September (3)

o Remedial and Enrichment Activities for Developing ...

o Lesson Planning
o Planning for Teaching Writing
August (4)
o Assessing Writing Skill
o Selection & Adaptation of Materials and Activities...
o Selection & Adaptation of Materials and Activities...
o Selection & Adaptation of Materials and Activities...
July (12)
o Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - using con...
o Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - all langu...
o Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - readings
o Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - pictures
o Genre Approach to Teaching Writing
o Process Approach to Teaching Writing
o Product Approach to Teaching Writing
o Developmental Writing - Cohesion
o Developmental Writing - Text Organization
o Developmental Writing - Spelling and Dictation
o Early Writing - Paragraph Writing
o Early Writing - Sentence Building
June (3)
o Writing readiness - PENMANSHIP
o Writing readiness - MECHANICS
o Nature and Purpose of Writing

Nature and Purpose of Writing

What is writing?
activity of making letters or numbers on a surface, especially using a pen or a pencil. (Oxford
Advanced Learners Dictionary, 2010)
Writing is a system of letters
(i.e. a, b, c, z) used in interpersonal communication. Usually, writing is done on flat surfaces such
as Paper, Cloth n Stone slabs
Writing is usually learned through systematic instruction, for eg: Formally (in schools) Informally
(taught by parents at home)

Purpose of writing
1. To get things done
i.e. Homework, assignment
2. To inform
Writing a memo, writing formal letters to explain absence from school, etc.
3. To persuade
To disseminate information which will bring about certain behaviourchanges among the readers.
To convince the reader to agree with and/or accept it.
Eg: health-related brochures
4. To maintain relationships
Writing informal letters to family members, friends, pen-pals, etc
5. To document occurrences, events, etc
Writing journals, log books, diaries
6. To record feelings, experiences, observations, or to express feelings, etc
Writing journals, log books, diaries, etc OR
As a form of self-expression in which the writer expresses his opinion, views or personal thoughts
(i.e. readers opinion column in the newspaper or personal blogs in the internet)




References
1. Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S. & Teh, S.C. (2005). ELT methodology principles and practice. Selangor:
Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.
2. Meyers, A. (2003). Writing with confidence. USA: Addison Wesley Longman.
3. http://www.pflugervilleisd.net/curriculum/ela/grade6/documents/PurposesforWriting.pdf


Early Writing - Sentence Building

Three aspects of sentences that should be of focus to teachers and pupils:
1. Sentences have meaning of their own interpretation of sentence varies according to its role in
the text .
2. The same idea can be expressed in more than one way, thus, choosing the most appropriate
pattern for the purpose is very important.
3. There are situations where one or two sentences is all that is required for an act of
communication
important when dealing with young learners with limited vocabulary; they can still communicate.

Purpose of Sentence Building
Sentences have the power to captivate, entertain, motivate, educate, and, most importantly, delight
readers
To learn the correct structures of the sentences
To develop flow of thoughts / expressing ideas
A start for longer piece of work

Early Writing - Paragraph Writing

What is a Paragraph?
A paragraph is a group of sentences that tells about one subject or area.
Each sentence in a paragraph must give information about the topic

Reasons to write a paragraph
Describe something
Tell a story
Explain something
To Persuade

Parts of a paragraph
topic sentence:
States the main idea of the paragraph. It tells the reader what the paragraph will be about.

supporting details:
Sentences that are connected to the main idea. They include information or details the reader needs in
order to understand the topic. Sentences should be ordered in the best possible order. 3 main ways to
do this is either by time, location or importance.

closing statements:
Sums up the paragraphs message. It reminds the readers of the topic.


Topic Sentence
What is the topic sentence?
The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph.
What does it do?
It introduces the main idea of the paragraph.
How do I write one?
Summarize the main idea of your paragraph. Indicate to the reader what your paragraph will be about.
Example:
There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an
excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price.


Supporting Details
What are supporting sentences?
They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph.

What do they do?
They give details to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

How do I write them?
You should give supporting facts, details, and examples.

Example:
There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an
excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price.
Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers
and are encouraged to continue studying at university.


Closing Sentence
What is the closing sentence?
The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph.
What does it do?
It restates the main idea of your paragraph.
How do I write one?
Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different words.

