How to Create an ESL Writing Lesson Plan
ESL writing lessons typically focus on texts and styles of writing common to English-speaking countries, such as paragraphs, letters, reports, summaries and different kinds of essays. These are the documents ESL students are most likely to encounter at school or in an English-speaking workplace. Because some of these documents may be entirely new concepts to ESL students, showing them some samples first gives them an idea of what you are expecting. After providing samples, teach the outline of the writing piece and assign a writing task for students to complete.
Instructions
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Photocopy samples of a particular type of writing document, such as an argumentative essay. These could be written by previous students or by yourself. Plan to ask students to read them quietly or in pairs. This will be your "anticipatory set" activity, which draws student attention.
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Prepare a mini-lecture on the type of writing document you will be teaching. This lecture should explain the purpose of the document, where and when it is used, how it is structured and any other notable features. Outline your lecture on a PowerPoint presentation or handout so students can follow along.
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Generate a set of questions to ask students as you read through the sample document together. For example, you could ask students to locate the thesis and the three main points of an argumentative essay.
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Create sheets with an outline of the type of writing that students can fill in. For example, for an argumentative essay create a space for a title, the topic, the thesis, three main points and three sub-points for each. This helps students get a hang of the structure in their first attempt.
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Plan how you will check that students are on the right track. Going around to every student and looking over their outline might be faster than requiring students to hand them all in, marking them and then handing them all back.
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Type out clear homework instructions that you will either hand out to students or have students copy down. If you will be having students fill out an outline for an essay in class, have them write out the essay in full paragraph form for homework. State the length of the assignment and any other requirements.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't let your students write rough drafts in their native language and then translate them into English. Translating in that manner does little to help language acquisition. The more guidance you provide during the warmup and outlining time, the less your students will need to switch back to their mother tongue to gather their thoughts.
An ESL writing lesson plan is more effective and interesting if students can write to someone other than the teacher. Try to use communication activities. For example, pairs of business English students might write invitations to business conferences and exchange them with each other. They can then explain to why they would or wouldn't accept the other's invitation.
Don't skip the outlining process. Even if your students are familiar with the type of writing they'll be doing, it still helps to provide a framework they can use to structure their writing. When you write in a foreign language, so much thought goes to vocabulary and grammar that it's easy to forget structure.
References
Resources
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