Approaches to process writing

It is a myth that all it takes to write is to sit down in front of a blank page, to begin at the beginning and write through to the end, with no planning, break, editing, or changes in between. And yet, this is sometimes what we ask our students to do. Good writers plan and revise, rearrange and delete text, re-reading and producing multiple drafts before they produce their finished document. This is what a process writing approach is about.

What is process writing? Why should teachers be interested in a process approach to writing? The changing roles of teacher and students What stages are there in a process approach to writing? Classroom activities The importance of feedback Writing as communication Potential problems Further reading

What is process writing?

The process approach treats all writing as a creative act which requires time and positive feedback to be done well. In process writing, the teacher moves away from being someone who sets students a writing topic and receives the finished product for correction without any intervention in the writing process itself.

Why should teachers be interested in a process approach to writing?

White and Arntd say that focusing on language errors 'improves neither grammatical accuracy nor writing fluency' and they suggest instead that paying attention to what the students say will show an improvement in writing. Research also shows that feedback is more useful between drafts, not when it is done at the end of the task after the students hand in their composition to be marked. Corrections written on compositions returned to the student after the process has finished seem to do little to improve student writing.

The changing roles of teacher and students

The teacher needs to move away from being a marker to a reader, responding to the content of student writing more than the form. Students should be encouraged to think about audience: Who is the writing for? What does this reader need to know? Students also need to realise that what they put down on paper can be changed: Things can be deleted, added, restructured, reorganised, etc.

What stages are there in a process approach to writing?

Although there are many ways of approaching process writing, it can be broken down into three stages: Pre-writing The teacher needs to stimulate students' creativity, to get them thinking how to approach a writing topic. In this stage, the most important thing is the flow of ideas, and it is not always necessary that students actually produce much (if any) written work. If they do, then the teacher can contribute with advice on how to improve their initial ideas. Focusing ideas During this stage, students write without much attention to the accuracy of their work or the organisation. The most important feature is meaning. Here, the teacher (or other students) should concentrate on the content of the writing. Is it coherent? Is there anything missing? Anything extra? Evaluating, structuring and editing Now the writing is adapted to a readership. Students should focus more on form and on producing a

finished piece of work. The teacher can help with error correction and give organisational advice.

Classroom activities
Here are some ideas for classroom activities related to the stages above: Pre-writing

o o o o o o

Brainstorming Getting started can be difficult, so students divided into groups quickly produce words and ideas about the writing. Planning Students make a plan of the writing before they start. These plans can be compared and discussed in groups before writing takes place. Generating ideas Discovery tasks such as cubing (students write quickly about the subject in six different ways - they: 1. describe it 2. compare it 3. associate it 4. analyze it 5. apply it 6. argue for or against it. Questioning In groups, the idea is to generate lots of questions about the topic. This helps students focus upon audience as they consider what the reader needs to know. The answers to these questions will form the basis to the composition. Discussion and debate The teacher helps students with topics, helping them develop ideas in a positive and encouraging way.

Focusing ideas

Fast writing The students write quickly on a topic for five to ten minutes without worrying about correct language or punctuation. Writing as quickly as possible, if they cannot think of a word they leave a space or write it in their own language. The important thing is to keep writing. Later this text is revised. Group compositions Working together in groups, sharing ideas. This collaborative writing is especially valuable as it involves other skills (speaking in particular.) Changing viewpoints A good writing activity to follow a role-play or storytelling activity. Different students choose different points of view and think about /discuss what this character would write in a diary, witness statement, etc. Varying form Similar to the activity above, but instead of different viewpoints, different text types are selected. How would the text be different if it were written as a letter, or a newspaper article, etc.

