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 Paraphrasing ESL Lesson Plan [Free PDF]Table of Contents IntroductionThe ability to paraphrase is a crucial skill for English language learners as it helps them to express ideas in their own words, improve comprehension, and develop their writing skills. In this ESL lesson plan, students will learn the art of paraphrasing, understand its importance in effective communication, and practice using various techniques to rephrase sentences and passages. This topic is essential for ESL learners as it not only enhances their language proficiency but also encourages critical thinking and creativity in language use. Vocabulary BuildingContextual UsageEsl warm-up activity. To kick off the lesson on paraphrasing, start with a fun activity called “Word Swap.” Prepare a list of common phrases or sentences and write them on separate cards. Then, provide each student with a card and ask them to paraphrase the phrase or sentence in their own words. Encourage them to focus on using synonyms and rephrasing the content creatively. This activity not only sets the tone for the lesson but also gets students actively thinking about how to express ideas differently using language elements relevant to paraphrasing. Main ESL Lesson ActivitiesVocabulary activity: synonym match, listening exercise: paraphrase the dialogue. Play a short dialogue or audio clip for the students, then provide them with a transcript. Ask them to work in pairs to paraphrase the dialogue, focusing on expressing the same ideas using different words. Afterward, facilitate a class discussion where each pair shares their paraphrased version, promoting listening comprehension and collaborative learning. Roleplay: Paraphrasing ScenariosWriting task: paraphrasing practice. Provide students with a short passage or article and ask them to individually paraphrase it while maintaining its original meaning. Encourage them to focus on using diverse vocabulary and sentence structures. After completion, facilitate a peer review session where students can exchange and provide feedback on each other’s paraphrased versions, promoting independent thinking and constructive criticism. ESL Homework AssignmentReflecting on what they have learned, students can apply these skills in their language development by enhancing their vocabulary, improving their writing skills, and developing critical thinking abilities. Paraphrasing not only helps students express ideas more clearly but also encourages originality in their language use. Why this topic is great for ESL learningEnhances language proficiency, promotes critical thinking. Paraphrasing requires students to think critically and analyze the meaning of the original text. They need to understand the context and rephrase it using different words while maintaining the same meaning. This promotes critical thinking skills and encourages students to engage with the content on a deeper level. Encourages CreativityImproves communication skills. Overall, the Paraphrasing ESL Lesson Plan is an excellent topic for ESL learning as it enhances language proficiency, promotes critical thinking, encourages creativity, and improves communication skills. By mastering the art of paraphrasing, students become more confident and proficient in their English language abilities. Post navigation Ethan Frome ESL Lesson Plan [Free PDF] Charlotte's Web ESL Lesson Plan [Free PDF]Your browser is not supportedSorry but it looks as if your browser is out of date. To get the best experience using our site we recommend that you upgrade or switch browsers. Find a solution
Advancing Learning
Advancing Learning: Empowering students with paraphrasing strategiesBy Judy Alden
Paraphrasing is a skill that is often assessed in exams. Experienced teacher and assessment writer Judy Alden examines how to teach it, offering practical tips and techniques you can take straight to the classroom. IntroductionAs English Language teachers, one of our core aims is to teach our learners how to express themselves. And I’m sure, like myself, you receive a great deal of satisfaction when your learners are able to reproduce the language that you’ve taught them. But what else can we do to avoid learners simply sticking to the script? The answer is quite simple: we need to demonstrate the power of paraphrasing in the classroom. Paraphrasing is an essential skill that helps learners develop their communicative ability beyond their existing knowledge of language. In other words, it’s an empowering skill that enables learners to keep learning new words or phrases similar to the ones they already know. This is why in this article we’re going to look at a paraphrasing technique, activities to encourages students to paraphrase, and how paraphrasing is often a skill that is assessed in exams in all the subskills. Synonyms for all levelsTeaching synonyms is a straightforward technique that can be adapted to all levels of learners. In fact, it’s probably one of the first strategies used with lower level learners to start expanding their vocabulary. For example, when teaching the A2 word ‘ grandmother ’ the synonyms ‘ grandma, granny, gran, nanna, nan ’ can also be taught since they are the informal versions of ‘grandmother’ which native speakers would tend to use. With higher level students, you can use the same approach but with a more complex word bank of synonyms. Learners at all levels need to identify and separate which synonyms are formal ( green ) and which are informal ( blue ).  Rather than teaching students how to express something with one word, think about having them build up sets of synonyms. Then learners will know how to create their own word banks of linking words that have similar meanings so they can express themselves in a variety of ways right from the start. Four paraphrasing activitiesAs every teacher knows, having a toolkit of ideas keeps things fresh in the classroom. So how can we encourage our students to use paraphrasing strategies in the classroom on an ongoing basis? One way to achieve this is to include learner-centred ice-breakers to target this skill. Here are four ice-breakers that you might want to try or adapt for your learners. Social Butterfly (speaking)This ice-breaker focuses on paraphrasing when answering questions at an imaginary party. Elicit a few questions from your learners and write down a list of question prompts they need to ask people (e.g. …name? …age? …hobbies? …free time? …last holiday? etc). Then tell learners that they must go and mingle. Encourage them to