Theme: Friendship

Theme: Friendship
Genre: Personal Homepage

A personal homepage is a site on the Internet which provides information about an individual, a class, a club, a school, a company or an organisation.

Details of Writing Task

Rubrics: A new academic year has just started. Your class is going to form a class website, which is going to include all the personal information about each classmate. The class teacher has asked each classmate to design a personal homepage. The homepage should contain the following sections: me, my family, my favourite hobbies, my school and my best friend.

Pre-writing Activities

Structure of a Homepage

1A:When reading Chris’personal homepage, underline the answers to the questions listed on the left hand side. Then fill in the boxes with suitable expressions to describe the two important structural features of a homepage. The first one has been done for you.

Chris’ Homepage

My name is Chris. I am 13 years old. I live in KowloonBay. I am short and plump, but many people say that I look cute. I have black, long and curly hair and I wear glasses. I think I am very friendly, but sometimes I quarrel with my friends.

I live with my Dad and Mum. They are great parents but sometimes quite bossy. I also have a brother. He is three years older than me. He is very tall and masculine. I also own a small kitten Marie. I love my family very much.

I have lots of interests. I like reading comics. I usually do my reading after I have finished my homework. When I am on holiday, I like having long chats on the phone with my classmates.

I go to ABCSecondary School. My schoolstarts at 8 o’clock in the morning and finishes at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. My class teacher is Ms. Ng. She is very helpful and patient. I admire her very much.

My best friend is called Grace. She is short and slim. She has short straight hair and wears glasses. I like Grace very muchbecause she is
good-natured and humorous, and she always makes me laugh.

2. Language Features

2A: Fill in the blanks that indicate the language features used in a personal homepage.

When writing a personal homepage, the______tense is used. For example:

-I live with my Dad and Mum.

-She has short straight hair andwears glasses.

When writing a personal homepage, appropriate expressions or adjectives should be used to describe people’s ______and ______For example:

-I am 13 years old (Age).

-He is very tall and masculine (Height and Figure).

-She is a very helpful and patient teacher (Personality).

-She has short straight hair(Hair).

2B: Physicalappearance–what dopeople look like?

Below is a collection of expressionsthat can be used to describepeople’s appearance. Write the expressions for describing age, height, figure/build and hair in the appropriate spaces below. Put other expressions under ‘Others’.

above average / attractive / below average / dark haired / gorgeous
has freckles / dark skinned / wavy / bald / handsome
has a good figure / has a ponytail / in his / her early twenties / in his / her mid thirties / of medium build
13 years old / good looking / muscular / curly / plump
old / quite tall / beautiful / skinny / obese
straight / slender / tanned / dyed hair / well-built
fat / pale / with a fringe / with a parting
cute / adorable / young / wear glasses
elegant / pretty / has pimples / sturdy / has a beard
About160 cm / well-dressed / short / of average height
Age
Height
Figure / Build
Hair
Skin
Others

2C: Personality –whatis someone like?

Look at the adjectives below and decide whether they describe positive,negativeor neutralaspects of personality. Write the words in the appropriate spaces.

bossy / friendly / creepy / proud / brave
adventurous / funny / noisy / jealous / clumsy
naughty / calculating / greedy / helpful / nasty
evil / quiet / kind / jolly / silly
thoughtful / cooperative / gentle / energetic / sporty
sensitive / selfish / thoughtless / crazy / lively
diligent / smart / patient / cunning / enthusiastic
stubborn / scornful / obedient / hard-working / faithful
tactful / shy / clever
Positive / Negative
Neutral

2D: Chris is writing a description about her best friend Grace. Please complete the description with the correct form of the verbs from the box below. Some of the verbs can be used more than once.

be do have help like love smile

Grace ______my classmate and my best friend. She ______short hair and always ______.She ______a cat called Kitty. In school, we often ______lunch together in the tuck shop. We ______lots of common interests. For example, we both______reading thrillers, playing badminton and going to the cinema. Grace always ______her mum ______housework. Her parents ______her very much.

Writing Task

Now, based on what you have learnt, create a personal homepage describing yourself. Remember to plan well before you write.

Heading:

Name:

Age:

My physical appearance:

My personality:

My family:

My hobbies:

My school:

My class teacher:

My best friend:

Post-writing Evaluation

Evaluation Form

Content and Structure

Excellent
 / Pretty
Good
 / Average
 / Needs Improvement

1. There is an attractive heading.
2. There are relevant sub-headings.
3. There is an interesting description of ‘Myself’ – e.g. name, age, physical appearance and personality.
4. The section on ‘My Family’ is clearly described.
5. There is a clear description of ‘My Favourite Hobbies’.
6. The description of the section on ‘My School is’ is interesting.
7. The section on ‘My Best Friend’ is clearly described.

