top of page

12 April 2019

Update for Coco Huo, 9th Grade Writing Instruction

​​Coco started the English Writing program with Write Ahead on March 17th.  We have completed two sessions (skipping March vacation) with 3 writing lessons:

​

  1. How to outline an essay before writing it.  We use a mnemonic, TIDE, to ensure every essay includes each element of an argument:

    1. Thesis

    2. Important information - to support the thesis

    3. Detailed analysis – of the information

    4. Ending/conclusion

  2. The writing process

    1. Together we analyzed a text (a commercial) and developed an outline for an essay explaining how the commercial influences its buyers.  We walked through the full, messy writing process: a) understanding the prompt (assignment) b) crafting a thesis c) creating a list of evidence to support the thesis d) picking the best information e) revising the thesis f) developing the analysis.  For homework Coco used the thesis and outline to write an essay.  Please note, we would have applied this lesson to a school assignment, but as it was the last day of break she did not have her school assignments yet.

  3. ​​​Develop a thesis with insight

    1. This is an easy lesson to understand but a hard one to implement.  We will repeat this lesson (from a few different angles) over the next few weeks, as a meaningful thesis will demonstrate Coco’s ability for critical thinking, and allow for a much deeper and complex essay which will be required for her GCSE classes next year, and beyond.

  4. Grammar – we are focusing on practicing past verb tenses given the difficulty of this concept when coming from a language such as Chinese that does not have an equivalent construct

  5. Reviewing assignments: I will review and comment on any outlines of essays or final assignments Coco can share with me.  I will revise grammar, however the real purpose is to push Coco's thinking about the topic and increase the depth of her analysis and insight when writing her essays

  6. She is eager and engaged during lessons, and asks great questions.  I am looking forward to helping her improve her writing quality, while enabling her to also complete assignments in less time.

  7. Payment:

    1. Can be made by credit card using PayPal (chosen for its strong security protocol) at https://www.write-ahead.com/remote-payment

    2. Alternatively I can send an invoice with wire transfer instructions.  Let me know your preference.

​

  1. Coco于3月17日以“Write Ahead”为题开始了她的英语写作项目。我们已经上完了两个单元（不算三月的假期）3个写作课程：

    1. 如何在写一篇文章之前列出提纲。我们应用一种记忆法TIDE，来保证每篇文章都包含论据所需的每一元素：

      1. 论点

      2. 重要的信息 – 用来支持论点

      3. 详细的分析 - 上述信息

      4. 结尾/结论

  2. 写作的过程

    1. 我们一起分析了一段文章（内容是商业广告）并且为所写的文章罗列了提纲，解释了商业广告是如何影响买家行为的。我们感受了一个完整而复杂的写作过程：a) 理解写作提示（作业）；b) 精心准备论点；c) 创作一系列论据用以支持论点；d)选择最佳信息；e)修改论点；f)展开分析。在家庭作业中，Coco用论点和提纲完成了一篇文章。请注意，我们本可用这堂课作为一项学校的作业，但由于这是小假期的最后一天，她不会有作业的安排。

  3. 充满洞察力地展开论点

    1. 本堂课容易理解，实践起来却并不容易。我们会在接下来的几周重复本堂课的内容（从一些不同的角度），因为一个有意义的论点会展示Coco批判性思维的能力，并且考虑到她明年以及之后的GCSE课程会要求更加深刻和复杂的文章。

  4. 语法 – 我们将重点练习动词时态中的过去时， 这是由于考虑到中文并没有与此对应的语法结构，这个概念会有些复杂。

  5. 检查作业 – 我将对Coco能够与我分享的任何文章提纲或最终作业进行检查和评价。我会修正语法，然而真正的目的是引发Coco对该主题进行思考，并且提高写作过程中的分析和见解力的深度。

  6. 她在课堂上保持热情和专注，并且提出了很帮的问题。我非常期待能帮助她提高写作质量，同时在能够在更短的时间内完成作业。

  7. 付款

    1. 可由信用卡使用PayPal（因为具有可靠的安全性条款）通过https://www.write-ahead.com/remote-payment支付

    2. 或者我可以提供具有电汇提示的发票。请告诉我您选择哪种支付方式。

bottom of page