EPH 3 (Teaching Writing)

 Teaching Writing: Strategies

The most important factor in writing exercises is that students need to be personally involved in order to make the learning experience of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once the target skill areas and means of implmentation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.

Choosing the target area depends on many factors; What level are the students?, What is the average age of the students, Why are the students learning English, Are there any specific future intentions for the writing (i.e school tests or job application letters etc.). Other important questions to ask oneself are: What should the students be able to produce at the end of this exercise? (a well written letter, basic communication of ideas, etc.) What is the focus of the exercise? (structure, tense usage, creative writing). Once these factors are clear in the mind of the teacher, the teacher can begin to focus on how to involve the students in the activity thus promoting a positive, long-term learning experience.

Having decided on the target area, the teacher can focus on the means to achieve this type of learning. As in correction, the teacher must choose the most appropriate manner for the specified writing area. If formal business letter English is required, it is of little use to employ a free expression type of exercise. Likewise, when working on descriptive language writing skills, a formal letter is equally out of place.

With both the target area and means of production, clear in the teachers mind, the teacher can begin to consider how to involve the students by considering what type of activities are interesting to the students; Are they preparing for something specific such as a holiday or test?, Will they need any of the skills pragmatically? What has been effective in the past? A good way to approach this is by class feedback, or brainstorming sessions. By choosing a topic that involves the students the teacher is providing a context within which effective learning on the target area can be understaken.

Finally, the question of which type of correction will facilitate a useful writing exercise is of utmost importance. Here the teacher needs to once again think about the overall target area of the exercise. If there is an immediate task at hand, such as taking a test, perhaps teacher guided correction is the most effective solution. However, if the task is more general (for example developing informal letter writing skills), maybe the best approach would be to have the students work in groups thereby learning from each other. Most importantly, by choosing the correct means of correction the teacher can encourage rather discourage students.

Strategies to Teach Writing of English for Upper Primary Pupils

By Evelyn Trimborn, eHow Contributor 

updated February 08, 2011

Students should be given writing tasks according to their age and ability.

Writing is one of the main areas of student achievement tested in the upper primary grades to determine whether a student can advance to high school. Writing is assessed according to specific standards within each state. State examination boards require evidence of accomplishment in both imaginative writing and structured composition. There are a number of effective strategies teachers can adopt to help upper primary students become familiar with the different types of writing that will be required of them.

Related Searches:

·         English Language Teaching

·         Creative Writing Ideas

1.       Creative Writing

o    Teachers should give pupils experience in writing short stories, plays and poems. Scripts can be created for radio, stage or television, and students should be aware of the specific differences for each as well as the difference between a script and written dialogue. Encourage the writing of dialogue to give students ample practice in punctuating dialogue correctly. Encourage weaker students to concentrate on expressing their ideas freely and then editing their work afterward rather than letting fear of compositional errors impede their ability to express themselves.

Writing Stories with and without Dialogue

o    Assign titles or themes according to the interests and abilities of the students. Stories can be by genre, such as a ghost story or mystery, or on a theme, such as friendship or the first Thanksgiving. Stories should be written in both the first and third person. Students should show a clear understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of each narrative structure. Students can also experiment with stories that do and or don't include dialogue to see what is gained and lost by each approach. Allow time for planning, writing, editing and revising. Collaborative writing tasks can help maintain interest for students who are not fond of writing.

Transactional Writing

o    Assign students tasks that allow them to create a balanced portfolio of writing for a variety of purposes. Both formal and informal letters are essential, as are letters of complaint and requests for assistance. Instruct students to use the appropriate style and tone for each assignment. Assign memos, science experiment notes and recipes to develop their ability to write in the correct format for each task, and also to help support their writing skills in other subjects. Give weaker students clear examples of what they are expected to accomplish, and give supportive feedback as they work on the task.

Factual Writing

o    An historical timeline of important events, brief biographies, newspaper reports and other types of factual writing will help students learn to report facts accurately and practice organizing their writing into logical sequences of events.

Expository Writing

o    Students should be able to express their own opinions and handle increasingly complex information as they advance through primary school. Essays giving them the opportunity to debate different sides of a question are ideal. Pupils should also be able to integrate a variety of sources into their discussion in a smooth way, with correct punctuation. Book reports, music reviews and literary analysis are all appropriate assignments that allow students to develop an increasingly confident and sophisticated level of writing skills. Offer struggling students specific guidelines for improvement.

