by J. Erdenetuya
I teach
Mongolian, old Mongolian script, literature, and English. I have really enjoyed writing essays for my
EXCEL homework assignments. I realized
that essay writing is a crucial skill for my secondary school students who will
enter university. So I have added
instruction in essay writing to my usual curriculum in literature. It was difficult at first for the students,
but soon they were doing well. This
instruction has proven quite beneficial for my students.
I teach essay
writing in three stages.
Ø First, the
students read a new tale or poem.
Ø Second, the
students talk about the tale or poem.
Ø Third, the
students write their opinions and exchange information with each other.
As you can
see, these stages are something like the three-stage lesson plan of presentation,
practice, and communication. So this
process could be used both in the Mongolian literature classroom and in the
English classroom.
For example,
if I were teaching the tale Tall Mother by A. Dashdoorov, I would use
the following plan:
Ø Read the tale
and the biography of A. Dashdoorov.
Ø Talk about
the tale. Why was the woman named
“tall mother?” Was the mother good or
bad? Really, was the mother tall or
short?
Ø Students
exchange their own real information about their mothers, what makes a good
mother, mother love, and so on.
Ø Finally, the
students write an essay about mother.
The essay
should have the following parts: good
introduction, main point, and conclusion.
These days
all my students are writing good essays!