How to design good writing tasks.
Lesson 2 of the writing module delivered by the University of Texas in Austin is about designing a writing activity. The steps to follow are to:
- Make sure that your assignment is appropriate for the learners' language level.
- Select level-appropriate writing purpose.
- Decide on writing as a support skill or as a main skill.
- Identify sub-skills students need in order to complete the main task.
- Design activity set that prepares sub-skills.
- Guide students through pre-, during-, and post-writing activities.
This grid helps us define a writing activity into more details.
- 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. It may take many different forms such as associograms (example in a German lesson), prompts, interviews, and reading/listening activities.
- 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.
Then come the publishing phase which is sharing the author's written work with multiple readers or even viewers.It can greatly help focus learners' attention and motivation for writing: there is a real, legitimate communicative purpose for their work. Below are a few examples:
Publishing in written format:
- an online blog
- a wiki entry
- a printed or online class newspaper/newsletter
- a collection of poetry, short story or mixed-genre writing
Publishing (Presentation) in oral format:
- filming a news report
- filming or producing a skit
- producing a theater play or variety show, either for just the class or for a larger audience (long-term writing assignments)
- poetry reading
From now on, when I design a writing task, I will answer the following questions:
- What is the learning objective? (writing, vocabulary, reading, etc.)
- What are the sub-skills needed to complete the task?
- What pre-writing activities can help students prepare to complete the task?
- If you were to teach this activity, what guidelines/materials would you give the students during the writing task?
- What are some post-writing activities you could use?
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