Write an effective essay

Have a look to this video and you'll learn more about writting good and effective essays in class.

Something about WRITING

Writing is one of the most feared skills for both student and teacher. Students are reluctant to write for fear of making errors, whereas errors are very crucial in the learning process. “To err is human”, as we say. However, Teachers find writing an intricate task to deal with, as it takes a lot of effort on their part to implement a good writing activity. Let’s make writing simple: Keep it simple and stupid! When you write, don’t try to be Shakespeare, be just yourself and try to write as simply as possible.

Each Essay comprises five or four paragraphs. And it is very important to use the LINKING WORDS because they add a flavour to the essay like spices to a dish.

Here you are some of the commonest linking words I hope you realize how useful they are in your essays!

Common Grammar Mistakes (2nd Part)

(squeak chalk : make a horrible sound with chalk on the blackboard (Chirriar una tiza.))

Verb forms:

Inconsistent tenses:
‘Her stepfather often comes to see her. One day he asks her..’
Wrong use of the present continuous instead of the present simple:
‘The atmosphere is tense and the author intensifies it further with words like…’
Wrong use of the infinitive instead of the present participle:
‘This is a way to protect herself and to avoid showing what she really feels’
‘This shows that she is not used to going into her son’s room’
Wrong use of the present participle instead of the infinitive:
‘This scene explains her decision to get rid of Harry’s belongings’
Wrong use of a ‘that’ subclause instead of the infinitive:
‘He would like the old man to leave’
‘She wants them to know’
Wrong use of ‘can’ instead of ‘may’:
‘When we watch movies we may or may not identify with the characters’
Wrong use of the present tense instead of the present perfect:
‘Jim and Crystal Styan have lived/have been living in a log cabin by a river for five years’

Possessive forms:
Wrong use of ‘who’s’ instead of ‘whose’:
‘The story is about a woman whose son has died’
Wrong use of ‘it’s’ instead of ‘its’:
‘This is an intriguing story, its setting is significant’
Wrong use of the definite article in possessive forms:
‘The Spielberg film / Spielberg’s film’

A list of Common Mistakes in Written English (1) Prepositions

Common mistakes with Prepositions:

wrong use of ‘at’ after ‘come’:

‘They come home’
‘We can follow the evolution of her state of mind through the description of the house’

wrong use of ‘‘with’ instead of ‘to’:

‘Daisy is married to Tom’

wrong use of ‘to’ instead of ‘with’

‘The problem I am confronted with’

wrong use of ‘during’ instead of ‘for’:

‘She has not seen her son for eight years’

wrong use of ‘since’ instead of ‘for’:

‘They have known each other for eight years’

wrong use of ‘in the whole of’ instead of ‘throughout’:

‘throughout the story…’

wrong use of ‘in’ instead of ‘inside’ :

‘She is unaware of the conflict happening inside her’

wrong use of ‘in’ instead of ‘into’:

‘She only wants to get into her son’s room’

wrong use of ‘as’ instead of ‘like’:

‘She felt like a stranger’

wrong use of ‘of’ instead of ‘with’:

‘They cause Mrs Carnavon to be disgusted with herself’

wrong use of ‘of’ instead of ‘by’:

‘In this story by Doris Lessing…’

wrong use of ‘of’ instead of ‘for’:

‘I think there are two reasons for the fact that she decides to clear the room’
‘She feels confused, and the reason for this is to be found in…’

wrong use of ‘that’ instead of ‘as’:

‘The second waiter feels the same as the old man’

wrong use of ‘to’ instead of ‘with’ after ‘confront’:

‘They are confronted with an inextricable situation’

wrong use of ‘to’ instead of ‘at’ after ‘arrive’:

‘She must arrive at a decision’

wrong use of ‘explain’ without ‘to’:

‘This story explains to us how we must look beyond the appearance of things’

wrong use of ‘say’ without ‘to’:

‘He said to him/told him that he liked the house’

wrong use of ‘present’ without ‘with’:

‘John O’Hara presents us with the evolution of a mother’s state of mind’

Writing Skill (3-4 ESO): Add Words to a Story

Adding words to a story

Time: 30-40 minutes
Aims:

To give the students an opportunity to start writing creatively within a safe, controlled frame.
Preparation Choose, or make up, a very short story and write it out as four to eight sentences. .

Procedure:

1 Dictate:
This was a village with [SPACE] walls and [SPACE] roofs.

Ask the students to add a few words in each of the spaces.

2 Dictate:
It had not rained for many, many months. Soon the wells would run dry. The villagers desperately needed [SPACE].

Ask the students to complete the sentence with two or more words.

3 Dictate:
The men of the village went to the [SPACE] mosque to pray for rain. And no rain fell.

Ask the students to add two or more words in the space left.

4 Dictate:
The women of the village went to the [SPACE - add the same words as last time] mosque to pray for the rain clouds to come. One little girl stayed at home. And no rain fell.

Ask the students to draw a quick sketch of the little girl they imagine and to add to the caption: She was...+ three words.

5 Dictate:
The next day the little girl went to the [SPACE] mosque on her own to pray for rain. She took her grandfather's umbrella.

Tell the students to end the story in not more than three words.

6 Group the students in threes. In turn they read their stories to each other.

7 Put up walls, roofs, mosque, etc. on the board.
Get the students to come up and write the words they used to qualify these nouns on the board under each heading.

8 Ask your students to copy into their notebooks the new words they take a liking to.