GRADE 11A: Water Talking about the future

About this unit

This unit is designed to guide your planning and teaching of English lessons. It provides a link between the standards for English and your lesson plans. The teaching and learning activities in this unit should help you to plan the content, pace and level of difficulty of lessons. You should adapt the ideas in the unit to meet the needs of your class. You can also supplement the ideas with appropriate activities from your schools textbooks and other resources. In this unit, students explore the problems of access to water in a selection of countries and discuss ways of saving water.

UNIT 11A.13 7 hours

Resources
The main resources needed for this unit are: an information reading text about the process of desalinating water; listening text featuring a conversation between a water expert and a radio interviewer; extract from a fictional text about life on a river.

Expectations
By the end of the unit, most students will: understand and respond to explanations, persuasive arguments, debates and discussions in monologues or dialogues with two or more participants; distinguish between different varieties of English; actively participate in informal and more formal discussions; predict and describe long-term or continuous actions; describe possible scenarios in the present and future; report what people say or believe, and make clear oral presentations of processes, using the passive voice; form and present critical opinions of persuasive and discussion texts; plan and compose information and persuasive texts, and formal discussion essays of up to 350 words weighing arguments for and against an idea or issue. Students who progress further will: present critical opinions of persuasive and discussion texts with accuracy and fluency using a range of structures and vocabulary; make predictions, describe continuous and long-term actions in the future using a range of future tenses, modals and conditional structures. Students who make slower progress will: make predictions and describe future actions using future simple, modals and conditional structures.

Key structures and functions

Talking about future possibilities: the late King Hussein of Jordan identified water as the only reason that might lead to war with the Jewish state. Climate change will have an effect on water. Some regions will become drier, some will become wetter. Deserts may spread and rivers shrink, but floods will also become more frequent. Future perfect: Many rivers will have dried up by the end of the 21st century. Reported speech: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said his nation would never go to war again, except to protect its water resources. Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali warned bluntly that the next war in the area will be over water.

Vocabulary
Water problems: irrigation, demand, shortage, water scarcity, to have access to clean drinking water, potable water, etc.

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Standards for the unit

7 hours
5 hours Water issues 2 hours Saving water 11A.1.2 11A.4.1 11A.4.3 Interact in group, paired and more formal discussion: actively participate, contributing relevant opinions, examples and suggestions to the discussion; show independence by initiating new ideas and taking responsibility for keeping the discussion going. 10A.5.1 Consolidate the ability to make predictions, describe continuous or long-term actions in the future and contrast with specific actions and future states, using the future continuous, the will future and appropriate time phrases. Discuss possible scenarios in the past, present and future, based on hypothesis and supposition: 11A.5.1 11A.4.4

Unit 11A.13
CORE STANDARDS Grade 11A standards
11A.1.1 Recognise, understand and use approximately 4000 words for listening, speaking, reading and writing, extending and consolidating the active vocabulary words from Grades K9. Understand and use a range of idiomatic expressions from both UK and US English Recognise and use features of word or sentence stress such as quality (weak or strong). Use a variety of interactive and language repair strategies to initiate, maintain and conclude a conversation of at least 15 minutes involving a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic communication strategies: self-repair self-correction of mistakes; confirmation check repetition of the interlocutors statement to check understanding; pausing use of pauses or pause-fillers for taking time to think. Consolidate the ability to talk about situations and events in the future, fixed, planned, spontaneous, predictable, probable or possible, using the full range of present and future tenses and time phrases as appropriate. 12A.4.3 Use a variety of interactive and language repair strategies to initiate, maintain and conclude a conversation of at least 20 minutes involving a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic communication strategies.

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 10A standards

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 12A standards

10A.5.3

11A.5.2

Consolidate and extend ability to describe possible choices, courses of action, in the past, present or future; and weigh up options and consequences. Use hypothetical language with conditionals and appropriate modals and connectives.

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7 hours
11A.7.5

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 10A standards

From Grade 10 Advanced, continue to read a variety of persuasive texts presenting and arguing for a particular point of view, comparing the organisation and language features of texts serving similar purposes: identify and critically understand emotive and persuasive language and how it is used to manipulate perceptions by using persuasive words and phrases, persuasive definitions. 10A.9.4 From Grade 9, extend writing of persuasive texts, which argue for or against a particular view on an issue of topical, or personal interest, in a variety of forms. 11A.9.4 11A.7.6

CORE STANDARDS Grade 11A standards

Respond to, evaluate and criticise persuasive texts, referring to the texts for evidence: assess the validity of the point of view presented in relation to its internal coherence and objectivity, distinguishing fact from opinion; evaluate arguments, claims and recommendations, comparing them to other evidence, beliefs and values beyond the text; analyse the use of persuasive language intended to imply half truths or pseudo-truths. 12A.7.6

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 12A standards

Respond to, evaluate and criticise a range of persuasive texts, drawing on evidence from the text to illustrate and justify views.

