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[old34]

There's a nice little series of writing lessons on the New York Times these days.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/writing-lessons/

[teacheraus]

Thank you for posting the link. I just had a quick look and it does look good.  I am starting to teach a writing class for 8 weeks starting next week so constantly searching for inspiration at the moment.

[gonzo]

Here's the rub. If your students are infrequent and reluctant readers of good English composition [whatever the type], they will never become even halfway competent writers, no matter what ideas and sites you have. Most EFL/ESL students don't get this, just like they don't equate listening to good English with speaking good English. Krashen was preaching 25 years ago that comprehensible input [i+1] is a pre-requisite for acquisition and comprehensible output.
The other drawback of teaching writing is the fifty plus pieces of "writing" you'll be expected to correct for each class. Students largely ignore teacher correction anyway: focus on one error per class per week, e.g. this week I will only be correcting verb tenses, so get them right or else!

[old34]

Two good pieces on the inter tubes today for writing teachers.

One is the last in the NYT series which prompted me to start this thread. This one is for teachers of advanced Ss:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/sentences-crisp-sassy-stirring/?nl=opinion&emc=tya2_20120529

 The other-an attack on the 5 paragraph essay format (which is essentially no different from/to the Chinese "3 Legged Stool" approach). For non-US-based teachers, you can ignore the "Core Standards" screed. Otherwise, the author's basic argument rings true to mine ears. Also some good links and comments pro-and-con in the comments section which follows the article.

http://www.chicagonow.com/white-rhino/2012/05/if-you-teach-or-write-5-paragraph-essays-stop-it/

P.S. Nice graphic at the beginning of the latter article on writing thesis statements (aka topic sentences) ... helpful to all writing teachers regardless of whether you agree with the author's premise or not.

[old34]

Yet another good one in this series for writing teachers:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/the-sound-of-a-sentence/

[old34]

Still more good teaching stuff in today's New York Times, this time from their Learning Network. (The previous stuff in this thread is from their Op-Ed Opinionater column.)

Today: "163 Questions to Write or Talk About"

Teachers tell us they use our questions to help students practice writing persuasively, as inspiration for lessons, as jumping-off points for class discussions and debates — or just to encourage engagement with current events and with students from classrooms around the world.

Suitable for writing or speaking classes. Students can also post their written responses for each question on the site so they can claim to be "published" in the New York Times.

The link:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/163-questions-to-write-or-talk-about/?nl=learning&emc=learninga2_20120614