This writing idea is from a teacher in Robert’s school:
Our French teacher is also an English teacher, and she showed us a way to nudge our students along in writing and give them the support they need while they do the cognitive stuff. While it isn’t acquisition per se, it helps student writing (which is cognitive stuff in the first place) and gives them enough language that is repeated comprehensible input to be beneficial. I’m planning on starting in my first-year classes with the stories we create. Here’s the process: Write down the following in the target language, leaving several lines between each entry: “Title” (in quotation marks)
- Who or what is it mainly about?
- When and where does it happen? When Where
- What is the main problem or situation?
- How is it solved or how does it end?
Then, under each question write the start of an answer using words from the question:
- Who or what is it mainly about? It is mainly about…
- When and where does it happen? when where It happens…
- What is the main problem or situation? The main problem is…
- How is it solved or how does it end? It is solved by [action]…
Some caveats: – Students will have problems with the discernment aspect of this (who is the main character) as well as drawing conclusions not specifically spelled out in the text (e.g. when place and time are not specifically stated) – This is long-term training; don’t expect students to “get it” right away – Once students really start to understand what they are doing, gradually remove the support; start by removing the fourth question, then the third
Our teacher told us that this really prepares students for the kinds of tasks they will do on the standardized testing for California in ELA. It is an “old school” task that this teacher has been doing for most of her career, but it is effective in helping students write well. (Her primary goals in writing are for students to be clear, concise and grammatically correct. She says that if they are clear and concise, the grammar generally takes care of itself.)