Guided Sentence Expansion

Lise Winer

Levels: Intermediate
Aims: Practice expanding sentences with vivid, clear vocabulary; develop skills in using particular grammatical patterns
Class Time: 20–40 minutes
Resources: Picture (on paper or displayed on overhead computer screen) of one or more people in a striking or unusual setting

Because students are dealing with only one sentence at a time, the task is easily controlled, and because they can add whatever they want, students have the freedom to write distinctive sentences. The amount of writing is small enough that group or class peer response or correction is not overwhelming.

PROCEDURE

1. Using a picture, ask students for a very simple sentence. Write this on the board or overhead computer, leaving a lot of space between words.
2. Ask students to suggest additions to the sentence, using one or more of the following: an adjective; an adverb; a relative clause with who, that, or which; a subordinate clause with because, when, or if; participial adjectives (phrases); a comparison with like, as if, or as . . . as. You can also elicit additions by asking wh- questions, such as “Where is this lake?” “How old are they?” “What is her name?” “Whose suitcase is that?” “Why are they going there?”
3. Write suggestions on the board, asking students where the additions should go and working together on correct grammar and vocabulary. For help with vocabulary, bring thesauruses or use websites or apps. If writing with computers on Word documents, have students right-click on text to find synonyms.
4. Bring out one or more new pictures. Have students work individually or in pairs. You can start everyone off with the same simple sentence or have them make one. Give students two or more specifications to add, or questions to answer, depending on their level and how much time you are able to spend on this exercise.
5. Ask students to write their sentences on the board or displayed document. You can check students’ sentences before they put them on the board, or you and the students can correct them together from the board. If students had a choice of pictures, sentences for the same picture should be put up
   together for comparison.
6. Make sure to comment admiringly on one thing in each sentence, for example, a particularly descriptive adjective, an evocative if clause, or a comparison. Then elicit any necessary corrections (or explain why a suggested correction is not necessary).

CAVEATS AND OPTIONS

This exercise can also be used to convey tone. Elicit tones from the students, such as funny, sad, serious, academic, informal, and scary. Then have students or groups of students each pick a tone and revise the sentence, adding words to create a mood. Make sure they use a thesaurus to find synonyms (see Step 3).

APPENDIX: Sample Original and Expanded Sentences

Original:

A woman is sitting on a bench.

Expanded (uncorrected):

An old woman, who wear the glasses, is sitting on a swing bench with a small yellow puppy in front of the country style cafe, waiting for a bus.

In front of a cafe shop, a poor lady with glasses sitting on a red swing bench next to a small cute dog is looking aside, like waiting for somebody to show up.

A middle-aged woman from South Carolina is sitting with her brown puppy on a red swing in-front of an old style cafe, looking with empty eyes in the distance, expecting for the afternoon train to arrive.

Expecting someone, an aged woman with black glasses is sitting at a red rusty swing outside an old cafe with a little white dog stretching beside her.

In the outside porch of a cafe, an old woman is sitting on a red swing with a skinny little dog next to her, looking at nowhere, waiting for death to come and take her away.

An insane woman, who has a wild dog with her, is sitting on a swing in front of a cafeteria and waiting for her husband who has been lost for years.

Paragraph Unity

Ron Grove

Levels: Low intermediate +
Aims: Become aware of cohesive devices and sequence in paragraphs
Class Time: 10–20 minutes
Resources: Authentic paragraphs retyped as individual sentences and cut into strips; photocopies of the original paragraphs with sources acknowledged  

PROCEDURE

1. Arrange the class in groups of three to six students.
2. Give each group a set of strip sentences from one paragraph. Their task is to arrange them, as much as possible, into the original order.
3. When a group has achieved some (not necessarily complete) success, give them another paragraph to work on. It is not necessary for students to discover the exact original order of the sentences, but the order they propose should be reasonable.
4. After repeating the process a few times, show students the original paragraphs and discuss the clues that they used to discover the hidden order of the sentences. Also point out other clues they may have missed.

Writing Activities From a Novel

Jessica Saigh

Levels: Intermediate to advanced
Aims: Reflect on a novel; write about characters and events in an informal way
Class Time: 30 minutes
Resources: Class novel; paper and pencils or computer

When you are nearly finished (or finished) reading a novel, have students do this assignment. Do not do this at the beginning because students must have a good sense of who the character is or have questions for the character. Have students do this assignment on paper, stationery, or online.

PROCEDURE

1. Tell students that they are to write a letter (or an email) to or from one of the characters from the novel. They can write an email between two characters, pretending to be a character or being themselves. They write the letter or email in class.
2. You can also let students be a character and after they write a letter, deliver the letters to other students, preferably those impersonating the same character, for them to respond to. This activity works better on paper than with emails and online discussion boards.
3. Have students read their letters to classmates or post them on the class website.

Note: This is a very simple activity with almost no prep work involved. You could start by reviewing letter writing style, but it isn’t necessary. What you end up with is a huge variety of letters displaying feeling and creativity. Students will probably have another essay-like activity for the novel, so this is enjoyable and relaxing, yet it nonetheless shows how much the students understand the characters and plot, and how they feel about the novel.

CAVEATS AND OPTIONS

Have students write letters to the author asking questions about the story or telling the author how the book has affected them. If the author is still living, you can actually mail the letters to him or her. We read one novel from a local author and invited her to speak to the class. The students prepared questions to ask the author. This was a unique experience for many of the students who had never met an author before. They were thrilled to have her sign their books. Plus, they got to ask and complain about how she killed off their favorite characters!