Professional Development Videos

  • Teaching Writing

Writing is probably the least popular of the four language skills for our students to learn. It is an isolating individual activity that requires focus and repetition. Students often struggle to understand the differences between the written and spoken versions of English as well as the formatting differences from one written text to another. The courses in this section provide you with a range of writing activities that allow students to tap into their creativity to learn the in’s and out’s of writing different formats in English.

Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing

The skills of quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing are largely expected in the academic environment of the North American culture. Often, the international student does not know how to explain in their own words what an expert has already stated.

The Product vs. Process Approach to Writing

Two of the most commonly used approaches to teaching writing are the product approach and the process approach. In this course we will define both approaches and discuss the advantages of each. We will then look at activities to use for each approach.

Using Poetry Writing to Teach English

Poetry can be a great tool to use to teach English to our students. In this session, we first discuss why poetry writing is a useful and motivating activity for English language students of all ages, levels and backgrounds.

Using Story Writing to Teach English

Story writing allows students to personalize the language they have learned. It is motivating and interesting because students work on their productive language skills, grammar, spelling and writing in a creative way.

Writing Activities for Low Level Classes

The language skill of writing can be very overwhelming for low level students.

Yes, There ARE Patterns in English Spelling

Students and teachers alike often complain about the challenges of English spelling, given the myriad rules which seem to break other rules, which break other rules.  There does not seem to be much consistency between how words are pronounced and how they are spelled.