GRADE 10A: Natural resources Evaluating and preparing persuasive texts

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 study persuasive writing and practise distinguishing fact from opinion. They make a presentation to inform and persuade on a topical issue.

UNIT 10A.5 8 hours

Resources
The main resources needed for this unit are: advertisements for energy-saving products; a listening text with a speaker arguing in support of or against a topical issue; a listening text about the advantages and disadvantages of using Arabic in the English language classroom.

Expectations
By the end of the unit, most students will: understand a range of common affixes and roots and use them to guess the meaning of unknown words; prepare and present a point of view to persuade an audience; make suggestions, give advice and make warnings; read and understand persuasive texts, identifying the purposes, content, typical language and organisational features; express views based on evidence from reading and listening texts; read extensively from graded readers in the 2500+ key word range, from the text range identified for Grade 10 Foundation; independently plan and compose their own writing; write persuasive texts; use the principal features of common word-processing software to independently plan, compose, edit and present their own writing. Students who progress further will: use knowledge of common affixes and roots to extend, elaborate on and add precision to meaning; use typical language and organisational features of persuasive texts in their own writing. Students who make slower progress will: use common affixes and roots to work out the meaning of words; write a persuasive text with an opening statement, supporting arguments and conclusion.

Key structures and functions

Giving advice, make warning: Unless we reduce the amount of water we use drastically, our reservoirs will be empty in three months. We have to start saving water now or we will run out by the summer. Expressing obligation: To be a sales representative you have to have a good knowledge of the product you are selling. You should be outgoing. You have to get on with people. You dont need to have a high level of computer skills.

Vocabulary
Persuasion: guilt, to feel guilty about, conscience; to weigh on ones conscience; to put pressure on someone, etc. Energy conservation: conserve, consume, reduce, efficient, etc.

77 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

Standards for the unit

8 hours
3 hours Speaking and reading 2 hours Making a presentation 2 hours Listening and writing 9.4.1 1 hour Extensive reading Speak accurately and at length to explain, present opinions, recount, describe and summarise events and plans, using a series of 68 clear, connected, utterances. 10A.4.1 9.3.4 Follow a straightforward persuasive argument to express a point of view, publicise, complain. 10A.2.4

Unit 10A.5
CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards
10A.2.2 Consolidate and extend understanding and use of common spelling conventions from previous grades. Continue to collect and compare and extend knowledge of a range of homographs in order to secure and extend understanding and use of these. 11A.3.2 Understand and respond to persuasive arguments, debates and discussions with two participants: respond through drawing conclusions, expressing views, agreeing or disagreeing, referring to what was said in the text.

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

10A.3.3. Understand and respond to recounts, commentaries and nonchronological information texts on familiar and unfamiliar topics: understand gist and detail; relay main points and detail in appropriate sequence to a third party; generalise and link to knowledge from other sources; transfer information to other contexts. Speak accurately, using a series of up to 10 connected, simple and complex utterances with: accurate and appropriate use of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, including appropriate stress and intonation; appropriate cohesive devices to link ideas within utterances and organise ideas at discourse level; a variety of subordinate clauses, linked with appropriate conjunctions; precise delivery of ideas backed by relevant examples and minimised use of redundancy; ability to deal with unexpected questions or comments. 10A4.3 10A.5.3 Be aware of pronunciation change when certain verbs change part of speech Discuss possible scenarios in the present and future, based on hypothesis and supposition: Use conditional and hypothetical language including: first, second and third conditionals; modals will, can, could, may, might, be able to, and their negative forms; connectives if, when, unless, provided (that),otherwise, suppose/supposing.

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.

78 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

8 hours

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards

10A.5.8

CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards

Address an audience: make announcements to an unknown audience about events in the future with a variety of tenses, and active and passive voice; give clear directions and instructions, using relevant text organisation features including a statement of the objective, use of imperatives and present and future time; make polite requests for information or directions using appropriate expressions and modals.

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

9.5.2

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

10A.5.9

Prepare and make to an audience a five-minute presentation on a topic that interests and informs: organise the presentation and use appropriate language features to introduce, develop ideas, give examples and conclude; use presentation skills speak with few hesitations from notes, use visuals, be aware of the audience through eye contact, body language and voice projection; handle questions from the audience.

10A.5.11 Summarise and evaluate persuasive texts: discuss merits, intentions, accuracy and effectiveness; distinguish fact from opinion and give reasons for views, drawing on evidence from the text; give feedback, seek clarification, weigh up options, state preferences; discuss alternatives in proposals for business, social and community purposes. 10A.5.16 Use ought for obligation and negative of need and have to to express absence of obligation. 9.7.6 Read and understand persuasive texts. 10A.7.7 Read and understand a variety of persuasive texts presenting and arguing for a particular point of view: understand a range of purposes for persuasive writing; identify typical contexts where persuasion would be used; distinguish between fact and opinion in reading, referring to the text for evidence; understand how persuasive arguments are typically organised an opening statement, a sequence of supporting arguments, reiteration of the case to persuade; read and evaluate a variety of publicity and advertising texts noting the use of persuasive language, how facts can be manipulated and half-truths presented as facts, referring to the texts for evidence.

