Writing Activity 4 for the FriendlyCity Project

Visions of Kaoshiung

Objectives:

  1. To make students analyze merits and demerits of Kaohsiung in order to know more about Kaohsiung.
  2. To help students to think about something from different points of view.
  3. To give students the chance to write an English letter and an envelope.
  4. To make students think about the ways how to turn Kaohsiung into a better and more beautiful city.

Level:(high-intermediate)

Materials: 3 worksheets – one is for brainstorming about the merits and demerits of Kaohsiung, another is for writing an English letter to invite a foreign friend to Kaohsiung, and the other is for writing an essay, the title of which is “What if I am the mayor of KaohsiungCity?”

Procedures:

【worksheet 1】

  1. Ask students to talk about their opinions about KaohsiungCity. Each student should be asked to think of three ‘adjectives’ and the teacher write them down on the blackboard. The more adjectives on the blackboard, the better. For example, all the students have thought of adjectives as the following: beautiful, hot, sunny, healthy, relaxing, polluted, convenient, crowded, friendly, busy, cheap, cultural… (The teacher can choose several important ones for discussing.)
  2. Discuss with students about what or who gives them such a feeling, and then ask students to classify all the adjectives into three groups: the positive ones, the negative ones, and the ambugious ones, which contain both the positive and the negative aspects.
  3. List merits and demerits of Kaohsiung in worksheet 1 by means of clustering (mind map). The teacher demonstrates how to form a ‘mind map’ as the following:
  1. Have students write down concrete narratives and examples.

【worksheet 2】

  1. Warm up: ask students if they have foreign friends (if not, ask them to imagine one) and how they communicate with each other, by means of writing letters, sending e-mails, or talking on the phone.
  2. Teach students how to write an English letter and an envelope.
  3. Have students to write a letter to their foreign friends and invite them to visit Kaohsiung. The contents of the letters are on the basis of the datum in worksheep 1. That is, have students use the merits of Kaohsiung to attract their friends to come to Kaohsiung.
  4. Have students write the envelopes for their letters.

【worksheet 3】

  1. Have students discuss and think about the responsibilities of a mayor.
  2. Ask students what they will do for the advancement of KaohsiungCity. Discuss with them.
  3. Ask students to write an essay. The title is “What if I am the mayor of KaohsiungCity?”

Worksheet 1

Merits and Demerits of Kaohsiung

merits

adjective / Examples and Narratives

demerits

adjective / Examples and Narratives

points at issue

adjective / Examples and Narratives

Worksheet 2

Write an English Letter to Invite a foreigner to Kaohsiung

LETTER

(date)______
Dear ______,
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Best Wishes,
(signature)

ENVELOPE

Worksheet 3

What If I am the Mayor of KaohsiungCity

Write an essay on the topic.

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