Giáo án Writing

Ss activate prior knowledge about famous life stories and recall the vocabulary achievement, career, admire and determination before reading the model.

Ss look at the title 'Life stories we admire' and answer the question: 'Which famous person do you admire, and what is one achievement of theirs?' Ss then match the words achievement, biography, determination, career, admire and collaboration with their Vietnamese meanings (thành tựu, tiểu sử, sự quyết tâm, sự nghiệp, ngưỡng mộ, sự cộng tác).

Ss give at least one name and one achievement orally. Ss match the six words correctly, for example: achievement (thành tựu), biography (tiểu sử), determination (sự quyết tâm), career (sự nghiệp), admire (ngưỡng mộ), collaboration (sự cộng tác).

Ss identify the purpose, audience, opening, supporting details and closing of the model biography, and explain how each part contributes to the message.

Ss read the model biography on Walt Disney silently for one minute, then answer questions in pairs using a jigsaw technique: Group A focuses on purpose and audience; Group B focuses on the opening and the closing; Group C focuses on the supporting details and dates. Ss then re-form mixed groups of three to share findings.
Key questions for T to ask:

1. Who is the intended audience and what is the purpose of the text?
2. What is the actual opening sentence? What does it introduce?
3. Which details give the text specific support? Why are they better than saying only that Disney is important?
4. What is the closing sentence, and what does it add to the message?
5. Which information is achievement and which is evaluation?

Ss complete Phiếu học tập số 1 (Worksheet 1) with accurate answers, for example:

• Audience: readers learning about Disney's life and contribution.
• Purpose: to synthesise documented Disney milestones while separating evaluation from chronology and crediting collaboration.
• Opening sentence: 'Walt Disney was an American film producer whose work helped expand animation and family entertainment.' It introduces the specific subject before the supporting details.
• Two useful details: 'He was born in Chicago on 5 December 1901 and became interested in drawing as a child.' and 'A balanced biography should recognise both his leadership and that collaboration.'
• Closing sentence: 'A balanced biography should recognise both his leadership and that collaboration.' It completes the message by balancing individual leadership with teamwork.
• Achievement: 'Disneyland opened in 1955.' Evaluation: 'His career is often associated with imagination and persistence.'

Ss recognise the difference between the past simple and the past continuous in a life story, choose between when and while by meaning, and pronounce the diphthongs /eɪ/ and /əʊ/ correctly.

Part A – Grammar. T writes on the board: 'While the team was testing the design, the director called.' T asks Ss to identify the background action and the completed event, then to decide which verb form is used for each.
Part B – Pronunciation. T models the words age /eɪdʒ/, brave /breɪv/, wrote /roʊt/ and hero /ˈhɪroʊ/. Ss repeat in chorus and then read the sentence: 'The brave hero wrote a page about hope.'

Grammar: Ss state that the past continuous describes an action in progress or background (the team was testing the design), and the past simple describes the completed event (the director called). Ss conclude: 'When and while do not determine the tense automatically; choose the meaning.'
Pronunciation: Ss pronounce each diphthong as a single glide within one syllable: age /eɪdʒ/, brave /breɪv/, wrote /roʊt/, hero /ˈhɪroʊ/. Ss understand that /oʊ/ is an accepted American variant of the printed /əʊ/.

Ss apply the analysis of the model to answer comprehension and writing tasks, and they write a three-sentence summary that keeps the essential meaning and conditions.

Ss work in pairs to complete exercises 2–5 from the textbook, using Phiếu học tập số 2 (Worksheet 2). The tasks are:
2. State the purpose and audience of the biography, and support the answer with one detail.
3. Explain how the opening introduces the topic and identify the actual opening sentence.
4. Select two useful details from the model and explain why they are better than saying only that the topic is important.
5. Write a three-sentence summary using only information in the model. Keep any condition or limit that is essential to its meaning.

Exercise 2: Audience: readers learning about Disney's life and contribution. Purpose: to synthesise documented Disney milestones and credit collaboration. Supporting detail: 'Walt Disney was an American film producer whose work helped expand animation and family entertainment.'
Exercise 3: The opening sentence is 'Walt Disney was an American film producer whose work helped expand animation and family entertainment.' It establishes the subject before the supporting details.
Exercise 4: Detail 1: 'He was born in Chicago on 5 December 1901 and became interested in drawing as a child.' Detail 2: 'A balanced biography should recognise both his leadership and that collaboration.' Both give specific information that the reader can use, unlike a general claim that the topic is important.
Exercise 5 (model answer): 'Walt Disney was an American film producer whose work helped expand animation and family entertainment. He was born in Chicago on 5 December 1901 and became interested in drawing as a child. A balanced biography should recognise both his leadership and that collaboration.'

Ss write a short closing that preserves the model's message, using only details supplied in the model, and read the opening and closing sentences aloud with correct pronunciation.

Ss complete exercises 6–8:
6. Choose one sentence from the middle of the model and explain what it contributes to the message.
7. Read the opening and closing aloud. Explain one difference between their jobs in the complete product.
8. Write a short final paragraph or spoken conclusion that preserves the model's message, using only details already supplied.

Exercise 6: Sentence chosen: 'Disney later extended his work beyond cinema: Disneyland opened in 1955.' It adds concrete information that extends the opening claim about film and family entertainment, rather than repeating the title.
Exercise 7: The opening introduces the specific subject, while the closing qualifies the message by recognising collaboration. Ss read the sentences with clear word stress and the diphthongs in words such as 'biography' and 'leadership'.
Exercise 8 (model answer): 'His career is often associated with imagination and persistence, but it also depended on many artists and technicians. A balanced biography should recognise both his leadership and that collaboration.'

Ss write a complete sourced biography synthesised from notes, for a stated audience, using specific details, appropriate register and a coherent message, and they give and receive peer feedback.

Ss receive a set of notes about a person they admire (for example, a famous scientist, athlete or artist, with dates and achievements supplied by T). Ss write a complete sourced biography (about 150 words) for the audience of Grade 12 classmates. Ss must:

• open with a sentence that identifies the specific subject;
• include at least three dated or specific details from the notes;
• separate achievements from personal evaluation;
• recognise the role of collaboration if it appears in the notes;
• end with a balanced closing; and
• state the source at the end.
  Writing task 9 in the textbook is completed in class and finished at home if needed.

Each S produces a draft biography of about 150 words that includes: a clear opening sentence; at least three specific dated details taken from the notes; a balanced closing; a source line; and no invented results. Peer-feedback sheets show that each draft has been checked for accuracy, register and coherence.