Grade 6 • Study Guide
English Home Language
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Reg. No.: 2011/011959/07
English Home Language
Study guide
Grade 6
SAMPLE
CAPS aligned
O Barendse J Mansfield
Lesson elements
VOCABULARY
The meaning of new words to fully understand the text/content.
IMPORTANT
Aspects to take note of to better understand the content. Additional information to enhance understanding of concepts or content covered in the lesson.
TIPS
Information in addition to the content to guide the learner through the learning process.
CORE CONTENT
ACTIVITY
Core content and questions to test the learner’s knowledge.
SAMPLE
Reinforcementof core content, in-depth explanation of a specific section of the lesson.
Preface
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Here is a short list of age-appropriate books:
• All children’s books by Michael Morpurgo, such as Dolphin Boy, Running Wild, An Elephant in the Garden
• Laura Marlin Series by Lauren St John, such as Dead Man’s Cove, Kidnap in the Caribbean
• Pig City by Louis Sachar
• Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan, such as The Lightning Thief
• The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
• The Charlie Bone Series by Jenny Nimmo
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
INTRODUCTION
The study guide has been organised into four units and 18 lessons. Each lesson is taught over two weeks.
• Unit 1 has five themed lessons.
• Unit 2 has four themed lessons and a mid-year examination.
• Unit 3 has five themed lessons.
• Unit 4 has four themed lessons and a year-end examination.
• At the end of Units 2 and 4, learners complete these examinations.
Each lesson consists of four sections:
• Listening and Speaking
• Reading and Viewing
• Writing and Presenting
• Language Structures and Conventions
Each of these sections contains activities. At the beginning of each lesson is a list of the things to be covered in that lesson.
SAMPLE
There are remedial and extension activities at the end of each lesson. Learners may complete these activities if time allows.
Each lesson is also divided into activities. Addendum A at the back of the study guide has the rubrics that will be used to assess these activities.
1
2
LESSON 1: It’s news!
LESSON 2: It’s a tale!
Year plan
3
LESSON 3: Advertising: are we being manipulated?
LESSON 4: Talk about it
LESSON 5: Rhyme, rhythm and rap
LESSON 6: What’s cooking?
LESSON 7: It’s adventure time!
LESSON 8: Be the best you can be
LESSON 9: Being a TV presenter
LESSON 10: It’s a novel idea
LESSON 11: It’s a myth
LESSON 12: It’s a story!
LESSON 13: A funny thing happened …
LESSON 14: It’s play time!
LESSON 15: Be informed
LESSON 16: It’s magic
4
LESSON 17: The art of listening
LESSON 18: Poems come in all shapes and sizes
UNIT 1: Week 1 – 2
Lesson 1:
It’s news!
In this lesson you will:
• listen to a radio news report
• watch a television programme
• do a listening comprehension on stereotypes: formal assessment
• write a summary: formal assessment
• read newspaper headlines
• read a news report
• read a newspaper article
• write a newspaper article using the writing process
• revise punctuation
• write reported speech
“No one has ever become poor from giving.”
Anne Frank
SECTION 1 LISTENING AND SPEAKING
Activity 1: Talk about it
Vocabulary in context
stereotype: a widely held image or idea of a particular type of person or thing without any real justification.
Let’s look at radio, television and newspaper reports with the focus on current issues in the news.
1. Talk about the different ways people access news reports and articles.
2. Share how you listen to, watch or read the news and why you like your method.
3. Read the meaning of the word stereotype in the vocabulary box. Give some examples of stereotypes.
4. Answer these questions.
a) How do you think stereotypes are formed?
b) Why do you think we form stereotypes?
c) Do you think stereotypes are positive or negative?
d) How do you think stereotypes fall into a theme about news?
5. Read the tip in the tip box.
Take notes only when you listen to a listening comprehension a second time Do not write long notes, only jot down the important points.
6. Listen to the radio programme your facilitator plays. Listen carefully to get an overview of what is discussed.
SAMPLE
7. Listen a second time, this time listening for specific details. Jot down important points.
8. Discuss the main idea of the programme and specific details with your facilitator.
9. Now listen to the television programme or news report that your facilitator plays to you. Follow the same process as for the radio programme.
10. How do you know if the information you listened to/watched can be trusted? Is it from a reliable source? How do you know? What can you do if you think the information may not be correct?
11. Bring a newspaper article that deals with a current issue to the next lesson. Read it carefully beforehand and prepare a short talk on the current issue it addresses. This talk will be used as part of your formal assessment.
