IFTC Jump into English Textbook - Teacher's Manual
Group Broadcasting
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To provide an opportunity for every student to practice their public speaking skills. Materials needed:
- Student Workbook
- Pencils / Pens
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: No special preparation is needed for this activity.
Warm Up (<5 minutes): This activity will be very academic and the students will be sitting for the most of it. Get the students to stand up and stretch before you begin.
Activity (30 minutes): Tell the students they will be writing and performing a ten- minute radio show featuring an introduction, a weather report, a celebrity interview, a news story, and a sign off. Make it clear that each student must play a role. Be sure to demonstrate how fun and useful it is to act a part (i.e. Pretending to be someone else helps to overcome shyness, practicing pronunciation of dialogue improves speaking skills, and so on). The Student Workbook illustrates the script structure, and provides useful vocabulary for some of the broadcast. Briefly explain the ideas of word stress and sentence intonation. This step should take approximately 5 minutes.
Put students into groups:
- 2 students for the introduction and signoff
- 3 students for the weather report
- 2 students for the celebrity interview
- 3 students for the news
You may let the students choose their topics or you can assign them directly. Using the workbook they must work together to draft their part of the script. Each group should aim to fill three minutes of speaking. Walk around assisting in the development of their scripts, correcting grammar when necessary. Provide ideas if they are creatively stumped. This step should take approximately 15 minutes.
Once they have finished the scripts have them copy their text to the worksheets at the end of the lesson. Have them start practice reading their role. Circulate and ensure they are practicing the speech sounds correctly. Pronounce words and sentences for them, pointing out stress patterns and intonation. This step should take approximately 15 minutes.
Finally, have the class do a complete uninterrupted practice performance. Ensure that you have the students understand the order that they are speaking in. There is a spot on the worksheet to help organize the order of speaking. Try and provide the segue phrases connecting the different parts of the show and, if available, some short clips of music. This step should take approximately 10 minutes.
Group Broadcasting
You are a special news team and are making a radio show. You will work together with your class to write your show and then practice performing it. Together as a class you will present it to the other students of the Jump Into English program.
Use this part of your workbook to help you write what you will say on your show. When you are done, copy the dialogue to the script worksheets at the end of this section. They will be easier to read when you produce the show. Introduction:
There are 2 students in your group. One student will perform the introduction and the other will perform the signoff.
What is the name of your radio show?
Say hello and describe your show to the audience. Remember to
introduce all the members of your show.
Here is an example of how you might begin: “Good morning everyone! The presenters on today’s show are Bobby, Peter, Sally…”Weather report
Here are some words that will help you talk about the weather:
Hot Cold Warm Cool Rain Snow Sunny Cloudy Ice Storm Humid Temperature Dry Wet Overcast Summer Fall Winter Spring Thunder Lightning Clear skies Flood Wind
There are 3 students in your group. Each student must pick a day (yesterday, today, tomorrow) and write what the weather was, is, or will be like. Also say something that would be fun to do because of the weather.
What season will it be?
Yesterday…
Today…
Tomorrow…Celebrity interview
There are 2 students in your group. One will pretend to be the interviewer and ask the questions. The other will pretend to be the celebrity and answer the questions. You must write 2 questions and 2 answers.
Who is the star on your show?
Why are they famous?
Here is an example of a question to ask the celebrity:
Interviewer: Thank you for talking with us (name of star). How was your day?
Her is an example of the answer the celebrity would give:
Celebrity: Very good. Thank you for inviting me on your show.
Write two more questions to ask the celebrity and then the answers they will give. Interviewer Question 1:
Celebrity Answer 1:
Interviewer Question 2:
Celebrity Answer 2:News Headlines
There are 2 students in your group. Each of you must write a news headline and a short sentence about it.
Here is an example of what you might write:
Headline: Man bitten by dog!
Story: A man was bitten by a dog while hiking up the mountain. The man is okay but the dog has not been found.
Headline 1:
Story 1:
Headline 2:
Story 2:
Signoff
There are 2 students in your group. One student will perform the introduction and the other will perform the signoff. The signoff is the same as goodbye.
What is the name of your radio show?
Thank the audience for listening to your show.
Say goodbye to the audience.
Worksheet
I am speaker number ______________
Group Newspaper
[edit | edit source]The purpose of this activity is to create a newspaper about the homeroom class. This is a chance for the students to report on the news that has happened and activities they have done since they’ve been a part of the Jump Into English program. Also, they can express their feelings about the program in a public medium that will be read by future students. Follow the lesson plan on the following pages to guide your class through the process of creating and producing the newspaper. The Student Workbook provides pages for rough work.
Group Newspaper
Objectives: To give students the opportunity to report the news and express their feelings about the program in a public medium that will be read by future students. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Chalk/Marker
- Poster Board
- Markers, Crayons, etc
- White A4 Paper
- Glue sticks
- Strong clear tape
- Scissors
- Optional: Colored paper, The Teen Times, previous
newspapers Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Prepare the above materials to be used in class. Arrange desks for groups of 2-3 students.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Explain to students the objective of the lesson and show examples of previous weeks’ newspapers posted on the wall. If there are no previous newspapers available, use The Teen Times or a newspaper from the high school program.
Have the students get up out of their seats to look at the previous newspapers for ideas of articles/sections.
Activity (30 minutes): Have students explain what types of articles/sections they saw in the previous weeks’ newspapers. The teacher should write these on the board. The teacher should then ask the students if they have any other ideas of their own to add to the list. The following is a list of supplemental ideas or articles/sections:
- Material from the group broadcast
- Weather
- Students comments about the program
- Interview with homeroom teacher
- Music, movie, or book review
- Quizzes, Jokes, Comics
- Advertising
From the list on the board, the students should choose articles/sections to write. There should be two to three students assigned to an article/section. Additionally, one student should be chosen to be the editor to assist the teacher in the layout and production of the whole newspaper. The editor should also choose and write out the title of the newspaper at the top of the poster board while the other students are writing their articles.
The students should get into their groups (the two to three students who are assigned to the same article/section form a group) to produce a rough draft of their article/section on a blank Worksheet in their textbook. While the students are working on their articles/sections, the teacher should walk around the classroom to help the groups with individual problems such as grammar, spelling, word choice, etc.
When students finish their rough draft, the teacher should have the students work on a blank piece of A4 paper to write their final draft using the available art supplies. Make sure that each article/section has a headline and authors’ names. If the students have not started on their final draft when there are approximately 20 minutes remaining in the class, the teacher should help them along to finish in time.
Once the final drafts are finished, the editor should cut out, layout, and paste the pages onto the poster board. If necessary, an artistic student can add artwork where there is white space on the poster board. When the newspaper is completed, it should be taped up outside the classroom.
Summary (5 minutes): While showing the class the completed newspaper, briefly review the objective of the lesson. Emphasize that future students of the program will be reading their newspaper and that by creating the newspaper they have left a record of their class.
Group Newspaper
During this activity you will create a newspaper about your class. This is your chance to report on the news that has happened and activities you have done since being a part of the Jump Into English program. Also, you can express your feelings about the program in a public medium that will be read by future students.
Use the Worksheet pages in this section of the book to write your newspaper articles. Remember to copy of your work to a blank piece of A4 paper (provided by your teacher). You will be gluing it onto a poster board to display to the rest of the students.
My Jump Into English Yearbook
[edit | edit source]Yearbook
The purpose of this activity is to create a yearbook for your homeroom class. This is a chance for the students to write to each other about their time together at the Jump Into English program. They can exchange personal information to help them stay in touch with the new friends they’ve made. There is no set lesson plan for this activity but it does require access to a digital camera, basic photo editing software, computers, and printers. On day 1 of the program set aside time to take digital photographs of all the students and teachers. Use their classroom and student numbers to help organize the files. Following this you must find the time to edit the photographs for color, dimensions, and resolution. Each teacher should receive a file with all ten student photographs and one teacher photograph. During the yearbook activity you can print out this file so that each student has a copy of all the pictures. Using your art supplies, have the students cut out the photographs and paste them into their workbooks. They can then share workbooks and write to each other in the blank profiles.
My Jump Into English Yearbook
I would like to say: Name: _____________ Email: ___________________ Cell phone: ________________
I would like to say: Name: _____________ Email: ___________________ Cell phone: ________________
Reading
[edit | edit source]Hints
[edit | edit source]A little every day…
Read the newspaper every day. You don’t have to read everything. Read the headlines and the first paragraphs.
Always carry an English book with you. When you have to wait somewhere, you can do a little reading.
When you are reading a novel, it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand every word. As long as you get the general idea of the page you are reading, then keep reading
When you are watching an English DVD, put on the English subtitles. You can practice your reading and listening at the same time.
Start a reading circle. You and your friends can read the same book. Then you can get together and talk about the book (in English of course).
Context Clues
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To introduce a reading strategy that will increase the student’s understanding of texts. Students will learn how to guess the meaning of words through context, understand the importance of making connections and thinking about the text while they read. They will be given the opportunity to use the reading strategy and will write a journal entry on the effectiveness of the strategy. Materials needed:
- Teachers need the handout with the problem paragraph.
- Teachers should have an article that is slightly beyond
the students’ reading ability to show when this strategy is important Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Write this example sentence on the board: "Tom decided that he really needed the glockum if he were to solve the problem". Ask students what they do if they are reading an English text and do not understand a specific word. Ask students what they do if they are reading a text in their native language and do not understand a specific word. Ask students what 'glockum' means. Once students have established that they don't know what a 'glockum' is, ask them to guess at what it might be. Ask students what part of speech a 'glockum' is (i.e. verb, noun, preposition etc.). Have students explain how they arrived at their guesses, which clues did they use? Explain the concept of reading in "chunks" i.e. looking at the text surrounding the unknown word for clues.
