1. TYL Week 4: Teaching Writing

2. Agenda Very Young Learners: Older Young Learners: Writing Videos
Short writing activities
Older Young Learners:
Running Dictation
Description Guessing Game
Accordion Story
Stories with Fun Prompts

3. How can you teach Very Young Learners (VYLs) to write?
Letters
Phonics: Put letters together into words
Memorizing words (sight words and other common words)
Sentence frames

4. Writing instruction: Elementary ESL in America

5. Annenberg Videos (Stretchy Activities)

6. Take notes as you watch.

7. Think, Pair, Share
Which activities could you see yourself using in the future?
Why would you want to use them? What’s their value?

8. “Stretchy” Activities
Activities that you can recycle every day or week with different EFL themes
Shared Reading
Shared Writing
Writer’s Workshop / Journal Writing

9. Poster session!

10. Poster Session Ideas for Very Young Learners: Write Around the Room
Making Lists
Labeling
Sticker Stories

11. Older young learners

12. Running Dictation A “stretchy” activity

13. Directions 1) Partner A = Runner 2) Partner B = Writer
3) Runner = Read and tell writer
4) Writer = Write it!
5) Finished? Guess the answers together and write them!

14. Follow Up Have groups write the riddles on the board.
Check for grammar and spelling
Take away the texts and have students re-create the riddles from memory

15. Other Versions
The students don’t read the riddles—you whisper them to them (listening, speaking, writing)

16. Let’s Talk! How can we adjust this activity . . .
For different skills and subjects? (Grammar, pronunciation, etc.)
For different ages?
For different English levels?
Use for grammar or pronunciation
Minimal Pairs: Cheap chips made him really ill.

17. Accordion Add on Story

18. Directions Get in groups of 8 people.
You’ll each write one part of a story on each flap of an accordion.
You can’t look at what the others wrote.
In the end, we’ll read your stories!

19. What to write

20. Guess the picture a “stretchy” activity

21. Directions Choose a picture. Write a 2 sentence description
Shh! It’s a secret!
Write a 2 sentence description
of the picture.
Don’t be too obvious.
Read your description to a partner.
Your partner will guess which picture you’re describing.

22. # # #3

23. Let’s Talk! How can we adjust this activity . . .
For different skills, subjects, and topics?
For different ages?
For different English levels?

24. Differentiate For lower students For higher students
Sentence frames (She is wearing ____, She has ____, She is _____)
Pre-teach the necessary vocabulary; label the pictures
Write fewer sentences
For higher students
Give advanced sentence frames (compound sentences)
Pre-teach advanced vocabulary (floral, polka dots)
Write more sentences

25. Story prompts

26. Write a story using prompts

27. Write a story using pictures as a prompt

28. What’s wrong with the photograph—describe it
What’s wrong with the photograph—describe it. Write a story—how did this happen? What will happen next?

29. Homework
Assignment Page = Back of Handout
Mid-Term