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Pak Kau College

S1 English

Theme 4 – Pack your bags

Writing a postcard

Name: _____________________ Class: ________ ( )

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From Reading to Writing - Writing a postcard

Genre: Postcard

Situation: You are a form one student of Pak Kau College. The Student Association has

invited you to take part in an event called ‘Send A Postcard Action’. Read the details.

Dear Pak Kau students,

The Student Association invites you to take part in …

Just send a local postcard to a friend or a relative overseas,

… and promote an attraction in Hong Kong!

You will have a chance to win a $500 book coupon.

The Chance!

The Student Association has joined the ‘Send a Postcard Action’ organized by the Hong

Kong Tourist Association. Read the sample written by Chris, the chairperson of the Student

Association, and learn the text feature of writing a postcard.

(*You can also download the apps of “PostcardDIY” to learn how to write a postcard.)

The front of the postcard The back of the postcard

Space for

your Message

The address of person you

are sending the postcard to

__________________________

__________________________

__________________________

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Pre-writing Task: The Structure of a Postcard

Task 1: Read the postcard and label the parts with.

sender’s signature closing opening paragraph greeting

closing paragraph body paragraphs salutation date

Learn the features of a postcard.

The Postcard

10 February 2015

Dear Jacky (name of friend or relative),

Hi! My friends and I are enjoying a one-day tour on Hong Kong

Island today.

This morning, we’d brunch at Jumbo Restaurant where I ate dim

sum and seafood. The food’s yummy. It’s an amazing

restaurant decorated like a great old Chinese palace.

Right now, we're having a wonderful time at the Repulse Bay. My

friend’s taking photos of the sea at the moment and I’m writing this

postcard under a tree. It’s cold to swim! We’re having a sunbath

then. The weather is sunny and we're relaxing at the seashore.

Anyway, I feel happy today. That’s all I want to share with you.

Bye for now.

Chris

Postcard Writing

1. Have you ever received or sent a postcard?

2. Nowadays, people prefer sending emails, using Facebook and texting on their phone.

Why?

3. What are the advantages of sending postcards to friends?

4. Is postcard writing ‘formal’ or ‘informal’?

Text features

1.

2.

5.

6.

3.

4.

7.

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Task 2: Language feature

1. Use ______________ tense to describe things happened.

2. Use ______________________ tense to describe what you are doing.

3. Use _____________ language / _______________ (I’m/ We’re/ It’s …).

4. Use _______________ before nouns.

Task 3: Group Work

You are going to take part in ‘Send a Postcard Action’. You and your classmates collected

the data files of different attractions in Hong Kong. Read the information and discuss the

best place you can visit and promote Hong Kong to tourists.

Task 4: Mind-map

Write a postcard to a friend or a relative who lives overseas. First decide who you want to

write to. Then look at your itinerary and decide where you are at the moment. Make notes

about your situation on the mind map below:

Writing a postcard

Who do you write to?

__________________

Where are you now?

_________________

What is the date?

_________________

What are you doing now?

___________________________

___________________________

___________________________

Who are you with?

_________________

What did you do in the morning?

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

How do you feel?

_______________________________

________________________________

What other things you want to say?

_______________________________

_______________________________

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Task 5: Write the postcard

Use the information from the mind map to write your postcard below.

_______________________________

______________________,

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

_____________________________

Date:

Greeting:

Introduction:

Where are you? Who

are you with? How

do you feel?

Body:

- Describe what

you did this

morning.

- What is the

weather like?

- What are you

doing? (list the

activities you are

doing)

- Are you enjoying

yourself?

Closing:

Signature:

Closing paragraph:

How do you feel?

What else do you want

to say?

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From Reading to Writing - Writing a postcard

Writing Evaluation Form

Grammar Checklist

I used the following:

simple past tense to describe things happened.

present continuous tense to describe what I was doing.

informal language e.g. isn’t/ There’re/ You’re/ I’ll …

articles before the nouns (a/ an/ the).

Content Checklist

I told the receiver:

where I was

who I was/ were with.

what I did

what I am doing and feeling.

What can I do to improve my writing next time?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Organization Checklist

I wrote the postcard:

in a few paragraphs.

with the date.

including the salutation and greetings.

with opening and closing paragraphs.

with a few paragraphs for the body.

with my signature.

using linking words.