Activity (30 minutes): Show the students an article from an advanced level magazine (Wired, National Geographic, The Economist etc.). Ask students to identify the probable vocabulary areas that may be used in the example article. Explain the importance of activating vocabulary by first quickly glancing at the text to be read. This idea is very important, as the brain will begin to focus on related concepts thus preparing the student for what is to be read. Point out that by using all of these clues (i.e. "chunking", part of speech, logical deduction, vocabulary activation), students can arrive at a much fuller understanding of difficult texts - even if they do not understand each word. Have students divide into small groups and complete the worksheet.
Reading Clues Worksheet:
1. Deduction - What is the sentence about? Which words does the unknown word seem to relate to? 2. Part of Speech - Which part of speech is the unknown word? Is it a verb, noun, preposition, adjective, time expression or something else? 3. Chunking - What do the words around the unknown word(s) mean? How could the unknown word(s) relate to those words? - This is basically deduction on a more local level. 4. Vocabulary Activation - When quickly skimming through the text, what does the text seem to be about? Does the layout (design) of the text give any clues? Does the type of book give any clues to what the text might be about? Which words can you think of that belong to this vocabulary category?
Make logical guesses about the meaning of the unknown words in the following paragraph.
Jack quickly entered the didot and cleaned the various misturaes he had been using to repair the wuipit. He had often thought that this job was extremely yullning. However, he had to admit that this time things seemed to be a bit easier. When he finished, he put on his redick and went back to the study to relax. He took out his favourite pipe and settled into the beautiful new pogtry. What a fantastic schnappy he had made when he had bought the pogtry. Only 300 yagmas!
What could a 'didot' be? What part of speech is 'misturaes'? If Jack used the 'misturaes' to repair the 'wuipit' what do you think the 'mistraes' must be? What could 'yulling' mean? - What part of speech is often used with an ending '-ing '? Which synonym could be used for ' yulling '?
- fun
- difficult
- expensive
What type of things do you put on? Based on the above question, what kind of thing must a 'redick' be? Is a 'pogtry' used inside or outside? Which words let you know that the 'pogtry' was cheap? What must 'yagmas' be?
- Clothes
- Cigarette type
- Type of money
Summary (5 minutes): The teacher and students should talk about the usefulness of the strategy. The teacher should encourage the students to use the strategy both while reading texts in Korean as well as English. Students should be reminded to think while they read.
Extensive Reading
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To introduce a reading strategy that will increase the student’s understanding of texts. Students will understand the importance of making connections and thinking about the text while they read. Students will be shown the importance of scanning texts to find answers to questions. Students will be given the opportunity to use the reading strategy. Students will write a journal entry on the effectiveness of the strategy. Materials needed:
- Teachers will need reading material for the students to
teach the reading strategy. The teacher will need enough newspaper pages for each student to get one (there should 2 or 3 complete articles on each page). One is also needed for the teaching of the strategy (each student needs a copy of this one, as well as one for the teacher). This is important for the strategy. Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Arrange the tables in such a way that all the newspaper pages can be displayed and read at once.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Teachers should question the students about their reading habits…
- what they read
- when they read
- why they read
Ask the students if they are good readers. Also, you should ask about their newspaper reading habits. Find out how often and how the students read the newspaper.
Ask a question based on the ‘teaching newspaper’. The question should be one that is easily found through a quick scan of the paper. The student who finds the answer first should be awarded.
Try to go through a number of questions. Then have one of the students come up with a question. The question should be written on the board and the class given the opportunity to answer the question.
Activity (30 minutes): Each student is given one of the articles and asked to come up with two questions based on the articles on their page. The question must be one that can only be answered by reading the article. The students give the newspaper page and the questions to the teacher. Write all of the questions on the board. The newspaper pages are laid out on the tables so that all of them can be read easily. The students then need to find the answers to each of the questions on board.
The activity ends when the first student answers all the questions.
Summary (5 minutes): Discuss the usefulness of the strategy. Encourage the students to use the strategy both while reading texts in Korean as well as English. The students should share their strategies for finding which page had the right articles. Students should be reminded to use this strategy in their daily reading.
What I know/What I want to Know
Objectives: To introduce a reading strategy that will increase the student’s understanding of texts. Students will understand the importance of making connections and thinking about the text while they read. Students will be shown the importance of scanning texts to find answers to questions. Students will be given the opportunity to use the reading strategy. Students will write a journal entry on the effectiveness of the strategy. Materials needed:
- Teachers will need reading material for the students to
teach the reading strategy. The teacher will need one more text than the number of students in the class. One is needed for the teaching of the strategy and the others for the students to practice. Room should be provided next to the text for students to write what they know about the topic and some questions they would like answered about the topic. The texts should have a number of short paragraphs. This is important for the strategy. Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Teachers should question the students about their reading habits…
- what they read
- when they read
- why they read
Ask the students if they are good readers. Continue by asking the students about their favorite things, sports, or activities. Enquire as to whether the students have read anything about their favorite things. Students should be encouraged to share what they know about their favorite things. Make it clear that the students know a lot of things.
Activity (30 minutes): Hand out the first article (one to each student). Elicit from the class what they know about the topic of the article. What they know should be written on the board under the heading— “What We Know”. Then gather some questions from the class about what they would like to learn about the topic in the article. The questions should be put under the heading—“What We Want to Know”.
The students read the first article underlining all the things they find that they knew. The students need to circle the answers they find to their questions.
The class discusses what they found in the articles and about the answers they found. If there are any answers that were not found, the class can ask the teacher for help in finding the answers.
Hand out the second article (each group should get a different article). The students should make their own lists of things they know and questions they want answered. The students should read the article and mark it the same way they did before and then share with the other groups what they have learned. New groups should be formed so that each group has one representative for each article.
Answer any questions that the students have after they have finished their readings.
Summary (5 minutes): Discuss the usefulness of the strategy. Encourage the students to use the strategy both while reading texts in Korean as well as English. Students should be reminded to think while they read.
Questioning/Predicting
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To introduce a reading strategy that will increase the student’s understanding of texts. Students will understand the importance of making connections and thinking about the text while they read. Students will be given the opportunity to use the reading strategy. Students will write a journal entry on the effectiveness of the strategy. Materials needed:
- Teachers will need reading material for the students to
teach the reading strategy. Two different texts will be needed. One is needed for the teaching of the strategy and one for the students to practice. Room should be provided next to the text for students to write their questions and predictions in the margin. The texts should have a number of short paragraphs. This is important for the strategy.
- A short piece of text is needed for the warm-up.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Teachers should question the students about their reading habits…
- what they read
- when they read
- why they read
Ask the students if they are good readers. Hand out the short text and then ask the students to read it. Ask the students to turn over the article and then ask them to summarize it verbally to the class. Regardless of the students’ ability to summarize, the teacher should tell the students that their comprehension can be improved and that the teacher can help them.
Activity (30 minutes): Hand out one of the texts and explain the reading strategy:
The question and prediction strategy is very simple. The students will alternately create questions or make predictions about the paragraph they are going to read. The first step is for the students to read the title of the text and make a prediction about what the first paragraph will tell them. After reading the first paragraph, they write down a question they want answered by the text. The student reads the second paragraph. After reading the second paragraph, they make a prediction about the third paragraph. They read the third paragraph and then write another question that they want the article to answer. This format continues as the students read the text.
Go through the first text together with the class. Check if the students understand the strategy. Give the students the second text and have them practice the strategy as an independent exercise.
Summary (5 minutes): Talk about the usefulness of the strategy. Encourage the students to use the strategy both while reading texts in Korean as well as English. Students should be reminded to think while they read.
Question-Answer Relationship
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To introduce a reading strategy that will increase the student’s understanding of texts. Students will understand the importance of making connections and thinking about the text while they read. Students will be given the opportunity to use the reading strategy. Students will write a journal entry on the effectiveness of the strategy. Materials needed:
- Teachers will need reading material for the students to
teach the reading strategy. Two different texts will be needed. One is needed for the teaching of the strategy and one for the students to practice. Room should be provided next to the text for students to write the types of questions being asked and the answers. The text should include a number of paragraphs. The teacher should pre- read the text to find out if all the types of questions are in the text. This is important for the strategy. Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Teachers should question the students about their reading habits…
- what they read
- when they read
- why they read
Ask the students if they are good readers. Hand out the short text and ask the students to read it. Ask the students to turn over the article and then ask them some questions (involving the four types of questions). The teacher should remark how these are the types of questions used on reading comprehension tests. Regardless of the students’ ability to answer the questions, the teacher should tell the students that their comprehension can be improved and that the teacher can help them.
