Directorate: Curriculum GET LESSON PLAN

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Subject Term 1
Language
Grade 8 Week 1-2
Link to Teaching •In this lesson you will explore the different features of texts and books. You will write the
and Assessment first chapter of your own story and revise some language structures.
Plan
Introduction • Theme: New beginnings
Consolidation • After this lesson, you will be able to respond to different texts and write suitable
responses.
Paper based resources: Digital resources:
Activities in this lesson plan https://wcedeportal.co.za/curriculum-
Textbook for additional activities supporthttps://wcedeportal.co.za/partners/#103031
Dictionary

Skills Teaching Methodologies/ Resources / LTSM

(WHAT I am going to (HOW I am going to (WHAT I am going to use to
teach/guide/support) teach/guide/support…) teach/guide/support…)

Listening & Speaking: Read the text twice and allow
learners to take notes during
the second reading.
Reading & Viewing: Use different texts to guide
learners to explore texts
features.
TEACHER’S Writing & Presenting: Revise process writing and
ACTIVITIES sentence structures.
Language Structures Revise parts of speech,
punctuation and sentence
& Conventions:
structures.
https://www.englishclub.com
/listening/
https://www.englishclub.com
/grammar/parts-of-
speech.htm
https://www.englishclub.com
/grammar/sentence/sentenc
e-structure.htm

Participate and Follow the teacher guidelines Newspapers, magazines,

encourage group and the prompts in the lesson pamphlets and television talk
discussions. Read the plan. shows or the news to
texts aloud and encourage discussions.
encourage the learner
to read aloud.
PARENT’S
ACTIVITIES

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 Listening and speaking
1. Group discussion
It is the first week of your high school career. What a great opportunity for new
beginnings after 2020! In this session, you are going to engage in a group
discussion for 10 – 15 minutes.
During the discussions, you have to keep the following in mind:
• Share your ideas and opinions.
• Initiate and sustain conversations.
• Take turns. Be polite.
• Fill in gaps and encourage one another to speak.
• Show understanding for others’ opinions and ideas.
Discussion topic
Watch the short video and respond to the question prompts in your
groups.
Imagine you walk into your first high school English lesson and these
words are on the board:

LEARNER’S
ACTIVITIES

Engage in a discussion about your feelings and expectations. What scares you?
What do you hope for? Have you set goals for yourself for 2021?

2. Listening comprehension

Pre-listening

It is already the second week! Last week you listened to your friends’ feelings
and expectations and you participated in a group discussion. In this lesson, you
are going to listen to a text, take notes and respond to questions in writing.

• Let us talk about Covid-19 and your experience of 2020 first. If you could write
down ONE word to summarise your 2020, what would you write?
• Were you/ your family members/ friends affected by the virus?

During listening

Now you are going to listen to a text about the frontline heroes of 2020. During the first
reading, listen carefully. Then your teacher/tutor will read the questions to you. During
the second reading, you may take notes that you may use to answer the questions.

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 LeadSA has launched a campaign to celebrate those who 'have planted a seed of hope during
the COVID-19 pandemic'. The platform has urged the public to nominate their frontline heroes
during the national lockdown.

According to LeadSA, frontline workers have risked their health to make sure that the people of
South Africa have access to essential services.

"Their remarkable work reveals that not all heroes wear a cape and LeadSA wants to celebrate
these unsung heroes who are ensuring that people have access to health care facilities,
availability of transport during the regulated times and access to essential goods in the stores
during the national lockdown," says the team at LeadSA.

The platform, through its 'Not All Heroes Wear a Cape' campaign, aims to encourage the public
to nominate their frontline heroes. These are people who they believe play an important part in
their community.

It is also people who continue to 'reignite faith and a brighter future for the country' — the
everyday hero who reminds people of the spirit of Ubuntu.

Individuals are encouraged to nominate their heroes and give these people the chance to be
named the 'LeadSA Hero' of the month.

For more information, visit www.leadsa.co.za. You can also follow LeadSA on Facebook or
on Twitter.

Answer the following questions in writing. You may use your notes to answer the
questions.

