ESL Writing Activities, Games & Teaching Tips: Practical Ideas for the Classroom

By Jackie Bolen

Even experienced ESL teachers get stuck in a rut. It's time to find some fresh ideas for writing classes!

 

Whether you're a first-time ESL/EFL/TEFL teacher, an experienced but overwhelmed instructor, or an instructor without a textbook, you need more activities for your English writing classes for beginners, intermediate or advanced students. If you're tired of wasting time wading through the junk on the Internet, then Jackie is here to help.

 

During her decade of experience as a CELTA/DELTA certified teacher, author Jackie Bolen has developed countless games and activities for her students. She's sharing her low-prep/no-prep ideas with ESL teachers throughout the world.

 

In ESL Writing Activities, Games & Teaching Tips, you'll get over three-dozen ideas to use in your own classroom. The highly-detailed descriptions will show you exactly how to use the activities during your lessons. Jackie's clearly and concisely explained activities will help you add instructional variety and put the focus back on your students.

 

If you're extremely busy or you're simply out of new ideas, Jackie's book makes it easy to try out new and exciting activities your students will love! It's easier than ever to have better writing classes today.

 

Buy the book to get new lesson plans ready to go in minutes! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jackie Bolen
• Release date: Jun 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393182610

Book preview

Copyright 2019 by Jackie Bolen

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher/author at the address below.

Jackie Bolen: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

About the Author: Jackie Bolen...............................................................................................4

Jackie Bolen around the Internet..................................................................................5

Tips for Teaching ESL/EFL Writing.......................................................................................6

Tip #1: Student-Centred Teaching is ALWAYS Best...................................................6

Tip #2: Use a Grading Rubric for Evaluating Writing................................................8

Tip #3: How Much Feedback to Give when Teaching Writing..............................11

Tip #4: Which ESL Writing Textbook Do you Recommend?...................................12

Tip #5: How Do I Prevent Cheating in a Writing Class?..........................................13

Tip #6: All About Teaching Writing to ESL Beginners.............................................14

Tip #7: How Can I Foster Student Autonomy in Writing Classes?.......................16

Tip #8: Include Writing in Speaking and Conversation Classes...........................18

Tip #9: Reasoning and Critical Thinking are Also Important.................................19

Tip #10: Teach the Writing Process...............................................................................19

Tip #11: All About Writing Style.....................................................................................20

Tip #12: Mistakes are Unavoidable...............................................................................21

Writing Activities for All Levels............................................................................................23

3 Things...................................................................................................................................23

Conjunctions and Transitions: Don't Forget About Them........................................24

Dictation Practice.................................................................................................................26

Picture Prompt......................................................................................................................28

Postcards................................................................................................................................30

Practice Writing Fluently...................................................................................................31

Proofreading Practice.........................................................................................................32

Word of the Day ...................................................................................................................34

Words in Words....................................................................................................................35

Writing Activities for Upper-Level Students....................................................................36

5 Senses..................................................................................................................................36

Association.............................................................................................................................37

Boggle......................................................................................................................................38

Bucket Lists...........................................................................................................................39

Fill out an Application Form.............................................................................................40

Freeze......................................................................................................................................41

Movie Subtitles.....................................................................................................................41

Only 1 Question....................................................................................................................43

Plan a Trip..............................................................................................................................44

Paraphrasing Practice .......................................................................................................45

Reverse Writing....................................................................................................................46

Scrabble..................................................................................................................................47

Translation.............................................................................................................................49

Vocabulary Square...............................................................................................................50

Write an Email......................................................................................................................51

Writing Activities for Lower-Level Students....................................................................53

Adjective or Adverb Modifier Posters............................................................................53

Alphabet Game......................................................................................................................54

Correction Relay...................................................................................................................56

Do you _____?.........................................................................................................................57

-er Dictionary Activity.........................................................................................................58

Give a Reason .......................................................................................................................60

Mixed Up Sentences............................................................................................................61

Q&A..........................................................................................................................................63

Synonym/Antonym Brainstorm Race..............................................................................63

What's That Called?.............................................................................................................64

What's the Question?..........................................................................................................65

What Can Students Write About? .......................................................................................67

A Short Story.........................................................................................................................67

A Picture.................................................................................................................................67

Life Story................................................................................................................................68

Hopes for the Future...........................................................................................................68

Forums....................................................................................................................................68

Facebook Groups..................................................................................................................68

Twitter.....................................................................................................................................69

Journaling...............................................................................................................................69

Describe a Scene..................................................................................................................69

Short Writing Activities for Beginners..........................................................................70

Get a Pen Pal.........................................................................................................................71

Blogging..................................................................................................................................71

Before You Go............................................................................................................................73

About the Author: Jackie Bolen

I taught English in South Korea for a decade to every level and type of student. I've taught every age from kindergarten kids to adults. Most of my time centered around teaching at two universities: five years at a science and engineering school out in the rice paddies of Chungcheongnam-Do, and four years at a major university in Busan where I taught high level classes for students majoring in English. I now teach ESL/EFL students in Vancouver, Canada. In my spare time, you can usually find me outside surfing, biking, hiking, or on the hunt for the most delicious kimchi I can find. It's not so easy in Vancouver!

In case you were wondering what my academic qualifications are, I hold a Master of Arts Degree in Psychology. During my time in Korea I successfully completed both the Cambridge CELTA and DELTA certification programs. With the combination of ten years teaching ESL/EFL learners of all ages and levels, and the more formal teaching qualifications I obtained, I have a solid foundation on which to offer teaching advice. I truly hope that you find this book useful and would love it if you sent me an email with any questions or feedback that you might have.

How did I get into teaching English writing? Well, I kind of fell into it when I moved from teaching young kids to university students. I taught ESL writing to beginners where we focused on making grammatically correct sentences. I also taught far more advanced students the ins and outs of academic writing. This involved five paragraph essays and preparing for the written portions of some of the popular English proficiency tests.

With time, I found that I liked teaching writing far more than I did conversation and speaking. As a result, I requested more of these classes from the administration at my university and they happily complied. Many teachers don't like to teach writing classes because of the heavier grading load compared to speaking classes. However, I always found it a nice change of pace and couldn't get enough of them.

The activities and games in this book are ones that I've used in my own classes and are tried and true! If you only teach beginners, there are also lots of activities for you. Teaching writing is about more than prepping students to write a five paragraph essay—which is all too often the primary focus of writing classes and courses. I also share my top tips for things like preventing cheating on writing exams, how to reduce the amount of time you spend on grading, and what students can actually write about. Let's get to it!

Jackie Bolen around the Internet

ESL Speaking (www.eslactivity.org)

Jackie Bolen (www.jackiebolen.com)

Twitter: @bolen_jackie

Email: [e-mail]

Do you want teaching games, activities, tips and tricks delivered straight to your inbox each week? Then you'll want to sign-up here: Jackie Bolen's Email List.

Tips for Teaching ESL/EFL Writing

When it comes to teaching EFL/ESL writing, I believe that every teacher goes through a learning curve about how to teach different elements of writing no matter how good they personally are at writing let alone teaching the language skill. When I took the CELTA course, my tutor said that any time a student is writing English, it can be considered writing practice. Prior to this moment, however, I thought ESL writing