Lesson Title: Cycle 1, Writing Session: Materials:

Understanding Charts References:

• https://preply.com/en/blog/2018/08/
Lesson Objectives: 17/charts-graphs-and-diagrams-in-
1. To name some different types of charts the-presentation/
2. To produce 2-3 comprehensive and cohesive paragraphs • https://www.skillsyouneed.com/num
/graphs-charts.html
describing a chart • https://learnenglishteens.britishcoun
3. To self-edit a descriptive paragraph based on a rubric cil.org/skills/writing/intermediate-b1-
writing/describing-bar-chart
4. To apply corrections to a draft and revise a written
output

Productivity Tip: To prevent your hand muscles from getting tired when writing, make sure
that you’re holding or gripping your pen lightly. A tight grip is not needed when writing
and it makes your hand and arm muscles use more energy that it has to. 😊

A. INTRODUCTION (2 mins)
Professional and academic writing for this course will target two skills – the short answer:
describing diagrams and the extended answer: writing essays. The first few sessions for writing
will focus on the short answer – describing diagrams. If “a picture paints a thousand words” a
good chart can show as much as several paragraphs of information. Describing charts is a skill
that requires you to pay close attention to all parts of the diagram and the data presented and be
able to analyze the relationship of data.

B. LESSON TARGETS
Keep today’s lesson targets in mind as we go through today’s session:
 To name the different kinds of diagrams used in reports and presentations.
 To identify the terms important in describing diagrams
 To write 2-3 paragraphs (150 words) describing a diagram
 To reflect and list the kind of comprehension skills I need to work on

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 C. LESSON REVIEW/PREVIEW
Activity 1: Pre-Test: Charts (5 mins)
You can work with a partner or a group – physically or in your group chats. Together, figure out
the kind of chart shown below. Write the labels on the space provided.

1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8.

 Check your answers with the Key to Corrections found in the last pages of this SAS.
Write your score here: _________________

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Activity 2. Draw! Individual task. To the best of your ability, draw these chart elements: (5 mins)

a. Vertical axis a b c d e
b. Horizontal axis
c. Curve
d. Solid line
e. Broken line
f. Shaded area
f g h i J
g. Dramatic
decrease
h. Slow growth
i. Doubled
j. Tripled

 Check your answers with the Key to Corrections found in the last pages of this SAS
D. DEVELOPING THE SKILL
Activity 3: Concept Notes (7 mins)
 Instructions: Read and understand. Underline important information about describing
charts.

When describing a chart, the first paragraph usually states what the chart is showing and what the
main points are.
I. State the title of the chart
▪ The pie chart is about ...
▪ The bar chart deals with ...
▪ The line graph (clearly) shows ...
▪ The slices of the pie chart compare the ...
▪ The chart is divided into ... parts.
II. Look at the time frame
▪ Present tense? Past tense? Future tense?

The second paragraph describes the numbers or trends you can see. Use data from the chart.
Mention what happens to the individual data and then talk about the relationship of the data.

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Group your ideas together and go through them one at a time.
III. Use the name of the parts
▪ The vertical axis shows…
▪ The horizontal axis represents…
▪ This curve illustrates…
▪ The solid line shows…
▪ The shaded area describes…
▪ This colored segment is for…
▪ The red bar…

IV. Describing bar graphs and line graphs

Bar graphs have groups/categories in the x-axis and the numbers on the y-axis. This allows you to
compare statistical data (largest and smallest) between the different groups/categories. Line
graphs have points on a grid that are connected to show changes or trends (increase or decrease).
It can show relationship between objects, numbers, dates, etc.
▪ Verbs: rise, increase, grow, go up to, climb, boom, peak, fall, decline, decrease, drop, dip,
go down, reduce, level up, remain stable, no change, remain steady, stay constant, stay,
maintain the same level, crash, collapse, plunge, plummet.
▪ Adjectives: sharp, rapid, huge, dramatic, substantial, considerable, significant, slight,
small, minimal, massive.
▪ Adverbs: dramatically, rapidly, hugely, massive, sharply, steeply, considerably,
substantially, significantly, slightly, minimally, markedly.
▪ Adverbs to describe the speed of a change: rapidly, quickly, swiftly, suddenly, steadily,
gradually, slowly.

Activity 4: Practice Test: Writing: Short response (20 mins)

 Instructions: Individual task.
1. Study the chart.
2. Write a 2-3 paragraph description of the chart that shows the amount of money on two
types of gadgets.

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After 20 mins. or at the time set by the teacher, stop working.
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Activity 5: Self-Evaluation (15 mins)
Individual work. Compare your final draft to the sample summary lifted from this session’s source
at the end of this SAS.
1. List 3 things that are the same between your summary and the sample summary.
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2. List 3 things that are different between your summary and the sample summary.
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3. List 2 things you must improve when writing descriptions or summaries of charts.
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4. Rewrite your summary to include some of the information from the sample summary.
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 E. THINKING ABOUT LEARNING

Activity 5: My Learning
How did you feel about your writing today?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
What made you feel this way?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

You are done with this lesson. Nice!

KEY TO CORRECTIONS
Activity 1: 1. Bar graph, 2. Histogram, 3. Pictogram, 4. Pie chart, 5. Infographic ,6. Line graph, 7.
Flow chart/diagram, 8. Gantt chart

Activity 2
a. Vertical axis b. Horizontal c. Curve d. Solid line e. Broken line
axis

f. Shaded area g. Dramatic h. Slow growth i. Doubled j. Tripled

decrease

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Activity 6:
The chart gives information about how much money was spent on computers and smartphones in
country X between the years 2011 and 2015.
According to the chart, there were upward trends in spending on both gadgets. Computer sales
increased steadily by $5 million each year. Smartphone sales remained level at $10 million until
2013 and then increased dramatically, reaching $45 million dollars in 2015. Although they are still
less than the value of computer sales, they are only $5 million behind.
People’s total expenditure on these electronic devices rose dramatically in this period. The total
was $40 million in 2011 and it rose to $95 million in 2015.
Overall, the sales of both items grew, but smartphone sales grew more quickly. If these trends
continue, we can expect smartphone sales to overtake computer sales in 2016 or soon after.

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