1. What does LeadSA wish to achieve with their campaign?

2. What role can the public play in this campaign?

3. Who do you think are the frontline workers?

4. Explain why the writer says “not all heroes wear a cape”.

5.1 Is the word “unsung” used literally or figuratively in this article?

5.1 Why are these health workers called “unsung heroes”?

TIP: sing  sang  sung

6. List three ways in which these unsung heroes helped people during the lockdown.

7. Name two ways in which the frontline workers encourage people.

8. Where can you find more information about LeadSA?

9. Do you agree that frontline workers should be nominated by their communities and
be named LeadSA Hero of the month? Give a reason for your answer.

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Reading and viewing

1. Literary text – short story

You are going to read and respond to different stories this year. Stories are
categorised according to their genre. A genre is a category of artistic,
musical or literary composition characterised by a particular style, form or
content. You are going to engage with folktales, short stories, poetry,
drama and a novel. Use the chart below with all the story elements for each of the
stories that you are going to read. It will help you to prepare for assessment
tasks.

Let us look at the short story. Short stories are quick to read and usually have
a twist or surprising ending. Use one of the short stories in your language text
book to complete the story organiser.

Story Graphic Organiser

Characters Setting Theme
What is the underlying message,
Time: Place: meaning or moral of the story?
Protagonist
Who keeps the action moving When Where
forward?
Conflict
Title: Internal conflict
What conflict does the main
_________________ character experience internally
(emotional struggle/ wrestling
Author: with moral issue)?
Antagonist _________________
Who tries to stop the action? External conflict
What conflict does the main
character experience externally
(with another character or
external forces)?

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 Point of view/ Person
Who is speaking? Who is telling
the story?
▪ First person: One
Round characters character, often the
Which characters do you know
main character speaks
a lot about?
using the pronoun “I” or
“We”. The character
describes his/her own
thoughts, words and
actions from his/her own
perspective. E.g. “I set
out to meet friends in
the dark, thick fog…”
▪ Second person: The
Flat characters author addresses you as
Which characters do you know the reader directly. E.g.
little about? “You must understand
the dark night in
question – it was so
foggy you couldn’t see.”
▪ Third person: This is the
most common where
the author is the
narrator. “He”, “she”
and “it” are addressed.
E.g. “He set off with his
friends into the dark
fog.”

2. Talk about books

You have received textbooks for all your subjects. Have you ever looked at your books
to see how they are put together? If you know the parts of a book, you can find
information easily. Let us look at the parts of a book.

Appendix Glossary
Extra information like charts, lists and tables found A list of specialised words and their definitions,
at the back of text books and reference books. usually at the back of a book.

Bibliography Index
A list of books found at the back of the book. An alphabetical list at the back of a book of the
These are the books the author has used for subjects and the pages where they can be found.
research or books recommended for further
reading. Preface
An explanation of the book. It is sometimes called
Body Introduction or Foreword
The text of a book. the story or information.
Table of contents
Chapters The page that lists the chapters in the order they
The different sections of the books. can be found in a book and the page number
where each chapter starts.
Footnote
An additional piece of information printed at the Title page
bottom of a page. The page in the front of a book that tells the title,
author and illustrator.

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Use any one of your textbooks to complete the activity below.

1. What is the title of the book?

2. Who authored the book?

3. Are there illustrations in the book? If so, what types?

4. Is there a preface, foreword or introduction? If so, who wrote it?

5. What is the copyright date? Explain what copyright is.

6. Who is the publisher?

7. How many chapters are listed in the table of contents?

8. Circle the parts of the book that are included in your text:
appendix bibliography glossary index

9. Write a two or three sentence review of the book. For example, you may write what
you liked about it, what it looked like and how it could be used. Use complete
sentences.

3. Text features

Use the labels in the box below to identify the text features of the extract.

A little history of reading: How the first books came to be

(Published on 3 December 2019 Author Cerrie Burnell)

Books and storytelling have long been part of our human

identity. Author Cerrie Burnell shows this is why stories are for
everyone – whatever your background.

We all know that glorious feeling of

clutching a book in our hands. Whether it is
a brand new gift or something we’ve
borrowed from a library.

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4. Reading for comprehension

Pre-reading
There are many interesting articles on the origin of books. Engage with an online article
by clicking here https://bit.ly/Alittlehistoryofreading. If you do not
have internet access, have little group discussions and give feedback
on your experience with libraries and printed books.

