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WRITING LESSON: RIDDLE BOOK

LEVEL: Elementary/Intermediate

OBJECTIVES: The students should be able to:

1. describe an object orally and in written form
2. guess the riddle of their classmates

MATERIALS: oslo paper, bond paper, pens, pencils, crayon, stapler, picture cards, riddle books (simple to more complex ones), picture dictionaries, picture books

TIME FRAME: one hour or more

PROCEDURE:

1.) Play a game with the students. Use five picture cards that you will describe and let the students guess each picture before showing it to them. Make the description simple for elementary students and make it more complex for intermediate students.

e.g. I come in different colors-red, pink, yellow. I live in the garden and the fields. Butterflies love me. What am I? (Flower) This is the simple one.
I can be square, oval, round, and rectangular. I come in different colors. I am soft and am usually seen on beds. I lie under your head. What am I? (pillow) This is the complex one.

2.) Read a riddle book that suits the level of your students. Let them guess what is being described.

3.) Give guidelines on how to make riddles. They should give the color, size, shape, quality or other specific features. Intermediate students should give more clues and specific features.

e.g. I am pink. I am fat. I am somewhat round. I go oink oink. What am I? (elementary)

4.) Distribute picture cards to pairs (for elementary students). Give them time to think of their description. Then call pairs to tell their riddles. The class will guess each riddle. For intermediate students, it is better if they can do the activity individually to challenge them.

5.) Use the same five pictures (procedure 1) to model how to write a riddle. Use the board for the model. Then, ask volunteers to write on the board the riddle description of the picture cards given to them in procedure 4.

6.) Pair off elementary students and let each pair think of five objects to make riddles of. The objects used during the game should not be used again. Intermediate students can do this activity individually. A picture dictionary can help the students. Picture books can be used as well. They will make a riddle book patterned after the riddle book you used in class. It is better if they write the riddle on the front page and draw and color the object at the back of that page to hide the object that needs to be guessed. Staple the pieces of paper to make a riddle book.

7.) Ask the pairs or individuals to exchange riddle books so that they can read and see their peers’ work.

WRITING LESSON: STORY WHEEL

LEVEL: Intermediate

OBJECTIVES: The students should be able to:

1. write an 8-paragraph narrative
2. illustrate each paragraph inside a story wheel

MATERIALS: Big pieces of construction paper or any board paper the size of a tabloid newspaper, brass fasteners, rulers, pencils, pens, crayons, cut-out circles the size of a CD, chart paper with a big circle drawn on it for presentation purposes, chalk/whiteboard marker, board, easel, marking pens

TIME FRAME: 90 minutes (can be broken down into two sessions of 45 minutes each)

PROCEDURE:

1.) Brainstorm a story with the class so you can model how to write a narrative. Tell them that they should help write the storyline using 8 paragraphs (doesn’t have to be too long). The story can be a fantasy, a fable, an action story, a sci-fi story, a love story,

2.) Write their answers on the board and prompt them to add details by asking questions about how the plot should unfold, how the characters look like, how the characters behave, etc..

3.) Let the class copy the story from the board before they read the finished story aloud.

4.) Put the chart paper with the big circle on the board or an easel. Show how to divide the big circle into eight equal parts. Tell them that they need to illustrate each paragraph inside the wheel. Symbolism can be used. Illustrations should be simple and should not take too long to make. Call volunteers to complete the illustrations. Let them be guided by the paragraphs.

5.) Explain how they will make a story wheel by showing the materials needed and by demonstrating how to do it. Use the brass fastener to place the story wheel on the top portion of the big construction paper. See the picture above.

Note: This can be the end of the first session. As their homework, they should think of a story they would like to narrate and illustrate.

6.) Pair off the students. Each pair will write and illustrate their story. Let the pairs brainstorm what story they prefer to write about. Ask them to make a rough draft first before transferring the final product to the big construction paper. If a student wants to work independently, give him or her that freedom. Move around to help each pair or individual.

7.) Form a big circle and let each pair read the work of another pair by passing the finished project counter-clockwise.