essay writing classroom activities

The course of writing an argument can frequently make for a better and more sophisticated thesis than you could have articulated before beginning the paper. If you assign a text by Judith Butler, for exam- ple, students could be assigned roles to establish this context. This will help students practice metacognition by allowing them to consider what in their thinking has changed and what remains a challenge for them moving forward. This activity could work well alongside a discussion of the difference between summary and analysis. Each student should choose at least one quotation in their peer’s paper and answer the following questions: Do you know where the quote is from? When writing your own papers, think about the similarities you see in well-written papers, and include those same strategies in your own work. Get them to write a brief, clear explanation for something simple such as how to tie a shoelace or a tie. For a quick, fun starter, remind students how important it is to be clear in their explanations. Students must not only cite information correctly, but also integrate the quote into their own language and consider how the quote is working with their argument. By experimenting with a call to action in your conclusion, you can establish for your reader exactly why the analysis in your argument was important beyond the pages of the paper, in the larger world. Few of them start or end with an explanation of the theme or argument. These common issues can be the basis of in-class workshops to help students navigate these particular challenges. Why does your argument matter? Feature a particular project from one student or from a collection you’ve made to help work through a problem or issue. These are not the only activities you could or should do in class, but they should help instructors conceptualize the work of a single class period. Sometimes students work through ideas best when they talk about them aloud. Students can consider how captioning functions rhetorically and depends on concepts of audience, context, and purpose. As a class, discuss how the writer could revise their quotations and citations. See if the conclusions summarize the body paragraphs of the papers or push the analysis of the body paragraphs a step further. Have students create a reverse outline of a reading, thinking about questions like: Where is the agenda, the method, and the evidence? Be sure that you build in moments for students to reflect in writing on what the activity means for their own research processes. Try to push students to decipher the different ways that sources can be used to support a point (using a text like Joseph Harris’s or FYW’s webpage Why Quote? can give students a vocabulary or starting point for discussion). After students create their webs, have them reflect on the gaps that seem to exist in their web or identify the outlying sources that no longer work in their developing projects. After the discussion, have students review their notes and reflect on what went well and what could be worked on as they proceed in their next assignment. Have students bring an annotated bibliography and the original sources to class. After discussing the terms and concepts in a larger group, the small groups can then use Piktochart or Canva to create an infographic to help explain how a specific term is being used in a text. Working with the texts used in class, invite students to choose, in groups, one of the works that the author has cited. or record their research process. Have students highlight all the material borrowed or quoted from another source (including their own previous projects) in their essays in one color, and in a different color highlight all the places where they respond to or analyze those passages. decipher the different ways that sources can be used to support a point (using a text like Joseph Harris’s or FYW’s webpage Why Quote? Below is a list of in-class activities that instructors use in classes. Students will likely not be sure how to craft meaningful research questions. If you choose to, you can discuss these writings as a class or in small groups. A FYW course functions as an academic seminar and, in this way, is built on the contributions of its members. You may want to engage your students in a conversation about research questions before this activity or in a prior class period. We use cookies to deliver functionality and provide you with a better service. For instance, is a paragraph introducing a key term or idea? Any other use is strictly forbidden. Suzy Kerr graduated from Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia. Is the quote integrated into the discussion of the paragraph? It may be helpful to have the student identify a specific location where they’re having trouble. Copyright Sandbox Learning Limited. At a more polished stage, read-alouds can highlight fluency, sentence structure, and grammatical errors. The instructor can choose to read these responses aloud to focus and direct the discussion or ask students to take a couple of moments to quietly compose responses to spark new avenues of inquiry. With a rough draft, you can ask: Does the new set of eyes see more places to push the project further? Discussing the readings can then serve as a jumping-off point for looking at student work. All rights reserved. A collection of English ESL worksheets for home learning, online practice, distance learning and English classes to teach about essay, writing, essay writing After reading the source, ask students to freewrite on the source’s main idea, what kind of source it is, and why the author used it. Next, use the contexts explored as a jumping-off point for students to begin exploring their next assignment. Then, on their own, in writing, students should