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Produce a poster for a presentation.Poster presentations are a great way to share your knowledge of a topic. A poster shows the main ideas of a presentation.

BackgroundIn Unit 1, you learned about astrology and wrote a description of a new zodiac sign. In Unit 2, you learned about animals in zoos and wrote an opinion text about them. Now, you will create a poster that describes an animal and that gives your opinion about the best home for it.

Project GuidelinesIn this project, you will work with a partner to

■ learn how to create a good poster;

■ choose an animal and give it a name;

■ write a description of your animal;

■ write an opinion text about the best home for your animal;

■ use your texts to create a great poster;

■ use your texts to prepare a presentation of about two minutes;

■ present your poster.

PREPRODUCTION

Step 1 LEARN ABOUT A POSTERHere are some important tips to remember when creating a poster.

– Organize your poster in a logical way: title across the top, image or images in the middle and important information around or under the images.

– The images and information need to be clear and easy to understand.

– It is good to use colour images, but don’t use too many colours!

– Don’t write your whole text on the poster. Choose the most important points.

Evaluation: C2: evidence of understanding of texts through the response process and C3: content of the message and/or formulation of the message.

Teaching Tips:This project has been designed to be completed in pairs, but you can easily adjust it to be completed individually as well.

If students are working in pairs, have them divide the work: one student writes and presents the descriptive text, and the other student, the opinion text.

Encourage students to check off the guideline steps as they progress in their work.

The project can be adapted to work on different topics. In this case, revise the guided writing in Step 4.

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Project 1

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Step 2 LOOK AT A POSTER• Read about the features of a poster.

• Write the correct feature in each circle: Title, Images or Text.

Step 3 PLAN YOUR PRESENTATION

MY PARTNER’S NAME:

• Who will you present your text and poster to?

• Which animal will you present?

• Describe your animal. Make a list of words and phrases you could use from Unit 1 and Unit 2.

Teaching Tips: Bring in posters to display on the walls for students to look at. Draw their attention to how effectively the features are used. If you have examples from previous years, show these to students to help guide and inspire their work.

Students might need ideas to get them started. You may want to begin by brain-storming a list of animals in captivity that have been the focus of controversy, such as horses in rodeos, chimps in popular movies, or lions and other cats in circuses.

Killer whales are intelligent, social animals that live in groups, or pods. In the wild, killer whale pods can be big–up to thirty whales.

In the wild, killer whales can live to be eighty years old. In captivity, they live to be around thirty years old.

Title

It is usually at the top of the

poster. It explains the main idea.

Text

It is usually around or under the images.

A person’s eye will move to it after seeing

the images.

Images

They are placed to catch people’s

attention.Kiska is living alone in MarineLand, at Niagara Falls.

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• Which habitat will you write about ?

■ zoo ■ sanctuary ■ aquatic centre ■ the wild ■ other:

• Use a T-chart to compare the advantages and disadvantages of your animal’s habitat.

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

PRODUCTION

Step 4 WRITE THE TEXT• Write a draft of your part of the presentation by filling in the blanks.

• You can copy your partner’s part of the presentation during Step 5.

This is [animal’s name] the [type of animal] . He/She

is [physical description of the animal]

.

He/She lives [description of where the animal lives] .

[name] is [interesting descriptive fact about the animal]

.

[Add one more interesting fact about your animal.]

.

Today, [name] lives in [location] . This is the best/

worst habitat for [animal species] because [supporting argument]

.

It is also good/bad for [name] because [supporting argument]

.

We feel that the best home for [animal’s name] is [location]

because [argument]

.

[Add one final reason or interesting fact about where your animal should live.]

.

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Step 5 REVISE AND EDIT• Read your text out loud to your partner. Do you hear any mistakes?

• Does your partner understand your text? ■ Yes ■ No

• Highlight words you chose from Unit 1 and Unit 2.

• Circle the verbs in the simple present tense and the articles. Are they correct? ■ Yes ■ No

• Make appropriate changes, and work together to make sure your texts flow.

• Write the final version of your text on a separate sheet of paper.

Step 6 CREATE YOUR POSTER• Choose a title for your poster. Use words that catch people’s attention.

• Choose at least one image for your poster.

• What information will you include? Highlight four important points from your texts.

• Revise and edit one more time! Read the title and the points from your texts out loud and check your spelling and grammar.

• Make a sketch of your poster on a separate sheet of paper.

• Create your poster.

POSTPRODUCTION

Step 7 PRACTISE AND GIVE YOUR PRESENTATIONPRESENTATION DATE:

• Practise your presentation with your partner, and then deliver it.

• Focus on speaking clearly and slowly.

• Don’t read your text from your paper, but you can refer to your poster if you need help.

• Invite questions and comments from your listeners, and try to respond.

Step 8 REFLECT• Did you enjoy working on this project? ■ Yes ■ No

• Did you and your partner work well together? ■ Yes ■ No

• Which part of this project did you enjoy the most?

• Write one thing you would change about this project.

Teaching Tip:Have students present their posters in small groups rather than in front of the class. As a class, decide on a set of criteria that students can use to evaluate peers as they listen to the presentations.

Evaluation: C1: participation in oral interaction and/or articulation of the message.

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