Read more: Strategies to Teach Writing of English for Upper Primary Pupils | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7911650_strategies-english-upper-primary-pupils.html#ixzz1fvn5REJA

EPH 3 (Teaching Speaking)

Teaching Speaking

Strategies for Developing Speaking Skills

Students often think that the ability to speak a language is the product of language learning, but speaking is also a crucial part of the language learning process. Effective instructors teach students speaking strategies -- using minimal responses, recognizing scripts, and using language to talk about language -- that they can use to help themselves expand their knowledge of the language and their confidence in using it. These instructors help students learn to speak so that the students can use speaking to learn.

1. Using minimal responses

Language learners who lack confidence in their ability to participate successfully in oral interaction often listen in silence while others do the talking. One way to encourage such learners to begin to participate is to help them build up a stock of minimal responses that they can use in different types of exchanges. Such responses can be especially useful for beginners.

Minimal responses are predictable, often idiomatic phrases that conversation participants use to indicate understanding, agreement, doubt, and other responses to what another speaker is saying. Having a stock of such responses enables a learner to focus on what the other participant is saying, without having to simultaneously plan a response.

2. Recognizing scripts

Some communication situations are associated with a predictable set of spoken exchanges -- a script. Greetings, apologies, compliments, invitations, and other functions that are influenced by social and cultural norms often follow patterns or scripts. So do the transactional exchanges involved in activities such as obtaining information and making a purchase. In these scripts, the relationship between a speaker's turn and the one that follows it can often be anticipated.

Instructors can help students develop speaking ability by making them aware of the scripts for different situations so that they can predict what they will hear and what they will need to say in response. Through interactive activities, instructors can give students practice in managing and varying the language that different scripts contain.

3. Using language to talk about language

Language learners are often too embarrassed or shy to say anything when they do not understand another speaker or when they realize that a conversation partner has not understood them. Instructors can help students overcome this reticence by assuring them that misunderstanding and the need for clarification can occur in any type of interaction, whatever the participants' language skill levels. Instructors can also give students strategies and phrases to use for clarification and comprehension check.

By encouraging students to use clarification phrases in class when misunderstanding occurs, and by responding positively when they do, instructors can create an authentic practice environment within the classroom itself. As they develop control of various clarification strategies, students will gain confidence in their ability to manage the various communication situations that they may encounter outside the classroom.

EPH 3 (Improve Your Reading)

Improve your English through Reading

Josef Essberger
Right now you are reading English. That means that you are using your brain in a very active way. Reading is a very active process. It is true that the writer does a lot of work, but the reader also has to work hard. When you read a text, you have to do some or all of these:

• imagine a scene in your head
• understand clearly what the writer is trying to say
• agree or disagree with the writer

Advantages of Reading

When you learn a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. There are many advantages associated with reading, including:

Learning Vocabulary In Context

You will usually encounter new words when you read. If there are too many new words for you, then the level is too high and you should read something simpler. But if there are, say, a maximum of five new words per page, you will learn this vocabulary easily. You may not even need to use a dictionary because you can guess the meaning from the rest of the text (from the context). Not only do you learn new words, but you see them being used naturally.

A Model For Writing

When you read, it gives you a good example for writing. Texts that you read show you structures and expressions that you can use when you write.

Seeing "Correctly Structured" English

When people write, they usually use "correct" English with a proper grammatical structure. This is not always true when people speak. So, by reading you see and learn grammatical English naturally.

Working At Your Own Speed

You can read as fast or as slowly as you like. You can read ten pages in 30 minutes, or take one hour to explore just one page. It doesn't matter. The choice is yours. You cannot easily do this when speaking or listening. This is one of the big advantages of reading because different people work at different speeds.

Personal Interest

If you choose something to read that you like, it can actually be interesting and enjoyable. For example, if you like to read about football in your own language, why not read about football in English? You will get information about football and improve your English at the same time.

Five Tips for Reading

Tip #1

Try to read at the right level. Read something that you can (more or less) understand. If you need to stop every three words to look in a dictionary, it is not interesting for you and you will soon be discouraged.

Tip #2

Make a note of new vocabulary. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your vocabulary book. But you don't have to write them while you read. Instead, try to guess their meaning as you read; mark them with a pen; then come back when you have finished reading to check in a dictionary and add them to your vocabulary book.