Activity 2: Listen for information and give a summary
Vocabulary in context
prejudice: a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical blog: frequently updated diary on a website intended for public viewing bizarre: amusingly odd platitude: an empty, pointless comment or statement made as though it were important or helpful boisterous: noisy, energetic and rowdy, often wild assumption: something taken for granted; something believed to be true without proof abandoned: (in this context) given up; stopped using
Let’s revise tenses and subject-verb agreement.
Tenses
There are three main tenses: present tense, past tense and future tense.
Present tense: the action is happening now or it happens regularly. We add -s or -es depending on whether the subject is singular or plural.
For example: Naledi goes to town. He watches the television news broadcast. The sun sets in the west.
Past tense: the action took place in the past. To change a verb to the simple past add -ed to the verb or change the verb form. For example: Naledi went to town. He watched the television news broadcast. The sun set in the west.
SAMPLE
Future tense: the action will take place in the future. We use shall or will for the future tense. We use shall for I/we (first person) and will for the other persons (you, he, she, they). In modern use, however, will is used more than shall. Shall is used mainly with I and we to make an offer or suggestion, or to ask for advice.
For example: I will watch the television news broadcast. I shall tell you what we want you to do. She will go to town. They will go to town.
First person is the person speaking. Second person is the person spoken to. Third person is the person spoken about.
Now give one sentence in each of the three tenses.
Subject-verb agreement
Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and verb have to agree with each other. If the subject is singular, then the verb should be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb should also be plural, for example: Naledi watches the television programme. Naledi and his friends watch the television programme.
Give four sentences making sure the subject-verb agreement is correct.
1. Discuss the meaning of the words in the vocabulary box.
2. Your facilitator will read the headline of a newspaper article to you. Try to predict what the article will be about.
3. Listen as your facilitator reads the article to you.
4. Ask questions about any of the aspects of the article of which you are unsure.
5. Jot down notes as your facilitator reads the article a second time.
6. Read the questions in the study guide before your facilitator reads the article to you a third time.
7. Answer the questions in your exercise book. Write only the number and the letter of the answer, for example 6f.
8. Your facilitator will give you the answers, allowing you to mark your own work.
Content questions
1. The heading tells me the article will be about: a) Racial stereotypes b) Gender stereotypes c) General stereotypes (1)
2. Where did Laura Bates (the writer) see the comment that made her write her blog?
a) Facebook
b) Instagram c) Twitter (1)
3. What age was the child who was asked to do research on a scientist or inventor?
a) Seven b) Six c) Ten (1)
4. Choose the two words that made the blogger think this homework was sexist?
a) He, they
SAMPLE
b) He, family c) He, wife (1)
5. In what way is this stereotyping? The question assumes the inventor or scientist is: a) Female b) Male c) Either one of the two sexes? (1)
6. What do you think the parent’s tweet to Twitter looked like?
a) Can you name any female inventors or scientists?
b) Can you name any male inventors or scientists?
c) Can you name any inventors or scientists? (1)
7. Does the study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggest that gender bias in primary school:
a) Has no effect on children as they are growing up
b) Has a long-term effect on children as they grow up
c) Only has an effect on girls? (1)
8. When the maths tests were marked without the markers knowing the names of the learners:
a) The boys outperformed the girls
b) The girls outperformed the boys
c) The results were the same in both (1)
9. Which of these does the blogger blame for influencing stereotypes?
a) Books
i) a and c
b) Television
ii) a and b
10. Is the blogger optimistic that change is taking place?
a) Yes
Language and general questions
b) No
Discuss these language questions with your facilitator.
c) Conversations
iii) all of them (1)
c) Undecided. (1)
Subtotal: [10]
a) Acronyms are words formed from initials, for example RAM – Random Access Memory. Did you find an acronym in the text? What is it?
b) Write the word that two of the letters stand for.
c) In literal language the words mean exactly what they say, for example spill the beans means that we drop some beans. In figurative language the words have a deeper meaning and do not mean what the words literally say, for example spill the beans means to tell someone some secret information. Do you think jumped out at me is literal or figurative?
d) Break the word stereotypes into syllables.
e) Give the following sentence in the past tense. Each individual incident is easily dismissed as harmless.
f) What is wrong with this sentence? A parent have shared a photograph of her six-year-old child’s homework
g) What do you think of gender stereotyping?
h) Do you think gender stereotypes are found frequently in your circle of friends? If so, state in which ways; if not, give reasons why you think so.
i) Do you think that the information from this source is valid? Give reasons for your answer.
j) How do you think people can be encouraged to discard and not continue stereotypes?
