Friday, January 15, 2010

Welcome students Jan-Apr2010

Welcome to our writing class!

Writing can be a fun thing to do, but it needs planning and checking it through. Since  we are EFl students, we are going to learn how to write in a foreign language. That makes it harder. So first thing we are going to do is to check some stages most good writer go trough before they are satisfied that their work is ready to present to their readers.

The first stage of the writing process is the prewriting or planning stage. In this stage you spend time making notes and thinking how to organize your work. The next stage is composing; this is when you write up your notes in sentences and paragraphs. After this comes the important revising stage when you ask yourself questions such as: Does my writing make sense? Have I expressed my ideas clearly enough? Once you are satisfied with your answers to these questions, you are ready to check your work for grammar and spelling mistakes. This is the editing stage of the writing process, and it is followed by the last stage, which is publishing. Publishing is putting the writing into its final form, ready for sharing with others.

Here is a list of the five stages:

Here, there are some tips to get you writing your entries in your blog: It will all depend on what you are writing about. These are some examples of the language you can use.
In class will be reading and discussing about different topics . You can use those ideas you had when reading to write an entry in your blog and practice or expand your writing.

ENTRIES BASED ON READINGS:
- This text reminds me of something else I've read/am reading...
- This text resonates with something I heard on the news/in another class/from my roommate...
- This text strikes me personally because...
- Offer a critique: "When I came across this line, I really didn't agree.  This is why..."

ENTRIES BASED ON CLASS DISCUSSION:
- Today in class we were talking about...and it made me think...
- Something that surprised me today in our discussion was...
- After class, I was still unsure about...

ENTRIES BASED ON ASSIGNMENTS:
- Our assignment asked the following question...here are some of my initial thoughts...
- I'm thinking about writing about two things...
- For my draft, I wrote about...but now I'm thinking...

A CREATIVE APPROACH:

- Imagine you are a reviewer (for a magazine, newspaper, maybe even The Michigan Daily)
- Describe your experience writing the most recent assignment (for this class or another)
- Compose a poem or other bit of creative writing that responds to something we've discussed in class
- Relate your experiences surfing related blogs: on writing, revising, technology and the mind, literature, blogger theory, blogs and politics, etc.

These tips were proposed by: lauraaw  You can find more interesting tips at her blog English 125.046: Technologies of Writing 

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