skkn how to help gifted students find essay writing easy and how to help them write more effectively

Title How to help gifted students find essay writing easy and how to help them write more effectively... The aim of the innovation : - To teach gifted students some basic academic writin

TABLE OF CONTENTS - TITLE ………2

- INTRODUCTION ………3

- RATIONALE OF THE STUDY……… 3

- PROCEDURES……… 4

- FINDINGS ………32

- CONCLUSION ……….………33

- REFERENCES ………34

Title

How to help gifted students find essay writing

easy and how to help them write more effectively

INTRODUCTION

Writing is ooften considered as the last skill to be developed after listening, speaking, and reading

After many years of teaching at Luong The Vinh high school I have found that a lot

of gifted students at this school are enthusiastic about writing especially academicwriting But, after marking and correcting their essays I found that their pieces ofwriting still contained mistakes These mistakes ranged from minor ones such asspellings to major ones such as sentence structures and the organization in an essay As

a teacher, I think that I should do something to help them overcome their difficulties inwriting so that they can improve their writing skill and write well and effectively Theinnovation covered a range of skills , from basic punctuation and capitalization rules toclause work and the organization in an essay

RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

a What is Writing ?

According to Oshima and Huge, “ Writing is a possessive activity This means thatwhen you first write something down, you have already been thinking about what you aregoing to say and how are you going to say it Then after you have finished writing , youread over what you have written and make changes and corrections Therefore, writing isnever a one-step action: it is a process that has several steps.” ( Oshima and Huge 1997 : 2 )

b The importance of writing to gifted students / college students

Writing skill plays a very important role and gifted students / college students need good

writing skills as Oshima and Huge point out that “ The most important aspect of a collegeeducation is to learn to communicate clearly and effectively That is why general collegeeducation prerequisites include a number of composition and reading courses that you mustcomplete before you graduate.”

c The aim of the innovation :

- To teach gifted students some basic academic writing skills

- To help them write well and effectively

- To help them find essay writing easy

- To help them develop more confidence in their ability to write

- To help them show their skills in organising their ideas systematically

d The participants of the study

64 students of the two English classes ( grade 11 ) of LTV high school were chosen

to take part in the innovation The innovation was carried out in writing periods of the two semesters of the school year

The reason why the students of the two English classes ( grade 11 ) were chosen as theparticipants of the study were that :

- They are gifted students

- They usually have to write essays

- They are interested in writing

- They often have to sit exams of English around the year

Here are some important rules / skills that I have accumulated and given to students

so that I could help them show their ability in presenting a logical argument , their skills in

organising their ideas systematically , their ability to select relevant ideas and information to the topic and last but not least their ability to use correct English grammar and vocabulary.

A RULES

1 Title Rules

A title is used to attract attention and generally tells the reader what to expect It is usually

a phrase , not a sentence.

-Capitalize the first , last , and important

words in a title

- Do not capitalize short prepositions such

as on , to , in , and for ; short conjunctions

such as and , or , and so ; and the articles a,

an ,and the

Exception : Capitalize a short word if it is

the first word in a title

Choosing a Vacation Spot

How to Fight Stress Winning the Lottery

The Problems of Single Parenting The Advantages of Public Transportation

c Abbreviations and acronyms, which are

words formed from the first letters of the

words in the names of organizations

d All proper nouns Proper nouns include

- Names of deities

- Names of people and their titles

BUT NOT a title without a name

-Names of specific places you could find on

a map

- Names of days , months, and special days

BUT NOT the names of the seasons

-Names of specific groups of people

( nationalities, races, and ethnic groups)

- Names of geographic areas

EXAMPLES

Mother Teresa is admired for her work all

over the world

The nun and I tried to care for poor, sick

people throughout the world

FBI IBM AIDS USA YMCA WHO UNICEFF UN DDT

God Allah Jane P Doe , PhD Diana, Princess of Wales

Asian Russian Moslem Jehovah’s Witness

the Middle East the Southwest

BUT NOT the names of compass directions

- Names of school subjects with course

numbers

BUT NOT names of classes without

numbers , except languages

-Names of specific structures such as

buildings and bridges

-Names of specific organizations

( businesses, clubs, schools )

-Titles of compositions, stories, books,

magazines, newspapers, plays, poems, and

movies

Note : Underline or italicize the titles of

books, magazines, newspapers, plays, and

Park Plaza Hotel the White House Kensington Palace International Students’ Club University of California

St Mary’s High School American Heart Association Introducing Myself

Introduction to Academic Writing

All Quiet on the Western Front Star Wars

Exe

r cise

Change small letters to capital letters wherever it is necessary in the following sentences.