Activity (30 minutes): Hand out one of the texts and explain the reading strategy:
Question-Answer Relationship or QAR (Raphael, 1982; 1986) is a great way to help students figure out how to go about answering questions based on a given text. Often students assume that every question’s answer is directly stated somewhere in the text, if only they look hard enough. Thus, many students spend far too much time looking for answers that are not “right there,” and their frustration mounts. Teaching our students the four basic question-answer relationships is a valuable strategy that will help them to understand the different types of questions and know how to effectively and efficiently approach the text based on the different question types. Helping students to analyze the question-answer relationships will enable them to become skillful at analyzing the types of questions that they are typically asked to respond to when reading a text. The four question-answer relationships are as follows:
1. Right There Questions: “Right There” questions require you to go back to the passage and find the correct information to answer the question. These are sometimes called literal questions because the correct answer can be found somewhere in the passage. “Right There” questions sometimes include the words, “According to the passage…” “How many…” “Who is…” “Where is…” “What is…”
2. Think and Search Questions: “Think and Search” question usually require you to think about how ideas or information in the passage relate to each other. You will need to look back at the passage, find the information that the question refers to, and then think about how the information or ideas fit together. “Think and Search” questions sometimes include the words, “The main idea of the passage…” “What caused…” “Compare/contrast…”
3. Author and You Questions: “Author and You” questions require you to use ideas and information that is not stated directly in the passage to answer the question. These questions require you to think about what you have read and formulate your own ideas or opinions. “Author and You” questions sometimes include the words, “The author implies…” “The passage suggests…” “The speaker’s attitude..,”
4. On My Own Questions: “On My Own” questions can be answered using your background knowledge on a topic. This type of question does not usually appear on tests of reading comprehension because it does not require you to refer to the passage. “On My Own” questions sometimes include the words, “In your opinion…” Based on your experience…” “Think about someone/something you know…”
Go through the first text together with the class. Check if the students understand the strategy. Give the students the second text and have them practice the strategy as an independent exercise.
Summary (5 minutes): Talk about the usefulness of the strategy. Encourage the students to use the strategy both while reading texts in Korean as well as English. Students should be reminded to think while they read.
Student Workbook Reading Material
[edit | edit source]Kong Ming and the 10,000 Arrows Stephen Suen (1993 - Pres.)
A long time ago, in China, the country was separated into three kingdoms, each kingdom fighting for full control of China. In one state, there was a general named Zhou Yu, who was planning to burn his enemy's ships with fiery arrows. But their supplies were low, and they were surrounded by enemies so they couldn't re-supply. How would his army get enough arrows to burn the ships?
In Zhou Yu's camp there was a military strategist named Kong Ming. He was one of China's greatest war strategists, and was known for his cleverness. But Zhou Yu did not like Kong Ming very much, and did not want to admit that Kong Ming was the smarter of the two. So he called Kong Ming over to his tent.
"Kong Ming, if you really are so clever, I want you to get me 10,000 arrows in a week -- or I shall have you beheaded!" Zhou Yu demanded loudly. "Now get out of my sight!"
Kong Ming smiled. "I'll get the arrows in 3 days. Just let me borrow 20 boats."
After Kong Ming left Zhou Yu's tent, Zhou Yu appointed one of his personal guards to follow Kong Ming and report his actions.
The first day, Kong Ming spent the whole day drinking wine with his friends. The same thing happened the second day.
"What is this?" Zhou Yu demanded, "All he does with his precious time is drink. He will never be able to get those 10,000 arrows!"
On the night of the third day, Kong Ming ordered his men to build men made of straw, and post them up around each boat. Then the 20 boats sailed toward the enemy fortress.
The next day Kong Ming was ordered to Zhou Yu's tent, where a guard was ready with a large sword used for execution.
"Wait," Kong Ming chuckled, and his men brought in the 10,000 arrows. Zhou Yu was in total shock, and coughed out blood because he was so angry.
"How -- how?" Zhou Yu asked.
"I asked my men to post up fake soldiers made of straw on the boats, and when the boats sailed into enemy territory, they were welcomed by the arrows. The arrows were caught in the straw men and my men sailed away with the 10,000 arrows," Kong Ming replied, and left the tent, victorious.
(Based on a tale from "The Three Kingdoms.")
Bonsai
For many years the Chinese and Japanese have practiced the unusual hobby of making tiny trees. This hobby, called bonsai (bon - si), probably began in ancient China to show admiration for trees growing on mountains or cliffs. The gardeners appreciate how these trees have struggled under harsh growing conditions in order to survive. Because of strong wind, poor soil, and the need to root in tiny cracks, full-grown trees look small and twisted. Bonsai gardeners try to create trees that look like old twisted trees to honor such determination and will to survive.
To produce these tiny trees, gardeners select a tree, such as an evergreen, maple, larch, or beech. The gardeners put seeds, cuttings, or a very young sapling in a tray made of shallow earthenware. The future tree needs to be placed off-center so that it can be more easily pruned, or trimmed and cut, into an irregular shape.
Once the tree is planted, the gardeners shape it by wrapping branches with wire to force their growth in a certain direction. In this way, the gardeners can make almost any shape they like over time. One branch can spread sideways, for example. Other branches can stay short and close to the dwarf trunk.
Once the tree is established, gardeners must also control the rate of growth. They do this by sometimes re-potting the bonsai. Each time, they skillfully prune just the right roots to reduce growth and produce the tiny, twisted branches.
Fully grown bonsai, which would normally be 15 or 20 foot trees, range from barely two inches to an average of two feet. They take at least five years to create. With this much time and care required, it's not surprising that the gardener is proud of the grown bonsai as a work of art. It honors those qualities that have enabled trees in nature to survive by barely hanging on.
Bullying
It’s been a year now since I tried to commit suicide, but it seems like much longer because I have grown so much since then. I started feeling depressed when I was about 14. I was getting bullied in school and had been for a while. I used to hate school and every morning I had a fight with my mum because I didn't want to go, at the time she did not know how I felt or that I was getting bullied because I didn't tell her, I didn't tell anyone.
I don't know why I got bullied, (does anyone) I suppose they saw me as an easy target because I was quiet and I liked different music to them. While they were all listen to pop music like "Spice Girls" and "Steps" I was listening to rock music like "Guns n Roses" and "Oasis", but this should not have been a problem because I did not criticizes their taste in music, in fact I didn't give them any reason to bully me.
I was not just the same people bullying me all the time it was like different people once one group of friends in the school got fed up picking on me, another would start I just couldn't cope anymore, I thought I was alone and started to believe what the bullies were saying, that I was "ugly" an "a freak".
Eventually I had had enough and one day after school I went home feeling really depressed, I just went straight up to my room and sat and cried for hours and hours, I felt I that no one cared for me and there was no point in living and about 9 o'clock that night my mum and dad went out, my brothers were in friends so I was in the house alone. I sat and thought for a while, I was really confused I just sat thinking and dreading the fact that I would have to go to school tomorrow, then something just clicked and I thought am not going to school tomorrow or ever, so I went downstairs, I did not really think about what I was doing at the time I was just looking for an easy way out, but unfortunately I chose the wrong way.
Eventually I had had enough and one day after school I went home feeling really depressed, I just went straight up to my room and sat and cried for hours and hours, I felt I that no one cared for me and there was no point in living and about 9 o'clock that night my mum and dad went out, and my brothers were with friends so I was in the house alone. I sat and thought for a while, I was really confused I just sat thinking and dreading the fact that I would have to go to school tomorrow, then something just clicked and I thought am not going to school tomorrow or ever, so I went downstairs, I did not really think about what I was doing at the time I was just looking for an easy way out, but unfortunately I chose the wrong way.
I went into the medicine cabinet and just grabbed as many tablets as I could find and swallowed them. I went back upstairs and lay in bed, I had never felt so scared in my life, I just lay there numb crying and regretting what I had just done I started thinking about mum and dad and how they would feel if I died, but I was too scared to tell anyone so I fell asleep at about 5 o'clock in the morning and mum woke me up at 7, for a moment I forgot what I had done and then realized, I felt so sick I vomited a few times but still didn't tell anyone, I just got ready and went to school, as soon as I walked into my classroom my teacher asked me if I was ok, I started crying and walked out, I went to my head of year and told her everything, because at this point I was so scared that I was going to die.
My mum and dad were called and I was taken to hospital, everything happened so quick in the hospital they rushed me in and did all kind of blood and other tests and asked me loads and loads of questions about what I had taken and how many and why? When the results come back they said that I was very lucky, and that if I wouldn't have told anyone I might have died, then they said that there was nothing they could do but wait until the tablets cleared out of my system but they said I would be OK because I did not take very many parocetamol (which is what kills your organs) and they kept me in for a few days until they were sure that it was out of my body.
I regret so much trying to kill myself and would advice anyone against it because it does not solve anything it is much better if you talk about your problems and confront them, I realized this too late. Thinking back I can't believe I tried take my life because of bullies, I have shown them now that they can't get to me anymore because I know that I am better than them and with help from my family I am now a confident person.
I will be taking my GCSE's June of this year and I know that I will do well. I am now a different person and don't have time for bullies in my life even if they do say the occasional comment I just laugh and walk away because it is them that are freaks not me. I hope my story will convince someone that suicide is not the way out and it is better to talk about your problems with a friend or family or even a help line. There is hope, believe me. Just remember that you are a special, unique, worthwhile person and don't ever let anyone else tell you different.
Computers in the classroom
Kids are going all over the world without ever leaving their school. They are using their computers. A school in California could be the most wired school in America. They are wired to the Internet through their computers.
Thirty students are able to use the Internet every day. The kids are between the grades of kindergarten and fifth grade. The teacher says that it is hard to get them away from the computers. They do not even want to go to recess.
The Internet has opened the world to many people. Now students can go to any library on earth. They can get information. They can visit a child in another country.
Laura Bacon likes to visit with other students. She's going to Peggy's page. Peggy is a school student in London, England. She put her own home page on the Internet. It includes pictures of Peggy, her school, her mom, dad and friends. You can send her email, too.
A scientist helped to wire the school. He says, "There is a plan to connect 12 thousand California schools to the Internet."
Wiring schools in California will cost a lot of money. It needs to be done on volunteer effort or schools will not be able to afford it. They think that it will cost as much as fifty billion dollars.
Some people say that the money should be spent on teachers instead of computers. While some people say that it would be worth it to wire all of the classrooms.
Handle exams with confidence.
Advice and help for all students. Learn how to avoid exam stress and tension, and how to revise and prepare for examinations.