Evaluating, Structuring and Editing

Ordering Students take the notes written in one of the pre-writing activities above and organise them. What would come first? Why? Here it is good to tell them to start with information known to the reader before moving onto what the reader does not know. Self-editing A good writer must learn how to evaluate their own language - to improve through checking their own text, looking for errors, structure. This way students will become better writers. Peer editing and proof-reading Here, the texts are interchanged and the evaluation is done by other students. In the real world, it is

common for writers to ask friends and colleagues to check texts for spelling, etc. You could also ask the students to reduce the texts, to edit them, concentrating on the most important information.

The importance of feedback

It takes a lot of time and effort to write, and so it is only fair that student writing is responded to suitably. Positive comments can help build student confidence and create good feeling for the next writing class. It also helps if the reader is more than just the teacher. Class magazines, swapping letters with other classes, etc. can provide an easy solution to providing a real audience.

Writing as communication
Process writing is a move away from students writing to test their language towards the communication of ideas, feelings and experiences. It requires that more classroom time is spent on writing, but as the previously outlined activities show, there is more than just writing happening during a session dedicated to process writing.

Potential problems
Writing is a complex process and can lead to learner frustration. As with speaking, it is necessary to provide a supportive environment for the students and be patient. This approach needs that more time be spent on writing in class, but as you have seen, not all classroom time is spent actually writing. Students may also react negatively to reworking the same material, but as long as the activities are varied and the objectives clear, then they will usually accept doing so. In the long term, you and your students will start to recognise the value of a process writing approach as their written work improves.

Activity Sets: A Process Approach to Writing

One of the most important requirements for designing effective writing tasks is to think of coherent, connected activity sets, which include pre-writing, during-writing and post-writing activities. Connected activity sets help students complete the writing task successfully and foster the process of writing. Working backwards from the final task makes it easier to design such activity sets. Only by viewing writing in the broader context of activity sets can you ensure that writing is taught as a process, with brainstorming, several writing and re-writing tasks, and active revision. While the activity sets are presented here in chronological sequence for clarity, during actual writing, there is much recursivity among the steps. 1. Pre-writing activities prepare learners for a final writing task and activate, review or build sub-skills that prepare the learner for completing the main writing task. They usually focus on the audience, the content, and the vocabulary necessary for the task. These are typically word and phrase level activities. 2. 3. During-writing activities engage learners in recursive writing, self-editing and revisions. As the students are guided through writing and re-writing, the teacher should guide them through other areas such as syntax. Post-writing activities help learners reflect on and revise their writing based on feedback from an audience, such as peers and/or an instructor.

The Writing Process Elementary

There are many different ways to write. Sometimes we just sit down and write until we run out of steam. Other times we need to generate ideas first. In school, we may be asked to outline our writing first in some way. All of these are great ways to write and are appropriate in different situations. In the elementary grades, students need to learn how to take their writing through the writing process. This starts with ideas and ends with a finished product that is ready to be published. 1. Prewriting: This is the planning stage. Students might brainstorm ideas, use a graphic organizer, use an outline, or even use a writing prompt to get them started.

2. 3.

Drafting: This is what is commonly called the first draft or the rough draft. Students write their stories or nonfiction pieces while using their plans as guidance. Revising and Editing: Its important that students understand the difference between revising and editing. Revising is changing your writing to make it better. It might mean using better word choice, taking things out, or moving sentences and ideas around. Editing is correcting errors such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. Peer conferencing or conferencing with a teacher should happen before or during this stage. Rewriting: This may be the final copy or it might require another trip through the revising, editing, and conferencing stage of the process. At a minimum, it should be edited again, since much of it may have been rewritten. When the writing is complete and has been checked for errors, it is ready for the last stage. Publishing: Publishing doesnt have to be formal. It just means that it is presented in a way that it is complete and that others can now read it. In a classroom, it can mean typing it on the computer, posting it to a blog, adding it to a class book, or displaying it on the wall.

