How to Teach Writing without Writing a Word

Lucy Valerio, IH Buenos Aires Recoleta

Questions

Think of a typical writing lesson:

• How many words do they write?

• How many paragraphs do they write?

• How much of the lesson do they spend writing?

1. Introduce the topic matter e.g. a word puzzle

2. Get the students actively thinking about the subject matter – but speaking to each other about it

E.g. when was the last time you complained about something?

Lesson Stages – Stages 1 & 2

3. Provide the students with situations in which they would complain and they have to decide if they would write a complaint letter or not.

E.g. Look at the situations below, write yes in the box next to each situation if you would WRITE a letter of complaint.

Lesson Stages – Stage 3

You travelled first class on a plane and the food was inedible. The ticket was £3,000.

You ate in a restaurant and the waiter spilt red wine on your white jeans.

There was a dead fly in the cheese section of your local supermarket.

You bought an iPod from the Apple store and it doesn’t work. You’ve been refused a refund.

You were served cold french fries at McDonalds.

You bought some smoked salmon from M&S and when you got it home it had a beetle in it.

4. Provide the students with some phrases and they have to decide if they are appropriate for a complaint letter.

E.g. Look at the phrases below – put a tick next to those which are appropriate to use in a letter of complaint.

Lesson Stages – Stage 4

I am writing to complain about……

Your shop is completely rubbish and the assistant I spoke to was a moron.

If I don’t hear from you in the next 5 days you’ll be hearing from my lawyers.

I bought the item from your shop on …….

5. Provide the students with a jumbled up letter that they have to put in the correct order.

6. Provide the students with the answer and a second model complaint letter. They then compare the two and look for similarities.

Lesson Stages – Stages 5 & 6

Lesson Stages – Stage 6 Dear Sir or Madam Re: Broken CD Player I am writing to complain about a CD player I bought from your shop in Manchester on 28th April. The CD player is a Soundtrax 318, and the number of CD player is SX 16906. When I got home and tried to play it, it did not work. I took the CD player back to your shop and the assistant asked me if I had a receipt. I explained that I had lost it. The assistant then looked at the CD but could not make it work. However, he refused to give my money back. He said that I needed a receipt. I would like you to refund my money or exchange the CD player with a new one. Please reply to me at the address or telephone number above.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully, Lucy Valerio

Dear Sir or Madam Re: Broken iPod I am writing to complain about an iPod I was given as a present which was bought from the Apple store in Manchester on 28th April. The iPod is a 4th generation iPod and the number is 562439824. When I was given the iPod I tried to turn it on but it did not work. I took the iPod back to your store and the assistant asked me if I had a receipt. I explained that I did not have a receipt as it was a present. The assistant then looked at the iPod but could not make it work. However, she refused to give my money back. She said that I had to have a receipt. I would like you to exchange the iPod with a new one that works. Please reply to me at the address or telephone number above.

I look forward to hearing from you

Yours faithfully, Lucy Valerio

7. The structure of the complaint letter is whiteboarded – so the opening, closing sentences, information in each paragraph etc.

8. The students are given a situation and then using the structure on the whiteboard they tell each other their complaint letters.

9. The students swap partners so that they can fine tune their complaints.

Lesson Stages – Stages 7, 8 & 9

Stage Product Stage Process

1 Model texts are read and features of the genre are highlighted.

1 Brainstorm ideas. Organise as a mindmap or lexical spider.

2 Controlled practice of the highlighted features of language.

2 Extend ideas to not form and evaluate the usefulness of those ideas. Eliminate some.

3 Organisation of ideas. 3 Draft ideas in to a rough form. This is usually done in class.

4 Students are given a writing and they use the skills to produce the product.

4 Exchange drafts with peers so that improvements can be made as drafts evaluated.

5 Finalise ideas, if required, exchange with peers to compare to the initial model text/peers own.

5 Finalise ideas and, if required, exchange (again) for comparison/evaluation from peers.

Two Approaches

Two Approaches? 1 Activating schemata Both

2 Students brainstorm ideas Stage 1 PROCESS

3 Students brainstorm some more Stage 1 PROCESS

4 Students extend their ideas and evaluate the usefulness of the language

Stage 2 PROCESS

5 Students work with a model Stage 1 PRODUCT

6 Students work with two models Stage 1 PRODUCT

7 Students organise their ideas for the specific piece of writing

Stage 3 PRODUCT

8 Students use the skills to produce the product Stage 4 PRODUCT

9 Students finalise their ideas and compare/evaluate them with their peers

Stage 4/5 PROCESS

10 S produce the piece of writing Stage 5 BOTH

Questions

Now think of a typical writing lesson:

• How many words do they need to write?

• How many paragraphs do they need to write?

• How much of the lesson do they need to spend writing?