There are many ways to organize the writing prompts that you give the students. A coordinated approach will ensure that  students are given mulitple chances to respond to a variety of prompts. You can organize your prompts by task, topic, or course outcome. Some writing prompts and timed writing assignents will be shared with the UP Linguistic Accuracy teacher.

Task

• Timed Writing
  • Collaborative - The UP Writing teacher will share two 30-Minute Essay prompts with the UP Linguistic Accuracy teacher. This prompt is usually an independent opinion essay prompt.
    • (Fall) Linguistic Accuracy Packet
  • Solo - Both independent and integrated writing prompts given with various time limits are necessary for writing students. Writing teachers can set time limits for assignments that help the students practice any part of the writing process (i.e. outlines, paragraphs, closing statements, etc.) and can use integrated resources (audio-visual, reading texts) as part of the prompt.The focus on these timed writing activities is to improve text type, content, and accuracy. TOEFL style writing prompts are appropriate, but not the only resource you can use for independent and integrated timed writing.
• Drafted Writing - Students need to participate in the drafting process of writing that includes revisions of a multi-page essay. This process should include both teacher and peer feedback on the student's writing. Fall UP Writing students should work through two drafted essays:
  • Problem-Solution
  • Argumentative Essay
• Fluency Writing - There are several ways to helps students develop greater fluency in academic writing.
  
  • Journal Writing: This can take the form of a personal journal entry, where students describe something significant about their day/week (which is great past-tense verb practice), or it can be a journal with guided prompts.
  • QuickWrite: This is a timed writing activity (usually 10 minutes) that prompts students to write as much as possible during the time limit. Focus should be on producing writing, and NOT on organization or accuracy.
  • Typing Practice: Students may still need targeted typing practice if their English typingg speed is under 30wpm. Typing practice is not part of the curriculum for the UP Writing level, but teachers should show students how to sign up for a free account to access http://www.typing.com.

Topic

• Narration
  • Describe a time when you won a prize or a competition.
• Opinion
  • Do you agree or disagree with the following prompt: Children should help with household chores as soon as they are able. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
• Description
  • Describe a place in your country that many people like to visit.
• Comparison
  • What are the similarities and differences between dogs and cats.
• Argumentative
  • Is Pokémon Go a positive cultural force? Or is it just another excuse for people to stare at their phone?
• Problem Solution
  •  What do you think should be done to prevent divorce?
    
    • Complication: What are the short- and long-term consequences for your proposed solution?

Course Outcomes

• All Major Time Frames - Tense & Aspect - Students should have practice responding to prompt that elicit a response from all the major time frames. It is helpful to draw a table grid to make sure all the possibilities are covered:

• LATs - There are two writing prompts on the Level Achievement Tests (LATs); a 10-minute paragraph and a 30-minute essay.
  
  • 10-minute paragraph: This is typically a description prompt that will be on a familiar topic to the student. Raters are looking for solid paragraph organization and good description that evokes feelings and pictures in the mind of the reader.
  • 30-minute essay:This is typically an opinion essay prompt. Raters are looking for typical 4-5 paragraph essay organization with good use of transitions between and within paragraphs and personal, concrete, and abstract examples.

Additional Resources

• 501 Writing Prompts (Persuasive, Expository, Narrtive, Literary) by The Learning Express Skill Builder in Focus Writing Team
• 401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing by The New York Times
• 650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing by The New York Times
• Grammar Focused Writing Prompts by EnglishClub
• Tense-Specific ESL Writing Prompts by Owlcation
• 100 Problem Solution Essay Topics with Sample Essays by Owlcation
• 101 Compare and Contrast Essay Topics by ThoughtCo.