writing skills

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CLICK HERE TO SEE EXAMPLES OF MY STUDENTS’ ESSAYS

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PLEASE WATCH THESE IMPORTANT VIDEOS ABOUT WRITING:

1-HOW TO WRITE A FORMAL LETTER:

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2-HOW TO WRITE A COMPLAINING LETTER:

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3-A VERY GOOD VIDEO ON ESSAY WRITING:

PLEASE WATCH THIS ONE.

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4-HOW WRITE AN ESSAY:

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5-AN EXCELLENT VIDEO ON LINKING WORDS:

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6-DOWNLOAD A CHART OF LINKING WORDS

CLICK HERE AND SAVE ON YOUR PCmy linking words chart

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7- A SAMPLE ESSAY:

Brahim ait Hammou

lycee sidi mohamed ben abdallah-tinghir .

teaching writing skills

The following is an essay written in 3 paragraphs. Can you read it ,and observe its organisation:

paragraph 1:introducing the topic

paragraph 2:discussing the reasons and effects of leaving school

paragraph3:discussing the solutions

Dear editor,

I’m grateful to contribute to this issue of our school magazine. As we all know, a lot of Moroccan students leave school early, and go out to work in different places under extremely difficult conditions which don’t respect the most basic rights of human beings. Some of them work in restaurants, others work in garages etc….Yet, all of them are abused, and they get only the least possible payment. So, what are the reasons which push Moroccan children to leave school early, and join the labour market? And, how can we avoid this phenomenon?

The majority of Moroccan children don’t choose to leave school .That is to say, some children don’t have families to fend for them. As a result, they are obliged to leave school, and have a job in order to help their have food and money .Besides, some children have sick or disabled parents, and, consequently, they have to earn money to for their poor families. Other children, also, are affected by the huge rise of unemployment in our country .Therefore, they don’t see any benefit behind pursuing their education. They would rather find a work. Finally, some children who are addicted to smoking or alcohol are forced to leave school ,and have  a job in which they can earn money to practice their destructive habits. These are only some of the reasons which push children in our country to leave school .

Let’s then turn to the proposed solutions for this problem. First of all, parents have to shoulder the great part of the burden. They must provide their children with the necessary requirements for their education. In other words, students must have books ,clothes etc…so that they would not feel that they are inferior in front of their mates. And,as a result, they would not leave their education. Parents should ,beside this, be in frequent contact with their children’s schools in order to know their children’s conditions.This can predict and stop any future failure .

The government ,likewise, should assume its responsibility .There must be laws which oblige parents to keep their children at school until a certain level or age .Furthermore, the government must help poor families so that they can educate their children .Moreover, employees must not hire children in their work till the age of 20 so that children would have at least the baccalaureate level.Civil organizations have also a role to play in this area .They can educate children about the advantages of going to school and the drawbacks of working at an early age. In sum ,everyone of us is responsible for protecting the children’s right of education.

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8-EXAMPLES OF WRITING TASKS

1-2006 EXAM:

In the last few years women’s conditions and roles have changed a lot in Morocco (at home, at work, in politics…).Write an essay about women’s conditions and roles both in the past and in the present.

2-2007 EXAM:

Environmentalists warn that water pollution is a real danger to humanity and nature.

Write an article to your school magazine, describing the causes of this phenomenon, and suggesting some practical solutions.

3-2007 EXAM:

The teachers of English are organizing a writing competition on how to improve your school life.

Write an essay suggesting ways to make your school a better place for learning.

4-2006 exam:

After you finish your education; would you like to live in Morocco or in a foreign country?

Write an essay stating your preference and giving reasons for your choice.

5-2005 exam:

A large number of people have emigrated to Europe or America.

Write an article to your school magazine stating the reasons why people emigrate and listing the problems they face in the host country.

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9-an outline of an essay about the importance of education in limiting crimes.

Outlining AN EXPOSITORY ESSAY.

“When you open a school, you close  a prison “

Write an article to your school magazine about the importance of education and how it protects our society from crimes and disorder.

Introduction:

*speak briefly about the role of school/ education: What does it do for our society?

*Say that in your essay you will discuss the meaning of the proverb above”……………………………………..”.Thesis.

Body:

PARAGRAPH 1: Topic Sentence: Education  teaches us morals/values.

• It teaches us to respect people ————no crimes like fighting or killing….
• It teaches us to take care of other people’s property/homes…———–so there will be no theft or stealing…..
• Education also teaches us how to solve our problems with other people———————so we will not have conflicts which lead to crimes and then prisons….
• School also teaches us how to tolerate other people who are different from us in religion; language…..so we will not resort to violence to solve our differences.