Example:
There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an
excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price.
Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are
encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed.
Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable
place to live.
Developmental Writing - Spelling and Dictation

What is spelling?
The act of forming words correctly from individual letters (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2010)

Teaching Spelling
Teachers should focus on :
1. Teaching the most common words.
2. Developing visual memory for shapes of words.
3. Developing relevant dictionary skills.
4. Helping pupils devise ways of helping themselves to remember common but trouble words.

What is Dictation?
The act of speaking or reading so that somebody can write down the words.
(Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2010)

Why use Dictation?
1. Dictation is a natural way to teach proper spelling to a child. The words are meaningful because
they are taken from the childs schoolbooks. They are also learned in context, rather than list form,
which aids the child in remembering how to spell the word.
2. To practice newly learned words in context.
3. To test mastery of a spelling pattern or rule.
4. To review old spelling words in a meaningful way.
5. Teachers can model listening to a sound and writing the associated letter.
6. It allows us to model that speech can be written down and read back.

Advantages of Dictation
Speeds up the writing process because you might forget the whole content if you write it slowly
Good way to input written notes, taken at a meeting, lecture or seminar.
Steps for Dictation












References:
1.ModuleTSL 3107 Teaching of Writing skills In the Primary ESL Classroom
2.http://www.spellingcity.com/importance-of-spelling.html
3.http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/dictation/
4.http://www.school-for-champions.com/writing/dictation.htm
5.http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/how-to-use-dictation-to-improve-spelling
6.http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/2009/07/teaching-spelling-through-studied.html

Developmental Writing - Text Organization
Why do we teach text organization?
Many teachers assume that a student who can read narrative texts well will be able to read
expository texts well.
Many students have problems comprehending expository text because they cant see the
basic structure of text. (Dymock,2005)
Text comprehension is improved when students can recognize the underlying structure of
text (Williams, 2005).
Awareness" of text structure helps students understand global ideas, or main
theses (Seidenberg, 1989;Weaver & Kintsch, 1991)
Students are more likely to remember and interpret the ideas they encounter when they read
What to teach?







Developmental Writing - Cohesion
What is Cohesion?
Cohesion concerns the flow of sentences and paragraphs from one to another. It involves the tying
together of old information and new.
Cohesion is how sentences and parts of sentences link together.
When we write academic essays, particularly in the humanities, we work hard to foster cohesion
structurally, which enhances a reader's understanding of our ideas.
Cohesion helps your reader to follow the structure of your writing.
It is important that your writing is well-structured, according to the expected logical order of English
writing.
Your ideas should be divided into well-connected paragraphs which contain well-connected sentences.

Coherence and Cohesion
Coherence refers to the overall connectedness of the ideas in a piece of writing.
A piece of writing is COHERENT if it is clearly organised and has a logical sequence of ideas.
Cohesion refers more specifically to connections between sentences.
A paragraph of section of text is COHESIVE if the sentences are well-structured, well-linked
together and there is no unnecessary repetition.

Ways to show Cohesion
Transition from old information to new
Place known information at the beginning of each sentence and place new information at the end of each
sentence.
The new information that is placed at the end of the first sentence then becomes known information to be
placed at the beginning of the next sentence.
Example: From the moment you wake each morning to the moment you fall asleep again at night, your life is
filled with choices. Your first choice is when to get up

Summary words
Instead of beginning the next sentence with the same or a similar word to the one with which the previous
sentence ended, you begin the new sentence with a word that summarises several words in the previous
sentence or the whole idea.
The summary word is usually used together with a reference word such as this or these.
Examples:
At any one point in time, there is a fixed amount of labour, land, capital, and entrepreneurship. These
resources can be used to produce goods and services
Thematic consistency
The theme of a sentence is the word or phrase that begins the sentence.
If the sentence beginnings all relate to the main idea of the paragraph, it is easier for the reader to focus
on that idea.
Examples: Scarcity is not poverty. The poor and the rich both face scarcity. A child wants a 75 cent can of
soft drink and a 50 cent chocolate bar but has only $1 in her pocket. She experiences scarcity. Faced with scarcity,
we must choose among the available alternatives
Product Approach to Teaching Writing
What is Product Approach?







Product Approach Stages








Process Approach to Teaching Writing
What is process approach?
The process approach treats all writing as a creative act which requires time and positive feedback to be
done well. In process writing, the teacher moves away from being someone who sets students a writing topic
and receives the finished product for correction without any intervention in the writing process itself
(British Council, 2003)


The changing roles of teacher and students
The teacher needs to move away from being a marker to a reader, responding to the content of student
writing more than the form. Students should be encouraged to think about audience: Who is the writing for?
What does this reader need to know? Students also need to realise that what they put down on paper can be
changed: Things can be deleted, added, restructured, reorganised, etc.


