Paragraph Writing, Week 1 Introductions and Comparing Eid in Morocco and Oman

Overview In this first class meeting, there are two goals. The first is to get a “baseline” measure of each student’s writing ability. Students will be asked to write a simple paragraph in which they introduce themselves, giving their names, where they live, where their family comes from, and telling why they are interested in English. The second goal is a simple writing task in which students compare and contrast information about Eid Al Adha in Morocco and Oman. Students will brainstorm as a whole class the customs of Eid in Morocco. One quarter of the class will each read a different news article on Eid in Oman and report to the whole class differences and similarities. The students will order these differences, write a single topic sentence as a class, and then practice writing sentences using comparative and contrastive structures.

First Hour Introductions to the class; description of the overall course and syllabus. Ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and write a single paragraph introducing themselves. The paragraph should include: The student’s name; Part of town he/she lives in; Where his/her family is from (Rabat, Sale, or other) Why the student is interested in English; What is the student’s career goal? Collect these papers; make sure every student writes his/her name.

Second Hour Put a chart on the board that looks like the one on the right. Have students brainstorm Eid customs in Morocco. Ask students if they think Eid is the same everywhere; discuss. Distribute one reading per section to four sections of the class (four sections each have a different reading). Students are to read in pairs to look for similarities and difference between Eid in Morocco and Oman. Share differences; record on the board. Eid in MoroccoSimilarities with OmanDifferences with Oman

Second Hour, Cont’d. Discuss how to compare and contrast these (horizontally or vertically), i.e., all the similarities first, then all the differences; or group by topic (food, money, clothes) and name similarities and differences. Write one topic sentence to begin the paragraph; explore as a class how to use comparative and contrastive structures: Structures for contrast: Although…, ; …., but ….; on one hand…., but on the other….; Whereas …., ….. Structures for comparison: Both….; Just as…., ….; …..; similarly, ….; As in Morocco, …. Assign students to take notes and write a paragraph of their own for next week.