How to Teach Writing Without Making It Boring | TEFL Tips & Activities - S01E15

✍️ How do you make writing fun in an English lesson?In this episode of How to English with Gav & Em, we look at practical ways to teach and practise writing — without always asking students to sit down and write a long essay!We explore everything from emails, WhatsApp messages and levels of formality to running dictations, collaborative stories, reviews, exam writing and business English. We also look at why good writing matters in everyday communication — especially when one small language mistake can completely change the meaning of a message.Along the way, Em introduces Gav to running dictation and the wonderfully named “exquisite corpse”, while Gav shares ideas for practising emails in class. We also get into storytelling, narrative tenses, linking words, punctuation and how to help students recognise the difference between formal and informal writing.Whether you're an English teacher looking for classroom ideas or an English learner wanting to improve your writing, there should be something here you can put into practice.🌐 More from How to English:howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com☕ Support Gav & Em on Ko-fi:ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpodYour support helps us keep making the podcast — and might even buy Gav a coffee or Em a tea! 📚 In this episode:• Why writing isn't just essays and long texts• Emails, messages and real-world writing• How misunderstandings happen in written English• Paper email activities for the classroom• Running dictation• Collaborative story-writing games• Reviews, exam writing and Business English• Templates and useful language for real situations• Linking words and more sophisticated writing• Storytelling and narrative tenses• Formal vs informal English• Analysing emails with students• Spelling, grammar and punctuation• Writing arguments and essaysReferences: Outlook email: https://outlook.live.comGmail email: https://mail.google.com/A running dictation: https://comprehensibleclassroom.com/2011/06/29/running-dictation/#:~:text=Running%20Dictation%20in%20a%20nutshell,where%20a%20secretary%20transcribes%20it.Exquisite corpse game: https://www.eslprintables.com/writing_worksheets/other_writing_worksheets/Exquisite_Corpse_Collaborati_806468/Skype: https://www.skype.com/en/WhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com/Messenger: https://www.messenger.com/Email style: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/business-english/email-styleOne stop English (not first stop): https://www.onestopenglish.com/⏱️ Timestamps00:00 – Welcome & what does “What’s up?” actually mean?01:45 – How to Writing: why students avoid writing03:00 – Writing isn't just essays04:00 – Emails, WhatsApp messages & communication problems05:00 – When “I need to cancel” goes very wrong06:00 – Paper emails: a classroom writing activity07:00 – Formality, style & different kinds of messages08:00 – Running dictation explained10:00 – Making running dictation competitive11:00 – “Consequences” / Exquisite Corpse writing game12:00 – Creative writing & supporting lower-level learners13:00 – Reviews, exams & real-life writing tasks14:00 – Business English writing + Ko-fi15:00 – Reports, apologies & practical writing16:00 – Postcards, requests & building writing confidence17:00 – Templates and useful language18:00 – Linking words & conjunctions19:00 – Storytelling and narrative tenses20:00 – Past perfect: making stories more interesting21:00 – Why formality and appropriateness matter22:00 – Formal vs informal writing23:00 – Analysing emails with students24:00 – Summarising emails & writing subject lines25:00 – Writing tools, apps & punctuation26:00 – Essays, arguments & paragraph structure27:00 – Final writing tips & what Gav and Em write28:00 – Outro🎙️ How to English with Gav & Em — a podcast about teaching and learning English as a foreign language.