1. Word pictures with one’s own name
a) On piece of paper (A3 or A4, preferably thicker), each student writes his/her first name (or first and last name) vertically, placing one letter below the other. Each letter is then nicely decorated and …
Read more2. Word ladders
a) Each student or pair receives a sheet of paper (A4) and thinks of a word with 4–7 letters. This word is written vertically on the left side of the page from top to bottom. …
Read more3. ABC stories
Variant 1: On a large piece of paper (A3 or A2) write the letter of the alphabet clearly and in color (vertically one below the other, if needed in two separate columns, making sure that there …
Read more4. Self-portrait, profile
a) The teacher and students discuss what should be included in a portrait: Last name, first name, age, hobbies, favorite food or meal, favorite music, school subject, book and teacher, country of origin, address, etc. b) …
Read more5. Working together: a story tree or tree of wishes
a) On a large piece of paper (wrapping paper or 2 flipchart pages), students draw a large tree with lots of branches and twigs. There should be ample space left for leaves to be added. b) …
Read moreTable of Contents
- Preface to the series “Materials for heritage language teaching”
- Introduction
- I. Introduction: low-threshold level writing examples and activities to promote motivation
- 1. Preliminary exercise: shared story telling by turns, sequels or chain stories
- 2. Writing collectively: alternating, continued, chain or folded stories
- 3. Texts with a colon: picking words, and who, where, what stories
- 4. Skeleton stories, emotive word stories, scaffolding stories
- 5. Imaginative writing in different social forms
- 6. Short artistic and creative tasks with language (see also # 22)
- 7. Language riddles
- II. Techniques and strategies for the various phases of the writing process
- 8. Finding ideas, pre-structuring the text
- 9. Planning the structure of the text (see also #16, Suggestions for text building)
- 10. Using titles, subtitles and paragraphs to structure and design a text
- 11. Techniques for revision and self-correction
- 12. Writing for the target audience; designing and presenting attractive texts
- 13. Guidelines for the students: worksheets WS 1 + 2
- III. Ideas to further partial aspects of writing
- 14. Suggestions for vocabulary building I: working with word fields and expanded language tools
- 15. Suggestions for vocabulary building II: working with gap-fill exercises and alternative word tests, etc.
- 16. Suggestions for text building and structuring (see also # 9)
- 17. Suggestions for improving writing style I: practice with acting and discovering style
- 18. Suggestions for improving style II: writing and summarizing in a precise, clear and exciting manner
- 19. Hints for improving syntax and morphology
- IV. Ideas for specific writing contexts
- 20. Writing occasions that are particularly suitable for heritage language education
- 21. Suitable projects for cooperation with mainstream education classes
- 1. Multilingual poetry collection (eleven poems, etc.)
- 2. Multilingual picture books or adventure books
- 3. Multilingual student papers or wall boards
- 4. Contributions to project weeks or exhibitions, like “our cultures”, “where we come from”, “great vacation destinations”, “our languages” etc.
- 5. Multilingual recipe collections
- 22. Artistic-creative design projects with language
- Bibliography