Tip #3

Try to read regularly. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix a time to read and keep to it. For example, you could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up, or at lunchtime.

Tip #4

Be organised. Have everything ready:

• something to read
• a marker to highlight difficult words
• a dictionary
• your vocabulary book
• a pen to write down the new words

Tip #5
Read what interests YOU. Choose a magazine or book about a subject that you like.

Things to Read

Newspapers

You can find English-language newspapers in all large cities around the world. Newspapers are interesting because they are about real life and the news. BUT they are not easy to read. Try reading newspapers if your level is intermediate or above.
Some British newspapers:

• The Telegraph
• The Times
• The Independent
• The Guardian
• The Financial Times (business)
• The Sunday Times

Some American newspapers:

• The International Herald Tribune
• The New York Times
• The Wall Street Journal (business)

Magazines

Some magazines are published weekly, some monthly. You can find English-language magazines in many large cities around the world. If you cannot find the magazine you want in your town, you may be able to order it for delivery. Many magazines have pictures which can help your understanding. You will need an intermediate level for most magazines, but a pre-intermediate level may be ok for some magazines.
There are magazines on every subject:

• Politics
• Sport
• The House
• Cars
• Music
• Romance
• Travel
• Language
• etc

Books

Books are divided mainly into:

• Non-fiction (history, biography, travel, cooking etc)
• Fiction (stories and novels)

Some books are easier to read than others. It often depends on the author. Agatha Christie, for example, wrote in an easier style and with simpler vocabulary than Stephen King. You can buy books in specialised English-language bookshops in large cities around the world. You may also be able to find some English-language books in libraries. And if you have a British Council in your city, you can borrow many English-language books from their library.

Short Stories

Short stories can be a good choice when learning a language because they are...short. It's like reading a whole book in a few pages. You have all the excitement of a story in a book, but you only have to read 5,000 or 10,000 words. So you can quite quickly finish the story and feel that you have achieved something. Short stories are published in magazines, in books of short stories, and on the Internet. You can also find short stories at EnglishClub.com English Reading.

Readers

Readers are books that are specially published to be easy to read. They are short and with simple vocabulary. They are usually available at different levels, so you should be able to find the right level for you. Many readers are stories by famous authors in simple form. This is an excellent way for you to start practising reading.

Cornflakes Packets

By "Cornflakes Packets", we mean any product you can buy that has English writing on or with it. If you buy a box of chocolates, or a new camera, why not read the description or instructions in English? There are many such examples, and they all give you an opportunity to read real English:

• airline tickets
• cans or packets of food
• bottles of drink
• tapes and CDs
• user guides for videos, computers...
• etc

Poetry

If you like poetry, try reading some English-language poems. They may not be easy to understand because of the style and vocabulary, but if you work at it you can usually get an idea - or a feeling - of what the poet is trying to say. You'll find some classic poems, with explanations of vocabulary, atEnglishClub.com English Reading.

10 Ways to Improve Your Mind by Reading the Classics

Written by Editor in Chief, Pick The Brain - 158 Comments
Categories: popular, self improvement

The other day I came across some disturbing statistics on reading. According to a Jenkins Group survey, 42% of college graduates will never read another book. Since most people read bestsellers printed in the past 10 years, it follows that virtually no one is reading the classics. Although it’s unfortunate that the intellectual heritage of humanity is being forgotten we can use this to our benefit. By reading the classics to improve your mind you can give yourself an advantage. These examples illustrate 10 ways reading the classics will help you succeed.

1. Bigger Vocabulary

When reading the classics you’ll come across many words that are no longer commonly used. Why learn words most people don’t use? To set yourself apart. Having a bigger vocabulary is like having a tool box with more tools. A larger arsenal of words enables you to express yourself more eloquently. You’ll be able to communicate with precision and create a perception of higher intelligence that will give you an advantage in work and social situations.

EPH 3 (Learning by Watching Movies)

Watching movies in English

by Tomasz P. Szynalski

English learners have a big advantage over learners of other languages: Hollywood is in America and it makes English-language movies. So, if you know English and you like movies, why don't you watch movies in English? You can have fun and, at the same time, learn a lot of English.

