Tag Archives: writing
Paraphrasing activities & resources
Practising paraphrasing is so important for our students: it requires them to know vocabulary and to manipulate structures successfully. Doing it in pairs or groups means they have to be explicit about the process, further advancing their confidence and control. If you can name it, you can tame it! It is of course a skill […]
Formal or Informal?
Cut-ups and Kaboom! Students often struggle to distinguish between formal and informal language, and also to produce appropriately formal language when appropriate. Given that academic language is generally formal, and that my students need to be able to write texts of varying registers for their IGCSE E2L, it’s worth some time focusing on the features […]
Writing Mats for IGCSE E2L
I’ve created these writing mats for our IGCSE students to refer to whilst learning how to write the various genres of text required for the CIE IGCSE in English 2nd Language. They’re also handy for revising. You can download the ppt file under each picture. Please note: I didn’t write the model texts myself. I […]
Text type analysis
This activity could work for any course where students need to be able to identify and write a variety of text types. This year the IGCSE E2L got a bit more challenging: students had to be prepared to write two of the following text types: informal email/letter, formal letter, article, report, review, with the report […]
Noticing, analysing and applying features of persuasive writing
The IGCSE in E2L requires students to be able to write articles and formal letters using persuasive language. To get the top marks for a piece of writing at GCSE, students need to use “a consistently appropriate style” with an “excellent sense of purpose and audience.” Many of my students haven’t studied persuasive language in […]
UCAS Personal statement writing resources
In the autumn term, I offer Y13s help with writing their personal statements in an after-school session. It can be hard to sell yourself in your own language, let alone a second, so I put together this list of useful sites that students can use to find a suitable alternative to knowledge or an appropriate […]
Ghostwriter
This speaking and writing activity can be used for any topic and almost any level. The activity requires students to put themselves in their partner’s shoes and therefore they really have to listen to each other. At the end, they get to read about themselves, and who doesn’t love that! The bonus result is that […]
A Hive of Activities 