What stages are there in a process approach to writing?
Although there are many ways of approaching process writing, it can be broken down into three stages:

Pre-writing
The teacher needs to stimulate students' creativity, to get them thinking how to approach a writing topic. In
this stage, the most important thing is the flow of ideas, and it is not always necessary that students
actually produce much (if any) written work. If they do, then the teacher can contribute with advice on how
to improve their initial ideas.

Focusing ideas
During this stage, students write without much attention to the accuracy of their work or the organisation.
The most important feature is meaning. Here, the teacher (or other students) should concentrate on the
content
of the writing. Is it coherent? Is there anything missing? Anything extra?

Evaluating, structuring and editing
Now the writing is adapted to a readership. Students should focus more on form and on producing a finished
piece of work. The teacher can help with error correction and give organisational advice.


Classroom activities
Here are some ideas for classroom activities related to the stages above:
Pre-writing
Brainstorming
Getting started can be difficult, so students divided into groups quickly produce words and ideas about the
writing.
Planning
Students make a plan of the writing before they start. These plans can be compared and discussed in groups
before writing takes place.
Generating ideas
Discovery tasks such as cubing (students write quickly about the subject in six different ways - they:
1. describe it 2. compare it 3. associate it 4. analyze it 5. apply it 6. argue for or against it.
Questioning
In groups, the idea is to generate lots of questions about the topic. This helps students focus upon audience
as they consider what the reader needs to know. The answers to these questions will form the basis to the
composition.
Discussion and debate
The teacher helps students with topics, helping them develop ideas in a positive and encouraging way.

Focusing ideas
Fast writing
The students write quickly on a topic for five to ten minutes without worrying about correct
language or punctuation. Writing as quickly as possible, if they cannot think of a word they leave a
space or write it in their own language. The important thing is to keep writing. Later this text is
revised.
Group compositions
Working together in groups, sharing ideas. This collaborative writing is especially valuable as it
involves other skills (speaking in particular.)
Changing viewpoints
A good writing activity to follow a role-play or storytelling activity. Different students choose
different points of view and think about /discuss what this character would write in a diary,
witness statement, etc.
Varying form
Similar to the activity above, but instead of different viewpoints, different text types are selected.
How would the text be different if it were written as a letter, or a newspaper article, etc.

Evaluating, Structuring and Editing
Ordering
Students take the notes written in one of the pre-writing activities above and organise them. What
would come first? Why? Here it is good to tell them to start with information known to the reader
before moving onto what the reader does not know.
Self-editing
A good writer must learn how to evaluate their own language - to improve through checking their
own text, looking for errors, structure. This way students will become better writers.
Peer editing and proof-reading
Here, the texts are interchanged and the evaluation is done by other students. In the real world, it
is common for writers to ask friends and colleagues to check texts for spelling, etc. You could also
ask the students to reduce the texts, to edit them, concentrating on the most important
information.

References:
BBC Council. (2003). Approaches to process writing. Retrieved from
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/approaches-process-writing





Genre Approach to Teaching Writing
What is a genre-based approach?
This approach identifies that writing is a social activity with particular power relations and social conventions.
The approach explicitly identifies the social and linguistic conventions of different types of texts.
The approach usually includes the following:Familiarization, controlled writing, guided writing and then free
writing
Categorization of Genres
1. Primary
diary entries, personal e-mails, personal letters, fables, ICQ messages

2. Secondary
different kinds of reports, office memos, recipes, instructions, travel brochures, school essays, etc.

3.Creative
nursery rhymes, poems, riddles, limericks, parodies, mixed genres (e.g., a historical narrative + a fiction), etc.

Principles for choosing genres for a writing syllabus or a writing class
Consider the cognitive and linguistic level of your students and decide the choice of the primary, secondary and
creative genres.
Consult guidelines laid down in the school / language curriculum to see which genres are expected to be covered
in your writing syllabus and why they should be included.
Strike a balance. Make sure your range of genres will allow students chances to relate their personal life
(homely genres) to learn the skills which they require to gain access to higher level of education and to
experience fun, creativity and the beauty of sounds and words
Assign a suitable, meaningful topic which can go with the target genre. For instance, a personal letter can be
assigned with a topic of relating personal feelings about an incident.












Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - pictures















Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - readings



















Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - all language skills


































Techniques for Teaching Writing Skills - using controlled writing
Techniques in using controlled writing
WHAT IS CONTROLLED WRITING?
(ALSO KNOWN AS GUIDED WRITING)

Raimes (1983), states that, unlike free writing, controlled writing takes place when learners are supplied with a
great deal of the content and/or form [such as] an outline to complete, a paragraph to manipulate, a model to follow,
or a passage to continue (p. 95).

Sliva (1990) added that controlled writing assists in both preventing errors that apparently occur from first
language interference and reinforcing proper use of second language patterns

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHIEF ADVANTAGES OF USING CONTROLLED
WRITING IN THE CLASSROOM?

1.ITS CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY.
The advantages of the ability to control the specific outcomes of the writing activity cannot be overestimated.
This is an advantage both from the teacher`s and students` point of view.

From the teacher`s point of view controlled writing activities may take a relatively short time to create and are
very easy to grade.
Thus, controlled writing activities allow the teacher to engage students in writing activities without having to
worry about how they are going to have to correct it or access it.
In this way teachers can assign a fairly large amount of different kinds of controlled writing activities without
having to worry about that tremendous time it is going to take for them to deal with the after effects.
From the students point of view controlled writing is also good because it allows them to focus on one thing at a
time.
If the teacher has done her/his job well and set up controlled writing activities to try to focus on problem areas
the students have shown during the course of the class then the student should be practicing the points that they
might need to develop more.
Thus, carefully planned use of controlled writing activities can allow a teacher to really get students engaged in a
lot of very useful and different types of writing practice.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE REPRESENTATIVE CONTROLLED WRITING ACTIVITIES?
Controlled composition
Question and answer
Guided composition
Parallel writing

1.CONTROLLED COMPOSITION
When people think of controlled writing activities it is usually controlled composition that people generally think of
first.
These usually include texts that have had certain elements removed or have certain elements which are not useful
or somehow need to be changed.
In doing these we try to get our students to focus on a specific form focused problemand often things related
to grammar or vocabulary. This is good for us because this is similar to the revision process in that both deal with
changing a ready made text to make it better

2.QUESTION AND ANSWER
This technique is often used to as a way of getting students to build outlines in a more controlled way.
It can also be used as a way of generating ideas and even sentences which can be turned into more formal pieces
of writing from spoken forms.
In this way, it is often related to interviewing and uses the results of the interview which are either tape/video
recorded and transcribed or just noted down as a way of scaffolding the writing process.
This works well for us because it is a perfect seamless connection between speaking and writing.
In effect students need to turn speaking into writing. Fun!

3. GUIDED COMPOSITION
This refers to, as mentioned above, activities which engage the students in actually creating more open-ended
compositions.

Different levels and amounts of control however can be introduced to make this in theory easier (more control -
more close-ended) or more difficult (less control - more open-ended)

4.SENTENCE COMBINING
This one is easy to get a grip on as we have already done this in this class. Sentence combining gets the students
involved in just what the name implies; sentence combining.

This can be tweaked by picking certain types of sentences to be combined or having them combine a certain number
of sentences.

Thus even in something seemingly straightforward there are still possibilities for diversity. Again, like question and
answer, this is often a way of converting the simpler even incomplete forms of speaking into the more complex
forms of writing.
5.PARALLEL WRITING
Parallel writing is somewhat related to copying but with a twist. Instead of simply copying certain information,
which is provided and possibly first needs to be written out (this step can be skipped), the student needs to change
or add to the information from the model.
Thus, parallel writing can best be described as rewriting with different basic information, which again is provided.

References:
Modul TSL 3107 Teaching Writing Skills In The Primary ESL Classrooms
Eman Elturki, the USA (2; April 2013) Controlled Writing: An Effective Traditional Practice for
Developing ELLs Composition Retrieved Fromhttp://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr13/ex.htm on 21,July 2013
Stephen van VlackSookmyung Women`s UniversityGraduate School ofTESOLTeaching Writing Spring 2007Raimes
(1983), Chapter 7: Techniques in Using Controlled Retrieved From

Assessing Writing Skill
First assessment strategy :
Book response journals
~ Journals are places where individual students write a short piece at regular intervals.

