There are two blank writing templates / worksheets that can be used for any presentations, writing practice, writing activities, etc. Both have lined paper (four lines) and one has a box to draw a picture or to brainstorm writing ideas.
As an ES ALT, I use this sheet for 5th and 6th grade during the 'Enjoy Communication' presentation portion of the unit. Though I imagine it can be adapted for other grades, JHS or SHS.
If it is helpful for anyone I will explain how I teach writing with this sheet at the 5th and 6th grade level:
Note: At the point in which I use this material, the students are always largely familiar with the grammar and vocabulary needed to carry out the writing.
- We establish the goal or topic of the writing. Who for? What topic? What format? E.g. Letter? Presentation?
- I ask the students what the first sentence should be. Students freely call out suggestions in English or Japanese
- I pick up the students voices (e.g. 好きなフルーツ) and ask them how to say it in Japanese. I write the first sentence on the board (using the four lines if possible) (e.g. I like (banana) ). The students also write this sentence
- I ask students what sentence comes next, and we repeat the same steps, etc.
When first introducing more long-form writing to 5th and 6th graders, I recommend getting them to copy the sentence after each one otherwise they will fall behind or just not do it. But once you have done this type of writing a number of times you can go over the sentences all at once then get them to write them afterwards.
I think keeping this interactive and encouraging students to think of the next sentence themselves is really important rather than telling them what to write directly. I also recommend having three or four main sentences then taking students other suggestions or your own ideas and putting them in a 'extra for experts' section for students who finish quickly so they can continue to improve their writing.
If there is time, I would do this in two or more periods mixed with other activities. In the first period, we would start writing together on draft paper and then in the following periods we would discuss what the students did well and how we could improve the writing and then add in those extra details every time to the draft. In the last couple periods we would write the final copy and present.
At the 5th and 6th grade level, I draw attention to using full stops, capitals, spaces between words, letter size, four line usage, etc. but not so much to spelling, grammar mistakes outside of the main grammar points, etc.
These could be so helpful! Could you share the docx. file or both? Thank you for sharing!
@nisaa1234 Sorry I made the file on Canva so I can't share a doc or alternative file :(
Can you give an example or a general idea of a speech you have created? Would like to do this but the communication portion of the textbook has an outline of the unit speech already! It would be nice to make it more student driven.
@cascadiatoosaka Sometimes we'll just roughly use the textbook topic but expand on the topic more than the textbook does. Other times, the theme has been things like writing Christmas letters to Santa, self-introductions for the new ALT in JHS for when they leave ES, recommending places in town for my family when they come visit, etc. It's pretty open to do anything you want!