Writing Practice A1- Writing About Your Family

Goals for this lesson

• Use the simple present to describe people (is, are, have/has, like).
• Talk about family members, relationships, and activities you do together.
• Write a short paragraph (5–7 sentences) about your family.

Key words & sentence frames

Family members: mother, father, parents, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousin

Personality: kind, friendly, funny, helpful, hardworking, patient, smart, creative

Activities: cook, study, play games, watch movies, go for walks, visit relatives, eat dinner together

Useful frames:

• My family is small/big/friendly.
• There are ______ people in my family.
• I have ______ (one brother/two sisters).
• My mother/father is ______ (a teacher, kind, funny).
• We like to ______ together.

Grammar tips:

• be: I am, you/we/they are, he/she is (e.g., My family is friendly.)
• have: I/you/we/they have, he/she has (e.g., She has two brothers.)
• Possessives: my, your, his, her, our, their (e.g., My father, her sister)
• ’s shows belonging: Fatima’s mother, Omar’s brother

Part 1 — Building sentences step by step

A clear sentence has a subject + verb + details (name, job, qualities, activities).

• There are four people in my family. (family size)
• I have one brother and one sister. (relationships)
• My father is a driver. (job)
• My mother is kind and patient. (qualities)
• We like to eat dinner together on weekends. (activities)

Part 2 — Model paragraph

Example (Karim):

My family is small and very close. There are four people in my family: my parents, my sister, and me. My father is friendly and he works at a bank. My mother is creative and she is a great cook. My sister is eleven years old and she is funny and smart. We like to watch movies and play card games together on Friday nights. I feel happy and safe with my family.

Why this is good: It uses is/are/have/has, includes details (jobs, ages, qualities), and ends with a feeling.

Part 3 — Guided writing

1. Plan: Write your family size, members, one quality for each, and one activity you do together.
2. Draft: Use these starters:
   • There are … people in my family.
   • I have … (brothers/sisters).
   • My mother/father is …
   • My brother/sister has … (a hobby/quality).
   • We like to … together.
3. Check: Use the A1 checklist below.

Self-check (A1 writing checklist)

• Did I use the simple present (is/are/have/has/like)?
• Did I include details (names/qualities/activities)?
• Do my sentences start with a capital letter and end with a period?
• Do I have at least 5–7 sentences?

Part 4 — Practice activities

Activity 1 — Fill in the blanks

Word bank: are • is • have • has • like

1. There ______ three people in my family.
2. I ______ one brother and one sister.
3. My father ______ very helpful.
4. My mother ______ a beautiful smile.
5. We ______ to visit our grandparents on Sundays.

Activity 2 — Choose the correct word

1. This is my sister. (His / Her) name is Amina.
2. My grandparents (is / are) very kind.
3. My brother (has / have) curly hair.
4. We (like / likes) to play chess together.
5. My mother (is / are) a nurse.

Activity 3 — Put the sentences in order

Number the sentences from 1 (first) to 4 (last).

• ___ We like to eat dinner together on weekends.
• ___ My family is small and friendly.
• ___ My father is a driver and my mother is a teacher.
• ___ I have one younger sister.

Activity 4 — Correct the mistakes

Rewrite the sentences.

1. my family are big and happy.
2. My sister have twelve year.
3. We likes watch movie on friday.

Activity 5 — Mini reading (True/False)

Text: My family is very close. There are five people in my family. My parents are kind, and my grandmother lives with us. My brother is sixteen and he loves football. We have dinner together every night and talk about our day.

1. The writer has four people in the family. (T/F)
2. The grandmother lives with the family. (T/F)
3. The family eats dinner together every night. (T/F)

Part 5 — Your paragraph

Write 5–7 sentences about your family. Include size, members, one quality for each person, and one activity you do together.

Sample answer: My family is medium-sized. There are five people in my family: my parents, my two brothers, and me. My father is hardworking and my mother is patient. My older brother has a part-time job and my younger brother is very funny. We like to go for a walk on Saturday evening. I love my family because we help each other.

Review & reflection

• Which details did you include? (size, members, jobs/qualities, activities, feelings)
• Did you use is/are and have/has correctly?
• Read your paragraph aloud. Is it clear and organized?