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READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 1

Reading and Writing Thematic Unit

Halo Ali, Hazel Castillo Beh, Jenny Stetson-Strange

Colorado State University


Introduction

The following lesson plans were designed for a hypothetical class in a community

English course. Although the lesson plans were made for a reading and writing class, they have

all four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). These lesson plans were

created as part of a thematic unit. The thematic unit was a part of a whole course as can be seen

in Table 1 (scope and sequence).We chose to include the Four Purposes of Learning (access,

voice, action and bridge to the future) developed by the National Institute for Literacy because

they suit our target group. Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and Task-Based Language Teaching

(TBLT) were used in developing the lesson plans.

English for the Community: Basic English Language Course

Duration: 12 weeks, 1 hour classes, twice a week

Instructors: Halo Ali, Hazel Castillo Beh, Jenny Stetson-Strange

Location: Local Community Center, United States

English for the Community is a nonacademic course intended for adult ESOL (English for

speakers of other languages) students who need to learn basic English skills to successfully

interact in English within their community and daily life. As such, the course is based on the

Equipped for the Future (EFF) standards developed by the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL).

(Retrieved from: http://eff.clee.utk.edu/fundamentals/purposes.htm). MacKay, Sherman,

Forstrom, Pitt, and Velasco (2008, p. xii) state, “The organizing principle of EFF is that adults

assume responsibilities in three major areas of life - as workers, as parents, and as citizens”.

Based on the EFF standards, the NIFL put together the following “Four Purposes for Learning”

(Merrifield, 2000, as cited in Bailey, 2006, pp. 117-118):

1. ACCESS: To gain access to information and resources so that adults can orient themselves in

http://eff.clee.utk.edu/fundamentals/purposes.htm


the world.

2. VOICE: To express ideas and opinions with the confidence their ideas will be taken into

account.

3. ACTION: To solve problems and make decisions without having to rely on others to mediate

the world for them.

4. BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE: Learning to learn so that adults can be prepared to keep up with the

world as it changes.

The course is taught under the umbrella of the Communicative Language Approach and

utilizes the Communicative Language Teaching Method (as well as elements of Content-Based

and Task-Based Instruction) in order to ensure that students become communicatively competent

in the English language. Class lessons focus on the four language skills (speaking, listening,

reading and writing) and integrate these skills into real-world activities with the intention of

developing the Four Purposes of Learning cited above. This focus will assist the learners in, not

just understanding these principles, but integrating them into a solid base that supports their

English language communicative repertoire and prepares them to effectively interact

independently within their communities and within the world.

Goals of the course are:

• To give students practice with the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

• To develop students’ ability to engage in the Four Purposes of Learning via real-world

learning activities which integrate these principles in meaningful and productive ways.

• To engage students in multiple instances of real-world activities so that they will have

the ability and confidence to carry out these activities independently outside of the

classroom.

English for the Community: Curriculum Outline


The course content will follow the competency-based syllabus below (see Table 1),

which will primarily utilize “real-world” authentic materials to teach intermediate-low to

Table 1

Scope and Sequence of the Course

Week

Unit

Objectives (Student will be able to:)

1-2

1: Health Issues

- talk about their feelings

- listen to messages and talk on the phone with their Doctor’s office

- learn how to call in sick for work

- learn new health vocabulary

- describe health issues to their doctor

- learn how to pronounce and understand the different “aches”

- learn how to formulate “wh-“ questions

- read a passage and match words/phrases with their definitions

- learn scanning and inference techniques

3-4 2: Jobs and

Workplace

- learn workplace vocabulary

- learn how to respond in a job interview

- learn pronunciation of workplace vocabulary

- learn how to use the simple past

- read a job application and apply for a job

- create a resume

- read newspaper articles with job offers

- write an email to a supervisor

5-6 3: Food and

Dining

- talk about various types of foods, dishes and drinks

- talk about ways to order food at a restaurant

- talk about ways to make a dish using different verbs with different cooking methods

- listen to a conversation between a customer and a server, try to comprehend what is

happening and take notes for important information

7-8 4: Shopping - formulate questions using the phrase, “How much”

- talk about different prices

- use comparatives and superlatives to compare prices

- critically listen to sell advertisements to make informed decisions about purchases

- read and interpret sales receipts

- critically read and fill out credit card applications

- learn to manage a budget/use and manage a credit card account/write checks

9-10 5: Travel - talk about travelling documents related to airports.

