Writing: ESL, ABE/GED Story Squared

http://www.storysquared.com/ Story Squared

"Want to be creative but don't have the time? Start a story on StorySquared and see where it goes. Friends and family contribute to a story thread that you create. The results can be funny, imaginative, or just plain strange. Try it out now and see!
Start your story “Once upon a time…”
Send it to the people you want to contribute.
You and your friends read the story as it unfolds! "

Above is the lead into this site. It's an interesting tech twist on an old writing technique that would be great for imtermediate and higher level ESL students, and would also obviously work on an online environment. There are public stories that you can add to, or create an entirely new story.

ABE/GED, ESL: Ways to get Started Writing

http://www.litwomen.org/perspectives/2007/prompts_wp2.doc Women's Perspective

This is a lesson plan to get students started with writing. There are pre-writing exercises, and writing prompts.

ESL Hotlist: Writing Plus

http://hills.ccsf.org/~esltech/Lessons/Comp/lab.html


Hotlists are new favorite of mine, and this one is very well organized. This covers many of the areas concerning writing, and also some broken down by levels and subject area. Worth a peek!

ESL: Cool Sites for ESL Students

http://www.uic.edu/depts/tie/coolsites.htm : University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

ESL Writing Assistance

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/special/esl.shtml Dartmouth Writing Program, Special Writers, ESL Writers

This is more for upper level ESL students, but the information is very clearly written, and easy to understand. I especially liked the American Paragraph and the English Sentence. One page, with good links.

ESL: Writing: Resources

http://academic.reed.edu/writing/esl_resources.html ESL Writing Resources: Doyle Online Writing Lab

Topics include:

English as a Second Language Resources
General Interest sites for ESL students
Basic Tips for ESL Students: Writing for an American Academic Audience (Purdue)
Writing an American Academic Paper (Dartmouth)
Grammar and Style pages for ESL students
ESL Grammar links A few pages identifying the eccentricities of the English language.
ESL Idiom Page Lists, meanings, and examples.
Phrasal Verb Page Lists, meanings, and examples.
Activities and Study Guides
Complete List of English Irregular Verbs (Susan Jones) A list of irregular English verbs with quizzes.
Focusing on Words Learn English vocabulary by studying selected poems and stories.
Grammar Safari (U. of Illinois) Provides ESL students with ideas for practicing the rules of English grammar.
Interactive English Language Exercises Exercises on grammar, vocabulary, and idioms.
Interactive Language exercises on the Web (Ruth Vilmi)
Quiz Center Quizzes on a variety of subjects designed for ESL students: history, people, grammar, slang, writing, world culture, etc.
Self Study Quizzes for ESL Students Quizzes on grammar, reading comprehension, writing etc. geared toward problems frequently encountered by ESL students.

Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

http://www.powa.org/

One of the questions that pops up from instructors at almost every workshop is 'Where are there good writing Websites?' and my answer is, ' I'll keep looking...' This one may give some hope that there are sites available. I called the Paradigm Online Writing Assistant, and has help with organizing, writing and editing, along with some specifics on various essay styles. One of the best sections is entitled "Six Problem Areas" which covers topics such as subject-verb agreement, shift in tense, shift in person etc. Each topic is explained, examples are given and there is an accompanying activity. If you are looking for some solid help with writing, this may just be the source.

English for Business, Work and Other Special Purposes

Using the Internet to teach English for Special Purposes (ESP)

One of the best methods of teaching is to combine a skill within a usable context. For example, writing skills can be taught by teaching them in a business context. Other skills, such as vocabulary, can be taught by giving appropriate language used to actively participate in business meetings or develop core vocabulary such as 150 key words and phrases used for writing business and commercial letters.

PIZZAZ! Writing

http://www.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/pizzaz.html
"Description:
PIZZAZ! is dedicated to providing simple creative writing and oral storytelling activities with copyable (yes, copyable!) handouts for use with students of all ages. Permission is given to use these resources for in-class, non-profit use only.
Prerequisite:
An interest in using English in fun, dynamic ways!
ESOL Student Level:
Beginner through Advanced "

Whether through poetry or fiction, there are lots of ideas for developing student writing skills here.

Adult Ed Writing Lesson Plans

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons.html Thirteen Ed Online

Covers Adult Ed lesson plans for GED subjects, ESL and Workforce Development. They are broken down by grade level, which is useful information. Some highlight a particular subject, such as writing:
Getting Started: Pre-Writing Techniques (http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons/lesson19.html) or
Freewriting: Developing Fluency in Student Writing
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons.html

and others incorporate the skill within subject areas:
Cancer: A Crisis of the Cells
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons/lesson51.html

Most of these ideas are adaptable for a variety of student levels.

Writing Lesson Plans

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rayser3/writing.htm

Outta Ray's Head is a good source of writing ideas for classes. Includes exercises and information developed by instructors, for teaching writing. As with a lot of the compendiums, it takes time to review the material, but many of these are excellent springboards.