how to have fun in a writing class ??

I am teaching "English Writing Skills" to intermediate and upper-intermediate students, but the classes are so boring.. Even I am looking forward for the end of the class. We use a series of writing books of a well-known publishing house, but they are not good. I don't know what to do to make writing more enjoyable for students.. I have tried to come up with interesting topics, but it didn't work. Do you have any suggestions? How can I make students love writing?

Which books are you using? Are the students training for a particular exam? How old are they?

My students are about 18 years old, and they are studying English in the prep school of the university and training for the English proficiency exam, which will include a writing section. As for the books, we use Get ready to write, Ready to write and Ready to write more by Longman. We finished the first book, and we are going on with the second one..

We have been talking about comparing and contrasting paragraphs for the last two weeks, but it is still difficult for them to write an organized comparing or conrasting paragraph with rich supporting sentences and a good topic and concluding sentence..

I don't know what to do. Today I talked to them, they said they liked me, but they didn't like writing.. I think I cannot blame them..If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't like it, either...

Ok, here are a few writing activities:

1. Creative Writing - empty onto your desk a pile of everyday objects; have the students in groups come up with a story linking four or five of those objects; in groups they then write a narrative explaining that link.

2. Collaborative Writing - similar to the above, but expanded. Groups work together on a theme then individuals write a short piece; this is then peer reviewed and corrected (possibly by more than one other student) and then revised and submitted by the original author.

3. If you have access to computers you can do this kind of activity on a WP.

There are a couple more here and I'm sure a search online for fun writing activities will come up with some more.

A point to think about is to reassure the students concerning the length of the essay required from them.Usually when they read:".......... 250 words",the first reaction is:"where am I supposed to find all this amount of vocabulary?".But when we draw on the board a representation of the essay in the form of a tree with :
1) Introduction: four or five sentences including the thesis statement.They are reminded of the length of a sentence which can be (ten words for example ,and can be much longer when linking words are used).This will give us a paragraph of about 50 words.
2) Body paragraphs :topic sentences and supporting ideas.same procedure of counting.Three paragraphs will make 150 words.
3) Conclusion :50 words.
The total is 250 words.If we stick to 10/stce.
The brainstorming session is the most important phase.They should write down all that comes to their minds about the topic without trying to look deeper into that point or idea at that moment.This will make them feel rich as far as issues are concerned.We should show them the difference between a circular mind and a triangular one.The latter is found with those students who cannot move on in the writing process because there is a word that does not want to come and they are found waiting for it wasting time in drawing on the corner of the page.The circular minded ones ,on the contrary,are trained to forget about the whole approach concerning an idea because of lack of vocabulary or information ,and just choose another one they have written down during the brainstorming session.
If the students are trained this way(I hope it was clear) their problem will be reversed;their question will not be what to write but what not to write.

Here are some of my ideas on making it more fun:

Interactivity in Writing

Yet another 15 ways to make writing interactive

and about 35 worksheets, mainly fun:

TEFLtastic Writing Games and Worksheets

tschansey61 said:

I am teaching "English Writing Skills" to intermediate and upper-intermediate students, but the classes are so boring.. Even I am looking forward for the end of the class. We use a series of writing books of a well-known publishing house, but they are not good. I don't know what to do to make writing more enjoyable for students.. I have tried to come up with interesting topics, but it didn't work. Do you have any suggestions? How can I make students love writing?

Click to expand...

I may suggest to give them at least once a week a writing contest then have announced every week. Then encourage them to write and you will be picking the best writer for the month.. something like that.