Report writing

Reports: Information Texts (Factual Descriptions)

(With thanks to Rosa who published this on her blog)

The purpose of a report or information text is to describe facts. You can describe people, animals, places, events and objects.

The person writing the report informs the readers about the characteristics of the person, animal, object, place or event being described.

The readers read reports to get more information about those people, animals, etc.

Because we are dealing with facts, things that are always true, the verbs are usually in the present simple.

Because we are describing, we often use the verbs to be and to have.

Because we are talking about those people, animals, etc in general-not in a particular point in time-the participants (the people, animals, etc described) are used in a general way. If we are talking about Kangaroos, for example, we say Kangaroos are marsupial..., we don't say that the kangaroo is a marsupial.

You always start a report by introducing the topic you are going to talk about and telling the readers what that is (classification). You don't have to say Today I'm going to talk about kangaroos. You can start like this: Kangaroos are Australian marsupials.....

After the introduction you can have one paragraph to describe each different aspect (part) of the thing you are describing. For example one paragraph to describe what kangaroos look like, one to describe their habitat (where they live), one to describe their eating, procreating habits or characteristics.

The most important things to remember are:

STRUCTURE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:
A statement of fact . It will include the name, group, topic: A Healthy Lifestyle is ..

DESCRIPTION OF PART #

One paragraph for each different part.

Exercise, what it is and examples
Diet, what it is and examples
Mental wellbeing, what it is and examples

LANGUAGE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Simple present & relational verbs (be, have, includes, consists of,...)

Swimming is good for ....Joggers have ... There are many foods....

Generic nouns
People... Doctors.... Children... A healthy diet...

Noun groups (article+adjectives+noun)
The mental health system...

Circumstances of place (where), time (when)
Twice a week ... . In the evening or at night ....

Circumstances of manner (how)
Everyone can keep healthy by exercising regularly.

A challenge!

G'day all,

It was great to see Lei's bubbleshare with the photos of last week's class! What a beautiful job she did with Vicky, Bo Ram and Umma's hair! Not to mention what she did to my eyes!!??? Make sure you click on the link and have a look for yourself!

Some of you are falling a bit behind with the work so you need to catch up!! Look back over the past 4 weeks posts and complete the tasks. Remember, if you have the internet at home you can access your blog!

On Monday afternoon we started to talk about men's jobs; women's jobs. What do you think? Are there some jobs better suited to one sex than the other? Why? Why not? Click the link to the Forum and give your opinion. (Try to register yourself but if you can't then ask me for the username and password) Let's see if Rosa's class will join in!

Rosa has set an interesting task for her class and I'm going to ask you to do it too! It's called a webquest. Click on the link and follow Rosa's prompts/questions! It will be a bit harder for you because you have not done all the work on her blog, but give it a go anyway! I'll give a prize to the first 2 students from my class who complete it all!

Good luck and happy blogging!

Instructions!!

G'day all,

What good work you did last week listening to the podcast with Patricia and answering the questions about the Library! If you haven't done the work then PLEASE do it first thing today!

Very well done to WeiYun who looked at Rosa's blog and correctly answered the question she asked! Well done too to WeiYun and Lei who've been working on Voicethreads!The rest of you should try it today if you've got photos or you can choose some off the web!

As we started to look at the language of Instructions on Monday, you can log on to Time4English and do the following activities:
Grammar book: 6A-6B-6C
Intermediate level: 2A

Please tell me when you have finished this work as you have to print it off to show me that you have completed the activities.

On Monday mornings we have also been looking at How we learn so have a look at the Advanced section and look at 1 About Language and complete 1A-1B-1C-1D.

If you still have time after all that, please have a look at Vacation English and do the topic Australian Language Topic 3 V3.6

Happy Blogging!!

Something new and exciting!

Try this new and exciting thing today! it's so easy to register! Just open the website link and sign up! Then start having fun!! There is a bit of a problem recording here at the moment so do the writing and try recording at home! Good luck!

Library tour!

G'day all,

Thanks for all the work you did on your blogs last week and a big thanks too for helping Sally's class to create blogs. To those who didn't do any of the work, then please do it today so that you don't fall too far behind! It can happen very easily!

On Monday, we went on a tour of the Library. Patricia showed you a power point presentation of the rules and regulations and then took us on a walk around. I hope you all know where to go to find the English language section (what's the shelf identification number for ESOL?)

To consolidate your knowledge of the information you heard, you can listen to a podcast that Rosa did with Patricia last year. The answers to this podcast make up your first assessment this term. Please print off the questions, listen to the podcast and write down the answers. When you finish, write your name on the page and hand it up to me!

When you finish this important work, you can join Voice thread and create your own if you have photos!

Happy blogging!

Time for work!

G'day all!

Last week I hope you had fun creating your blogs and writing your first post! However, there is work to be done and you have to do it today to catch up! Please read last week's post and complete the activities requested. Any questions, please ask for help!

When you have completed ALL the activities, I'd like you to add a permanent link to my blog. Also add the links to English4U and any other link you think you might like!

Happy Blogging!

A new beginning!

What's this a picture of? Where would you find it??

G'day to all the new students for semester 2, 2007 and welcome to our class blog.

I know some of you have done this task before but, before we start, you should think a bit about good computer habits. Some of you are a bit lazy and sit very awkardly at the computer! It is very important to get used to having good posture when you are working on the computer so that you don't get back pain, etc. You will find very useful information and some language exercises here: Computer Health. Read the information first and then answer the Computer Health quiz.

When you finish answering the quiz, print it and keep it in your folder in the blog section. Yes, you will have to get a ring folder to be well organised with your class notes. I'll speak more about this on Monday! Geeta and I will ask you to look at things done in previous lessons. Some of you really need to get organised!!

Now try this game to learn about computer words. You can also do this other game with more computer vocabulary in English.

On Monday, new students were introduced to the novel called Opal Crazy. This is set in the town of Lightning Ridge in New South Wales. The story also mentioned Coober Pedy. Look at the links to find out more where these places are and what they have to offer tourists. Write in your blog which town you'd like to visit and why!! Then do a Google search for Olympic Australis 1956!!! Then read the article Are opals bad luck? Post a comment on what you think!! Are you superstitious? What do you do to avoid bad luck? What do people in your country consider bad luck or superstitious? Write a list in your blog!

If you have still have time, you can look at Time4English and look at the useful page on tenses. Go into Grammar book, then select T and look at the Tenses chart and the past tense irregular verb list. Ask me for the username and password if this is your first class.

For those who want a challenge, look at Rosa's blog and see if you can answer the questions she's asked about the photos! Rememer to write the answers in the comments section of Rosa's blog!

Until next week, happy blogging!