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Writing
For students Teachers Main Warmers Speaking Writing Links

Here's a short description of the activities you can find on this page. Click on them to go there directly:

Different audiences - raising awareness for difference in language use for different audiences and/or different purposes Variations on a theme - describing pictures Which picture is it about? - describing pictures How to get to my house - giving directions

Different audiences
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Preliminary step Put various objects that are on your desk at home or in the office apart from the books you normally bring to class, and place them on the table. Steps
1. Ask students to form pairs or groups of three. 2. Give out task cards, on which you tell the students which audience they need to be writing a paragraph describing the teacher's desk in the classroom. The audience could be the following: your grandmother; your sister/brother who is 4 years old; the principal of the school; a scientist; your fellow student; your teacher; your sister/brother who studies Economics at the University, etc. 3. At the end of the activity, rearrange the class so that each audience type gets into a group. Ask you students to share their solutions. 4. Ask students to reflect on the types of words, expressions they used for the different audiences. If it is a more analytical group,

ask students to look at sentence structure (simple, complex, compound). Word usage is another example. 5. When students get back to a whole class format, ask the following questions (or similar to these being very focused on content, form and discourse features): o What words were used for the various audiences for ...? o How many short/long sentences were used ...? o How many simple sentences are there in the various paragraphs? How many more complex ones? o How many (and what kind of) adjectives are there in the paragraphs? o How is information organised in the paragraph? In other words, what kind of information is included in the paragraph? o How is the description following the patterns of desrciption in terms of space, function of objects, etc? For instance, is the description following a left to right pattern? Are the objects described based on their function or their form, colour, and so on? 6. Collect the pieces.

Follow-up activity The next lesson could be spent re-writing the paragraph again based on the questions asked the last time. The purpose of that would be to make students aware of not only the process of writing (drafts) but also the fact that when they are more aware of their audiences, they could manipulate the language they use for the purpose of writing. Variation Of course there are numerous variations to this activity.

You could write for the same audience but in different genres. For instance write a poem, a description, a narrative of the table. Or, you could write for different purposes. For instance the paragraph could be written for a furniture magazine where you would like to sell this old piece ... or put an ad in the paper about your old table (don't forget to give the name of the paper!) ... or ... It could be given as homework. Advantage: students need to describe their own desks which cannot be seen by the other student. The more precise and vivid the description is the better for our imagining the desk. Therefore, the description as genre is better that way. In this case, analysis could be done in class with whole class or in pairs or groups. And many more ...

Reflections I have used this activity with university students where the pedagogical aim was to raise awareness about the syntactic, lexical and discoursal patterns that differ when we write to various types of audience. It worked very well for us!

This activity brings up a lot of further activities attached to this. They will be coming soon ... The above activity is from Enik Csomay. Her homepage is athttp://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~ec23/. She is the first to contribute an activity to my pages, so I'll have to find a special prize for her ...

Variations on a theme
1. Find a number of pictures (6-10) that are not very different in theme. (For example landscapes of various places.) Place them so that each student can see them well. 2. Ask the students to choose one of the pictures and write a description of it within a given time limit. 3. When they are done, put all the descriptions on the wall/board. 4. Give each picture a letter and each description a number, and ask students to match them. Notes

If you want to make it into a competition, you can award a point for ech correct guess, and give the author of a description points according to the number of students who guessed his/her description correctly. You can also take these descriptions home and get valuable data on the common mistakes in your group.

For students Teachers Main Warmers Speaking Writing Links

Which picture is it about?

1. Give each student a picture (their topic can be anything). 2. Ask them to write a sentence about the picture they have, but in a way so that it shouldn't be very easy to guess which picture the sentence is about. Stress that the sentence must be true. 3. Ask the students to hand their pictures over to their neighbour on the right and write a sentence about their new picture. 4. Continue until everybody's had each picture. 5. Put all the pictures on the wall/board and ask the students to read one of their sentences. If the others can't guess which picture it's about, he/she gets a point. Notes

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You can also practise grammar with this activity by requiring students to use a certain structure, for example "There is/are ...". You can also take these descriptions home and get valuable data on the common mistakes in your group.

