Tips on Improving teaching skills
in Sentence Writing
by
Stella Liao
Keelung Municipal Jhongshan Senior High School
1
Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction of Teaching Procedures
Reading Activity
From Reading to Sentence Writing
From Sentence Writing to Guided Writing
Ways of Correcting Sentence Writing
Ways of Correcting Guided Writing
2
Teaching Purpose
• (1) provide simple and interesting methods
for sentence teaching that make reluctant
writers feel more comfortable in writing.
• (2) to connect sentence writing and guided
writing with two sentence structures.
• (3) provide simple ways of correcting
writing that reduce teaching pressure in
class.
3
Text difficulty level:
 Elementary
 Intermediate (San-Ming Publisher, B1L3)
 Upper-Intermediate
 Advanced
4
Tips on Improving
your memory
Sentence
Pattern
Gerunds
Teaching
Procedure
Abstract
The more..
Guided
Writing
Sentence
rewriting
Finding
mistakes
Sentence
writing
translations
Correction
5
Reading Activity
6
Presenting the Text
Pre-Reading Activity
•
•
•
•
Read a set of numbers
and ask students to
memorize it.
Check how many students
can remember all the
numbers correctly.
Brainstorm. Ss freely
express “how” they
memorized these items.
Share the useful memory
tips from the text.
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Tips on Improving your Memory
□Tip 1: Set realistic goal.
□ Tip 2: Stay mentally active.
□ Tip 3: Cut down on activities that
don’t require you to think.
□ Tip 4: Read more.
□ Tip 5: Teach others what you know.
□ Tip 6: Improve your vocabulary.
□ Tip 7: Get into the habit of taking
notes
*Check if I follow the rules in learning.
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During Reading Activity
Theme of the lesson:
1. The lesson describes some tips for
improving the memory;
2. another theme concerns how students can
use these tips in their studies to make
learning more effective.
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During Reading Activity
Students’ Role:
• Be in charge of one tip for improving the memory,
• Discuss the relevant examples.
• Figure out the most useful tip with examples.
• A spokesperson presents the results of their
discussion.
The teacher’s Role
• corrects errors in the presentations,
• teaches the key ideas of the text,
• introduces essential sentence
• patterns to the class.
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Tips of
Abstract
Writing
self-evaluation
peer-evaluation
With checklist
highlight main ideas
Write them down
Close the book
Checklists
□key sentence
□with proper person
□with proper tense
□with transitional
words
□rewrite the sentence
Rewrite
Combine sentences
With conjunctions
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Checklists
□with key sentences
□with proper persons
□with proper tenses
□with transitional words
□rewrite the sentences
3 Positive commands:
_______________________
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Tips in teaching the abstract
• usage of the recycling paper time
saving.
• Usage of Checklists  help Ss be aware
of the writing procedure.
• Usage of peer evaluation  Practice
makes perfect, instead of Correction
makes depression
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From Reading to Sentence writing
17
Teaching
Procedure
Sentence
Patterns
Gerunds
Sentence
Rewriting
Sentence
making
The more…,
The more….
Finding
Translations
Mistakes
Standard Selected
Checklist
of JECC correction
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Ss write their favorite
sentence on the board.
Ss’ Learning
Process
Ss do the presentation
in class.
Ss fill in their answers
of the worksheet with
the checklist
Students are trained to be familiar
to the use of this sentence practice.
The teacher checks the
exercise in open class
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1.Gerund “V-ing + V+ O.”
1-1.Sentence Rewriting
•
•
•
•
•
•
Directions:
4 in one group.
do the exercise before the class.
exchange homework.
Peer-evaluation.(checklist)
The teacher elicits this
sentence pattern
explains the essential
concepts.
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Sentence Rewriting: Tips of the
checklist Edit
Ss do the pre-tests of
sentence patterns.
The teacher combines the
general grammar mistakes
of Ss.
Checklist of Gerunds:
Group:
Name:
No. ___
Excellent Good Below Average
□
□
□ VVing
□
□
□ V-ing+
Single verb +O.(or S+V+ V-ing)
□
□
□ Sentence
complete with high level of
understanding.
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1-1.Handout:
Explanations of Gerunds
• 動名詞是由「原形動詞┼Ving」，如running,
talking.
