Tag Archives: writing

Error Awareness Chart in Written Production

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Glaring, serious, minor, common, grammatical, spelling, typing errors. Who doesn’t make them?

I must admit that I don’t dedicate as much time in class to honing my students’  writing skills as I should. Even if it is only for 30 or 35 minutes, assigning my pupils a writing assignment in class tends to disrupt the lesson’s flow. So, my students probably don’t write enough, but this is about to change. Well, in fact, I have already taken steps to make it happen.

But more important than making them write is the instructions I should be giving them to help them get better at this skill, and that includes many things, from using the newly acquired vocabulary and structures in a sort of guided writing to making them reflect on their errors. And it is this last part, making students aware of their errors, that has prompted me to write this post.

The truth is that it is not the first time I have tried some strategies to make my students reflect on their written errors  (you can read all about it here) but after reading a brilliant post by Gianfranco Conti and inspired by his own error awareness chart, I have decided to try something similar and see how it works.

Below, you can see the chart I have designed. I am sharing with you two links.

  1. View Link
  2. Template link: where you will be able to edit my titles and fully modify them.

Error Awareness Chart by cristina.cabal

So, what’s the idea?

  • First, the usual stuff: you give your students a written assignment, they hand it in, you spend an awful lot of time correcting their mistakes, and then, hand it back to them. So far, so good.
  • Now, together with their marked written work, give them a copy of the chart below and explain how, hopefully, the chart is going to help them improve their writing skills.
  • The first time, you will need to go through the list of errors on the left. Make sure they understand what each error refers to.  Tell them the numbers 1-9 in this chart correspond to the different essays they will be handing in throughout the year.
  • So, say it is Essay 1. Students will have a look at their mistakes and put a tick in the boxes where they have made a mistake.

For example, they should tick the box Subject-Verb Agreement if one of their errors is                                                         People makes difficult decisions

And the box   if they write something like: He went at home

This same procedure is repeated every time you hand back a marked written assignment. This strategy does not guarantee immediate success. That would be wishful thinking. Success at writing is something students must work on. And hard.

 

 

 

 

Would Rather: Introducing, Revising and Reinforcing

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This is not the first time I’ve shared a lesson on using Would Rather to express a preference, but this lesson is also an excuse to share some of the tricks (also called activities 😊) I keep up my sleeve to engage my students and make them enjoy learning; because they/ we deserve to have fancy, engaging, dynamic lessons even if what needs to be explained is as dull as ditch water.

I strongly support the use of visuals in the class to create stimulating lessons. I know creating your own content takes time. But it pays off. Trust me on this one!

FIRST SESSION
INTRODUCING THE TARGET LANGUAGE. PRESENTATION.

I have introduced Would Rather presenting students with some slides and some visual prompts and asking them to provide the questions based on the images.

Some help might be needed, at least, for the first two slides. Encourage students to describe their preferences in pairs, even if it’s a guided assignment.

Target grammar:

  • Question: Would you rather read a book or watch TV?
  • Answer: I’d rather read a book than watch TV because…

Would Rather Introduction de cristina.cabal

GRAMMAR AND EXERCISES
SECOND SESSION

The two activities that follow are meant to be done the following day in order to revise and reinforce this content.

REVISING AND REINFORCING: VIDEO, INTERACTIVE GRAMMAR, FLIP CARDS GAME

(NOTE FOR TECH ENTHUSIASTS)  This beautiful activity has been created with @Genial.ly.  First I created the video, published it on YouTube, and then embedded it on Genial.ly. Then, I used the Template to create the Flipcards.

  • Revise with the video (1st slide)
  • Revise with the matching grammar (2nd slides)
  • Flip Cards Game (following slides). To be used in the game that follows.
FLIPCARDS GAME. Rewriting with Would Rather.  Using Dry-Erase Boards

1. Pair learners and give each pair a dry-erase board and a whiteboard marker.
2. Show the first sentence and ask students to rewrite it using Would Rather
3. Depending on the length or difficulty of the sentence, set a different time limit.
4. Once the pair have their sentence, ask them to write it on the board, big enough for you to see from a distance.
5. When the time is up, ask the pairs to hold it up and quickly go through all the sentences, awarding 1 point to the pair who has the correct grammar.
6. The winner is the pair that get the most points.

Note: Be strict with spelling mistakes or any other tiny mistakes. Students love it when you are strict and don’t give away points easily.

Follow-up: Revise all the sentences again, but this time orally.

SPEAKING: BOARD GAME

This board game has all the ingredients of a good game:

  • Reinforces grammar
  • Boosts communicative skills
  • Improves writing skills
  • Builds rapport
  • + Combines technology with traditional props: in this case, a huge die  (there is a built-in die on the board, so don’t worry if you don’t have this beautiful red die; it is just that I love mixing both worlds.