How to get to my house

1. Prepare a (simple) map of a town. Name some of the buildings, and make sure you've got a railway station. 2. Make as many copies as the number of students in your group. 3. Mark a different building on each map. 4. Assign each pupil a partner to whom he/she will be writing. Tell them that their task is to write a letter to their penfriend explaining the way to their home from the railway station. (The marked building on their maps is their house.) 5. When the letters are finished, the students 'send' them to their penfriends, who try to find the building on the map based on the description they got. 6. Ask them to compare their maps for checking.

Teaching Writing Activities and Ideas

September 22, 2009 by ddeubel

Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted. Jules Renard ideas to get your students pencils moving DOWNLOAD THIS Writing is and isnt an easy thing to do in the classroom. Especially nowadays when students dont have long attention spans and are more and more digital and visual learners. However, it is a vital skill that opens up a world of possibilities for any student. Written communication in whatever language, even with the advent of the internet, is still a necessity. Writing allows communication, controlled and deliberate POWERFUL, communication. So we have to get our students writing more and better. How? Below, find a rundown of what I consider the standard writing activities for any age group. Just change the topic/theme. Most are for any classroom, EFL / ESL or the regular classroom. My belief is that writing in English is writing in English. Whether it be a second language or first makes no difference because the eating is all the same. Ive divided the activities into different categories. These are just for the sake of having some kind of organization. Ive also labeled them WUP for a warm up writing activity and something to do quickly. CP Controlled practice. Writing activities that help the beginning writer and offer support, repetition and guidance.

F Free writing activities which activate student learning and allow them to practice what they already know and test the waters so to speak. Where appropriate, Ive linked to some resources that compliment the writing activity as described.

Listen Write
1. Dictation There are many ways to spice up the standard dictation. The simplest is to have the students fold a blank piece of paper hamburger style (Up/down) 4 times. Unfold and they have a nice 8 line piece of paper. Speak 8 sentences , repeating each several times as the students write. Get the students to record their answers on the board and correct. Collect and keep in a portfolio! There are many online sites where students can do the same but in a computer lab or at home. Or the teacher can even try in the classroom. http://www.listen-and-write.com/audio for older students http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/ for young learners - CP 2. Story Rewriting The teacher reads a story or the class listens to an audio story. After, students make a story board (just fold a blank page so you have 8 squares) and draw pictures. Then, they write the story based on those pictures. Very simple and powerful! F 3. Visualization The students close their eyes and the teacher describes a scene. Play some nice background music. The students then write and describe the scene they imagined, sharing their scene afterwards with the class or a classmate. -F 4. Pop Song Rewrite Play a familiar pop song. One with a catchy chorus. Afterwards, write out the chorus on the board with some of the words missing. Students can then rewrite the chorus and sing their own version. Higher level students can simply write their own version without help. Heres a very simple example Hes got the whole world in his hands Hes got ___________ and ___________ In his hands. (3x) Hes got the whole world in his hands - CP

Watch Write
1. Commercials.

Students watch a TV Commercial. Then, they write their own script based on that commercial but focused on a different product. Afterwards, they can perform. F 2. Short videos. Just like a story but this time students watch. Then, they can rewrite / respond / reflect. Students can choose to reflect on one standard Reading Response question or as part of a daily journal. Ex. The best part was .. / If I had made the video, I would have Short videos are powerful and if well chosen can really get students writing in a reflective manner. CP / F How to Videos Students can watch a short How to video that describes a process. There are some excellent sites with User Generated Content. Expert Village and eHow are recommended. After the students watch the video several times, they can write out the steps using transitions which the teacher lists on the board. [First, first off, To begin, then, after that, next, most importantly, finally, last but not least, to finish ] CP / F 3. Newscasts / Weather reports Watch the daily news or weather report. Students write in groups or individually, their own version of the news for that week/day. Then perform for the class like a real news report! F 4. Travel Videos Watch a few travel videos (there are many nice, short travel postcard videos online). Groups of students select a place and write up a report or a poster outlining why others should visit their city/country. Alternately, give students a postcard and have them write to another student in the classroom as if they were in that city/country. For lower leveled students, provide them with a template and they just fill in the details. Ex. Hi.. Im sitting in a drinking a Ive been in . for . days now. The weather has been . Yesterday I visited the .. and I saw .. Today, Im going to . I highly recommend .. See you when I get home Best, . CP / F

