The Biography Assignment

    If you're wondering about what to do during the first or second week with a new class, this assignment is perfect (well almost)  The whole class will start off in groups, then form pairs, and finally each student will produce a project which involves listening, writing and creative skills.  I suggest that you create the groups to stop friends from interviewing each other (which is almost impossible in a small school).

    This is a writing program that is perfect for producing large amounts of graded work without a lot of heavy marking. At the same time, the writing program allows you to get to know each student's strengths and weaknesses, supplies an enormous amount of rough work for future polished writing and is also an excellent class management tool. I first used it in a class of 40 de-streamed Gr. 9 students in a portable (enough said about Ontario's education system). I allowed the first fifteen minutes for writing which quieted them all down and got them ready. My co-op student was able to take all of the work away and quickly evaluate it for length and return shortly with everything marked. I usually spent some time going over it later to get the gist of each student's writing. It worked so well that I used the program in Grade 10 and 11 with great results. Eventually, we reduced the writing to three times a week but the students actually objected when I tried to reduce the time even more. After several weeks I had evaluated several hundred pieces of work and generated several polished writing assignments worth ten marks each. All of the students improved over time.

Writing Assignment Part Deux

If the first one was successful, here's another handout.

Additional Writing Topics

         If you use up the topics above, or you want more to choose from, then take a look at these additional topics. They were thought up by Karen Newirth, an English teacher, and one of her Grade 10 students, Rick Richly, at Marian Baker School in San José, Costa Rica.  Karen now teaches at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. and can be reached at knewirth@hotmail.com

    This is a great exercise for the beginning of the school year or semester. It involves art and writing in a nice blend of the creative and applied. You can really get to know your students and their abilities in a quick and fun way.

Senior Memory Book

       This lesson was submitted by Harry Livermore who teaches at Cook High School in Adel, Georgia. It is a 16 week set of writing assignments that culminates in a published autobiography, with pictures if you want.. It is also a tremendous way of having a tight thematic writing assignment which has clearly defined instructions, goals, and expectations but also allows the students room to be creative. Harry called it a "senior" memory book but I think that it would work at almost any level, with some changes in the questions and evaluation. If you like this and want to use it, drop Harry a line to let him know. He's at: hlivermo@surfsouth.com

    If you look through a lot of my writing assignments, you will see reference made to filling out the "checklist in your folder".  I will explain.  Whenever a student writes something in the "daily writing program" or for the folder, the writing is kept in a folder.  It is just a legal size file folder which is folded up about 5 cm. or 2 in. at the bottom which creates a pocket on either side to stop stuff sliding out.  The checklist is stapled inside and is a record of all of the process writing that the student does including the dates of submission and the marks.  The folder NEVER leaves the class (in case a student loses the whole folder) but work is taken out to go home or to the computer lab, and work is put in.  This is a "plain text" version of the folder and I am sure that you can embellish it once you get it into a word processing program.

    I don't know where I got this set of paragraphs from but they are perfect for illustrating the various ways of developing a topic, right from the topic sentence through to the conclusion. Various types of development are illustrated. A logical follow-up would be to assign the writing of a paragraph based upon the models, BUT you may want to look at the evaluation lesson below before rushing off to assign writing.

    A student often labours over a writing assignment and then is shocked to receive a lousy mark. Why was the mark so low? Often, it's anyone's guess. Many students would get better marks if they know how the assignment was going to be evaluated. They might even do better if they understood the marking process. I teach the paragraph development above and then have the students mark the sample paragraphs -- the spelling mistakes are deliberate. We then discuss our often radically different evaluations. Try this and then assign a paragraph to write. I usually have them compare two things by using alternation. Take a look at the writing folder activities for more ideas for paragraph topics.

    Harry Livermore has two documents which outline the development of paragraphs and the essay and include examples taken from professional sources. They are large documents and are contained at his site, Harry's Haven.

The Group Opinion Paragraph

    This is a lesson that you can use to teach group dynamics and paragraph writing. The handout is from Lori Koplik in Barrington, Rhode Island, and is pretty well self-descriptive.

