Module 10: Writing

Google: drive, docs, pub

 For this assignment, I used a product approach.  The primary reason for choosing the product approach is that my students had an upcoming writing exam in which they would be evaluated by a very prescriptive criteria when it came to paragraph structure--topic sentence, supporting ideas, examples and concluding sentences.  Experience has taught me that Vietnamese students have a hard time understanding how to use this structure, and that it helps to give them a clear example of what is required, so I wanted to give them a very clear model text.  This is, admittedly, an approach I was already familiar with, but then I feel like I was already familiar with all three approaches.   However, in some ways it was also a combination approach, since the productive part of the lesson included elements of a process approach, namely a brainstorming stage and an outlining stage prior to writing the essay.   The reason for including these stages is that, in my experience, students who do not brainstorm and outline their essays prior to writing cannot produce the required paragraphing structure on the exam.

Because this was an online class, the students did their brainstorming, outlining and writing on a shared Google Doc, which I was able to monitor in real time.

I knew from past experience that getting the students to follow the required structure would be difficult.  My students prefer to view writing as a form of self-expression in which they write in a stream of consciousness prose which follows their own train of thought along whichever path it takes.  They are resistant to the idea that their writing has to be structured.  This has been an ongoing issue all term.

On the other hand, the fact that the students are aware that they have an upcoming assessment provided some external motivation to learn the structure.  I attempted to take full advantage of this during the examination of the model text phase of the lesson.  With every feature of the model text that we examined, I reminded them that they must produce similar features on their upcoming assessment.  And I believe that because of this external motivation, the students paid close attention to the features of the model text, and this part of the essay was a success.

I also feel like the planning and outlining stage of the lesson was successful, although it required a lot of intervention and micro-teaching by me.  I was constantly commenting on the shared Google Docs about supporting ideas which did not fit the topic sentence.  However, I did not let the groups start writing their essays until their outline had been approved by me, and eventually all the groups produced outlines that I felt were good.  I was happy with this result.

Unfortunately, the final stage, the actual writing of the essay itself, was not good.  Most groups had thirty minutes of classtime left to write their essays, but they only produced one or two paragraphs.  I attribute this to student fatigue.  They just stopped working.  They were not inherently interested in the essay structure, and the external motivation of the upcoming assessment had worked during the first hour, but it was not enough to keep them motivated for the whole two hour writing lesson.

Appendix: Lesson Plan (materials)

Main Aim: Students learn the structure of a persuasion essay

Sub-aim: Students review the structure of a paragraph (which has been studied in previous lessons)

Stage	Stage Aim	Matching the stage to the chosen approach	Interaction Patterns	Description
Lead-in	Generate interest in the model text	Product approach	Ss--Ss	Students discuss with a partner whether or not it is important for children to play at school
Model Text: Gist Reading	For students to comprehend the model text generally before being asked to examine it in more detail	Product approach	Text--Ss	Students read the model text, and answer the question “How does the author feel about playtime at school?” Answers are confirmed in open class feedback.
Model Text: Reading for Detail	For students to gain a more detailed understanding of the model text before they notice its features	Product Appoach	Text--Ss	Students are given 6 specific information questions about the model text, which they answer. Answers are confirmed in open class feedback.
Noticing the structure of the Essay	For students to understand the structure of a Persuasion Essay	Product Approach	Text--Ss	Students match the paragraphs of the essay to their purpose. Answers are confirmed in open class feedback.
Noticing the structure of the paragraphs	For students to review the structure of paragraphs	Product approach	Text--Ss	Students look at the body paragraphs of the essay, and for each body paragraph they identify the topic sentence, the supporting ideas, the examples, and the concluding sentence.  This is a review of previous lessons. Answers are confirmed in open class feedback.
Writing: Brainstorming	For students to brainstorm ideas prior to writing	Process approach	Ss--Ss	Students are given 6 questions about video games to discuss in groups.  After the discussion, they try to organize their ideas from the discussion into two categories: arguments for letting children play video games, and arguments against letting children play video games.
Writing: Outlining	For students to outline their essay prior to writing	Process approach	Ss--Ss	In groups, students organize their ideas into an outline prior to writing.  The teacher monitors and gives feedback.
Writing	For students to practice writing an essay	Product and Process approach	Ss--Ss	In groups, students write their essay on a Google Doc.  The teacher monitors and gives feedback.