Look Write
1. Pictures / Slideshows Visuals are a powerful way to provide context and background for any writing. Make sure to use attractive, stimulating and if possible real photos to prompt student writing. Students can describe a scene or they can describe a series of pictures from a slideshow.

An excellent activity is to show a nice photo and get students to guess and write their guess in the form of the 5Ws. They answer all the 5w questions and then share their thoughts with the class. Show a picture and get students to write a story or use it as background for a writing prompt. For example, Show a picture of a happy lottery winner. Ask students to write in their journal If I won a million dollars I would This is a much better way to prompt writing than simple script! CP 2. Description Show students a selection of fairly similar pictures. The students describe in writing one of the pictures (faces work really well). They read and the other students listen and guess which picture is being described. Similar to this listening activity. CP http://eflclassroom.com/rave/Listening%20Quiz/Animals.swf 3. Bookmaking Provide students with a series of pictures which describe a story. I often use Action Pictures. Students write about each picture, numbering each piece of writing for each picture. The teacher can guide lower level students like this Mr. Xs Amazing Day example. After editing, the students cut up the pictures and make a storybook. Gluing in the pictures, coloring, decorating and adding their own story text. Afterwards read to the whole class or share among the class. CP / F 4. Sequencing Provide students with a sequence of pictures which are scrambled. The students must order the pictures and then write out the process. Ex. Making scrambled eggs. F

Read - Write
1. Reading Journal / Reading Response The students read a story and then respond by making a reflective journal entry. Alternatively, the students can respond to a reading response question like, Which character did you like best? Why? F 2. Rewrite Read a short story and then give students a copy of the story with some text missing. The students can fill it in with the correct version OR fill it in and make the story their own. Rebus Stories These are stories where words are replaced with icons/pictures. Students can read the story and then write out the whole story, replacing the pictures with the correct text. Here are some nice examples. CP http://abcteach.com/directory/basics/rebus/ 3. Opinion / Essay

Select an article or OP Ed piece that students would find interesting or controversial. After reading and discussing, students can respond with a formal essay or piece of writing reflecting their opinion. Read them anonymously afterwards and get the class to guess who wrote it! F 4. Giving Advice Students read a problem provided by the teacher (even better, get students to provide the problem by having them write down what they need advice on). This can often be an Ann Landers style request for advice from a newspaper. Students write their own response, giving advice. F

Teaching Grammar
Grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages. It is also one of the more difficult aspects of language to teach well. Many people, including language teachers, hear the word "grammar" and think of a fixed set of word forms and rules of usage. They associate "good" grammar with the prestige forms of the language, such as those used in writing and in formal oral presentations, and "bad" or "no" grammar with the language used in everyday conversation or used by speakers of nonprestige forms. Language teachers who adopt this definition focus on grammar as a set of forms and rules. They teach grammar by explaining the forms and rules and then drilling students on them. This results in bored, disaffected students who can produce correct forms on exercises and tests, but consistently make errors when they try to use the language in context. Other language teachers, influenced by recent theoretical work on the difference between language learning and language acquisition, tend not to teach grammar at all. Believing that children acquire their first language without overt grammar instruction, they expect students to learn their second language the same way. They assume that students will absorb grammar rules as they hear, read, and use the language in communication activities. This approach does not allow students to use one of the major tools they have as learners: their active understanding of what grammar is and how it works in the language they already know. The communicative competence model balances these extremes. The model recognizes that overt grammar instruction helps students acquire the language more efficiently, but it incorporates grammar teaching and learning into the larger context of teaching students to use the language. Instructors using this model teach students the grammar they need to know to accomplish defined communication tasks.