be ’social butterflies’ and speak to as many people as possible in the allotted time (five minutes). When they mingle, they must take turns asking and answering the questions. Let learners know that whenever someone answers a question, they must say either ‘ Pardon? ’ or ‘ Sorry? ’ to prompt their partner to rephrase what they have said. You might want to write one or two examples up on the board. For example, What’s your name? My name ’s Kasia. I’m called Kasia. What do you like doing in your free time? I usually go swimming or visit my friends . I like going for a swim or hanging out with my mates . To create a party-like environment, you could play music while learners complete the task. While the activity is taking place, monitor and record good examples of paraphrasing, then go over them as a whole group. Full Picture (reading & speaking)To avoid having this jigsaw reading task become a detailed reading task, text selection is essential for this five-minute ice-breaker. Choose a brief, three-paragraph text that has a clear beginning, middle and end – a text about a sequence of events, for example, works well for this type of task. Then place learners into groups of three and give each student a different paragraph. If possible, put each paragraph on different colour card. Give the class one minute to read their paragraphs without writing down any notes. When time’s up, they must place their texts face down. For the next three minutes, each teammate has about a minute to tell their team what their paragraph said, so they can decide on the order of the paragraphs. For the final minute, ask teams to give reasons for their decisions. This will encourage learners to further paraphrase their texts before you, finally, ask teams to turn the texts over and check if they figured out the correct order. Back to the Board (listening & speaking)Back to the Board is an ice-breaker that can be adapted for all ages and levels and is an excellent student-centred approach to revising vocabulary by paraphrasing key words. To set this task up, you need to divide the class into two teams and place two chairs at the front of the class facing away from the whiteboard or Smartboard. You’ll also need a list of vocabulary learnt in previous sessions and a scoreboard. Nominate one person from each team to sit with their backs to the board. Once they are seated, emphasise that they mustn’t peek! Then, write one word from your list on the board. Ask the class to describe the word on the board. The first person with their backs to the board to shout out the correct word earns a point for their team. Have a new pair come up, and keep repeating the process until you complete the list of words. The team with the most points wins. It’s always a good idea to demonstrate at least one example before nominating the first two students:
Message Trail (writing)A very quick writing task to encourage learners to paraphrase when they write is called Message Trail. This ice-breaker is easy to prepare – all you need are four sentences targeting vocabulary and structures previously learnt in class. Put learners into groups of four and give each person a piece of paper that has a different sentence. Tell learners they need to change one word in the message so that it still has the same meaning then pass the message to the person on their left. Keep passing and rephrasing the messages until the teams run out of ideas of how to paraphrase the sentences. Finally, have each team read out their final sentence to compare the types of paraphrases they came up with. The team with the most paraphrases that still reflects the meaning of the first sentence wins. It’s also a good idea to do one example with the class. For example: I rarely have enough time to clean my room. I hardly ever have enough time to clean my room . I hardly ever have enough time to clean my bedroom . I hardly ever have time to clean my bedroom. Only on rare occasions do I have time to clean my bedroom. Only on rare occasions do I have time to tidy up my bedroom. Paraphrasing for exam successYou’ll be doing your learners a great service by reinforcing how to paraphrase in the classroom, as it is a skill that is needed for exams from A2 onwards. For speaking assessments, for example, encouraging learners to paraphrase by rephrasing statements, questions or ideas, and saying them in a different way, results in higher marks. Many listening and reading exams often have questions that test listening or reading for detailed meaning, gist, feelings, attitudes and opinions, all of which require learners to decode paraphrases. In order to achieve this, learners need to piece together the different paraphrases they hear or read in order to arrive at the correct answer. So even at the lower end of the CEFR scale, paraphrasing comes into play. Writing exams generally award lower marks if learners simply lift vocabulary off the question paper rather than paraphrase the information provided to complete the task. For example, the new B1 Preliminary Part 1 Writing task requires learners to write an email in about 100 words using four note prompts in a situational email. Learners should always aim to rephrase the prompts and the language that appears in the email in order to receive higher marks. Importantly, they need to identify what type of information they need to write about, rephrase information in the email and add their own ideas.  For example, learners should avoid copying large segments of text that appear in the email like this: I’m really happy we’re working on the science project together too! Encourage them to paraphrase like this: I’m so glad we’re going to be partners for the science project! Hopefully, by developing your learners’ ability to paraphrase in the classroom, they’ll have the skill and confidence to perform well in exams. However, the real icing on the cake is for learners to become self-aware of the power of paraphrasing and how it can support their language learning journey. About the author Judy Alden originally comes from Vancouver and has over 18 years’ experience teaching in South East Asia and Europe. She combines being a freelance assessment writer with delivering teacher training workshops, while also writing ELT course books and materials for international publishers. As an assessment writer based in the UK, she often gets asked to produce listening assessments varying between British and American English. Judy has also written young learner assessment materials for the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education.
