Unit 1 Friends
Language functions and focus
1. Use an adjective before a noun or after a linking verb to describe someone/ something
e.g.: She has short hair.
Her hair is short.
2. Use comparatives to compare two people /things
e.g.: Sandy’s hair is longer than Millie’s hair.
3. Use superlatives to compare three or more people things
e.g.: He is the tallest boy in my class.
4. Use ‘as’+ adjective+ ‘as’ to compare people / things
e.g.: Millie is as tall as Kitty.
5. Use adjectives to describe someone’s physical features and appearance
e.g.: Sandy is tall and has long hair.
Language skills
Listening
1. Identify main ideas to obtain information about a friend
2. Interpret information to obtain a general understanding of the people in a conversation
3. Identify specific and relevant information to complete letters about teenagers’ future plans
Speaking
1. Use questions and answers to talk about people’s appearance and personality
2. Use everyday expressions to show agreement and confirm information
Reading
1. Guess general meaning from keywords and context
2. Skim text for overall meaning and scan for details
3. Identify specific information about different people from their friends’ descriptions
Writing
1. Collect information and organize ideas to describe the appearance and personality of a friend
2. Produce a particular text-type for an audience using a given model
Study skills
Look for main points and keywords to help understand and remember a passage more easily
Background information
Book 8A continues the story about the lives and experiences of the six central characters introduced in Book 7A. Here, the characters are Grade 8 students. Your students will be able to identify with the different situations and contexts. Language is presented through real-life experiences, exposing students to real communication.
Overview of the unit
The main topic of this unit is describing the appearance and the qualities of a good friend. Students learn to talk about their friends and their future plans.
Unit opening
Background information
The opening page arouses students’ interest in the topic of the unit through the funny interactions of two cartoon characters (Eddie and Hobo). This opening page introduces the idea of friendship and sharing.
Warm-up activities
1. Read the conversation between Eddie and Hobo. Check understanding of ‘kind’ and ‘share’. Ask,
e.g.: What does Eddie give Hobo? (He gives him some cake and milk.)
Is there anything else in the fridge? (No, there isn’t.)
What does Hobo want? (He wants to share Eddie’s pizza in the bowl.)
2. Introduce the idea of sharing and friendship. Ask,
e.g.: Are Eddie and Hobo good friends? (Yes, they are. They share things.)
Who do you like more? Why? ( I like Eddie because he shares his food with Hobo.)
Ask two more able students to role-play the conversation in front of the class.
Welcome to the unit
Objectives
1. To revisevocabulary and expressions to describe people
2. To guess meaning from context
3. To generate ideas about people’s appearance and personalities
4. To categorize adjectives to describe important qualities of a friend according to personal preferences
Background information
This section introduces students to the unit topic about different personalities of friends. Students answer some questions in a magazine about the qualities of a best friend. It also preteaches some useful words and expressions.
Teaching procedures
1. Ask more able students
e.g.: Do you have a special friend? What makes him/her special?
Accept all reasonable answers. (He/She helps me with my homework. I can always talk to him/her about my problems, etc.)
2. Ask students to look
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