GRADE 10A: Television Describing preferences; topic and supporting sentences

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 discuss their favourite TV programmes and write a discussion essay on the advantages and disadvantages of television.

UNIT 10A.8 8 hours

Expectations
By the end of the unit, most students will: apply spelling strategies revised and secured from Grades 79; use a variety of language functions appropriately to ask and respond to questions about interests and preferences; use a variety of interactive and language repair strategies to maintain communication; skim and scan written texts for information; express emotion through emphasis and use of appropriate stress; use a variety of interactive and language repair strategies to initiate, maintain and conclude conversations; prepare and present an opinion or point of view to persuade an audience. Students who progress further will: speak fluently at length, remaining on the topic and using connected simple and complex utterances; compose discussion texts using ambitious language, including complex sentences and a wide range of structures and vocabulary. Students who make slower progress will: speak on a topic at length with possibly some repetition or digression; compose discussion texts using a range of structures and vocabulary and linking sentences using simple cohesive devices.

Resources
The main resources needed for this unit are: a TV guide and matching listening text; teachers resource 10F.2a from the English lesson plan document; short audio or video recordings of people expressing strong feelings and emotions through the use of emphasis and appropriate stress.

Key structures and functions

Talking about interests and preferences: Im not keen on, I prefer, I cant stand + noun/gerund, Id rather + verb, Id prefer + to + verb. Introducing a topic: There is a great deal of concern nowadays among parents about the effects of television on their children. Television plays a significant role in our daily life. Conjunctions to signal sameness: also, another factor is, and, in addition, one more factor, moreover, etc. Conjunctions to signal contrasting view points: however, but, on the other hand, etc. Adding emphasis: Its such a good story I couldnt put it down till Id finished it. It was so scary I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time! You do look well have you been on holiday?

Vocabulary
Television programmes: documentary, cartoon, comedy, action, thriller, drama, historical drama, fantasy, science fiction, quiz programmes, reality TV, soap, etc.

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Standards for the unit

8 hours
4 hours Making a presentation 3 hours Planning a discussion essay 10A.4.2 1 hour Adding emphasis 9.2.1

Unit 10A.8
CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards
10A.2.3 Continue to collect and compare and consolidate knowledge of a range of homophones.

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards

Collect, and investigate homophones.

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

10A.3.1. Understand and respond to narratives, anecdotes, stories, plays and films: understand gist; follow dialogue; discern speakers moods, relationships and intentions; express opinions and connect to personal experiences. Consolidate knowledge of the use of various ways of expressing emotion through emphasis and use of appropriate stress: with the verb do; with interjections; with exclamations; with so and such ; with repetition; with rhetorical questions; with exclamatory questions (i.e. polar questions with emphatic falling tone). 9.4.4 Use strategies for communication maintenance and repair: rehearse and organise utterances before speaking; stop and restart utterances that are not clear, pause to rephrase; paraphrase or seek alternatives for unknown words or expressions; notice and attempt to correct misunderstandings. 10A.4.7 Use a variety of interactive and language repair strategies to initiate, maintain and conclude a conversation of up to 15 minutes involving a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic communication strategies: approximation use of an L2 word, which shares the essential feature of the target word; rehearsing and organising utterances before speaking; stop and restart utterances that are not clear, pause to rephrase; paraphrase use of an L2 phrase to describe a property, function, characteristic, duty, purpose or an example; appeal for assistance (either implicit or explicit); gesture use of facial expression or head shaking if there is a lack of understanding; mime use of gestures as well as verbal output to convey meaning; comprehension check a use of a variety of expressions to check a partners understanding; [continued] 11A.4.1 Recognise and use features of word or sentence stress such as pitch (high or low), length (long or short), loudness (loud or soft) and quality (weak or strong).

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8 hours

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards

CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards

[continued] clarification request a request for repetition or explanation; use of short utterances to show participation or understanding; 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. 10A.4.8 Speak with increasing fluency: stay on the topic and maintain relevance; cooperatively develop the topic; show independence by eliciting more from the interlocutor; negotiate meaning and keep talking; take longer turns; begin to process and express more complex ideas. 11A.4.5

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Speak fluently: process and express more complex ideas; talk at length without hesitation and not too slowly.

9.5.2

Prepare and present an opinion, point of view or justification intended to convince or persuade.

10A.5.10 Prepare and present to an audience an opinion or point of view to convince or persuade, in a series of complete utterances with appropriate use of: first and second person language; expressions to indicate degrees of certainty; connectives for reasons and consequences. 10A.5.14 Ask and respond to questions about interests, preferences, abilities and to polite, formal requests using appropriate expressions. 10A.6.5 10A.8.2 Use active reading strategies: skim and scan written and screen-based texts for information. Extend ability to plan a piece of writing in note or diagrammatic form showing the main points in sequence. Independently apply a range of spelling strategies including: identify mis-spelt words and mistakes in grammar accuracy in own writing; keep and use personal correction logs, learn methods of spelling recurring problem words.

