How to write a "water essay"? Let's see what the award-winning teacher said →

What is "writing in the water"?

Comparing writing to swimming, one must teach others how to swim, and the teacher must be able to swim themselves; Teachers can swim, and they cannot just stand on the shore to command. To teach athletes how to swim, coaches must first demonstrate in the water, which is also derived from "writing in the water". Writing an essay on the same topic between a Chinese teacher and a student is called "writing in the water".

For teachers engaged in Chinese language teaching,

Writing a good essay can better guide students to improve their writing skills.

But how to start with "writing in the water"?

What are the issues to pay attention to in writing?

Teacher Xue Guoqing from Zhoupu Middle School Affiliated to East China Normal University

Share his insights with everyone.

Xue Guoqing:

It is necessary for teachers to provide guidance and correction for students' compositions, as well as to impart and educate them on composition theory. They can also demonstrate their writing skills through "writing in the water", but writing in the water is not easy.

Due to the different backgrounds, environments, pressures, and states of writing compared to students, language may not necessarily be more dynamic, thoughts may become clich é d, patterns and frameworks may become apparent, materials may become outdated, and the demonstration effect may not be ideal. It can be said that writing a "water essay" is different from the theoretical research of experts in writing, and also from the literary creation of writers. To write a good "water essay", it requires agile writing skills and active creative thinking, childlike innocence and sincerity, love for guiding students in writing, and more importantly, courage and broad mindedness.

The application of "writing in the water" emphasizes teaching opportunities. There are many methods for teachers to guide students in writing, stimulate their writing desire, and inspire their enthusiasm for exploring writing techniques, which vary from person to person. When teaching composition, theoretical and technical guidance should be provided first, followed by assigning questions and then chatting with everyone to help students establish a mind map that accurately examines the meaning of the questions, clarifies their thinking, collects materials, organizes structures, and organizes their writing. Sometimes, it is also possible to present a "water stirring essay" to everyone. The article will list the writing materials that the teacher can think of, help everyone open up their thinking, stimulate their writing desire, and students will have a better understanding of the essay topic, which can be tailored and constructed by themselves. When evaluating an essay, it is important to combine some representative exercises for topic review, material selection, structure, and language, and guide students based on writing theories. Finally, through the teacher's demonstration of "underwater writing," students can interpret and answer their questions, reach a consensus, and guide students to imitate the advantages of "underwater writing," modify and adjust their own compositions. This way, students can absorb their writing methods more directly, and their writing interests can be maintained. Through the teaching process of "underwater writing," the teacher will be more adept.

Xue Guoqing

Teacher Introduction

In 2019, won the Shanghai Gardener Award, won the special prize in the first "Article Cup" National Teacher's Underwater Essay Competition, and served as a judge in the third competition; Cover person of the 12th issue of the 2019 issue of the magazine "Research on Middle School Composition Teaching"; The first season of the Shanghai Youth Chinese Studies Conference is a guest commentator, and the second season of the National Finals is a guest commentator. They have their own teaching methods in guiding students in writing. I have written many essays on the same topic but different from others, with multiple articles written from different perspectives.

Text: Zhang Jingjing

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