Writing Activities

 

Activity 1

Letter Writing

When your writing is marked in exams, it is assessedfor content and language. With a partner, look at the areas of assessment below and discuss whether they relate to content or language. Classify whether, the features writing comes under content or language.

Classify whether, the features writing comes under content or language.

Content	Language

Activity 2

Writing Correction Code

Study Tip 

Correcting written work

If you want to improve your writing, remember to do two things.

 1. Proofread your written work after you have finished writing it. 

2. We learn from our own mistakes! This means when your teacher gives your written work back to you, it is a good idea to write the same piece again, but without the mistakes. This makes you more aware of what you do wrong and, hopefully, you won’t make the same mistakes again.

Look at the symbols and the examples, which contain mistakes. Can you guess the meaning of each symbol?

Activity 3

Photography Competition 

 You have recently taken up photography as your hobby. You entered a competition at school and one of your photographs won the first prize. You want to write to your friend about the photograph.

In your letter, you should:

• say where and when it was taken
•  describe the photograph.
• say why you chose it for the competition.

    The pictures above may give you some ideas, but you are free to use any ideas of your own.

Your letter should be between 150 and 200 words long. (Extended)

 Your letter should be between 150 and 200 words long. (Core) 

You will receive up to 6/8 marks for the content of your email, and up to 6/8 marks for the style and accuracy of your language.

Activity 4

    Writing Task 1

Read the task and the sample answer written by a student called Arturo. Did he choose one of the four photos above or a different photo?

When you read his answer, underline the information which corresponds to the three bullet points. Arturo made some mistakes. Don’t worry about those at this point.

Hi Simon,

Hope everything is good your end. Sorry I’m not in touch for so long, but I was really busy with my photography obsesion and with the school photography competition.

 You’ll never believe this, but I was winning the competition. One of my photos won the first prize. I was really thriled because I don’t expect that at all, to tell you the truth.

Anyway, let me tell you about the photo. I took it last month when I have visited my friend Takeshi. I’m sure I told you about him. We studyed English together in Malta and then stayed in touch. He invited me to stay with him and his grandmother. She’s in the picture, actually. I took it one afternoon outside their house. The grandmother had this crazy cat which kept jumping on people’s sholders. Plus, each of the cat’s eyes had a diferent colour. I never see anything like it. They made a funny pear. The grandma looks happy in this photo and the cat looks really grumpy. I thouhtthe photo showed the mood of the two quite well and that’s why I felt it would stand out in the competition. What do you rekon?

 Apart from that, nothing much had happened. What about you? Any news?

Take care and drop me a line when you can.

 Arturo

Writing Task 2

Look at Arturo’s letter again. His English is good, but there are some areas he needs to improve. 

Which ones are they? 

Underline the mistakes and correct them.

Writing Task 3

In your writing, try to include a wide range of interesting and appropriate vocabulary. Arturo is good at this and uses a variety of different words and phrases. Read the letter again and find the words that have the same meaning as the following words/phrases and definitions. Compare your ideas with a partner.

1 a strong interest in something (noun) ………………………………………………………………………………

2 This may surprise you, but ... (phrase) ………………………………………………………………………………

2 This may surprise you, but ... (phrase) ………………………………………………………………………………

4 to be honest (phrase) ………………………………………………………………………………………………...

5 a linker used when you want to change the topic in your letter (adverb) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6 to continue to write to somebody even though you don’t see them (phrase) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

7 also (conjunction) …………………………………………………………………………………………….………...........

 8 This is the first time I’ve seen something like this, (phrase) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 9 in a bad mood (adjective) ……………………………………………………………………………………………........................

10 What is your opinion? (phrase) ……………………………………………………………………………………................................... 

11 write to me (phrase) …………………………………………………………………………………………….….................

Writing Task 4 

Now you are ready to write your letter. Write an answer to the same task. Either choose one of the four photos in activity 1 or write about another one that you have taken. 

Try to include some of the new vocabularies in your letter. 

When you have finished, read your letter again to check that you have answered all the points. Also, proofread your work and try to correct any language mistakes.