Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas 02

The following are summaries of important ideas in Teaching English, How To….

Ten-minute essays. Did a teacher ever make a correction on one of your papers and you said, “I didn’t know that” and you never made that mistake again? That type of writing help is the idea behind the ten-minute essays in which the teacher does not just label mistakes, but actually makes the corrections for you in style and mechanics and even with expression that is awkward or not clear. The ten-minute essay idea came from a piece of research I read in the 1960s. pp. 70-77.

The Directed Reading Assignment changes students from passive to active readers. Build up background information on the topic—the more students know about a topic, the better they will comprehend what they read about it. Pre-teach key unfamiliar vocabulary so that students will see the words when they read. Set clear purpose for reading, instead of expecting students to read everything for no purpose. Have students apply what they have learned. pp. 82-87.

End of reading problems? Olive Niles, an expert on reading education, said that if every classroom teacher, in all subject areas, used the directed reading assignment, there would be no reading problems in American schools. p. 87.

Homework. Motivate students to do their homework independently by having them start it in class, where you can answer questions about it and clarify problems. Their parents will be most grateful. Help students plan long-term assignments like research papers. It also helps if you occasionally ask students to evaluate your homework assignments You might be able to improve them. pp. 89-92.

Modeling skills. Directed reading assignments show students how to approach difficult reading assignments themselves, without the aid of the teacher. Beginning homework assignments in class helps students understand how to complete homework assignments on their own. With 10-minute essays, the teacher corrects problems of style, usage, mechanics and awkward and unclear expression, demonstrating the way in which students should revise and proofread by themselves without the aid of the teacher. pp. 95-98.

Can Writing Be Taught? Some professional writers say that writing cannot be taught. I think the meaning of that statement depends on how “writing” is defined. Obviously, not many people can write powerful novels or construct publishable poems. However, expository writing, the form of writing that most people use to communicate, can be taught. Students can be taught how to construct a piece of writing with a beginning, middle and end. p. 103.

The Writing Process: 1. Study an example of the type of writing you need to use. 2. Choose a topic. 3. Brainstorm the topic. 4. Review your brainstormed material and write a thesis sentence. 5. Write a complete first draft as quickly as possible, based on your thesis sentence and including the middle paragraphs and summary paragraph. 6. Compose interesting introductory material. 7. Add the thesis sentence to the introductory material. 8. Revise (insert, delete, rearrange) and edit (correct spelling, punctuation, etc.). p. 106+

Expository vs. Narrative Writing. The purpose of expository writing is to explain, as distinct from narrative writing, which describes an experience, usually, but not always, in chronological order. Most expository writing includes narrative writing as the writer describes experiences related to the topic. The reader will note many uses of narrative material in this book, which is primarily expository in form, i.e., it explains how to teach secondary English. p. 104.