(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)
Imagine that you read Mari’s essay in which she developed her ideas exactly the way that you had hoped she would. But her grammar was very weak and even caused some confusion. You are torn about what grade to give her. You know that her grammar skills are not strong enough to succeed at the next level, so you don’t want to mislead her. But you also don’t want to discourage her since her content was so good.
Essay introduction
Dan nervously flipped through a magazine as he waited for the other passengers to get into their seats. Soon, a very large man sat down in the seat next to him. His shoulders were so wide that they pushed Dan’s elbow off the arm rest. The take-off and first 20 minutes were smooth. Dan lowered the tray in front of him and set his lunch and coffee on it. Suddenly, the passenger in front of him decided to push her seat back, shoving Dan’s tray into him, spilling coffee all over him. For the rest of the two-hour flight, he tried not to think about how miserable he felt in his tiny seat and wet shirt.
(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)*
Most people like stories. And essays that start with a story are often the easiest to enter. Like these written by a couple of students:
“A few months ago, in the middle of the night, when I was staying at home, I heard my house’s gate was shaken violently by someone. There, I saw a woman who was carrying her baby, standing with panic and asking for help. …”
“The 40-degree Celsius weather was miserable when we were going on the trail to my grandmother’s house in Bucaramanga, Colombia. We had been traveling about seven hours and were in El Pescadero, which is the curviest and dizziest part of the trip. …
These dramatic introductions are not only enticing for the reader, but they are also fun for the students to write; it gives them a chance to use their imagination and creativity.
At the same time, a good dramatic intro isn’t just a story. There are three characteristics of especially good ones:
During the week of Jan. 15-19, 2018, each day, I was interviewed online at LINCS about teaching grammar.
The topics were:
Jan. 15: Inductive teaching
Jan. 16: Importance of grammar terminology
Jan. 17: Ear-learners
Jan. 18: Leading students to finding grammar mistakes
Jan. 19: The connection between reading and learning grammar
Each day, I mentioned handout exercises related to that days topic, and I made these available in this posting below.
To see the handouts and read more information about the topics, please read below.
Continue reading
(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)*
Because this technique gives students a chance to discover their grammar errors, we have found students have greatly improved their self-editing skills. And self-editing skills will be of great value to them as move beyond ESL courses.
Here is a description of the technique along with a handout exercise that will introduce students to it.
Common Sense Teaching ESL 