Tag Archives: writing

Writing : A Narrative

I am sorry dear students. I know this post is long due, but as the saying goes ” better late than never”.

This is an activity I did with my intermediate classes  to do some writing practice in class. The activity was a tad demanding  because students needed to do some collaborative work, something they don’t very often do, and they also needed to include quite a few of the connectors displayed on the board ( picture below) and as many as possible of the pictures in the collage , also below, and all these ingredients put together  were supposed to produce a beautiful story to be  later displayed on the walls of the classroom for the students to read and vote for the best. The exercise was not an easy thing to do but they came up with some very funny stories, some of which  you’ll also find below.

TASK:

WRITING : A NARRATIVE

You are going to write a story beginning with sentence It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. Look at the word cloud below and try to use most of the words in it. Then look at the collage of thirty pictures and include, at least, half the pictures in the collage

and these are some of their stories.

THE FAKE PRIEST

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. Immediately I got up and went to the police station because I work as a police officer.

Unfortunately, a young man dressed as a priest, with a large black cotton cassock had robbed a bank where two stunning tattooed punky girls had put the money they had obtained from a blackmail. On the other hand, the same fake priest had stolen a gold and diamond one-million-dollar ring. Fortunately, although he had a gun, nobody was injured.

The thief escaped in a cheap white Italian car. Yet, while he was in the runaway the car broke down so it was our opportunity to catch him. He was taken to the police station and he confessed he wanted the money to take a plane to a paradise island .Despite his confession, he was sentenced to do community service helping the elderly.

Finally it was 10 a.m. when I arrived home. In spite of the robbery it was a funny situation.


by Eloy, Paula and Estibaliz

A LONG NIGHT

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. My brother was calling me to tell me that his car had broken down and he was very nervous because the night was getting very dark and there was a heavy storm. Immediately, I woke up and dressed quickly. When I left the garage with my car, the street was very foggy and I had to drive very slowly, but fortunately soon the fog dissipated in the air and then I could drive calmly. Half an hour later l saw my brother’s car and the storm. He was inside the car and I asked him If he had called the police and in spite of the fact that his car had stopped one hour and a half before he hadn’t called the police yet. While my brother was talking with them I heard a strange sound but I did not worry about this yet.

Suddenly a few excited dogs appeared in the middle of the road. I managed to get into the car. On the contrary, my brother didn’t and he was bitten by one of the dogs. In this moment, the police´s car arrived and when they saw the condition my brother was in , they decided to carry him to hospital. When I arrived there and my brother was being treated. A few hours later I took him to his house and I went to mine. Nevertheless, the drama had not finished yet, because the door was open and there was a light on the second floor. I was scared and called the police… again. “It´s going to be a long night”. I thought.

By Sonia and Laura


and finally


IT WAS THREE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING

It was three o’ clock in the morning when the phone rang. It was my brother. He looked very worried. I asked him what was wrong and he answered that our father was in hospital and I had to come as fast as possible, so I called a taxi and when I arrived the doctor told me that, fortunately, he wasn’t injured at all, so he was OK.

Immediately, I met my brother and I asked him what had happened.

“I was having dinner with my fiancée, in fact, we were making plans about our wedding trip. However, the restaurant was very busy, so we decided to go for a walk. It was a warm night, yet it was cloudy and a bit rainy. Suddenly, we heard a gunshot, and dogs barking in front of the cinema. In spite of the fact that we were scared, we went to see what was wrong and we saw one person with an object (I don’t know what it was, I think it was a knife) in his hand and another person who was lying down in the street: daddy! Although the mugger could hear us, we called the police. We couldn’t see the criminal very well, but I believe he looked like a punk. Even though the police and the ambulance came very fast, the mugger disappeared and at the moment, he’s being sought. We carried our father to the ambulance. On the one hand, the ambulance was quick; on the other hand, there was a big traffic jam. And that’s all.”

At the end, our father stayed in hospital two days and now he’s like he was before the mugging… What a night!

By Alba and Noelia.

Thank you guys. Nice stories!


PhraseUp: A Useful Online Tool

Sometimes we know what we want to write, the sentence is phrased in our mind, but we can’t figure out some of the words we need. This is where phraseup* comes in. It assists you with writing, by suggesting possible combinations to fill-in the words you can’t remember. Each suggestion is accompanied by definitions, synonyms and translations to other languages.
Imagine you want to use the verb+preposition combination “cope with” but you are just not sure which words it collocates with, just type it in PhraseUp and options will be provided.

Or maybe you know there is an expression containing the words ” take” and “granted” but you have forgotten what goes in the middle, PhraseUp can help you here, too. Just type the words that you remember and put an asterisk * where you want the application to insert something. Very useful, isn’t it?


Give it a go, it is free and you don’t even need to register.

A Word on Grammar: While and Whereas

I can see why these two words might create confusion in my students, as they are very similar in meaning. I hope that the problem will be solved with this brief explanation.

WHILE
♥ it is used to introduce a longer background action or situation, which is/was going on when something else happens/happened.
While they were playing cards, someone broke into their house

♥ OR to indicate that two longer actions or situations go/went on at the same time.
Joe cooked while I watched TV

This use of “while” should not be a problem for students as it is relatively easy to understand.

WHILE/WHEREAS

While can also be used to introduce a balancing contrasting point, and with this meaning, it is very similar to Whereas because both are used to balance two facts or ideas that contrast, but do not contradict each other. Both whereas and while are conjunctions and their meaning is very similar to “on the other handthough on the other hand is not a conjunction.

I like spending my holidays in the mountains, while/whereas my wife prefers the seaside.

They can also be placed before the first of the contrasting points

While/whereas some languages have 30 or more different sounds, others have five or six.
Some languages have five or six different sounds, whereas/while others have 30 or more.

NOTE: when while is used with this meaning, a comma is necessary.

RECAP
While is used to express at the same time
While/whereas are used to express  contrasting ideas. In that case, while must be preceded by a comma.

Source: Practical English Usage  by Michael Swan . Ed Oxford

Writing : Expressing your Opinion

This is a list of 22 Opinion topics to write/speak about.

Don’t forget to plan your content:

1. Think about the introduction. This should state what the current situation is and why it is important.

2. Decide whether you agree or disagree with the title. Try to think of at least two or three good reasons to support your opinion, including examples of why you think the alternative point of view is wrong.

3. Think of how to express your conclusion (a summary of your opinion). This should follow logically from the examples you have given.

WRITE 120-180 words, organized in four or five paragraphs (introduction, reasons and conclusion).

I have rescued this presentation I did some time ago. I think it might be helpful, yet for some unknown reason, I seem to be unable to embed it, so if you just click on the image it will take you straight to the post I published some time ago.

A word on Grammar : Position of Adverbs in the Sentence and Confusing Adverbs and Adverbial Expressions

Exams are right around the corner and it is time to get down to some serious study and also time to pull your socks up. I don’t want any of you failing !

Learning the position of Adverbs in the sentence is one of the  areas of grammar where the students’ instinct as to what sounds right or wrong will probably be more useful than studying  the rules.

There are lots of adverbs that end in -ly; a useful tip  would be to, when in doubt, put adverbs not ending in -ly  ( even, just…etc) in mid -position  that is, before the main verb.

Watch this presentation to help you remember the position of adverbs in the sentence but be ready to rely on your instinct whenever you are not sure.

and now that we are on the subject, let’s have a look at some confusing adverbs and adverbial expressions. There is a post published some time ago, dealing specifically with the confusing expressions at the end and in the end . Click here to read it and do some exercises!!

Now, click on the image to see the pdf below