As they arrived, they heard a girl screaming softly.
(h) John and Andrew had a very exciting Saturday.
(i) Then he called the police on it.
(j) However, because of the photos, he was later arrested and charged with assault.
(k) Andrew’s mother gave them her cellphone so that she could call them if she wanted to.
Introduction
Module 2 is all about family. In this module you are going to read about family, talk about family, listen to each other’s ideas about family and write about family. You are going to read a diary entry, a time line, different kinds of poems and an extract from a novel called My family and other animals, by Gerald Durrell.
Before we begin with this module, think about your own family. How big is it? Do you get along? Do you have younger or older siblings? Who do you live with? If you had to describe your family, what adjectives would you use? Think of three and share them with a partner.
Read a diary extract
An extract is a short piece of writing that comes from a bigger piece of writing, such as a story or magazine article. In the next activity, you are going to read an extract out of the diary of a girl named Catherine Smith.
1. Read the diary extract below to yourself:
Tuesday 8 June
Today my grandmother went back to the farm. She was here for almost two weeks, looking after my brother and me while my parents were away overseas. I like it when Gran visits because she always brings us presents and she lets us eat chocolate between meals and she doesn’t mind if we stay up after our bedtime, which is exciting. But I don’t like it when my parents go away because my brother is very naughty and he doesn’t listen and he always gets me into trouble. He is also always banging away on the piano. He says he’s going to be famous one day, but I don’t think he’s very good. He can’t even read music yet.
2. Answer these questions about the diary extract you have just read:
(a) Who do the pronouns ‘my’, ‘me’ and ‘I’ in the extract refer to?
(b) Who does ‘she’ in the first line refer to?
(c) Quote one fact that the writer gives.
(d) Quote one opinion that the writer gives.
(e) How many members are there in Catherine’s immediate family?
(f) What tense does the writer use in sentences 3-7? Why?
(g) Write a diary extract about the last time someone in your family came to visit. What did you like about the visit, and what didn’t you like about the visit? Also say what you would have liked to have happen, and what you would do differently next time. You will see that you have to use different tenses in your diary extract.
Your teacher will use the following checklist to assess your diary entry:
(h) Write a detailed description of one of the visitors.
Spelling: words that end in ‘e’
English has spelling rules that are often difficult to learn. Here is one for you. Look at these words from Catherine’s diary entry: exciting, famous.
These two words are adjectives (describing words) that are made from other words.
‘Exciting’ is made from the verb ‘to excite’.
‘Famous’ is made from the noun ‘fame’.
Both these root words end in an ‘e’.
When we add a suffix that starts with a vowel, such as -ing, -ous, -able or -ier, the ‘e’ at the end of the word falls away.
1. In the list of words below, which ones end in ‘e’ in their root form? You can use a dictionary to help you. Write the root words in your workbook.
2. Look at your own diary entry. Can you find any words there that have a root that ends in ‘e’? Write out both the word you used and the root.
3. Are there any words in your diary entry that you can change by adding a suffix that starts with a vowel? Does it change the part of speech (verb, adjective, noun, etc)? Write them out, giving the part of speech of both words.
Understand a family tree
A family tree is a diagram that shows you all the members of a family and how they are related. Look at Catherine’s family tree below. In the next activity you will answer questions on it.
Catherine’s family tree
1. Answer these questions about Catherine’s family tree:
(a) How many cousins does Catherine have? Name them.
(b) How many aunts does Catherine have? Name them.
(c) How many uncles does Catherine have?
(d) How many generations does the family tree include?
(e) Think about your own family. Draw a family tree to show at least three generations in your family. These could be your grandparents and their children, and your grandparents’ grandchildren.
A time line of important events in the Smith family
When we draw a time line we can see the order in which certain things happened in the past. Here is a time line, giving some of the important things that happened in the Smith family. Notice that the earliest date is at the top and the latest one at the bottom of the time line.
1.(a) How many
