сайт учителя английского языка Каркусовой Диляры Маирбековны МАОУБ СОШ №7 г. Владикавказ

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Возмутитель спокойствия - Disturber of the peace.
Есть ещё порох в пороховницах - There is a life in the old dog yet.
Достать что-либо любыми правдами и неправдами - Beg, steal or borrow but get it.
Вор должен сидеть в тюрьме - A thief must go to jail (prison). A thief must be put in jail.
Восток - дело тонкое - The East is thicky.
Всё схвачено, за всё уплачено - Everything has been covered.
У нас всё под контролем - We are on top of the situation.
Надолго и всерьёз - Seriously and for a long time.
«Въезжать» в тему - To get the hang of the subject.
Он «въехал» в тему - He is fully in command of the subject.
Я «не врубаюсь» - I can’t tune into it / I can’t get it.
Произвести впечатление - To make waves.
Нападать, «гнать волну» - To put the squeeze on someone.
«Гнать волну» по поводу чего-либо - To stoke hysteria.

Головокружение от успехов (звёздная болезнь) - Dizzy with success.
У него звёздная болезнь - Success has gone to his head.
Дело пахнет керосином - It smells of trouble. Trouble is in the air. Something’s up. Something is really fishy here.
Доживём до понедельника - Wait until Monday.
Поживём - увидим - We shall wait and see.
Заклятые друзья (оксюморон) - Sworn friends. A love-hate relationship.
Ещё не вечер - It’s not over yet. It’s not over until it’s over. It’s not over until the fat ladies sing.
За державу обидно - I feel sorry hurt for my country.
За работу, товарищи! - Let’s go down to work!
За успех безнадёжного дела! - To the success hopeless cause!
Знаковая фигура - Icon.
Знаковые заявления - Revealing statements.
Иного не дано (третьего не дано) - There is no other way. It’s the only game in town.
Иных уж нет, а те далече (из романа "Евгений Онегин") - Some are no more and distant others.
Кадры решают всё - Cadres are all important.
Квартирный вопрос их испортил - Apartment shortage has affected them badly (has had a bad influence).
Котлеты отдельно, мухи отдельно (Не сравнивать Божий дар с яичницей) - Let’s not lump everything together. - Let’s not mix apples and oranges. First things first. The flies on the side, please.
У тебя крыша поехала? - You must be out of your mind / You must be going bananas.
Кто есть кто - Who is who.

Любви все возрасты покорны - All ages are to love submissive (Набоков). To love all ages yield surrender (Фэйлин).
Мало не покажется - It won’t be a picnic.You won’t find it funny.
Место встречи изменить нельзя - We’ll meet where agreed.
Мы рождены, чтоб сказку сделать былью - We were born to make dreams a reality.
Надо чаще встречаться - We should be meeting more often.
Нам такой хоккей не нужен - We don’t need this kind of hockey.
Наступать на грабли - To shoot oneself in the foot.
Наступать на все возможные грабли - They do things exactly the wrong way.
Не высовывайся! / Не рыпайся! - Don’t stick your head/neck out.
Он не подарок / Ну он и подарочек! - He is a bad news. He is bad trouble. “Trouble” is his middle name.

Не царское это дело - This is not fit for the tsar.
Никогда, ничего ни у кого не просите - Don’t ever beg for anything.
Он сказал «Поехали!» - Off, we go!
Победила дружба - Friendship wins.
Проехали - The train has left the station.
Процесс пошёл - The process is under way/on way. Things started happening.
Ребята, давайте жить дружно - Folks, let’s live in harmony!
Рукописи не горят - Manuscripts don’t burn.
Сила есть, ума не надо - Brawns instead of brains.
Спасение утопающих - дело рук самих утопающих - If you are drowing you are on your own. It’s sink or swim.
Так жить нельзя - We can’t go on like this. We can’t go on living like this.
Театр одного актёра - One man show.
Трудно быть Богом - It’s hard to be God.
Это тебе не «хухры-мухры» - This is not rocket size.
А, всё-таки, она вертится! - And yet it moves!
Факты - упрямая вещь! - Facts are stubborn things.
Хотели как лучше, а получилось как всегда - We tried our best, you know the rest.
Будь в теме! - Stay current! Stay tuned!

http://naturesoundsfor.me/

Вы можете использовать эту страницу чтобы слушать звуки природы пока читаете, медитируете или просто ради удовольствия.

