Writing Skills, Strategies, & Exercises

My Materials

Outside Resources

Christine's Tools for Writing

Christine's Links to Useful Web sites for Writing

Techniques of Sentence Combination (Discourse Markers)
Correction Symbols, Revision Strategies, & Words to Avoid in Academic Writing; see also Transitions and Transitions Quiz
Rubric for Academic Writing
Rubric for Journal Writing

Citing Electronic Resources
(see also Steve Burks' Citing Internet and Electronic Sources, the Purdue OWL's Citation Chart, and Corrected Sample Papers)

Academic Writing videos on the Ohio State Flipped ESL YouTube channel

E-Mail

E-Mail Etiquette -- components of email; conventions; punctuation; emoticons; purpose
Adam Turner's Guidelines for writing E-Mail and Sample Formal E-Mail format

The Paragraph

The Structure of a Paragraph (NorthStar 5: Reading & Writing, p. 64)
Exercise: Paragraph Structure and Coherence

Checklist for Paragraphs

Rubric to Evaluate Paragraphs

The Topic Sentence (video, 6:31 min) -- the formula for the topic sentence and ideas for how to add more oomph

Online Practice for Controlling Ideas -- Rochester Institute of Technology, Supporting English Acquisition

Identifying Problems with Topic Sentences

Identifying Topic Sentences

Adam Turner's writing resource web <http://hanyangwriting.tripod.com/> -- excellent guidelines for academic writing, letter writing, email format, TOEFL essay, resume writing, as well as grammar and citations; includes The Paragraph

Grammar Help

Sentence Parts and Parts of Speech

Articles -- Decision Tree
Articles - Exercise
Articles - Exercise (answers)
See also this Cloze Exercise on Do We Really Need to Sleep--A, An, The, or No Article

Sentence Problems: Run-on sentences and fragments (Quizzes/practice on repairing); comma splices, run-on sentences, fragments and run-ons

Possessive Pronouns and Contractions

Vocabulary Help

Vocabulary Development Graphic Organizers
Dictionaries: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/online_dictionaries.htm#Dictionaries
Thesauri: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/online_dictionaries.htm#Thesauri
Encyclopedias: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/online_dictionaries.htm#Encyclopedias (suggestion: use InfoPlease)

Word Processing Exercises

Punctuation Help

A Guide to Punctuation
Commas, the Six Rules

Paraphrasing/Summarizing/Answering Essay Questions

Writing a Paraphrase
Guidelines for writing a summary
Essay Questions -- Types, cues, strategies for answering
Performance Inventory for Summary/Essay Question

Proofreading Help

Proofreading your paper
(for grammar, punctuation, meaning, vocabulary)

Business Communication

Writing a Business Letter -- steps, content, sample
Letter Writing: Business Letter Rubric

Sample Cover Letter (full-block business format)

CareerLab Letters -- Letter writing skills for adult business professionals
The Basic Business Letter and Writing the Business Letter (parts of the letter; Purdue Online Writing Lab)

Parts of a Business Letter
Writing Business Letters -- Core Vocabulary Sheet 1
Writing Business Letters--Core Vocabulary Sheet 2
Writing Business Letters--Core Vocabulary Sheet 3

Guide to Basic Business Letters -- includes conventional phrases and several types of letters; sample business letter format
Sample Letters from the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Inquiry Letters--types, content, format, and samples Making an Inquiry	Adjusting a Claim
Replying to an Inquiry	Job-related letters
Sales Letter	Writing a cover letter for a job application
Placing an Order	Responding to an ad
Making a Claim	Requesting an open position
Complaint and Adjustment Letters -- with annotations of samples	Resumes -- layout, designs, formats -- with annotations
Application letters -- types, format, and samples