During reading
Read the interesting article about e-books. The article was adapted
from Wikipedia and digitalpublishing101. Make a list of unfamiliar
words while you read. Use a dictionary to look up their meanings and add the words to
your personal vocabulary list.

The e-book is an overnight success, but it has been over 40 years in the making. The
starting point was probably in 1971 when Michael Hart started project Gutenberg. This
was a volunteer effort to make electronic editions of the world’s best literature freely
available. Michael created his first electronic document by typing the United States
Declaration of Independence into a computer. Thanks to Project Gutenberg, we can
now read 30,000 classic texts free of charge and 100,000 more from partner efforts.
Sony launched an electronic book reader, the Data Discman, in 1992. It could read e-
books that were stored on CDs. Early e-books were generally written for specific subject
areas and a limited audience. These e-books included technical manuals for hardware
and manufacturing techniques. In the 1990s, the internet became generally available
and it became easier to transfer electronic files, including e-books.
E-books have many advantages. You can easily search for any information in an e-book,
instead of turning page after page. When you need certain information, you can get it
immediately by downloading an e-book. No trees are required to manufacture paper
for the pages of e-books. E-books can show links for easy access to more information
and related websites. You do not need a library or other space to store them. You can
store hundreds and thousands of e-books on your computer. Authors and publishers can
update their books. Anyone can write books and let people read them through internet
without publishing to a paper book.
Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages. E-books are not good for your eyes. You
will feel tired after looking at the screen for a long time. If there is a power outage or the
battery dies, you will not be able to access your books. People cannot get the special
feeling that they can feel when they read a paper book. Local bookstores lose business
as sales of paper books decline.

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Post-reading
Respond to the questions below in writing.

Refer to paragraph 1.
1.1 How long has the e-book been around?

1.2 What was the first thing the people could read online?

1.3 Why should readers be grateful to Project Gutenberg?

1.4 What is your understanding of the term ”overnight success” (line 1)?

1.5 Quote two separate phrases from this paragraph to prove that readers do not pay
for online reading.

Refer to paragraph 2.
2.1 Name three features of the early e-books.

2.2 Why was it easier to transfer electronic files in the 1990s?

Refer to paragraph 3.
3.1 How does the environment benefit from e-books?

3.2 Name the advantage that you can relate to best. Give a reason for your choice.

Refer to paragraph 4.
4.1 What negative impact do e-books have on communities?
4.2 Have you experienced any of the disadvantages of e-books described in this
paragraph. Elaborate.
Refer to the whole passage.
5. If you had a choice, would you prefer to use e-books or printed books? Give reasons
for your choice.
6. Do you agree that e-learning and e-reading is the way forward? Motivate your
opinion.
7. Enrich your vocabulary with the following exercise. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus to
find synonyms and antonyms for the words in the box below.

Word with line reference Synonym Antonym

success (line 1)
starting (line 1)
best (line 3)
limited (line 8)
advantages (line 12)
manufacture (line 14)
unfortunately (line 19)
decline (line 22)

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Writing and presenting

Narrative and reflective essays - Look at the descriptions of the two essay types below.
You are going to respond to a picture to write an essay.

You know that it is important to plan and then edit your work before you hand it in.
Revise the essay structure and stages of process writing

1. Brain storm ideas: Write down

as many words as possible that
pop up when you look at this
visual stimulus.

2. Now start organising your ideas into

sentences and paragraphs.

3. Write an essay of 200 – 250 words.

Editing = making big changes
Proofreading = checking for little mistakes, like spelling and punctuation.

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Language structures and conventions

Parts of speech
You already know that our language consists of different parts of speech.
Before we learn more about adverbs and pronouns, complete the checklist
below to see how much you remember. Match the descriptions in Column
B with the words in Column A.

▪ Adverbs of degree tell us about the intensity or degree of an action, an

adjective or another adverb.

Almost, nearly, quite, just, too, enough, hardly, scarcely, completely, very, extremely, much,
rather, fully, well
Examples:
Lena was just leaving when the rain came pouring down.
He has almost finished his homework.

▪ Adverbs of place tell us where an action takes place.

Anywhere, somewhere, near, far, here, there, everywhere, outside, forward

Examples:
Rugby players must not pass the ball forward. The children are playing outside.
In spring, flowers bloom everywhere.

