Academic writing teachers try to help learners understand and imitate the various rhetorical styles used in academic texts. Understanding academic writing involves careful and repeated reading, analysis, and evaluation of many texts.  It then requires further analysis, synthesis, and creation to imitate the writing style. All of this work involves using critical thinking and language skills. One way to engage learners in this process and support the acquisition of advanced writing skills is to use students’ existing critical thinking skills in an activity that analyzes the components of academic writing.

This Teacher’s Corner offers a strategy to introduce learners to academic writing through the familiar task of outlining. Writers use outlining as a way to plan and organize their ideas at the beginning of the writing process. In this activity, learners use the outline in reverse as a way to break down and analyze the structure of an academic text. This process is called a reverse outline and is explained in detail here. Keep in mind that a reverse outline can be adapted to fit the needs of intermediate writers as well, as long as the reading is selected to meet learners’ language level.

Advanced (university level)

• Reading
• Writing

During this activity, students will be able to complete the following tasks:

• Read an academic text to identify the organization and structure of ideas.
• Organize the information presented in an academic text into an outline template in order to recognize the structure and organization of an academic text.

• Reading:  “Helping Students Develop Coherence in Writing” by Icy Lee
• Outline Template in Appendix A
• Paper and pencils or pens

• Print enough copies of the reading for each student.
•  Print enough copies of the outline template for each student.

1.     Start class with a warm-up discussion to elicit ideas about the structure of academic writing. Use these questions as a guide:

• What are the important parts of an academic essay?
• What do we call the first paragraph(s)? The main paragraphs? The final paragraph(s)?
• What have you been told to include in the first paragraph(s) of an essay?
• What is included in the main paragraphs?
• What is included in the final paragraph(s)?

2.     Hand out the outline template (Appendix A) to students. (The outline template can be adapted and adjusted to meet the needs of essay writing in your specific class. Feel free to add components to this outline or delete components that are unnecessary.)  Ask learners to review the template for similarities between what they said in the discussion and what the template lists as components of academic writing.

• Is there anything on the outline template that was not mentioned in the discussion? If so, what are the differences? Is there anything that students think the outline template needs to include that is not listed?

3.     Explain that this outline is a model of the structure, but that every article differs slightly as to how each of the core parts is structured. For example, one essay might have 10 body paragraphs but another essay might only have 4.

4.     Tell students they are now going to use the outline to read an academic article. They will complete an outline, using the template as a model, based on the information from the article they read.

5.     Give everyone a copy of the article. Explain that before trying to complete the outline, they should read the article once and make notes. Reading once will help them process the article, ask questions, and get an overview of the structure of the article.

6.     Have learners read, make notes, and complete their outlines. While they are working, circulate to answer any questions they have.

7.     After learners have completed the outlines, bring the class back together as a group.

8.     Place students in pairs by dividing the class in half and counting off each group (for example: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). The two students who are assigned 1 will work together, the students assigned 2 will work together, etc.

9.     Once learners are in their pairs, ask them to read over their partners’ outlines, paying attention to similarities and differences.

10.  While they are reading, write these directions on the board.

• Compare the two outlines and identify any areas where the information is different or where information is on one outline but not the other.
• Work together to complete a new outline that combines the information from both outlines.
• Work together to decide how to include information that is different on personal outlines.

11.  Then give each pair a new outline template. Explain that students will work together to create a new outline, using the directions on the board.

12.  When pairs have finished, bring the class back together to discuss what they learned from the outline activity.

• What information on the outline did they expect to see? What information was unexpected in the article’s structure? What else did they learn about how academic writing is structured?

One simple variation is to have students read the text at home and take notes before working on the outline in class. This variation allows students to read at their own pace so that when students come to class, they are all familiar with the text.

Another alternative to this assignment is to have students work in pairs from the beginning of the process. After everyone in the class reads the article, put students in pairs and have them work together to complete the outlines. This variation ensures that learners will vocalize, discuss, and negotiate what is included on the outline and what is not.