From Grade 10 Advanced, extend writing of persuasive texts. Argue for or against a particular view on an issue of topical, or personal interest, in a variety of forms: structure the argument select persuasive language use ICT to organise and present persuasive writing to particular audiences.

12A.9.4

From Grade 11 Advanced extend writing of persuasive texts, in a variety of forms. Argue for or against a particular view on an issue of topical, or personal interest: acknowledge sources of evidence and views in the text, as footnotes, in a list or short bibliography, as appropriate to the text.

11A.9.7

Make detailed notes (either hand-written or on a computer) from listening or reading. From these notes, present a coherent summary of the original, in the form of: telegraphic or pictorial notes based on key words and main ideas from a text for personal use; written, pictorial and diagrammatic notes to summarise or explain a text to others; a formal summary in written and/or diagrammatic form, approximately one third the length of the original, and sufficiently clear and coherent for others to read unaided by the author.

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Activities
Objectives
5 hours Water issues Students are able to: identify main ideas and detail in a listening text; report what people say or believe; identify a writers opinion and supporting arguments; make written, pictorial and diagrammatic notes to summarise or explain a process to others; write a short coherent summary in a sufficiently clear form for others to read and understand. In groups, students list all the activities in their household that have used water over the past week. After 34 minutes, students compare lists. Discuss what life would be like without adequate supplies of drinking water. Ask students about sources of fresh water in Qatar. Have students read an explanation of the desalination process and make notes in the form of a diagram or flow chart to summarise and explain the process. Highlight use of passive voice for describing processes and sequencing devices. Investigate root words in the text (e.g. sal and aqua). Discuss their origin and other related words. Investigate prefixes and suffixes (e.g. desalinate, potable). Students practise explaining the process orally using their diagram or flowchart to guide them. They write a short summary to explain the process to others. Handout a simple worksheet about water problems in different countries to go with a jigsaw listening activity: Ethiopia Where? What is the problem? Who is affected? What is the solution? Divide students into four groups. Each group listens to a description of the water problem in one of the countries. They make notes and prepare a summary to report to the other groups. Monitor closely during the listening activity to make sure that students take sufficient notes to be able to report to other groups. Display a map of the world and have students identify the countries being discussed. Students form new groups with one member of each original group. They take turns to report about the country they studied. Listeners seek clarification and fill in the grid above. Bangladesh Kenya India If necessary, revise second conditional to talk about imaginary situations.

Unit 11A.13
Possible teaching activities
Introduce the topic of water by having students complete a quiz about facts related to water.

Notes
A quiz about water entitled How water-wise are you? can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr//2/hi/in_depth/2946916.stm

School resources
This column is blank for schools to note their own resources (e.g. textbooks, worksheets).

Reading and listening materials on water problems in developing countries can be found on the BBC webpage at: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/ archive/030417_solutions.shtml

282 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 11A | Unit 11A.13 | Water

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Ask students if they know of any international arguments over the use of water (e.g. dams, shared water resources). Display a map of the world and have students identify the countries being discussed. Students listen to an interview with a politician, industrialist, environmental campaigner, or aid worker working in a difficult political situation concerning water. Students identify the main ideas and details. They report peoples opinions, using a range of reporting verbs, the correct sequence of tenses and appropriate changes in time phrases and demonstrative adjectives. They identify and practise structures used for talking about the future. They distinguish between non-native varieties of English (e.g. Asian, European, South American) in extended pieces of discourse.

Notes
A documentary programmed entitled The politics of water can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/ archive/030528_politicsofwater.shtml

School resources

2 hours Saving water Students are able to: identify a writers opinion and supporting argument; compose a persuasive to convince or persuade.

Write the heading Whos problem is it? on the board. Students read a selection of comments responding to the above question. Students pay attention to the use of language and the objectivity and relevance of points made. They distinguish between fact and opinion, referring to the texts for evidence. They group the comments according to the writers opinion. They identify similar and opposing ideas and give their own opinion on the topic. Introduce the slogan Think global, act local. In groups of 45, students discuss what they think it means. In small groups, students discuss how they can personally make a difference to the world water problem. They write an essay to encourage Qatari people to conserve water. The essay should have: a clear introductory statement giving the issue; a clear position with supporting arguments; a conclusion that summarises. Students edit their writing, using agreed criteria to guide them

A selection of comments on the water problem can be found at: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/ print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/ 2943946.stm

283 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 11A | Unit 11A.13 | Water

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Assessment
Examples of assessment tasks and questions
Listening Students listen to an interview or debate on a water-related issue. They identify the opinion of the speaker and supporting arguments. In groups of 34, students discuss and agree on ways of saving water in the school. Students read a text of approximately 500 words and respond to true/false statements or multiple-choice questions. Students compose a letter to the school director explaining the need to save water and suggesting two or three practical ways of doing so.

Unit 11A.13
Notes
Listening carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Speaking carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Reading carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Writing carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade.

School resources

Speaking Reading

Writing

284 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 11A | Unit 11A.13 | Water

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