~ They are usually responded to by the teacher .

Why have journal writing?




A journal entry can have any topic. If the main purpose is to discuss progress, then in
a writing class the student could:





Some examples:










Second assessment strategy :
Essay strategy:
Definition
An essay is a writing sample in which a student constructs a response to a
question, topic, or brief statement, and supplies supporting details or arguments.
The essay allows the teacher to assess the student's understanding and ability to
analyse and synthesize information.

Provide Feedback

1. Establish a climate of trust and respect.
Remember, student egos are fragile. Feedback should be given to help, not hurt. Be
encouraging. Remember, negativity creates defensiveness.

2. Dont overwhelm students.
Limit feedback to the amount of information that the student can absorb. Identify
the key areas that need additional work.

3. Keep comments impersonal.
Focus on specifics.

4. Refer back to your grading criteria.

5. Couch comments in I terms.
I got lost here. Im confuseddid you mean to say...?

6. Structure your comments as questions or suggestions, rather than as
criticisms.

7. Rephrase the papers main points
If you take students ideas seriously, they will work harder to express them clearly.

8. Use questions to identify errors.
You might, for example, ask students for more information, or ask whether this is
what they meant to say.

Selection & Adaptation of Materials and Activities - criteria for
evaluation of material and task
Oh, this is a good textbook
or
Well, I dont think my students will like this book
What do these statements have in common?
Evaluating materials (textbooks)
What is the basis of these evaluations?
Ad hoc / impression / intuition / classroom experience?
Systematic evaluation?
Normally we evaluate before we select materials

Systematic material evaluation

An ideal systematic textbook evaluation would be a longitudinal one
pre-use evaluation
whilst-use evaluation
post-use evaluation
The core of systematic material evaluation is to examine how well a given material matches the
needs of a language programmeand how effectively and efficiently it can realise the
objectives of the programme.
Therefore needs analysis has to be done prior to textbook evaluation
How can we evaluate suitability of materials?
When they fulfill features of good materials

Evaluating materials based on good features of the materials

Adapted from Tomlinson (1998):
1. Good materials should attract the students curiosity, interest and attention - materials
should have novelty, variety, attractive layout, appealing content, etc

2. Materials should help students to feel at ease - layout of presentation, tasks and activities
and texts and illustrations should all look friendly

3. Materials should help students to develop confidence -provide tasks or activities that
students can cope with.

4. Materials should meet students needs covers what is relevant and useful to what the
students need to learn and what they want to learn.
5. Materials should expose the students to language in authentic use - authentic language are
more motivating and challenging

6. Materials should provide the opportunities to use the target language for communicative
purposesto the students.

7. Materials should take considered the positive effects of language teaching are usually
delayed - important for materials (textbooks) to recycle instruction and to provide frequent
and ample exposure to the instructed language features in communicative use.

8. Materials should take into account that students differ in learning styles - provide a
variety of tasks and activities to cater for all students
9. Materials should take into account thatstudents differ in affective factors - accommodate
different attitudinal and motivational background as much as possible
10. Materials should maximise learning potential by encouraging intellectual, aesthetic and
emotional involvement which stimulates both right and left brain activities - good Materials
enable the students to receive, process and retain information through multiple intelligences.

What kinds of materials can be used for writing activities?
1. Visual-based materials
Pictures
Clips / videos / films
2. Reading-based materials
Reading texts
3. Auditory based materials
Listening texts
4. Combination of materials
Visual auditory (clips, etc) / Pictures with texts (cartoon, etc)

Selection & Adaptation of Materials and Activities - Principles in
Material Adaptation

Relate your teaching materials to your objectives and aims.
Make sure that you know what language is for. You should choose a material that your students can use
effectively for their own purposes. Keep your learners needs in mind.
Pay attention to the relationship between language, learning process and the learner.

Key Learner Variables
Personality
Personality affects the materials that we want to design.
Learners might be introverted or extroverted.
The material that we design should encourage even a shy student in the classroom.

Motivation
Highly motivated students learn faster and better.
As teachers, we should design activities that motivate our students.

Attitude
Learners can learn something in different ways.
The most important point is that we should satisfy our students needs by combining our
experiences and their needs.

Aptitude
Some people seem more readily than others to learn another language.

Preferred Learning Styles
Some students might be more comfortable in a spoken language whereas others are more
comfortable in written material.

