Grade 12 English Teacher's Guide - In Depth Notes

Unit 1: Chasing Dreams

• Objectives:
  • Outline facts and ideas from reading text
  • Respond to questions appropriately
  • Guess meanings of unfamiliar words through context
  • Apply idioms from passage
  • Grasp main idea and specific info from listening text
  • Interview others
  • Write a descriptive essay

Introduction

• Have students name successful entrepreneurs (e.g., owners of KBZ, AYA Bank).
• Match founders to companies in pairs.
• Monitor for difficulties and check answers as a class.

Lesson Activities

1. Reading Exercises

   • Skim paragraphs to find main ideas without full comprehension.
   • Discuss removed sentences in context.
   • Answer exercises to find specific details from the text with group discussions.
   • Sample Answers from Exercise B:
     • Success comes from creativity, imagination, adventure.
     • Starlink aids Internet access globally.
     • Jobs funded his business by selling personal items.
     • Bezos's website is named Amazon.
     • Requirements for success: innovation, action, perseverance.
     • Goals provide focus in life.

2. Vocabulary - Idioms

   • Discuss the idiom "Let the cat out of the bag" (meaning revealing a secret).
   • Recognize idioms in the reading:
     • Not rocket science
     • The bottom line
     • Think outside the box
   • In pairs, write sentences using new idioms.

Grammar: Used To, Be Used To, Get Used To

• Explain different meanings through sentence examples.
• Practice exercises to identify correct usage in context.
• Sample distinction:
  • "I used to play outside" (past habit),
  • "She is used to waking up early" (current habit),
  • "He is getting used to the new routine" (becoming accustomed).

Listening and Speaking

• Discuss images and predict context of an interview.
• Conduct listening from a recording of a young entrepreneur, Michele.
• Fill in blanks based on details from the interview, such as her business statistics (e.g. number of employees, average product sold).
• Sample Answer (from the recording):
  • Michele's motto: "The ability to change the world".

Writing: Descriptive Essay

• Discuss structure: introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion.
• Review exercise boxes with elements of a descriptive essay.
• Write a draft discussing what influenced the essay topic.

Unit 2: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics: Help or Threat?

• Objectives:
  • Identify main ideas in reading
  • Search for specific info
  • Utilize synonyms, antonyms, phrasal verbs
  • Write compare/contrast paragraphs

Introduction

• Discuss students’ experiences with sci-fi robot movies, eliciting expectations.
• Match phrases related to technology and energy, such as "solar energy" and "technological revolution".

Reading and Discussion

• Read text focusing on main concepts such as differences between humans and AI.
• Exercises summarizing comprehension cues.

Vocabulary Development

• Expand understanding through discussions of synonyms and antonyms related to AI.
• Engage in matching and completing various exercises that reinforce vocabulary understanding.

Grammar: Reported Speech

• Teach conversion of direct to indirect speech with practical examples.
• Practice exercises ensuring comprehension of grammar concepts.

Unit 3: Equal Access to Education

• Objectives:
  • Outline facts/ideas from reading
  • Respond to text questions
  • Interpret unfamiliar words from context
  • Exhibit new vocabulary in discussion and essays

Reading and Discussion

• Begin with discussion on importance of education, impacting factors like socioeconomic status, political stability, etc.
• Reading comprehension organized into structured exercises, emphasizing critical thinking.

Vocabulary Building

• Introduction to compound words and their structures.
• Engage students in identifying roots, forming new compound words.

Grammar Focus

• Understanding the function and construction of relative adverbs in sentences (where, when, why).

Conclusion of Unit Studies

• Reflect on discussions. Encourage personal opinions on the importance of equal access to education.