SAMPLE
Write a summary of no longer than 90 – 110 words of the passage on gender stereotypes that your facilitator read to you in rough. Use the words in the box to help you write your summary. You do not have to use all the words. Study the rubric at the back of your study guide so that you know how you will be assessed. Read the summary to your facilitator.
Subtotal: [10]
Total: [20]
blog, gender, stereotypes, parents, Twitter, types of questions, reinforce, boys, portrayed, inventors, scientist, mathematics, sciences, girls, Tests, not necessarily, passed on, media, advertisements, television programmes, conversations, author, challenge stereotypes, change, children, stand up, gender stereotyping
SECTION 2 READING AND VIEWING
Activity 3: Read newspaper headlines
Vocabulary in context
obesity: being overweight ban: forbid something volunteer: somebody who works without being paid bogus: fake, fraudulent (intended to deceive)
Read about figures of speech.
Figures of speech
Pun: a play on words; a use of words that involves a word or phrase that has more than one possible meaning, for example: pilot loses wings, goose downs man
Alliteration: the use of several words that begin with the same letters, for example: Angry Argument Augers Badly for Summit
Listen as your facilitator reads a selection of newspaper headlines to you.
Discuss the following:
• From the headline, what do you think each article may be about?
• What makes a good headline?
• List the features of a good newspaper headline.
Some facts about headlines
• They are the titles or headings of newspaper articles
• They usually contain few words
• Their purpose is to attract the interest of readers
• They are usually in bold and in larger font than the article
• They make use of figures of speech such as puns and alliteration
Read these newspaper headlines. Can you find a pun and alliteration in any of them? If so, in which ones?
Match each headline to the summary of one of the newspaper articles below.
SAMPLE
A. Colleges that have not been registered with the Department of Education have been shut down in an effort to protect students paying high fees for inferior education.
B. The city’s fire and rescue services asked for aerial support after an extensive fire was reported in the early hours of the morning. Helicopters have been sent to water-bomb the fire.
C. Volunteer Wildfire Services Fighters put their lives at risk fighting fires. They spend the day in intense heat.
D. A new-born puppy rescued from a rubbish dump last week is making good progress. Sources say the puppy is a real cutie.
E. The proposed new sugar tax will not cut obesity but it will fuel food inflation and hurt consumers.
F. South Africa’s rhino poaching epidemic saw a record 1 215 rhino killed last year for their horn.
G. A dog saved a woman from a cobra which had come into her garage. He is a real hero. H. Rain and hail caused devastation in the city last night. Residents report that hailstones bigger than golf balls landed on broken tiles on roofs and smashed windows.
Discuss current news stories and make suggestions for headlines for these stories. Try to make some headlines using a pun.
Activity 4: Read a news report
Bring a newspaper or magazine article to the lesson. Discuss with your facilitator the type of news it covers.
What is the difference between local, national and international news? What other types of news appear in newspapers and magazines?
Match the news type to the explanation in the box below.
Type of news articles
1. Local
2. National
3. International
4. Feature
Explanation
a) What’s going on in the world
b) “Soft” news such as news on a person doing volunteer work, movie reviews, etc.
c) Gives the writer’s own opinion on current issues
d) What’s going on in your country
5. Editorial e) Written by same person on a regular basis
6. Column
f) What’s going on in your neighbourhood
Read the headline of the report below and look at the pictures. Predict what you think the article will be about?
Read the article.
SAMPLE
Newly discovered frog looks like Kermit
Recently, a scientist discovered a type of frog that looks a lot like Kermit. Kermit the Frog is a Muppet – a well-known puppet frog who has bulgy eyes and is a special shade of green.
The frog found in Costa Rica looks a lot like that. It has big google-eyes with black pupils that sit on the top of its head, and it is a uniform shade of bright lime green, similar to Kermit. Just about the only thing its missing is Kermit’s signature pointy collar. (And Kermit’s ability to speak, of course.)
The recently discovered frog is a type of glass frog. Part of the new frog’s Latin name includes Diana. It has been named after the mother of one of the scientists; whose middle name is Diane. The announcement of the new frog was made by the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Centre.
SAMPLE
Glass frogs get their name from the way their tummy looks. Many of them – including this new frog – have translucent skin on their stomach, meaning that you can see through it. You can see some of the frog’s organs including the heart and liver.
Scientists think that the glass frog developed a translucent tummy so that it would be hard to spot as it sits on a branch or leaf. That means that other animals that want to eat it would have a more difficult time finding it.
Use these questions to guide a discussion on the article.
