These pages consist of a series of activities for teachers to use with classes, and notes to support these.

The activities aim to help students enjoy and understand the texts, focusing on their purposes, the contexts in which they are set, their structures and the writers' use of language. The activities are divided into four sections, Before reading, After reading, Detailed study and Extension. However, within each section you can change the order in which you use the activities, and you can leave some of them out. You can also adapt the activities (for example to make them longer or shorter) according to the level and interests of the students.

Most activities involve discussion between students. This discussion can take place between the whole class if the class is small (say, less than 8 students). With a larger class, you may want students to work in groups of 3-5 on the discussion activities, simply comparing results together at the end.

Longer pieces of writing may be done in class or may be set for homework. You may choose to give students the opportunity to exchange and discuss their ideas before they begin writing. You may want to impose a time limit or a word limit on the writing, or you may leave this up to the students. When it has been completed, you may want to get students to read out what they have written or to read each other's work in silence.

It is envisaged that students will have a good level of English and an interest in modern literature.

I have had fun writing these activities and I am grateful to my students for trying them out and giving me suggestions. I hope you and your students have fun with them too!

The New Writing 13 Teachers' pages were written by Martin Parrott.