Ideas for Writing Activities

Ideas for Writing Activities

The Writing Process

Word Clouds

Give the students a prompt and have them make a list of single words that it makes them think of and submit them on Canvas. You may choose to limit the number of words the students submit. Use an online generator such as https://www.wordclouds.com/ View the word cloud created with the students' words and talk about the largest (most common) submissions. Use these to create an example outline.

Team Writing

You may start this with each group of students having the same outlines or comparable ones. Using the projector, walk through the general explanations of expanding on an outline as a class. After you demonstrate each step, give the groups time to apply the principles to their group writing. You can provide Google Doc links to the students to work on so you can monitor the progress of all groups from the front and diagnose any mis understanding before moving on to the next step.

Jamboard Questioning

Using a Google Jamboard, display a thesis or topic sentence. Have students add sticky notes with questions about the ideas in the sentence that could be used to develop the paragraphs.

Cut and Paste Essays

Give students essays (or paragraphs) that have been separated into sections. As students read and discuss as a group, they should decide on the logical order of the sections. For an added challenge, you can leave blanks in each section that the students then need to supply the missing piece for (ex. a missing topic sentence or transition).

Highlighter Revisions

Provide groups with multiple copies of the same section of text to revise and highlighters or colored pencils of various colors. Assign each copy of the text and color a revision purpose. For example, yellow might be for cohesion, orange for logical organization, blue for clarity, and green for word choice. Groups will evaluate the draft multiple times with a particular focus and then repeat.

Spot the Plagiarism

Give students a handout with multiple original sources. Allow them time to review the content of the handouts. Either project one paragraph at time for the whole class to view or pin various paragraphs around the room before class to get students up and out of their chairs. Students will read the paragraph and identify if there is an example of plagiarism by comparing the content.

Essay Shape and Organization

Shape Comparisons

After students submit their first drafts, choose a few samples of essays. Black out the text to leave only the shape of the writing. Students should not be able to see any of the content of the essay, and therefore anonymity is assured. Discuss potential strengths or weaknesses to the essay based on shape alone.

Unity Check

Create a worksheet with paired sentences. They may be combinations of thesis statements and topic sentences, topic sentences and concluding sentences, thesis statements and conclusion restatements, or any other combination. Have students work with a partner to decide if the paired sentences are united in purpose, content, and tone. If there are any changes to be made, have them supply revisions.

Thesis Jumbles

As a class, write a few thesis statements on construction paper in large enough letters to be seen by the students. After the class is happy with their statements, use scissors to cut up the thesis statement into its components. Rearrange the pieces by taping them onto the board and using the chalk or whiteboard markers to change part of speech, add additional wording, or change word choice. This can be done at the class level, but you can also give students more control by doing this activity in groups and then having them share their original and revised statements with the whole class.

Tell Me More

Take one of the example essays from one of the previous levels of the ELC writing packets. Display it or print out copies for the students. As you go through the essay, have students propose questions wherever they think additional information could be included for more thorough development. After they have generated a list of questions, give the students time to investigate and write out additional paragraphs that would support the original essay.

Descriptive Writing

Essay Length Comparison

Compare short and long-style essays using the following information:

Your body paragraphs should give reasons and evidence to support your thesis. As you outline your body paragraphs, make sure you include clear topic sentences that support your thesis.

Shorter essays may only need 2-3 body paragraphs. Longer essays may need more body paragraphs.

Consider the following example:

Thesis Statement: The Great Depression was a time of great economic uncertainty.
- - Topic sentence: Unemployment was devastatingly high during the Great Depression in many US cities.
  - Topic sentence: Many banks were dangerously unstable during the Great Depression.

This short essay only has two body paragraphs. When you have a fewer number of body paragraphs it is especially important that they are well developed with detail.

In longer essays development is still important. Your body paragraphs should explain how or why your thesis sentence is true by giving reasons and evidence. As you plan each of your body paragraphs, remember that using sources will make your writing more credible and interesting. Use sources properly so that you do not plagiarize. Each of your body paragraphs should have citations.

It may be helpful to divide your essay into sections when you outline an essay that will be longer than 2-4 pages. Thinking about the sections may be similar to how you would write a single paragraph for a shorter essay.

Consider the following example:

Thesis: The Great Depression was a time of great economic and political uncertainty.
- Section 1: Economic Uncertainty
  - Topic sentence: Unemployment was devastatingly high during the Great Depression in many US cities.
  - Topic sentence: Many banks were dangerously unstable during the Great Depression.
- Section 2: Political Uncertainty
  - Topic sentence: Elected officials in office at the time of the Depression were unsure of their future in politics.
  - Topic sentence: Many citizens lost confidence in the government's ability to strengthen and protect the economy.