 «Puttin' On The Ritz»


If you're blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where fashion sits
Puttin' on the Ritz
Different types who wear a day coat pants with stripes and cutaway coat perfect fits
Puttin' on the Ritz
Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper
Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper (super duper)
Come let's mix where Rockefellers walk with sticks or um-ber-ellas in their mitts
Puttin' on the Ritz 

Have you seen the well-to-do
Up and down Park Avenue
On that famous thoroughfare
With their noses in the air
High hats, and arrow collars
White spats, and lots of dollars
Spending every dime
For a wonderful time 

[Repeat 1st verse] 

Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper
Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper (super duper)
If you're blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where fashion sits
Puttin' on the Ritz
Puttin' on the Ritz
Puttin' on the Ritz
Puttin' on the Ritz 

(Down-town, up-town, get your kicks at the Ritz)
(Dine 'n' wine, but not 'til nine, the time is right for us to tonight)
(We can move, move to the rhythm, you can) 

(Move...dance to the rhythm, nice and easy) 

(I wantcha to move) 

(Puttin' it on, puttin' it on, puttin' it on, puttin' it on the R - I -T - Z, how 'bout you and me, says) 

(Gotta dance...) (Gotta dance) 

(If you're blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where fashion sits)
(Puttin' on the Ritz...)

 

 

Role-plays give students the opportunity to demonstrate how to use English in real life situations and make them focus more on communication than on grammar. Role-play activities can be a lot of fun however a class full of shy students may be reluctant to participate so it is important to know your students.

How To Proceed

1. 1

   Regardless of what type of role-play you intend to do, it is imperative that students feel comfortable with the necessary structures and vocabulary.
   This makes role-plays ideal for the final lesson on a particular topic. If students perform well, move on to the next chapter and if students struggle, address any mistakes in the following lesson. The feedback given in any role-play lesson should be primarily positive and focus on pronunciation, acting, and creativity. Role-plays are about encouraging your students and building their self confidence.

2. 2

   Mini-role plays can be done in any lesson as a practice activity.
   Rather than just practice the model dialogue in pairs or groups, encourage students to be creative and use props to better reflect a real life situation. Students should have some space to move about the classroom and be given extra time to practice. If the model dialogue is four to six sentences total, a practice activity in pairs may take five minutes with only two or three demonstrations while a mini-role play of the same length may take ten to fifteen minutes to prepare with about ten minutes for performances. This activity can even be done in the same lesson as the introduction and drilling of a new topic if your students have a good understanding of the new material.

3. 3

   Role-plays can also take an entire lesson especially if students are put in groups instead of in pairs.
   A lesson such as this would be ideal after several lessons on the same topic. A directions themed role play might be best in groups of three or four where each student must say a minimum of three or four lines. Structuring the activity in this way will give your students some easy guidelines to follow. You can prepare your students by explaining the activity at the end of a class, placing them in their groups, and asking them to think about what they would like to do. Suggest that they bring in any props they would like to use and try to provide some if possible. In the next class, quickly review the target material before splitting the class into groups and dedicate half of the time to practice with the remaining half being for performances. If your students are really eager to perform, ensure that every group gets an opportunity to present their role-play to the class even if it means performing during the next lesson as well. If students are reluctant, then have only the groups that volunteer present.

4. 4

   Role-plays can be used as end of term projects for intermediate and advanced students.
   At this stage in their studies, they have sufficient knowledge to draw upon to enact real life situations and can get really creative. It is important to decide how you plan to grade your students so that you can explain it to them before they get started. If the project is worth one hundred points, you can break it into sections such as creativity, pronunciation, acting, attitude/enthusiasm, script, etc and assign a point value to each section. Four sections are probably enough. Perhaps each group of students can be assigned a different chapter of your textbook or a different theme. This project would take many lessons. There would be one class where you introduce the project, split the class into groups, and let students brainstorm followed by classes for script development, practice sessions, and final performances. A good method of checking the progress of each group is to have script submissions once or twice before the final performance. The first submission can be to correct grammar and the second submission should be the final script. This will ensure that students can take chances and push their abilities, prevent them from practicing incorrect material, and verify that they are making progress on the project.

Role-plays can be immensely time consuming and require some real planning and structure but are generally easy to conduct once started. Students who struggle with English exams may finally get their opportunity to shine while students who generally perform well on exams will be challenged to prove their abilities in another way. Role-plays are less stressful than preparing for exams and enjoyable for both teachers and students.