    You've probably always wanted to eat in class and teach writing at the same time.  Steven Charlton is an Education student at the University of North Florida, and he has a lesson where you can teach students how to write a paragraph using a real hamburger.  In good pedagogical form, Steven has supplied everything you need including rationale, objectives, instructions and follow-up assignments.  You have to supply the hamburger. Have fun and if you want to compliment Steven he's at scharl@southeast.net

     How much do your students know about common errors? Tell them to keep the corrected sheet in the front of their notebooks for reference; depending on the grade level, I tell them that they will be penalized if they ever make one of these errors. Remember, "there" is "here" with a "t" on it , "their" is possessive. Don't use "they're" if "you're" not sure. If the guy at Harvey's can remember what I want on my hamburger, a student can remember the difference between "there" and "their".

      This is a pretty funny and creative exercise that Gina Corsun of Herbert Hoover Middle School in Edison, New Jersey sent to me. It ties in nicely with the lesson above. I thought when I read it that I might leave all of the their/there/they're words as blanks and have them fill them in instead. Or you can have them re-write it or merely indicate their corrections on the sheet. An overhead would be ideal for taking up an exercise like this. In any case, read the story because it will brighten your day as you glean educational sites for lessons. If you have any questions, (such as who is Oscar Meyer), e-mail Gina at kengina@idt.net

    This is another assignment that combines creativity, analysis and application in a format suitable for all grades. Start off discussing a review and then give them examples from Consumer Reports -- pick something offbeat such as toasters or breakfast cereal. Go over how anything can be reviewed, even your dad's car or your dad himself. All you need to do is define what a perfect "one" would be and then compare the thing to be reviewed under certain specific topics, such as appearance, ease of handling and drawbacks. Then give them the sheet about what constitutes a review (see below) and then this assignment. One girl in my Grade 10 class reviewed the word "anything" while another did jogging shoes.

How to write the review assigned above.

     Due to an overwhelming number of e-mail inquiries, I have decided to put some writing assignments here for your perusal. In Ontario, the writing folder is an essential part of every student's evaluation (20-30%). The folder involves a series of writing assignments but process must be marked and each student must have the choice of which writing piece, of several, to submit for marking. This accounts for the huge variety of assignments. However, I always try to make the assignments support the concepts that we are studying in class. Thus, they are creative but must demonstrate application of concepts and thinking skills. Take your pick of these; most will work at almost any level except where I have noted. If you have ANY questions, e-mail me for help or advice.

Comparing unlike things, ideas, or viewpoints

A review of the five best or the five worst -- this assignment has generated the most amazing range of responses, depending on the class. I have had the five best T.V. dads as well as the five WORST things about Christmas.

A topic OR a type of writing -- you choose. The concept is simple enough except that teachers of junior grades may want to substitute a fictional diary or something else for the stream of consciousness.

A Description of a person -- I know that this seems old, but I tried to make it really demanding and different. The quote, as I acknowledge, is by Steinbeck and it is truly a work of genius. Have a discussion of the myriad of things that Steinbeck's short description reveals and then let them go. I have had several brilliant pieces about a rock star waiting to be interviewed or perform, a prostitute getting ready to go out (it was very moving and aroused great sympathy for the woman and her condition) and, of course, a contemplative Santa Claus just before the big flight.

An Autobiography -- A few years ago I used to have the students re-write a television sit-com from the view point of one of the characters. This evolved into this assignment, wherein the student writes an autobiography of anything else. One girl wrote about her life as a carrot who was transported from sunny fields to the fridge- she even wrote it on a large orange paper carrot with green leaves sticking out of the top. Another student wrote the autobiography of his little sister -- in crayon on about 25 pieces of coloured construction paper. Let them go wild but don't forget the process leading to a nice piece of polished work.

Open Assignments -- There are two handouts here. These assignments are good for directed students and those kids that just eat up writing assignments. Do not give them to students who have organizational problems or need constant prodding to get going.