Language Use

Excellent
 / Pretty
Good
 / Average
 / Needs Improvement


The simple present tense is used correctly.

Suitable expressions or adjectives describing appearance are used.

Adjectives describing personality are used correctly.

Grammar is mostly correct.

Words are of a wide range and generally accurate and appropriate.

Punctuation and spelling are correct.

Genre

Excellent
 / Pretty
Good
 / Average
 / Needs Improvement

The general tone and style of the homepage show that the writer is aware of the purpose, context and audience of the genre.

Suggested Answers

1A:When reading Chris’personal homepage, underline the answers to the questions listed on the left hand side. Then fill in the boxes with suitable expressions. The first one has been done for you.

Chris’ Homepage (Students are welcome to
put a photo here)

My name is Chris I am 13 years old. I live in KowloonBay. I am short and plump, but many people say that I look cute. I have black, long and curly hair and I wear glasses. I think I am very friendly, but sometimes I quarrel with my friends.

I live with my Dad and Mum. They are great parents but sometimes quite bossy. I also have a brother. He is three years older than me. He is very tall and masculine. I also own a small kitten Marie. I love my family very much.

I have lots of interests. I like reading comics. I usually do my reading after I have finished my homework. When I am on holiday, I likehaving long chats on the phonewith my classmates.

I go to ABCSecondary School. My schoolstarts at 8 o’clock in the morning and finishes at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. My class teacher is Ms. Ng. She is very helpful and patient. I admire her very much.

My best friend is called Grace. She is short and slim. She has short straight hair andwears glasses. I like Grace very muchbecause she isgood-natured and humorous, and she always makes me laugh.

2A: Fill in the blanks that indicate the language features used in a personal homepage.

When writing a personal homepage, the simple present tense is used. For example:

-I live with my Dad and Mum.

-She has short straight hair andwears glasses.

When writing a personal homepage, appropriate expressions or adjectives should be used to describe people’s appearance and personality. For example:

-I am 13 years old (Age).

-He is very tall and masculine (Height and Figure).

-She is a very helpful and patient teacher (Personality).

-She has short straight hair(Hair).

2B: Physicalappearance–what people look like?

Below is a collection of expressions that can be used to describepeople’s physical appearance. Write the expressions for describing age, height, figure/build and hair in the appropriate spaces below. Put other expressions under ‘Others’.

Above average attractive below average dark haired gorgeous
has freckles dark skinned wavy bald handsome short
has a beard in his / her early twenties in his / her mid thirties curly
13 years old good looking muscular of medium build
plump old quite tall beautiful skinny obese
straight slender tanned dyed hair well-built fat pale
has a good figure with a fringe with a parting cute adorable young wear glasses of average height elegant pretty
has pimples sturdy has a ponytail about 160 cm well-dressed
Age
In his / her early twenties in his / her mid thirties
13 years old young old
Height
About 160 cm of average height short quite tall
(his / her height is) above / below average
Figure / Build
Muscular of medium build well-built sturdy skinny slender fat obese has a good figure plump
Hair
Dark haired wavy bald short curly straight dyed hair
with a fringe with a parting has a pony tail
Skin
dark skinned tanned pale
Others
wears glasses well-dressed attractive gorgeous has freckles handsome good looking beautiful cute adorable elegant pretty has pimples has a beard

2C: Personality –what someone is like?

Look at the adjectives below and decide whether they describe positive,negativeor neutral aspects of personality. Write the words in the appropriate spaces.

bossy friendly creepy proud brave adventurous funny noisy jealous clumsy calculating greedy naughty helpful nasty evil quiet kind jolly silly sporty thoughtful cooperative energetic sensitive selfish thoughtless crazy lively diligent smart patient cunning enthusiastic stubborn scornful obedient hard-working faithful tactful shy clever gentle
Positive
Friendly brave adventurous funny helpful gentle jolly thoughtful cooperative energetic sensitivefaithful clever kind tactful
lively diligent smart patient enthusiastic obedient hard-working / Negative
Bossy creepy proud noisy jealous clumsy calculating greedy naughty nasty silly selfish thoughtless cunning stubborn scornful evil crazy
Neutral
Shy quiet sporty

2D: Chris is writing a description about her best friend Grace. Please complete the description with the correct form of the verbs from the box below. Some of the verbs can be used more than once.

be do have help like love smile

Grace is my classmate and my best friend. She has short hair and always smiles. She has a cat called Kitty. In school, we often have lunch together in the tuck shop. We have lots of common interests. For example, we both like reading thrillers, playing badminton and going to the cinema. Grace always helps her mum do housework. Her parents love her very much.