And here’s the board. As you can see,

  • There are 3 draggable counters.
  • To see the prompts, you need to click on the number.
  • As you can read in the Instructions, if they land on a square with the question GIF, students will need to write a “would you rather” question for the teacher. Yes, you need to answer, it is only fair!!!

 

Hope you have enjoyed this lesson plan. My students have! 🙂

Sentence Translation? Yes, but Gambling

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Ready for a fun, challenging collaborative activity? Here we go!

If you are thinking translation activities are boring, as I might have in the past, I am here to show you how wrong you are 🙂 . They can be fun and engaging, but most importantly, they help put the focus on structures or vocabulary students are struggling with.  I can almost guarantee learning success as long as you go over the translated sentences once the activity is finished. That’s key for fixing the target language.

This activity, which is really an adaptation of the game Sentence Betting, is easily one of my favourites when giving my students a writing activity. For 5 reasons:

  • All the class is involved
  • It focuses on specific problems
  • Students work collaboratively
  • It is fun and simple, but effective
  • it works well with any level.

Level: Any level

PREPARATION

  • Sentences. Prepare some sentences to be translated in advance. I would suggest 5-6 sentences.
  • Slips of paper. Fold a regular sheet of paper horizontally and cut it in half. You will get two slips of paper (This is a good opportunity to recycle the back of spare photocopies). Cut as many as you need bearing in mind that each group will need as many slips of paper as sentences you will give them to translate, ie, if you are going to ask them to translate 5 sentences, each group will need 5 slips of paper.

MATERIALS

  • Optional Money notes or Points. You can really play the game without money, but if you want to download some fake money, you can find it here. Alternatively, they can bet points.  All teams start with €1,000 or points.
  • The Betting Grid. Well, this will be later, to keep score, but it never hurts to know. On the board, draw a grid like the one in the picture below. This will help you keep score of the money teams win or lose.
  • A timer: to monitor the time. It is a good idea to display a timer so that students know the time they are allotted. Online, here

Time: about 20 minutes

THE ACTIVITY

The idea is to give students some writing practice, focusing on specific grammar or vocabulary in the form of sentences to translate. I like to give them a mix of easier sentences and more challenging ones. They will work collaboratively in groups and once they have translated the sentence within their groups, they will have to bet a sum of money depending on how confident they feel about their translation. They can win or lose this money. All teams will start with €1000,(choose the currency)

HOW TO PLAY

  1. Divide your class into small teams of two or three people. Give each team a number or a letter (Team 1, Team 2) or let them choose their own name.
  2. In advance, tell the class how many sentences they will need to translate.
  3. Explain you will give them one sentence at a time to translate, in my case in Spanish, and their aim will be to collaboratively, in their groups, translate the sentence.
  4. Not all the sentences pose the same difficulty, so the time allotted to translate the sentence will vary depending on the difficulty. Before they start translating a sentence, inform them of the time they have. It is always a good idea to display a digital timer on the board.
  5. Have groups write their sentences on the slip of paper clearly writing their Team number, letter or name.
  6. Once the time is up,
  • Ask Teams to bet money (or points) depending on how confident they feel about their translation. Write their bet on the board next to their Team number, letter or name.
  • Instruct someone in each team to hold the slip of paper containing the translated sentence up. Quickly go through all the translated sentences, adding the money/points they have bet if the sentence is correct and losing this money/points if the sentence is incorrect.
  • It is really helpful if you appoint a student to add scores on the board.

Note: Be strict with spelling mistakes or any other tiny mistakes. Students love it when you are strict and don’t give away the points easily.

  • Continue until all the sentences have been translated, at which point the team with the most points wins! Make sure the final question is challenging, it adds to the fun when there are two or more top teams!

Follow-up

Revision is a crucial phase in the process of fixing content. Once the activity is finished, do some oral retrieval practice. Read the sentences aloud, one by one, and have students orally translate them.

Want to reinforce? Repeat the activity the next day. I mean, the follow-up activity  🙂

Rewordify: Simplifying Text and Much, Much More

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Looking for a time-saver? Here’s one! Free, online and you don’t even have to register. It simplifies a difficult text but can also work with the original text; it has a clickable built-in dictionary, the possibility of listening to the pronunciation of highlighted words and automatically provides a variety of printable activities based on the vocabulary of the text.

Rewordify, what else?

Imagine the following scenario:

  • The problem: You come across an interesting article about Queen Elizabeth II, such as this one from the BBC, but… it’s too challenging to give your students.
  • The solution: Go to Rewordify and paste your text  into the yellow box. Click Rewordify text.  Done!

Is it too simple? Do you need a more difficult version of the text? Would you prefer to see the highlighted words in a different colour? Would you rather see the original text and the revised text in two separate columns? No problem! Just choose your preference by going to Settings in the upper right corner.

  • The problem: you have a text that needs to be worked on but…you don’t want to rewordify it.  You’d like to work with the original text, click a word and read the definition and, there’s no harm in asking, also hear how the highlighted words t are pronounced
  • The solution: Select Display mode from the Settings menu, then choose the second choice: Don’t reword words/tap to see the definition.

