Literacy, or the ability to read and write, is one of the greatest gifts you can give a person. Though the skills are many and take time and practice to master, they will open up countless opportunities across a lifetime. These opportunities can then improve the lives of the next generation, greatly impacting and improving communities. Reading and writing also brings joy to many people. If you would like to encourage literacy skills in the lives of people around you, here are some helpful ideas.
How to Teach Writing Skills
1. Teach letters. Teaching the fundamentals of letters (what a letter is, what each letter is called, and how it sounds) is where you should begin if you want to teach literacy effectively. Regardless of age level or language, literacy must begin with an understanding of letters. If you are teaching a language with a non-roman alphabet, the same principle applies: teach the characters first.
- Teach your students how to recognize the different shapes of the letters. They will need to be able to easily differentiate between letter which look the same or letters which sound the same.
- Size variation is an important part of learning to write letters. Teach your students about capital letters and lowercase letters and when to use them. If teaching a non-roman alphabet, this will be less of a problem.
- Directionality is another important skill. Your students will need to know what direction letters face and how to properly place them next to each other. For roman lettering, this will be right to left and horizontal. For other languages it can also be left to right or vertical, depending on the region.
- Spacing is an important skill as well. Teach your students how to place space in between words, sentences, paragraphs...
2. Teach phonics. Phonics is all about learning what sound letters make, how to identify those sounds, and how to work with them. Developing your students’ understanding of phonics will be key to teaching them to read and write.
- Teach your students to hear. They need to be able to listen to speech and recognize that those words are composed of individual sounds.
- Once they grasp the concept of those sounds, teach them to identify the sounds. For example, your students will need to be able to hear an “aaaaahhhh” sound and know that it is written with an “a”.
- Once they are comfortable identifying sounds, you will also need to teach them how to manipulate sounds within words. They should be able to recognize when words rhyme or when one word out of a set begins or ends with a different sound than the others. They should be able to think of their own examples as well.
- Teach compound sounds as well. You will need to explain that when certain letters appear together, it changes how they sound. For example, in English the “th” or “sh”, in Spanish the “ll”, and in German the “ch” or “eu”.
3. Teach the forming of words. Once your students have a solid grasp on letters and their associated sounds, you can move on to using those letters and sounds to form words. Read to them frequently at this stage, as well as writing lots of examples for them to look at. This will give them opportunities to see how words are formed.
- An important part of teaching word formation is teaching your students the difference between vowels and consonants. Teach them which letters are which and explain the necessity of vowels within a word. Teach the basic principles regarding where in a word vowels can go. For example, it is very rare for the only vowel in a word to go at the very end of the word but quite common to have the second letter or sound of a word be a vowel.
4. Understand sentence structure. You students will need to learn and understand sentence structure once they have mastered forming words. Sentence structure is the order in which words or parts of speech go, the sequences in which they are used. Understanding sentence structure will be necessary if they are to form written sentences which sound correct. Often people will have difficulty writing naturally like this, even if they speak correctly.
- Your students should learn how to identify nouns. Teach them what a noun is and where it usually goes in a sentence. The easiest way to explain it will likely be the tried-and-true “person, place, thing or idea”.
- Your students will need to be able to identify verbs, too. Teach them about “action words” and give them lots of examples. You can have them act out different verbs in order to solidify the concept in their mind. Explain where verbs go in a sentence.
- Your students will need to be able to identify adjectives as well. Explain that adjectives describe other words. Teach them where these words go in a sentence and how they attach to other words.
5. Teach proper grammar. Teaching proper grammar will be absolutely essential to your students’ learning to write sentences which can be understood and sound natural.
- Using parts of speech together is an important concept in grammar. Your students should develop an understanding of how nouns, verbs and adjectives interact and how they fit together. Where these words go in a sentence and when they must be preceded or followed by another is also important to understand.
- Tense is a key concept to understanding how to form proper sentences. Your students should learn and practice creating sentences which take place in the past, present, and future. This will teach them how words must be changed in order to indicate time. This is a complex skill and is often not truly mastered until much later.
- Conjugation and declension are other important skills. Conjugation is how verbs change, depending on how they interact with the other words in the sentence. For example, in English we say “I jump” but we also say “she jumped”. Nouns can go through a similar process, called declension, but it is nonexistent in English.
- Though it has largely been removed from English, many other languages have case systems which your students will need to understand if they are learning one of those languages. Cases denote the different functions that nouns and pronouns can serve in a sentence and, at least in those languages with a case system, how the case changes the noun (generally with a shift in suffix).
