In the United States, students typically write multiple drafts before turning in an assignment. This is called “process writing.” In process writing, students begin with brainstorming and pre-writing activities. Next, they move on to drafting and revising a piece of writing. Finally, they finish with editing and proofreading tasks. The nature of the writing process is multi-layered and involves collaboration and cooperation among students and teachers. Each step in the writing process is revisited and repeated as students learn to reflect, assess, and edit their own writing as well as their classmates’. At the same time, teachers offer much-needed feedback and guidance as they oversee and manage students throughout the writing process. Throughout this process, the student writer must constantly remember who the audience is and what the audience needs in order to understand the writer’s ideas. Continuous feedback from as many potential audience members as possible is a critical part of the writing process. In the English language classroom, the audience consists of fellow students and the teacher(s). Much has been written about peer evaluations and feedback among students, but conducting teacher-student consultations during the writing process can be valuable to student writers in understanding their own strengths and weaknesses.

In this week’s Teachers Corner, we offer a template for conducting a successful teacher-student writing consultation. The time and work involved in consultations might seem overwhelming, but the value students take from the individual, focused feedback can carry over into the rest of their continued writing development.

Any level within academic writing

Writing

During this activity, students will be able to:

• Identify areas of writing that need improvement based on topics as targeted by the teacher and assignment.
• Receive feedback on writing issues unique to their own progress and writing development.
• Create an action plan for revision outlining what specific changes they will make during the next revision.

• Pen/pencil
• Copy of students’ writing to be discussed
• Space to meet
• Time (typically 15-20 minutes for each student)

• Collect students’ drafts 1 to 2 days in advance of conferences
• Schedule individual conferences with each student (block out 15 to 20 minutes of time for each student)
• Read each draft in advance noting comments, issues, and any suggestions according to your own rubric and specific assignment demands. The feedback you give will depend on the assignment demands, which draft is under review, and the focus of your teaching. Feedback should be focused, clear, and include achievable tasks for writers throughout editing and revisions. For specific ideas on how to give feedback during the writing process, check out the article “Error Correction and Feedback in the EFL Writing Classroom: Comparing Instructor and Student Preferences” from English Teaching Forum. It is also good to estimate what grade or mark the assignment would receive as it is in this draft.
• Ask students to prepare and bring the following information to the conference (see optional handout in Appendix A):

o   3 questions that they have about their paper and/or the assignment

o   2 things they did well in their draft

o   2 things that need improvement in their draft

1.     Begin the consultation by inviting the student to sit down. Then, have the student take out the handout (Appendix A), and explain how the consultation will proceed.

• First, explain that you have read their paper and have some feedback for them.
• Next, address their questions and then discuss their own ideas about their paper.
• Then, explain that you will share your feedback and suggestions with the student duringwhich time the student should be taking notes and asking questions.
• Once the feedback portion is over, spend time developing an action plan for how to proceed in the revision.

2.     After explaining the procedure, ask the student what grade he/she would assign the writing if it were to be submitted at this time. Make a note of this grade on the handout.

3.     Then, have the student ask the first question on his or her list. Offer your feedback and response. Repeat this for each question the student prepared.

4.     Next, ask the student to share what she/he wrote on the handout about strengths and weaknesses. Acknowledge what the student says and reinforce the strengths. This can help build students’ confidence in their skills and abilities as writers.

5.     Once the student has reviewed what he/she prepared for the conference, take out the copy of the writing you reviewed. Tell the student what specific elements of writing you examined for this draft. In early drafts, give attention to structure, organization, and content development. These are called high-order concerns. In later drafts, offer feedback on sentence structure, transitions between ideas, and grammatical features that affect comprehension. We refer to these issues as low-order concerns.

• As you review your findings, give students time to respond, ask questions, make notes, and offer suggestions for changes.

6.     When you finish reviewing the draft with your comments, explain the grade or mark you would assign to the draft as it is today. This can help students see how much work they need to do as they move forward with the assignment.

7.     Finally, look at the handout together and complete the section with the action plan that the student will use in moving forward with the assignment. This handout can serve as a checklist for both you and the student as you check, revise, and ultimately grade future drafts.

8.     When all of these steps have been completed, ask the student what additional questions or concerns he/she has before leaving. Thank the student for coming and remind each student that even if he/she has work to do on this paper he/she has made a good start.