- talk about bus/train schedules

- ask about directions and quality of public places such as restaurants, clubs, amusement

parks, movie theaters, etc.

- talk about purchasing souvenirs

- read a map and follow directions

- read road signs

- write an email to friends and family

- be able to examine and read brochures or websites - write their own guidebook

11-12 6: Future Plans - listen to and talk about/discuss plans for the future

- invite someone to do something

- formulate questions using “Would you like…/Do you want…”

- critically read job/housing advertisements

- fill out job/housing applications


intermediate-mid students how to use the English language to express themselves in

different aspects of their daily lives.

The class is composed of 15 adult Mid-Intermediate level ESOL students, who are from

diverse language and cultural backgrounds. The course focuses on strategic lessons to engage the

students in learning what is termed “survival English,” English they can use to effectively

communicate while they conduct their daily lives. The course is composed of 6 units covering

topics that are common and considered essential within everyday life. Each unit will be covered

in two weeks, or 4 lessons. The last 2 lesson plans of each unit cover the skills of reading and

writing. The following lesson plans are from the Thematic Unit: Health Issues, which is also the

first unit in the course.

Description of Thematic Unit Lesson Plans

Thematic Unit: Health Issues: Lessons 3 and 4

The following lesson plans (see Table 2) represent the Reading and Writing portion of the

Thematic Unit: Health Issues. Since being able to communicate competently about health issues

is such an important part of daily life, the lesson plans are structured around vocabulary building

activities that will strengthen students' reading and writing abilities as well as build their

confidence in attempting to mediate their own health issues independently. Warm-up activities

such as asking students about their daily meal habits and the foods they regularly eat serve to

activate students’ background schema regarding their knowledge of nutrition and foods that help

keep them healthy. Reading and comprehension activities such as answering questions about

texts they have read related to health issues build students’ vocabulary, as well as add to their

existing knowledge regarding maintaining the health of themselves and their families. Scanning

and inferring activities (students come to a conclusion based on the facts) assist in building


students’ critical thinking skills in integrating the new knowledge they are learning with the

knowledge they already possess regarding keeping themselves and their families healthy.

Activities such as correctly reading a medicine label as well as giving and writing health advice

ensure that students will learn the skills required to not only take care of themselves, but to take

care of their families as well. Overall, the focus of the Health Issues Thematic Unit encompasses

the overall goal of the course--to ensure that students develop the English language

communicative competence and confidence to be able to conduct any aspect of their own lives

independently and successfully.

Table 2

Unit Overview

Unit 1: Health Issues

Lesson 3: Content Reading Skills Writing Skills Outcomes

-common advice for

maintaining good

health

-focusing on reading a

passage to infer

meaning of

words/phrases

-use should/shouldn’t

to write a cohesive

paragraph

-learning how to look

for answers to

questions in a text

using inference skills

Lesson 4: Content Reading Skills Writing Skills Outcomes

-common health

problems and

medicine labels

-develop reading

comprehension skills

-reading labels

-write advice for

health problems in an

email

-understanding of how

to formulate Wh-

questions as well as

using those skills to

communicate

effectively



Lesson 3

Pre-Lesson Inventory:

Objectives: Students will be able to:

read a passage, Keys to Good Health, and match words or phrases with

their definitions

scan a text looking for specific information

answer questions about a text using inference skills

write a paragraph using modals should/shouldn’t

Materials to take to class: copies of Keys to Good Health passage, questions

Equipment needed: none

Assignments to collect from students: none

Special room arrangements: lecture/table format

Warm-up (7 minutes): Introduction to Health and Nutrition

Purpose:

To activate students’ schema regarding health and nutrition by asking open-ended pre-

questions to activity 1, Keys to Good Health: Scan and Answer. (See page 10)

Procedure:

1. I will be asking students questions relating to their daily meal habits and foods they eat

2. I will break them into pairs and have them ask each other follow-up questions.


Transition: I will explain how important it is to feel comfortable talking about what they already

know and that can help them with other following activities.

Activity 1: Keys to Good Health Passage: Scan and Answer (10 minutes)

Purpose:

Students will practice scanning the passage and answer some questions about it. Inferring

will be the major purpose here.

Procedure:

1. I will hand out Keys to Good Health passage to students by explaining to them that they

should answer the questions. The student who finishes fastest receives a prize.