11A.5.9

Summarise and evaluate persuasive texts and presentations, distinguishing fact from opinion, seeking clarification, giving relevant feedback, discussing merits, issues, options, preferences and proposing alternatives.

10A.2.2

Consolidate and extend understanding and use of common spelling conventions.

10A.8.3

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8 hours
10A.7.8

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards

Read a variety of discussion, debate and argument texts which present and balance arguments from differing viewpoints: understand the purpose and typical organisational features of these texts recognise and understand the use of typical language features. 10A.9.5

CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards

Compose short essays drawing on work in another curriculum subject or an issue of topical interest, using: organisational features typical of a discussion text to balance and weigh arguments an introduction which states issues, the arguments in favour and against plus supporting evidence or examples, a conclusion which summarises and weighs the arguments, draws a conclusion or makes a recommendation; formal written English typical of the styles used in discussions and debates the present simple, predominantly for generalisation and nonspecificity, the use of general terms and zero articles, discourse markers for explicit logical organisation, complete sentences rather than elliptical forms. 11A.9.5

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Compose essays, drawing on work in another curriculum subject or an issue of topical interest, using: organisational features typical of a discussion text to balance and weigh arguments formal written English typical of the styles used in discussions and debates use of passive voice for impersonal and general effects and to emphasise the topic for attention, exemplification and extension, text which moves from the general to the specific.

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Activities
Objectives
4 hours Making a presentation Students are able to: recognise, understand and use vocabulary for talking about television; skim and scan texts for specific information; identify and respond to detail in a listening text; ask and respond to questions about interests and preferences, using appropriate expressions; present to an audience an opinion or point of view to convince or persuade.

Unit 10A.8
Possible teaching activities
Display a simple profile of a family of four (e.g. a husband, wife, son and daughter) which describe their ages and interests. Display a page from a TV guide, and have students scan the text and predict what television programmes they think theyll watch. Play a recording in which the family discuss what theyre going to watch. Students listen and check their predictions. Identify and practise new vocabulary (e.g. documentary, drama, comedy, soap) and expressions (e.g. Desperate Housewives is on at 9 oclock. What channel is it on?). In pairs, students study the TV guide and plan two hours of viewing, asking and responding to questions about each others interests and preferences, making suggestions, etc. Before they begin, review expressions for talking about interests and preferences and the use of intensifiers, for example: Im not keen on I cant stand I really cant stand Id much rather . Students listen to a dialogue in which someone is justifying their choice of favourite TV programme. They identify the speakers opinion and supporting arguments. Students listen a second time and identify patterns of interaction between the two speakers and language repair strategies, for example: requests for clarification and strategies to check and demonstrate understanding used by the listener; appeals for assistance, the use of paraphrasing and pauses by the speaker. To help students prepare a presentation about their favourite TV programme, brainstorm relevant information to include, for example: where the action is set; what kind of people it features; social issues; description of the target audience; date the series started; why you think it is so popular; days and time it is shown. Discuss and agree evaluation criteria, for example: speaking clearly and fluently, keeping to the subject, good structure to help listeners follow the presentation, appropriate support of main points. Students could imagine that they are nominating their favourite TV programme for an award and are therefore making their presentation to a panel of judges. Monitor closely during the preparation stage, providing language input, correction, etc. See standard 10F.4.4 for a list of strategies.

Notes

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

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Students work in groups of 34 to plan their presentation. Encourage them to think about who their audience is, what they already know about the topic, etc. Students plan the structure of the presentation to include an introduction, a body and a conclusion. They prepare prompt cards and, if possible, visuals to support their text. Before the presentations, discuss strategies for dealing with difficult questions, for example by saying: Im sorry, I dont know the answer to that but Ill try to find out Im not sure does anyone else know? Allow students time in class to rehearse their presentation. Groups take turns to make their presentations. Encourage the audience to ask questions. Identify homophones from listening and reading texts and display sentences using the target words in context. Students choose the correct spelling, for example: The (principal/principle) character in the film is a young deaf boy. Tonight on Lets Talk Steve Miller welcomes special (guessed/guest) Chris Martin. Hes auditioned for the lead (roll/role) in a new play being put on at the Kenton.

Notes
Remind students to make use of language repair strategies during their presentations in order to maintain communication.

School resources

3 hours Planning a discussion essay Students are able to: plan a piece of writing in note form showing the main points in sequence; use the organisational features typical of a discussion text to balance and weigh arguments, and draw a conclusion.

