401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing
Sign up for our free Feb. 26 webinar on teaching argument writing. And, we have 130 new argumentative writing prompts to add to this list. Of all the resources we publish on The Learning Network, perhaps it’s our vast collection of writing prompts that is our most widely used resource for teaching and learning with The Times. This list of 401 prompts (available here in PDF) is now our third iteration of what originally started as 200 prompts for argumentative writing, and it’s intended as a companion resource to help teachers and students participate in our annual Student Editorial Contest. So scroll through the hundreds of prompts below that touch on every aspect of contemporary life — from social media to sports, politics, gender issues and school — and see which ones most inspire you to take a stand. Each question comes from our daily Student Opinion feature, and each provides links to free Times resources for finding more information.
Film Club: ‘Fear, Humor, Defiance: How the World Is Reacting to Coronavirus’
Find all our Film Club films here. Teachers: Please note that this week’s film includes powerful and disturbing images — including death and grieving. Be sure to review the film before screening with your class. “Fear, Humor, Defiance: How the World Is Reacting to Coronavirus” is a four-minute film that looks at the impact of the pandemic across the globe. The coronavirus has touched a diverse collection of countries and cultures, but a number of shared experiences have emerged — from grieving the dead to writing songs. What can we learn from others’ experiences of the coronavirus?
Formal and informal language
We use formal language in situations that are serious or that involve people we don’t know well. Informal language is more commonly used in situations that are more relaxed and involve people we know well. Formal language is more common when we write; informal language is more common when we speak. However, there are times where writing can be very informal, for example, when writing postcards or letters to friends, emails or text messages. There are also examples where spoken English can be very formal, for example, in a speech or a lecture. Most uses of English are neutral; that is, they are neither formal nor informal.
Academic Writing Guide
APA, WRITING, EDITING, and PROOFREADING GUIDE Lee Bowman ELearningProf.net lbowmanprof@yahoo.com © 2006 updated August 2007 Please note that everything included in this guide will be graded in your paper. Take the time to proofread and edit your paper according to all the APA formatting and graduate level writing information included in this resource. PAPER FORMAT: All written papers must be formatted as follows: DO NOT: **type page headers or page numbers. Use the MS Word page header feature **hit enter to double space.
Dictionaries, corpora and using notebooks
Here’s a selection of links I compiled for our teachers following up on a workshop I ran on Friday 27th March. I showed them around a few online dictionaries and corpora, and we briefly talked about how students could make use of their notebooks to record language. I know there are many other useful resources, but this is what we managed in 60 minutes.
Five digital resources for autonomous English language practice
Cristina Cabal, six-time winner of the TeachingEnglish blog award , tells us her favourite apps, sites and browser extensions to make autonomous learning fun. Language proficiency does not happen within a set time. It’s a long process that requires patience, and practice outside of the classroom.
5 Benefits of Writing: Why You Should Write Every Day
Writing every day has numerous benefits far beyond finally getting that novel of yours out in the open. Whether you’re aiming to improve your vocabulary, keep track of your dreams, or keep a journal of all the goings-on in your world, writing daily can bring about some stellar effects in your life. A Wake-Up Call for Your Brain Have you ever hauled yourself to work and then sat there for a couple of hours, waiting for your brain to warm up enough so you could be articulate and productive? That’s a massive waste of time, especially since anything you’d be forced to tackle during that warm-up would be tepid at best. Instead, consider hitting the ground running by sitting down with a writing assignment while you’re sipping your coffee/tea/wheatgrass smoothie.
Visible Thinking
Purpose: What kind of thinking does this routine encourage? This routine encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. It helps stimulate curiosity and sets the stage for inquiry.
Five habits of effective English language learners
What habits should English language learners adopt to help them meet their goals? Martin Sketchley, latest winner of the British Council's Teaching English blog award, gives us his top five. Learning English, or any language, can be a challenging but rewarding experience. To make progress, you need to put in a lot of dedication and effort, but you also need to develop the right habits.
Over 140 Picture Prompts to Inspire Student Writing
Sign up for our free Learning Network newsletter. Receive new writing prompts in your inbox every week. Updated: May 31, 2019
Visible Thinking
Tools for Assessing Culture of Thinking In working to create a culture of thinking, it is useful to take stock of how things stand currently as well as to assess progress and change along the way. The Looking at Opportunities reflection tool provides 12 criteria for taking stock of the culture of a classroom. These criteria are grouped around 4 key areas: focus of content, engagement of students, depth of work, and presence of thinking.
Writing - Upper intermediate B2
Information will soon be so easy to find on the internet that people will not need to remember anything. Do you agree? Nowadays all the information we could ever need is available online and some people say that means the end of having to learn anything. It is true that these days everything you want to know is a few clicks away as long as you have internet access. However, not everyone has working internet all the time, for example in certain buildings or remote locations, so we do need to be able to remember information.
Five Things: Writing a Short Story
I love writing short stories. You can complete one in a matter of weeks, rather than the years it takes to finish a novel. You can try out new – often riskier – ideas (and sometimes, ironically, you can find the germ of a novel inside an idea you might otherwise never have tried).