When it comes to speaking, confidence is the key, password, login and biometric security that students need in order to succeed at speaking with ease. Once a student builds the confidence to speak, their abilities begin to improve at breakneck pace. Students who lack confidence are the ones who stumble and resort to their L1, and develop a fear of making mistakes that manifests itself if not ironed out quickly.

As a teacher, you cannot magically click a button and provide the students with the confidence to speak, but you can be there to encourage them to build their confidence by trying a few new little tricks, or even something as simple as nodding your head and smiling a little bit more.

No matter what lengths are taken, the foundations of succinct, accurate and fluent speech are through a high level of confidence. This article will take a look at some of the methods to help students speak by opening the door to some of the untapped confidence that lies within. Here’s a few of the best that we could think of.

How to Proceed

1. 1

   Forget the errors; just be happy that they’re speaking

   Yeah! See how well they’re speaking? Yes it may not be accurate or fluent, but hell, sure enough they are using English! Sure, they may be speaking in purely the present simple, but hey, keep sitting back smiling and nodding, and you will do wonders with helping the student cross the first hurdle of building their confidence with speaking.

2. 2

   Give them easy topics that they know a lot about... Them!

   We all love to do it, recalling an amusing story about our lives in our home country, telling a tall tale about teaching a government minister or even the introduction class where we get the students to ask us questions. The most familiar topic anyone can talk about is oneself. We do it, they can too.

3. 3

   Provide the cues, give them the ideas

   One of the things that I like to do is draw a diagram that outlines me. In the middle of the board is a little stick figure of me, leading out to all of the influences in my life. The best way to describe it is like a mind-map, but I prefer to call this a “life map”. The life map allows students to see influences, likes, dislikes in their life and then give them the necessary cues to speak about themselves.

4. 4

   If the cues fail, give ‘em the outline

   If the visual cues fail, give the students a virtual template to work off. The teacher can simply write the language and the structures on the whiteboard for the students to fill in with the appropriate words.

5. 5

   Take them for a walk on the wild side, outside their comfort zone

   If the potential is there or the student’s skill is just lying underneath the surface, one of the ways I like to deal with that is to push the students a little bit harder and chip away at what’s underneath the service. I love pushing students to the best of their abilities, and if there is a mere inkling of the confidence, I will be there to prod and poke it as much as I can. I love to give little challenges to my students such as talking for 30 seconds or a minute non-stop on a topic. This seemingly difficult activity will make life so much easier when it comes to speaking about the simple things.

6. 6

   Listen to the real deal

   Sure enough, students who have been away from the English language for a while, only need to listen to a dialogue before they begin to grab their confidence by the horns and take it for a ride. A good dialogue that clearly outlines the language can be used as a starting point, while providing students with a chance to “mimic” the accent and the style. The more “brave” students will quickly take to the task and instantly pick up on some of the key vocabulary, while adding their own personality into replicating the dialogue.

7. 7

   Smile, be patient, and smile again!

   No matter how many different activities that you try with your student, nothing beats a smile when it comes to unlocking the confidence. A smile provides the students with positive reassurance to keep at it and give them a positive outlook on what they can perceive as being the impossible task of speaking a foreign language.

If you follow these steps, we’re sure that you will succeed in providing your students with the key to unlocking their inner confidence, which is one of the major factors in speaking English with confidence.

How to get everyone speaking in a multilevel class is a question that plagues ESL teachers.

You can try role plays, and that works to some degree, but shy students and those with less fluency won’t participate at the level teachers would like. Group discussions can be hit or miss. One solution for the multilevel class is theStrategic Interaction Method. This method combines group discussion with role play and class discussion to encourage stress free participation from students at all levels.

How to Get Everyone Involved

1. 1

   The Scenario

   Strategic Interaction begins with a scenario. This scenario is a real life situation in which your students will be required to use language to solve a problem. Though a group of students will receive each scenario’s information, only one person will perform the assigned role during the performance stage. Each group’s information about the scenario is different. They do have shared information about the situation, but each group also receives information specific to the role assigned to that group, that is the personal agenda of the role that group will be fulfilling. This situation and conflicting agendas will create tension between the roles and a conflict which needs to be resolved.