Open Writing #1

Open Writing #2

    This is a short writing exercise which has been submitted by Sue Hallworth who teaches at Newmarket High School (just north of Toronto). Sue has used it as a fifteen minute writing exercise but it has all kinds of potential for follow-up activities, such as students producing art work for their stories or developing story portfolios.
Questions and comments can be directed to Sue at suehallworth@mail1.geocities.com

    Do you have some old photos or calendar pictures lying around? Perhaps you know of some good antique stores with old photo albums. These two lessons can help you turn them into writing projects. These are writing activities with strong interactive and role-playing components. The lessons were submitted by Leilani Kesner who teaches senior English at Scottsboro High School in Scottsboro, Alabama. She is also on the Board of Directors of Alabama A & M University's National Writing Project and has served as a contributing writer for Holt, Rinehart, and Winston's composition textbook series. But, she says, she is happiest in the classroom. Contact her at LBKesner@aol.com

Writing Activities

    There is a great deal of controversy about the value of formal grammar instruction.  Unfortunately, trying to write without an understanding of what a sentence is and what accepted usage is all about, is often like trying to paint without an understanding of colour theory.  These lessons are just a few that I have taught, but they are at the core of my whole formal writing instruction.  The handouts emphasize the need to understand what is a complete sentence,  what are the major punctuation and structural errors, what is a smooth sentence, and the necessity of clarity in your writing.  All of the handouts will require teacher instruction so don't just use one of them for busy work.  Each should be part of a unified approach to teaching how to avoid errors and write more clearly.

   The Clause (or what's a sentence fragment?)
    Sentence Fragment/Comma Splice Identification
    Sentence Errors Review Sheet
    Pronoun Problems
    Punctuation/Sentence Combining
    Sentence Combining
    Parallel Structure
    Error Correction -- identify and correct
    Pronoun and Sentence Errors (senior)

Signal Words Paragraph Exercise

        Cindy Godby uses this lesson to teach and illustrate the concept of "signal words"  which are "words that an author uses to signal a transition in the order of events or details in a paragraph." Cindy Godby is an instructor of adult basic education at Seminole Community College in Sanford, Florida and teaches reading and writing to adults between the ages of 16 and 70.  She can be reached at  Cindy Godby <godby@iag.net>

       Etymology is the study of where words come from. (Did you know that?)  This lesson uses the Internet to complete an etymology quiz, research word origins, and make up a quiz. All of the websites are accessed from one web site.  The author of the lesson is Mrs. G and you can visit her website of lesson plans and links; the site is called, appropriately, Mrs. G's English Links.

    Learning parts of speech can become a highly creative exercise if you use this lesson sent in by Sharon Stewart who teaches in Whitianga, New Zealand.  Sharon says that she also uses it for mythology.  You can reach her at rsalisbury@xtra.co.nz

Writing for Different Audiences

    This is a letter writing assignment which has students telling a version of an incident to several different audiences.  Suanna Rens, who teaches in Donaldson, Arkansas, says that the lesson takes about two 45 minute periods; it could probably be adapted for almost any grade. Suanna is at SuannaKay@aol.com

    What would you do if you had one million dollars?  What if you had to spend it in one day? What if you had to use the classifieds to do it?  This is the premise of  a tremendous writing exercise by Kim Thornley who teaches at Timberland High School in St. Stephen, SC. Kim has supplied the lesson and numerous follow up activities. You can reach her at rthornley@viperlink.net

    This is another great writing exercise from Kim Thornley (see above) and involves students having real pen pals at a local old age residence. This is an exercise with enormous potential for almost any grade. 

    Trine Meyer Vogsland teaches English as a second language in Norway and has supplied several novel and creative ideas to encourage writing among all levels of students. She has over 12 ways to use 99 Ways to Love Your Child  as well as three ideas on another page.  Trine says that she would love to hear from teachers who use the lessons and she can be reached at  vogsland@online.no. Trine also has some excellent lessons using contemporary music on the Poetry Page.

• 99 Ways to Love Your Child
• X-Files, Ghost Stories and War

        This is a series of challenging journal topics for senior students which explores gender issues from a contemporary and historical perspective.  Noeline Laccetti is the Head of English at St. Martin's S.S. in Mississauga, Ontario and comments or questions can be addressed to her at laccetti@idirect.com

    An urban legend appears mysteriously and spreads in many forms and contains elements of humor or horror (the horror often "punishes" someone), makes good storytelling, and does NOT have to be false, although most are.  Andrea Kitter is a member of Literacy AmeriCorps Pittsburgh and teaches adult learners.  "I used this lesson with my Advanced GED  writing class, but I think just about anyone could make it work for any level." Annie is reachable at andreamkitta@yahoo.com.

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