Quick writing tips for all classes

Natassa Manitsa: Quick writing ideas for Online Lessons

By Natassa Manitsa On March 23, 2020

Of course they are NOT only for online lessons. You can also use them as time fillers when we finally all go back to school. The thing is that they are quick, sweet and interesting. Although they are based on writing, they can be used as an oral game as well because they are very communicative. So, don’t be afraid of online lessons. Wear your best smile and… off we go!

1. One word substitution
Give an initial sentence. Give them sometime to come up with ideas. Each student in turn has to change one word.
“Jack and Jill went up the hill”
“Jack and John went up the hill”
“Jack and John went down the hill”
“Jack and John went down the slide”
“Mary and John went down the slide”
“Mary and John went down a slide”
“Mary and John climbed down a slide”
“Mary and John climbed down a mountain”
“Mary and John walked down a mountain”

2. Talking with T
Give an initial sentence in which all words contain a certain letter – for example –T
Students try to come up with the longest sentence they can in which all words contain the given letter.

3. Haikus

I just love poetry. Of any form!

From Greece, in Athens
Black hair, brown eyes, tall and slim,
My name is Maira.

This is a haiku – a Japanese poetry form consisting of 3 lines of 5, then 7, then 5 syllables. They should authentically create a feeling of nature, but that’s not necessary. The haiku above contains the vocabulary and phrases often learnt in the first few lessons.

Haikus can also be used later on. Give the learner five minutes to jot down all they can think of on a given topic, and then to put together the best combination they can of the five, seven, five syllable combination. After learning about places in town, a learner wrote:

Trees, yellow with leaves,
Church near park, shops, cafés full,
Cold now, Christmas comes.

In creating haikus, the learner confirms what they know about an area of the language, gives some attention to the sounds of the language and creates something they own.

4. Twitter time
Ask students to write a profile of themselves in up to 280 characters without mentioning their name. All of them should be read out. The class (virtual one – we #stayhome) guess who the twitterer is. Here’s an example:
Games master. King of chess. Lives with mum and younger brother. Wants to be a boss and drive a BMW.

5. Chocolate challenge
Students in pairs / groups have to come up with an advertising blurb / slogan for a new chocolate product (or any other product  – I guess I am fond of chocolate).

6. Mozart makers
First the kids should all watch a particular film. One good idea so that you can be sure that the film has been watched by everyone is to share your screen with them. I won’t mention things we all have in mind and work just fine with theatrical plays, movies and videos and how we can use them to create lessons. I will give you another idea that includes a little bit of playing with words. Give an initial word (such as Mozart. I use this example as Amadeus is one of my favourite films). Students try and write one word connected to the original word for each of the letters contained in that word. For example:

Student A
M – musician
O – orchestra
Z – zoo
A – Amadeus
R – rebel
T – trio

Student B
M – mad
O – obstinate
Z – zebra
A – Austria
R – risky
T – tremendous

Students read out their list and if challenged on the relevance, have to justify it (for example, Student A’s “zoo” might not seem related to Mozart, but they might say that Mozart was in Vienna, which has a famous zoo). What might Student B’s defence of “zebra” be? – Mozart saw things in black and white? He was like an unusual animal?

7. Margarine or butter
Students write definitions (which must not include any part of any of the words to be defined) to show the difference between two similar things. They read them out and guess what the two things are.

Other examples:
Pen or pencil
Shoes and slippers
Milk and honey
Lipstick and mascara
Sheep and goats

8. The unbelievable truth
Give students a homework task to research a subject and write a text in which they include 3 truths. The rest of the text should be lies. They then read out their text to the class. When someone thinks there is a truth, they challenge. If they are correct, they get a point, if not, they lose a point.

Example: The subject is Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare was born in London and wrote novels. His most famous novel is about his wife, who was called Anne Boleyn. He had a child called Hamnet, who wondered whether it was better to be or not to be. Shakespeare worked as an actor and the queen came to see his plays. He …

I often say that our role is to remind one another of things we tend to forget especially when we have to face a lot of new challenges. The extensive use of technology might seem like another headache for a lot of teachers, but once you get things going with the right tools and especially the right content, you will realize it’s not the end of the world. No teacher can be replaced, no human contact can be underestimated. Nevertheless, we have to take advantage of all the resources available to make our students’ life more interesting. My daughters were very happy that online lessons and school has finally started, as they are sick and tired of doing nothing. Give the kids the chance to smile and don’t lose contact. That is the challenge we should only worry about. Our well being and our communication. Please feel free to share and add more ideas to the list. And most important of all: take care of your shelves and #StayHome.