View Content #5697
| Contentid | 5697 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | An Alternative to the Five Paragraph Essay |
| Body | An alternative to the five paragraph essay: What worked for me was a series of one-on-one impromptu debates. I would announce the names of the two debaters and the debate topic. Then everyone had 10 minutes to prepare. The two debaters chose sides, and wrote notes on what their points would be. The audience did "quick writes" in good essay form for a grade. Unlike the debaters, members of the audience could choose whether to advocate for one side only, or to discuss the issue. Although I thought carefully about which two students should lead off, the first debate was rarely very good. But as the process went on, I noticed that the performance of both debaters and audience improved markedly. The excitement of one-on-one competition, the time pressure, and the examples in full view all tended to promote the writing of a strong initial statement followed by a development of supporting points. An unexpected byproduct of the debate format was that students began thinking in English from the start of the "paper." I tried the lecture route first. Debates were faster and much more fun. Baldwin, A. [TESL-L] an alternative to the five-paragraph essay. Teachers of English as a Second Language List listserv (TESL-L@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU, 2 Feb 2007). |
| Source | TESL-L |
| Inputdate | 2007-02-04 09:57:08 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2007-02-04 09:57:08 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | 2007-02-05 00:00:00 |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
