Dear Future students...

Task: Write a letter addressed to a future student with advice for succeeding in the class

Step 1:

Brainstorm what you might want to tell someone who is about to spend a year in Mr Ahie's class.

Key Questions:

- What do they need to know in order to survive with Mr Ahie?

- What will it take for students to succeed in this class? Suggest a few examples of how to do well (even if you didn’t) and what to do so that they can get most out of this class. Explain using specific examples & details.
- What are some of the funny incidents that we have encountered in his class?

- What will they be learning about?

- What are things to do and not to do?
- What is Mr Ahie the teacher like?

Key Language:

You should...
It’s a good idea to...
If I were you, I’d...

An idea to get you started:

Dear Future Students of Mr Ahie,

I am writing you this letter to inform you of what you are about to encounter over the next year. With every teacher and every class, you will encounter different rules and different challenges. It is in this letter that I will tell you about Mr Ahie rules and some stories our class has experienced this year.

The most important thing to remember is....

Uniquely me - Alex Graham

I am
a confusion of cultures.
Uniquely me.
I think this is good
because I can
understand
the traveller, sojourner, foreigner,
the homesickness
that comes.
I think this is also bad
because I cannot
be understood
by the person who has sown and grown in one place.
They know not
the real meaning of homesickness
that hits me
now and then.
Sometimes I despair of
understanding them.

I am
an island
and
a United Nations.
Who can recognise either in me
but God?

By Alex Graham James
(Scamps, Scholars, and Saints, 1991).
As reproduced in “Third Culture Kids” by D. Pollock and R. Van Rekan.

This poem is about a type of person known as a "third culture kid". What do you think a third culture kid is?

What makes Alex feel this way?

What category are you in: the person that can understand Alex, or the person that cannot understand Alex? What puts you in either of these categories?

Is this a problem or a gift? Why?

How is this related to being internationally minded?

Poetry writing

Examples of sonnet poems:

Unaware

By Kaitlyn Guenther

Isolation quickly overwhelms me

Begging for forgiveness, a fallen hand

Desolation I now begin to see

Hanging by a thin thread, a single strand

I watch them. Their fears, their misbehaviour

Mistreat, abuse. Completely unaware

I am the land, their glorious saviour

Someday they will learn to treat me with care

I wish they would learn to trust each other

To join as one, to stand strong together

A bond, a band and a mighty brother

Forever as one, a powerful tether

You may not know, that fear is their captor

So you may not see each special factor

Important things to note:

• A sonnet poem is made up of 14 lines each being 10 syllables long.
• The structure of an English sonnet poem is: 

abab

cdcd

efef

gg

• The English sonnet has 3 stanza's (abab, cdcd, efef) which is a complete poem made up of four lines, and a couplet (gg) which is 2 lines that rhyme.
• Each stanza develops a specific idea but is closely related to the other stanza's.

Writing: Computer versus pen and paper.

Persuasive writing: Choose either for or against

 "Students should only use computers at school" (no writing).

Persuasive writing tips:

Persuasive texts are used to persuade others to either: accept a particular point of view; adopt a certain behaviour or action; or change attitudes and existing practices in favour of those put forward by the author. 

There are different types of persuasive texts, the structure and features of which may vary according to the purpose and audience. For example:

• Arguments that are used to either plead a case or put forward one point of view in order to change people's attitudes or points of view about specific issues.
• Discussions in which the alternative points of view on a particular issue are put forward and considered, however, the author's stand is made known after apparent evaluation or weighing up of the supporting evidence of each point of view.

The top layer of the bun is an opening statement with background information and opinion.

The filling is a series of points (arguments) to support opinion and supporting facts (evidence).

The bottom layer of the bun is the concluding statement with restating of opinion and recommendation for action.

Persuasive texts also include: emotive words, present tense, as well as mental and action verbs.