Lesson 1
Students write a paragraph about the most difficult thing about learning English.
Vocabulary
topic sentence- A sentence that tells what the subject of the paragraph is. Often it is the first sentence in the paragraph.
first draft- the first time something is written.
Brainstorming- thinking of lots of ideas. For example, if I’m writing about a city I could just write the name of the city, and add all the things it makes me think of.
Write Learning English in a bubble on the board, and surround it with Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening and Understanding. (Have students copy this in their notebooks as you are writing.) Ask students for suggestions and add them. For example, students might add things like pronunciation, spelling, people talking fast, slang, and vocabulary. Ask for some examples and students might add things like, asking for directions, filling out forms, etc. Add more examples if you can. Now the students are thinking of their own experiences that they have some ideas to write.
Write the first sentence on the board and explain that this is the topic sentence. The topic sentence is the subject of the paragraph, what the paragraph is about. Everything in the paragraph will be about this.
The hardest thing about learning English is _______________. Encourage them to use words and phrases from the board and to add their own examples and experiences.
Model a few sentences as examples. Also ask students for examples.
The hardest thing about learning English is speaking. I have trouble pronouncing some letters. When I say words wrong and sometimes people don’t understand me. I didn’t know where to go when I got off the bus, but the bus driver didn’t understand me.
Why is speaking hard? What is the reason? Pronouncing some letters.
Examples and details: Not being understood. (general)
Lost on the bus. (specific)
Encourage students to write about things that have happened to them for examples. As students are writing, circulate and ask for questions for more details in the paragraph. If a student has a few good sentences, read them aloud.