Intelligence
It has also an effect in learning a foreign or second language.


Selection & Adaptation of Materials and Activities - Factors to consider
in material selection

Learners age and maturity level
Younger students tend to have shorter attention spans. They cannot concentrate on one task for a long period
of time.
Older students (age) do not imply that they are mature. A persons behaviour and cognition are reflected
through his maturity level.


2. Learning Style
















3. Proficiency Level
Level1 Preproduction
ThelearnerdoesnotunderstandorspeakEnglishwiththeexceptionofa
fewisolatedwordsorexpressions.

Level2
Beginning/
Production
ThelearnerspeaksandunderstandsconversationalEnglish
withhesitancy&difficulty.Thelearnerisatthepre-emergent/emergent
levelofreading&writingskills.
Level3 Intermediate
Thelearnerspeaks&understandsconversational&academicEnglish
withsomeamountofeffort.Thelearnerispost-emergent,developing
bothreading&writingskills.
Level4
Advanced
Intermediate
Thelearnerspeaks&understandsconversationalEnglish
withoutdifficultybutdisplayssomehesitancyinacademicEnglish.Able
toreadfluently&comprehendtexts;needsassistanceinwritingtasks.
Level5 Advanced
Thelearnerspeaks&understandsconversational&academicEnglish
well.Thelearnerisproficientinreading&writingskills,requiringonly
occasionalsupport.

Remedial and Enrichment Activities for Developing Writing Skills
Remedial Activities

Remedial activities are meant to help struggling young learners overcome their writing
difficulties. The instruction for struggling students needs to begin as soon as difficulties
emerge.


What are the advantages of remedial activities?


Learning Basic Skills

Students who do not have basic math and reading skills will benefit from attention to remedial activities in the classroom.
Using phonics, Dolch words or basic multiplication tables as teaching tools will give students the basic skills they need to
advance to a higher academic level.

Reinforcement
Students who have been out of school over summer, winter or spring breaks may benefit from remedial teaching
over a week or more to reinforce skills they lost due to extended time away from school. Teachers might use flashcards,
games or fun activities involving phonics and basic math to help students get back on the learning path.



Help for Dyslexia
According to research from Carnegie Mellon University, remedial reading instruction can help students with
dyslexia overcome their reading difficulties by helping to rewire brain connections. The study, published in the August
2008 issue of the journal "Neuropsychologia," showed that 100 hours of remedial instruction is enough to help students
with reading deficits related to dyslexia increase neural connections and increase reading proficiency over the long term.
Communication Skills
Students who suffer from speech disorders may have trouble with communication in the classroom. Speech
disorders are often developmental and may respond to remedial reading instruction. Teaching reading using phonics and
sounding-out activities may help students with communication issues from speech-related problems become more
academically proficient.
Behaviour and Motivation
Students who fall behind due to the inability to perform even the most basic tasks in the classroom may develop
behaviour problems because of their frustration levels. This can also lead to a lack of motivation and the desire to give up
altogether. Teaching remedial activities will help students gain general knowledge that can be applied to all subject areas
and help reduce feelings of inadequacy that lead to behaviour or motivation issues.

Enrichment activities?

Advanced level learners need to develop a greater understanding of genres and the
place of writing in particular discourse communities. They also need to develop their
strategies and establish their own voice in the second language.

Advantages of Enrichment Activities?
Active Learning


Active learning is desirable because students retain more of the presented information when they figure it out
themselves. Instead of a traditional lecture setting, where the teacher presents information and the students absorb it,
active learners participate and the instructor acts as a guide and answers questions. Research indicates that students
engaged in active learning retain and generalize the information better than their peers in traditional instruction. In
addition, enrichment activities give children a chance to experiment with occupations and think about future career paths.
Multisensory Instruction
Students acquire new information in a variety of ways, and most people have a preferred mode of learning. The
primary modes of learning are visual, auditory and kinesthetic, also sometimes called tactile. Multisensory instruction
engages multiple intelligences, is considered ideal for students with learning disabilities and is beneficial to their non-
disabled peers as well.
Cross-Curricular Benefits
Most classroom enrichment activities engage more than one subject area. This reinforces learning in language,
mathematics, science, social studies and socialization skills. This teaching style is beneficial because it simulates real-
world activities. In daily life, students encounter problems that require multiple areas of knowledge to solve. Teaching
activities that mimic this give students practice drawing on their knowledge and applying it in multiple areas.
Examples
Classroom enrichment activities can be as involved or as simple as the teacher's time and resources allow. Some
teachers set up classroom centers that extend previous lessons. The centers have activities that student do independently,
and often have further reading or audio and video presentations. Others hold science or social studies fairs where children
participate in individual or group projects and present them to their peers. A class science experiment encourages
students to act out and use the scientific method instead of just memorizing vocabulary about it. Enrichment activities do
not have to be in the classroom -- a field trip to an active dig site can stimulate interest in archeology or paleontology.