Teaching Grammar

Goals and Techniques for Teaching Grammar

The goal of grammar instruction is to enable students to carry out their communication purposes. This goal has three implications:

Students need overt instruction that connects grammar points with larger communication contexts. Students do not need to master every aspect of each grammar point, only those that are relevant to the immediate communication task. Error correction is not always the instructor's first responsibility.

Overt Grammar Instruction

Adult students appreciate and benefit from direct instruction that allows them to apply critical thinking skills to language learning. Instructors can take advantage of this by providing explanations that give students a descriptive understanding (declarative knowledge) of each point of grammar.

Teach the grammar point in the target language or the students' first language or both. The goal is to facilitate understanding. Limit the time you devote to grammar explanations to 10 minutes, especially for lower level students whose ability to sustain attention can be limited. Present grammar points in written and oral ways to address the needs of students with different learning styles.

An important part of grammar instruction is providing examples. Teachers need to plan their examples carefully around two basic principles:

Be sure the examples are accurate and appropriate. They must present the language appropriately, be culturally appropriate for the setting in which they are used, and be to the point of the lesson. Use the examples as teaching tools. Focus examples on a particular theme or topic so that students have more contact with specific information and vocabulary.

Relevance of Grammar Instruction

In the communicative competence model, the purpose of learning grammar is to learn the language of which the grammar is a part. Instructors therefore teach grammar forms and structures in relation to meaning and use for the specific communication tasks that students need to complete. Compare the traditional model and the communicative competence model for teaching the English past tense:

Traditional: grammar for grammar's sake

Teach the regular -ed form with its two pronunciation variants Teach the doubling rule for verbs that end in d (for example, wedwedded) Hand out a list of irregular verbs that students must memorize Do pattern practice drills for -ed Do substitution drills for irregular verbs

Communicative competence: grammar for communication's sake

Distribute two short narratives about recent experiences or events, each one to half of the class Teach the regular -ed form, using verbs that occur in the texts as examples. Teach the pronunciation and doubling rules if those forms occur in the texts. Teach the irregular verbs that occur in the texts. Students read the narratives, ask questions about points they don't understand. Students work in pairs in which one member has read Story A and the other Story B. Students interview one another; using the information from the interview, they then write up or orally repeat the story they have not read.

Error Correction

At all proficiency levels, learners produce language that is not exactly the language used by native speakers. Some of the differences are grammatical, while others involve vocabulary selection and mistakes in the selection of language appropriate for different contexts. In responding to student communication, teachers need to be careful not to focus on error correction to the detriment of communication and confidence building. Teachers need to let students know when they are making errors so that they can work on improving. Teachers also need to build students' confidence in their ability to use the language by focusing on the content of their communication rather than the grammatical form. Teachers can use error correction to support language acquisition, and avoid using it in ways that undermine students' desire to communicate in the language, by taking cues from context.

When students are doing structured output activities that focus on development of new language skills, use error correction to guide them.

Example: Student (in class): I buy a new car yesterday. Teacher: You bought a new car yesterday. Remember, the past tense of buy is bought.

When students are engaged in communicative activities, correct errors only if they interfere with comprehensibility. Respond using correct forms, but without stressing them.

Example: Student (greeting teacher) : I buy a new car yesterday! Teacher: You bought a new car? That's exciting! What kind?

eaching Grammar

Using Textbook Grammar Activities

Textbooks usually provide one or more of the following three types of grammar exercises.

Mechanical drills: Each prompt has only one correct response, and students can complete the exercise without attending to meaning. For example: George waited for the bus this morning. He will wait for the bus tomorrow morning, too. Meaningful drills: Each prompt has only one correct response, and students must attend to meaning to complete the exercise. For example: Where are Georges papers? They are in his notebook. (Students must understand the meaning of the question in order to answer, but only one correct answer is possible because they all know where Georges papers are.)