1 farnaz is a student from iran She speaks english, french, and farsi her major ischemistry

2 three important winter holidays in the united states are christmas, hanukkah, and newyear’s day

3 president john f kennedy was bon on may 29, 1917, and was assassinated on november

22, 1963

4.greenhills college is located in boston, massachusetts

5.i am taking four classes this semester : english 40, sociology 32, typing and a computerscience course

6 thanksgiving is always on the fourth thursday in november.

7 excuse me ! can you please tell me where the golden gate bridge

8.there are three main religions in japan : buddhism, shintoism, and christianity

9.i work during the months of june, july, and august

b COMMAS ARE USED

To separate items in a series

To separate the day of the month from the

year, and after the year

NOTE : If no day is given, no comas are

necessary

To separate the parts of an address in a

sentence

To separate the street name from the

apartment number and the city from the state

After a dependent adverbial clause that is

followed by an independent clause in a

American declared their independence from

England on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia.

American declared their independence from

England on July 1776, in Philadelphia.

My address is 404 West 63rd Street , Apt 13, New York, NY 10017

401 West 63rd Street , Apt 13 New York, NY

10017

We don’t need to bring umbrellas, for the

sun is shining brightly

The sun is shining brightly; therefore, We

don’t need to bring umbrellas

Because the sun is shining brightly, wedon’t need to bring umbrellas

c SEMICOLONS ARE USED

Between independent clauses that are not

connected by a coordinating conjunction in

compound sentence

d QUOTATION MARKS ARE USED

The Napa Valley, which is a famous growing region in Northern California, is

wine-about 100 miles north of San Francisco

The Napa Valley, a famous wine-growing region in Northern California, is about 100

miles north of San Francisco

Finally, we arrived at our hotel.

However, our rooms were not ready.

After an hour, we left to find a place to eat Across the street, we found a small café.

My battery is dead; my car won’t start.

My battery is dead; therefore, my car won’t

start

She said, “ I’ll miss you.”

“ I’ll write you every day,” she promised.

“I think about you every day.” she

continued

“ and I’ll dream about you every night.”

B BASIC WRITING SKILLS

I / The Basics of Sentence Construction

1 PHRASES

a./ Noun phrases

e.g :

The bright blue dress was Helen’s favourite dress.

b./ Prepositional phrases ( phrases that start with a preposition Prepositional phrases

work to modify nouns or verbs )

e.g :

The man near the door is talking with Nathan.

( in this sense , they work very much like adjectives and adverbs)

c./ Verbal phrases ( phrases that start with either : a gerund , an infinitive , or a participle

Verbal phrases can work as nouns , adjectives , or adverbs.)

1 The leopard’s spots help it to hide from its prey

2 When the right foot of the player touched the foul line, the referee blew the whistle

3 Average winner temperatures in the Arctic Circle drop below zero

4 The vast majority of start-up companies fail their first three years

Exercise 2

Read the following sentences Underline any verbal phrases that act as nouns Circle any verbal phrases that act as modifier Then draw an arrow to the word that each phrase modifies

1 Maintaining a high grade point average is essential to any student hoping to go to

college

2 Crying and upset, the witness admitted she had lied to protect her boyfriend

3 Ned came home to find his door forced open and his belongings scattered on the floor

4 Planning the trip scheduled for next week is Helen’s responsibility

Exercise 3

Read the following sentences Underline any appositive phrases in them and put a comma

at the beginning and at the end of each appositive phrase Then draw an arrow to the noun modified by the appositive.

1 The Tigers the only team to go undefeated are the favorites to win the championship

2 The film about King Kong a giant ape who destroys the city was entertaining

3 The dancer a girl of both beauty and grace was the star of the show.

4 The climbers decided to attempt their ascent of the mountain during the spring

traditionally the safest time of year in terms of weather

2 CLAUSES

a./ Independent clauses

( Independent clauses can stand alone as complete sentences Independent clauses can function as sentences because they express complete thought

e.g.: He got out of his car

b./ Dependent clauses

Dependent clauses cannot function as complete sentences because they do not express complete thoughts Dependent clauses come in three forms : coordinate clauses,

subordinate clauses ,and noun clauses

-Coordinate clauses are essentially independent clauses However, they cannot function as complete sentences because they begin with coordinating conjunctions, and this makes the thoughts they express incomplete

e.g : He got out of the car, but he left the car running

- Subordinate clauses always start with a subordinating conjunction Subordinate clauses can be joined to independent clauses , coordinate clauses , or other subordinate clauses.e.g : He got out the car, but he left the car running because he was planning to return quickly

- Noun clauses : Within a sentence, noun clauses serve the same functions as nouns They can work as subjects , objects , or complement Noun clauses are introduced by one of the following words : that , which , whichever , who , whoever , whomever , what , whatever , when , whenever , how , however , and whether

e.g : Mike always buys whatever Mary wants

Whoever ate the last piece of cake is in big trouble

The big question is how we are going to fix the problem

Exercise 1

Read the following sentences and circle the independent clause in each sentence Then underline any dependent clause in each sentence Where it is appropriate, place comas between the independent clause and any dependent clause.

