eWriting: ESL Writing Success

Year 2 Content Development

Welcome, eWriting authors!

During the next two semesters, you will be developing, piloting and revising the content for levels 1, 2 & 6. As you design each Learning Object (LO), keep in mind that the ultimate product will be delivered online. Assume that professors will NOT be in the classroom to provide additional explanations to the lesson you are authoring. The challenge will be to write the LOs in such a way that students fully understand each concept and master the inherent skills needed to produce writing with the target structures.

Here are some strategies you should keep in mind as you author the eWriting LOs.

You may find it difficult at first to translate your good classroom teaching techniques into lessons that will make good online activities that bring about learning. As experts in your field, you are aware of what it takes to reach your “face-2-face” students in the classroom. Although the content of what you teach is the same in both online and in-person classes, for online teaching, the teaching tools, the modes of communication and interaction, and the techniques you choose to reinforce learning can be radically different from the ones you traditionally use. As you write the explanation of a concept in your LO, it may help to remember the times you have taught that same lesson in the classroom, and recall the questions students had and the part of the lesson that challenged them. For those portions of your LO, it would be helpful to add more “teacher talk” or explanation before moving on to the activities.

Also, consult a wide variety of sources, such as textbooks, grammar/writing books, online writing courses that teach the same or similar concepts appropriate to the level.

Use one theme for each LO (see suggested topics) use the theme and the suggested vocabulary throughout the exercises. We will be employing topics and themes that are “universal” and teach something about the world, the USA, universal values, customs and traditions, education, remarkable individuals, etc. Avoid topics on current war developments, opinions on religion, political systems and leaders or anything that might be considered biased, sexist or in any way offensive to students. Also, try not to include colloquialisms, bordering on slang, such as “cute”, “cool”, etc.

Here are the guidelines for developing the eWriting Learning Objects.

If you are new to the eWriting project, you must be wondering what we mean by “Learning Object”. For the purposes of the Grant, we define the LO as a:

“One hour, self-contained, reusable unit of online instruction. It does not link out, nor does it depend on other LOs for pre or post instruction. It pre-tests students’ knowledge of the target concept, and measures learning through a post-test. It incorporates a myriad of technology tools and addresses all learning styles.”

You will be writing two versions of each LO – a “textbook version” (a word document) and a “script for the online version” (a word document). Samples of both are under tab 4.

• Let’s start with the textbook version. A style sheet providing guidelines for font, size, bold letters, spacing, terminology, etc. is under tab 4. Please stick to the requirements. That will save us a lot of work and precious time in the future. You should include all components of an LO in the following order:
1. Objective – information to the student. An LO is built and focuses around a clearly stated Functional Objective. You will tell the student what specific skill/writing competency they are going to master by the end of the one-hour session. Also include information on prerequisite knowledge for the teaching concept. For instance, if the lesson is on the Present Perfect, let students know that past participles of verbs and the conjugation of “have” are vital. If there is another LO on a related topic, the programmers will let students know how to access it.

2. Time on task – You can write: “This lesson will take you approximately an hour to complete.”

3. Pre-Test – The goal of the pre-test is to measure prior knowledge and focus the students’ attention on the concepts that will be taught in the lesson. Please write 15-20 questions directly reflecting all of the concept/structures you will be teaching. It could be a matching, unscrambling, fill in the blanks, multiple choice, etc. activity. (samples are under tab 4). Check clarity of instructions and correct answers. If you are asking for one correct response, make sure you do have one (and only one) correct answer. If the answer options allow more than one correct choice, make it clear in the instructions (e.g. “More than one answer may be correct. Select all of the correct answers.”) This is a requirement for all activities in the LO. A useful strategy could be to ask someone (family member or friend) to do the activity or, even better, test pilot it in the classroom and clear any ambiguities before submitting the LO. Provide an answer key for the pre-test.

Items 1, 2 & 3, would ideally fit on one page. If that is not possible, put the pre-test on a separate page/s.

4. Start your presentation on a separate page with a Warm-up/Introduction to the topic - a short lecture (teacher talk) illustrated with an example/s or a brainstorming activity, which activates pre-existing knowledge.
5. Write at least three learning activities. This number will vary depending on the difficulty if the concept you are teaching. Each learning activity will have with a teaching focus and include the following:

• Presentation of the first concept or structure (teacher talk).
• Examples
• Practice with feedback (enough to ensure mastery of that concept)
• (Game/interaction)
• Comprehensive self-check with feedback

Include clear instructions and examples at the beginning of every exercise. Again, keep in mind that students will be on their own and will need detailed explanations supported by examples.

6. At the end of the lesson, students will do a Post-Test measuring learning. The post-test consists of the same number of questions as the pre-test and tests the concept/structures taught in the LO. Use the same type of exercises as the pre-test and include the same concepts and structures covered in the LO.

7. Students’ evaluation form. A student’s survey form is attached in the paper version of each LO for piloting purposes only. (These will be provided by the staff.)

8. Answer key – write the answer key to all activities on a separate page, after the post-test, indicating the number of the exercise and the correct answer. Please include:

9. Feedback to wrong answers - Tell a student why a his/her answer is wrong and provide a brief explanation from your teacher-talk to reinforce re-teach the concept.

Example: Connect the two simple sentences into a compound one using one of the following: and, but, so, or.

Josh registered as an out-of-state student, _____ he had to pay the full college fees.

So – Good job! So is used to show a cause – effect (result) relationship between the two ideas or sentences.

But – Sorry! Try again. We use but to connect contradictory ideas. Registering as a student and paying fees are NOT conflicting ideas.

And – Sorry! Try again. We use and to connect sentences with similar ideas. In this case, though, there is a consequence, a result from the previous action, which requires a different connector!

Or – Sorry! Try Again. We use or to connect ideas that indicate choice. In this case, though, there is a consequence, a result from the previous action, which requires a different connector!

10. Reference links – they are for students’ additional study – These are links to appropriate Internet sites that can help students practice the LOs objective.

Please use the sample LOs and style sheet under tab 4 for reference. The new elements that we have added as requirements for year 2 are 10 & 11.

For your convenience, there is a checklist of all components of an LO under tab 3. Use it during the process of writing and check the components that are already completed.

Tips: Pilot the activities, or separate sections, in the ESL classroom to make sure that all your instructions, activities, etc are logical and complete.

Proofread your partner’s LO, give suggestions and make changes before submitting them.

After you have completed writing the textbook version, as described above, make a copy and proceed with the:

• Script for the online version – copy and paste the textbook version in a new document and add your ideas on how you think it will look best online – design and technology tools. Change instructions from, e.g. fill in the blanks to drag and drop, etc.

• Name your documents in the same way as indicated in the table of contents.

e.g. L1_03_02_24 – paper version L1_03_02_24C – script for the online version.

L1 – stands for level 1; 03 – the number of the unit (rhetorical focus, leftmost column in the table of contents); 02 – the number of the LO within the unit, and 24 – the number of the LO in the table of contents.

Each writer will be submitting both versions (textbook and script for the online version) of the LO every week, on Thursday, by the end of the day. Please send them to me by e-mail, as attachments.

Write the first LO, which is due on September 11, as a team. Work together on style, length, types of activities, etc.

Thank you for your dedication, hard work and enormous contributions to the College ESL writing program and the project

Good luck and a prosperous FIPSE year!

Michaela Tomova