Communicative drills, described in Strategies for Learning Grammar

To use textbook grammar exercises effectively, instructors need to recognize which type they are, devote the appropriate amount of time to them, and supplement them as needed. Recognizing Types Before the teaching term begins, inventory the textbook to see which type(s) of drills it provides. Decide which you will use in class, which you will assign as homework, and which you will skip. Assigning Time When deciding which textbook drills to use and how much time to allot to them, keep their relative value in mind.

Mechanical drills are the least useful because they bear little resemblance to real communication. They do not require students to learn anything; they only require parroting of a pattern or rule. Meaningful drills can help students develop understanding of the workings of rules of grammar because they require students to make form-meaning correlations. Their resemblance to real communication is limited by the fact that they have only one correct answer.

Communicative drills require students to be aware of the relationships among form, meaning, and use. In communicative drills, students test and develop their ability to use language to convey ideas and information.

Assessing Grammar Proficiency

Authentic Assessment Just as mechanical drills do not teach students the language, mechanical test questions do not assess their ability to use it in authentic ways. In order to provide authentic assessment of students grammar proficiency, an evaluation must reflect real-life uses of grammar in context. This means that the activity must have a purpose other than assessment and require students to demonstrate their level of grammar proficiency by completing some task. To develop authentic assessment activities, begin with the types of tasks that students will actually need to do using the language. Assessment can then take the form of communicative drills and communicative activities like those used in the teaching process. For example, the activity based on audiotapes of public address announcements (Developing Grammar Activities) can be converted into an assessment by having students respond orally or in writing to questions about a similar tape. In this type of assessment, the instructor uses a checklist or rubric to evaluate the students understanding and/or use of grammar in context. (See Assessing Learning for more on checklists and rubrics.) Mechanical Tests Mechanical tests do serve one purpose: They motivate students to memorize. They can therefore serve as prompts to encourage memorization of irregular forms and vocabulary items. Because they test only memory capacity, not language ability, they are best used as quizzes and given relatively little weight in evaluating student performance and progress.

How to teach the present perfect simple?

28 FEBRUARY 2012 ONE COMMENT
Many teachers find it challenging to teach the present perfect. This is due to a number of reasons. 1. 2. 3. First, the present perfect is not really a present tense. It is composed of the auxiliary have and a past participle. The past participle itself is a real challenge for students, particularly the irregular forms

The following lesson plan provides ideas on how to teach this tense.

1. Start by giving examples of present perfect:

Last week, I watched three movies. This week, I have watched only one.

2. Elicit the form of the present perfect simple.

Have + Past Participle.

Remind students that the past participle of regular verbs is formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb

play = played visit = visited receive = received

However, the past participle of irregular verbs have special forms and have to be learned by heart:

be = been come = come do = done

3. Help students make a distinction between finished and unfinished actions:

Last week, I watched three movies. (Ask students: is last week finished?) This week, I have watched only one. (Ask students: is this week finished?)

Then draw a table like this:

Finished Unfinished Last week This week Yesterday Today

Ask students to complete the table with time expressions like yesterday, this morning, in 1992, today. Ask students to give you examples of finished actions and unfinished ones.

I visited my uncle twice last week. But, I have visited him only once this week. I wrote three poems last month. But this month I have written only one poem. I called my girlfriend five times yesterday. But today, I have called her six times.

4. Once students grasp the contrast between finished and unfinished actions, you can proceed to present new uses of the present perfect. A. Have you ever? Use personal experience to teach this structure.

Have you ever seen an Indian movie? Have you ever played golf? Have you ever met a world champion? Have you ever written a poem? Why dont want to eat lunch with us? - Because, Ive already eaten it.

B. Actions that happened in the past but whose effect is still in the present.

Why dont you want to read that book? Because Ive read it before. Why is he sad? Because he has lost his purse.

C. Present Perfect with since and for The best way to teach the present perfect with since and for is to use a time line.