*****all these values which school teaches protect people from being criminals and so from prison.

PARAGRAPH2: Topic Sentence2: Education/school also helps us to be away from prison in other ways.

• When we go to school, we learn how to survive independently—–so we will not resort to crimes (like theft/violence…) as a way to survive.
• Education also teaches how to find a job:
• Education and what we learn from school helps us to be integrated in the job-market .For example when you get your degree in a domain like carpentry or English or computer science, you can easily find a job—-consequently, you will not use crimes to get money because you have your own job.

CONCLUSION:

Give a summary of your ideas saying that education/school helps people to avoid crimes and ,so, it protects them from going to jail/prison.

This is a modal outline; so please try to expand on the ideas and use more examples. Use also linking words to connect your sentences.Also, organize the ideas in the best possible way.

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10-HOW TO WRITE A FILM REVIEW.

1-INTRODUCTION:speak briefly about:

*the title of the film.

*the date of production of the film.

*the genre of the  film.

*the director .

*the country of the film .

*the country in which it is filmed.

2-PLOT:

*Give a brief summary of the main events/stories of the film.Do not try to say everything that happened.You are giving a review to someone who didn’t watch the film,so give only what is important.

3-CHARACTERS:

*Speak about the characters of the movie.Now,you can give the main actors with their real names and the roles they have played in the film.

4-CONCLUSION:Here is the most important part of the review I think.You speak about:

*The message being conveyed by the film.

*The purpose of the director behind this film.

*Your opinion and feelings about the film.

DEVOTE A PARAGRAPH TO EACH PART ABOVE.DO NOT FORGET TO USE A TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EACH PARAGRAPH.

Here is an Example from one of my students:

“Hanna Montana ” is an American comedy serial directed by “John Sena” and “Big Show ” .The scenario is written by “William Gago” in 2006. The heroes of this serial are “Shirt Finna” and his brother “Badry Nouvar” with his lover “Youdin Batissta” .

The serial treats the problem of young people in adolescence in the story of love between “Shirty Finna” and “Youdin Batissta”. the serial has 55 episodes all them are funny.

Finally I think that “Hanna Montana ” is a good serial which deals with the problems of young and it advises them not to give up and fight for their future.

N.B: the names in this film review are not real.

this review film is by :

Anass EZZAGHDANI / Aimad ELHASSNAOUI

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11-HOW TO WRITE A NARRATIVE ESSAY/ARTICLE.

WATCH THIS FIRST.YOU HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF A”narrative essay”

A-WHAT IS A NARRATIVE?

A narrative is a text(call it an essay or an article)in which you relate(say)the events of a story that happened to you or in which you took part.It can be also a story that happened to someone else.

A narrative can also be an article about an event which you witnessed or participated in.

Possible narrative essays are:

**an essay about how you celebrated the last Aid Aladha.

**an essay about how was the last festival in your area…

**an essay about your brother or your sister’s wedding celebration

**an essay about how was your trip to the mountains last weekend….etc.

B-THE STEPS OF A NARRATIVE:

Here are some steps you can follow to write a good narrative essay/article.

**INTRODUCTION:

( )Start your essay with two/three sentences which say to your reader what you will write about.Try to make these sentences catchy.This means try to show to your reader that you will discuss something which is important/interesting…It’s like telling about a film to your friends;they should find what you are saying interesting for them.If not ,they will not listen anymore.

So,the introduction is the beginning of your film-story-make it wonderful!

**BODY:

You can decide about the number of paragraphs you will have in your body.

You can have two or just three paragraphs.This depends on how you will tell your story and on the information you have.(see the outline below).

**CONCLUSION:

SUMMARIZE YOUR STORY.EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS .ASK A RHETORICAL QUESTION.

C-FOR EXAMPLE:

If you want to tell your friend in America about your last Aid Aladha celebration you can do it in this way:

INTRODUCTION:

**Say that this celebration is the biggest(most important )celebration in our culture.

**Say that your last celebration was wonderful/different from all others….—–This is to get the attention of your reader/friend.

PARAGRAPH 1:

**Speak for example about what you did in the first day of the celebration-the day before Elaid.

**Say important things that happened:Where did you go/what did you see/who did you meet/….?

**Say what food you prepared and ate.

**Say what you did within your family that day for example.

PARAGRAPH2:

**Speak about what happened on the day of Elaid.

**Speak about the morning:

slaughtering the sheep/going to elmousalla/meeting friends/visiting relatives…

**Speak about the wonderful time you had that day with your family and friends.

**You can speak about interesting habits you have in your own culture.

(Did you play Ahidous/Ahwash/….?)

How did you do that?

**Try to make things interesting for your reader.

PARAGRAPH3:

**If you still feel that you have not finished;if you feel that you still have something interesting to say,go and write another paragraph about the day after El aid.