Types of writing activities
Controlled Writing(copying)
- colour and write
- label
- crosswords
- find words in one word
- make up as many words as you can using the letters o
Guided Writing (a lot of input from the teacher)
- description of a picture using key words
- completing sentences
- fill in
- answer the questions
- dictation
- gap filling
- find words in a puzzle, write them in columns according to categories
- reordering words
- reordering words
- altering writing to a model
- correcting the facts
Free Writing
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(independent)
- a letter to a pen friend
- a shopping list
- puzzles
- games
- stories
- recipes
- invitations
- greeting cards
- composing riddles
- acrostics
- instructions
- descriptions
The pattern of learning to write is very similar to learning to speak:
1. Copying with low level of understanding (letters, words, sentences)
2. Selecting and copying
3. Selecting, copying and placing
4. Copying and changing a given model
5. Expanding from a given stimulus
6. Responding to a given stimulus
7. Creating and expressing new ideas.
8. Initiating communication.
Tasks given in textbooks to stimulate writing do not always do so very effectively.
Some criteria for the evaluation of textbook writing activities
- Would my students find the activity motivating and interesting to do?
- Is it of an appropriate level for them? Or would they find it too easy/difficult/ childish/sophisticated?
- Is the kind of writing relevant to their needs?
- Would I need to do some preliminary teaching in preparation for this activity?
- In general, do I like this activity? Would I use it?
Cambridge University Press 1996
Responding to Learners’ Writing (Tips)
1. Be clear about what you want in your mind before you ask your student’s to begin to write.
2. Focus on one or two of the most important points. Don’t feel you need to mark or correct every error on every assignment.
3. Offer concrete, specific comments and suggestions for improvement.
4. Make positive, constructive comments.
5. When using a correction code, be sure to explain it well in class.
In using correction codes, separate repeated errors from occasional errors.
In using correction codes, separate repeated errors from occasional errors.
6. Write legibly, using a colour other than red, being careful not to obscure the student’s original writing.
Adapted from Byleen, L. Coffey, L. 1991. Workshop on How to Teach Writing, University of Kansas
In the classroom there are many ways of using writing activities to help children practise their English whilst developing their creativity and imagination. Here are some examples.
1. Stories
Before writing, ask students to tell you about stories they've already read. Who are the main characters? What are their names? Where do they live? What are they like? What problems or challenges do they meet? What happens to them in the end? Have a look at some real books with visually appealing covers and illustrations, if available, to stimulate interest and language output. Alternatively, try an animated short story from LearnEnglish Kids: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories
Before writing, ask students to tell you about stories they've already read. Who are the main characters? What are their names? Where do they live? What are they like? What problems or challenges do they meet? What happens to them in the end? Have a look at some real books with visually appealing covers and illustrations, if available, to stimulate interest and language output. Alternatively, try an animated short story from LearnEnglish Kids: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories
Choose a genre and/or a topic. Alternatively, give them the first or last sentence of the story, for example: ‘And they never forgot their homework again.’ Then ask your students to work in pairs and plan their story by answering the above questions. Monitor and help as necessary. When students are ready, they can write their stories, working individually but helping each other as they go along.
Use the questions in the Story maker to brainstorm vocabulary and draw on your students’ preferences, for example, ‘What's your favourite musical instrument?’, ‘Who do you like being with?’ or ‘What are the scariest animals or creatures?’ You could even make the questions into a class survey.
As a class, now create a story with the Story maker. If possible, students then work in pairs and create their own. If you only have the class computer, print in advance an example story of each genre and cover up the options before photocopying to make a template.
When your students have finished, they can share their stories with their classmates. You could then ask your students to compare their stories and comment on the differences in the versions.
Additionally, your students could illustrate their stories or create storyboards for each part. Encourage them to talk simply about their pictures, prompting and interacting with them as necessary. Your students might also like to act out their stories for each other. More advanced students could create the dialogue as they perform their parts; other students could simply narrate their stories.
As further extension activities, you could ask your students to come up with new options for the questions in the Story maker, or to write questions and options for different story genres. For more advanced students, you could use the final versions of the stories in the Story maker as the stimulus for freer writing practice. For example, they could create different endings for their stories or write an email to one of their characters.
Use the questions in the Story maker to brainstorm vocabulary and draw on your students’ preferences, for example, ‘What's your favourite musical instrument?’, ‘Who do you like being with?’ or ‘What are the scariest animals or creatures?’ You could even make the questions into a class survey.
As a class, now create a story with the Story maker. If possible, students then work in pairs and create their own. If you only have the class computer, print in advance an example story of each genre and cover up the options before photocopying to make a template.