For those of us who are studying at school or college, the time of exams is very stressful and difficult. Some people find exam time so bad they become ill, because:
- They are afraid of failing.
- They are afraid of letting their parents and family down.
- The hard work of study and reviewing* damages their
health. (*learning again from your notes and books - going back over what you have studied)
If exams are really making you ill, worried, or depressed, don't hide your feelings. Talk to someone about it. In some cultures, people think it is wrong to share their feelings and worries with others. But this is the only way to get help!
In Britain, there is a saying, 'A problem shared is a problem halved.' So you must find someone to talk to about these problems.
Maybe you can speak to a friend, or someone in your family (or teachers at your place of study, or a doctor). If one person doesn't help you, ask someone else. If you feel very desperate, look at our suicide page, which also gives a link to BEFRIENDERS telephone numbers in different countries. They provide someone you can talk to, in confidence. Also look at our page on fear and worry.
Different people deal with exams in different ways: Peter, 17,about to take exams in chemistry, biology and math, says "different people deal with exams in different ways". "There is so much pressure placed on you to pass exams. I feel I would be letting my parents and my brother down if I didn't do well." His answer to the problem is: "Stay on top of the work." He recommends, "I don't just sit there and read. I try to condense (make short) my notes, by making new notes of the important points. Then I can read through it faster in the last few days."
Louise, 18, taking English Literature, media studies and theatre studies, says, "I review one subject for an hour, then move to another subject for an hour, and carry on like that for as long as I can."
HOW TO GET THROUGH EXAMS Here are 10 top tips from educational psychologists:
- Get help: ask a teacher or tutor about how to revise, and
exam skills - how to work when you are in an exam.
- Take short rests during your time of work and revision.
If your mind is tired, it will not remember well.
- Plan your work: study at times when you know you will
work at your best.
- Stay healthy: get enough sleep, eat sensibly.
- Exercise: you need exercise to work well. Walk, run, play
sports - whatever you enjoy.
- Be positive: stop thinking about the future and failing.
- Do your best: no one can do more than this.
- Be alert: if you feel ill, talk to someone about your
worries.
- But don't be too relaxed! Some stress over exams makes
you work hard for them.
- Be sensible: if it upsets you to talk to your friends
about an exam when it is finished, don't do it! In fact, don't even think about the exam you have finished. What is done is done. You cannot change what you have written!
To this advice, we would add: If you are studying in the evening, don't go straight to bed afterwards. Your mind will still be 'going round and round' - thinking too much. Do something else, maybe walk or get exercise. Choose something that will relax you, and make you think of other things.
The Missing Michael Jordan Shoes
By Lauren
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa, boo hoo!" Hayden cried as he sat on his front porch steps. Just then Benji, his best friend, rode up on his scooter.
"Hey, Benji," Hayden sobbed.
"What's wrong, Hayden?" Benji asked.
"I can't find my Michael Jordan shoes. They were right here on the rug! I put them there after school," Hayden replied.
"Did you look for them?" Benji asked inquisitively.
"Yeah, all over. I couldn't find them anywhere!" Hayden responded, trying to choke back all the sobbing.
Just then, Billy and Penelope rode up on their bikes. "What's shaking, boys?" Billy asked.
"Nothing much for me," Benji replied. "But my bud, Hayden, here just got his favorite shoes stolen. Do you guys think you could help him, being detectives and all?"
"Sure, yeah!" Penelope exclaimed, glowing with delight.
"We'd love to," Billy added.
"Thanks, guys, but I don't even know who would've done it. I don't hate anyone," Hayden chimed in. His crying and sobbing was starting to stop.
Billy and Penelope hopped off their bikes, walked up the sidewalk and sat down on the porch. "Well, we'll ask you a few questions in case anything comes to you."
"Okay, what did the shoes look like?" Billy asked starting the interview.
"They were white and red, SIGNED BY MICHAEL JORDAN!" Hayden cried, the sobbing resounding. "It's okay, all right, all right," Penelope said in a calm, soothing voice. "Do you know anyone besides yourself that is a big fan of Michael Jordan?"
"Freddy, my other friend. I think he likes the Bulls," Hayden sighed.
"Is there someone at school you know of that would have a grudge on you for something that you did? Like a play, project, a girlfriend?" Billy said.
"Oh, my goodness! Marti- GIRLS, YUCK! Anyway, Martino Jimenez is mad because I got the part of Peter Pan in our skits!" Hayden yelled wildly, bouncing in his seat with excitement. "But I don't know why he'd take my shoes. They probably smell horrible. But he knows they are the most precious thing I own!"
"Oh, how ironic. Here comes that nerd now!" Benji said in an irritated voice.
Walking down the street was a tall boy with short pants, a sweater, glasses, hair to the side, and a big stack of books in his hands.
"Why, hello, all you-unfine people. Just doing a bit of research," Martino called in an unpleasant, high-pitched voice.
"Oh, Martino! Come here, please!" Penelope yelled in a mock voice of Martino's.
"I was walking my dog, Tootsie, at the time his dumb shoes were stolen!" Martino answered Billy's question.
"Fine, you can go do your little bit of research," Billy called after the boy as he stalked off, "but we'll be asking you a couple more questions tomorrow."
Just then, Hayden and Benji rode toward the house on their scooters with Freddy running behind.
"We're back!" Benji called.
"Freddy, we'd like to ask you a few questions about the situation," Penelope started.
"Okay, shoot," Freddy replied in an exhausted, panting voice.
"Where were you about an hour ago when this all started?" Billy asked.
"Hmm, I was watching the Bulls game at Ben's house. I can never get enough of those Bulls," Freddy said.
"Who's your favorite player on the Bulls' team?" Billy asked
"Michael Jordan, of course. MJ's the greatest player there ever was! He's a legend! I'd do anything for his autograph," Freddy rambled on.
"Anything?" Penelope replied.
"Definitely!" he said.
The next day, Penelope, Billy, and Hayden stopped over at both of their houses.
"We have two suspects, Freddy and Martino," Billy said as the three of them were strolling down the street.
"It's definitely Freddy," Penelope stated confidently. "He said he'd do anything for Michael Jordan's autograph."
"But Freddy has been one of my best friends since kindergarten. He'd never take anything from me," Hayden protested.
"Martino seemed kind of weird and suspicious. But Freddy seemed guiltier. It's a toss-up," Billy thought out loud.
"They arrived at Freddy's house and rang the doorbell. Freddy answered the door. "Hey, Fred," Hayden said.
"Hey," Freddy greeted him.
"We're here to ask you a few more questions," Billy cut in.
"All right," Freddy answered. "But make it quick."
"Okay, have you ever stolen anything?" Penelope asked.
"No! That's one of the worst things that anyone could do! I could go to jail for that," Freddy bellowed back.
"Okay, okay, we get it," Billy said. "Where were you yesterday at the time of the crime?" "Ben's house! I told you that," Freddy replied.
"Well, thanks, Freddy. I hope I can find my shoes," Hayden called, walking down the sidewalk.
"They arrived at Martino's house some five minutes later. The three of them walked up to the door and knocked.
"What now? Go away. I told you I didn't do it!" Martino yelled, starting to swing the door shut.
"We just want to ask you a couple of questions, Martino," Penelope said calmly, pushing the door back open.
"What's all the racket about, Tino?" a voice said softly from inside the house. Martino's little sister walked up to the door.
"Go away, Bella!" Martino screamed in reply.
"Oh! Look at my friend's puppy! Isn't he so cute?" Bella said, ignoring her brother.
"Get that thing away! You know I'm allergic!" Martino responded.
The three of them looked at each other.
"Could you please give my shoes back? Why would you want to take them? Why did you?"
How did they know that Martino took the shoes?
Answer: Martin’s alibi was he was walking his dog at the time of the theft, but he’s allergic to dogs.
Writing
[edit | edit source]Hints
[edit | edit source]A little every day…
Start a journal at home. Write a little every day. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar, but concentrate on getting you ideas down.
Start a dialogue journal with a friend. You write in it one day and then give it to your friend. They can respond to what you have written. It is like having a written conversation.
Try some timed writing. Sit down and try to write in English for 3 minutes. Don’t stop writing until your time is up. If you don’t know what to write, then write…”I don’t know what to write. I don’t know what to write….”
When you write, concentrate on how you connect your ideas. Making good connections is one for the keys to good writing.
A thesaurus is a great tool. It is a book to help you find new words for things you already know. Did you know that there are 17 words that mean interesting?
Group Story / Word Story
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objectives of this lesson are to encourage quick thinking and to transpose those thoughts into written English. Students also gain experience in sentence structure and vocabulary acquisition. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook,
- Pens / Pencils
- Word Cards
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Photocopy the cards on the following pages. Cut them out and laminate them if possible. These are the cards that will build your deck of words. Have the students open their workbook to the writing section.
Warm Up (10 minutes): The teacher chooses 3 cards from the deck of word cards and writes the words on the board. Instruct the students to make a sentence that contains all three of the words and write it in their workbook. Have each student read his or her sentence to the rest of the class. Correct any grammatical errors. It may be beneficial to choose the first three words rather than to rely upon chance.
Words Used:
48
Backpack
Banana
Baseball
Beautiful
Birthday
Blue
Chinese Take-
out
Cigarette
Computer
Doctor
Electricity
E-Mart
Far
Fat
Film
Flat
Football
Garden
Grass
Happy
Help!
