READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 1
Reading and Writing Thematic Unit
Halo Ali, Hazel Castillo Beh, Jenny Stetson-Strange
Colorado State University
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 2
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
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 3
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
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 4
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
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 5
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
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 6
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
-understanding of how
to formulate Wh-
questions as well as
using those skills to
communicate
effectively
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 7
Unit 1: Health Issues
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.
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 8
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.
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 9
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
Unit 1: Health Issues
Lesson 4
Pre-Lesson Inventory:
Objectives: Students will:
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 10
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
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 11
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
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 12
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?
READING AND WRITING THEMATIC UNIT 13
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.
Top Related