Here are 2 handouts with writing prompts for Level 2 with photos and vocabulary to help them get started. Students can work alone or in pairs to practice writing a short composition describing the scene in the photo in past tense (simple past and an occasional past continuous). After they have had enough time to write down their ideas, work full class to:
- Elicit from students the composition, guiding them to create an introduction, a body paragraph with details and a conclusion.
- We work together to write it up on the white board, correcting as we go along.
- Finally, encourage them to connect some of the shorter sentences with connecting words such as, “and, but, so”.
- In addition, if there is a good sentence with past continuous, elicit from students how to add: “when” or “while” to those sentences.
I started teaching EFL in Mexico in the 1970s and stayed for 11 years! My BA is in Latin American Studies, which I did at La Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico. After moving back to the U.S., I got my Master’s at SFSU in TESOL and American Literature. I’ve taught ESL in to refugees and in community colleges in CA since 1987. I’m currently teaching at ARC, WCC and Davis Adult School.