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©Macmillan Education Limited 2023. Company number: 1755588 VAT number: 199440621 Site powered by Webvision Cloud eslwriting.org A panoply of teaching resources. Learn Paraphrase WritingDo you want to improve your essay writing skills? If yes, learn paraphrasing. It is a skill that will upgrade your writing abilities. Here is a free six lesson e-course. This self-study course can help you write better sentences, paragraphs and essays. I promise. Who should take this e-course? Four groups of people. They are ESL students with intermediate to advanced English comprehension who:
Learn Writing SkillsThis e-course teaches six kinds of paraphrase writing skills. Each skill is taught in a separate lesson posted on eslwriting.org. Here are the six skills and links to the lessons.
What is Paraphrase Writing?Paraphrasing is a reading and writing skill. Read a sentence or paragraph and then write the same ideas using your words. Paraphrasing is not copying. Good paraphrasing shows you understand other people’s ideas and can write them in a way that makes sense to you. Paraphrasing Helps Essay WritingParaphrasing helps build writing skills in many areas. In this e-course, the English lessons will help you to:
Paraphrase writing is an important reading and writing skill for students in almost every English-speaking country. It’s hard to write a good high school or university essay without paraphrasing skills. Believe me, I know. Research and ResultsI believe paraphrasing is a great writing skill. Other people agree. Here’s an example. A paraphrasing test was done by the University of Kansas in the United States. Researchers found that students improved reading comprehension after learning paraphrasing skills. Before learning how to paraphrase, students were given a reading comprehension test. Their test score was 48 percent. After learning how to paraphrase, the reading score went up to 84 percent. That’s a big increase. (Some details about the research are available here . Download the WorksheetsRead the lessons and try the exercises. Each lesson has a link so you can download the writing worksheets. A note about printing. The worksheets are formatted for A4 page size (the standard size in Asia). Printing will work on letterhead (the US standard ) but the font might look a little small. 19 thoughts on “Learn Paraphrase Writing”
Thanks. I look forward to receiving the lessons
You’re welcome Kate. I hope you try the lessons and write some of your answers (or your students’ answers) here in the comments section. Good Morning Rob Thanks for providing these resources for free. Just what I’m looking for to prepare a Chinese class of struggling writers for a TOEFL test. Good karma to you Teaching in Japan. Hi, I am a TOEFL writing teacher in Korea, and I’ve been looking for some paraphrasing resources for my students. I think your worksheets are very well organized and explained. I am wondering if I can use the worksheets provided here in my class. Please let me know. Thank you. Awesome article. Wonderful. Let me know how to download Wanted to let you know your work is still be used — it’s perfect for TOEFL training! Thank you for your work! Now i am doing thesis for my master degree, but i am not clear how to paraphrase from the original papers or references.Can you tell me more detail about it. thanks in advance. Hi ESLwriter, I am doing my student teaching right now and I would like to use some of your worksheet. Can you please let me know how I can obtain some copies? Thank you very much for your help. I am a teacher of ESE and ELL students who is looking for an easier way to help my high school students effectively use paraphrasing in their writing. The lessons look very useful. I am trying to teach my students not to copy word for word when they are asked comprehension questions on a reading. These lessons look very useful. I am trying to teach my students not to copy word for word when they are answering comprehension questions on a reading. Hi, How can I get access to the paraphrasing worksheet? Elisa Arceri Awesome stuff After a few weeks of teaching Business Reading, I’m realizing many of my students have a bad habit of copying answers exactly from the reading materials. I find paraphrasing skills are not only good for improving writing, but also great for improving reading comprehension, therefore we’re going to take a break from topical business lessons and look at paraphrasing a bit. Thank you so much for all these resources! Leave a CommentThis site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed . 274 Rephrasing English ESL worksheets pdf & doc |
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Paraphrase activity. There are 2 passages. The phrases they have to paraphrase are underlined and numbered. The chpoices are provided. This is an excellent method for mastering the ... 1590 uses.
One of the activities that works well to illustrate the challenges of paraphrasing well is to create an activity in which students work together in groups to write paraphrases of short excerpts from texts and then give them to another group of students in the class to “paraphrase the paraphrase.”
In this ESL lesson plan, students will learn the art of paraphrasing, understand its importance in effective communication, and practice using various techniques to rephrase sentences and passages.
Paraphrasing is an essential skill that helps learners develop their communicative ability beyond their existing knowledge of language. In other words, it’s an empowering skill that enables learners to keep learning new words or phrases similar to the ones they already know.
Paraphrasing helps build writing skills in many areas. In this e-course, the English lessons will help you to: improve vocabulary power; learn different sentence patterns; expand knowledge of expressions; develop your own writing style; Paraphrase writing is an important reading and writing skill for students in almost every English-speaking ...
Rephrasing exercises with different aspects of grammar: reported speech, wish, conditionals... ideal for students of Bachillerato, or those preparing for FCE... 8380 uses.