1. Effective Writing Skills Sarah DeMola and Winnie Chiu Taipei 9/23/13

2. Discussion Questions 1 st Individually, then discuss with your group What does writing mean to you personally and as a teacher? How often do your students write in class? Do your students write in English outside of class? What types of writing exercises do your students do? Please provide concrete examples. What are the benefits of having students write in English? What challenges do your students face when writing? What are the challenges that you as a teacher face when teaching writing?

3. 4 Square Writing 4 Square Method is a way to learn to write Any grade Any proficiency level Any subject It can be applied to any type of writing Expository, Narrative, Descriptive, Persuasive Question: what types of writing do your students encounter in their textbooks?

4. 4 Square Writing Prewriting and organizational skills are taught through the use of a graphic organizer The graphic organizer helps students to conceptualize, understand, and structure a piece of written discourse successfully The graphic organizer helps teachers to structure lessons on developing writing skills

5. Guidelines 4 Square instruction should be done weekly to bi-weekly It is important for students to understand the relationship of ideas as demonstrated in the 4 square format before moving on to sentences and paragraphs

6. 4 Square- Primary Categorizing with Pictures Pets

7. 4 Square-Primary Categorizing with Words CatDog FishRabbit Pets

8. 4 Square-Primary Examples with a Product Sentence CatDog Fish Examples: Pets are our best friends. My favorite pet is my cat. Dogs are cute pets. Taking care of pets is difficult. Pets

9. Using Complete Sentences Box 2 Reason- They keep us company. Box 3 Reason- They comfort us like friends. Box 4 Reason- They help us to exercise. Box 5 Wrap-up sentence- Pets are great companions to humans. Topic sentence- Pets help us in many ways.

10. Writing a Paragraph Paragraphs are several sentences on the same topic. Now we will transfer the sentences from the four blocks to lined paper for paragraph building. Whole class modeling is best to teach this. Pets Pets help us in many ways. They keep us company. They comfort us like friends. They help us to exercise. Pets are great companions to humans.

11. Adding More Detail To move from a 5 sentence paragraph to an 8 sentence paragraph go back to the 4 Square Add one additional detail sentence in each box Elaboration: tell more about the topic or tell what is so great about it.

12. Adding More Detail Box 2 Reason: They keep us company. Detail: They are with us when we watch TV. Box 3 Reason: They comfort us like friends. Detail: They can tell when we are sad and try to make us happy. Box 4 Reason: They help us to exercise. Detail: We take them for daily walks. Box 5 Wrap-up sentence: Pets are great companions to humans. Topic sentence- Pets help us in many ways.

13. Multiple Paragraph Essay Discussion Question: Now that your students have a developed paragraph, how can you use this method to expand their writing into a multiple paragraph essay? Content: Adding detail using wh-questions, expanding the introduction and conclusion Mechanics: Cohesion and coherence

14. Task & Discussion Thinking about your own context and your own students, how would you use this tool in your classroom? 1.Pick a topic. 2.Generate 5-10 vocabulary items related to that topic. 3.Create 1-2 sentences for each square using some of the vocabulary. 4.Share. 5.Discussion Questions: 1.What challenges might you face when using 4-Square? How might this method benefit your students? 2.How does this method of teaching writing compare to other methods you have previously used?

15. Other Uses Oral Communication: Use the format for organizing and giving the speech. Reading Comprehension: Fill in a 4 square using the information from a passage written by an author. Discuss the organization. Have students create a 4 square using a passage written by another student.

16. References Gould, E. and Gould, J. (1999). Four Square Writing Method: A Unique Approach to Teaching Basic Writing Skills for Grades 1-3. Teaching & Learning Co: Ohio, USA.