TASK 2 - THEMATIC CONTENT 2

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 MY HOME, MY FOLKS
THEMATIC UNIT: FAMILY TIES
THEMATIC CONTENT: THIS IS MY HOME

Task: Answer an email with the information

requested in a previous email.

GOALS:
• To describe a house by using images.
• To talk about conveniences in a house.
Context: Read an email from the host family you are staying with, they are going to send their
son/daughter to stay with your family here in Colombia. The host/hostess sends you an email
asking you about the people you live with and the place where you live.

LANGUAGE FOCUS
Greetings and Farewells: How are you? How do you do? Have a good night.
The alphabet: How do you spell your name? How do you spell your last name?
Numbers  (1-100):  What’s your phone number? What’s your address?
Months: When is your birthday? When is Colombia’s independence?
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Days of the Week: Class is on Monday. I rest on Saturdays.
Countries: Where are you from? What country would you like to visit?
Expressions of Time (early, on time, o’clock, at night, in the afternoon,in a rush...): I arrive on time
to the English class. I have science class at night.
Frequency Adverbs: On Sunday, I usually go to the university at 8:00 o’clock, I visit my parents on
vacations.
Sequence Connectors: First, later, then, after, before, finally.
Basic Action Verbs: Study, Work, Eat, Go.
Verb to Be: I am a student, She is my professor.
Simple Present Tense (affirmative, interrogative and negative): I usually work on weekends. I do not
sleep at home on Fridays. What do you like to do on weekends? How often do you go to the library?
Family Members: How many brothers do you have? What is your father´s name?
Colors What is your favorite color? Do you prefer red or green?
Family Types: Do you have step-siblings? What does you father-in-law do?
Occupations and Jobs: What does a researcher do? What does a scientist do?
Physical Descriptions: How do you look like? What do you look like?
Body Parts: My hair is black. Your eyes are beautiful.
House Objects: My TV set is great. I have a bookcase for my magazines.
Rooms of the House: My kitchen is convenient. My room is very comfortable.
Types of Houses: I live in an apartment. My sister lives in a flat.
Adjectives She is intelligent. I am serious.
Word Order: (Adjetivos y sustantivos) I love that really old big green antique.
Possessive Adjectives (mi, tu, su: de él, de ella, de ellos, de ellas): My best friend is special. Her
brother is so smart?

Programa Institucional de Inglés

 Saxon Possessive (‘s): The principal´s director office is on the third floor. Students´ lives are energy
consuming.
Yes/no Questions: Do you have a part-time job? Does your advisor work at the university?
There Is/Are: There are several libraries at the university. There isn’t a physics lab on block 2.
Prepositions of Place (en - sobre - entre, y otras): There is a cafeteria behind the museum. There are
several rooms in block  5.
Sports and Leisure Time Activities: I practice soccer and baseball. I do karate.
Feelings And Personality Traits: She is so funny. I feel moody today.
Can / Can’t, Be Able To (Negative Form) I can graduate from a program. I can´t be mediocre, I am
able to do what I want, I am not able to fail.
Infinite: To have an interview. To read an article.

Pronunciation

ACTION ONE: Describe different apartments, discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of each one, and choose one to living with your roommate.
PRE: Vocabulary building
Aa 1. Choose the household objects that correspond to each room in the house and
BbCc write them on the lines. Use a dictionary for the words you don’t know (in some
cases an object can be found in more than one room). Compare your answers 3

with your teacher and classmates.

couch sink pillows china rug cabinets lamp dresser refrigerator
towels silverware mirror oven toilet TV set painting bed
table stove stereo bookcase microwave chandelier bathtub chair
plants nightstand cooking utensils alarm clock fireplace curtains

LIVING ROOM
_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

DINING ROOM
_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

BATHROOM
_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

BEDROOM
_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

 KITCHEN
_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

_____________________ ______________________ ____________________

Adapted from: Uceda English Series (2006)

Grammar Activity: There is/There are forms

Read this description of Lucia’s house. Pay attention to the phrases in bold.
When do we use There is and There are in English? How about prepositions?
Can you identify some in the reading?

Image used for educational purposes only: www.ibherperu.com

Our apartment is not too big, but it is perfect for our family.
The living room and the dining room are in the same area. In the
living room, there are two small couches and two chairs. The
dining room has six places, and there is a guest bathroom next to it.
There are three bedrooms in our apartment, one is the master’s bedroom where mom
and dad sleep, and there are two small bedrooms, one for my brother and one for me.
In my parents’ room, there is another bathroom with a nice bathtub and there is a big
balcony. My bedroom is small, but there is a balcony there, too. I love the view because
we live right across from a big park where there are lots of trees and a water fountain.

The kitchen has a good size and there are convenient cabinets over the countertop.
There is a small dining room set where we usually get together for coffee in the evening.
Finally, there is a laundry area in our apartment which is very convenient because
there isn’t much room at home. Our decoration is simple. There aren’t many objects:
just some paintings on the walls and a few decorative items around because mom likes
to have open spaces and we do, too. What I like best about our apartment is that it is
well lit and warm. It definitely feels like home!

Programa Institucional de Inglés

 WHILE: Describe a place and choose one to live.

APARTMENT HUNT
You and a classmate are moving in together and each of you saw a different apartment. Cover the opposite
picture. One will describe picture A and the other one picture B. Find the differences between both places
and decide which place is the most convenient for both of you to move in.

