Unit 3

Theme: Friendship Genre: Personal Homepage

A personal homepage is a site on the Internet which provides information about an individual, a class, a club, a school, a company or an organisation.

Details of Writing Task

Rubrics: A new academic year has just started. Your class is going to form a class website, which is going to include all the personal information about each classmate. The class teacher has asked each classmate to design a personal homepage. The homepage should contain the following sections: me, my family, my favourite hobbies, my school and my best friend.

Features:
Context: A personal homepage on the Internet Writer: A secondary one student Audience: New friends in class and other students in the school Target Language: i) Expressions and adjectives describing appearance and personality ii) Simple present tense

Pre-writing Activities

1. Structure of a Homepage 1A: When reading Chris personal homepage, underline the answers to the questions listed on the left hand side. Then fill in the boxes with suitable
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expressions to describe the two important structural features of a homepage. The first one has been done for you. What is your name? How old are you? Where do you live? How do you describe your physical appearance and personality? Heading Chris Homepage (Students are welcome to put a photo here)

My name is Chris. I am 13 years old. I live in Kowloon Bay. I am short and plump, but many people say that I look cute. I have black, long and curly hair and I wear glasses. I think I am very friendly, but sometimes I quarrel with my friends.

What are your family members? How do you describe them (i.e. physical appearance or personality)

I live with my Dad and Mum. They are great parents but sometimes quite bossy. I also have a brother. He is three years older than me. He is very tall and masculine. I also own a small kitten Marie. I love my family very much.

What do you like to do? When do you usually do this? What else do you like to do? When do you usually do this?

I have lots of interests. I like reading comics. I usually do my reading after I have finished my homework. When I am on holiday, I like having long chats on the phone with my classmates.

What school do you go to? When does it start? When does it finish? Who is your class teacher? How do you describe your class teacher?

I go to ABC Secondary School. My school starts at 8 oclock in the morning and finishes at 3 oclock in the afternoon. My class teacher is Ms. Ng. She is very helpful and patient. I admire her very much.

My best friend is called Grace. She is short and slim. She has short Who is your best friend? straight hair and wears glasses. I like Grace very much because she is How do you describe the physical appearance of your good-natured and humorous, and she always makes me laugh. best friend? Why do you like her (i.e. what are the positive sides of his / her 2. Language Features personality?) 2A: Fill in the blanks that indicate the language features used in a personal homepage. When writing a personal homepage, the ______________________ tense is
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used. For example: - I live with my Dad and Mum. - She has short straight hair and wears glasses. When writing a personal homepage, appropriate expressions or adjectives should be used to describe peoples ______________ and _________________ For example: - I am 13 years old (Age). - He is very tall and masculine (Height and Figure). - She is a very helpful and patient teacher (Personality). - She has short straight hair (Hair).

2B: Physical appearance what do people look like? Below is a collection of expressions that can be used to describe peoples appearance. Write the expressions for describing age, height, figure/build and hair in the appropriate spaces below. Put other expressions under Others. above average has freckles has a good figure 13 years old old straight fat cute elegant About 160 cm attractive dark skinned has a ponytail good looking quite tall slender pale adorable pretty well-dressed below average wavy in his / her early twenties muscular beautiful tanned young has pimples short dark haired bald in his / her mid thirties curly skinny dyed hair with a fringe wear glasses sturdy of average height gorgeous handsome of medium build plump obese well-built with a parting has a beard

Age

Height

Figure / Build

Hair

Skin

Others

2C: Personality what is someone like? Look at the adjectives below and decide whether they describe positive, negative or neutral aspects of personality. Write the words in the appropriate spaces. bossy adventurous naughty evil thoughtful sensitive diligent stubborn tactful friendly funny calculating quiet cooperative selfish smart scornful shy creepy noisy greedy kind gentle thoughtless patient obedient clever proud jealous helpful jolly energetic crazy cunning hard-working brave clumsy nasty silly sporty lively enthusiastic faithful

Positive

Negative

Neutral

2D: Chris is writing a description about her best friend Grace. Please complete
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the description with the correct form of the verbs from the box below. Some of the verbs can be used more than once. be do have help like love smile

Grace ________ my classmate and my best friend. She ________ short hair and always ________. She ________ a cat called Kitty. In school, we often ________ lunch together in the tuck shop. We ________ lots of common interests. For example, we both________ reading thrillers, playing badminton and going to the cinema. Grace always ________ her mum ________ housework. Her parents ________ her very much.

Writing Task
Now, based on what you have learnt, create a personal homepage describing yourself. Remember to plan well before you write. Writing Tips
Remember to include the heading and various subheadings on your homepage. You should provide some brief description about your family members, class teacher and best friends as well. You may include a photo on your homepage.

My Personal Homepage

Heading: Name: Age: My physical appearance:

My personality:

My family:

My hobbies:

My school:

My class teacher:

My best friend:

Post-writing Evaluation Evaluation Form

Content and Structure

Excellent Pretty Average Needs Improvement Good 1. There is an attractive heading. 2. There are relevant sub-headings. 3. There is an interesting description of Myself e.g. name, age, physical appearance and personality.