2. Rehearsal

   Students are given time in group discussion to determine the strategies they will use in the performance stage. Though only one student will actually be performing the interaction, all students can participate in the rehearsal phase and give advice to the performer. By discussing strategies in groups, students who are not confident enough to perform a role play in front of the class can participate in a less intimidating environment offering valuable input to the group and learning from others the language needed to accomplish their goal.

3. 3

   Performance

   One student from each group will participate in the performance stage. Remember that at this point neither group knows the agenda of the other, and each participant has his own agenda to accomplish. Students must use language in strategic ways to try and achieve their goals. The goal of the different roles will be at odds with each other, so students must decide if and when to compromise on their goals. At any point during the interaction, the person playing the role can pause the interaction and consult with his or her group for advice and input. This gives strategic interaction an advantage over the simple role play. Students playing the roles are freed from the need to know all the answers and students at all fluency levels can participate in giving advice. Still, all students are using realistic language to resolve a conflict.

4. 4

   Debriefing

   After the performance, conduct a debriefing. Debriefing is the only part of the activity that happens with the entire class. In the debriefing stage, the teacher should lead a discussion about the interaction. You can encourage students to offer opinions about successful communication strategies or unsuccessful ones, and provide an opportunity for students to ask questions about any part of the interaction. In addition, during debriefing students can share alternative resolutions to the situations and share how they could have been achieved. Students find the freedom to express their personal opinions in this stage even though they may not have been able to perform the role play.

5. 5

   Possible Scenarios

   In any scenario you use, each role should have an agenda in conflict with the agenda of the other role. Here are two possible scenarios you can use with your students. You can also easily write your own as long as each the two agendas create tension in the situation.

   Scenario One: This scenario between two friends puts the participants in a tense situation, each reticent to tell the other the full truth of what has happened. 
   Role A: You borrowed your friend’s car to pick your significant other from the airport. Because you parked the car illegally, it was towed. You do not have money to get the car back from the towing agency. You are about to meet with the friend who leant you the car. 
   Role B: Although you know your friend can be irresponsible at times, his/her significant other was flying into town and you were unavailable to pick that person up. Instead you loaned your car to your friend. Thankfully, your friend did not have any accidents. Because you have some unpaid parking tickets, the police would impound your car if anything had happened. You do not have money to get your car back if something like that happens. You are about to meet your friend and get your car back.

   Scenario Two: In this situation, each of the participants has pressure to achieve an outcome in opposition to the other participant. 
   Role A: You are a teacher who has gotten much criticism for giving too many students A’s. You are on a program this semester to only give A’s to the top five students in your class. If you fail to be more restrictive in giving high grades, you may lose your job. 
   Role B: You are a senior in college and have achieved a 4.0 up until this semester. Every other semester when you have failed to get an A, your professor has allowed you to do makeup work or retake tests to improve your grade to an A. You are about to graduate and do not want your perfect record spoiled. You are about to meet with the only teacher who did not give you an A this semester. Try and get him/her to change your grade.

As you can see, strategic interaction is one of the easiest ways to get everyone in your multilevel class speaking. By taking away pressure and embarrassment and giving students the support of their group, you can get everyone in your class speaking today.

7 Ways to Turn the Boring Coursebook into Engaging Speaking Tasks

ROLE-PLAYS WARMERS:

Neighbors

Give each student a piece of paper.

Tell the students that each one is to draw a house on his or her paper. They are to work alone. When the houses are drawn, they are to fold the papers in two so that the houses cannot be seen. The papers are collected, placed in the center of the table, and shuffled. Each student then picks one and unfolds it. Now ask the students, one at a time, to describe in detail the house on the paper each has chosen. Ask them to describe the occupants of the house, the furniture in the"house, the colors used in the different rooms, the location of the house, and any other details they can think of. Next, arrange all the drawings face up on the table. Ask each student to choose one that he or she likes and write his or her name on the back of it. There should be only one name on each drawing.

Then have the class, working together, arrange the houses in groups of three. (If the number of drawings is not divisible by three, one or two groups may have four houses.) Let the students develop their own criteria for grouping the houses. Provide no more guidance than "houses that you think go together well." When the sets of houses are formed, ask those whose names appear on the drawings to sit together and create a three-minute skit that illustrates or depicts the relationships among the "neighbors" who live in the three (or four) houses. Have each group present its skit to the group.