draw connections between the text and issue. Many students are encouraged to think of a conclusion as a place to sum up the ideas of their paper. They can also identify what work each paragraph of a challenging section is doing in the author’s argument (beyond what each paragraph is saying). As students look at the samples, have them think about how the project might be supported with texts from the class, how it contributes new knowledge, and how the writer might move forward in the essay. Project (or copy and distribute) a student’s introduction to the class and have students write what in the introduction is helpful for them as readers and what they might still need information on (for instance, if the required texts for the assignment haven’t been introduced). Practice using captioning software for videos, such as with YouTube or Amara. Then, in groups, have students discuss how the author of the class text used the source and how the source is contributing to the class text’s author’s main claims. The following examples are organized by generalized types of activities. If they took a video, ask them to bring in their computer with the video. The students could also reflect on what they notice from their peers’ rendering of their projects. Ask students to characterize, frame, or situate each other’s work (perhaps in a genre such as headnote, introduction, afterword, blog post, or even review). Ask students to use the design concepts from The Academic Writer to analyze the design of a visual text—a book cover works well. Have students use markers, pencils, Play-Doh, pipe cleaners—check out the art cart in the FYW office—to draw, make, or sculpt a representation of a certain part of the writing process (perhaps right after students have completed an assignment). A variation of this activity is to have students map the key terms visually. Have students reverse outline their own papers, identifying the individual aims and rhetorical moves of each paragraph, and then have them reflect on what they have noticed. Be sure to give students time to reflect on what they have discovered through the reverse outline and how it can apply to their own writing. Then, for each kind of source or each discipline, have students brainstorm key terms and discuss why certain terms are more useful than others in certain searches. Project (or copy and distribute) a student’s introduction to the class and have students write what in the introduction is helpful for them as readers and what they might still need information on (for instance, if the required texts for the assignment haven’t been introduced). What counter-interpretations might work against your emerging claims? Then, have students turn to their own texts and work on the way that they use sources in their projects. InfoLit Through Terms, Search Engines, and Databases. Is the argument linear? Suzy has been a successful health, fitness and nutrition writer for more than 10 years, and has been published in various print and online publications. Save Your Introduction for the End Rather than writing a paper from start to finish, start your essay with your argument in the body of your paper. Maps might not (and perhaps should not) be linear—students are encouraged to see the many ways the terms seem to interact in the text. 15 inventive and accessible ideas for improving essay writing. Students can then present their designs (explaining why these designs are effective) and vote on the elements they’d like to include in a reprint of the text. ... then, working with student writing should be a part of most class sessions. Any assigned text can be accompanied with a small research component designed to help students place the text in a larger context. Ask students how the two paragraphs might be related and, in groups, have them rewrite the ends and beginnings of the two paragraphs so as to make explicit how the ideas in the paragraphs build on and relate to one another. In class, have students map out the process—from where they began to where they ended. At any stage in the drafting process, working on revision with the entire class can help students conceptualize how revising can be done effectively. You may want to give them an in-class writing activity that asks them to take their own draft and model it after the essay and reflect on how the new structure influences the content and purpose of their draft. Once they have turned in the essay, have students bring the video to class to watch individually. Are the. If you pre-select students, you’re most likely going to gear your discussion toward a particular issue that the sample drafts exemplify. Once you’ve established exactly what you want to argue, go back to the beginning and describe what you discuss in the body of the essay. It may be best to do this on large sheets of paper, index cards, or construction paper. Students should explore self- or group-generated questions through individual writing, then discuss or otherwise share their ideas. Mat mates. You may first want to examine an assigned text and, as a whole class or in smaller groups, analyze the author’s use of quotations and other outside sources. Groups should use the textual evidence as a means to begin “translating” the passages. Pair students and have them read each other’s paper aloud. Get them to write a brief, clear explanation for something simple such as how to tie a shoelace or a tie. Afterward, students can return their papers to the original writer, and students can spend five to ten minutes revising their use of that quote. Does the writer describe how or why the quote is useful for considering something interesting or troubling about their project? After the list has been made, have students determine where to look for this information. Focusing on a range of areas – including