A possible extension to this activity is to revisit the reverse outline when students are writing their own essays. During the revision process students could complete a reverse outline of their own work or complete reverse outlines of their classmates’ work. For example, if students have written a first draft of an essay, before they revise it or write a second draft, they could do a reverse outline of their first draft. By doing so, they could recognize areas in their writing to improve. Then, students could use their reverse outline for help in preparing and writing a second draft.

Outline Template

      I.         Introduction

• Attention grabbing device
• Background/Contextual information
• Thesis statement

     II.         Main Paragraphs (repeat for each paragraph)

• Topic statements/ideas
• Supporting evidence (data, anecdotes, stories, definitions, etc.): paraphrase, summary, quotes
• Connections to thesis

   III.         Conclusion

• Final thoughts
• Implications and areas for future analysis
• Suggestions for next steps

This webinar, "Teacher Talk: Presentation Skills for Teachers," explores the notions of Teacher Talk Time and Teacher Wait Time. This webinar will also also make participants (humorously) aware of some unfortunate teacher presentation habits. The session will counter some of these bad habits with practical tips for speaking in front of groups, whether in your regular class or at conference. In addition, the presenter will discuss and offer brief advice about conducting student presentations. Teachers will be encouraged to take action to improve their talk time behavior and presentation styles.

It takes time to design activities and tasks that both target language skills and encourage critical thinking. Project-based learning (also known as experiential learning) is one approach you can use to integrate language-learning goals with critical thinking skills. Project-based learning tasks and activities combine language and action so that learners learn by doing (Brown and Lee, 2015). Learners must understand, examine, analyze, evaluate, and create while using English to complete a task or activity. The result is a language skills task or activity that promotes critical thinking skills.

One of the most popular types of project-based learning in the language classroom is the Language Experience Approach (LEA). LEA gives language learners a chance to recount a personal experience in their own words (Brown and Lee, 2015). This week’s Teacher’s Corner offers an LEA activity that can be conducted in the classroom using minimal resources.

High Beginning

• Writing
• Speaking

During this activity, students will be able to the following:

• Use English to talk about a special meal they shared with their family.
• Organize their experience into a written story.

Paper, pencils

• Write the following prompt on the board:

      o   Describe a special meal you ate with your family.

• When was it?
• What did you eat?
• Where were you?
• Who was with you?
• Have your own story of a special meal ready to share with students.

1.     Begin class by telling students: “Today you are going to talk about a special meal you ate with your family.” Direct their attention to the prompt and questions on the board.

2.     Ask students to think about a meal. You might say, “Do you remember a special meal with your family? Do you remember two?”

3.     Encourage students to begin sharing what they remember. For example, one student might share that they remember a time when they had a family dinner for a birthday or holiday. Use the questions on the board to guide the discussion.

• Keep the conversation moving with different students responding and sharing their memories. The more students talk, the more it will encourage and support other students to remember and share additional details.
• Some student might not be able to think of all of the language required immediately. This is fine. Encourage those students to think about other parts of the meal, and tell them you will come back in a moment.
• Give plenty of time for the discussion so that all students have a clear idea of an occasion that they can write about.

4.     Tell students that now they are going to work on writing their story of a special meal.

• Depending on the group, feel free to give them guidelines for writing, but try not to put limitations on what they write. For example, you could say that everyone needs to write at least 5 sentences, but they could write more if they choose.
• Part of LEA is to encourage a learner’s autonomy over their own experience. Allow learners to share their ideas in English without worrying about grammar or spelling. In this way, you can give learners freedom to play with the language, navigate their own story, and negotiate meaning through their language choices.

5.     As students write, walk around and support them by helping them write down exactly what they say.

If you have a student who wants to know how to spell something correctly, you can tell them the correct spelling. On the other hand, if a student spells some words incorrectly, do not correct them. Encourage learners to use the English they know and are comfortable using in their stories.

6.     After students have written their stories, give everyone a chance to share what they have written.

One way to share the stories is to divide the students into two groups. Have one group hang their stories on the wall and stand next to them. Tell the second group that they are visiting the story gallery, and they can go around the room reading the different stories and asking the authors questions. After students have circulated, the groups can switch tasks. The second group now hosts a story gallery, and the first group gets to read stories and ask questions.

7.     Keep all of the stories up on the walls so students can see their work, or encourage students to take their stories home to share with their families.