1990 Nancy moved to New York. 1992 She was appointed as a teacher in Jesse Jackson high school. 1994 She married Alan.

Then Students may come up with examples like:

Nancy has lived in New York since 1990 / for years. She has been a teacher since 1992 / for.years. She has been married to Alan since 1994 / for.. years.

How to Teach Present Perfect: Activities and Examples

Most ESL teachers come to this hard realization. Most students who have learned English as a second language, effectively use only three tenses: present, past, and future. And they will most likely make themselves understood, but only by resorting to these three. The present perfect is one of those tenses that is soon forgotten, easily replaced by past simple. But students don't realize just how important it is that they master it. To ensure your students will not let the present perfect slip into oblivion, it must be taught right. This article provides several clear steps that will help you teach the Present Perfect tense.

How To Proceed

1
Introduce the Present Perfect Regular verbs Give examples in past simple: Yesterday, I had a busy day. I received lots of emails. Lead in to present perfect: I have received only a few today. Show students how the present perfect is formed: have/has plus the past participle. Tell them that the past participle of regular verbs ends in ed, just as in simple past.

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Contrast finished and unfinished time One of the best ways to ensure that students understand when the present perfect is used is to contrast finished and unfinished time. Ask students: Is yesterday finished? (They should say its finished.) Ask them: Is today finished? (They should say it isnt.) On the board, draw two columns. On the left column write examples of phrases that go with finished time: yesterday, last week, last month, last year, 1990, etc...On the right column, write those that go with unfinished time: today, this week, this month, this year, etc Make sure they notice the differences, then, give examples (only with regular verbs) with both tenses:Last month, I visited my grandmother twice. This month, I have only visited her once. But this month is not finished so I may visit her again before the month is over. Provide as many examples as necessary, in all persons, and then ask students to do the same with other regular verbs. Contrast the simple past and present perfect as much as necessary.

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Introduce the Present Perfect Irregular verbs Proceed with the irregulars. Divide the board into three columns and write some irregular verbs in the first column, their simple past form in the second column, and finally the irregular past participle in the third. Give them examples as you go over each verb: Ive had two cups of coffee today. Ive spoken to John this week. Ive read all four of the Twilight books Make sure students have a list they can use for reference. With the help of the list, they provide more examples with other irregular verbs.

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Introduce the Present Perfect Negative forms Say, I saw my grandmother last week. I havent seen her this week. Give more examples alternating between an affirmative in simple past and a negative statement in present perfect: I went to Rome last year, but I havent been there this year. Now, give each of your students just the affirmative statement in simple past and ask them to supply an example in present perfect negative: T: I was at the bank earlier today.

S: I haven't been to the bank this week. In this worksheet, students practice the present perfect negative, and you may also introduce the use of yet.

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Introduce the Present Perfect Interrogative forms Model questions with have or has: T: Have you seen Twilight? S: Yes./No. T: Ask me! S: Have you seen Twilight? Continue with more questions from students. Model questions with where and what, but make sure students understand that if they ask questions with when, where and why, they need to use the simple past because they are referring to a specific moment in the past. Write examples on the board. Make sure they ask questions in all persons, both singular and plural. If they are unsure as to how to ask a question, model it for them first.

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Introduce the Present Perfect Short answers Ask yes or no questions and teach students to give short answers: T: Have you seen my pen? S: Yes, I have./No, I havent. Students ask classmates yes or no questions, and classmates reply with short answers.

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Provide extended practice Tell your students that the best way to remember the past participle of irregular verbs is through practice, in both written and oral exercises. At BusyTeacher.org, there are enough Present Perfect worksheets to keep your students practicing for hours!

Naturally, students should be taught all of the other uses of the present perfect, with already, just, ever, never,for, since, etc For practical purposes, in this guide we cover what should be the best way to introduce the present perfect for the first time, i.e, the distinction between finished and unfinished time. Once they grasp this distinction, they should be ready to grasp everything else.