More?

  • The problem: Yes, Cristina. I agree, it’s an awesome tool! Pronunciation, definitions etc… But, I need my students to work a bit on the vocabulary and do some exercises and I don’t really have much time to prepare these activities.
  • The solution: Click on Print/learning activities and explore all the printable activities Rewordify offers you. A cloze text? No problem! A multiple choice quiz? Easy!!

Have a look below at all the possibilities

 

But that’s not everything Rewordify can do for you: If you need your students to work on Parts of Speech, Rewordify has you covered, too. To top it all, it’s free and online and you don’t even have to register. ( I know, I  have already said this at the very beginning of the post but there is no harm in repeating it, I guess) 🙂

PD: as always, this is not a sponsored post; I only write about what works for me.

 

Writing: 5 Useful Exam Tips

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I get it. Writing test. These two words don’t look super inviting or inspiring, but trust me, if you follow these tips, it might help you pass or, at least, enhance your writing skills.

I think we have already discussed here at length my obsession with using the vocabulary and structures that I teach in class. That’s non-negotiable. You have to use them. So, I am not going to beat about the bush here and I am going to state the obvious, the two most important tips are:  study and practise. As much as you can. But you already know that, don’t you?

Once we have agreed on these two tips, these are the ones I give my own students. Some students follow them. Some don’t. Some try  🙂

 

Don’t start writing straight away. Spend about 10 minutes getting ready. You might grow anxious and think this is a waste of time. It is not. In fact, in my humbe opinion, it should be mandatory. Use these 10 minutes to plan what you are going to say and how you are going to say it.

So, you are given the task. Now what?  

  1. Identify the task. It is very important to read the information in the task carefully, underlining any keywords or any questions you are being asked to answer. Identify the topic: is it about sports, work, holidays?
  2. Identify the audience. Who is going to read it and what language do you need to use? Can you use informal language because it is an informal email or maybe a post for a blog or do you have to use formal language because it is a formal letter or email or maybe a report? 

Now that we have clearly identified the topic and the kind of task we have been asked to fulfil, spend some time doing some brainstorming.

Ask for some draft paper and brainstorm…

  1. Vocabulary. Make a list of all the specific vocabulary you remember about the topic (that includes phrasal verbs, collocations, idioms…, etc) The teacher will be looking for specific vocabulary related to the topic. Make sure you use a wide range of vocabulary. As you start writing, find a way to naturally introduce this vocabulary.
  2. Grammar. Make a list of all the grammar and structures you want to use. The teacher will be looking for a wide range of grammar and structures adequate to the required level, but make sure you sound natural and communicate clearly. If you overuse structures or “force” the use of others just to show off, it might have the opposite effect, as it might be inappropriate and possibly confusing.  For example, if in this course you have learned perfect modals – might have worked- try to use them in your essay;  or if you have learned inversions, try to use them, but do not use 3 or 4 inversions just because you know them. It would not sound natural.
  3. Connectors and Linkers. Make a list of connectors and linkers you want to use to contrast different points of view or join ideas. Remember that you will be required to elaborate on your ideas. Words such as “ and” or “but” are fine, but you are not going to impress the examiner by using these very simple linkers. 
  4. Ideas. Finally, brainstorm ideas and choose the strongest ones and the ones you feel most confident developing.

Clear paragraphs. Now you are ready to begin writing your draft. Organize your essay into clear paragraphs 

  • Introduction
  • Body ( here you can have 2, 3 or more paragraphs)
  • Conclusion

A good idea might be to start each paragraph with a strong idea and then elaborate on it,  making sure you back your idea or opinion with reasons and examples. 

New idea, new paragraph.

Have you written your draft? Awesome! Now, reread it and consider adding:

–Adjectives to add colour to your work. For example, if you are describing a house, you can write “an elegant house” or “a red-brick house”; if you are writing about “work”, you can modify it by saying “ challenging work” or “rewarding job”. My favourite website for this is Ozdic

–Adverbs:  you might want to introduce some sophisticated adverbs such as: remarkably, noticeably…etc

-Strong collocations: have some up your sleeve in case you have the chance to use them. For example: take for granted, draw an audience…etc

Carefully proofread your essay before handing it in. Make sure you check your work to avoid making obvious mistakes:

  • spelling mistakes
  • subject-verb agreement
  • singular-plural agreement,
  • punctuation …etc

Llast tip? Read it to yourself. If it sounds confusing to you, imagine how it would sound to the teacher. You still have time to rephrase what is not clear.

Now you are ready to write your essay on the exam sheet. Be extra careful when copying from the draft. I have found that students when copying from the draft if in a hurry, tend to make spelling mistakes. After all this effort, you don’t want to do that. 

I hope these tips help you and you score high on the writing test. Best of luck!