GRADE 11A: The mysterious universe Hypothesising about the past

About this unit

This unit is designed to guide your planning and teaching of English lessons. It provides a link between the standards for English and your lesson plans. The teaching and learning activities in this unit should help you to plan the content, pace and level of difficulty of lessons. You should adapt the ideas in the unit to meet the needs of your class. You can also supplement the ideas with appropriate activities from your schools textbooks and other resources. In this unit, students read and research unexplained mysteries, recount and compare reports of alien sightings and explore how authors create settings and portray characters.

UNIT 11A.4 8 hours

Resources
The main resources needed for this unit are: reading text of approximately 500 words about the disappearance of the Mary Celeste; a further reading text of theories about what happened to the ship; listening text where a person recounts an unusual experience; three or more different accounts of UFO sightings or alien abductions; passage or chapter from a graded reader with a strong narrative and character portrayal.

Expectations
By the end of the unit, most students will: understand and respond to narratives and descriptions; follow presentations on a range of familiar but abstract subjects; talk about the hypothetical past; actively participate in informal and more formal discussions; describe possible scenarios in the past; report what people say or believe; read independently and intensively, texts of at least 1500 words, and extensively from appropriately levelled texts, in a variety of genres in the text range identified for Grade 11 Advanced; read widely for information, search the Internet using advanced features of common search engines, skim and scan written and screen-based texts; read a variety of narratives, inferring moods and relationships, and noting how authors create settings and portray characters and mark the passage of time; plan and compose stories. Students who progress further will: recount and compare events and experiences using a wide range of past tenses appropriately; use a wide range of vocabulary to capture degrees or shades of meaning. Students who make slower progress will: recount and compare events and experiences using a range of past tenses with some hesitation and/or a number of errors.

Key structures and functions

Hypothesising about the past: The crew must have left in a hurry. The lights might have come from secret military planes. If theyd been attacked by pirates, the cargo would have been taken Talking about past hypothetical situations which impact on the present using if + past perfect + would (do): If people had been abducted, there would be signs of Pre- and post-modification of nouns: On his bare feet he was wearing a pair of well-worn leather sandals with holes in the toes.

Vocabulary
Mysteries: unexplained, mysterious, unsolved, inexplicable, etc. Aliens: unidentified flying object (UFO), alien abduction, poltergeist, etc.

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Standards for the unit

8 hours SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 10A standards
11A.1.1

Unit 11A.4
CORE STANDARDS Grade 11A standards
Recognise, understand and use approximately 4000 words for listening, speaking, reading and writing, extending and consolidating the active vocabulary words from Grades K9. Understand and respond to narratives, anecdotes, stories, plays and films: understand gist; follow dialogue; discern speakers moods, relationships and intentions; express detailed opinions with justification; connect to personal experiences. 11A.4.2 Speak accurately, using a series of up to 12 clear, connected, simple and complex utterances demonstrating: accurate and appropriate use of vocabulary and pronunciation, including appropriate stress and intonation; control of basic language structures with occasional use of advanced language structures, such as a variety of complex sentences with subordinate clauses, linked with appropriate conjunctions; appropriate cohesive devices to link ideas within sentences and organise ideas at discourse level; rich content; ideas developed with elaboration and detail, backed by relevant examples and minimised use of redundancy; readily comprehensible content, requiring little interpretation, and where pronunciation enhances communication; rich use of vocabulary, with some idiomatic expressions. 12F.4.1 Speak accurately, using a series of up to 12 clear, connected, simple and complex utterances with: control of basic language structures with use of advanced language structures (e.g. a variety of complex utterances with subordinate clauses linked with appropriate conjunctions), use of a range of tenses, modals, active and passive voice, gerunds and infinitives.

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 12A standards

3 hours Unexplained mysteries 10A.3.1 3 hours Recounting and comparing events 2 hours Extensive reading and writing Understand and respond to narratives, anecdotes, stories, plays and films.

11A.3.1

10A.4.5

Interact in paired and group discussions and more formal discussion: actively participate, contributing relevant opinions, examples and suggestions to the discussion; show independence by initiating new ideas.

11A.4.3

Interact in group, paired and more formal discussion: actively participate, contributing relevant opinions, examples and suggestions to the discussion; challenge ideas and get the interlocutor to justify their point of view where appropriate; show independence by initiating new ideas and taking responsibility for keeping the discussion going; ability to deal with unexpected questions or comments.

