“If you want to be a writer, you must do
two things above all others: read a lot and
write a lot.”
― Stephen King
“We write to taste life twice, in the
moment and in retrospect.”
― Anaïs Nin
1.
Imagine a simple scene with three elements:
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
A desert
A sky
A horizon line
Cube
Ladder
Flowers
Horse
Storm
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1. The cube is how you see yourself.
2. The ladder is your friends or social support
group.
The flowers are children or family.
The horse is your lover.
The storm is trouble.
There are two components to interpreting each
element:
A. The item itself and its relationship to the other
items
B. the relationship of the items to the overall
picture(size, position, location).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Do you think writing is easy or difficult?
When your teachers gave you a writing
assignment were you excited or anxious?
Do you think that you are a good writer?
Do you think that you are an excellent writer?
Can you express yourself better by speaking or
writing?
What is difficult about it?
What makes you nervous?
What makes you think you aren’t excellent?
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What if to teach our Ss speaking, we asked
them to only record a speech for homework
and hand it in to be graded? Would their
speaking improve? Why not?
NO COMMUNICATION
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Can’t correct errors
Is writing a form of communication?
So….is it good to ask our students to write a
piece one time and just hand it in for a grade?
Why not?
1. Prewriting
2. Writing
Brainstorming
1st Draft
motivation
3. Editing
3.Revising/Responding
Teacher edit
Peer edit
Teacher conference
(grammar)
(clarification, organization)
4. Writing
2nd Draft
4. Publishing
Bulletin board
Website
Prewriting
Writing
Brainstorming
1st Draft
motivation
Editing
Revising/Responding
Teacher edit
Peer edit
Teacher conference
(grammar)
(clarification, organization)
COMMUNICATION
Writing
2nd Draft
Publishing
Bulletin board
Website
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Internal monologue(talking yourself into doing
something)- show gun debate
1. Put in hats: historical figures,, pop stars,
children’s characters, and superheroes then pick
to and write a dialogue between them.
3. Items in bag= character, place, verb or object
2. Write around(article on Guatemala – happy)
Imagine yourself as an object in a room
Starting with a sentence or paragraph
“beginning or end?
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Form groups of 4
Write the name of a famous historical figure
Write the name of a superhero
Write the name of a famous entertainer
popular now
Write the name of a childhood book/story
character
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Write for 1 minute(thoughts, reactions,
questions, or feelings about the article)
Pass the paper
READ all the entries on the page BEFORE you
write. You can respond to one or all of the
above entries, ask questions, or raise a new
topic.
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Form groups
Write the name of a person(famous, in the
class, imaginary, etc.)
Write the name of a place
Write the name of an object
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*Can also use an active verb
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Good Me: Okay let’s go running!
Bad Me: Sure, but I have to finish this
workshop PowerPoint first. I will go at 6pm
Good Me: 6 is too late, you know it starts to get
dark and then you’ll decide not to go.
Bad Me: I can go tomorrow.
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Internal monologue(talking yourself into doing
something)- show gun debate
1. Put in hats: historical figures,, pop stars,
children’s characters, and superheroes then pick
to and write a dialogue between them.
3. Items in bag= character, place, verb or object
2. Write around(article on Guatemala – happy)
Imagine yourself as an object in a room
Starting with a sentence or paragraph
“beginning or end?
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Narrative
Personal Narrative(nonfiction)
 Short Story(fiction)
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Descriptive
Describing an experience
 Sensory
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Expository
Newspaper writing
 How to….
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Persuasive

Letter to the editor
taught
ESL
in the
Bronx
Went to
New
York
City
and
taught
ESL in
the
Bronx
Graduat
ed
universi
ty
Taught
English and
Math in
Namibia
Moved
in with
boyfrie
nd
Traveled
Went to
Yemen
with
Peace
Corps to
teach
English
Evacuated
Transferre
d to
Namibia
to teach
English
and Math
Starte
d
Maste
r’s
progr
am
through
Africa
taught ESL
in the Bronx
Broke up
with boyfriend
Moved to Harlem
with PC friend
taught
ESL in
the
Bronx
Finishe
d
Master’
s
taught
ESL in
the
Bronx
Contin
ued
Master’
s
progra
m
1st
student
s in ESL
progra
m get
accepte
d to
colleges
taught ESL in the
Bronx
Voted “Teacher of
the Year” in school
Father Died
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Exchange with a partner and have them circle
the 3 events that THEY think are the most
interesting.
Take what they say into consideration and
narrow it to one topic.
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Ask the person questions about that event in
their lives:
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
What are you interested in about this event?
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Different kind of memoir- different point of
view – omniscient with a little 1st person(“I”
thrown in
You can do whatever for your homework
assignment
It has to be about one moment in time- one
memory
 The first paragraph should “Grab” the reader
 There should be descriptive words that appeal
to the 5 senses
 There should be an emotion
Bring us there with you
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Write or type personal narrative one page – 11/2
Bring in something that has a deep memory for
you(can be from childhood)