If you are a teacher with limited time available to meet with students individually, consider conducting small-group conferences. Small-group conferences can also support the individual feedback and attention that learners need. Put students of similar writing abilities into groups 3 to 4 and schedule a conference time with each group. With 3 to 4 students, it is better to allot a little more time, such as 30 minutes for each conference. Again, collect and mark the essays in advance of the conference, but instead of focusing on individual needs, focus on shared needs among the group. For example, each essay can be marked to address individual concerns, but look for issues that all group members need addressed such as thesis statements. Identify 3 to 5 issues that are prevalent across the group and prepare a mini-lesson that addresses the issues and gives participants a chance to work as a group to develop plans.

An additional option if time is limited is to read the draft during each conference. This will likely result in less written feedback and mirror more of a conversation about the essay. Still, students can prepare as they would for the conference outlined above and develop an action plan with you.

Teacher-Student Conference Handout

What grade/mark would you give your current essay?  __________________________________________

What are three questions you have about your essay?

1.     ________________________________________________________________________________

 

2.     ________________________________________________________________________________

 

3.     ________________________________________________________________________________

 

Write two things that you do well in your essay.

1.     ________________________________________________________________________________

 

2.     ________________________________________________________________________________

 

Write two things that need improvement in your essay.

1.     ________________________________________________________________________________

 

2.     ________________________________________________________________________________

 

Notes from Conference

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

Action Plan for Revision

What are 5 changes you will make to your draft?

1.     ________________________________________________________________________________

How will you make this change?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2.     ________________________________________________________________________________

How will you make this change?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3.     ________________________________________________________________________________

How will you make this change?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

4.     ________________________________________________________________________________

How will you make this change?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

5.     ________________________________________________________________________________

How will you make this change?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

What grade/mark do you want to get on this paper? ___________________________________________

What else will you do in your revision to achieve your desired grade/mark?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

The Academic Word List (AWL) is a list of 570 of the most commonly found vocabulary words in academic texts (Coxhead, 2000). When English language learners in academic settings focus attention on wordlists such as AWL, they have an opportunity to expand the vocabulary necessary to communicate in academia.

In this week’s activity, students will use the AWL to check and revise their own written work using an online tool called an AWL highlighter. AWL highlighters are an easy way for teachers to identify target vocabulary and for students to check their own written work for correct use of words from the AWL. Simply copy and paste the text to be reviewed in the online highlighter. Once you submit the text, a new version of the text is given with any AWL words highlighted. The text can then be used as a way to check vocabulary use or give students a chance to revise their own work focusing on academic vocabulary.

The number of AWL words that students use in their own writing will vary. If teachers are teaching vocabulary from the AWL and/or want to ensure that students are using academic vocabulary, students can always be given a set number of words to use. For example, a typical academic text run through the AWL highlighter might have 1 to 10 AWL words. Depending on your student’s level, their vocabulary knowledge, and the essay length, a manageable target is to ask each student to include 5 to 7 AWL words in their writing.

Advanced

Writing

During this activity, students will be able to:

• Identify AWL vocabulary in their writing using an online AWL highlighter tool.
• Use online resources and learner dictionaries to revise AWL vocabulary used in their writing.

• Computer with internet access
• AWL Highlighter: This AWL Highlighter can process 2400 characters at a time, which means students might have to run portions of their text through separately.
• Student writing (best with longer text) that has the AWL words highlighted
• Paper/pencils
• Online dictionaries or print copies, thesauruses, learner dictionaries, online corpora (corpora are collections of written and/or spoken text that linguists use to examine how words are put together and used)

• Before class (or in class, if computers are available), ask students to input a draft of their essay into the AWL highlighter; directions are provided at the end of this lesson with screenshots.
• Students must bring a printed version of their writing assignment to class. The students must run this writing through the AWL before class, so that every student has a printed copy with the AWL words highlighted.
• Write the following steps on the board:

o   Read the first sentence with an academic word aloud.

o   Look up the word in the dictionary to ensure that the definition of the word matches the intended meaning of the word in the sentence.

o   Together, read the sentence again. What part of speech is necessary for the word to fit correctly in the sentence?

o   If necessary, change the word to the correct part of speech using the dictionaries and additional tools if available. Make the correction on the paper.

o   When finished with one paper, check the other.

• Pair students according to their writing abilities, with students of similar levels working together or stronger students working with weaker students.

1.     Begin class by putting students into pairs.

2.     Once in pairs, give them a dictionary and offer any other materials on hand for vocabulary work.

3.     Tell students that they will look at and revise their writing together.  

4.     Have students look at one essay first. Review the steps already written on the board.

5.     As students work through their essays, teachers can circulate to assess how well the task is going.

6.     Upon finishing, teachers can choose whether to collect the corrected papers or continue revising the essay for other issues.