Complete The Dialogue

SS complete a dialogue in pairs using their imagination. Then they act it out in front of the class. Which dialogue was the best? (vote)

Collaborate with your students on a list of famous people, including movie stars, politicians, athletes, and artists.

Have every student choose a famous person, and put them in pairs to interview each other. Make it competitive by having a vote for the best-performed interview afterwards. Or use an MP3 player to record their interviews and then play them for everyone to enjoy!

You Are What You Will

Tell the class that they are to imagine another life.

In this new life they can take the form of an animal, a plant, or an object. The one form they cannot take is that of a human being. Give them a few minutes to think about what they would like to be. Then ask the students, one at a time, to tell what they are and to describe themselves. Encourage the other students to ask anything they like about the new personality, its function, background, feelings, and so on. After the students have revealed and described their new identities, conduct a general feedback discussion. Help the students to analyze what they have learned about themselves and one another and about human aspirations in general. You may also want to elicit discussion of possible contrasts between the students' "new life" and "real life" identities in terms of such criteria as age, sex, nationality, or any others that may show up in the course of the lesson.

Act It Out

Act it out. Hand out plots.

Pupils write the script and act it out:

The Fire. Detective or journalist interviews witnesses (one of whom may be a suspect) about what they saw/heard/did. (The Fire can be changed to a Bizarre Noise, Disappearance, Murder, Theft etc). Lots of questions and past simple.

The Hold-up. Group of gangsters planning a hold-up. "Stop. Now it’s two days after the hold-up and you’re all in prison. Now discuss what actually happened, whose fault etc." Could be a Hi-jacking.

Television Interview. Filmstar, politician, sportsperson etc.

The Amnesiac. Student A is in bed in hospital, having lost his memory. The other Students are medical staff, police officers, visitors (family, friends etc) who try to bring memory back. They must be careful. A shock could be fatal.

Teachers’ Meeting. Teachers discuss imaginary students to decide who should continue next year. One teacher is the ‘chairman’ and has a list of students ("Now we’ll discuss Erika...")

The Neighbour. A neighbour who needs to sleep or revise etc knocks on door and complains about the noise from a party.

The Small Ad. For sale/To rent/Friendship. Student A has seen a classified ad in the paper. Student A decides for herself the subject of the ad. She then chooses any other student (Student B, who has placed the ad) and calls her about it. "I'm calling about your ad for a live-in nanny..."

The Hypochondriac. Student A is a hypochondriac determined to have as many pills as possible. He consults Student B who is a doctor strongly averse to giving out pills willy-nilly.

The Clairvoyant. Student A consults a clairvoyant. Asks questions about lover, money, health etc. (Useful for practice of future.) Directions. A young girl stops passers-by in the street and asks for help/directions in finding an address.

The Tourist. Student A goes to another country (or planet) and calls home to tell Student B all about it.

The Answering Machine. Student A calls B and gets answering machine (B’s voice). Leaves message.

Do your students struggle to write with detail? Are their descriptions limited, lacking in specifics or uninformative?

If so, you can help your students write more engaging and elaborate pieces by teaching the following strategies for elaboration.

Elaboration: 7 Writing Strategies

1. 1

   Describe a Place in Detail

   It is easy for any writer to mention a place without really telling the reader much about it. Encourage your students to go back through a piece they have written and look for a mention of a place. There may be a personal narrative or story that he was writing when he got so enthusiastic about the plot that he quickly mentioned some place that he did not describe with detail. Have your student go back and write a paragraph describing only that place. It might be where the story takes place like a forest or a school. It might be a place where the main character dreams of going, like camping or skiing. Regardless, explain to your student that adding more information about that place makes his writing more interesting and helps the reader picture himself in that place. Make sure your students know that it is okay to return to a prior piece of writing to add that kind of detail. Describing a place helps the reader put himself in the story with greater ease, and it makes the characters and event more real.

2. 2

   Use Specific Words to Paint Pictures

   Look at the following examples:
   
      • I went to the mailbox.
      • I ran to the mailbox.
      • I staggered to the mailbox.
      • I plodded to the mailbox.
   