11F.5.10 Summarise and evaluate persuasive texts.

11F.7.6

From Grade 10 Foundation, extend understanding of persuasive texts which present and argue a particular point of view.

79 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

8 hours
10A.8.5

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards

Independently review and edit own writing with the needs of an identified audience in mind. Write persuasive texts, in the form of short essays, letters or scripts for oral presentation, arguing for or against a particular view on an issue of topical, or personal interest. 10A.8.3

CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards

Independently apply a range of spelling strategies including: applying known spelling patterns and conventions; use a dictionary to check spellings and word meanings. 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: use titles and introductory statements to capture the readers attention and win sympathy for the arguments; articulate a clear position in an introduction; provide supporting arguments (e.g. as points plus elaboration); support points using personal views, anecdotes and evidence as appropriate; conclude by reiterating or summarising; use ICT to organise and present persuasive writing to particular audiences use formatting to capture interest and emphasise key messages, structure points and paragraphs, illustrate, compare. 11F.9.4

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

9.9.4

Extend writing of persuasive texts in a variety of forms.

80 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

Activities
Objectives
3 hours Speaking and reading Students are able to: understand a range of purposes for persuasive writing; distinguish between fact and opinion in reading, referring to the text for evidence; summarise and evaluate persuasive texts with a discussion of their merits and effectiveness; distinguish fact from opinion and give reasons for views, drawing on evidence from the text. recall what was interesting, informative, memorable, humorous, believable from texts; generate new words and guess the meaning of unknown words from affixes and roots to extend vocabulary and support spelling. Point out that because Europe is low on energy sources, energy is very expensive. This, in turn, means that energy conservation is big business as there are many companies trying to make a profit by selling energy-efficient products. In groups, students brainstorm energy-saving devices for both inside and outside the home, for example: low-wattage/long-life light bulbs; cars with smaller engines that have lower fuel consumption.

Unit 10A.5
Possible teaching activities
Introduce the topic. To revise natural resources, divide the class into two halves: one half brainstorms natural resources available in the Middle East, the other half does the same for Europe. Elicit two reasons why energy conservation might be an issue in Europe (e.g. global warming and saving money). In groups, students explain global warming and its consequences to revise and practise giving warnings with first conditional with if, unless and speculating about the future with first conditional and the modals may and might, for example: If the temperature continues to rise, the polar ice caps will melt. If the polar ice caps melt, the sea level will rise and flood large areas of low lying land. Large parts of the United Kingdom could flood. Unless measures are taken immediately to stop global warming.

Notes
Energy conservation may not be a familiar concept to students in a resource-rich country like Qatar. However, this activity is important as it sets the scene for a later activity based on students own context. Global warming is a topic in grade 8.

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

81 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Divide students into groups of 34 and circulate the advertisements. Students scan the text quickly and identify what tactic the manufacturer is using to sell the product; for example. does the advert appeal to your conscience (the desire to protect the environment) or your purse strings (the desire to save money). Students discuss the texts, identifying the content, purposes, typical language and organisational features. They recognise how facts can be manipulated and half-truths presented as facts, referring to the texts for evidence. They discuss the effectiveness of the adverts and their own preferences. Practise idioms connected with telling the truth and collocations with the nouns truth and lie: to tell a lie to tell the truth to tell a white lie theres not a grain of truth in what he said a pack of lies the whole truth Point out the use of the definite article with the singular noun truth. From the discussion and reading texts, identify words with a range of affixes that may be part of students passive vocabulary but are not part of their active vocabulary (e.g. consumer, conservation, global). Students organise the words into a table and identify other parts of speech. Verb consume conserve globalise Noun consumption/consumer conservation globe efficiency Adjective consumed conservative global efficient globally efficiently Adverb

Notes
Prepare advertisements for energy-saving products. These could be from the TV, magazines or from manufacturers websites. Texts can be found by searching the Internet using key words energy conservation. Some websites also have video files, for example: www.krystalpowerteam.biz

School resources

Idioms and collocations should always be practised in context.

Students use dictionaries to help complete the table and to check or assist with spelling. Display sentences using unfamiliar forms of known words, for example: She made a conservative estimate of the profit shed make. He was consumed with jealousy when he heard that John had been promoted. Students work out the meaning of the word from what they know about other forms of the word and from the context. Students identify spelling patterns, for example: -tion ending; -ise ending; etc. Students should be drawing on their knowledge of words and word parts developed throughout the grades.

82 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

Objectives
2 hours Making a presentation Students are able to: speak accurately using clear, connected, simple and complex utterances; discuss possible scenarios in the present and the future, based on hypothesis and supposition, using first and second conditionals and variations with unless, provided (that), can, could, may and might; prepare and present to an audience an opinion or point of view to convince or persuade.