An alternative to this activity is to prep the students for the activity by reviewing a piece of writing together as a group. Prepare a text the students are familiar with and run the text through the AWL highlighter online. Print enough copies for the students to use as you work together through the article. First, model the activity by working together as a large group on two words. Then, assign students to groups of three to four and have each group work on an assigned word. If the text you are examining has only a few AWL words, have each small group examine all of the included AWL words. When finished, bring students back together and ask each group to share their findings.

This activity can be extended after pairs of students have checked both of their essays. One pair of students can give their essays and corrections to another pair of students. The pairs go through the steps on the board for the new essays that they have been given. Ask the new pairs to make any necessary changes before returning the essays to the authors. If there are disputes, encourage them to discuss their differences of opinion and come to an answer as a group of four.

Coxhead, A. (2000), A new Academic Word List. TESOL Quarterly, 34: 213–238. doi:10.2307/3587951

In academic writing, one of the key tasks is to analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources. For example, in a typical academic writing class, students might be tasked with writing summaries of several articles focused on a single topic. Once the summaries are complete, students must formulate a written response to the articles that includes a comprehensive look at the issues presented and an analysis of its causes and effects. In order to summarize a text, students must have a solid understanding of that text and, in order to respond, students must understand the text and take time to develop their own opinions and ideas related to the topic at hand.

In our first activity this month, we explain how to integrate reading early in the academic writing curriculum by teaching students to conduct close readings and annotations of their sources. A close reading is a type of intensive reading that includes making notes, or annotations, on the text. Close readings help readers focus on language, content, and ideas as a way to support comprehension and use of the material. In an academic writing class, close reading is the first step in teaching students how to conduct research and organize information.

Teaching students to conduct close readings and make annotations requires an emphasis on reading comprehension, vocabulary development, and intensive reading for details. Ultimately, close readings and annotations give students the tools to better navigate academic texts—texts that they will be expected to explain, synthesize, and evaluate in all of their academic writing assignments. This activity will show you how to teach students to closely read a text and make useful and relevant annotations to use in related writing tasks.

Advanced

• Writing
• Reading

During this activity, students will be able to:

• Annotate a text focusing on main ideas, key words, comments and opinions.
• Identify a text’s main idea and subtopics by underlining and paraphrasing them.
• Learn and utilize two vocabulary strategies for recognizing new terms.
• Interact with the text through comments, questions, and opinions.

• Sample annotation
• Article: “Assessment literacy: Building a better base for teaching and learning” (Rogier, 2014)
• Paper/pencils

• Write the following questions on the board or create a handout for students:

o   How long does it take you to read an article for class?

o   Do you take notes while you read?

o   If you take notes, what information do you include in your notes?

o   What are some reasons we take notes while we read?

• Put students into pairs. One way to put students into pairs is to draw a line down the middle of the room. Tell students on one side of the room to stand and find a partner on the other side of the room.

1.     Begin class by putting students into pairs.

2.     Once in pairs, ask them to discuss the questions listed on the board for 5-7 minutes.

3.     Bring the class back together as a large group. Ask students to share some of the answers they discussed. Then, focus on the last question: What are some reasons we take notes while we read?

• As students share their answers and ideas, write them on the board.

4.     When the students finish sharing ideas, write the word annotate on the board. Ask students what they think this word means.

• Give students a hint: Are there parts of the word they recognize? Notate or note

5.     Tell students that they are going to annotate a text as a way to practice note-taking while they read. Explain that annotating texts can better help them understand the text and will prepare them to use the text later for research and writing purposes.

6.     Hand out a copy of the sample annotation.

• Ask students to read through the sample annotation and make a list of the types of notes that are made.

7.     After students finish this, have them share their findings with the group while you write their responses on the board.

8.     Next, add any of the following to the list of things to include in a thorough annotation:

• Comments/opinions on ideas, concepts, and/or information presented in the text
• Questions about the text
• Connections to prior knowledge
• Vocabulary including two of the following: definition, connotation, translation, part of speech, and collocations.  Remind them that fully acquiring a vocabulary term involves a complete understanding. By examining a new word from a few different angles, they will begin to have a clearer understanding of the vocabulary.
• Underline/highlight main ideas and topic sentences
• Paraphrase important ideas
• Summarize ideas at end of each page

9.     Finally, give students the rest of the article used for the annotation. Tell them that they are now going to annotate the rest of the article by using the note-taking list. This task can be done as homework or in class.