   In each sentence, the speaker is going to the mailbox, but the images are quite different. With the first sentence, the reader does not get a clear picture in her mind. She does not know how the person felt or how his body was moving. Each of the other examples gives the reader a more complete picture of how the person felt and acted. Show your students these examples and ask them which one they think is boring writing. They will say that the first is boring. Then ask them how they would describe the writing in the other sentences. They will probably say it is interesting, specific or good. Ask your students if they would rather write boring or interesting pieces. They will say they would rather write interesting ones. Then encourage them that by using specific words, the writer paints a clear picture and does not have boring writing. When you are talking about using specific words, it is a good time to explain to your students how a thesaurus works. Show them that by looking up one word like happy, they can find many other ways to express that emotion to paint a clearer picture: content, joyful, blissful, cheery, fortunate, etc. The more specific the word that she uses, the clearer the picture becomes in the reader’s mind. Divide your class into pairs or small groups and have them share a piece that they have written with their partners. Then ask their groups to point out places where they do not get a clear picture from what is written. Give students time to revise their pieces and then share with their groups again.

3. 3

   Show How Something Feels, Smells, Tastes, Sounds or Looks

   Showing not telling is the key to writing with elaboration. Place a simple common object in front of your class, like an apple, and ask them to describe it. After they have given some description, ask them to describe how the apple feels. Then ask them to describe how it smells. Ask how they think it tastes. Go through each of the five senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, touch) and ask for a specific description of the apple for each category. Show your students by focusing on one of the senses at a time, they can provide a much more detailed and therefore interesting description. Give your students a little practice in class by asking them to think of a specific object and describe that object in terms of each of the five senses. They should write their descriptions down on a piece of paper. When finished, have students exchange papers and try to guess what the other person’s object might be. Were they right? Did the writer give detailed description for each of the five senses?

4. 4

   Compare Two Different Things Through Simile or Metaphor

   A simile is a phrase that compares two things using the words like or as.
      • He is as excited as a puppy.
      • The girl is like a spinning top.
   Both of these phrases compare a person to another object.
   A metaphor, on the other hand, compares two things by saying that one is the other.
      • They boy was an excited puppy running around the room.
      • The girl was a spinning top unable to stay still.
   
   Inspire your students’ creativity by challenging them to write similes and metaphors for some of their favorite characters from literature or television shows. You may also want to have them describe each other (though only do this if you are sure no one will be offended). Tell them that using similes and metaphors in their writing helps the reader associate the written piece with something that they already know. This association makes the written piece more real and engaging for that reader.

5. 5

   Use the Exact Thoughts or Words from a Person

   If you have taught your students how to use quotations, they will be well prepared for this elaboration strategy. Using a person’s exact words is usually more interesting than a paraphrase in writing. Encourage your students to use quotations from the people they know when writing their personal narratives. If your students are writing fiction, ask them to imagine what they would say in the situation about which they are writing. Then have them use those exact words for their stories. You can find more information on teaching about quotations here on busyteacher.org in the ESL essentials section.

6. 6

   Describe How Someone or Something Moves

   This elaboration strategy ties into using specific vocabulary (strategy #2). With a focus on movement, encourage your students to use specific verbs rather than using adverbs. Instead of saying, “He ran to the mailbox quickly,” say, “He dashed to the mailbox.” Instead of saying, “She cried hard all night,” say “She sobbed all night.” Using specific verbs rather than a verb plus adverb combination paints a better picture for your reader and helps the author show rather than tell in his or her writing. Let your students know that this is a strategy that professional writers use to make their writing more descriptive. To practice, have your students take a piece of their writing and circle all of the adverbs. Then have them replace the verb plus adverb combination with a more specific verb. How many of the adverbs were they able to replace?

7. 7

   Show Someone’s Feelings Through What He Does

   Show don’t tell, the professional writer’s motto, applies to more than just good verb usage. It is the cornerstone to good writing. A strong writer will communicate his character’s feelings through her actions. Instead of writing, “She was depressed,” encourage your students to show those feelings to their readers by writing about the character’s actions. She grabbed the last tissue from the box and dabbed her eyes. She threw it on the floor with the others. She did not change out of her pajamas all day, and she sat in front of the television not even changing the channel though she had no interest in the program that was on.
   This activity may be challenging to your students, but the final product is worth the effort it took to create it. They say that actions speak louder than words, and when it comes to descriptive writing, it is true.

These are seven proven strategies you can teach your students to produce strong, detailed writing.

You can teach them to your students one at a time or take a day and go through all of them. Either way, the more your students learn about elaboration in writing, the better writers they will become.

BUSYTEACHER