1. Into which category of news do you think this article fits? Give a reason for your answer.
2. Do you know where Costa Rica is? Use your atlas to look it up.
3. What is the main idea of the article?
a) A new type of glass frog has been discovered.
b) The new type of glass frog looks like Kermit.
c) Scientists think glass frogs are see-through so that animals wanting to eat them can’t find them.
4. In which ways does the frog look like Kermit?
5. What obvious differences are there between Kermit and this new frog?
6. Who is the frog named after?
7. In your opinion, is this a compliment to Diane?
8. What type of frog is the newly discovered frog?
9. Why do you think this type of frog was given this name?
10. Do you think this type of tummy is an advantage? In which way?
Activity 5: Read a newspaper article
Look at the selection of newspaper articles your facilitator gives you and then, from what you see, discuss the features of newspaper articles
Features of a newspaper article
Headline: the title of the article
Subheading: not all articles have subheadings but major headlines often do
By-line: the name of the person who wrote the article
Introductory paragraph: sets the scene; answers these questions: Who is the article about? What happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen?
Body: gives more details about the “who, what, when, where” from the introductory paragraph. It answers the questions: How did it happen? Why did it happen?
Columns: the article is written in paragraphs and set out in columns. A line is left between each paragraph.
SAMPLE
Quotes: it usually includes something that a person has said. This will be in inverted commas. The important points to note are: What was said? Who said it?
Photograph: an article may have a photograph to show the person involved or what was happening.
Caption: tells you what the photograph is about.
Tense: it is written in the past tense as it has already happened.
Language: sometimes uses emotive language.
Read the headline of the newspaper article and look at the photograph. What do you think the article will be about? Listen to the background information your facilitator reads to you.
Read the newspaper article.
Use these questions to guide a discussion on the newspaper article.
Skim means to read something quickly to get an overview, for example, skim newspaper headlines for the main news.
Scan means to run one’s eye over the text to get specific details without reading every single word, for example, to find the name of the anonymous donor.
1. Scan the article for the following information:
a) The name of the boy who collected books
b) The number of books collected
c) On which radio channel he was interviewed
d) His mother’s name
e) The bookshop with whom they worked closely
2. What is the purpose of the article?
3. Does this article send a message to the youth of South Africa?
4. Does the library only have English books? Quote a sentence from the article to substantiate your answer.
5. What genre of books are available in the library?
6. Read the last paragraph. What, apart from the fact that Yonela has helped start a muchneeded library, is the main impact of what he did?
7. What is the name of the anonymous donor?
8. In your opinion, why did she come forward at the unveiling?
9. How did the learners welcome the visitors to the school at the unveiling of the library?
10. What does Yonela mean when he says, “Books can be your new friend”?
Activity 6: Look at language
Let’s read about nouns.
Nouns
Noun: the name of a person, place or thing
Common nouns name ordinary objects, for example, newspaper, book, donor, library.
Proper nouns name particular people, places or things, for example, Yonela, Bovet Primary School, and Johannesburg Public Library.
Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.
Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted, for example, flower, book, library, and donor. They can be in the singular and the plural.
Uncountable nouns are nouns that cannot be counted, for example, sugar, water, sand, paper. (These can only be put into containers and the containers counted.)
Give three common and three proper nouns.
Pronouns
Pronouns are words that stand in place of nouns. We use pronouns so that we don’t keep repeating ourselves, for example: Yonela Nyovane collected up to 500 books. He did it because he loved books.
Interrogative pronouns ask a question or interrogate someone: who, what, whose, which, to whom. For example: Who collected 500 books? What did Yonela Nyovane do? To whom were the books donated?
Make up five questions using interrogative pronouns.
Subject
The subject is the naming part of the sentence. It is the person or thing performing the action. For example: Yonela collected 500 books. (Who collected? Yonela – subject) We find the subject by asking, Who? Or What? before the verb.
Give two of your own sentences and identify the subject in each sentence.
Reread the article in Activity 5 and then answer these language questions.
1. Does the headline contain a figure of speech? If so, what is it?
2. Name three proper nouns in the first paragraph.
3. Find two countable common nouns in the third paragraph.
4. Identify the subject in these sentences.
a) We are so grateful to the community.
b) An anonymous donor called in and offered to donate R100 000 towards the books.
c) The Bovet Primary school library is now filled with books in several languages.
5. Give this sentence in the past tense: We are so grateful to the community.
6. Give this sentence in the future tense: Learners welcomed us to the school with dances and poetry.
SAMPLE
7. Look at this dictionary meaning of anonymous. Anonymous – (adjective) unnamed: whose name is not known or not given Now use a dictionary and look up the meaning of the following words. Give the part of speech for each word: unveiling, initiative, discerning
8. Give a direct quote from the article.