Discussion task #2
Discussion task #2
Finding the right audience and making writing meaningful are two of the major challenges teachers face when designing writing activities. What affective strategies have you used that achieved these goals?
1) I try to personalize writing as much as possible. I usually start talking about myself to get students at ease and more open to share their own feelings and ideas towards the writing topic. Then I adapt the task to allow students to express themselves in a comfortable and confident way.
2) Finding the right audience is definitely a key issue in all writing tasks but it's even more important with young learners as they need to feel their writing is authentic and will be read by real audience. That's why I try to do peer check/correction before I read it myself. Whenever possible, I try to have students write to each other and reply back.
As a different version of it, we created at our center (A wise owl) which students write to and get personalized replies. It was very popular with all students of all ages. The replies (by tis secret figure = wise owl) commented on the students' messages and asked questions to keep them writing and engaged in the process.
3)Another idea is giving students the opportunity to show their work through a story booklet (where they collect all the stories they wrote during the term) or a shared poster to show their pieces of writing or even put their productions on a padlet wall or a class blog. It makes them feel proud of their productions and get engaged more in writing which is not an interactive skill.
Finding the right audience and making writing meaningful are two of the major challenges teachers face when designing writing activities. What affective strategies have you used that achieved these goals?
1) I try to personalize writing as much as possible. I usually start talking about myself to get students at ease and more open to share their own feelings and ideas towards the writing topic. Then I adapt the task to allow students to express themselves in a comfortable and confident way.
2) Finding the right audience is definitely a key issue in all writing tasks but it's even more important with young learners as they need to feel their writing is authentic and will be read by real audience. That's why I try to do peer check/correction before I read it myself. Whenever possible, I try to have students write to each other and reply back.
As a different version of it, we created at our center (A wise owl) which students write to and get personalized replies. It was very popular with all students of all ages. The replies (by tis secret figure = wise owl) commented on the students' messages and asked questions to keep them writing and engaged in the process.
3)Another idea is giving students the opportunity to show their work through a story booklet (where they collect all the stories they wrote during the term) or a shared poster to show their pieces of writing or even put their productions on a padlet wall or a class blog. It makes them feel proud of their productions and get engaged more in writing which is not an interactive skill.
Hello Ayat! I really like the idea of the Wise Owl! That is very nice since students are interacting in real time and their responses are personalized!
ReplyDeleteAyat,
ReplyDeleteHaving a Wise Owl answering students writing sounds like a lot of fun!
I also first tell them about myself as a way of both building trust and also modelling the language they are going to use.
The approaches you have mentioned certainly create interesting audiences and build pride on their work.
Way to go!
You can't imagine how the wise owl is so popular now in our center. Not just because it represents the sincere friend and for some kids even the only friend, it also changed how we view owls culturally. An owl in Egypt represents bad omen (I don't know why, I guess it's an old belief) while now it is a nice and even wise creature that students love. I believe that's one good aspect of introducing other cultures while teaching foreign languages, which I find really interesting.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, we were able to help some kids who had personal problems that they couldn't easily share with anyone but they did with the owl. We were able to guide and advise them which is even better than asking help from friends or other strangers !!