Why watch movies in English

If you are a fan of movies, you will notice that they are much better in the original. Watching a dubbed film will never be as good as watching the original version. Why? Because in the original version, the actor's voices are real. Everything is just like the director imagined.

Learning English by watching movies is learning by input. The learning process is similar. First you get lots of correct English sentences into your head. Then you can imitate them and you can make your own sentences. And isn't that why you are learning English — to be able to make your own sentences? That is why watching movies (just like reading books) is such a great way to learn English.

(You can learn more about how getting correct sentences into your head improves your English in our introduction to input.)

Of course, there are important differences between movies and books. Withbooks, you learn how native speakers write in English. With movies, you learn how they speak English.

·         You learn what words they use. When speaking, native speakers use words and phrases that you often won't find in a book. Spoken language is different from "book language". For example:

Book: The price of five dollars was acceptable, and I decided to purchase it.
Spoken: It was, like, five bucks, so I was like "okay".

In many movies, the dialog is like real spoken English. Movies also let you learn informal and slang words which are not yet in English dictionaries. For example, in a movie you might hear Give me the freaking keys!, but you won't find the word freaking in a dictionary.

·         You learn how they say these words. Movies let you improve yourpronunciation, not only grammar and vocabulary. If you listen to Americans or Britons speaking English, you can learn to speak like them.

·         You learn to understand spoken language. Movies are made fornative speakers, not for learners of English. So the actors talk fast, just like native speakers talk in real life.

How to learn as much as possible

The difficulty of watching movies

You won't learn anything from the movie if you don't understand it. You probably won't enjoy it, either. :-(

This is one big problem with movies: They are much more difficult to understand than books. If you don't understand a word in a book, you can simply look it up in a dictionary, because the word is written there (you know its spelling). With a movie, you sometimes hear something, but you don't know what it is. Sometimes you don't even know if you've heard one word or two. There are other reasons why listening is more difficult than reading, and they all mean one thing: If you want to understand a movie, you have to know a lot of English words — and not only their spelling, but also their pronunciation.

You can greatly improve your vocabulary by reading books, looking upwords in your dictionary, and repeating them with SuperMemo. But even if you read 200 books in English, you would still not understand everything! There will always be some words that you didn't know before. And some of the dialog will be spoken very quickly and unclearly. (You should know that sometimes even Americans can't understand some of the dialog.)

What to do when you don't understand something

If you are playing the movie from tape or DVD, you can stop it whenever you don't understand a sentence. You can then play the sentence many times and perhaps you'll be able to understand all the words in the sentence. If you still don't understand a word or two, you can try to look them up in a dictionary (which is not easy, because you have to guess their spelling!).

Most DVDs let you turn on subtitles. With subtitles, there is no problem with quick or unclear dialog — everything is just written on the screen. It is also easy to look up difficult words in your dictionary, because you know their spelling.

The problem with subtitles is that they make you lazy — you stop listening and concentrate on reading. This is not good if you want to exercise your listening skills. Therefore, you should probably try to watch movies without subtitles. Turn subtitles on only if you're having a hard timeunderstanding the sentences in the movie, and it doesn't help when you listen to them repeatedly.

Movie guides

There is a great alternative to subtitles. ESLnotes.com is a website which has "guides" to popular movies. A guide is a list of over 100 difficult sentences from a movie with explanations. (Here is an example guide to The Graduate.)

Now the most important thing: You first read the explanations; then you watch the movie. So, when you're watching the film, you already know the necessary vocabulary!

EPH 3 (Listening to Music)

Listening to Music Helps Students Be More Productive in The Classroom

Elona Hartjes, Ontario Certified Teacher

I was looking through Friday’s Globe And Mail (C2) when this headline caught my attention; “If music be the food of work, play on.” I read the article with interest.

Workers are more turned on by tuning in to music, a survey finds.

Nearly one-third -32 per cent- of 1,613 U.S. employees said they listen to music while working through the use of an iPod, MP3 player or similar device.

And 79 per cent of them said all that humming along improves their job satisfaction or productivity, the survey conducted by Harris Interactive for staffing company Spheron Corp. found.

The effect of music was the highest among younger workers, with 90 per cent of those 18 to 24 and 89 per cent of those 30 to 39 saying it boosted job satisfaction.