One variation of this activity is to have learners write their stories in small groups of three or four students. Have one student tell their story out loud while the other students in the group write down the story as they hear it.

An additional variation could involve a whole-class shared experience. Rather than have learners share their individual experiences, you could ask the class to recount an experience you shared as a group. For example, if the class went on a field trip recently, ask the class to recount the field trip together. The teacher becomes the scribe and writes the story on the board, and the students can see their experiences taking shape in writing.

This activity can be extended to include a visual component. Once students have written their stories, ask them to draw a picture depicting the events in the story. This could be done simply with pencil and paper or, if magazines and pictures are available, students could make picture collages to go with their stories.

This week’s Teacher’s Corner provides students with the opportunity to practice speaking and presentation skills through a tour guide activity.

Intermediate to Advanced

Reading, speaking (primary focus); listening (secondary focus).

During this activity students will:

• Practice reading, speaking, and listening skills through a fill-in-the-blank activity
• Develop presentation and speaking skills by conducting a tour

• Teacher: whiteboard/chalkboard, markers or chalk, a timing device, large sheets of paper (optional), computer and projector
• Students: pencils or pens, notebooks or writing paper, computer with Internet access for homework

1. Read through all the materials carefully.
2. Print out copies of the Empire State Building Reading A in Appendix 1 and the Empire State Building Reading B in Appendix 2.
   • Print enough copies of Appendix 1 for half the class and enough copies of Appendix 2 for the other half of the class.
3. Read the Empire State Building Reading Answer Key in Appendix 3.
4. This activity has a homework assignment and an in-class presentation. For more advanced classes, or if your classroom has computers with Internet, this activity could be completed during a single class period. Choose the approach that works best for your teaching and learning context.
5. An option for this activity is to have the students work locally, within your community. If possible, have the students pick historical locations or places of interest in your city or neighborhood. Then, when students conduct their tour, visit that location as a class.

1.     Begin the class by having the students form pairs.

2.     In each pair, give one student the Empire State Building Reading A and one student a copy of the Empire State Building Reading B.

3.     Instruct the students to read through the story on their own for 2-3 minutes.

4.     After the students have had a chance to read the story, have the pairs work together to fill in the blanks in the story.

• Student A can ask questions to Student B to fill in the blanks in their story. Student B can ask Student A questions to fill in the blanks in their story.

5.     After the pairs have filled in the blanks, review the answers as a class. Ask the students what they learned about the Empire State Building.

6.     Next, on the board draw the following table:

7.     Ask the students to read the story again, this time paying attention to the structure of the story. In this part of the activity, students will engage in active reading. In active reading, students work to understand the purpose of an article and how the story is structured.

• Instruct the students to underline the sentences in the story that discuss the Empire State Building’s history.
• Then, instruct the students to draw a square around the section of the story that describes what currently happens at the Empire State Building during the present day.
• Finally, have the students draw a circle around the part of the story that provides an interesting story about the Empire State Building.

8.     As a class, review the answers to the active reading activity by filling in the chart that you wrote on the board.

Optional Activity Extension:

If time permits, have the students read the Empire State Building reading out loud in pairs. Encourage them to practice reading rate (speed), stress, and intonation. These speaking skills are critical for a professional tour guide.

1. Begin this part of the activity by asking the students if they can think of other famous buildings like the Empire State Building. Have the students share their answers with the class.
2. Next, tell the students their homework assignment is to find a building, historical location, or famous place and create a tour of that place.
   For the assignment students should:
   1. • Find 2-3 pictures of the building, historical location, or famous place.
      • Provide a brief history of the site.
      • Describe the present day use of the site.
      • Research an interesting story of the site.
      • Finally, put all of the information and pictures together into a computer-based presentation. If a computer is not available in the classroom, have the students put everything together on a poster.
3. Have the students research their building, historical location, or famous place as a homework assignment. Depending on the students’ level and ability, allow them up to several days to do the research.

