Model composition: What did you do last weekend?

Helping and motivating our students to write is part of our work as teachers of a language, it is hard work because it implies correcting and assessing lots of compositions...

A good way to make it easy is to give them  a model composition, and then, ask them to follow the model with their own information. Here follows an example that answers (in part) the question in the title:

Last weekend I had a great time. On Saturday morning, I went to Córdoba with my family by train. First, we went to the train station and bought the tickets. Then, we got on the train and arrived at Córdoba very quickly. After that,we visited the Mezquita. Next, we went to a very famous restaurant and ate very well. Finally, we took the train back to Seville. It was a fun and interesting day!

Depending on the level of our students, we can give them the model taking out more or less information; we can give them the verbs they would need or the sequence connectors and so on. Thanks to the Digital Interactive Whiteboards we have in our classes nowadays, we can directly erase the information in class, in this way, it is more visual for our students and therefore, easier to rememember what information  they need to complete their compositions.

Students usually like to write about real, personal topics, it is easier for them because they do not have to imagine anything. In addition to this, they get to know and respect  their mates when they are allowed to read or listen to their mates' compositions.

There is a nice story-maker at the British Council for kids.

So, what did you do last weekend?
Leave your comments and tell us!!!