TASK 2 - THEMATIC CONTENT 2

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 MY HOME, MY FOLKS
THEMATIC UNIT: FAMILY TIES
THEMATIC CONTENT: THIS IS MY HOME

Task: Answer an email with the information requested in a previous email.

GOALS:
To describe a house by using images.
To talk about conveniences in a house.
Context: Read an email from the host family you are staying with, they are going to send
their son/daughter to stay with your family here in Colombia. The host/hostess sends you
an email asking you about the people you live with and the place where you live.

LANGUAGE FOCUS
Greetings and Farewells: How are you? How do you do? Have a good night.
The alphabet: How do you spell your name? How do you spell your last
name? Numbers (1-100): What’s your phone number? What’s your address?
Months: When is your birthday? When is Colombia’s independence?
Days of the Week: Class is on Monday. I rest on Saturdays.
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Countries: Where are you from? What country would you like to visit?
Expressions of Time (early, on time, o’clock, at night, in the afternoon,in a rush...): I arrive on time
to the English class. I have science class at night.
Frequency Adverbs: On Sunday, I usually go to the university at 8:00 o’clock, I visit my parents on
vacations.
Sequence Connectors: First, later, then, after, before, finally.
Basic Action Verbs: Study, Work, Eat, Go.
Verb to Be: I am a student, She is my professor.
Simple Present Tense (affirmative, interrogative and negative): I usually work on weekends. I do not
sleep at home on Fridays. What do you like to do on weekends? How often do you go to the library?
Family Members: How many brothers do you have? What is your father´s name?
Colors What is your favorite color? Do you prefer red or green?
Family Types: Do you have step-siblings? What does you father-in-law do?
Occupations and Jobs: What does a researcher do? What does a scientist do?
Physical Descriptions: How do you look like? What do you look like?
Body Parts: My hair is black. Your eyes are beautiful.
House Objects: My TV set is great. I have a bookcase for my magazines.
Rooms of the House: My kitchen is convenient. My room is very
comfortable. Types of Houses: I live in an apartment. My sister lives in a
flat.
Adjectives She is intelligent. I am serious.
Word Order: (Adjetivos y sustantivos) I love that really old big green antique.
Possessive Adjectives (mi, tu, su: de él, de ella, de ellos, de ellas): My best friend is special. Her
brother is so smart?
Programa Institucional de
Inglés
Saxon Possessive (‘s): The principal´s director office is on the third floor. Students´ lives are energy
consuming.
Yes/no Questions: Do you have a part-time job? Does your advisor work at the university?
There Is/Are: There are several libraries at the university. There isn’t a physics lab on block 2. Prepositions of Pla
Sports and Leisure Time Activities: I practice soccer and baseball. I do karate.
Feelings And Personality Traits: She is so funny. I feel moody today.
Can / Can’t, Be Able To (Negative Form) I can graduate from a program. I can´t be mediocre, I am able to do wh
Infinite: To have an interview. To read an article.

Pronunciati

ACTION ONE: Describe different apartments, discuss the advantages and

disadvantages of each one, and choose one to living with your roommate.
PRE: Vocabulary building
Aa 1. Choose the household objects that correspond to each room in the house and
BbCc write them on the lines. Use a dictionary for the words you don’t know (in
some cases an object can be found in more than one room). Compare your 3

answers with your teacher and classmates.

couch sink pillows chinarugcabinets lamp TV set dresser refrigerator
towelssilverwaremirroroventoilet painting bed
tablestovestereobookcasemicrowave chandelier bathtub chair
plants nightstand cooking utensils alarm clock fireplacecurtains

LIVING ROOM

DINING ROOM

BATHROOM

BEDROOM
 KITCHEN

Adapted from: Uceda English Series (2006)

Grammar Activity: There is/There are

forms

Read this description of Lucia’s house. Pay attention to the phrases in bold.
When do we use There is and There are in English? How about prepositions?
Can you identify some in the reading?

Image used for educational purposes only: www.ibherperu.com

Our apartment is not too big, but it is perfect for our

family. The living room and the dining room are in the same
area. In the living room, there are two small couches and two
chairs. The dining room has six places, and there is a guest
bathroom next to it.
There are three bedrooms in our apartment, one is the master’s bedroom where mom
and dad sleep, and there are two small bedrooms, one for my brother and one for me.
In my parents’ room, there is another bathroom with a nice bathtub and there is a big
balcony. My bedroom is small, but there is a balcony there, too. I love the view because
we live right across from a big park where there are lots of trees and a water fountain.

The kitchen has a good size and there are convenient cabinets over the countertop.
There is a small dining room set where we usually get together for coffee in the evening.
Finally, there is a laundry area in our apartment which is very convenient because
there isn’t much room at home. Our decoration is simple. There aren’t many objects:
just some paintings on the walls and a few decorative items around because mom likes
to have open spaces and we do, too. What I like best about our apartment is that it is
well lit and warm. It definitely feels like home!
 WHILE: Describe a place and choose one to live.

APARTMENT HUNT
You and a classmate are moving in together and each of you saw a different apartment. Cover the opposite
picture. One will describe picture A and the other one picture B. Find the differences between both places
and decide which place is the most convenient for both of you to move in.

