WRITING A LETTER
TO TELL ABOUT PAST EVENTS
Objective: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to write a letter to tell about their past events.
Level: Pre-intermediate
Number of students: 45
Time allowed: 45 minutes
Materials: handouts, OHP, computer, markers…

Adding details
Matching


Activity 1. Work in groups and add details into each of the sentences to make it longer.
2. I’m writing to tell you about my trip. …(where?)…(with whom?)….(when?)……
4. On the first day, we visited. …(what places?)……
1. After we had a wonderful time at these places, we spent the rest time of our trip visiting ………(which places?)
3. The trip left me….(what feelings?)……
Activity 2. Work in groups, fill the blanks of the letter using the sentences below.
b. I am writing to tell you about my last trip to Hue with my classmate last summer holiday.
a. After we had a wonderful time at these places, we spent the rest time of our trip visiting some historical places such as Hue citadels and royal tombs.
c. The trip left me unforgettable memories of Hue and its people.
d. On the first day, we visited Thien Mu pagoda, Noon Gate, Dong Ba market and Trang Tien bridge.
Dear Nam,
…(1)…. On this occasion, my class paid a visit to some places of interest in Hue.
…(2)….. The next day, we had a meeting with students of Quoc Hoc high school. We played a lot of games on a spacious piece of grass land.. ..(3)…..
….(4). How about your recent trip? Was it interesting? Please share with me. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Give my best regards to your family.
Love,
An
3
1
4
2
Comprehension questions
Scaffolding

1. What is the text type of this letter?

2. How many parts are there in this letter?

3. What is each part about?

4. Which tense is used in this letter?

Activity 3: Read the letter and answer the following questions.
Dear Nam,
I am writing to tell you about my last trip to Hue with my classmate last summer holiday. On this occasion, my class paid a visit to some places of interest in Hue.
On the first day, we visited Thien Mu pagoda, Noon Gate, Dong Ba market and Trang Tien bridge. The next day, we had a meeting with students of Quoc Hoc high school. We played a lot of games on a spacious piece of grass land. After we had a wonderful time at these places, we spent the rest time of our trip visiting some historical places such as Hue citadels and royal tombs.
The trip left me unforgettable memories of Hue and its people. How about your recent trip? Was it interesting? Please share with me.
I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Give my best regards to your family.
Love,
An
orientation
sequence of events
conclusion
Past tense
Proper nouns
Words showing the order of events
Activity 5. Work in groups. Imagine you are Nam. Write a letter to tell An about your recent trip, using the cues below.
1. Where and on what occasion did you go?
2. Who did you go with?
3. How long did you stay there?
4. Which places did you visit?
5. How did you feel after the trip?
Dear An,
I am happy to receive your letter. Like you, I also had some days off at the end of the first semester. My family decided to make a trip to Da Lat, where my uncle is living.
We visited my uncle’s farm and tasted some delicious fruits from his farm. He took us some famous places around Da Lat city. In the evening, we took a horse ride around Xuan Huong Lake. It was a wonderful moment in my life.
We also took a lot of pictures at Bao Dai palace, Da Lat flower garden, Valley of Love and so on. We went to Da Lat market to buy some souvenirs for my classmates.
I enclosed some of my photos with my letter. Take a look and give me your comments.
Give my love to your family, too.
Your friend,
Nam