Writing No More Worries
By JOHNNY TIANG KAH HOE (A126075)
Writing is an essential skill required by the students in order to express themselves in their learning. However, generally, writing is claimed to be the most difficult among the four language skills (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening).
“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” Joseph Heller, an American satirical novelist, short story writer and playwright.
This essay will discuss why it is important to have writing in elementary and secondary school. Besides, an image adapted from http://www.squidoo.com/FreeWriting which consists of the writing rules that one will ever need in his or her writing.
The most important reason for teaching writing is to enable the students to learn a target language more deeply. Writing requires students to understand the topic given. Besides, it involves the use of vocabulary and grammar. Thus, having writing tasks in a language class will encourage the students to apply what they have been taught in the class.
Secondly, writing is important in aiding teachers and parents to identify the students’ weaknesses in the target language. At the same time, the students’ writing can serve as records for themselves. They can look back and see clearly their own progress in language learning.
There are many rules in writing that proposed by the expertise in teaching writing. It is hard to explain them all. Thus, I would like to share with you an interesting image that I came across recently. It claimed that there are only 12.5 rules in writing that we will ever need.
12.5 ????
Image adapted from:http://www.squidoo.com/FreeWriting
Tips on HOW to make literature INTERESTING to students
One of the challenges that English teachers face is making literature interesting for their students. Often the material is old, as in Shakespeare, or it is confusing, as in Whitman. There are ways to teach literature without your students falling asleep at their desks. Here are a few tips to waking them up.
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- Bring literature to life. Have the students perform the story they are reading. Assign each student a role to play. They must study that character carefully. This activity engages the student in the material, which is essential in holding their interest.
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Have the students create artwork. They can draw maps, paint scenes, make a character collage, build a story website or build a model of a setting in the literature. Again, the key is to have them connect to the material.
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Play games. There are plenty of games you can adapt to the literature text you are studying. You can adapt Jeopardy, hangman, Wheel of Fortune or just about any other game show you have seen on TV. Another great idea is to have the students themselves create a game that fits the text you are studying.
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Assign the students to be Teacher for the Day. Put the students in groups, and assign each group a section of the literature being studied. The group will be responsible for teaching the class the assigned section.
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Write it out. Assign each student a character from the book and have them write letters to the author, discussing the story. They can ask the author questions and comment on the story. Another way to have them write about the story is to keep an online blog that discusses the literature they study throughout the school year.
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Laugh a lot. Nothing makes literature more boring than a teacher who reads the material in a monotone. Much of literature is very amusing, and you should encourage the students to laugh with the author.
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Participate in the above activities! Students love it when their teacher joins in.
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Ask the principal if you can display the students’ artwork in the hallway or library, or if your students can perform their play in during an assembly.
English No More Worries 