Students prepare a simple class survey to find out how many hours a week students spend watching TV and the kind of programmes they watch. Tell students they are going to write a short essay about the advantages and disadvantages of TV and the effects it has on children. On each of the four walls of the classroom, stick one of the headings, Introduction, Advantages, Disadvantages, Conclusion, from Teachers Resource 10F.2a. Hand out one idea strip each to individual students. They read their strip and then move to the heading under which they think their phrase or sentence belongs. They read the other sentences or phrases under that heading and discuss with the group whether they think their sentence or phrase fits into that category. Have them stick the idea strips to the wall under the heading. Allow five minutes for students to read the sentences under each heading. Feed back to the whole class, focusing on the ideas that have been placed under the wrong heading. Encourage the students to explain why these are wrong. Give out a worksheet with the ideas grouped under the relevant headings. Students work in pairs. They study the list and discuss the ideas, noting if any of the sentences and phrases are similar and should therefore be grouped together or if ideas duplicate each other and are therefore unnecessary. They decide on issues they think are less important or less relevant than others and so can be left out. It is up to the teacher and the class to decide which and how many to keep. However, there should be a balance between advantages and disadvantages without an overcrowding of ideas. For this activity strong students should work together and students who make slower progress should work together. For this activity, use Teachers resource 10F.2a from the lesson plan document (lesson plans prepared for foundation level also work well at advanced level).

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

To begin the drafting process, students choose one idea from their introduction list to develop as a topic sentence, for example: Concern about the effects of television on children Elicit from the students how to make this into a sentence by asking wh-type questions. Who is concerned? Parents, teachers, society When are they concerned? Nowadays, these days How much concern is there? A lot, a great deal On the board, write the following sentence: There is a great deal of concern nowadays among parents, about the effects of television on their children. Students note the impersonal nature of the introductory sentence. Repeat the process with another example: Television plays a significant role in our daily life Ask wh-type questions: Whose life? Ours, peoples When does it play this role? Nowadays, these days How significant is this role? Very, highly How true is this? It is certain Have students work in pairs to develop another topic sentence. Elicit some examples and write them on the board. Encourage students to evaluate them and suggest improvements. An example sentence might be: It is certain that television plays a very significant role in peoples lives these days. Students then look to their list for extra information to support the introduction, for example: American children watch about 2228 hours per week More time watching television than in school and talking to their parents Students select and use the ideas to draft an introduction. To work on the body of their essay, students decide whether to start with the advantages or with the disadvantages and discuss the possible effects of the order they decide on. Elicit phrases to introduce advantages and disadvantages, for example: Like many modern devices, television has both advantages and disadvantages. There are, indeed, many advantages to television. Elicit a variety of words to link the advantages, for example: also, another factor is, and, in addition, one more factor, moreover, etc. Elicit conjunctions to signal contrasting view points, for example: however, but, on the other hand Students draft arguments for and arguments against television in two paragraphs. Monitor for accuracy and provide any vocabulary or sentence structures as necessary. Students decide how to finish the essay, offering what they see as valid recommendations.

Notes
It is important that students work in lock step throughout this activity. Students who complete the activity early should be given another activity (e.g. a spelling or vocabulary activity) to complete while the rest of the class finish.

School resources

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Pairs exchange essays with another pair. They peer-correct first for grammatical accuracy, then for content, checking that the number of advantages and disadvantages are balanced. Students prepare a second draft for homework. Keep a record of common spelling mistakes in students written work and give regular quick spelling tests throughout the year. Encourage students to keep and use personal correction logs and to develop strategies for spelling recurrent problem words.

Notes
When marking the second draft, use an agreed marking scheme to indicate the location and type of mistake. Give students time in class to work on their own corrections.

School resources

1 hour Adding emphasis Students are able to: use emphasis to express feelings and emotions.

Record a series of short texts where someone is expressing emotion through the use of emphasis and appropriate stress. Include examples of the following: with the verb do; You do look well have you been on holiday? with interjections; Wow! You look fantastic! with exclamations; What big feet! with such and so; Its such a good story I couldnt put it down till Id finished it. It was so scary I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time! with repetition; I was very, very sorry. Students listen once and identify the emotion (anger, excitement, pleasure, etc.) and what they think the speaker is talking about or the context. They listen a second time and identify expressions and vocabulary used. Highlight use of the auxiliary verb, so/such and interjections for emphasis. Identify and practise stress and intonation patterns. Present some scenarios. Students discuss different responses to the circumstances suggested. Students act out the various scenarios.

If possible, use short video excerpts from TV. Soap operas are a useful source for this kind of language. Students could view the excerpt first with no sound and predict the exchange. They then listen and check their predictions and note the exact expressions and phrases used.

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Assessment
Examples of assessment tasks and questions
Listening Students listen to two speakers talking about a TV programme and complete comprehension tasks to show understanding of gist and details. Students work in pairs. They ask and answer questions about a film they have seen recently. Students read 46 reviews of TV programmes and information about the interests of 34 different people. They match the people to a TV programme they think will interest them. Students write a persuasive text of approximately 250 words to describe their favourite TV programme, giving reasons to justify their choice.

Unit 10A.8
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

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118 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.8 | Television

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