Week 2 Writing – Planning - 1
Week 2 Writing – Planning
What I Need To Know From This Lesson
 How to plan
 Brainstorming
 Flow charts
Teaching Notes
1. Consider what needs to be learnt from this lesson.
2. The Planning, Planning Writing and Brainstorming Chart are in the
Student Booklet.
3. Most of this lesson can be done with the help of a white board.
4. Copy pages 2 through 4 and 6 back to back for each student.
5. Revision: Muffin’s Dainty Morsels is in the Student Booklet. The
answers are at the end of this section.
6. Make a few copies of the answer sheet for Muffin’s Dainty Morsels
(page 9) and put in plastic pockets so the students can correct their own
homework.
7. As usual, end the lesson with an Exit Ticket. As you are handing out the
Exit Tickets, ask the students to consider what Learning Strategies they
have employed today.
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 2
Planning
When approaching a writing project, there are two questions you need to ask:

Who is going to read this? (What is the audience?)

What do they need to know? (What is the purpose?)
Exercise One – Planning a Menu
You are a chef. A rich friend is opening a restaurant in a shopping centre and
wants you to be the head chef. He asks you to prepare a possible dinner menu.
You need to plan. (The audience is your friend and the purpose is to show him
you have good ideas about a menu.)
1. Brainstorm ideas for a possible menu. (Display this screen. Possible
ideas: number of courses / types of meat / vegetarian / styles of
cooking.)
2. Now brainstorm subpoints:
(number of courses: entre, soup, pasta, vegetable, main, dessert…)
(types of meat: locally available, chicken, beef, lamb, goat, …)
(styles of cooking: Moroccan, Lebanese, Italian, Arabic …)
3. Use this planning to mock up a first draft of a menu.
Opening Dinner Menu
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 3
Exercise Two – Things to do Before Opening the Restaurant
Your wealthy friend likes your menu. The restaurant is finished and ready for
you to manage it. Brainstorm what you need to do before opening day. (The
purpose is to make sure the restaurant opening goes smoothly, the audience is
you.)
1. Think of major things: hiring staff, ordering stationery, ordering food, …
2. Break these down into small jobs.
Things to do before Opening Day
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 4
Exercise Three – Flow Chart
A flow chart is an excellent way to plan events in the best order.
1. Take the information in Exercise Two and slot jobs into a flow chart. For
example, buying cutlery would come before training staff and training
staff would come after hiring staff. Here’s the start of a flow chart.
(The audience and purpose are the same as for Exercise Two.)
Order
cutlery
Hire staff
Order
stationery
Train staff
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 5
Planning Writing
Most tasks are completed more efficiently with a little planning. Planning is
particularly important when writing essays.
1. A plan helps you to have a clear argument.
2. It helps you to plan what you will put into each paragraph.
3. It will make the writing of the essay faster.
4. It will stop you from repeating yourself.
5. Below is a brainstorming chart I would use in planning an essay.
6. If the question asked for reasons for and against, I’d put FOR on one
side and AGAINST on the other side.
7. If the question asked for long term and short term reasons, I’d put
LONG TERM on one side and SHORT TERM on the other side.
8. If the question asked you to compare and contrast, I’d put
COMPARISONS on one side and CONTRASTS on the other side.
9. I number the major points, most important point first, which gives me
the order of the paragraphs in the body of my essay.
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 6
A major point
here
Brainstorming Chart
3
A major
A major
point here
point here
5
2
Write the Question
A major point here
A major
point
Sub-point
Sub-point
here
1
Major Point
point
Sub-point
4
Sub-point
Sub-
Major Point
Sub-point
Sub-point
Sub-point
Exercise Four – Planning a Press Release
It is time to open your restaurant! You need to write a press release to send to
the media so they can report your opening. You have brainstormed what needs
to be in the press release and have decided that it will have three paragraphs,
as follows:
a. What’s different about your restaurant.
b. Details about the restaurant.
c. Why you should try it out right now!
1. Brainstorm each paragraph.
2. Write the paragraph. Be sure to start each paragraph with a Topic
Sentence.
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 7
Revision: Muffin’s Dainty Morsels
It was in Muffin’s nature to leave the daintiest morsels to the last… For
instance, if it was buckwheat with crackling, then first he would gather the
grain together with his spoon and for the time being arrange the fatty bacon
prettily around the edge of his plate. If it was cabbage soup with a marrow
bone, first he would sup the broth, then gobble up the cabbage and carrot,
scrape up the meat, and only after that suck the marrow out of the bone.
(Boris Akunin, Pelagia and the Red Rooster, page 7.)
1. Highlight the Topic Sentence of this paragraph.
2. Highlight three words that help with the cohesion of
the paragraph.
3. What type of word are these:
a. Sup, gobble, scrape:
……………
b. Daintiest, cabbage, fatty:
c. Morsels, carrot, bone:
d. First, prettily, only:
……………
……………
……………
4. Examine the word buckwheat.
a. What is the root of the word?
……………
b. Without looking at a dictionary, suggest what the
word might mean.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………
5. Write down three different prepositions used in the
paragraph:
a. ……………
b. ……………
c. ……………
6. Examine the word daintiest.
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 8
a. What is the suffix: ……………
b. How does this suffix change the meaning of the
word:
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………
7. If it was buckwheat. What does the pronoun it refer
to?
8. ………………………………………………………..
9. If it was cabbage soup. What does the pronoun it
refer to?
10.
………………………………………………………..
11.
He would gather … . What does the pronoun he
refer to?
12.
………………………………………………………..
Week 2 Writing – Planning - 9
Revision: Muffin’s Dainty Morsels
It was in Muffin’s nature to leave the daintiest morsels to the last… For
instance, if it was buckwheat with crackling, then first he would gather the
grain together with his spoon and for the time being arrange the fatty bacon
prettily around the edge of his plate. If it was cabbage soup with a marrow
bone, first he would sup the broth, then gobble up the cabbage and carrot,
scrape up the meat, and only after that suck the marrow out of the bone.
(Boris Akunin, Pelagia and the Red Rooster, page 7.)
1. Highlight the Topic Sentence of this paragraph.
2. Highlight three words that help with the cohesion of the paragraph.
3. What type of word are these:
a. Sup, gobble, scrape:
verb
b. Daintiest, cabbage, fatty:
c. Morsels, carrot, bone:
d. First, prettily, only:
adjective
noun
adverb
4. Examine the word buckwheat.
a. What is the root of the word?
wheat
b. Without looking at a dictionary, suggest what the word might mean.
A type of wheat
5. Write down three different prepositions used in the paragraph:
a. In, to for, with, around, of, after
b. ……………
c. ……………
6. Examine the word daintiest.
a. What is the suffix: est
b. How does this suffix change the meaning of the word:
Makes it the most dainty.
7. If it was buckwheat. What does the pronoun it refer to?
The daintiest morsel
8. If it was cabbage soup. What does the pronoun it refer to?
The daintiest morsel
9. He would gather … . What does the pronoun he refer to?
Muffin