Writing can be one of the most difficult areas for students to develop native-like fluency, regardless of their linguistic backgrounds. It is also one of the most difficult areas to teach for students who have not had exposure to the vocabulary and sentence structures needed to be successful in writing for academic purposes.
This week, as I was coaching a native English-speaker on her informative writing, I suggested she try to vary the types of sentences she uses to help her to "sound like an expert" in her writing. Specifically, I thought that adding a few appositives would really help to move her piece to the next level. When she said she had heard of that before, but she didn't really know HOW to add appositives, I found it incredibly difficult to articulate the process to her. I could tell her where to add one, and what to say but as far as equipping her with tools to be able to do it herself...there was much left to be desired. The native English speaker in me is able to create appositives without much thought because I have read them in higher-level books, and have been writing for academic purposes for many years. Since it is something that I just do, it was incredibly difficult to explain. I found myself scanning my brain for the rules-written and unwritten that would lend itself to an appositive "tool belt" for her with minimal success. For those kiddos lacking academic language input, directly teaching the skill may be the only way they will ever learn it. In hopes that I would never be left without words again, I created an activity to help introduce the idea of appositives at the classroom level that is now available under writing resources. While you are there, check out the other resources that I have used to help my students move forward as writers this year. Happy writing!
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AuthorI am an ESL Teacher that firmly believes that the more we learn about the cultures around us, the more we discover about our own. Archives
May 2018
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