Crafting a concise sentence begins with a strong grasp of sentence grammar and a deep understanding of modifiers.

Here are some activities that teachers can apply when teaching modifiers to students:

🧐Identifying and Categorising Modifiers

Provide sentences for students to identify and categorize modifiers (e.g., "The quickly moving car" – "quickly" as an adverb).

✏️Correcting Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Give sentences with misplaced or dangling modifiers and have students correct them (e.g., After finishing the homework, the TV was turned off → After finishing the homework, John turned off the TV).

📝Writing Sentences with Modifiers

Ask students to write simple sentences and then add modifiers (e.g., The cat sat on the mat → The fluffy cat sat lazily on the mat).

➖Creating Sentences with Compound Modifiers

Have students create sentences using compound modifiers (e.g., She is a well-known singer).

👥Group Activity to Analyze Modifiers

Provide a short passage and have students work in groups to identify and discuss modifiers used in the text.

💡Creative Writing with Modifiers

Have students write a short paragraph using at least three different modifiers (e.g., The charming, quick-witted woman).

🔄Comparing Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Modifiers

Provide examples and discuss the use of commas (e.g., The students who study regularly vs. My sister, who is a teacher, loves reading). 

My students used to dread writing.
Whenever I said, “Take out your notebooks,” I’d see the shoulders drop. For them, writing meant rigid rules, boring prompts, and red marks all over their papers.

I knew I had to change that.
So I started experimenting — Instant Writing to spark ideas without overthinking, using music and pictures to ignite creativity, turning newspapers into story fuel, even writing poetry together as a class. The result? Students began to write… and actually enjoy it.

The Teaching Writing: Engaging Young Minds resource captures this shift — from understanding writing challenges to designing activities so engaging that students forget they’re “doing an assignment” and start expressing themselves freely.

✨ Because great writing starts with wanting to write.

1. Warm-up (5 minutes)

• Activity: The teacher shows 3–4 travel pictures (beach, mountains, city, zoo).

• Task: Students answer the questions:

  • Where is it?

  • What can you do there?

• Objective: Activate vocabulary about travel destinations and activities.

2. Language Input (10 minutes)

• Activity 1: Vocabulary

  • Students learn/review phrases: go to the beach, visit the zoo, eat seafood, take a taxi, stay in a hotel…

  • Use pictures + matching game.

• Activity 2: Past Simple Grammar

  • Teacher gives a comparison table (students have already learned the Past Simple before).

  • Examples:

    • go → went

    • eat → ate

    • have → had

    • is/are → was/were

  • Practice drills with past tense forms.

3. Controlled Practice (10 minutes)

• Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks

  • “Last weekend, I ___ (go) to the beach. I ___ (eat) seafood. The weather ___ (be) sunny.”

• Exercise 2: Answer the questions (using Past Simple)

  • Where did you go last weekend?

  • What did you eat?

  • How was the weather?

4. Guided Practice (15 minutes)

• Activity: Pair work – Interview a friend

  • Students ask and answer:

    • Where did you go?

    • Who did you go with?

    • How did you go there?

    • What did you do?

    • Did you like it? Why?

  • Then, they turn the answers into 3–4 sentences about their partner.

5. Free Practice (Writing Product – 20 minutes)

• Task: Write a 6–8 sentence postcard/letter to a friend using the prompts:

  • Opening: Hi …!

  • Transport: We came here by …

  • Activities: We visited … / We ate … / We went to …

  • Opinion: It was … / The food was … / The place was …

  • Closing: See you soon!

6. Sharing & Feedback (10 minutes)

• Students read their letters to the group/class.

• Teacher chooses 1–2 samples to correct common errors (grammar, vocabulary).

• Encourage students to stick their letters on the wall to create a “Travel Wall.”

Notes for Teachers

• Scaffold gradually: short model sentences → guided writing frame → free writing.

• Encourage students to use irregular verbs to make writing more varied.

• Add small games to make writing as fun as storytelling.