Friday, September 17, 2010

Theme 1: Whales - Postcard

GREETINGS FROM SYDNEY





Teaching Points
Levels Two and Three
This postcard was written as a model for students to use to write a postcard of their own.
Postcards:
  • are short 
  • use informal language
  • use mostly past tense
  • often don't have paragraphs to save space
  • often have sentences without subjects
  • often have exclamation marks and capitals for emphasis 
  • often let people know 
           - they arrived safely             - where they are                                            
           - what they have seen or been doing
           - what the weather is like
           - when they are coming home or where they are going next
  • sometimes have a reference to the picture on the card

    QUESTIONS
    What kind of text is this?
    Who is it written to?
    Who wrote it?
    Where is Sam staying?
    Give two reasons why it was written?
    What adjective (describing word) describes the harbour?
    Think of a synonym that could be used to describe the harbour.
    Why is AWESOME written in capitals?
    Think of a synonym for Awesome.

    Add words to make these sentences complete.
    Arrived safely Sunday afternoon.
    Staying at the Hilton on the Quay.
    Harbour is beautiful.

    WRITING ACTIVITY
    Choose and interesting place you have visited and write a postcard to a friend. 
    Tell them:
    - you have arrived safely
    - where you are staying
    - what the scenery is like 
    - what you have been doing

    Use the GREETINGS FROM SYDNEY postcard to help you.

    Theme 2: Disasters - Report

    Cyclone Tracy

    Lesson to come

    Theme 1: Whales - Report



                                                               HUMPBACK WHALES
    Level Three



    Humpback whales, Megapetera navieangliae, are mammals of the baleen subgroup. They live in oceans and seas around the world. Their name comes from the way they arch their backs when they dive. They are known as the singing whales because of the way they communicate with each other using clicks and tones.

    Humpbacks have a stocky body with obvious humps. They have black backs and white bellies. Their heads and lower jaws are covered with small round knobs.

    Humpback whales breathe air through 2 blow holes located on top of their heads. They blow a double stream of spray 3.1 m - 4 m high. Their wavy edged tail flukes are 3 m – 7 m wide. An adult male is 15 m - 16 m long and females are 16 m -17 m long. They weigh 40,000 kg. Their pectoral fins are 1/3 the length of their body. They have a stubby dorsal fin on their back towards the flukes. Humpback whales have 14 - 35 throat grooves that run from the chin to navel. These grooves expand during the huge intake of water while filter feeding.

    Female Humpback whales breed every 2 - 3 years. The gestation period is 11 months. A calf is born 4 m - 4.5 m long and weighs 700 kg. Calves nurse for 6 months and have a mixture of milk and independent feeding for a further 6 months. They leave their mothers when they are one when they are about 9m long. Both males and females reach maturity at 5 yrs. They are fully mature at 15 yrs and live for about 40 years.

    Humpback whales eat tiny crustaceans, plankton and small fish. They eat 2000 kg - 2500 kg each day. During the feeding season, they feed twice a day.

    Sometimes Humpbacks feed in a group. They swim rapidly in wide circles around and under a school of fish blowing air through their blow holes. The bubbles form a visual barrier that keeps the fish in a tight area. Then one or more of the whales swim through the bubble with their mouths wide open. They swallow thousands of fish in one gulp.

    Humpback whales live in loose–knit groups. Usually they live alone, but come together for a few hours. They spend longer periods together in the summer time.

    Courtship occurs during winter. 2 - 20 males gather around a female and try to impress her by behaviours such as breaching, tail slapping, flipper slapping, charging the other males.

    There are about 18,000 - 20,000 Humpbacks in our oceans and seas.

    Teaching Points
    *Note news reports will be treated separately
    A report:
    • gives factual information about a subject
    • is usually written in present tense
    • often has subheadings 
    • has paragraphs that begin with a topic sentence introducing a new piece if information followed by supporting sentences that expand on that piece of information
    • uses scientific language and jargon specific to that subject
    READING ACTIVITIES
    Label the pictures using the following words:
    dorsal fin      round lumps      pectoral fins        flukes throat          grooves




     


    1. What animal group does the Humpback whale belong to?
    2.Why are Humpback whales called singing whales?
    3.How long are their pectoral fins?
    4.What do their throat grooves do when they feed?
    5.How often do the females have calves?
    6. How long do the calves stay with the mother?
    7. How much food do Humpback whales eat each day?
    8. Explain how the whales help each other catch fish to eat.
    9. What do the male Humpback whales do to impress the females?
    10. About how many Humpback whales live in the world’s oceans?
    11. What kind of writing is this?
    a) Recount - story about the past b) email c) postcard d) report - gives information e)advertisement - to sell something f) explanation – explains how something works.

    Fill in the missing vowels, look these words up in the dictionary and write a sentence.

    M_mm_l
    St_bby
    G_st_t_ _n
    Cr_st_c_ _ns
    Pl_nkt_n
    Br_ _ch_ng

    Fill in the following grid about Humpback whales and then find the same information about another animal on the internet.

    Use the information you have researched to write a report about the animal you have chosen.

    Name of animal                                    Humpback whales                                 Your choice
    Habitat
    (Where do they live?)
    Colour/covering
    Shape of body
    Weight of male/ female
    Length /height male
    Length/height of female
    Age of maturity
    Length of gestation period
    Size of baby
    Food
    Life span
    (How long do they live)

    HUMPBACK WHALES  
    Level Two

    Humpback whales are mammals. They live in oceans and seas all around the world. They are known as the singing whales because they use clicks and tones to talk to each other.

    Humpbacks have a large body with humps on their back. They have black backs and white bellies. Their heads are covered with small round lumps.

    Humpback whales have 2 air holes in top of their head. They blow out spray 3 m-4 m high. Their tails (flukes) are 3 m – 7m wide. An adult male is 15 m – 16 m long. They weigh about 40,000 kg. Their pectoral fins (side fins) are 1/3 the length of their body. They have a short dorsal fin on their back. Humpback whales have 14 – 35 throat grooves. They expand when they fill their mouths with water and food.

    Female Humpback whales breed every 2 - 3 years. The pregnancy (gestation) lasts 11 months. A calf is 4 - 4.5 m long and weighs 700 kg. For the first six months the calf drinks milk and for the second six months eats fish and milk. It leaves its mother when it is about one.

    Humpback whales eat crustaceans, plankton and small fish. They eat about 2000 kg – 2500 kg each day.

    Sometimes Humpback whales feed in groups. They swim in a circle around and under the school of fish and blow bubbles. The bubbles keep the fish together. Then they take turns to swim through the bubbles with their mouths open. They swallow thousands of fish in one go.

    Courtship occurs in winter. 1 - 20 males gather around a female and show off by breaching (jumping out of the water), tail slapping, flipper slapping and charging other males.

    There are about 18,000 - 20,000 Humpbacks in our oceans and seas.