1. After students have conducted their research, have them share their presentations with the rest of the class. This section of the activity can be done several ways:
   • Have 4-5 students come to the front of the class, and have each student announce the location they researched. Then have the rest of the class form groups around the 4-5 presenters. Students should listen to the presentation on the location they find most interesting.
   • Each student can come to the front of the class, one at a time, and present on the information they learned.
   • Divide the class in half. Half of the students will present their information a while the second half of the class moves around the room to listen to their presentations. Then, students switch roles and do the activity again.
2. Remind and encourage students to make their presentations interesting. Have them do more than present: take the class on a tour of their location. Being a tour guide can be a great career, but being a good tour guide involves more than sharing information. Tour guides need to be engaging and speak clearly with stress and intonation!

Optional Activity Approach:

If computers are available in the classroom, students can use Internet-based map tools such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, or Open Street Maps to show their building, historical location, or famous place.

For more on New York City, check out the New York, New York and Exploring New York City lesson plan.

For more on using active reading in the classroom, check out the February 2017 Teacher’s Corner and Encouraging Critical Reading in the EFL Classroom.

Appendix 1: Empire State Building Reading A

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The ____________________ is one of the symbols of New York. The name comes from the nickname of the State of New York. Until 1954, the Empire State Building was ____________________, and it is currently the third tallest in New York City. Strangely, it was built during the Great Depression when such a large project should have been unthinkable. After it opened in 1931, it sat mostly empty for years; some people jokingly called it the “_________________.” Now it houses numerous offices, shops, and restaurants and is one of the most visited sites in the city because of the stunning views from the observation deck on the ____________________ floor.

There is an interesting story in the race for the tallest building in the world. At the time the Empire State Building was being built, the Chrysler Building was under construction ten blocks away. The architects of the Chrysler Building had a secret, though. Hidden from view inside the building, they were constructing a spire to top the building. At the end of construction, the 125-foot spire was raised into place, taking the title of tallest building in the world from the Bank of Manhattan Building by just 60 feet. The honor wouldn’t last, though. The Empire State Building would open less than a year later, and it exceeded the Chrysler Building in height by more than 200 feet.

* Reading adapted from New York, New York by Thomas W. Santos

Appendix 2: Empire State Building Reading B

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The Empire State Building is one of the symbols of New York. The name comes from the nickname of the State of New York. Until 1954, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world, and it is currently the third tallest in New York City. Strangely, it was built during the Great Depression when such a large project should have been unthinkable. After it opened in 1931, it sat mostly empty for years; some people jokingly called it the “Empty State Building.” Now it houses numerous offices, shops, and restaurants and is one of the most visited sites in the city because of the stunning views from the observation deck on the 102nd floor. There is an interesting story in the race for the tallest building in the world. At the time the Empire State Building was being built, the ____________________ was under construction ten blocks away. The architects of the Chrysler Building had a secret, though. Hidden from view inside the building, they were constructing a spire to top the building. At the end of construction, the ____________________ spire was raised into place, taking the title of tallest building in the world from the _____________________ Building by just 60 feet. The honor wouldn’t last, though. The Empire State Building would open less than a year later, and it exceeded the Chrysler Building in height by more than ___________________ feet.

* Reading adapted from New York, New York by Thomas W. Santos

Appendix 3: Empire State Building Answer Key

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The Empire State Building is one of the symbols of New York. The name comes from the nickname of the State of New York. Until 1954, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world, and it is currently the third tallest in New York City. Strangely, it was built during the Great Depression when such a large project should have been unthinkable. After it opened in 1931, it sat mostly empty for years; some people jokingly called it the “Empty State Building.” Now it houses numerous offices, shops, and restaurants and is one of the most visited sites in the city because of the stunning views from the observation deck on the 102nd floor. There is an interesting story in the race for the tallest building in the world. At the time the Empire State Building was being built, the Chrysler Building was under construction ten blocks away. The architects of the Chrysler Building had a secret, though. Hidden from view inside the building, they were constructing a spire to top the building. At the end of construction, the 125-foot spire was raised into place, taking the title of tallest building in the world from the Bank of Manhattan Building by just 60 feet. The honor wouldn’t last, though. The Empire State Building would open less than a year later, and it exceeded the Chrysler Building in height by more than 200 feet.

* Reading adapted from New York, New York by Thomas W. Santos