a) The instructor first explains that most texts are structured in three parts: introduction/overview – main body (actual content) – ending/summary/ outlook. This should be explained to the students with one or several text examples, if possible (newspaper article, short literary texts, exemplary writing by other students).
b) The instructor writes (or projects) the structure on the board (see illustration), and with a theme, practices the planning stage with the entire class. Possible appropriate themes: A description of my parents‘ place of origin; Report about a journey to…; My thoughts about “Life in two cultures and languages”.
c) The students receive paper and a theme (see above) or select their own topic. They divide the paper into the three areas: introduction – main part – ending. They then write key words into the appropriate fields. It would be ideal if the students would first apply one of the procedures learned in # 8 (cluster, mind-map, placemat), which would help them to generate first ideas.
d) Discussion with the students about their experiences of applying the scheme in structuring and planning their text. How could it continue? The writing task should then be completed, if at all possible.