Hit
Hospital
Hot
Ill
Jog
Keep fit
Kiss
Lift
Mouse
Ocean
Octopus
Out
Park
Party
Pilot
Play
Potato
Pusan
Raining
River
Slide
Slowly
Smile
Standing
Sticky
Student
Subway
Suddenly
Sunny
Teacher
Thief
Train
Station
Umbrella
University
Wedding
Winter
Yellow
Young
Activity (30 minutes): Tell the students that they are going to create a short story by repeatedly selecting 3 cards form the pack. The story will be 11 sentences long (including the sentence they already made in the warm up).
Explain to the students the following points.
- Stories may be nonsensical.
- Enforcement of tenses.
- This is not merely a collection of 11 sentences but a
story that should flow from one sentence to the next.
- The last 1 or 2 sentences should be devoted to ‘wrapping-
up’ the story.
Get the first student to take three cards from the pack and read them aloud to the rest of the class. Write the three words on the board and instruct the students to write a sentence, as before, in their workbook. Again, remind the students that this second sentence should have some relationship with the previous sentence. Continue until all eleven sentences are made and the story is complete. Get students to swap stories with the person next to them and read their partner’s story.
Summary (5 minutes): Scan the produced stories and read some of the more creative or humorous ones to the class. Review the objectives of the lesson and conclude.
> Mouse
> Birthday
> Pusan
> Film
> Train Station
> Beautiful
> Umbrella
> Student
> Doctor
> Fat
> Wedding
> Football
> Garden
> Kiss
> Happy
> Hospital
> Ill
> Flat
> Thief
> River
> Cigarette
> Party
> Young
> Smile
> Chinese Take-out
> University
> Hit
> Help!
> Pilot
> Keep fit
> Out
> Yellow
> Winter
> Blue
> Standing
> E-Mart
> Hot
> Sunny
> Play
> Teacher
> Computer
> 48
> Potato
> Raining
> Park
> Ocean
> Electricity
> Backpack
> Lift
> Jog
> Slide
> Baseball
> Suddenly
> Banana
> Subway
> Octopus
> Far
> Grass
> Sticky
> Slowly
Speech Writing
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will be shown a simple structure for creating a speech. The teacher will stress the use of the IRE idea (Idea, Reason, Example) and be given examples of the structure in action. In addition, students will be given the opportunity to write and perform a short oral presentation. Materials needed:
- Student workbook
- Pens or pencils
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson
Warm Up (10 minutes): The teacher will ask student opinion questions (What is your favorite sport? for example). As the students answer the teacher will elicit longer responses by asking for reasons and examples.
T: What sport do you like? S: I like basketball. (This is the student’s idea.) T: Why do you like basketball? S: It is really fast. (This is the reason.) T: What is fast about basketball? S: The players have to pass the ball very quickly. (This is the example.) T: So your answer is…I like basketball because the game is so fast. The players really have to pass the ball quickly. (Teacher summarized the three parts and strings them together.
The teacher should ask enough questions to give the students an idea of the basic structure that is to be used in the speech. This should take up about 10 minutes of the class.
Activity (30 minutes): The Writing of the Speech (~20 minutes)
Students will be asked to write a speech on the topic—“What I like…” The students will be asked to write an outline of the topic first using the following guideline:
Idea Reason Example Reason Example Reason Example Conclusion
Students may choose to cut the number of reasons down to two and add an extra example for each if they choose.
More proficient students can be asked to put in connecting sentences between the pairs of reasons/examples.
The conclusion should be a re-stating of the first idea in a very firm and convincing way.
The Giving of the Speech (10 minutes)
Students will be asked to give their speech in front of the class. Students should be reminded of a few simple speech-giving instructions.
- Eye contact… students should make eye contact with each
person in the room.
- Pronunciation/Intonation… students should be careful to
pronounce things very clearly.
- Voice level… students should speak so that someone at the
back of the room can hear them.
- Voice speed… students should speak slower than usually.
Summary (5 minutes): Students who wrote good speeches should be praised and class should be made aware of why that speech was so good. Students who gave good speeches should also be praised and the class should be made aware of why their speech sounded better than others. Students should be encouraged to use these new skills if they ever need to make a public speech.
Folded Story
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will work on their use of connectives. Students will construct a story using connectives. Materials needed:
- Pencils or pens
- Blackboard
- Student workbook
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Have each student remove a piece of paper from their workbook and fold it to create eight sections (like an accordion fan).
Warm Up (10 minutes): Write a list of connectives on the board. The list should include: but, and, so then, suddenly, and then, and others of the teacher’s choice. The students will do the following activity.
Line the students up in front of the blackboard and tell them they need to write a sentence using one of the connectives. Each student can write only one word at a time. The sentence can be of any length. The students should write 2 or 3 sentences depending on the available time.
Activity (30 minutes):
Tell the students to take out their folded papers and write
the following words in each section, one per section.
One day He said She said then and so suddenly finally
Tell the students to finish the first section…(e.g. One day John and Mary went to the zoo). After the students have finished their sentence they need to fold the section under so that it cannot be read. The students pass the paper to another student who writes the next section and folds the paper under again so it cannot be read. This continues until the eight sections have been filled. The paper returns to the original writer who then unfolds it and reads the story.
Note: Teachers should tell students to write their own story. After they write the eight headings, they should start thinking of the complete story and then write their own story each time the paper is passed. They should not try to figure out what others have written.
Summary (5 minutes): Teacher should make brief remarks about the use of connectives. Have the students exchange stories and read them. If there is time read some of the best stories.
Five Line Poem
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will be shown examples of five line poems, be encouraged to talk about the sample poems, and (both as a class and as individuals) create five line poems. Materials needed:
- Pencils or pens
- Blackboard
- Student workbook
- Examples of the target poems
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (5 minutes): Write some sample poems on the board. Have the class try to work out the structure of the poem. Discuss the poems and poetry.
Activity (35 minutes): Report on a poem Students will work in small groups of 3 or 4. Give a sample poem to each group as a guide to help them construct their own poems. Have each group talk about their assigned poem and how it makes them feel. The students must then report their response to the class. They need to answer the question: What is the relationship between the first and last line of the poem? This part of the activity should take about 15 minutes.
Creation of a poem Write the structural form of the five line poem on the board: Line 1: Dog = 1 NOUN-A Line 2: Friendly, playful = 2 related ADJECTIVES Line 3: Jumping catching rolling = 3 descriptive GERUNDS (verb + -ing) Line 4: Someone to be there. = 1 complete, related SENTENCE Line 5: A true friend = 1 NOUN-B (a synonym of NOUN-A)
Have the students create their own poems based on the template and with the help of the sample poems. This part of the activity should take about 20 minutes.
Sample poems:
River by Miki
River Clear, wonderful Slapping, whirling, flowing The river is cold. Water Dove by Min
Dove Active, free Flying, sitting, crying A dove is free. Bird
Try to write three of your own to fit the level of the students in the class. Good poems should be kept to show subsequent classes.
Summary (5 minutes): The teacher should find a way to publish the poems. Have the students share their poems with the class. Remind the students of the difficulty of writing/creating poems and how the students must be really good writers.
Diamante Poem
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will be shown examples of diamante poems, be encouraged to talk about the sample poems, and (both as a class and as individuals) create diamante poems. Materials needed:
- Pencils or pens
- Blackboard
- Student workbook
- Examples of the target poems
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (5 minutes): Write some sample poems on the board. Have the class try to work out the structure of the poem. Discuss the poems and poetry.
Activity (35 minutes): Report on a poem Students will work in small groups of 3 or 4. Give a sample poem to each group as a guide to help them construct their own poems. Have each group talk about their assigned poem and how it makes them feel. The students must then report their response to the class. They need to answer the question: What is the relationship between the first and last line of the poem? This part of the activity should take about 15 minutes.
Creation of a poem Write the structural form of a diamante poem on the board. Line 1: Winter = 1 NOUN-A Line 2: Rainy, cold = 2 ADJECTIVES-A Line 3: Skiing, skating, sledding = 3 GERUNDS-A (verb + -ing) Line 4: Mountains, wind, breeze, ocean = 2 NOUNS-A + 2 NOUNS-B Line 5: Swimming, surfing, scuba diving = 3 GERUNDS-B (verb + -ing) Line 6: Sunny, hot = 2 ADJECTIVES-B Line 7: Summer = 1 NOUN-B
Have the students create their own poems based on the template and with the help of the sample poems. This part of the activity should take about 20 minutes.
Sample poems:
Winter Rainy, cold Skiing, skating, sledding Mountains, wind, breeze, ocean Swimming, surfing, scuba diving Sunny, hot SummerStudies Unhappy, difficult Boring, succeeding, sleeping Library, pencil, card, outside Interesting, exciting, failing Happy, easy Play
Love
Wonderful, beautiful
Caring, liking, thinking
Innocence, smile, tear, guilt
Fighting, violating, disgusting
Terrible, worst
Hatred
Try to write three of your own to fit the level of the students in the class. Good poems should be kept to show subsequent classes.
Summary (5 minutes): The teacher should find a way to publish the poems. Have the students share their poems with the class. Remind the students of the difficulty of writing/creating poems and how the students must be really good writers.
ABC Story
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will be encouraged to use their knowledge of English in a new and creative way, to construct a cohesive story under a set structure, and be encouraged to think and write quickly in English. Materials needed:
- Pencils or pens
- Blackboard
- Student workbook
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Explain that today the students are going to create stories using the alphabet.
Alphabetical Cat Using the alphabet, students will create adjectives to describe a cat. E.g. My cat is an adorable cat. My cat is a beautiful cat… and so on.