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8 hours
10A.5.2

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 10A standards

Talk about the hypothetical past: speculate and make accusations using past modals, should, could, would, might have done; talk about past unreal possibilities with the third conditional, in positive and negative statements, yes/no and wh-type questions with long and short answers. 11A.5.3 11A.5.2

CORE STANDARDS Grade 11A standards

Consolidate and extend ability to describe possible choices, courses of action, in the past, present or future; and weigh up options and consequences. Use hypothetical language with conditionals and appropriate modals and connectives; extend to: use of if only for wishful thinking in the present and past regrets; talking about past hypothetical situations which impact on the present using if + past perfect + would (do).

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 12A standards

Recount and compare events, situations, narratives and personal experiences in the past, using the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect for the general past, as appropriate. Report what people say or believe: summarise monologues, conversations and group discussions; use direct quotations for emphasis or effect; use a wide range of verbs other than say, tell and ask for reported commands, for reported statements, for reported beliefs, for reported questions; extend to using verbs of speech which take the gerund and the infinitive use whether as well as if in reported yes/no questions; use the correct sequence of tenses, and appropriate changes in time phrases and demonstrative adjectives.

11A.5.4

11A.5.7

Prepare and make to an audience a 10-minute presentation on a topic that interests and informs (current or past events): organise the presentation with a consistent structure; use appropriate language for introducing, developing main ideas, summarising, and concluding; present arguments for and against in a balanced way, supported with evidence and examples; recommend, giving reasons as part of the conclusion; use presentation skills speak with few hesitations from notes, use and refer to visuals effectively, be aware of the audience through eye contact, body language, voice projection; handle anticipated and unexpected questions from the audience and, where appropriate, maintain a dialogue with them.

12A.5.4

Prepare and make to an audience a 15-minute presentation on a topic that interests and informs (current or past events): use presentation skills: speak with few hesitations from notes, refer to and exploit visuals effectively, be aware of the audience through eye contact, body language, voice projection; handle anticipated and unexpected questions from the audience and where appropriate maintain a dialogue with them.

197 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 11A | Unit 11A.4 | The mysterious universe

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8 hours

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 10A standards

11A.6.2 10A.6.4 Search the Internet for information related to a text. Infer information from evidence in the text, read, understand and respond to written arguments. Collate by downloading, cutting, pasting etc. to form a coherent whole. 11A.6.5

CORE STANDARDS Grade 11A standards

Read extensively from appropriately levelled texts, in a variety of genres in the text range identified for Grade 11 Advanced. Use advanced features of search common engines: + searches a plus sign before common words (e.g. where, of, how) or a number, makes sure it is included in the search; searches a minus sign before a word excludes the word from a search; ~ searches a tilde sign before a word makes the search engine look for synonyms; phrase searches putting a phrase into quotation marks makes sure the search engine returns only results containing the exact phrase; or searches putting or between two items makes sure the search engine looks for pages containing either of the items; domain restrict putting the word site before a specific URL in the search box ensures the search engine returns only results from that site.

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 12A standards

10A.7.1

Read a variety of narratives and investigate how authors create settings and portray characters .

11A.7.1

From Grade 10 Foundation, extend investigations of how authors create settings and portray characters and events through use of: adjectives and adjectival phrases which pre- or post-modify; vocabulary to capture degrees or shades of meaning; more precise, powerful or expressive verbs; uses of figurative language and personification. Compare and evaluate some of these devices in relation to the authors intentions and the impact on the reader.

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8 hours

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 10A standards

11A.7.4

CORE STANDARDS Grade 11A standards

Read widely for information: prior to reading, identify key questions and possible sources; use skimming and scanning strategies to identify key information, discern relationships between ideas, distinguish relevant from irrelevant detail, check information to ensure detail is correct; synthesise information from a range of at least three sources; make detailed legible notes in a form which suits the purpose written, diagrammatic, abbreviated sufficiently to structure an essay or presentation, with main points and accurate detail, combine information from different sources coherently; compare and evaluate different texts on the same topics, information presented in different screen and hard-copy text forms. 12A.7.4

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 12A standards

Read widely for information: prior to reading, identify key questions and possible sources; use skimming and scanning strategies to identify key information synthesise information from a range of sources; seek and research sources beyond those immediately available (e.g. through wider Internet searches, enquiring directly in emails or letters, researching in directories, libraries).

10A.9.2

Drawing on experiences of reading, compose narratives based on known or imagined stories, personal experiences or recounts of events, showing ability to: construct a coherent story plan showing the main characters, the progression of events and the conclusion, as a basis for writing a full version; select vocabulary precisely to portray characters and create moods and settings;

11A.9.2

Drawing on experiences of reading, compose narratives based on known or imagined stories, personal experiences, or recounts of events, showing ability to: construct a coherent story plan showing the main characters, the progression of events and the conclusion, as a basis for writing a full version; select and present themes and topics in ways that capture the readers interest; relate events coherently showing the passage and duration of time in a clear chronological sequence; select vocabulary precisely to portray characters and create moods and settings; include dialogue or reported speech as appropriate; use a variety of complex and simple sentence forms to create interest, emphasis, tension; draw the narrative to an effective conclusion; structure the text in paragraphs which break the narrative into coherent and connected parts.

