Page 107 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Writing

Table 6.4 Stages of the Process-Based Approach to Writing
Stage Process
Brainstorming, discussion To gather ideas about the writing task (e.g. by creating a mind
map or making notes)
Drafting To write down ideas, without worrying about mistakes
Redrafting, revising To improve the draft individually or in pairs/groups
Editing To correct mistakes; to check spelling, grammar, punctuation
Publishing Sharing writing with the audience

classroom or in the hall or publishing it in a class/school magazine will show
learners their work is valued and purposeful.
Teachinglearnershowtoself-correcttheirwrittenworkisanindispensable
writingstrategythatwillimprovetheirwritingskills.Thequestionsbelowcan
help learners check their written work (Shin and Crandall, 2014):

1. Does my text have a title?
2. Does my writing have a beginning, middle and end?
3. Did I check my spelling?
4. Did I capitalise the first words in each sentence?
5. Did I write full stops at the end of each sentence or questions marks at
the end of questions?
6. Is my handwriting easily readable?

Self-evaluationquestionsdependonthetypeoftextlearnershavewritten.
If it is a summary, we can also give them a list of key events in the story, so
they check whether they have included them in their summary.
When we practice writing, it is advisory to work on different text types and
genres. By focusing on texts, we draw the learners’ attention to the various
conventions or common features which make a text unique, such as the dif-
ferent elements which characterise a fairy tale (e.g. a typical beginning and
ending). We can include writing letters, postcards, emails, stories, cartoons,
advertisements, invitations, greeting cards, poems, recipes, shopping lists,
etc. By working with a variety of text types, learners get to know the purpose,
the layout, the vocabulary and the language structures of different texts.

Writing Activities
Writing activities commonly fall into four categories: pre-writing activities,
controlled, guided, and free writing activities.

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