Image used for educational purposes only: www.plus.google.com 5

image used for educational purposes only:

 POST: Write about It

1. What apartment did you both choose? Write reasons for your decision on the lines provided below.

ACTION TWO: Role-play. You want to rent a room. Talk to a landlord or

landlady to find the best one for you.
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TYPES OF HOUSES
PRE: Talk about types of houses

1. Do a little research online about the following different types of houses.

How are they different from each other? Where can you typically find
them? and discuss the following:
a. What do they have in common? How do they differ from each other?
b. Where (geographic site) would you normally find each type of house?
c. Is there one type of house in particular that you would like to live in? Justify

• A beach house • A skyscraper

• A detached • A mansion
house • An igloo
• A boat house • A hut
• A teepee
• A country house/farm
• A flat/apartment
• A caravan/trailer
• A castle
• A bungalow
• Other? - Which?
Programa Institucional de Inglés
Aa Vocabulary Activity: Types of houses

BbCc First, match the images to the houses’ names on the right. Then, read people’s
descriptions below. How are their homes alike or different?

Different People, Different Houses

1. 2.
3 5
1 2 3. 4.
4
5. 6.

6 7 8
7. 8.
9
9. 10.

11. 12.

10 11 12
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Read the following

houses’ descriptions and
identify the type of house Hi ! I’m Akili from Kenya.
from the list above. I live in a big hut with my
Hi ! I’m Ali. I’m from family. There are no rooms,
Morocco. I live in a but it’s nice because we can
lovely house with my be together all the time.
Hi ! I’m Aponi. I’m parents. There are two
Native American. I live in floors and eight rooms
a small teepee with my for our family. Hi ! I’m Jake from Alaska. I live
family. in a large igloo with my wife.
There are no rooms, but There are no rooms. It’s very
it is warm. cold, but it’s comfortable.
Hi ! I’m Diego. I’m
Hi ! I’m Omar. I’m from from Mexico. I live
Arabia. I live in a big flat in an apartment in a
in a high skyscraper in block of flats. There Hi ! I’m Helen from the U.S. I
Dubai. There are seven are three rooms. live in a bungalow. There are
rooms. It’s fantastic. four rooms and a nice garden
at home.

Hi ! I’m Roxana from Hi ! I’m Jian. I’m from

Peru. I live in a farm China. I live in an old, Hi ! I’m Maria from Portugal.
house. big castle. We have I live in a large villa with my
There are six rooms and a guests all the time. family. There are forty rooms
big barn. We have lots of and a wonderful garden.
animals.

Activity adapted from used for educational purposes only: www.islcollective.com

 WHILE: You want to rent a room. Talk to a landlord or
landlady to find the best one for you.
ROLE PLAY ACTIVITY

Get in pairs or groups of three or four students to roleplay

the following situation between realtor agents and buyers:
You have the money to invest in a property, so you visit an agency to be advised on what
property to buy. Based on your expectations, the agent(s) will show you two or three options
giving you a description of the place. You will finally express your willingness to buy one of
the three places you saw. You are expected to share your dialogue with your teacher and
classmates.

POST: Structure the e-mail for your task

Now that you have acquired the necessary tools in terms of vocabulary and syntax, read
the following information to comply with the task for this thematic unit.

WHAT’S IN AN E-MAIL?
Electronic mails are exchanges of information over the network. Depending on the level
of formality, they have components similar to those of a letter. Take a look at this example
below.

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Writing Tip

Look at the e-mail format and compare it to the e-mail Lucia sent to her host family at the
beginning of this unit. Can you identify and highlight the different parts in her e-mail?

Discuss your answers with your classmates and teacher.

Ancient Greece Question

To: Zach Siegel
Cc: Richard Irvan (democracyprep.org)
Ancient Greece Question

Use CC to som Greeting (required): All words start with capitals, use a comma at the en d

One line of space

m really enjoying the history material we’ve been studying, especially Greek myths. I do have one question though – do Greek people still believe in Zeus tod

Message body

Another line of space here

Closing (required): use either Thanks, Best, or Regards, then a comma, and then your name on the line below

Taken from used for educational purposes only: https://goo.gl/YyUFDQ

Programa Institucional de Inglés
STEPS IN THE WRITING OF YOUR E-MAIL

1. Start your e-mail with a greeting. Many e-mails start with the greeting Dear..., (followed by
a comma /,) not a colon (:). However, if it is a very informal e-mail, you can simply greet the
person the way you do it in spoken communication: Hello,...

2. After the greeting, briefly mention the reason for your message. That gives the reader an
idea of what the main body of the text is about. Here are some common sentences you can
use:

I hope you are doing well. I am writing because...

How are you? I am fine. This is an e-mail to tell you about...
Thanks for your last e-mail. It was great hearing from you...
How’s everything with you and your family? I am writing to tell you...

3. Then write a paragraph developing the main idea of your text. That is, talk about what you
mentioned in the greeting paragraph. Make sure to write complete sentences separated by
periods (.) and commas (,) in a correct manner. You can also use coordinating conjunctions:
and, so, but, yet, or, and other connectors that you have learned how to use with the help of
your teacher: but, because, first, then, later, etc.

4. Write a concluding paragraph including your farewell. Here are some sentences and
phrases you can use:

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Well, that’s all for now. Give my regards to...•Best wishes, (your name)
I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.•Regards, (your name)
Write soon again!•Truly yours, (your name)
Lots of love, (your name)•All my love, (your name)