1) Placemats Writing Activity
Objective: The main objective behind the placemat writing activity is to encourage students to
develop their writing skills in the classroom. As written work is mostly confined to a homework
exercise this activity gives the learner an opportunity to develop and practice their writing skills
during class time.
A) Organising the activity
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Students are divided into groups of four or more
Each group is given a large piece of paper with a circle drawn in the middle and then divided
into four or more different sections.
The opinion question is written on the board
Students are given different parts of the opinion question to work on: i) introduction, ii) 1st
paragraph (main argument). Iii) 2nd paragraph (develop argument, give examples, propose a
solution) & iv) conclusion.
B) Completing the task
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Brainstorm: The task begins with a five minutes of vocab brainstorming. A selection of the
words found by each group is written on the board.
Write: Students are given 5-8 mins to write their section
Grammar: The placemat is then turned around and the students correct each other’s
grammar.
Review: The group then writes out their ‘perfect answer’ into the centre circle.
Read: one student from each group is asked to read out their answer
Assess: The class as a whole feedback on the answers and chose the answer or elements
from different answers which best answer the question. This answer can be written out on
the board by the students or typed up. It can then serve as a model answer.
2) Sentence Strips
Objective: To help OL students practice and improve their writing skills in the classroom.
A) Organising the activity
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Students are divided into groups of three.
Each group is given three sentence strips and a board marker.
The postcard/message/diary entry is written on the board
Each student is give one of the question task to complete.
B) Completing the task
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Brainstorm: The task begins with a five minutes of vocab & grammar brainstorming. A
selection of the words and grammar points found by each group is written on the board.
Write: Students are given 5 mins to write their section
Grammar: The sentence strip is then passed around to the other members of the group.
Students correct each other’s grammar.
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Review: The group then looks at the other groups’ work. Then they correct their own work if
necessary to create their ‘perfect answer’.
Read: one student from each group is asked to read out their answer
Assess: The class as a whole feedback on the answers and chose the answer or elements
from different answers which best answer the question. This answer can be written out on
the board by the students or typed up. It can then serve as a model answer.