1 The city’s air pollution is the result of high number of cars on the road and of its

outdated factories but little is being done to solve the problem

2.Although the modifications to the ship’s design were thought to be minor they had a significant impact on its performance

3 Most wild animals are afraid of humans but they can still be dangerous when they are threatened

4 While Mark usually displays excellent sportsmanship he was thrown out of the last gamebecause of his behaviour

Exercise 2 :

Read the following sentences below Find the noun clause in each sentence and underline it

1 Last semester our science teacher taught us how batteries work

2 That he had committed the crime was understood to be a proven fact

3 although Nick is actually from New York , Miami is where his heart is

4 When Jessica found what Mark had hidden under her book, she screamed at the top of her lungs

2 The waves in Hawaii are better than in most of California Hawaii is the surfing capital

of the US ( coordinating conjunction )

3 CD players were released for mass marketing in the late 1980s CD players quickly replaced tape players (subordinating conjunction )

3 SENTENCE STRUCTURES

a./ Simple sentences

A simple sentence is made up of a single independent clause However, simple sentencesare not always short and easy An almost unlimited number of phrases and modifiers can bebuilt into a simple sentence structure, so sometimes these sentences can be quite advanced.e.g : My dog loves to play fetch.

My dog, a beautiful and playful Labrador puppy, loves to play fetch on sunny afternoon in the park near my house

b./ Compound sentences

e.g : My dog loves to play fetch , and I take him to the park almost every day

c / Complex sentences

e.g : My dog loves to play fetch, even though he is very old now

d./ Compound- complex sentences

e.g : Even though he is very old now, my dog loves to play fetch, and I take him to the park almost every day

Exercise 1

Read each of the following sentences and indicate whether it is a simple sentence, a

compound sentence , a complex sentence , or a compound- complex sentence.

1 Justin apparently misplaced all his textbooks, or at least most of them, during the ride from the library to his house

2 The hurricane caused severe hardship for working class members of society, but the rich , having access to far greater resources, viewed the storm as little more than an

inconvenience

3 Even though the Constitution guarantees all citizens the same essential rights, in

practice, many groups have been denied the full rights and benefits of citizenship

4 The government claimed that the recent restrictions on the press were in the interests of public safety, and it promised to ease the restrictions as soon as it is deemed to be safe to

The team realized it was thirteen points back with only minutes to go in the final quarter, and it began to lose any hope of victory.

2 Combine the sentences into a complex sentence

The team began to lose any hope of victory when it realized that it was thirteen points back with only minutes to go in the final quarter.

3 Combine the sentences into a single, simple sentence

Realizing it was thirteen points back with only minutes to go in the final quarter, the team began to lose any hope of victory.

4 / PRONOUN USAGE

Antecedents of pronouns :

If a pronoun is used in a sentence , there must be a noun before it of the same person and number There must be one, and only one , antecedent to which the pronoun refers

Examples of pronouns without antecedents :

Incorrect : Henry was denied admission to graduate school because they did not believe

that he could handle the work load

Correct : The members of the admissions committee denied Henry admission to

graduate school because they did not

2 Ellen spotted her friend as her friend as she walked towards the student Union

3 Foreigners are easily impressed by the bullfighters as they march into the arena

4.In their spare time , many great books have been written about the famous Greek and Roman heroes

5 Dr Byrd’s book was accepted for publication because they thought it would be

beneficial to students

6 Bob and Helen hate flying because they make too much noise

7 Casey was not admitted to the country club because they thought he was not socially acceptable

8 Mary loves touring the country by train because it is so interesting

9 The colonel was decorated for bravery , having fought them off.

10 The children were frightened because they made eerie sounds

5./ SUBJECT / VERB AGREEMENT

Exercise

Read the following sentences Then rewrite the sentence to correct the error.

1 The biggest problem facing many new companies are  is the dozens of regulations that are often unfamiliar to the company management

2 Most of the talk , including the portions on political reform , financial stability , and future economic growth , are  is available on tape for anyone who is interested

3 Seemingly minor breakdown in social etiquette, the failure to apologize after bumping into someone, for example , is  are Michael’s complaint about life in the city

4 In the suspect’s house, underneath his mattress , was  were found the murder weapon and the stolen property, which was enough to convict him of the crime

5 Not only the investors , but also the company itself are  is expected to suffer severe financial losses after the world of financial analysts learns of its improprieties

6 / PARALLELISM

Definition:

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses Also called

parallel structure.

By convention, items in a series appear in parallel grammatical form: a noun is listed with

other nouns, an -ing form with other -ing forms, and so on Failure to express such items in

similar grammatical form is called faulty parallelism.