The topic sentences still do the same thing that topic sentences usually do. Notice that in this example, the topic sentences work together to show that the thesis is true.

In both short and long essays body paragraphs serve the same function--to provide explanation with reasons and details to support the thesis statement idea.

Essay Exercises for Multi-section Esssays

Alternative Exercise: Write a thesis

Use the topic sentences to complete the thesis for this outline.

Thesis statement: The accidental discovery of Qin Shi Huang's Terracotta Army was ____________.

Section 1: Accidental
- Topic sentence: The discovery of the warriors was completely accidental.
Section 2: Exciting
- Topic sentence: Finding the army was exciting because a discovery of similar magnitude had not been made for many years.
- Topic sentence: Archaeologists were thrilled by this discovery because it helped to shed light on unknown aspects of Chinese life under the reign of the first emperor.
Section 3: Intriguing
- Topic sentence: The discovery of the army created many unanswerable questions for archaeologists.

Restatement of thesis:

Alternative Exercise: Peer Review

Give advice to the author of this student outline.

Thesis: The Independence's day of Mexico has been the best achievement in their history due to the fact they achieved the freedom, territory, and an entire country.

Section 1: Freedom was always really wanted by slaves
- Topic sentence: The conspiracy of Queretaro.
- Topic sentence: The "Grito de Dolores" (speech of dolores)
Section 2: The huge territory
- Topic sentence: The Spaniards' domain over slaves.
- Topic sentence: The lack of equipment.
Section 3: The beauty of Mexico
- Topic sentence: Spaniards loved the richness of the land.
- Topic sentence : Mexico has many precious natural resources.

*Alternative Exercises are not in student textbooks.

Personal Statements

Pecha Kucha Presentation

Pecha Kucha is a style of presentation (present 20 images, each for 20 seconds). The design is meant to give a powerful "show and tell" about a person or a topic they are passionate about. To help students get started with their general personal statement, have them create a written Pecha Kucha. Students should choose 20 images and write 20 words about each. Emphasize choosing the best words since the space is limited. This can be adjusted to be a collaborative assignment with the listening speaking teacher in the track as well.

Interview Prep

In groups, have students choose a potential career and list the experience, qualities, and skills that they have as a group that would qualify them for this job. As a class, make a list of potential questions or information that a future employer would ask or look for in an interview. The group will then work together to create a cover letter that highlights their collective abilities as if they were one person. This activity can also be used collaboratively with the listening and track's spekaing teacher by providing them with written support and a list of questions to do mock interviews.

Elevator Pitch

This is a writing twist on the idea that you find yourself in an elevator with someone who has the ability to give you the opportunity you want. You have only the short elevator ride to convince that person to offer you that opportunity. In the written version, students have a limited number of words they can use and should have a specific audience in mind as they write their pitch.

Anecdotal Support

Give the students an opportunity to practice developing meaningful anecdotes to use in personal statements. Make a list of qualities and/or experiences on the board that would be desirable in work, educational, or personal goal contexts. From there, make a list of personal "plots" that may demonstrate these anecdotes. For example, an experience winning a soccer championship may highlight determination, teamwork, and leadership skills. Develop one of these example anecdotes as a class to show how the story could be used to shape a personal statement. Students should then create their own short personal statement anecdote. If this activity requires extra support, you may collaborate with the reading teacher to review some fables or other classic stories with heavy morals so that students can practice seeing how a story can represent ideals.

Cause-Effect Essays

Special Interest Committee Report

Create several different stations that focus on problems impacting the community or the world (ex. climate change, traffic, abandoned animals, housing costs, discrimination in popular media, etc). At each station, include two print sources. On the first cycle through the stations, groups of students should identify possible cause of the problem and write it on the Cause paper. After each group has cycled through, they should identify a potential impact of the problem and write it on the Effects paper. Then students should then choose the station that is most interesting to them. At that station, they will work as a specially formed committee to investigate the causes and effects of the situation. The group will create at least two different outlines for a cause-effect essay. One outline should emphasize multiple causes and the multiple impacts of the issue, while the other outline should explain only one major cause and detail one of the major effects.

Storyline Domino Effect

In small groups, students will choose a story they are familiar with to create a written storyboard. The story could be a popular movie, a famous historical event, or even the biography of a celebrity. Using resources found on the internet, the group will create a cause-effect storyboard. For example, a famous celebrity perhaps failed the bar exam after law school and this caused him to explore other career options. The disappearance of a character in a story could lead to an investigation and subsequent secrets being revealed. This could impact the relationships of the group. The students will write a brief summary explaining the cause-effect relationships.

