1. OPEN TUTORING SESSION WRITING: HOW TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH CENTRO COLOMBO AMERICANO AUGUST 2011

2. Identify the elements a good paragraph has.Identify the elements a good paragraph has. OBJECTIVES Understand the importance of following concrete steps to write a good paragraph.Understand the importance of following concrete steps to write a good paragraph. Get familiar with some online tools you can use to practice writing.Get familiar with some online tools you can use to practice writing.

3. According to your experience, discuss what you think about the following statements: REFLECTION I agree I disagree Well, Im not so sure!

4. Writing helps me recycle and improve grammar. Writing is an important skill to reinforce vocabulary. Writing helps me communicate with people from other countries. Written tasks help me discover different types of texts. Feedback on my writing helps me identify my mistakes.

5. Number the following statements from 1 to 5 (1 being the easiest and 5 being the most difficult for you.) SOME DIFFICULTIES

6. - Starting to write is really challenging. It takes a long time to find the first things to write. - It is difficult to express all ideas you want at the moment of writing a paragraph. - Mistakes in terms of grammar, spelling, vocabulary and word order are often common. - Paragraphs generally lack organization and interest. Find out how similar or different you are from your partner! - It is easy to correct compositions using the correction symbols used by the teacher.

7. THE WRITING PROCESS STEPS Publishing Editing Writing Drafting Prewriting

8. 1. CHOOSE A TOPIC AND NARROW IT DOWN.

9. For a writing assignmnent, you must narrow the topic down to a limited topic. NARROWING THE TOPIC Sports * Water sports On a river Dangerous River rafting * Examples are taken from: Oshima, A. and Hogue, Anna. ( 1997) Introduction to Academic Writing. Second Edition. New York: Longman

10. NARROWING THE TOPIC RIVER RAFTING

11. NOW ITS YOUR TURN… Husband-wife/ at home / family/ relationships space exploration/ science/unmanned exploration/space science Put in order the ideas given to narrow down each topic:

12. 2. BRAINSTORM SOME IDEAS AND FIND SOME INFORMATION. Listing Grouping Mind-mapping

13. STEP 2: WRITING A PARAGRAPH The writing process starts with a paragraph. A paragraph is a group of ideas put together in logical order to describe, explain or support a main idea. A good paragraph is made of: CONCLUDING SENTENCES TOPIC SENTENCE SUPPORTING SENTENCES What is a paragraph? What are its parts?

14. It mentions the topic and what it is about (controlling idea). It mentions the topic and what it is about (controlling idea). TOPIC SENTENCE It is neither too general nor too specific. It is neither too general nor too specific. A topic sentences introduces the main idea of a paragraph. A topic sentences introduces the main idea of a paragraph.

15. Topic sentences start with a main idea or topic which is then expanded by a controlling idea. They help create a more concrete context. River rafting What is river rafting like? Why is river rafting dangerous? Who practices river rafting? What do you need to practice it? River rafting is a challenging sport with important requirements.

16. NOW ITS YOUR TURN… Family Family husband/wife at home relationships What questions would you ask to specify the controlling idea? What would your complete topic sentence be like? How have family relationships changed over the past decades? Whos the bread maker in Colombian families? Traditional Colombian family relationships have changed greatly in the last thirty years.. Men are not longer the only providers at home.

17. Study the following pairs of sentences and check the one you think would be a good, clear topic sentence for a paragraph. Explain your choice. Dont write on the photocopies. NOW ITS YOUR TURN…

18. Once your topic sentence is ready, you can use all your supporting ideas to develop your paragraph.

19. - They explain the topic sentence. SUPPORTING SENTENCES - They give facts based on your research or experience. - They describe your ideas using examples, statistics, studies or quotes. - They need to be convincing and interesting.

20. In order to choose details to support the topic sentence, rephrase it as a question, and then answer that question with your supporting sentences. River rafting is a challenging sport with important requirements. What important requirements are necessary for river rafting? Get the required equipment Be allert at all times. Plan your trip carefully.

21. NOW ITS YOUR TURN… NOW ITS YOUR TURN… Rephrase the topic sentence as a question and then answer that question with your supporting sentences.

22. Traditional Colombian family relationships have changed greatly in the last thirty years.

23. How have traditional Colombian family relationships changed ? Two out five children live in homes with only one parent. Sixty percent of couples living together are not legally married. Ten out of one hundred marriages end in divorce in Colombia.

24. - They end the paragraph refering to the topic sentence using different words. CONCLUDING SENTENCES - They generally include concluding transition signals such as all in all, in summary, to conclude, to sum up, in brief, in conclusion, consequently or as a result, among others. - They never introduce a new idea or concept.

25. When you write a concluding sentence you can use one of the following methods: State the topic sentence in different words. Do not just copy the topic sentence. Summarize some of the main points in the paragraph.

26. River rafting is a challenging sport with important requirements. In short if you are fearless and in good physical condition and can react quickly, river rafting is the ideal outdoor sport for you.

27. NOW ITS YOUR TURN… Write the concluding sentence for the topic we have been working on.

28. All in all due to the increase of divorce rate, single parenting and free unions, the traditional Colombian family relationships are very different from what they were thirty years ago.

29. Some links: http://www.readwritethink.org https://web.gsc.edu/fs/mhorton/LSengli sh/compasspractice/passage1/compas s1.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c CuExRE6N-4&NR=1&feature=fvwp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= Q4XK0uV_hpY&feature=related

30. FINAL REFLECTION WHAT ARE SOME IMPORTANT STEPS TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH? HOW CAN YOU IDENTIFY A TOPIC SENTENCE? WHAT ARE SOME OTHER ELEMENTS A PARAGRAPH HAS?

31. We hope the tips we presented here today help you improve your writing skills. Please complete the following survey so we can take your comments into account for future tutoring sessions. THANK YOU