Making Writing
Assignments Fun!!!
Gizelle Ponzillo, M.A. in TESOL
gizelleponzillo@yahoo.com
Irvine Valley College and
School of Continuing Education, NOCCCD
goo.gl/rcfxB4
The best teachers
teach from the heart,
not from a book
Background
•
Students find many writing classes to be teachercentered and view writing assignments as a necessary
evil to complete the class.
•
In Adult Education, Reading and Writing classes seem
scary for a lot of students who have never taken a writing
class in their lives!
•
Innovative educators should always be exploring new
ways to inject life into the classroom and their
assignments in order to increase students’ motivation and
retention.
Academic Success Program
• Transition from noncredit to credit
• Two classes: Reading & Writing and Listening & Speaking
• 12 weeks, 4 days/week, 3 hours/day
• Certificate of Completion and/or High School Credit
• Yearly Student Success Award Ceremony
• Academic skills: note-taking, academic vocabulary, essays, presentations
Certificate of Completion
• Students who successfully complete RW and LS earn a Certificate of Completion
• Every June we have our Student Success Award Ceremony (students receive
their certificate and some are also recognized for their hard work and some are
nominated to receive awards for having overcame difficulties in their lives)
• Students look forward to the ceremony, which some of them call graduation
• They also look forward to their story being in the two self-published books
Student Population
ORIGIN
Immigrants from all over
the world with a unique life
story
AGE
The age of the students
ranges from 18 years and
up
PROFICIENCY
Are all at intermediate to
advanced levels of English
language Proficiency
EDUCATION
Some completed Middle
School, some have a B.A.,
some a M.A., and some
are getting their PhD
Your Turn!
What levels do you teach
and where do you teach them?
What is your favorite assignment,
and why?
What types of assignments and
projects do you assign to your
students?
What is your least favorite
assignment, and why?
Reading and Writing
•
Learn to take notes from readings and annotate
•
Learn grammar in the context of writing
•
Build vocabulary
•
Learn the writing process and self-editing techniques
•
Become critical thinkers
•
Four Assignments:
•
1 descriptive essay, 1 compare/contrast essay, 1 play, 1 research paper
Listening and Speaking
•
Learn to take notes from lectures
•
Learn to give presentations and to perform
•
Participate in academic discussions and debates
•
Improve listening, speaking, and pronunciation
•
Four Assignments:
•
1 interpretative reading, 1 informative speech, 1 persuasive speech, 1 play
Rationale for Book
•
Plays/drama in both RW and LS
•
RW replaced with a personified short story
•
Part I: Write a brief paragraph about yourself and about why you chose this
object or animal
•
Part II: Pick an object or animal (It) and write a short story with “It” as the
protagonist and/or narrator. 4-6 pages
•
The Life and Journey of It first edition Spring of 2014
•
Every trimester
•
SCE prints the book: memento
Short Story - Author Paragraph Prompt
Write a ½-page or 1-page, double-spaced, MLA-formatted paragraph “about you and
why you chose this topic/object for your short story.”
The purpose of this short paper is for you to tell the story behind the story. Make sure
to write topic sentence, at least 2 supporting details (one about yourself, and one about
the story), and a concluding sentence.
As you know, once we are finished with the short stories, I will put together a class
book with all the short stories. On the book, after each short story, there will be a
paragraph that introduces you and that describes what inspired you to write your short
story, so please write something interesting because people will be reading these!
You must write draft 1, and then revise it after you meet with the tutor, then write draft
2. I’ll collect draft 2 and you also need to email it to me at
learninglanguagerocks@gmail.com
Excerpt From Writing Prompt
Write a 3-4 page short story. Be sure that the story has a specific event, at least two
characters with some dialogue, and a lesson or statement to be communicated. Your
story should be typed and double spaced in a standard 12 point font such as Times
New Roman.
You may choose one of the following topics:
• An event (issue, experience, or problem) related to the different cultural values
between your home country and the US.
• An event related to love, for example, your wedding proposal; your wedding day;
something terrible that happened at your wedding; being in love with two people;
loving someone that doesn’t return your love; etc.
• A topic of your choice with your professor’s approval.
Your Turn!
You will write a very short, short story with
an object as the main character.
With a partner take a few minutes and write your storyremember to personify it—the protagonist is an object.
Write it on a piece of paper, and I’ll collect it at the
end of the presentation.
Let’s Share
Please read your stories
Your Turn!
What are some fun writing assignments that you have assigned to your students?
How can you make your current writing assignments fun?
Let’s Share
Please share your answers
Student Samples
Sample from “The Life and Journey of It, Volume 1”
An Unforgettable Journey of Venus Velvet
by Thu (from slide 1)
Sample from “The Life and Journey of It, Volume 2”
Metamorphosis
by Luz
A Student’s Story
I started out with a student’s story about Thu, and I’ll finish up with another story about Rosalia.
Resources
Free download: Go to iBooks and type in Gizelle Ponzillo
•Two volumes of The Life and Journey of It
•Two volumes of Let It Shine
To watch my students’ plays go on Youtube and type Gizelle Ponzillo
you will find my channel and lots of videos from my classes.
Short Story Resources
20 American Short Stories:
http://americanliterature.com/twenty-great-american-short-stories
Library of Short Stories:
http://americanliterature.com/short-stories
Story Resources for Kids
Mike Krath “High and Lifted Up”- a short story about a little boy and a leaf
example of personification.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/HighLift.shtml
This website also has a section for teachers with questions and games.
They also have an app for iphone, ipod, ipad called Short Stories eReader.
Thank You!
Gizelle Ponzillo, M.A. in TESOL
gizelleponzillo@yahoo.com
Irvine Valley College and
School of Continuing Education, NOCCCD
goo.gl/rcfxB4