Wheel of Consequences

The teacher will share a screen with a Wheel of Consequences. Each entry on the wheel should be a cause (or effect if you want to reverse the activity). The students will create effect topic sentences for the generated cause. This can be gamified by creating teams, a point system, or any other competitive factor. The wheel can be generated at https://wheelofnames.com

Persuasive Essays

Commerical Analysis

Use a commercial playlist or other commercial compilation for students to determine if ethos, pathos, or logos is used.

Argumentative Essays

Daily Universe Op-Ed

Either collaborate with the track's reading teacher to preview in class or assign previewing the Daily Universe as homework the night before this activity. Students should look through the articles in the Daily Universe, especially anything in the Opinion Section. As a class, write a short Op-Ed article (2-3 paragraphs) in response to one of the existing opinions. Students can then choose their own Op-Ed to respond to, either to disagree or provide additional support.

This or That Integrated

For this activity, choose a low-stakes debate topic (such as cats vs dogs). Physically divide the room into the two different opinions. All students must choose one side of the room, even if they don't have a strong opinion on the topic. Once divided, students should brainstorm a list of reasons and examples to support their opinion. As the two groups present their reasons and examples, the opposing team should listen for the strongest argument that they will respond to. Give students time to create a more thorough outline. You can then watch an example debate on the topic (ex. Good Mythical Morning has a series called Debate-O-Rama with fun debate topics). Students can use the supporting arguments from the example video to strengthen their own arguments. The activity can be expanded by printing anonymized responses and pairing them for students to vote on using stickers. Make sure students are ok with this expansion before planning it. This could also turn into development for a debate in the listening and speaking class.

Devil's Advocate

With student permission, display a handful of thesis statements on the board. As a class, create opposing arguments for each thesis statement. Students should mirror the structure of the original thesis statement in their new versions. Students can either self-select an opposing thesis, the teacher can assign groups for each example, or all students could work with the same one. They would then create an outline, introduction, body paragraph etc depending on the stage of writing students are in with their own essays.

Other Genres of Writing

Timed Writing Revision

At the beginning of the activity, pass out strips of paper to each student with a writing assignment. The writing assignments should divide the class into two different thesis statements with a paragraph assignment for each student. On the paper should be a thesis statement and a section of the essay to write (ex. THESIS, body paragraph 1). Give students 10 minutes to write the paragraph that matches their assignment in a Canvas timed quiz. Once all paragraphs have been submitted, compile them into two complete essays in separate Google Docs (or a printed document). Divide the class into two groups, one group for each essay. Give the group the essay with the thesis statement they did not work with. Students should revise the essay from the other group for unity, cohesion, and word choice within the time limit you set as a teacher.

Skill Area Integration

Coordinate with the reading and listening/speaking teachers for this practice. Students should read a passage on a topic in the reading class and take notes along with the usual comprehension checks. Students should also listen to a short lecture (also taking notes) and discuss it in the listening and speaking class. In the next writing class after students complete these preparatory tasks, they should write a synthesis paragraph about the two sources. For full inclusion of skill areas, this paragraph can be sent to the Linguistic Accuracy teacher for grammar feedback.

Prompt and Rubric Analysis

Provide the students with an example prompt and rubric (if available) for a university level assessment. Use the board to visually break down the prompt into its components. Discuss how the rubric would influence the use of time on this essay.

Forced Time Schedule

Create a quiz module on Canvas with a timed survey (grade for completion, not for accuracy) for each section of the essay. Set the time for each section according to a reasonable time schedule (example provided in the timed writing section of the textbook). Students should use a piece of paper for their thesis and topic sentences (outline) to use as a reference throughout the quiz. After students have been prompted through the writing of each section, they should write their revision/edit notes on the other side of their outline paper. This activity can be expanded with a graded reflection on the experience.

Using Sources

Source Search Demo

Before doing this activity, be sure to run through the process on your own. Decide on specific search terms for the students to use. Schedule time in the computer lab and a projector to use in the lab as well. Project your computer screen onto the whiteboard for the students to reference as they follow along. Show students how to use Google Scholar and the BYU Library search in its most basic settings. Ensure that students can ask a lot of questions as they explore the search engines along with you. Discuss how to recognize from abstracts if a source may be relevant or not.

Quote Introductions

For this practice, find a couple of examples from a recent General Conference or BYU Devotional/Forum. Find examples of quotes within the text. Discuss the different forms of attribution that you see and how the source is integrated into the speaker's own ideas. Although this is spoken, the talks are all written in advance and therefore follow writing standards more than natural speaking patterns.

What Did They Say?

Print out some original sources to give to the students. You may collaborate with the reading teacher in your track or find random level-appropriate sources on your own. Give the student time to read the original and create a summary on a piece of paper. Then have the students share their different summaries to their classmates. After they share the summaries, they can share the original with the partner and explain how they decided to create the summary.

This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/UPWrtg_W_TG/ideas_for_writing_ac.