Writing textbook

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Loosecannon
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 5:05 am
Location: Korea

Writing textbook

Post by Loosecannon » Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:27 am

I teach an after school class at a Korean public middle school. The students are from different schools and are of a higher level than normal classes. I have not used textbooks for a while and so I'm guessing when I say their level is about pre-intermediate maybe intermediate at a push. There are 15 students per class.
I am looking for a textbook to base writing lessons on as I do not have enough time anymore to write my own lessons for them and have not taught writing before.
Anyone know any good writing textbooks for 14-16 year olds?

Thanks

sbourque
Posts: 158
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:32 pm
Location: USA

Post by sbourque » Sat May 17, 2008 3:24 pm

If you Google "composition"+"middle school" you can get some good ideas. I'm tutoring a girl in 5th grade now (in the U.S.) and she has to do a paragraph every week, so maybe even "elementary school" would be useful.

Eric18
Posts: 151
Joined: Fri May 18, 2007 12:38 pm
Location: Los Angeles, California
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Some possible choices

Post by Eric18 » Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:05 pm

Good question.

While I have never taught students younger than high school, and currently teach writing to undergraduate and international graduate students, I would suggest looking at Writing Great Paragraphs and Writing Great Essays. These practical, step by step books - which I used for intermediate ESL classes of young adults - review the process of writing in clear, concise language. You can provide the writing tasks, but the critical - and often missing element - is teaching students some sense of cohesion, structure, and logic. The sooner the children learn these tips, the further they will advance in their academic careers.

You might also consider having them write short messages on postcards, holiday cards, or a letter a week. Sometimes providing an audience for work improves the quality.

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