writingginto
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yo
ourclassrooom
byJJonathanVaassallo,Man
nagerofCreaatEngCafe,andfriends
Creattivewritingccanaddvalu uetoyourclassroombytakingstudeentsoutofttheordinaryy
structureofgrammmarbooksandallowinggthemmoreefreedomtopracticew whatthey
havelearnedinaacreativewaay.Itcanalsobeveryenntertainingffortheteach her,asthey
gettooexerciseth
heircreativemuscleswitthsomefun andentertaainingclassroomideas.
Hereare7waysttobringcreaativewritinggtoyourclasssroomfrom mteachersalloverthe
world d:
1.BagofProps StefanChiaarantanoSStefanhastaaughtEnglishhinTaiwan,Japanand
Chinaaforseveralyearsandin nhishometo ownofToronnto,Canadaa.
2.ASSenseofAdvventureEzzekielYerimo ohEzekielisaCertifieddSupplyChaainOfficer
andttheCEOofTo
Tonell&Cole.HeisalsottheNationallCoordinatoorofQuizzing gNigeria(a
memberoftheIn nternationalQuizzingAsssociationIQ QA)andtheePresidentofof
KnowwledgefieldIn nternationall.
Creattivewritingccanbringasspiritofadveentureintottheclassroom.Thinkingaboutan
unusual,excitinganddangerrousexperienceoreventisnotonlyyagreatwayytowiden
theh
horizonsofsttudentsbutalsotogivethemgreatexposureto onewvocab bulary.
More eover,students'talents,gifts,skills,environmennt,backgroundandperssonalitywill
playaamajorroleinitsabilityytofunctioneffectivelyincreativew writing.Basiccally,
studeentsshouldb bewelltrainnedtounderrtakethetasskofcreativewriting.
Agooodexampleofanunusualeventisfo oronetoim
maginethesu unlightwhen nitis
suppo osedtobeddarkorawild danimalthaatspeakslikeeahumanb being.Studentscan
becomemoreen ngagediftheeyusetheirp personalityttraitsandexxperiencestoocomeup
withtheirownun nusualeventsandthenperformfreeewritingbaasedontheeevent,letting
theirstoriesbeco omesmoreaandmoreun nusual.
Myfaavoritewritttentaskforiintermediate elevelstudeentsistowrriteanexperrtviewpoint
onachallengingreallifesituationorpro oblemforaccolumninamagazine,fo orexample,
howttobehavein nanewscho ool.Iliketop
providestuddentswithaquotationo ofafamous
persoononsomehottopicandhavethem mwriteashoortargumen ntativepassaageonit.I
alsoh
havemystudentsdebatteaproposedamendmeenttotheco onstitutionbbywritinga
speecchfortheTV Vdebatesorrwritethep presidentialppledgeforthheelections.Ifindit
usefuultoaskstuddentstomakkeupanend dingtoastoory,tocompletethebegginningofa
senteence,ortowwriteareporrtaboutane exoticplacethattheyvissitedora
cultural/sportinggeventthatttookplacein ntheirregioon.Thesetasskshelptoreeinforcekeyy
conce eptsundersstudy,develo opcriticalth
hinking,cognnitive,andcreativeskillssandhave
practticalapplicattionsaswell.
TatyaanaFedosovva,PhD,EnglishPhilologyy,andProfeessorofEnglishattheDeepartmento of
GermmanPhilologyyofGornoA AltaiskStateUniversity,Altai,Siberia,Russia.
Bringgingcreativewritingintootheclassroomcanbeddifficult,mossttextbookssdonotfocu us
onthhatpartofle
earninganotherlanguage.IliketosttartwithMaadlibs,funnyyword
substtitutions.Thisallowsstuudentstohavvefunwithtthelanguageandslipsin nalessonon n
theim
mportanceo ofwordchoice.Mybigtipistocelebbrateoriginaalityandlearning
languuagelearned doutsidethe eclassroomasmuchasusingcorrecctgrammar.Wewantto o
showwstudentsth heycanusetthelanguage etheyhavelearnedand dcanmakettheirown
senteences.Theydontjusthaavetorelyo onthesentenncepatternsstheydrillinnclass.
"Tim misgoingtotthe___becaausehewan ntstoeat____."
"Tim misgoingtotthelibraryb
becausehew wantstoeatbooks."
Theggrammarisccorrect,thevvocabularyisinitscorreectplacebuttthemeanin ngissilly,so
o
everyyonegetsalaugh.
Ifoun ndthearticle
eActivitiesforWritingInstructionbySharonM.Abbeyagood
resou urceforteacchersintheirrwritingclassses.Theauuthoroffered dvariousacttivitiesto
activaatestudentss'senseofw writing,includdingsharedwriting.Witthsharedwrriting,the
teach herteachessstudentswritingbywritingwiththeem.Theproccessofwritin ngstarts
withbrainstormingideasinaasharedwrittingsession .Forexample,atthebeeginningof
thesession,ateaachercanestablishthep purposeoft hesharedw writingsessio
onwith
his/herstudents..Then,he/sh hebrainstorrmsideaswi ththegroup p.Next,theteacher
selectsoneofthe eideasandinvitesstude entstodeveelopit.Attheetimeofcomposition,
thete eacherandsstudentsstartwritingto ogether.Finaally,theteaccherandhis//her
stude entsrevisetheirtexttoggether.Share edwritingheelpsstudenttsgaintheirconfidence,,
buildtheirmotivation,andalsoenrichth heirideas.
Stude ents(atleasttintermediaatelevel)are
easkedinaddvancedbyaateachertowatcha
famo ous/popularfilm(orchoo oseachapterfromaweellknownbo ook)andcho ooseone
impo ortantandmmeaningfulsccene.Athom metheypreppareashortdescriptionofa
continuationofthescenebu utthewayth heywantitttobe,sothatitiscompletely
differrentfromtheoriginal,andtheyworrkonanewversionthattwouldposssiblyleadtoa
differrentending.Whenworkkingonsuchapieceofw writingstudeentsaresupposedtousee
newlyylearnedgrrammarand//orvocabulaarystructureestopracticcethem.Theenduringthee
lessontheycangguessthealtternateendingsorcompparetheirveersionstodeecidewhich
oneisthebestan ndhowitfitstheoriginaalstory.
7.WrritingwiththeSenses RachelPlayyfairRacheelisateacheertrainerandlanguage
coachhworkinginBarcelona,Spain.
Do
oyourrstudentsh
haveaastorrytotell?
Theycanenterth
heCreatEngCafewritinggcompetitioonfortheircchanceto
winp
prizesandge
etpublished
d.