An alternative to this activity is to allow students to do the full article’s annotation in pairs or small groups. When students work together to analyze a text, they pool their shared knowledge and offer ideas that they might not otherwise find on their own.

This activity can be extended to include a written summary. By having students write a summary, they have a chance to move from note-taking to using the text in an academic writing task. The summary is a way to assess whether students can transfer the information from their notes and the text into their own words. The annotation and the summary helps prepare students for academic writing tasks that ask them to analyze and synthesize multiple texts.

Rogier, D. (2014). Assessment literacy: Building a base for better teaching and learning. English Teaching Forum, 52(3). 2-13. Retrieved from https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/english-teaching-forum-2014-volume-52-number-3#child-1783

This month’s Teacher’s Corner has emphasized the need for young learners to have many opportunities to move around and interact in the classroom. This final week will discuss how to use music, chants, and movement to create a lively, engaging classroom that appeals to multiple learning styles.

Perhaps the easiest way to begin using music with your students is to play it in the background during times when you are not providing direct instruction. Soft, instrumental music works nicely to create a calm atmosphere when students first arrive to your classroom. You can also play this type of music when students have time to work independently. Free music streaming services are a great resource to use for this purpose.

Another simple way to use music is during transitions. You can use specific songs (or portions of them) to signal students that it is time to change activities. For instance, if your students have been working independently, you could play a minute of a certain song each time you expect them to begin cleaning up. If you do this consistently, the song itself becomes a signal to students, and they will be familiar with how much time they have to straighten their area and/or move to the next appropriate location in the classroom. Using music like this is also great for getting students in line, packing up materials at the end of class, or any other transitions your young learners have to make. It is much easier and more effective than verbally telling students how much time they have left to complete a task, a concept that can be difficult for young learners to understand.

A great way to teach young learners content that you include in your daily routine is to use songs. For students learning the alphabet, letter sounds, numbers, shapes, colors, or other basic vocabulary, there are many songs available on the internet for free. Some songs include visuals such as videos or pictures that you can use if you have a way to project them in your classroom. If not, you can still use the songs in combination with your classroom posters and materials. It is important to preview the content you plan to use in your classroom to be sure it is appropriate.

Another great resource for teaching with songs is the American Rhythms collection from American English. The songs are available to download for free from the American English website and cover a wide range of content such as gardens, healthy foods, and social studies topics. Each song has an accompanying lesson plan including the lyrics and ready-to-use classroom activities that you can download for free.

Jazz chants, created by educator Carolyn Graham, use the rhythm of spoken English set to a simple beat to teach pronunciation, stress, and intonation. As presented in this Shaping the Way We Teach English Webinar, almost anything can be turned into a jazz chant. The webinar is a great resource if you are interested in creating your own chants to use in your classroom. Jazz chants are an excellent addition to a daily routine or your lessons for young learners.

The basic rhythm of jazz chants makes them easy for young learners to follow and learn. They also provide an opportunity to incorporate movements such as clapping, snapping, tapping on knees, or marching. You can also consider including instruments such as a drum or tambourine when you use jazz chants. For more information about how to use jazz chants with young learners, you can order a free video featuring Carolyn Graham through the U.S. Embassy.

As noted above, jazz chants provide an opportunity for learners to move around and actively participate in learning. Songs with lyrics can also give learners a chance to move around with a bit of planning. You can create a few simple movements according to the lyrics of the song and teach them to learners ahead of time. Then, have students follow along and perform the movements with you each time they listen. Eventually, they will remember how to do the movements on their own.

The same strategy can be applied when you read stories and teach vocabulary. Choose a set of words you want learners to learn (5 to 10 works well) and assign a movement to each one. You can teach learners what the words mean, and choose a movement that illustrates the definition. For instance, if one of your vocabulary words is the verb dig, act as if you were shoveling dirt and tossing it backward over your shoulder. Learners can even help you come up with the movements as you teach what the words mean.

Review the list of words and corresponding movements several times. Then, when you read the text, have learners perform the appropriate motion each time they hear you say one of the words. You can also split your class into small groups and assign each group a word to listen for as you read. When a group hears their assigned word in the text, they are responsible for performing the corresponding movement.

The great thing about using music in your classroom is that the frequency and extent you use it in your teaching is up to you. It is a very flexible tool to use with students. Music addresses different learning styles, and young learners really enjoy it.