The class should go through the entire alphabet. It helps sometimes to write the alphabet on the board and let students fill in the slots as they think of an adjective, rather than going around in a circle. But it can be done both ways
Activity (30 minutes): ABC Story The students need to write a story where the first sentence begins with the letter “A” the next with the letter “B”… and so on. Using the workbook students can work in pairs or on their own. Students need to be encouraged to write quickly as it may be difficult to finish the story. If the story cannot be finished, then it can be assigned as homework to be finished.
Summary (5 minutes): Stories, if finished, can be read in class. Students should be reminded of the skills that they are working on. They have been learning how to think and write quickly in English.
10 Questions
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will be shown the connections between comprehension questions and text and be given the chance to work creatively with English. Materials needed:
- Pencils or pens
- Pre-generated set of comprehension questions
- Student workbook
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: The activity can be done either alone or in pairs. Each student (or pair) should be given a copy of warm up text and a copy of the ‘10 Questions’. Ensure the students are made aware of the objectives. Further explain that they will be shown the outline for a fictional story (i.e. setting, problem, conflict, resolution). Also, they will create a piece of fiction based on possible answers to the comprehension questions. The key is to make them understand how this will help their understanding of how stories work and how it will help them answer comprehension questions.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Give the students the story to read. Ask them to make up a comprehension question for the story. The students should exchange questions and answer them. The teacher should introduce the idea of writing a story based on comprehension questions
Activity (30 minutes):
Write the ’10 Questions’ on the board. The students will have
a copy of the ten questions in their workbook. Use the first
question as an example to begin the story. The students will
have to supply all the missing information to properly answer
the question (E.g. Why did they go to the house? A student may
write… John and Scott went to the house to try and find the
ghost’s gold.) More advanced students may write two or three
sentences that together answer the one comprehension question
(E.g. John rushed to the house after school. Scott was waiting
for him with a flashlight and a shovel. They hoped today they
would find the gold if the ghost didn’t find them first.) The
students write a story based on the ten questions.
Variation The basic idea is the same but the teacher reveals the questions one at a time. The teacher can also give the students an opportunity to generate some of the questions.
The ’10 Questions’ for “The House on the Hill” (Teachers may generate their own questions to create a different type of story.)
Why were the two kids friends? What did the house look like? Why did they go to the house? What did they see when they opened the door? Who screamed? Why did they go into the kitchen? Who went down to the basement? What was found in the attic? Who helped them to escape? How did they feel when they got home?
The first three questions describe the setting of the story. Questions 4-7 centre around the conflict. Questions 8 and 9 are the climax. And the last question is the resolution.
The teacher should create their own story based on these questions to read to the class AT THE END OF THE CLASS. Don’t read it before, as every story will sound like yours.
Summary (5 minutes): Read your story to the class. Have the students exchange stories and read them. Remind students of the structure of the story. Remind students to use this structure in their own writing and to look for it in the stories they read and the movies they watch.
Nomics
[edit | edit source]Nomics are games in which writing the rules of the game is the game itself. See Ruler of the Wall for an example of how a nomic could be incorporated into the classroom.
Decision Making
[edit | edit source]Moon Survival
[edit | edit source]Objectives: For students to resolve a conceptual problem using logic, examples, and polite English. To stimulate the student’s creative thinking. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 students and instruct them to open their workbook to the appropriate page.
Warm Up (10 minutes): The students should be asked some questions about space to jumpstart their interest in the topic. At some point the students should be asked whether they would like to go to space and what they would do there. The warm up activity is for the students to make a guest list for their going away party.
- Tell the students to make a guest list for their ‘going
away’ party. The guests should be well known and should not be personal friends of the group. There should be five guests on the list.
- The students should be reminded to give a reason for
inviting each of the people on the list.
- When the individual groups have finished their lists, the
groups should come together and use their individual lists to make a master list. Students should be reminded during this conversation to use proper and polite conversational strategies.
- The teacher should write the master list on the board.
- Discuss some of the more interesting guests and ask why
they were invited.
Activity (30 minutes): Students should be told that on their way to their moon base their spaceship crashed. They are 300 km from their base and will have to walk.
- Go through the items on the list and work through the new
vocabulary.
- Tell the students to rank the items in order of their
importance to their own survival.
- Get the students to tell you which item is the most
important to their survival. Write it on the board.
- Get students to tell you what they think is the least
important item for survival. There should be some disagreement. Make sure the students disagree politely.
- Tell the students to work in their groups and finish
ranking the items. Emphasize the importance of discussing why the items are important or not.
- When the students have finished, write each group’s lists
on the board and invite students to discuss the different choices made by different groups.
- Have the groups come up with one master list.
- Compare the class list with the answers provided by NASA.
Discuss the differences.
Summary (5 minutes): Answer any questions the students may have had. Remark on any particularly good ideas or certain conversation strategies you heard while walking around the room. You can also point out any problems that may have arisen. Review the objectives of the lesson and conclude.
Answer Key:
Item
Rank
Why?
Box of matches
15
Food concentrate 4
20 meters of rope 6
Parachute silk 8
Portable gas heating unit 13
Two 45 caliber pistols 11
One box of dehydrated milk 12
Two 50 kg tanks of oxygen 1
Map of the moon 3
Life raft 9
Magnetic compass 14
20 liters of water 2
Signal flares 10
First aid kit 7
Solar powered receiver and transmitter 5
Courtroom
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective of this lesson is to refine decision-making skills. Students also gain experience in group speaking and vocabulary building. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils.
Vocabulary substitution: Review the following new vocabulary with the students:
Court Magistrate Judge Jury Accused Hardware Carpenter Laid off Woodworking Offense Sentence To plead guilty Probation Play hooky Shoplifting Verdict Interpreter Unemployed Tea towel Fine Imprisonment Acquittal Foster home Reform school Community service To plead not guilty
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Talk about courtrooms and the roles of different people in courtrooms. Introduce new vocabulary necessary for the lesson.
Activity (30 minutes): Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 students and tell the students that they are the magistrates on the bench of the Magistrates Court.
Read the ‘Possible Sentences’ from the workbook and discuss each one. Possible Sentences:
- Fine ($1000 maximum)
- Imprisonment (6 months maximum)
- Community service
- Placement in a foster home (people under age 16)
- Placement in a reform school (people under age 16)
- Probation
- Acquittal
Read ‘Case 1’ from the workbook. Tell the students that they must reach a verdict and pass sentence in this case. Allow 10 minutes for this and move around the room helping with vocabulary and discussion. After 10 minutes, have a representative from each group read their verdict and sentence to the class. Write the verdicts on the blackboard and discuss the strengths or weaknesses of the sentences.
Case 1 A 50-year-old man comes before your court. He is accused of breaking into a hardware store and stealing woodworking tools worth $150. He pleads guilty.
You must reach a verdict and pass sentence.
Points to consider:
- He was a carpenter for 30 years with one company and was
recently laid off.
- He has been unemployed for 6 months.
- He says his only hope of finding work is to have his own
tools.
- It is his first offense.
Repeat the activity for cases 2 and 3.
Case 2 A woman comes before your court. She is accused of shoplifting from Sears. The police say she took 2 tea towels and 6 glasses with a total value of $6.50. She pleads not guilty.
You must reach a verdict and pass sentence.
Points to consider:
- It is her first offense.
- Her husband has been employed for 1 year.
- She has 6 children.
- She has lived in America for 2 years but can’t speak
English.
- She says (through an interpreter) that she did not know
that she had to pay, as the system is different in her country.
Case 3 A 14-year-old boy comes before your court. He is accused of setting his school on fire and causing $5000 worth of damage. He pleads guilty.
You must reach a verdict and pass sentence.
Points to consider:
- He lives with his mother and 4 younger brothers and
sisters.
- His father died 2 years ago.
- His mother works in a store during the day and in a bar
in the evening to make enough money.
- His school grades are terrible and he is constantly in
trouble for playing hooky, fighting and breaking rules.
- It is not his first offense. A year ago he was accused of
stealing $25 from the drugstore where he had a Saturday job. He was let go with a warning.
Summary (5 minutes): Review the objectives of the lesson and discuss the most interesting case the class presented.
Airport / Going on Vacation
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective for this lesson is to make a plan for international travel using polite discussion techniques. Students will also learn how to write a postcard in informal language and use the English addressing format. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Start the class by asking some general questions about airports.
- Which airports have you been to?
- Which countries have you visited in the past?
- What facilities have you used at airports?
- What facilities do you think are important at airports?
Discuss the different areas in an airport and talk about their functions. The teacher could talk about areas such as:
- Customs
- Baggage Claim
- Immigration
- Quarantine
- Duty Free
- Check-in
- Gates
Discuss the different problems that you may encounter in these areas.
Activity (30 minutes): Divide the class into small groups of 3 or 4 students.
Tell the students that they are going on a one-week holiday to another country. They must decide in their group which country they will visit using polite discussion.
The students must now plan their trips. They are to decide 6 things to do or see in their destination country. Again, polite discussion is used to convey a student’s opinion to the other group members. Tell the students to complete the Travel Itinerary in their workbook.
When the students have finished their travel schedule they must write a postcard on the page provided in their workbooks. Explain to the students the addressing format used in foreign countries that is the opposite order to the Korean system. Give an example on the board of a foreign address and tell the students to complete the postcard.
Summary (5 minutes): Scan the postcards and read some of the more creative ones to the class. Review the objectives of the lesson and conclude.
Postcard
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________ _____________________________
_____________________________ _____________________________
_____________________________ _____________________________
_____________________________ _____________________________
_____________________________ _____________________________
_____________________________ _____________________________
Itinerary
Sunday Go to Incheon International Airport and board the airplane for… Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday Return to Incheon International Airport from…
Two Situations
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To stimulate students creative thinking and exercise their decision making skills. Materials needed:
- Student workbook
- Pens / pencils
- Blackboard
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Write a set of opposites on the board (e.g. hot / cold). Have the students decide, in turn, what they prefer. Try to use IRE method described at the beginning of the teacher’s manual.