That finding didn’t surprise me one bit. As a teacher, I’ve known that for years. Listening to music helps improve productivity. Why? One reason is because music acts like white noise in the background preventing students from noticing every other little noise that usually distracts them. Some kids can’t tune out things like a pencil dropping or someone asking a question. Their brain takes everything in; consequently, they are often distracted and off task in the classroom.

Just so there is no confusion here, I want to say that I do not advocate listening to music during a lesson when the teacher is teaching or during class discussions. During these times students need to be attentive listeners and listen  to what is going on in the class.

Of course there have to be some guidelines for this to work effectively. I’ve learned the hard way.(Have you noticed, I seem to say that often?) After discussing using music as a tool to assist with concentration and focus, I give student these guidelines (well, they’re actually rules, but “guidelines” sound so much better. Some of my at risk students have trouble with rules. It’s all how you say it. I’ve learned that the hard way, too) These are the guidelines:

1. Listen to music that you know and love. Listening to new, unfamiliar music is distracting (your brain focuses on the new) and that defeats the purpose.

2. Listen to your own music on your own iPod, Mp3 player etc. Absolutely no sharing. Sharing wastes time and causes commotion that is distracting to other students and that defeats the purpose.

3. Listen to your music after I have taught the lesson. Listening to music while I am teaching distracts you from what I am saying and that defeats the purpose.

My students are cool about the whole music thing in class. They understand the need for guidelines and usually don’t push too often. It’s amazing to see the kids hooked up to their music and working away, doing far more while listening to their music than they would without listening to their music.
When I create an Individual Education Plan for my Learning Disabled or Behaviour students, if I believe that listening to music while working will help that student be more successful, I will include that accommodation in the I.E.P. and share that with the student’s teachers

Focus Better by Listening to Music

Written by Editor in Chief, Pick The Brain

I know this idea isn’t ground breaking, but it’s a technique that I know to work from personal experience. Since I discovered it two years ago, I’ve used music to get through boring work or focus creatively almost everyday. I’ve found that it can make even the dullest jobs enjoyable and help clear mental blocks to creativity.

I first noticed the beneficial effects of music while playing video games. It was a few days after Christmas 2005 and I was playing Halo 2 online. My parents had just given me a new Ipod, so I decided to listen to music through the headphones while I played. After a few minutes I noticed a distinct change in my style of play. I was playing more naturally. Rather than hesitating, I made decisions based on instinct. The music relaxed me, and to a certain extent distracted me from the game, allowing my subconscious talent to come through. The music also helped me block out the outside world. With those headphones on I was like a machine, moving from one task to the next without unnecessary thought or action.

Pascal said that we enjoy music because it causes us to count without our knowing it. I believe this is also what causes music to increase focus and creativity. Even if we aren’t paying close attention, our brain counts each note and change of rhythm. This counting occupies the part of the mind that hinders our creative abilities. Like a soothing lullaby, music puts the worrisome unfocused part of the mind to sleep so the productive side can get to work.

Music can also have a profound effect on mood. If I’m in a bad mood at work I’ll put on some Bob Marley and get down to business. It always takes my mind off what I’m doing and makes me a happier person. The same is true for classic rock. One summer I worked a terrible job manually assembling bottle openers and renovating an old barn. Without a radio playing classic rock in the background I would have hated life. It depends on your particular tastes, but listening to music with soothing rhythms and a positive message helps you forget your work and think happy thoughts.

For focusing on a creative task, I’ve found that listening to music without lyrics is most effective. There are no words to abruptly grab your attention and instrumental music tends to have the most compelling melody and composition. The dashing enthusiasm of Mozart or Beethoven enhances the speed and agility of creative thought.

When I’m writing I always have my Ipod handy. If I have trouble concentrating because of outside distractions or my own scatterbrain, I put on some classical music. This relaxes my mind, blocks outside noise, and helps organize my thoughts. Mozart works very well, and I’ve heard this is because his rhythms resonate with human brain waves. Whether this is true or not, classical music is a great tool for increasing concentration and productivity.

The results you see will depend heavily on your personal tastes. Experiment with the types of music you listen to during certain tasks. Through trial and error you’ll eventually discover your optimal soundtrack. I’m always looking for new concentration aids, so I’d love to know what type of music or other technique works best for you. It might not seem like a big deal, but listening to music can change your state of mind, causing changes in mood and productivity. Using music as a tool is an easy thing anyone can do to make themselves smarter and happier.