For all you Level 3 writing teachers, here is a series of handouts that can be used to teach the persuasive essay. Hard copies can also be located in the Level 3 binder in the office.

The file labeled persuasive intro contains:

1. An opinion-exchange task on some controversial topics
2. An info-gap task based on essay ideas that students generate
3. Usage notes on modal verbs followed by some thesis sentence completion exercises
4. Model outlines for the essay
5. An activity designed to raise awareness of the Toulmin structure (let me know what you think–this is in the pilot stage)

The quoting-and-paraphrasing.doc file has some comprehension-based activities intended to introduce those concepts (it might not hurt to ask any liberal arts students if they learned about these writing conventions in the LA seminar as a way of activating background knowledge). There is also an example of a reference list in MLA style. The Level 3 shelf has a very concise MLA style guide–not much help, I know. If anyone has ideas on how to make teaching first-years to write a reference list less painful, please share them!

Finally, there is a one-page peer checklist to be used when students turn in their first drafts. When I do this in my other writing class, I get students to pair up, read their whole paper aloud to their partner (as a proofreading activity), then ask them to swap papers, read silently and fill out the checklist for their partner. You might want to review the terminology used in this one well in advance–so that you can teach it in class or change it to suit your own approach.

P.S. All of the links on the Level 3 writing resources page over at elpweb.com are still functional. Here are a few that are worth checking out:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
http://citationmachine-east.net/
http://www.eslbee.com/

For anyone who has been wondering, the notes for students and for instructors have been finished. There are very few changes in the curriculum from the autumn semester last year, but please make sure you take a good look at these notes before your classes begin.

Of course the big changes from the spring continues into the autumn semester: Foundation English is split into IIA (Listening and Speaking) and IIB (Reading and Writing). Also, Repeaters will be mixed into the regular classes the same as last term. Expect a few new faces to appear in some classes during the first two weeks as a result.

All of the notes are packed together in this convenient .zip archive for one-click download.

Or, you can download individual files below:
Level 1 Student Notes
Level 1 Instructor Notes
Level 2 Student Notes
Level 2 Instructor Notes
Level 3 Student Notes
Level 3 Instructor Notes

If you have any questions, please ask one of the Full-time team members listed in the notes for each level, or ask any full-time ELP staff.

Thanks!

This activity encourages students to learn/use the words they have written down in their vocabulary notebooks.

This is a modified version of something that a colleague, Dexter Da Silva, previously passed onto me and it can be adapted to suit any level and can be carried out as often as you wish.

The materials include the interview sheet and some instructions for the teacher.

Vocabulary: self-assessment sheet

Vocabulary: self-assessment sheet (teachers’ notes)

This PowerPoint presentation is designed to support the Passages textbook Unit on Friends and Family pages 2, 3.

The teaching materials include:

1. A PowerPoint presentation
2. A Student worksheet
3. A Teacher’s notes sheet

You can use these materials in a number of ways, for example to introduce the topic or to review the topic. It is important though, that you go through the different slides first to familiarise yourself with the presentation.
The teacher’s notes sheet provides more information on how to use this material.

The presentations require a computer and projector. Since we are unsure how soon the classrooms will be equiped with a computer, you can borrow one of the ELP laptops.
These materials will also be available in the Level 3 binder.

The Teacher’s notes document.
Passages Unit 1A.doc

The Student worksheet.
Passages 1A worksheet .doc

The PowerPoint presentation.
Passages unit 1A.ppt

Paper copies of the Student Notes and Instructor Notes will be available for everyone at the 2007 ELP Orientation on April 7 from 9:00 to 5:00 in Room A408 on the Machida Campus. The level structure, most of the content, and many of the assessments remain the same. However, there are a few changes. The biggest changes are a new textbook in Level 1 and new double-koma classes.

Level 1 will discontinue English Firsthand 1 in favor of English Firsthand Success. Some teachers may know the older version of English Firsthand Success, but we will be adopting the April 2007 edition. Totally True 1 will continue as the reading textbook. Levels 2 and 3 will keep the same textbooks as in 2006: Let’s Talk 1 and Totally True 3 for Level 2; and Passages 1 for Level 3.

The other big change is an administrative and scheduling change. The four koma of Eigo I will now be divided into Eigo IA (Listening and Speaking: Two back-to-back koma), and Eigo IB (Reading and Writing: Two back-to-back koma) on schedules, on e-Campus, and with kyoumuka. Most of the actual content and curriculum will continue from 2006, but teacher responsibilities and record-keeping will change somewhat. Details can be found in the Instructor notes for each level. These organizational details will also be explained in detail at the orientation, but for those of you who may want to get a headstart, here are the notes.

Download PDF files of all notes for all levels in a single .zip archive. Just double-click the downloaded archive to open it.

Partly to alleviate the burden on teachers who dislike having to do a lot of photocopying and partly to organize student resources for the writing course, the level 3 team has decided to gather a set of writing materials to distribute to students as a booklet at the beginning of the Spring ‘07 term. There is a consensus that students should not be asked to pay for the booklet, as it will be made up of material that was previously distributed as class handouts.

Ideally, this booklet will consist of any activities, examples, guidelines, instructions, or evaluation criteria which course teachers deem necessary for their students. The project is currently focused on the Spring term.

Because we want to keep copying costs to a minimum and respect the fact that teachers on the course do have a great deal of flexibility in terms of how they teach it, we would like the selection process to be limited to only those materials which teachers consider highly useful (this, of course, implies no obligation to use the materials in class). We are soliciting materials and feedback from all teachers so that this will be a collaborative effort.

I am attaching a brief table of contents page which has been approved by the level team. You can assist us by making any comments on this document or sending contributions in the form of activities, model paragraphs, writing tips, etc. Please also let us know if you would like to nominate for inclusion in the booklet any materials in the existing level 3 binder.

If you are interested in helping out, please email me directly, respond to this announcement, or write comments in the project binder located on the Level 3 materials shelf in PFC.

While there is no official deadline for contributing, we plan to complete the project by early March.

L3 writing booklet TOC