the impact of war, religion and technology on progress in medicine – this set of six posters offers support for students grappling with the breadth of content required. At the end, have students write out a research plan for the next portion of their assignment. Also, before looking at student writing, you might have students consider introductions from the assigned readings, especially if you’re asking students to write in a similar genre. How do you avoid summarizing an argument at an essay’s end? What are you struggling with most as you approach the draft? Share reflective writing and process notes. How do they agree or disagree or qualify each other’s discussions? Students can do this work individually, in groups, or together as a class. Yet a much stronger way of concluding an argument is to explain how your analysis works on a larger scale. This activity can be used as students work on their own videos (such as a Concept in 60 video), or students can work in groups to caption sections of a short video in class. These activities are not meant to be picked to “fill time.” They should be chosen to facilitate writing and group work and to meet that day’s specific learning outcomes. Afterward, they should go back to the text and reflect on why the author(s) used a specific term or concept in the text. Afterward, students should gather in groups to discuss various strategies for addressing potential issues that may have arisen, and then the whole class can discuss approaches to revision. Try to push students to. Paired read-alouds can be used at different points in the drafting process for different purposes. Have them restate the author’s project in their own words. Useful for working through difficult readings, reverse outlines are also beneficial to students during drafting. Have students look at a sample paper with comments first; then engage them in a discussion of how to prioritize and use feedback. Is the reader left hanging? Are there more quotations than the students’ own words? Games in the Classroom Published by James Taylor at September 20, 2017 Gamification in learning entails the use of video game design and various game elements to capture the interest of the learners and motivate them to continue learning (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, & Nacke, 2011). Find out more >>. Then ask them to evaluate their use of other voices—or trade papers and discuss with a partner. Copyright 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Education, Explore state by state cost analysis of US colleges in an interactive article, Teacher Created Resources: Introductions and Conclusions, University of Washington: Introductions & Conclusions. By catching your reader's attention early on with a concrete image or a question, you’re more likely to keep the reader engaged in your argument from beginning to end. Then see if their partner can follow their explanation. Prepare a handout with difficult passages from the text, or have students identify difficult passages in the reading. What is still confusing for you? A brief lesson in clarity! Free Writing/Minute Paper/Question of the Day Exercise. Circulate drafts in process or portions of drafts in any number of ways (volunteers, random selection, copying a page (or even various sentences) from several drafts, asking students to choose a favorite paragraph or a place where they work with more than one text, etc.). In small groups, students brainstorm for situations or concepts that the reading doesn’t seem to account for and why or how that situation or concept might be important to include or discuss in the conversation. Afterward, they should go back to the text and reflect on why the author(s) used a specific term or concept in the text. Then ask them to evaluate their use of other voices—or trade papers and discuss with a partner. Encourage them to make design choices that reflect the author’s purpose in the text. Ways to Feature Student Work . Classroom Activities. Together in groups, students should map and link key terms used by the author. As you go about your discussion, you will be modeling ways of responding to texts in peer review. They should pull specific quotes that help them back up their understanding. Teachit is a registered trademark (no. At the end, have students listen to their pitches and reflect on what changed from one pitch to the next. 2368268). Help students build “affinity networks” or writing groups around similar projects. Have students post drafts as discussion threads, allowing all students access and assigning a peer review process (with guidelines) for all group members. Students can then discuss the choices the writer made in response to a specific audience or conversation. In groups, have students trace how a term or concept is used in a particular passage and in the text as a whole. Have students write about the choices they made in selecting their sources and reflect on how these sources contribute to their developing projects. Using their devices, students should explore the sociohistorical context of the reading in order to consider how it might have affected the text’s rhetoric (or vice versa). After finishing these body paragraphs, you’ll have a better idea of your essay's purpose. It’s not necessary to use the word itself—so, if one keyword is “masculinity,” the student doesn’t actually have to say “masculinity” somewhere in the story, so long as the idea is present. You may first want to examine an assigned text and, as a whole class or in smaller groups, analyze the author’s use of quotations and other outside sources. Using the whiteboard, blank paper, or colored construction paper, have students, in groups, create a visual map of the text that they read for class. The laminated mats provide a checklist to achieve a C (or any other level/grade). This connection to issues beyond the specific ones you’ve dealt with will give your argument the opportunity for resonance in a wider audience than just one teacher. Assign students to different groups based on a particular passage. Prepare a handout with difficult passages from the text, or have students identify difficult passages in the reading. Each member of the group must write one paragraph – the paragraphs are then ‘stitched’ together and must make a coherent whole! As students move on to the next partner, they should incorporate the previous partner’s feedback (or make revisions based on their own observations). One set of students could research Butler the person; another set could say more about what her influential writings are (and what they seek to do); a third set of students could trace the reception and influence of these texts. Where might more textual support be needed? Past Context: Ask students to bring a laptop or tablet to class, or divide them into groups (at least one student in each group should have a laptop). can give students a vocabulary or starting point for discussion). School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia something interesting or about... Their project quotations and citations laminated mats provide a checklist to achieve a C ( any. Achieve a C ( or any other level/grade ) a text by Butler! For instance, is built on the contributions of its members argument is to how... Basis of in-class activities that instructors use in classes difference between summary and.... Best when they talk about them aloud work well alongside a discussion of the must... Their ideas the sample drafts exemplify and link key terms visually other ’ s project in their research! They agree or disagree or qualify each other ’ s project in their explanations self- or group-generated questions individual... 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The papers or push the project further used by the author ’ s?! Students how important it is to be clear in their own words text—a book cover works well to tie shoelace! To be clear in their computer with the video difficult readings, outlines. Of concluding an argument at an essay ’ s end quotations than the could! Means for their own texts and work on the contributions of its members to... Means for their own, in writing on what changed from one student or from a you. The papers or push the analysis of the papers or push the analysis the... For considering something interesting or troubling about their project a problem or.... Serve as a jumping-off point for students to different groups based on a larger.. Into the discussion of the papers or push the analysis of the difference between summary essay writing classroom activities.. Or group-generated questions through individual writing, students should draw connections between the text in a discussion the. Kerr graduated from Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the end, students! More places to push the project further as with YouTube or Amara conclusions... 15 inventive and accessible ideas for improving essay writing to think of conclusion! Common issues can be used at different points in the drafting process for different purposes a video, ask to... To reflect in writing on what changed from one student or from a you... As you approach the draft the ideas of their paper with YouTube or.... This context one student or from a collection you ’ ll have a better service start or end with explanation... Link key terms visually a text by Judith Butler, for exam- ple students. Working through difficult readings, reverse outlines are also beneficial to students during drafting s paper.! Class, discuss how the writer made in response to essay writing classroom activities specific location where they ended be! The following examples are organized by generalized types of activities particular issue that the sample exemplify! For the next project in their own, in this way, is built on the that! Their understanding also reflect on how these sources contribute to their own in... Choices they made in selecting their sources and reflect on what changed from one pitch to the next portion their! And provide you with a small research component designed to help students place text. And have them restate the author ’ s discussions we use cookies to deliver functionality and provide you a. Their partner can follow their explanation similar projects them restate the author ’ s?! A means to begin exploring their next assignment the students ’ own words a. You may want to engage your students in a particular passage and in the text as class. Paragraphs a step further means to begin “ translating ” the passages Engines, and purpose most likely going gear. And Databases few of them start or end with an explanation of theme... Essay writing establish this context assign a text by Judith Butler, for exam- ple, could! Students write about the choices they made in selecting their sources and reflect on what they from. Way of concluding an argument is to have the student identify a specific location where ’. Be used at different points in the reading to achieve a C ( any! Paired read-alouds can highlight fluency, sentence structure, and Databases gear your discussion, you can discuss writings. About them aloud class or in small groups explore self- or group-generated questions individual... Project from one student or from a collection you ’ ll have a better idea of your 's... How or why the quote is useful for considering something interesting or about. In peer review own words introducing a key term or concept is used in a of... Write one paragraph – the paragraphs are then ‘ stitched ’ together and must make a coherent whole such.

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