Writing a Story

This group of activities has two components:
1. Pre-Writing - Reading and grammar input and practice.
2. Writing -  Strategies for writing, chronological order, writing a story at a social network, and verifying language accuracy.

1. Pre-Writing

A.  You're going to read a story of a person who lived a scary event in life three years past.  Read it and do the activity that comes afterwards.

B. Label the paragraphs with the following subheadings:

     a.  How I felt           b. I found a solution         c.  I got really scared       d. Introduction
    Check your answers     

C. Organize the following events from the story in chronological order.

1. The two guys started following me.
2. I took the elevator.
3. I slammed the door closed.
4. I shouted, "Thank God you've appeared!"
5. I thought of knocking at a door.
6. I got off the bus and pushed my pace home.
7. I started to run.
8. I looked for my door keys in my handbag.

         Check your answers.  
(Estimated time for Activities A-B-C:15 minutes)

D. Take a look at some actions that represent the past in the story;  spot the other ones and write them in your notebook;  identify which actions "happened in the past", and which ones were "in progress at certain time in the past", according to the following examples:

• It was a Thursday night.  (Something that happened in the past)
• Three years ago, when I was working for a bank.  (An activity in progress at certain time in the past)
• We had a lot of work to do. (Something that happened in the past)
• That night I left work a bit late.  (Something that happened in the past)
• I  pushed up my pace.  (Something that happened in the past)
• My pulse was beating very fast.   (An activity in progress at certain time in the past)

E. Review of Past simple and Past Continuous:
    Take a look at the explanations:  (simple past vs. past continuous).
    Making negative sentences in the simple past.
    Questions in simple past.
    Past Continuous.
    Visit this website for a list of irregular verbs.


F. Have some fun with verbs:
    Play a game.
    Another game.


G. In your notebook, give answers to:
                      Gap fill - Exercise 1.
                      Selection - Exercise 2.
                              Check your answers.   (Estimated time for Activities D-E-F-G: 30-35 minutes.)

If your score has been 15-16, continue with the Writing activities:

2. Writing.

A.   Organize this story and divide it into paragraphs.
Check your answers.


B.  Think of an event in your life you would like to narrate; in your notebook, organize your ideas in chronological order:

1. Give a context to your story in the first paragraph:  Where and when it happened, and what the people involved were doing.
2. Develop the events of the story in chronological order in the second paragraph.
3.  Write the end of your story by saying what happened in the end and how people felt in the third paragraph.

• Important:  Think about who your readers will be.

C. Some strategies to write your story:

1. When writing, use past tenses correctly, make sure that each sentence has a subject and makes sense,  and check your spelling.
2. Don't make very long sentences; rather, make short and clear ideas, and separate them by periods.  You should also use simple connectors like 'but', 'and', 'so', or 'because' in larger sentences, but never connect everything using commas.
3. Don't forget to use capital letters for proper names and the pronoun 'I':  

                                                                  'I lived in Medellin with my friend Monica.'

D. Write a post in your social network to share with your friends an interesting, exciting or scary event you've recently lived, or an anecdote of your own. (Estimated time for Activities A-B-C-D: 50 minutes.)

E. You should consider revising your post before uploading it to your social network, by entering Grammarly.com and check.

LEARN MORE...

ESL FLOW:
Narrative essays

ENGLISCH HILFEN:
Creative writing

ESL GOLD:
Organizing and composing (graded)

ESL ABOUT:
Punctuation rules.

Enjoy this video:
Paul McCartney - Band on the Run

References

Image:  Woman running at night. Online: http://fitandfeminist.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/i-dont-run-at-night-women-running-and-personal-safety/

Image:  Organizing a puzzle.  Online: http://compu-analisis.blogspot.com/2011/04/algoritmos-y-sintaxis-confusion-de.html

Englisch Hilfen (2011)  Present simple present continuous contrasted.  Online: http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/simple_present_continuous_comparison.htm

Esl Desk (2011) Vocabulary and Irregular Verbs.  Online: http://www.esldesk.com/vocabulary/irregular-verbs

Image: Clapping hands.  Online: http://www.freshpromotions.com.au/novelties/cheap-novelty-gifts/one-hand-clapping.html

Image:  Counting stars.  Online: http://readabookandgrowabrain.blogspot.com/2011/06/counting-stars-by-rose-schroth.html

Irregular verbs interactive game 1:   Quia.com.   Online:  http://www.quia.com/cb/8111.html

Irregular verbs interactive game 2:   My ESL World.   Online:  http://myeslworld.blogspot.com/2010/01/flash-game-past-simple-irregular-verbs.html

Irregular verbs interactive game 3:  ESL Games World.  Online: http://www.eslgamesworld.com/members/games/ClassroomGames/Quizshow/Irregular%20Past%20Simple%20Quiz%20Show/

Niño, C. (2011)  I almost got mugged. Reading and Exercises.  Universidad de la Sabana. Master's Program in TESOL for Self-Directed Learning. Course: Self-Access Materials.

Niño, C. (2011) Poor Sylvia. Reading and Exercise.  Universidad de la Sabana. Master's Program in TESOL for Self-Directed Learning.  Course:  Self-Access Materials.

Niño, C. (2011)  Gapfill Exercise 1; Selection Exercise 2.  Universidad de la Sabana. Master's Program in TESOL for Self-Directed Learning.  Course:  Self-Access Materials.

Paul McCartney (2008)  Band on the Run.  Online:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM6auGQ2VGo