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Lesson Planning
Stages of a writing lesson
1. Objectives and Goals
The lesson's objectives must be clearly defined and in lined with district and/or state educational
standards.


2. Anticipatory Set
Before you dig into the meat of your lesson's instruction, set the stage for your students by tapping into
their prior knowledge and giving the objectives a context.


3. Direct Instruction
When writing your lesson plan, this is the section where you explicitly delineate how you will present the
lesson's concepts to your students.


4. Guided Practice
Under your supervision, the students are given a chance to practice and apply the skills you taught them
through direct instruction.


5. Closure
In the Closure section, outline how you will wrap up the lesson by giving the lesson concepts further
meaning for your students.


6. Independent Practice
Through homework assignments or other independent assignments, your students will demonstrate
whether or not they absorbed the lesson's learning goals.


7. Required Materials and Equipment
Here, you determine what supplies are required to help your students achieve the stated lesson objectives.


8. Assessment and Follow-Up
The lesson doesn't end after your students complete a worksheet. The assessment section is one of the
most important parts of all.


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M o n d a y , 2 S e p t e mb e r 2 0 1 3



Planning for Teaching Writing
Interpreting the Writing Skills in the Syllabus KSSR English Syllabus

The approach adopted in the Standard-based curriculum is underpinned by the following principles:

- Back to basics - It is essential for teachers to begin with basic literacy skills in order to build a strong foundation of
language skills. The strategy of phonics is introduced in order to help learners begin to read and a good foundation in
penmanship will help pupils acquire good handwriting.

- Learning is fun, meaningful and purposeful. Lessons, which emphasize meaningful contexts and the integration of
language skills, allow learners to learn by doing fun-filled activities. Contextualised as well as purposeful activities will
promote the fun element in language learning.

- Teaching is learner-centred so teaching approaches, lessons and curriculum materials must suit the differing needs and
ability of pupils. It is important that appropriate activities and materials are used with pupils of different learning
capabilities so that their full potential can be realized.

Integration of salient new technologies in line with growing globalisation. Technology is used extensively in our daily
communication. Information available on the internet and other electronic media will be vital for knowledge acquisition.
Networking facilities will be useful for pupils to communicate and share knowledge.

Assessment for learning includes continuous assessment as an integral part of learning which enables teachers to assess
whether pupils have acquired the learning standards taught. Formative assessment is conducted as an on-going process,
while summative assessment is conducted at the end of a particular unit or term.

Character-building is an important principle which needs to be inculcated through the curriculum to infuse character
building. Lessons based on values have to be incorporated in teaching and learning in order to impart the importance
of good values for the wholesome development of individuals.

Selecting and Preparing Activities for Teaching Different Levels of Writing Skills

Activities in a lesson plan should show connectedness and progress from easy to difficult - from modelled
writing to independent writing. This is reflected in the way the curriculum specification is organised. For
example with reference to Huraian Sukatan Pelajaran Year 4 KBSR (page 30) :
4.3 Match words to linear and non-linear representations
Level 1 4.3.1 Match phrases to pictures
Level 2 4.3.2 Match words to signs
Level 3 4.3.3 Match words to other words

When planning for writing lesson, the flow of the lesson plan should begin with Level 1 before progressing
into Level 2 and 3 for this particular matching exercise. This is to ensure learners are able to grasp proper
understanding of the lesson and to successfully achieve intended objectives.

Grading and sequencing the writing lessons according to level of difficulty.

Teachers need to sequence their writing lessons in some logical order.

Basically, at the earliest levels, a lesson may involve providing multiple and varied context for practising
handwriting and/or spelling, teaching and creating occasions for meaningful practice in punctuation, as well
as providing occasions for using what language they have for real communication.


At later phases the writing lessons could focus on the process involved in producing a written document such
as a letter or a story.