PLANNING

A WRITING
LESSON
By Catherine Morley
Teaching writing is not just about
grammar, spelling, or the mechanics of
the Roman alphabet, but also…
• How can we help learners to generate
ideas before they begin writing?
• What do we mean by the term model
text? Why can a model text be useful to
help learners with their writing?
• What do we mean by the term drafting?
Why can drafting be useful?
• What do we mean by the term peer
evaluation? Why can peer evaluation be
useful?
• Writing is not an ability we acquire
naturally, it has to be taught

• Teaching writing is not just about

grammar, spelling, or the mechanics of
the Roman alphabet. Learners also
need to be aware of and use the
conventions of the genre in the new
language
 What is genre?
• A genre can be anything from a menu to a
wedding invitation, from a newspaper
article to an estate agent’s description of a
house. Pieces of writing of the same genre
share some features (layout, level of
formality, language)
 Stages of a writing lesson
Generating ideas- letter of complaint:
learners think about a situation when they
have complained about bad service, and
tell a partner
- essay: learners receive the title and
pieces of scrap paper; they have 3 minutes
to write one idea on each piece of paper
(individually), then compare in groups and
decide upon best 3 ideas.
Focusing ideas- it involves thinking about
which of the many ideas generated are the
most important or relevant.
- essay: Ss in groups put the ideas onto a
mind map; the teacher draws a mind map
on the blackboard, using ideas from
different groups
- Ss write individually for about ten
minutes, without worrying about grammar
or punctuation; they compare together
what they have written
Focus on a model text
- Tool to express their own generated
ideas in the most appropriate way
- Helps raise learners’ awareness of the
conventions of typical texts of different
genres in English
- Ss are given several examples of a genre
to identify the features and language they
have in common (they can use some
‘language chunks’)
• Essay: the Ss are given an essay with
the topic sentences taken out and they
have to put them back in the right place

- to raise awareness of the organisation of

the essay and the importance of topic
sentences
Organising ideas
- After having seen how the ideas are
organised in typical examples of the genre,
learners can organise their own ideas in a
similar way
- Ss in groups draft a plan of their work,
including how many paragraphs and the
main points of each paragraph
Writing

- The writing itself can be done alone, at

home or in class, or in pairs and groups
Peer evaluation
-it helps learners to become aware of an
audience other than the teacher (comment
on what they liked/didn’t like, what they
found unclear)
- The T can also respond by commenting
on the content and the organisation of
ideas, without giving a grade or correct
grammar or spelling
Reviewing

- when writing a final draft, Ss should be

encouraged to check the details of
grammar and spelling
- The T can use codes to help Ss correct
their own writing and learn from their
mistakes