Activity (30 minutes): Group the students into pairs and have them look at Situation 1 in their workbook. Read through it with the whole class, and then let the students work out their answers. Circulate among the groups to help them with any problems they might be having. After about 10 minutes of writing have one student from each group make a report about their country. Repeat the exercise with Situation 2. Ensure that a new student from each group reports on Situation 2.
Situation 1
Imagine you could create a completely new country made up of the best things from at least five other countries. What would this country be like? What would it be called? You have 10 minutes to think of the answers.
Think about:
- the food
- the standard of living
- the culture
- the people
- the political system
- the scenery
- the natural resources
- anything else? (specify)
- the climate
Write down the details, then one of you can report to the rest of the class. For example: Our new country would be called … It will have a climate like … (warm and sunny in the summer and…) It will have a standard of living like…, etc.
Situation 2.
Imagine you could be frozen at the time of death and brought back to life again in 200 years time. In what ways do you think things will have changed? You have 10 minutes to think of the answers.
Think about:
- countries
- space exploration
- life span
- transport
- computers
- family life (marriage, children, etc.)
- jobs
- homes
- anything else? (specify)
Write a paragraph to describe these changes. Then one of you can read it out to the rest of the class.
Summary (5 minutes): Discuss some of the more interesting or controversial decisions made by your groups.
What’s in a Job
[edit | edit source]Objectives: This is a decision making activity designed for groups of students, in which they have to guess what criteria others have used in putting ten jobs in order of importance. Materials needed:
- Student workbook
- Pens / pencils
- Blackboard
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Copy and cut out the job cards on the page following this lesson summary. Laminate them if possible. You should have three complete sets of cards available to use.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Review the 10 jobs used in the lesson to ensure the students understand what each job is. (doctor, priest, politician, pop star, entertainer, a housewife, a factory worker, a teacher, a journalist, a garbage man, a police officer)
Activity (30 minutes): Put the students into groups of three or four. Give each student a deck of cards and have them randomly select a card. The students work alone at first and order their jobs according to the criteria on their card. They write their answers in their workbook. Make sure they don’t let anyone else in the group see their card. Students now take it in turns to read out their order. When they have finished, the others try to guess what the order was based on.
Summary (5 minutes): Conclude by selecting a few of the students and have them explain their reasoning.
Student A Here are 10 jobs: A doctor, a priest, a politician, a pop star, an entertainer, a housewife, a factory worker, a teacher, a journalist, a dustman, a police officer You have to order them 1-10 according to the salary they get. Do this in you workbook. When you have all finished, take it in turns to read out your order. The others now try to guess on what you had based your order. Student B Here are 10 jobs: A doctor, a priest, a politician, a pop star, an entertainer, a housewife, a factory worker, a teacher, a journalist, a dustman, a police officer You have to order them 1-10 according to how important the job is to society. Do this in you workbook. When you have all finished, take it in turns to read out your order. The others now try to guess on what you had based your order. Student C Here are 10 jobs: A doctor, a priest, a politician, a pop star, an entertainer, a housewife, a factory worker, a teacher, a journalist, a dustman, a police officer You have to order them 1-10 according to how interesting/full of variety the job is. Do this in you workbook. When you have all finished, take it in turns to read out your order. The others now try to guess on what you had based your order. Student D Here are 10 jobs: A doctor, a priest, a politician, a pop star, an entertainer, a housewife, a factory worker, a teacher, a journalist, a dustman, a police officer You have to order them 1-10 according to how stressful the job is. Do this in you workbook. When you have all finished, take it in turns to read out your order. The others now try to guess on what you had based your order. Student E Here are 10 jobs: A doctor, a priest, a politician, a pop star, an entertainer, a housewife, a factory worker, a teacher, a journalist, a dustman, a police officer You have to order them 1-10 according to the status of the job (in other people’s eyes). Do this in you workbook.. When you have all finished, take it in turns to read out your order. The others now try to guess on what you had based your order. Student F Here are 10 jobs: A doctor, a priest, a politician, a pop star, an entertainer, a housewife, a factory worker, a teacher, a journalist, a dustman, a police officer You have to order them 1-10 according to the job you’d like to have. Do this in you workbook. When you have all finished, take it in turns to read out your order. The others now try to guess on what you had based your order.
Problem Solving
[edit | edit source]Cryptology
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To get students to understand how to break down words to figure out their meaning and to think critically about English grammar and sentence patterns to decode the passage. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Pens / pencils
- Student workbook
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Make sure that students have their (paper or electronic) dictionaries put away for the warm up of the lesson. However, they can use them for the decoding activity.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Write the word “Cryptology” on the blackboard and ask if any students know what it means. If nobody knows the word, ask what “-ology” means. The students should respond “the study of.” Then ask the students if they have other examples of words with the “-ology” suffix and write them on the board. With the words that the students supply, ask them what the prefix/root word means. For example, if the students give the words biology, geology, and technology, ask them what bio- (life), geo- (Earth), and techno- (skill) mean. Then explain that “crypto-” means hidden (from the Greek word “kryptos”) and ask if any students can now figure out what “cryptology” means. If still nobody figures it out, tell them that cryptology is the study of breaking code. If the warm-up needs to be extended, the teacher can ask the students when codes are used (i.e. government, computers, military, etc).
Activity (30 minutes): There are three different encoded passages with this lesson varying in difficulty. The easiest passage is a simple reversed frame-shift so once the students figure out the pattern, it becomes quite simple to break the code. The medium and hardest difficulty passages have randomly selected encryption keys. However, the medium does not substitute vowels.
The teacher needs to assess the students’ ability and choose the difficulty he or she deems appropriate. Alternatively, the teacher can also allow the students to individually choose the difficulty with which they would like to challenge themselves.
Have the students turn to the appropriate page with the selected encrypted passage. Explain that every letter represents another letter and that their task is to break the code. Initially, the only hint that should be given is for the students to think about what they know about English grammar and sentences. For example, “a” is the only one-letter, lowercase English word so the students quickly be able to decode all the a’s in the passage. There are other patterns such as “’s” for possessives and words like of, in, on, and at that always proceed other words. Do not give students these hints unless necessary.
Once a student has broken the code, there is no need for him/her to decode the whole passage, as it would just be busy work. Instead, tell the student to work on one of the other passages.
Summary (5 minutes): To conclude the lesson, review the root word + suffix warm up and ask students what patterns they notice to break the code.
Encryption Key:
Easy Passage Medium Passage Difficult Passage Original Encrypted Original Encrypted Original Encrypted A H A (A) A P B G B A B A C F C E C E D E D R D R E D E (E) E T F C F Y F Y G B G U G U H A H I H I I Z I (I) I O J Y J Q J Q K X K W K W L W L S L S M V M D M D N U N F N F O T O (O) O G P S P H P H Q R Q J Q J R Q R K R K S P S L S L T O T Z T Z U N U (U) U X V M V C V C W L W V W V X K X B X B Y J Y N Y N Z I Z M Z M
Easy Passage – Unencrypted
Jason had a temperature of 102° F. His head was stuffed; his bones ached and his throat was very sore. He knew he had the flu. All his friends had been sick with it. He had used up all the creams and herbs that his mother had carefully packed and put in his suitcase, saying, “Just in case you get sick.”
After three days of lying in bed, feeling miserable, Jason decided to go to the doctor. He described all his symptoms and was sure that the doctor would give him a shot that would make him feel much better. Instead, she told him to get plenty of rest and to drink lots of liquids. She gave him a prescription to fill and said that in two or three days he would be feeling better.
As he left, the receptionist told him that his visit would cost $35. Jason paid the money and left the doctor’s office feeling angry.
Medium Passage – Unencrypted
The Planets are in Motion The planets move around the Sun along oval-shaped paths called orbits. One complete path around the Sun is called a revolution. Earth takes one year, or 3651/4 days, to make one revolution around the Sun. Planets that are farther away from the Sun take longer. Some planets have one or more moons. A moon orbits a planet in much the same way that the planets orbit the Sun.
Each planet also spins (or rotates) on its axis. An axis is an imaginary line running through the center of a planet. The time it takes Earth to rotate on its axis equals one day.
Difficult Passage – Unencrypted
Can Chickens Fly? The chicken has wings, but can’t fly. Chickens used to fly in the past like all birds. But they started to live with people and changed. Their bodies got bigger but their wings got smaller. So now they can’t fly. But a chicken called Sheena did fly in 1985. She was a fighting chicken in America. Sheena flew 192.07 meters!
The Most Famous Chicken There are about 500 kinds of chickens in the world. But there was one very famous chicken. In 1945, in Colorado, U.S., there was a chicken called Michael. Michael is in the 1947 Guinness Book of World Records. This chicken was born without a head. But he could still live! However, in 1947, something terrible happened. While Michael was eating, food got stuck in his throat and he died.
What Do They Eat? Chickens usually eat what their owners give them. But they also find food on their own. They eat bugs that move around on the ground. They swallow food because they do not have teeth. They also eat sand and dirt.
Why Do Chicken Hate the Hot Weather? People sweat so we can control heat. Chickens do not have sweat glands. They are covered with feathers. They have to make themselves cool by opening their mouths. They also flap their wings. That is why they do not like the hot weather.
How Do Chicken Sleep? Have you seen chicken sleeping on poles? They look as if they will fall but they don't. This is because they hold onto the poles very tightly. Chicken used to be flying birds that lived on branches. So their natural habits are shown while they sleep.
