WRITING STRATEGIES FOR BEGINNERS

FROM SENTENCES TO PARAGRAPHFIRST LEVEL INTENSIVE COURSE

BY JOSEFINA CALLE

Writing is not an easy task. It is necessary to follow a process:

1. Get ideas Get a better idea

2. Organize ideas

3. Write Think of a better way to organize

4. Revise Need more ideas

5. Edit Find some grammar mistakes

THE WRITING PROCESS

BRAINSTORMING

One way to get ideas for writing is to brainstorm.

Brainstorm means to think about a topic and write down as many ideas as possible in a list.

When you brainstorm write words or phrases.

You don´t need to write sentences.

Some ideas will be good ones, and others will be not useful.

Later you can use the ideas that you want to use.

1. GET IDEAS

From the list of ideas:

Decide which ideas to use; then,

Order them.

2. ORGANIZE IDEAS

The first draft

The first time you write a paragraph, it is called the first draft.

Try to write your ideas in an interesting way.

Don´t worry about making mistakes.

Check it two times: revising and editing

3. WRITE

Revise means:

Checking your ideas

It does not mean checking your grammar. You will have time to do it after you revise.

4. REVISE

Edit means:

Checking the grammar in your writing.

It is important:

To revise your ideas first and then edit your grammar.

If you revise first, you will not waste your time editing irrelevant sentences.

5. EDIT

What does a sentence mean?

Sentences are group of words that express a complete idea. They begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.

Examples: Small dogs are good pets. Do you have any pets? My neighbor has fifteen pets. I don´t like pets; so, I don´t have

any pet.

FOCUS ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR

In English:

Every sentence must have a subjet and a verb. A sentence with a subject and a verb is called a simple sentence.

A subject tells who or what a sentence is about. A simple sentence can have more than one subject.

Jackie hates the morning. Every morning, her mother and father wake up at six o´clock

A verb tells what the subject is or does. A simple sentence can have more than one verb.

Jackie hates the morning. She never gets up or speaks to anyone before nine o´clock.

SIMPLE SENTENCES

Mark each underlined word with a S for subject of V for verb:

My dog shorty

At home in Mexico, I have a little dog. She is an importat part of our family. We call

her Shorty. She is a little fat, but her shape is very cute. All my friends know her

name and play with her. My father sometimes gets angry with her because she eats

plants in his garden. His tomatoes and flowers are her favorite snacks. I would like

to pet Shorty right now.

IDENTIFYING SUBJECTS AND VERBS

What does a paragrah mean?

Good paragraphs in English consist of three to eight sentences on one topic.

Paragraphs usually have three parts:

A topic sentence, usually at the beginning, which tells the main idea of the paragraph.

Several body sentences in the middle, which give supporting information about the topic sentence.

A concluding sentence at the end, which restates the topic sentence.

PARAGRAPHS

Read the paragraph below:

My grandmother

------------- She was born 77 years ago in England, When she was a baby, her family moved to the USA. After High School, she worked in a bakery until se married my grandfather. She can still make delicious cakes! My grandfather died five years ago, so she lives with us now. My grandmother is not patient, but she never gets angry with me. She alwasys listens to me and helps me with my problems.

Check all the sentences that are good topic sentences for the paragraph:

-----1. My grandmother is tall and thin. -----2. I think my granmother is a wonderful person.-----3. An important person in my life is my grandmother.-----4. My grandmother had five children.-----5. Let me tell about my Grandma.-----6. My grandmother can make me laugh when I am sad.

IDENTIFYING TOPIC SENTENCES

Stowe Vermont

Do you like to sky or snowboard? For a truly relaxing winter vacation como to Stowe,

Vermont, in the Green Mountains. Enjoy the fresh mountain air and snow at Mount

Mansfield. Do you like ice skating? There is a small ice skating rink near the skating

area. At the bottom of the mountain, there are several wonderful restaurants for

eating inside or outside. At the hotel next to the sky area, there is a heated pool and

a hot tub . In the town of Stowe, there are plenty of antique shops and restaurants.

Stowe, Vermont, is a great place for a winter vacation.

Read the travel brouchure. Then underline the main idea.

Words that show sequency of events are: first, then, next, after

that, finally.

This is a good way to organize the supporting sentences in the body

of a paragraph.

Write about a camping day you took in the past, add time words to show the sequency.

USING WORDS TO SEQUENCE EVENTS

Time words Action

I went to

I saw

I enjoyed

I ate

I returned home

A concluding sentence is usually the last sentence in a paragraph.

◦ A good concluding sentence often repeats the paragraph´s main ◦ idea in different words.

◦ Write it. Underline the main idea and write a concluding sentence in the paragraph below:

Janet Francis wants to teach about local history. She has a collection of 50 old maps of Boston neighborhood. She also has a collection of old photos from the neighborhood. Every month, Janet invites neighbors to her apartment to look at her maps and photos. ¨People like to see how this neighbohood changed,¨Janet says. ¨

IDENTIFYING CONCLUDING SENTENCES

Follow the intructions you read and write your own paragraph.

Choose a topic you like to write about.

WRITE YOUR PARAGRAPH

Cameron S. & Vargo M. (2008). Hemipheres. New York: McGraw-Hill

Ingram, B. & King, C. (2005). From Writing to Composing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Singleten, J. (2005).Writers at Work The Paragraph. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

REFERENCES