Page 109 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Writing

a sentence, try to keep it in their memory (e.g. after the teacher has erased
it from the board) and then write it down as it was written. This can be done
with movement, with the so-called ‘running dictation,’ where a short text (or
just words) is put on the wall and children have to run to the text, remem-
ber as much as possible and write it in their notebooks or dictate it to their
classmate who writes it down.
Controlled writing activities do not
need to be tedious. Learners can de-
velop their creativity in designing ‘word
pictures’ or calligrams, words in which
the design and layout of the letters cre-
ates a visual image related to the mean-
ing of the words themselves (Figure 6.2).

Guided Writing Activities
Guided writing activities offer less sup-
port to the learner than controlled writ-
ing activities, but they still ‘guide’ the
learners in the writing process, usually
by providing them with language they
need for writing. Learners get support in
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
theformofmodels,partsofsentencesor
pictures. Common guided writing activ- Figure 6.2 An Example of a Calligram
ities are based on gap-fill activities. The
three writing activities (Figures 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5) are designed so as to guide
the learners in their first writing attempts. In the activity in Figure 6.3, the

Designed by pch.vector/Freepik

1BROWN 2WHITE 3SAD 4HAPPY
1. The dog is .
2. The dog .
3. The .
4. .
Figure 6.3 Guided Writing Activity: Example 1

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