A Writing Activity: Self-Storming

Sorry for neglecting the blog for such a long time due to my busy schedule! Yet, I am back here :)

Today's activity is an enjoyable one aiming to improve the writing skills of the students. Most of the students start writing without any graphic organizer, so they lose the track of their ideas. With the help of this activity, one can teach students how to conduct a brainstorming on their own and organize their thoughts on a specific issue before starting writing.

Here comes the steps:

1. Specify the topic that you want to work with. It can be about anything appropriate to the level of the students. (Animal rights, environmental issues, social responsibility, impacts of social media, world history, sharing a memoir, healthy food...) 
2. Share the topic that you have chosen with your students by simply writing the title onto the board.
3. Explain your students the process: First, they will be listening to a soothing music and taking notes on the topic in general. Second, they will be grouping and organizing their ideas based on a graphic organizer. Third, they will be sharing their ideas in an organized way in pairs and they will give feedback to each other. Last, they will start writing after they receive a consent from the instructor. 
4. Turn on a soothing music. You can use this link if you wish.
5. Tell your students to start working individually. Ideally, they can work for 10 mins, but you can extend the time if you think they need more time.
6. Use the graphic organizer and explain how to use it with specific examples.
7. Tell your students to work with the graphic organizer and give feedback to their peers.
8. Check out their graphic organizers and give feedback before they start writing. 
9. Collect all their papers (brainstorming, graphic organizer & the writing) at the end of the class and give feedback to their writings.

I believe that many students start writing without concentrating on their ideas, so they need to learn how to organize their thoughts. This activity can be adapted to various levels and can teach many students the importance of using a graphic organizer.

Love,
Ayca