• 動名詞與不定詞都是動詞的演變，雖有動詞的
樣子，但已經不再是動詞，而是「名詞」。
• 基本出現位置：當主詞、受詞、與補語。
Learning dancing is fun. (S)
• 動名詞與不定詞作為名詞時，都接單數動詞。
E.g. Chatting to with them improves my mind.
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1-1. Handout:
Explanations of Gerunds
Examples:
• I must _____ making mistakes again.
• He _____ having seen the man before.
• 他延遲回信。
• 他把訪友的事延後。
• 我們正考慮要去參加一些課外活動。
• 我再也抗拒不了了，所以決定打一下午的電動
遊戲。
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Sentence
Rewriting:
Part C
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1.Gerund “V-ing + V+ O.”
1-2. Making up Sentences
• Directions:
• 1. Ss fill in their answers of the worksheet
with the checklist in class.
• 2. Ss write their favorite sentence on the
board.
• 5. The teacher checks the exercise in open
class, asking learners to justify their
answers by the reference on their
worksheets.
• 6. Students are trained to be familiar to the
use of this sentence practice in handy.
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1.Gerund “V-ing + V+ O.”
1-2. Making up Sentences
Checklist:
Name________
No.__
Excellent Good Below Average
□
□
□ Ving + single verb + O.
□
□
□ The verb tense is consistent.
□
□
□ Sentences are complete
□
□
□ Sentences show a high level
of Understanding.
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Making up
Sentences
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1.Gerund “V-ing + V+ O.”
The E-factors
• Economy: Checklists help Ss be aware of
the rule directly.
• Efficiency: Ss preview the background
knowledge by doing the exercise at home.
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2.“the more…, the more….”:
2-1.Finding mistakes : Directions
The teacher deduces
all the sentences
with the target
pattern from the text
Students discuss the
sentences with each other to
find errors in the usage of
the pattern .
The teacher elicits sentence patterns from
the class and corrects errors written
on the board by students.
The teacher goes
around the class to help
individual students with
their problems.
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Error
Modification
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2.“the more…, the more….”:
2-2.Doing Translations
• Translation in Series
• 1你愈了解他，你就會愈喜歡他。
• The more you realize him, the more you
like him.
• 2.一個人的年紀愈大，記性就愈差。
• The older a person grows, the poorer
memory he will have.
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2-3.Definition of Sentence Errors
• Lexical errors: include
the wrong word order
(Setting realistic goal is
good for your lie.life)
• Grammar errors:
include the mistakes in
verb form, tense, or
adjectives
(Staying mentally active
makes us more sharp.
shaper)
Lower-leveled Ss
Discourse errors:
relate to the way
sentence are
organized and liked
in order to make a
complete text
(Setting realistic helps
us to do quickly. 
everything)
Higher-leveled Ss
Freshmen make more
mistakes of lexical and
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grammar errors in general.
Sentence Patterns
The E-factors
• Ease: the same format of the geographic
organizer  expanding learning ease the
teaching load. (1-2 Making up sentences)
• Efficiency: the background knowledge
from the text  the new sentence
pattern.
(1-1 sentence rewriting, 2-1 Finding Errors)
• Economy: students can transfer
the sentence pattern to
daily life usage.
(1-2 Making up Sentences, 2-2 Doing Translations)
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From Sentence Writing
to Guided Writing
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3. Guided Writing: Self-Introduction
• students represent their work, with the
power-point or the poster, in front of
the class.
•The teacher hands out an
autobiography table designed to
assist students to write the essay.
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3. Guided Writing:
Self-Introduction
Directions:
Take notes
Do the group discussion
Finish the first draft after
class.
• Do the modification and
turns in the finished essay.
• corrects the essay and
commands the general
mistakes.
•
•
•
•
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Ways of correcting
sentence writing
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How to respond to students’ works
• Teacher’s Role : the examiner, the audience, the
evaluator, or the consultant.
• Ways of responding:
1.self-correction,
2. peer-evaluation,
3. group discussion
 the teacher uses self-correction, peer-evaluation,
and group discussion effectively in class, pointing
out grammar errors from groups, and further using
these errors to make impromptu teaching points
for the whole class.