Possible teaching activities

Students briefly discuss the skills and personality required to be a sales representative, for example: You have to have a good knowledge of the product you are selling. You should be outgoing. You mustnt be shy. Revise modals for expressing obligation and prohibition as necessary. Present a scenario: for example, a tourist resort is being built on an island off the coast of Doha. Students are sales representatives for an energy company. They must make a presentation to a meeting of the resort owners to persuade them to use energy supplied by their company. Before they begin to prepare, students brainstorm the criteria they think the hotel owners will use to make their decision. Elicit ideas and draw up a list on the board, for example: cost efficiency; ecological impact; reliability; etc. Divide students into groups of 45 and identify one person to act as chairperson (see below). Each group represents a company that supplies a different source of energy (e.g. gas, oil, solar power, wind). They prepare to present the advantages of using their source of energy and attempt to win the contract for their company. They may need to search the Internet to find information to support their presentation. They should give their company a name and make up information on similar projects they have been involved in to support their bid. Each member of the group should have a role in the final presentation. Before students begin, review the layout of an effective presentation and presentation skills: articulate a clear position in an introduction; provide supporting arguments (e.g. as points plus elaboration); support points using, as appropriate speculation about consequences, factual evidence, reference to the views of others, authoritative opinion; conclude by reiterating or summarising; use of presentation skills speaking with few hesitations from notes, using visuals, being aware of the audience through eye contact, body language and voice projection. Provide practice of relevant phrases and structures to introduce and conclude the presentation.

Notes

School resources

Encourage students to use ICT to organise and make their presentation.

83 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Discuss the role of chairperson in a meeting (e.g. to welcome people, to announce the start of the meeting, to explain the procedure, to invite questions and comments). Elicit appropriate structures and phrases for carrying out these functions, for example: Id like to welcome you all Were meeting to day to decide on In the first part of the meeting well hear and then well Please feel free to ask questions. Would anyone like to ask any questions? The chairperson starts the meeting and invites the groups in turn to make their presentations. During the presentations, make notes of common errors and deal with these in a whole class situation either immediately after the presentations or in the following lesson. The resort owner(s) decide which source of energy to choose based on the presentations.

Notes
If possible invite another teacher or possibly another class to attend and take on the role of resort owner and decide which source of energy to choose based on the presentations.

School resources

2 hours Listening and speaking Students are able to: identify gist and detail;] write persuasive texts arguing for or against an issue of topical or personal interest; use ICT to organise and present persuasive writing to particular audiences.

Students listen to a speaker talking about the arguments for and against using Arabic in the English-language classroom. As they listen the first time, they make notes of the arguments for and against. They listen a second time to identify supporting arguments, examples, etc. Students identify a list of sentences taken from the text as fact or the speakers opinion. Highlight homophones, homographs and/or words that change pronunciation between noun and verb forms as they arise in the reading and listening texts, for example: homophone: weight/wait; homograph: refuse, minute; words that change pronunciation between noun and verb forms: record (v)/ record (n); Students discuss the topic of the use of Arabic in their English classroom, expressing agreement or disagreement with the speaker. In groups, students write a short essay either for or against the view of the speaker. The essay should be divided into clear paragraphs and show: a clear opening statement; a sequence of supporting arguments using connectives to signal reasons and consequences; reiteration of the case to persuade. The essay should be drafted using common word-processing software.

84 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

Objectives
1 hour Extensive reading Students are able to: read extensively from graded readers and other appropriately levelled texts in 2500+ key word range, in a variety of genres and organised in paragraphs and chapters.

Possible teaching activities

Students read a book from a range of graded or appropriately levelled readers within the 2500+ key word range. They may be given time to read their book in class and reading should be set for homework. Set a time within which students should complete a certain number of pages or chapters of the book and an activity that shows their understanding of the book. Activities will depend on the content of the book and can include: writing a book review asking for a summary and their opinion of the story and/or characters; responding to questions to show understanding of the main ideas; completing a table, graph or other diagram; language-focus work (e.g. tense, use of adjectives); role-playing characters in the book; writing a letter as if from a character in the book; developing a story map and illustrations.

Notes

School resources

85 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005

Assessment
Examples of assessment tasks and questions
Listening Students listen to two speakers discussing a topical issue. They answer comprehension questions to demonstrate awareness of the opinion of the speaker and the ability to distinguish fact from opinion. In groups students discuss and evaluate a public information poster intended to inform and persuade.

Unit 10A.5
Notes
Listening carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade.

School resources

Speaking

Speaking carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Assessment scales should include both accuracy and fluency criteria. Reading carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Writing carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade.

Reading

Students read a text and answer comprehension questions to demonstrate awareness of its purpose and the view of the speaker. Students write a formal letter to a newspaper presenting an opinion on a topical issue.

Writing

86 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 10A | Unit 10A.5 | Natural resources

Education Institute 2005