Orde ring of ideas :

Generally, when making a list of ideas, the shortest and most grammatically simple ideas should be placed at the beginning of the list Look at this example below :

Under the judge’s ruling , the company must compensate its shareholders for their losses caused by the company’s mismanagement , open its books to inspection every year, and pay a fine

In the example above, all the parts of the list are grammatically parallel ; they begin with verbs However, they are ordered in a manner which makes the sentence somewhat hard to

read The sentence would be simpler if the shortest and most grammatically simple ideas were at the beginning of the list Look at the example below.

Under the judge’s ruling , the company must pay a fine, open its books to inspectionevery year, and compensate its shareholders for their losses caused by the

2 "They are laughing at me, not with me."

3 "Voltaire could both lick boots and put the boot in He was at once opportunist and courage, cunning and sincerely He managed, with disconcerting ease, to reconcile love of freedom with love

of hours."

4 "Truth is not a diet but a condiment."

5 "Our transportation crisis will be solved by a bigger plane or a wider road, mental illness with a pill, poverty with a law, urban conflict with a gas, racism with a goodwill gesture and we can use bulldozers to pull down slums "

6 "Buy a bucket of chicken and having a barrel of fun."

7 "The loss we felt was not the loss of ham but the loss of pig."

8 "Immature poets imitate; mature poets stealing "

9 "The value of parallel structure goes beyond aesthetics It points up the structure of the

sentence, showing readers what goes with what and keep them on the right track."

10 Freedom of speech and being able to vote in election are the rights of every citizen.

11 The workers had already completed the necessary adjustments, checked all components twice, and had gone home for the night.

12 The very definition of a Renaissance , Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sketch artist and an inventor.

13 The mayor suggested several new initiatives: the construction of anew art complex with a large outdoor theater , increasing funding to promote local artists, and hosting an annual art festival.

Exercise 2

Change the following sentences so that they are parallel.

1 The puppy stood up slowly , wagged its tail, blinking its eyes , and barked

2 Ecologists are trying to preserve our environment for future generation by protecting the ozone layer, purifying the air, and have replanted the trees that have been cut down

3 The chief of police demanded from his assistants an orderly investigation , a well- written report, and that they work hard.

4 Marcia is a scholar, an athlete, and artistic

5 Slowly and with care, the museum director removed the Ming vase from the shelf and placed it on the display pedestal

6 The farmer plows the fields, plants the seeds, and will harvest the crop

7 Abraham Lincoln was a good president and was self-educated , hard-working , and always told the truth

8 Children love playing in the mud , running through puddles, and they get very dirty

9 Collecting stamps, playing chess, and to mount beautiful butterflies are Derrick’s

1 The company manager set out three goals for the year: to increase productivity bystreamlining the construction process, to increase sales, and to decrease accidents on thefactory floor

2 Strict regulation of the media, imprisonment of political enemies with little or no judicialprocess, and public intimidation are all characteristics of totalitarian governments

7 SENTENCE FRAGMENT AND RUN-ON SENTENCES

After the meeting had ended , Mitch and Katie got into a huge argument But later they apologised to each other.

In order to fix this sentence fragment, we can replace the coordinating conjunction “but”with an adverbial conjunction like “ however.” Look at the example below:

After the meeting had ended , Mitch and Katie got into a huge argument Later, however , they apologised to each other.

b./ Run-on Sentences

In theory , there is no limit to the number of clauses that you can link together in asentence In practice , however, if you link too many clauses together in a sentence , yoursentence will be long, disorganized, and confusing Look at the example below :

Bob and Jessica wanted to go to the beach, but their sister Diane didn’t , so theyplanned to go into the city instead, but the traffic was terrible because there hadbeen a huge accident, and they had to turn around and go home

Run-on sentences like the one above should be broken into two or more smaller sentences.Look at the example below :

Bob and Jessica wanted to go to the beach, but their sister Diane didn’t

Consequently, they planned to go into the city instead Traffic , however, was terrible due to a huge accident, and they had to turn around and go home

Exercise

Read the following paragraphs Each one contains a number of sentence fragments and

run-on sentences Revise each paragraph to correct these problems.

1.It is my belief that people rely on their cars too much most people use their cars even forshort trips where they could just walk instead , like when they are going to a store that isjust around the corner or things like that In such situations it is not necessary to drive, butmost people drive anyway Even people who are unwilling to walk even these shortdistances could drive less if they would just plan ahead and try to run all of their dailyerrands at one time instead of making numerous short trips

2 Air quality in many parts of the world has grown drastically worse in the last threedecades Because of a greater reliance on coal to generate power Coal, which is full ofimpurities that make their way into the air, is utilized by many developing countries forpower generation due to the simplicity of the technology Coal-fired plants are easier tobuild than plants that run on natural gas or oil because it is easier to safely store coal than