The Writing Process: Day Five

Academic Writing - Demo Class
Week One

Level: Students are expected to possess a B1 (Intermediate) level of English
Time: 2 Academic Hours (1 Hour & 30 Minutes)

Objectives: Students will be able to…

1. Define the concept of "peer review" 
2. Conduct peer review to offer feedback to their classmates on the first draft of their essay using terms and strategies discussed in class
3. Explain the difference between 'countable' and 'uncountable' nouns
4. Explain three rules for determining proper article use and demonstrate understanding of each rule

Materials

• Pen
• Paper
• Whiteboard
• Peer Review PPT
• Peer Review Organizer
• Article Use Practice Worksheet

Procedure

I. Class Introduction

The instructor will take the first minute of class to make some small talk with the student and ask for any questions about the course. 

II. Hangman 
To provide a brief warm-up for the class, the instructor will lead the students through a round (or two) of "Hangman". The instructions for "Hangman" are:

1. The instructor will write the blanks for a word on the board. For example: the word "writing" would have seven blanks and would look like this: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
2. The students will guess which letters should be used to fill in the blanks. If they guess the correct letter, the instructor will fill in the blank. For example, if they guess "t" for the word "writing", the instructor will fill in the "t" space and the board will look like this: "_ _ _ t _ _ _".
3. If they guess a letter that is not in the word, the instructor will write that letter on the board and start drawing a picture of a person hanging from a rope. 
4. The game is a race: if the students can figure out the word before the drawing is complete, they win! If the instructor draws the person first (usually between 5 and 10 turns), they win! 
5. Here is a short video tutorial to explain the rules one more time

Possible Words for Hangman

• Paragraph (9 spaces)
• Description (11 spaces) 
• Essay (5 spaces) 
• Introduction (12 spaces) 

III. Peer Review

Now, students will engage in peer review. In order to do this, each person in class needs a finished first draft of their essay. If necessary, give students enough time to finish their first drafts. 

To conduct the peer review: 

1. Brainstorm: Begin by asking the students to define the concept
2. Show the PPT that explains what peer review is and offers a brief overview of how to do it
3. Ask students to get into pairs. In pairs, they will exchange their first drafts
4. Ask the students to read their partner's draft
5. After they have read the draft, give each student a copy of the PEER REVIEW QUESTIONS. Ask the students to read the first draft once again and answer the questions on the worksheet. 
6. After each pair has answered their questions, ask them to discuss the answers with their partner. 
7. Have the partners return the essay and peer review question sheet to their original owner
8. Ask students to type a second draft of their descriptive essays for homework. 

IV. English Articles Practice

English articles often give students a lot of difficulties. This short practice worksheet is designed to help students practice with understanding the difference between countable and uncountable nouns and practice using articles.  

The instructor should lead the students through the practice section-by-section. After the students have had a chance to answer the questions in each section, they should share their answers with the class.