Ezra Salzman-Gubbay and Kazuyo Yoshida

Five-Square Writing: Developing Good Writing Habits Ezra Salzman-Gubbay and Kazuyo Yoshida JHS—Writing Masuho Junior High School, Oamishirasato Grade Level and Number of Students: JHS 1st-3rd years, 30 students Materials: five-square writing worksheets, blank five-square posters, sentence strips w/magnets Objective: SWBAT develop and organize their thoughts to write coherent compositions

Five-square writing is a process that is optimally executed over several lessons. It becomes more effective when used over the course of students’ three years in JHS. Teachers can adapt the activity to focus on different grammar points and skill levels e.g. self-introduction (first person conjugation with basic verbs) or interviewing teachers and writing about them (third person conjugation with more advanced vocabulary). The following steps will cover the latter topic and will take approximately two class periods to complete.

Summary: 1. Explain activity to appropriate teachers and request their cooperation in being interviewed for this activity.

2. From a previous lesson, students will already be familiar with the five-square writing layout: one square for an introduction, and a square each for three thematic body paragraphs. The fifth square is a space to consolidate the paragraphs into a single writing composition. Please refer to attached worksheet for a better sense of the layout.

3. Divide class into groups of three to four students. Choose group leaders to assist with coordination. Assign each group a teacher to present on.

4. ALT gives an example presentation on a teacher in the school (the JTE is a good choice). Students take notes and gather as much information as they can. The ALT should read her composition at least twice (once at natural speed and once slowly).

5. The JTE asks students for information they gathered. The JTE writes these snippets in Japanese on a large version of a blank five-square writing worksheet. The JTE will be familiar with how the composition is organized, and should put the snippets in the appropriate squares as students share.

6. Meanwhile, the ALT will attach large strips, each with a single sentence from the composition, to the blackboard with magnets (very easy if using magnetic tape). Sentences should be out of order.

7. JTE/ALT guide students through recreating the composition, referring to the large five-square writing worksheet to show how all the information about a single topic gets organized together, the broadest information leading to more detailed information. ALT moves the strips into order as students tell her what comes next.

8. Keeping in mind the kind of composition they want to write, students formulate interview questions for their teachers and imagine how they will organize the information they get in a five paragraph essay. Before the following class, students interview their assigned teacher and ask follow up questions for more information.

9. In the following class, students outline the information they want to use on their five-square writing worksheet, finally consolidating the information in a completed English composition in square five.

10. During this period, JTE/ALT should ask questions aimed at encouraging students to develop their ideas with further relevant information. E.g. “Oh, you like music? What’s your favorite band? Do you play an instrument?” Students will learn to ask themselves these same types of questions. Writing about someone else presents a useful opportunity to replicate that process. Preparing interview questions and following up for more information indirectly improves students’ abilities to excavate their own minds for further relevant information when writing. No.2 Topic Our School Teachers (増穂中学校の先生を紹介します！） Square 2 Square 3 （教科・出身・家族など）（趣味・好きなもの／人／ことなどその１） ○ ○

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Square 1 Topic: I'm going to tell you about .

Square 4 Square 5 （趣味・好きなもの／人／ことなどその２・感想など） Summary of Square 1, 2, 3 and 4 （Square 1～Square 4 をまとめよう。） ○

・ Yoshiemon's Pocket

【Useful Words】 ○do 動詞・live in ~（～に住んでいる）・teach（教える）・come to school by ~ （～で学校に来る）・cook（料理する）・make（作る）・walk（散歩する）・draw（絵を描く）・listen to（～を聞く）・read books（本を読む）・watch TV（テレビを見る）・watch movies（映画を見る）

○人・動物など・singer（歌手）・song（歌）・actor（俳優）・cat（ネコ）・dog（犬）・bird（鳥）・fish（魚）

○感想の言葉など・kind（親切な）・funny（おもしろい）・energetic（活発な）

【Useful Expressions】・have ~ people in his(her) family（～人家族）・He(She) is good at～.（～が得意）＊わからない単語が出てきた時は，先生に聞こう！ How do you say ○○ in English? How do you spell ～?