2.1.4. Description and justification
The lesson is organized in pre-, while-, and post-, writing activities (see lesson
plan, appendix II)
2.1.4.1. Pre-writing activities
Pre-writing activities aim at giving students the chance to see writing as an act
of communication presenting them with a context for writing similar to what happens
in real life. They also provide students with the necessary language input which they
need in order to perform the writing task. More specifically:
Task 1 (see appendix III) presents students with a model text similar to the one
they will be asked to write. Students are motivated to read the text as it comes from
their Comenius partner school in Wales. The distance between the two schools helps
students appreciate writing as a means of communication between people who are
away from each other.
Task 2 (see appendix III) introduces new vocabulary by asking students to
match some words to pictures. The role of this activity is both to help students
comprehend the text and to pre-teach some vocabulary for the needs of the writing
task which will follow. The pictures used facilitate comprehension.
Task 3 (see appendix III) makes students become aware of the language used
in recipes which is the language for giving instructions. Without being made explicit,
the use of imperative is presented contextualized as a vehicle for expressing a certain
communicative need. The students underline the verbs in the text and examine their
form and their place in each sentence. In this way they realize that a certain meaning
is expressed through a certain grammatical form. Thus grammar is acquired within a
meaningful context and as a need to communicate.
Task 4 (see appendix III) introduces students to the way independent sentences
are combined using coordinating conjunction and. This is one of the commonest ways
through which coherence is signaled. The task has two stages. First students are asked
to identify instances of sentence combining in the model text and then they are asked
to practice on some examples themselves.
Task 5 (see appendix III) introduces new vocabulary items and exposes
students to the use of imperative for giving instructions