When your students have finished, they can share their stories with their classmates. You could then ask your students to compare their stories and comment on the differences in the versions.
Additionally, your students could illustrate their stories or create storyboards for each part. Encourage them to talk simply about their pictures, prompting and interacting with them as necessary. Your students might also like to act out their stories for each other. More advanced students could create the dialogue as they perform their parts; other students could simply narrate their stories.
As further extension activities, you could ask your students to come up with new options for the questions in the Story maker, or to write questions and options for different story genres. For more advanced students, you could use the final versions of the stories in the Story maker as the stimulus for freer writing practice. For example, they could create different endings for their stories or write an email to one of their characters.
2. Write a leaflet
Generate interest and ideas by showing your students some examples of leaflets for places in their country or the UK . Ask the students if they would be interested in visiting the places, and why. Ask them which leaflet they like best. Identify some of the basic features of this genre: lots of pictures, colourful, location map, contact/opening times, positive language (the best, amazing, wonderful, etc.), list of things to do/see at the place, etc.
Explain that they are going to write their own leaflet. Brainstorm some ideas of places – they could write a leaflet for visiting their school, a local attraction, their town, their house, the moon –encourage their imagination! Choose a simple idea and ‘plan out’ the leaflet together on the board – draw boxes where they want pictures to go, write key words for where they want information to go, e.g. write ‘contact’ where they want contact information to go, write ‘eating’ where they want information about food and drinks available at their place, etc.
Now students choose a place of their own. Get them to ‘plan out’ their leaflet in their notebooks. Then provide paper for students to make the leaflet. Monitor and help where necessary.
When students have finished, display the leaflets around the room. Encourage students to walk around and look at the leaflets. Then get students to tell you which places they’d like to visit and why.
3. Make a greetings card
Ask your students when they send cards, i.e. for what special occasions, and who to. Write some ideas on the board. Now brainstorm some messages and greetings that they might write on the front of and inside a card on these occasions. Ask them if there are any special occasions coming up amongst their friends or family, e.g. a birthday, an anniversary, a name day or perhaps a national holiday, which they could make a card for. If not, they could make a ‘thank you’ card for someone – perhaps the teacher!
Give each student two pieces of white paper, a bit smaller than A5. One is for them to draw a picture and a greeting for the front of the card (e.g. ‘Happy Birthday!’ and a cake) and one is to go inside the card with a message. Once the students have done that, give them a choice of coloured A4 card, which they should fold in half, then stick the front and inside pieces of paper on the card.
Don’t forget to emphasise the cards should really be given to who they were written for! If any student made you a ‘thank you’ card, display it in the room.
Generate interest and ideas by showing your students some examples of leaflets for places in their country or the UK . Ask the students if they would be interested in visiting the places, and why. Ask them which leaflet they like best. Identify some of the basic features of this genre: lots of pictures, colourful, location map, contact/opening times, positive language (the best, amazing, wonderful, etc.), list of things to do/see at the place, etc.
Explain that they are going to write their own leaflet. Brainstorm some ideas of places – they could write a leaflet for visiting their school, a local attraction, their town, their house, the moon –encourage their imagination! Choose a simple idea and ‘plan out’ the leaflet together on the board – draw boxes where they want pictures to go, write key words for where they want information to go, e.g. write ‘contact’ where they want contact information to go, write ‘eating’ where they want information about food and drinks available at their place, etc.
Now students choose a place of their own. Get them to ‘plan out’ their leaflet in their notebooks. Then provide paper for students to make the leaflet. Monitor and help where necessary.
When students have finished, display the leaflets around the room. Encourage students to walk around and look at the leaflets. Then get students to tell you which places they’d like to visit and why.
3. Make a greetings card
Ask your students when they send cards, i.e. for what special occasions, and who to. Write some ideas on the board. Now brainstorm some messages and greetings that they might write on the front of and inside a card on these occasions. Ask them if there are any special occasions coming up amongst their friends or family, e.g. a birthday, an anniversary, a name day or perhaps a national holiday, which they could make a card for. If not, they could make a ‘thank you’ card for someone – perhaps the teacher!
Give each student two pieces of white paper, a bit smaller than A5. One is for them to draw a picture and a greeting for the front of the card (e.g. ‘Happy Birthday!’ and a cake) and one is to go inside the card with a message. Once the students have done that, give them a choice of coloured A4 card, which they should fold in half, then stick the front and inside pieces of paper on the card.
Don’t forget to emphasise the cards should really be given to who they were written for! If any student made you a ‘thank you’ card, display it in the room.
Thank you very much!
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