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Activities
Objectives
3 hours Unexplained mysteries Students are able to: understand and respond to hypothetical situations and propositions in the past and the future; discuss possible scenarios in the past, based on hypothesis and supposition; read widely for information; prepare and make to an audience a five-minute presentation on a topic that interests and informs.

Unit 11A.4
Possible teaching activities
Introduce a text of approximately 500 words which gives details about the mystery surrounding the discovery of the ship the Mary Celeste but which does not offer any explanation. Before students read the text, pre-teach key vocabulary by eliciting some of the dangers of sea travel in the 18th and 19th centuries (e.g. attack by pirates, mutiny by crew, scurvy, inaccurate maps). Students read the text and discuss the use of narrative tenses (the text could be prepared with deliberate errors which the students have to identify). Students identify the main ideas and then, using clues in the text, speculate about what might have happened to the captain and crew, for example: Clue No supplies or personal belongings seemed to be missing from the ship. The lifeboat was missing. The cargo was flammable. The cargo was intact. Speculation They must have left in a hurry. They might have left the ship because they thought it was sinking. They might have thought the ship was going to explode. They cant have been attacked by pirates.

Notes
On 4 December 1872, the Mary Celeste was discovered floating off the coast of Portugal. The ship was relatively undamaged. The cargo was intact. There was plenty of food and water aboard. However, there was no sign of the captain, his family or any member of the crew. Information on the Mary Celeste can be found at: www.maryceleste.net www.siracd.com/work_mary.shtml www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A462007 Alternatively, students could read about the disappearance of Flight 19 on 5 December 1945, in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle.

School resources
This column is blank for schools to note their own resources (e.g. textbooks, worksheets).

Highlight the structure, paying attention to form, meaning and use. Drill, paying special attention to contractions, weak forms and stress. Using information in the text, elicit examples of the third conditional, for example: Eliciting cue There might have been a mutiny. There were no signs of a struggle. The cargo was in tact. Third conditional If thered been a mutiny, the crew wouldnt have disappeared If theyd been attacked by pirates, there would have been signs of a struggle. If theyd been attacked by pirates, the cargo would have been taken.

In groups, students discuss what they think happened to Captain Briggs, his family and crew. Monitor groups for correct use of modals and conditionals. Students read recent theories about what may have happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste and comparing with their own ideas. Summaries of popular theories can be found at: http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/ resources/units/unsolved_mysteries/mary_ce leste.html

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Divide the class into groups of 34 students. Each group chooses an unexplained mystery to research and present to the class. Discuss research questions, for example: What is the mystery? (background information) What is the theory? What is the evidence to support the theory? What is the evidence against? What is the presenters personal opinion? Discuss the use of search engines and search words and how students might approach the task to ensure that everyone in the group contributes. Discuss note-taking, for example: highlighting key points with a marker pen on a paper-based text; cutting and pasting notes from an electronic text into a file with various headings; recording key words only. Students discuss and agree evaluation criteria, which should include: organisation of the presentation; use of appropriate language features to introduce and develop ideas; balanced presentation of arguments for and against, supported with evidence and examples; a clear conclusion presentation skills speaking with few hesitations from notes, use of visuals, awareness of the audience through eye contact, body language and voice projection; handling questions from the audience and, where appropriate, maintain a dialogue with them. Students research their topics and collate the information in note form. Encourage students to illustrate their presentation with pictures where appropriate. Before students make their presentations, practise the language of giving an opinion, for example: If you ask me What I think is In my opinion Its my opinion that I believe that

Notes
Research topics might include the Bigfoot (also know as the Sasquatch), the Loch Ness Monster, the Nazca Lines of Peru, Atlantis.

School resources

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Using their notes, groups prepare to present their topic to the rest of the class. They should conclude their presentation giving a personal opinion. Listeners should be prepared to ask questions to check meaning and elicit more information and to challenge the opinions of the presenters. Groups evaluate their presentations using the agreed criteria.

Notes

School resources

3 hours Recounting and comparing events Students are able to: identify main ideas and details in a reading text; recount and compare events, narratives and personal experiences in the past, using the past simple, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect for the general past, as appropriate; synthesise information from a variety of texts and prepare a summary; hypothesise about the past; report what people say or believe.