2. I will then ask for some volunteers to answer the questions to make sure everyone has the

right answers. It also gives them a second chance to conduct the scanning and inferring

processes out loud so that everyone knows how that can be conducted.

Transition: I will explain how important scanning and inferring are in understanding a reading

text, or a reading exam requiring them to answer questions.

Activity 2: Asking For and Giving Advice Using “Should” (20 minutes)

Purpose:

Students will be able to use the modal “should” to ask for or give advice

Procedure:

1. Students will read a paragraph

2. They need to underline the actions the person that’s mentioned in the paragraph

should/shouldn’t do

3. After that, they should come up with 4 similar sentences about things they think they

should do to stay healthy.

4. They will turn the 4 sentences into a little paragraph in the next exercise.


5. The student with the fewest mistakes receives a prize.

Transition: I will explain the importance of modal verbs- specifically “should” which they can

use it in situations to ask for or give advice to people.

Homework: -ache vocabulary, define the words

Warm Up Questions:

1. Do you eat breakfast every day? If so, what do you normally eat?

2. What time do you usually have breakfast?

3. What meals are very important to you?

4. What’s one meal you almost never skip?

5. Do you exercise? If so, how often?

Read the statement. Check T for true and F for false statements.

1. You don’t have to eat all the meals every day.

2. Foods like hamburgers and French fries are not good for you.

3. Each of us has to do two exercises every day


Lesson 4

Pre-Lesson Inventory:

Objectives: Students will:


be able to write advice for health problems

be able to read medicine labels

be able to answer questions about medicine labels

Materials to take to class: -ache(s) vocabulary, a medicine label

Equipment needed: none

Assignments to collect from students: none

Special room arrangements: lecture/table format

Warm-up (7 minutes): Review

Purpose:

I will go over homework the (ache)s vocabulary to make sure they are all on the

same page.

Procedure:

1. Have students act out a health problem and others say the health problem.

2. Have them continue until they go through all we have had from before.

Transition: I will explain how important it is to be able to know the ache vocabulary words

for emergency health situations.

Activity 1: Write Advice for Health Issues & Read a Medicine Label (10 minutes)

Purpose:

Students will be able to give advice to health issues

Students will be able to read a medicine label and ask questions about it

Procedure:

1. Recycle giving advice from activity 2

2. I will provide them with the health issues so that they can write pieces of advice in

an email to a friend who has this health problem


3. I will provide them with the medicine label

4. I will have them answer the questions about the medicine label

Transition: I will remind them of the importance of scanning and inferring while looking

for specific information

Activity 2: 10 Simple Steps to Improve Your Health (15 minutes)

Purpose:

Students will be able to read a passage and fill in missing information about it

This will have them get more focused on scanning and inferring

Procedure:

1. I give each student one step out of the ten.

2. I will have each student look for the corresponding blank that he/she needs to fill in.

3. I will mix the steps and have them continue doing it until everyone gets to fill in all

ten blanks.

Transition: I will explain how important it is for them to understand the first part of the

statement they need to fill in the blank for so that they can be sure they have the right

information in the right place.

-Ache(s) Vocab:

1. Stomachache

2. Headache

3. Earache

4. Joint ache

5. Muscle ache

6. toothache


1. Ann took 2 pills at 5:00 am. What time does she need to take them again? -------------------

2. If Saman is 50 years old, can he take this medicine? ------------------

4. Farhang just took an aspirin. How many Pain Away pills can he take right after that?


References

Bailey, K. M. (2006). Issues in teaching speaking skills to adult ESOL learners. In Review of

Adult Learning and Literacy, 6, (pp. 113-164). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Retrieved from http://www.ncsall.net/index.php@id=852.html.

Four purposes of learning. (n.d.). In Equipped for the future fundamentals. Retrieved from

http://eff.clee.utk.edu/fundamentals/purposes.htm

MacKay, S., Sherman, K.D., Forstrom, J., Pitt, M., & Velasco, S. (2008). Excellent English 1:

Language skills for success. N. Jordan (Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Nation, I.S.P., & Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. New York, NY:

Routledge, Taylor & Francis.

Richards, J. C., Hull, J., & Proctor, S. (2013). Interchange 4th Ed. New York, NY: Cambridge

University Press.

http://www.ncsall.net/index.php@id=852.html

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