164 Part III: Teaching Skills Classes
Figure 11-1:
A template
for a stan-
dard essay
Template 1 – Essay highlighting advantages and disadvantages.
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Topic sentence (general theme of the text)
Overview of what will follow
The advantages
Topic sentence
Advantage A
Supporting points/ examples
Advantage B
Supporting points/ examples
The disadvantages
Topic sentence
Conclusion
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 3:
Paragraph 4:
Say which view I take
Summary of the essay in different words.
Disadvantage A
Supporting points/ examples
Disadvantage B
Supporting points/ examples
You can make a practice activity worksheet out of the template by asking the
class to put each heading in the right order until they achieve the appropri-
ate layout.
If you combine this kind of template with some key vocabulary, the students
will be in a great position to complete the task effectively.