CONCLUSION:

**The conclusion is just like the introduction.Show again that your story is very important

**Show that you liked it and why/or you hated it and why as well.

**Give your feelings about the story/event you are talking about.

A NARRATIVE ESSAY TELLS A STORY.MAKE YOUR STORY IMPORTANT.PUT YOURSELF IN THE PLACE OF YOUR READERS AND GIVE HIM/HER THE DETAILS HE WILL NEED TO ENJOY YOUR STORY.

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12- HOW TO WRITE AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY.

1-What is an argumentative essay?

An argumentative essay is a text in which you give your opinion about an issue and you defend it with arguments. For example:

“Should smoking be banned in public places such as cafes and cinemas?”

Here you will write an essay in which you answer this question. You will then say “yes, it should be banned” OR “No, smoking should not be banned in public places». Whatever is your opinion, you should give arguments/ideas to prove to the reader and the people who have a different opinion that your view is CORRECT.

“Some people say that brain drain is a dangerous phenomenon for developing countries.

Write an essay in which you state your opinion about this issue.

Here again it is an argumentative essay. You should say what you think about the issue of “brain drain’’.If you say it is dangerous and therefore we should stop it, give your arguments-say why do you have this opinion. And if you say that brain drain is good because it can benefit third world countries, say again why.

2-The organization of an argumentative essay

It is like that of any other essay. The difference is here you must show your opinion from the introduction, and in the body you should give the arguments to defend your view. So look at this organization.

A-Introduction: *Introduce the topic in general.

*State your opinion about the topic clearly.

Start your opinion with:”in my view’’;”as far as I am concerned”;”I think’’;’’ in my opinion’’…….

B-BODY: Here you will give your arguments. Give an argument in each paragraph as a topic sentence and explain it with other ideas/details/examples…..

Paragraph1: an argument+ 3 or 4 sentences to explain it.

Paragraph2: another argument with 3 or four sentences to explain it.

Paragraph3: LOOK THIS ON IS DIFFERENT: Don’t give your opinion here. State the opinion of the people who are different from you and show that their opinion is false. Start this paragraph with sentences like: “However, some people think that…………” OR “Other people believe that………”

C-Conclusion:

Here you summarize your ideas and you repeat –state- your opinion again.

3- AN EXAMPLE OF AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY:

**********TOPIC STATEMENT:**********

”Many people think that the associations in Toudgha are no more than a group of people following their own interests.Others believe that these associations are doing a great job ,and they are contributing the local development.”

Write an essay in which you state your opinion about this issue.Give enough evidence to support your view.

THE ESSAY:

**********Many associations have been formed in our region Toudgha in the recent years.There are associations of many kinds.They work in different domains including literacy,environment,agriculture and so on and so forth.Many people,however, believe that these associations are not doing their claimed responsibilities.Some people say that these associations are no more than a group of people who are running after their own personal interests.In this article I will show that these people are wrong and that the associations in Toudgha are doing a great job in many domains.

**********To begin with,in the domain of education,there is a big improvement.For instance, the “Association de Milinda” is doing a great job.They are, for example, giving non-formal educational activities to hundreds of women in the area.They are giving them lessons on writing and reading.Moreover,The “association de Wifaq” is giving the women of the region lectures and workshops on birth control and pregnancy problems.A very good example of the hard-work these associations are doing is the informal lessons they give to the students of the local schools.They are giving them extra classes in different subjects including English,French and geography.

**********Further,these associations have done many things to promote and revive the decaying cultural aspects of our area.They have ,for example,celebrated many old festivities of our culture.Now many young people and children know about their ancestors’ culture.In the same cultural domain,the associations are spreading an atmosphere of culture in the Toudgha valley.Many of them have helped in the organisation of different cultural events in our region.They help people who have marriages by their volunteers’ help in organizing the event.

**********In the domain of environment and agriculture,these associations have done a wonderful work.The”association Alpha for Development” for instance has conducted many days in the area to collect rubbish in the streets and to make our environment clean and safe.They have also carried out many campaigns to sensitize people to the dangers of throwing rubbish in the streets.The “association de Afella” for agricultural development has organised many informal lessons for farmers in the area giving them advice and information about their farming.Many associations have ,also, helped in building canals,helping,therefore,in developing the agricultural products in our area.

***********To finish,as you might have noticed in the evidence I have given above,the associations in our region,Tinghir,are doing a lot of things for the people’s welfare and benefits.They have contributed to the social development of our region.The people who oppose them are therefore misleaded and they have false ideas about the work of associations in Toudgha.

JUST A NOTE:I have used unreal names of associations in my essay though I am aware that there are real associations who have done the above mentioned activities.You,the student, should give real names in your essay.