4. The section on My Family is clearly described. 5. There is a clear description of My Favourite Hobbies. 6. The description of the section on My School is is interesting. 7. The section on My Best Friend is clearly described.

Language Use
Excellent 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The simple present tense is used correctly. Suitable expressions or adjectives describing appearance are used. Adjectives describing personality are used correctly. Grammar is mostly correct. Words are of a wide range and generally accurate and appropriate. Punctuation and spelling are correct. Pretty Average Needs Improvement Good

Genre
Excellent The general tone and style of the homepage show that the writer is aware of the purpose, context and audience of the genre. Pretty Average Needs Improvement Good

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 Suggested Answers
1A: When reading Chris personal homepage, underline the answers to the questions listed on the left hand side. Then fill in the boxes with suitable expressions. The first one has been done for you. Chris Homepage (Students are welcome to put a photo here) Myself My name is Chris I am 13 years old. I live in Kowloon Bay. I am short and plump, but many people say that I look cute. I have black, long and curly hair and I wear glasses. I think I am very friendly, but sometimes I quarrel with my friends. My Family I live with my Dad and Mum. They are great parents but sometimes quite bossy. I also have a brother. He is three years older than me. He is very tall and masculine. I also own a small kitten Marie. I love my family very much. My Favourite Hobbies I have lots of interests. I like reading comics. I usually do my reading after I have finished my homework. When I am on holiday, I like having long chats on the phone with my classmates. My School I go to ABC Secondary School. My school starts at 8 oclock in the morning and finishes at 3 oclock in the afternoon. My class teacher is Ms. Ng. She is very
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Heading

What is your name? How old are you? Where do you live? How do you describe your physical appearance and personality?

What are your family members? How do you describe them (i.e. physical appearance or personality)

What do you like to do? When do you usually do this? What else do you like to do? When do you usually do this?

What school do you go to? When does it start? When does it finish? Who is your class teacher? How do you describe your class teacher?

helpful and patient. I admire her very much.

My Best Friend My best friend is called Grace. She is short and slim. She Who is your best friend? How do you describe the physical has short straight hair and wears glasses. I like Grace appearance of your best friend? very much because she is good-natured and humorous, Why do you like her (i.e. what are the positive sides of his / her and she always makes me laugh. personality?) Fill in the blanks that indicate the language features used in a personal 2A: homepage. When writing a personal homepage, the simple present tense is used. For example: - I live with my Dad and Mum. - She has short straight hair and wears glasses. When writing a personal homepage, appropriate expressions or adjectives should be used to describe peoples appearance and personality. For example: - I am 13 years old (Age). - He is very tall and masculine (Height and Figure). - She is a very helpful and patient teacher (Personality). - She has short straight hair (Hair).

2B: Physical appearance what people look like? Below is a collection of expressions that can be used to describe peoples physical appearance. Write the expressions for describing age, height, figure/build and hair in the appropriate spaces below. Put other expressions under Others. Above average attractive below average dark haired gorgeous has freckles dark skinned wavy bald handsome short has a beard in his / her early twenties in his / her mid thirties curly 13 years old good looking muscular of medium build plump old quite tall beautiful skinny obese straight slender tanned dyed hair well-built fat pale has a good figure with a fringe with a parting cute adorable wear glasses of average height elegant pretty has pimples sturdy has a ponytail about 160 cm well-dressed Age In his / her early twenties

young

in his / her mid thirties

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13 years old young old Height About 160 cm of average height short quite tall (his / her height is) above / below average Figure / Build Muscular of medium build well-built sturdy skinny slender fat obese has a good figure plump Hair Dark haired wavy bald short curly straight dyed hair with a fringe with a parting has a pony tail Skin dark skinned tanned pale Others wears glasses well-dressed attractive gorgeous has freckles handsome good looking beautiful cute adorable elegant pretty has pimples has a beard 2C: Personality what someone is like? Look at the adjectives below and decide whether they describe positive, negative or neutral aspects of personality. Write the words in the appropriate spaces. bossy friendly creepy proud brave adventurous funny noisy jealous clumsy calculating greedy naughty helpful nasty evil quiet kind jolly silly sporty thoughtful cooperative energetic sensitive selfish thoughtless crazy lively diligent smart patient cunning enthusiastic stubborn scornful obedient hard-working faithful tactful shy clever gentle Positive Negative Friendly brave adventurous funny Bossy creepy proud noisy jealous helpful gentle jolly thoughtful clumsy calculating greedy naughty cooperative energetic sensitive nasty silly selfish thoughtless faithful clever kind tactful cunning stubborn scornful evil lively diligent smart patient crazy enthusiastic obedient hard-working Neutral Shy quiet sporty

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2D: Chris is writing a description about her best friend Grace. Please complete the description with the correct form of the verbs from the box below. Some of the verbs can be used more than once. be do have help like love smile

Grace is my classmate and my best friend. She has short hair and always smiles. She has a cat called Kitty. In school, we often have lunch together in the tuck shop. We have lots of common interests. For example, we both like reading thrillers, playing badminton and going to the cinema. Grace always helps her mum do housework. Her parents love her very much.

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