Image used for educational purposes only: www.plus.google.com 5

image used for educational purposes only: www.verplanos.com

 POST: Write about It

1. What apartment did you both choose? Write reasons for your decision on
the lines provided below.

ACTION TWO: Role-play. You want to rent a room. Talk to a landlord or landlady to find
the best one for you.
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TYPES OF HOUSES
PRE: Talk about types of houses

1. Do a little research online about the following different types of houses.

How are they different from each other? Where can you typically find
them? and discuss the following:
a. What do they have in common? How do they differ from each other?
b. Where (geographic site) would you normally find each type of house?
c. Is there one type of house in particular that you would like to live in? Justify

• A beach house • A skyscraper

• A detached house • A mansion
• A boat house • An igloo
• A teepee • A hut
• A country house/farm
• A flat/apartment
• A caravan/trailer
• A castle
• A bungalow
• Other? - Which?

Programa Institucional de Inglés

Aa Vocabulary Activity: Types of houses

BbCc First, match the images to the houses’ names on the right. Then, read people’s
descriptions below. How are their homes alike or different?

Different People, Different Houses

3 5 1. _______________ 2. ________________
1 2
4
3. _______________ 4. ________________

6 7 8 5. _______________ 6.________________
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7. _______________ 8.________________

9._______________ 10. _______________

10 11 12 11._______________ 12._______________
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Read the following houses’

descriptions and identify
the type of house from the
list above.
Hi ! I’m Aponi. I’m Native
American. I live in a small
teepee with my family.
There are no rooms, but it
is warm.
Hi ! I’m Omar. I’m from
Arabia. I live in a big flat
in a high skyscraper in
Dubai. There are seven
rooms. It’s fantastic.
Hi ! I’m Akili from Kenya.
I live in a big hut with my
Hi ! I’m Ali. I’m from family. There are no rooms,
Morocco. I live in a but it’s nice because we can
lovely house with my be together all the time.
parents. There are two
floors and eight rooms
for our family. Hi ! I’m Jake from Alaska. I live
in a large igloo with my wife.
There are no rooms. It’s very
cold, but it’s comfortable.
Hi ! I’m Diego. I’m
from Mexico. I live
in an apartment in a
block of flats. There Hi ! I’m Helen from the U.S. I
are three rooms. live in a bungalow. There are
four rooms and a nice garden
at home.

Hi ! I’m Roxana from Peru. Hi ! I’m Jian. I’m from

I live in a farm house. China. I live in an old, Hi ! I’m Maria from Portugal.
There are six rooms and a big castle. We have I live in a large villa with my
big barn. We have lots of guests all the time. family. There are forty rooms
animals. and a wonderful garden.

Activity adapted from used for educational purposes only: www.islcollective.com

 WHILE: You want to rent a room. Talk to a landlord or landlady
to find the best one for you.

ROLE PLAY ACTIVITY

Get in pairs or groups of three or four students to roleplay
the following situation between realtor agents and buyers:
You have the money to invest in a property, so you visit an agency to be advised on what
property to buy. Based on your expectations, the agent(s) will show you two or three options
giving you a description of the place. You will finally express your willingness to buy one of the
three places you saw. You are expected to share your dialogue with your teacher and classmates.

POST: Structure the e-mail for your task

Now that you have acquired the necessary tools in terms of vocabulary and syntax, read the
following information to comply with the task for this thematic unit.

WHAT’S IN AN E-MAIL?
Electronic mails are exchanges of information over the network. Depending on the level of
formality, they have components similar to those of a letter. Take a look at this example below.

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Writing Tip

Look at the e-mail format and compare it to the e-mail Lucia sent to her host family at the
beginning of this unit. Can you identify and highlight the different parts in her e-mail?

Discuss your answers with your classmates and teacher.

Ancient Greece Question

To: Zach Siegel
Cc: Richard Irvan (democracyprep.org)
Ancient Greece Question

Use CC to copy sour message Greeting (required): All words start with
to someone else capitals, use a comma at the end

Dear Mr. Siegel, One line of space

I want to write you to let you know that I’m really enjoying the history material we’ve been
studying, especially Greek myths. I do have one question though – do Greek people still believe Message
in Zeus today? Thanks for your help with this. body
Another line of space here
Best,
Djeneba Sy
Closing (required): use either Thanks,
Best, or Regards, then a comma, and
then your name on the line below
Taken from used for educational purposes only: https://goo.gl/YyUFDQ

Programa Institucional de Inglés

STEPS IN THE WRITING OF YOUR E-MAIL

1. Start your e-mail with a greeting. Many e-mails start with the greeting Dear..., (followed by
a comma /,) not a colon (:). However, if it is a very informal e-mail, you can simply greet the
person the way you do it in spoken communication: Hello,...

2. After the greeting, briefly mention the reason for your message. That gives the reader an idea
of what the main body of the text is about. Here are some common sentences you can use:

• I hope you are doing well. I am writing because...

• How are you? I am fine. This is an e-mail to tell you about...
• Thanks for your last e-mail. It was great hearing from you...
• How’s everything with you and your family? I am writing to tell you...

3. Then write a paragraph developing the main idea of your text. That is, talk about what you
mentioned in the greeting paragraph. Make sure to write complete sentences separated by
periods (.) and commas (,) in a correct manner. You can also use coordinating conjunctions: and,
so, but, yet, or, and other connectors that you have learned how to use with the help of your
teacher: but, because, first, then, later, etc.

4. Write a concluding paragraph including your farewell. Here are some sentences and phrases
you can use:

• Well, that’s all for now. Give my regards to... • Best wishes, _______ (your name)
• I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. • Regards, _______ (your name)
• Write soon again! • Truly yours, _______ (your name)
• Lots of love, _______ (your name) • All my love, _______ (your name)