Ask students to predict words associated with unidentified flying objects (UFOs), aliens or abductions, depending on the subject of the texts in the following reading activity. After two minutes, ask them to compare their list with a partner. How similar are they? Are they surprised by this? Why/why not? Students keep their list of words as they will refer to it again at the end of this section. Revise the use of reporting verbs. Students listen to a personal recount of an unusual experience (e.g. a UFO sighting or an alien abduction). They identify the main ideas. Play the tape again and pause from time to time. Students summarise each section in one sentence. Encourage use of different verbs for reporting, for example: He thought it might have been an animal moving in the bushes. He wasnt sure where the sound was coming from. He believed that Highlight the correct sequence of tenses, and appropriate changes in time phrases and demonstrative adjectives. Divide the class into groups according to the number of texts available. Give each group a different text to read. As they read, students fill in a simple grid for their text: Text A Who was involved? What happened? What time of day was it? What did they see? Other important information Give students a time limit to make notes. Monitor to make sure that they make comprehensive notes because they will need to use them in the next activity. Collect in the texts. Text B Text C Find several different written accounts of UFO sightings or alien abductions. Reports of UFO sightings and alien abductions from around the world have many similarities. Make sure that your stories have a number of similarities. The questions in the grid depend on the texts. It is important to collect in the texts before the next activity so that students work from their notes and cannot read whole sections from the texts.

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

Cross-group students so that there is one student from each group now working together in a new group. In turn, they retell the story they read and make notes to complete the grid. If necessary, remind students of the correct sequence of tenses, and appropriate changes in time phrases and demonstrative adjectives when reporting speech. Encourage students to seek clarification as necessary. When they have finished, they identify similarities between the stories and make sentences to summarise, for example: All the people reported seeing a bright light just before they were abducted. Two groups said that the aliens were hostile but one group believed that the aliens didnt intend to harm them. Ask students to compare the accounts they have read with their original word lists. How many of the words that they had predicted appeared in the stories? How do they account for this? Conclude by asking students if they believe the stories they read. If not, encourage them to hypothesise about what they think really happened: The lights might have come from secret military planes. Maybe the people had been drinking. If necessary, revise the use of modals in the past. Introduce the structure if + past perfect + would (do) for talking about past hypothetical situations which impact on the present, for example: If aliens had landed on Earth, there would be signs Highlight the form, meaning, pronunciation and use. Practise the structure in controlled exercises with second and third conditional structures.

Notes

School resources

2 hours Extensive reading and writing Students are able to: read extensively from appropriately levelled texts, in a variety of genres in the text range identified for Grade 11 Advanced; [continued]

Students read a chapter or passage from a graded reader related to the theme of mysteries. The passage should have a strong narrative and include a detailed portrayal of character. Students read the passage for homework or in class and complete tasks to identify the way in which time is structured in the narrative (e.g. chronological order, flashbacks, events in simultaneous time, using verb tenses and connecting words and phrases).

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Objectives
[continued] identify how authors create settings and portray characters and events; identify ways in which time is structured in narratives; compose narratives based on known or imagined stories, personal experiences or recounts of events; select vocabulary precisely to portray characters and create moods and settings.

Possible teaching activities

Students use the passage to investigate how authors create settings and portray characters and events, noting the use of: adjectives and adjectival phrases which pre- or post-modify and collocate correctly with the noun; concrete and abstract adjectives and adverbs (i.e. those which give clear objective information and those which are a matter of subjective opinion); vocabulary to capture degrees or shades of meaning; more precise, powerful or expressive verbs; some uses of figurative language alliteration, assonance and rhyme, onomatopoeia, similes, metaphors; ordering of phrases and clauses in sentences to emphasise particular elements. Students read a skeleton of the beginning of a story, for example: A woman was walking along the road. It was raining. She In groups, students ask questions about the sentences, for example: How old was the woman? What was she wearing? How was she walking? What kind of road was it straight, windy? Was it raining hard? Students use their questions to help them elaborate the simple sentences by adding adjectives, verbs, adverbs, etc. to create an atmosphere or mood. In groups. they develop and write an ending for the story.

Notes

School resources

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Assessment
Examples of assessment tasks and questions
Listening Students listen to a person recount an unusual experience and respond to true/false statements. Students role-play an interview with a newspaper journalist and someone who claims to have seen a UFO.

Unit 11A.4
Notes
Listening carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Speaking carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Award marks for accuracy and fluency.

School resources

Speaking

Reading

Students read a gapped text of a character portrayal and complete a multiple-choice exercise, selecting the most appropriate word to fill the gaps. Alternatively, students read a narrative text and write the verbs in the correct tense.

Reading carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade.

Writing

Students recount a known story or event.

Writing carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Award marks for completion of task and use of language.

205 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 11A | Unit 11A.4 | The mysterious universe

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206 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 11A | Unit 11A.4 | The mysterious universe

Education Institute 2005