphs Each one contains a number of sentence fragments and run-on sentences Revise each paragraph to

correct these problems.

1 It is my belief that people rely on their cars too much Most people usetheir cars even for short trips where they could just walk instead, like whenthey are going to a store that is just around the corner or things like that Insuch situations it is not necessary to drive, but most people drive anyway.Even people who are unwilling to walk even these short distances coulddrive less if they would just plan ahead and try to run all of their dailyerrands at one time instead of making numerous short trips

2.Air quality in many parts of the world has grown drastically worse in thelast 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 eithernatural gas or oil, and coal-fired plants are obviously simpler and saferthan nuclear power plants But they also cause far more pollution thanother types of power plants

C ORGANIZATION OF AN ESSAY

a Introduction

c Conclusion

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 themain 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 thetopic)

-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.

20controlling idea topic

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

↓controlling idea(In this essay, you would give examples of how dogs can be helpful topeople)

There are many types of dogs.

↓controlling idea

(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 betweentwo 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

most important: ethnic reasons, economic reasons, and religious

reasons We call this third part of the statements the predictor because itpredicts 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 fascinatingplace 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 verycold 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 arethe 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 numberof

reasons

Rules for Thesis Statements:

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

Thesis statement : Dogs are good companions.

Not a thesis statement : Are dogs good companions?

2.A thesis statement must be a complete sentence This means that it musthave 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 essayabout 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 youmust 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 ofpeople, and their professors also work hard.

-7 There are both advantages and disadvantages to working whileyou 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 offcampus

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

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

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 andtell 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