▪ Pronouns

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Try this activity. Each one of the sentence below contain one adverb or
pronoun error. Rewrite each sentence correctly.

1. The artist plays the guitar good.

2. The teacher shouted angry at the naughty children.
3. The girls are too much excited to see Lady Gaga.
4. My mother, she is very excited about my good results.
5. My father said that she would help me build a kennel.
6. Move the books closer so I can reach it.
7. This is my family that has travelled from the Eastern Cape.
8. I made me a cup of tea.

Punctuation
Revise your knowledge of punctuation marks.

1. Make a list of all the punctuation marks used in this

cartoon. Write next to each one what its function is in the
sentence.
2. Name the punctuation mark that is missing in the cartoon.

Sentences
It is important to write good sentences correctly. Let us look at an example. Then you
should apply your knowledge in the activity that will follow.

Step 1: A sentence is a group of words that has a clear and complete meaning.
Step 2: It always has a subject and a finite (complete) verb.
Step 3: The verb must agree with the subject in number.
Step 4: Sentences have phrases and clauses.

Example: Isabel and Thuli are baking a cake for the birthday party.

Isabel and Thuli are baking a cake for the birthday party
Subject = plural finite verb = present direct phrase = a group of words that
continuous tense object does not have a finite verb
are =plural
The verb agrees with subject = plural

Do the same with the following sentence:

The learners with masks sanitise their hands every morning before class.

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Suggested answers

Listening
1. They want to celebrate those who gave people hope during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. They must nominate their frontline heroes during the national lockdown.
3. The people who work in hospitals and the community and who have to keep people safe
and help them.
4. In stories heroes like batman and spider man wear capes. Nurses, doctors and community
workers do not wear capes but they are heroes.
5.1 Figuratively
5.1 They do not receive any praise (songs of praise) for their work.
6. Access to health care facilities, availability of transport during the regulated times and access
to essential goods in the stores during the national lockdown
7. They spark faith and a brighter future for the country and remind people of the spirit of
Ubuntu.
8. For more information, visit www.leadsa.co.za.
You can follow LeadSA on Facebook or on Twitter.
9. Open-ended response.

Comprehension
1.1 It has been around over 40 years/ since 1971.
1.2 The United States Declaration of Independence
1.3 We can now read 30,000 classic texts free of charge and 100,000 more from partner efforts.
1.4 Something becomes successful very quickly.
1.5 “freely available” and “free of charge”
2.1 They were stored on CDs. They were subject specific and for a limited audience. They were
mostly technical manuals.
2.2 The internet became generally available.
3.1 No trees are required to manufacture paper for the pages of e-books.
3.2 Own choice.
4.1 Local bookstores lose business as sales of paper books decline.
4.2 Open-ended response.
5. Open-ended response.
6. Open-ended response.
7.
Word with line reference Synonym Antonym
success (line 1) achievement/accomplishment failure
starting (line 1) beginning/ initial ending
best (line 3) finest/ greatest/ top worst
limited (line 8) restricted unlimited
advantages (line 12) benefits/ plusses/ pros disadvantages
manufacture (line 14) construction/ assemble/ build dismantle/ demolish/ disassemble
unfortunately (line 19) regrettably/ unluckily/ sadly fortunately
decline (line 22) drop/ deterioration/ fall improve/ grow

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Parts of speech
1. (g) 2. (j) 3. (h) 4. (e) 5. (c) 6. (b) 7. (i) 8. (d) 9. (f) 10. (a)

Adverbs
1. The artist plays the guitar well.
2. The teacher shouted angrily at the naughty children.
3. The girls are very excited to see Lady Gaga.
4. My mother is very excited about my good results.
5. My father said that he would help me build a kennel.
6. Move the books closer so I can reach them.
7. This is my family who has travelled from the Eastern Cape.
8. I made myself a cup of tea.

Punctuation
1. comma: after words that introduce a sentence/ before or after tags or names
inverted commas: to show highlighted words
question marks: used at the end of a question
ellipsis: (three dots) to indicate an unfinished thought
apostrophe: to show omission of a letter/contraction

2. full stop

Sentences

The learners with sanitise their every morning before class.

masks hands
Subject = plural finite verb = simple direct phrase = a group of words that
present tense object does not have a finite verb
sanitise =plural form
The verb agrees with subject = plural

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