This term, Grade 8 AEP students have been engaged in a unit called “Eat to live, or live to eat?”. They have completed various tasks related to the topic of food, and they are now learning to write restaurant reviews.

First, students viewed models of restaurant reviews in class, identifying main ideas, details and how those ideas were organized.

Next, on Tuesday, 28 March, students went to eat at Tabusa, a Thai restaurant directly opposite the school. They took notes there, focusing on different aspects of the restaurant, such as the the service, the atmosphere and the quality of the dishes they ordered.

After returning to the classroom, students worked as a group to construct a restaurant review about Tabusa, based on the models and their own observations.

Finally, students will write individual reviews about a restaurant of their choice.

The process of teaching this type of writing included the analysis of models, group work in creating an example of this genre and then individual work through writing in this genre. Students are given support from the teacher and peers at the start of this process, until they can create their own compositions independently.

We look forward to reading the final restaurant reviews but in the meantime, please read some of the students’ comments on Tabusa below – perhaps they will persuade you to visit!

“Tabusa has been open for about 10 years. It is named after the owner, K. Usa. They serve Halal Thai food. Alcohol is not allowed in the restaurant.” (Point, Boss)

“The menu had various foods and the price was inexpensive but there were no pictures on the menu. It made it hard for me to understand what food was available.” (Jazz, Eric)

“The restaurant is large and the furniture is matching. There was no air conditioning but then the temperature was really cool because of the breeze. The sound of birds made me feel calm.” (Jennifer, Regan)

“The fried chicken was tasty, but a bit too oily. I think they should add more salt.” (Arene)

“We waited for our food a long time. I think this was because there were only three people working.” (Lise and Min)

“The taste of the fried rice was similar to other fried rice but the texture was a bit different. It was a bit hard.” (Yeonwoo)