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Advantages
• these practices arouse students’
learning motivation
• provide an economical means of
giving feedback from the teacher.
• ease the workload of the teacher
in correcting students’ individual
assignments.
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2. Ways of correcting sentence writing
1. standards for sentence correction
from CEEC (College Entrance
Examination Center)
2. Selective correction
3. Using checklists with peer
evaluation
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2-1. Standard of sentence correction
from CECE
• each sentence is divided
into two clauses
• each error will be counted
per time, with no repeated
counting .
• the same spelling error is
counted one time only.
Errors in punctuation are
only counted once.
大學入學考試中心英文科評
分標準：
(1) 本大題總分8分，每小
題滿分4分。
(2) 每個錯誤扣0.5分，扣
完為止。
(3) 相同之拼字錯誤只扣分
一次。
(4) 句首未大寫或標點符號
不妥，各扣0.5分，只扣一
次 。
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Advantages & Disadvantages
• Advantages: students can become aware of
how to get high scores by conforming to the
correction standards on tests .
• Disadvantages:
1. students might still find that their work
quickly becomes covered in red ink.
2. this kind of correction is extremely timeconsuming for the teacher .
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2-2. Selective correction
• students usually make mistakes “more happier” or
“more fatter” in practicing the sentence pattern,
“the + adj-er…, the + adj-er…”
• the teacher can provide sentences containing these
types of errors on worksheets to help them avoid
such grammar mistakes.
• asking students to keep a log of errors can
assist them to avoid repeating the same
errors on their next assignment.
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2-3. Using checklists with peer
evaluation
• It encourages students to work
collaboratively and gain knowledge in a
supportive atmosphere .
• students are trained to use the checklist to
evaluate each other’s work and give
professional comments, which helps them
to achieve a better level in their own writing.
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3.Ways of correcting essay writing
•
•
•
1. Using rubrics
2. Referring students
to a dictionary or a
grammar book
3. Responding by
written comment
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3.Essay Writing Correction
3-1. Using rubrics
3 2 1 comments
Format
Structure
The first line of the paragraph is
indented 5 spaces.
Sentences fit inside the margins
given in the assignment.
Paragraphs average 4 to 8 sentences
in length.
Each paragraph has one, and only
one, main idea.
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3.Essay Writing Correction
3-1. Using rubrics
3 2 1 comments
Structure
All detail sentences relate to the main idea
of each paragraph.
Grammar
Sentences are free of spelling errors.
Sentences fit the grammatical structure
“S+V+O.”
The tense is consistent throughout the
paper and especially within a paragraph.
Sentence Pattern in the autobiography fits
the syntax, “The adj-er…, the adj-er…”
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3.Essay Writing Correction
3-2.Using a dictionary or a grammar book
• ask students to consult a grammar book to
compare correct and incorrect sentences in
their writing .
• ask the student to consult a grammar book
to see if they made a lexical error, grammar
error, or discourse error .
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3.Essay Writing Correction
3-3. Responding by written comment
• the teacher can both use the marking scale
and written comments to suggest students
do better in their final essay.
• it is vital to be encouraging and helpful
rather than judgmental.
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4.Student’s Work:
•
My name is Yu Hsuan Li. I was
born in December and my star sign
at birth is Sagittarius. This star
sign presents full of energy and
being active. But these
personalities only appear when I
get along with my close friend. My
favorite color is blue because it
makes me fell soothing.
At school, I am good at Chinese;
therefore, the more time I spend
on reading, the more clear my
brain becomes. In the free time, I
like reading fantastic novels. The
more often I read fantastic novels,
the more imaginative I become.
The season that influences me the
most is winter because the cold air
always makes me headache and
have a running nose. Someday, I
hope to be a screenwriter.
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Teacher’s written comments:
• I enjoyed your selfintroduction very much.
• I liked the description of your
personalities. They indeed
represent your
characteristics.
• I have one or two suggestions
to make:
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Teacher’s written comments:
1. How about giving more examples to describe
more about your personalities?
It would be a good way to know you in
different angles.
2. I wouldn’t include the bit about your favorite
season since it gets in the way of your
autobiography.
3. Be careful with your use of adjectives, the
+adj.+er.
Check the grammar book of the usage.
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On Exhibitions
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