Have You Ever Seen a Chicken in Your Dreams? Seeing a chicken in your dream is good luck! If you chased chickens, you will get a lot of money. If you see a chick hatching from its egg, something good will happen. If you see a chicken head, your family may be in luck. But if you see a headless chicken, this is not a good dream. Something bad may happen to you.
Were You Born in the Year of the Rooster? Then, you are a very loyal person. Also, you try very hard at almost everything. You also have a big imagination. You like adventure. And you work hard to achieve your goals.
Cryptology - Easy The following story has been encrypted with a special code. Each letter systematically represents a different letter in the alphabet. Can you break the code?
Yhptu ahe h odvsdqhonqd tc 102° C. Azp adhe lhp ponccde; azp gtudp hfade hue azp oaqtho lhp mdqj ptqd. Ad xudl ad ahe oad cwn. Hww azp cqzduep ahe gddu pzfx lzoa zo. Ad ahe npde ns hww oad fqdhvp hue adqgp oaho azp vtoadq ahe fhqdcnwwj shfxde hue sno zu azp pnzofhpd, phjzub, “Ynpo zu fhpd jtn bdo pzfx.”
Hcodq oaqdd ehjp tc wjzub zu gde, cddwzub vzpdqhgwd, Yhptu edfzede ot bt ot oad etfotq. Ad edpfqzgde hww azp pjvsotvp hue lhp pnqd oaho oad etfotq ltnwe bzmd azv h pato oaho ltnwe vhxd azv cddw vnfa gdoodq. Zupodhe, pad otwe azv ot bdo swduoj tc qdpo hue ot eqzux wtop tc wzrnzep. Pad bhmd azv h sqdpfqzsoztu ot czww hue phze oaho zu olt tq oaqdd ehjp ad ltnwe gd cddwzub gdoodq.
Hp ad wdco, oad qdfdsoztuzpo otwe azv oaho azp mzpzo ltnwe ftpo $35. Yhptu shze oad vtudj hue wdco oad etfotq’p tcczfd cddwzub hubqj.
Cryptology - Medium The following story has been encrypted with a special code. Each letter systematically represents a different letter in the alphabet. Can you break the code?
ziE hsAfEzl AkE If dOzIOf ziE hsAfEzl dOcE AkOUfr ziE lUf AsOfu OcAs-liAhEr hAzil eAssEr OkaIzl. OfE eOdhsEzE hAzi AkOUfr ziE lUf Il eAssEr A kEcOsUzIOf. EAkzi zAwEl OfE nEAk, Ok 3651/4 rAnl, zO dAwE OfE kEcOsUzIOf AkOUfr ziE lUf. hsAfEzl ziAz AkE yAkziEk AvAn ykOd ziE lUf zAwE sOfuEk. lOdE hsAfEzl iAcE OfE Ok dOkE dOOfl. A dOOf OkaIzl A hsAfEz If dUei ziE lAdE vAn ziAz ziE hsAfEzl OkaIz ziE lUf.
EAei hsAfEz AslO lhIfl (Ok kOzAzEl) Of Izl AbIl. Af AbIl Il Af IdAuIfAkn sIfE kUffIfu zikOUui ziE eEfzEk Oy A hsAfEz. ziE zIdE Iz zAwEl EAkzi zO kOzAzE Of Izl AbIl EjUAsl OfE rAn.
Cryptology - Difficult The following story has been encrypted with a special code. Each letter systematically represents a different letter in the alphabet. Can you break the code?
Epf eioewtfl ysn? Zit eioewtf ipl voful, axz epf’z ysn. Eioewtfl xltr zg ysn of zit hplz sowt pss aokrl. Axz zitn lzpkztr zg soct vozi htghst pfr eipfutr. Zitok agrotl ugz aouutk axz zitok voful ugz ldpsstk. Lg fgv zitn epf’z ysn. Axz p eioewtf epsstr Littfp ror ysn of 1985. Lit vpl p youizofu eioewtf of Pdtkoep. Littfp ystv 192.07 dtztkl!
Zit dglz ypdgxl eioewtf zitkt pkt pagxz 500 wofrl gy eioewtfl of zit vgksr. Axz zitkt vpl gft ctkn ypdgxl eioewtf. Of 1945, of Egsgkprg, X.L., zitkt vpl p eioewtf epsstr Doeipts. Doeipts ol of zit 1947 Uxofftll Aggw gy Vgksr Ktegkrl. Ziol eioewtf vpl agkf vozigxz p itpr. Axz it egxsr lzoss soct! Igvtctk, of 1947, lgdtziofu ztkkoast iphhtftr. Viost doeipts vpl tpzofu, yggr ugz lzxew of iol zikgpz pfr it rotr.
Vipz rg zitn tpz? Eioewtfl xlxpssn tpz vipz zitok gvftkl uoct zitd. Axz zitn pslg yofr yggr gf zitok gvf. Zitn tpz axul zipz dgct pkgxfr gf zit ukgxfr. Zitn lvpssgv yggr atepxlt zitn rg fgz ipct zttzi. Zitn pslg tpz lpfr pfr rokz.
Vin rg eioewtf ipzt zit igz vtpzitk? Htghst lvtpz lg vt epf egfzkgs itpz. Eioewtfl rg fgz ipct lvtpz uspfrl. Zitn pkt egctktr vozi ytpzitkl. Zitn ipct zg dpwt zitdltsctl eggs an ghtfofu zitok dgxzil. Zitn pslg ysph zitok voful. Zipz ol vin zitn rg fgz sowt zit igz vtpzitk.
Igv rg eioewtf lstth? Ipct ngx lttf eioewtf lstthofu gf hgstl? Zitn sggw pl oy zitn voss ypss axz zitn rgf'z. Ziol ol atepxlt zitn igsr gfzg zit hgstl ctkn zouizsn. Eioewtf xltr zg at ysnofu aokrl zipz soctr gf akpfeitl. Lg zitok fpzxkps ipaozl pkt ligvf viost zitn lstth.
Ipct ngx tctk lttf p eioewtf of ngxk rktpdl? Lttofu p eioewtf of ngxk rktpd ol uggr sxew! Oy ngx eipltr eioewtfl, ngx voss utz p sgz gy dgftn. Oy ngx ltt p eioew ipzeiofu ykgd ozl tuu, lgdtziofu uggr voss iphhtf. Oy ngx ltt p eioewtf itpr, ngxk ypdosn dpn at of sxew. Axz oy ngx ltt p itprstll eioewtf, ziol ol fgz p uggr rktpd. Lgdtziofu apr dpn iphhtf zg ngx.
Vtkt ngx agkf of zit ntpk gy zit kgglztk? Zitf, ngx pkt p ctkn sgnps htklgf. Pslg, ngx zkn ctkn ipkr pz psdglz tctknziofu. Ngx pslg ipct p aou odpuofpzogf. Ngx sowt prctfzxkt. Pfr ngx vgkw ipkr zg peiotct ngxk ugpsl.
Negotiating
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will learn a variety of negotiating tactics, be taught to convey information quickly and effectively, and will learn to solve problems through compromise. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Pens / pencils
- Student workbook
- “Go between” role cards
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: The room should be set up so that there are six different stations. Each group of three will be divided into Person A, Person B, and negotiator. The two people need to be separated by a little distance. Copy and cut out the neighbor cards following the summary of this lesson. Laminate them if possible. You will need at least three complete sets.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Describe for the group the four types of negotiators. Write the types of the boards and then verbally describe one. The students must guess which one you are describing.
Types: A. Good/Bad Cop B. B. Friends C. Ultimaters D. D. Bullies
Descriptions: A. The crudest negotiating tactic of all usually starts with disparaging remarks about the other person. A bully doesn't need a valid reason to attack; it's in their nature to pick on someone who won't fight back. The attack is a tactic designed to break down your position. B. Phrases such as "You have to do better than that", or "Take it or leave it". The aim is to make the negotiator worry about the future of a talk. They want you to feel that you have to accept their idea because they won’t negotiate anymore. C. "I love your idea, I want to do it, but I just can’t". The person believes that if they manage to make friends with you, then you will do what they want out of friendship. D. There are usually two of them. One of them is to be a bad guy, his aim is to discomfort you by being aggressive, making ridiculous demands. The second one is a good guy, his job is to be balanced and apologetic for his partner.
Answers 1D 2C 3B 4A
Activity (30 minutes): (10 minutes for each set of role cards)
Put your students in groups of three or four. The students are each given a set of the ‘Neighbor’ role cards. The two students playing the neighbors sit on different sides of the room. Each of the three groups will use the neighbor role cards. The go-between must help the two neighbors come to an agreement. The go-between must carefully and accurately report the demands/proposals of the neighbors. The teacher can recommend that the neighbors use some of the negotiating tactics described in the warm up but this is not necessary.
After about 8 minutes, the groups can compare their solutions.
The go-between should take the place of one of the neighbors and then the teacher should hand out the Husband/Wife role cards.
Repeat once more with the ‘Country role cards’.
Summary (5 minutes): Remind the class about the different ways to negotiate. The class can talk about which ways were the most effective when trying to reach a solution. The class can talk about how they compromise…who…when…why…
Neighbor A You’re fed up with your neighbor’s behavior.
- You wish they’d:
- Turn down their TV
- Keep their dogs out of your back garden
- Stop parking in front of your gate
You also wish they’d stop complaining about you: you don’t see why you should change your lifestyle. Neighbor B You’re fed up with your neighbor’s behavior.
- You wish they’d:
- Prevent their teenagers from having late night parties
- Chop down the big tree in their garden
- Pick up their baby when it cries instead of letting him
scream You also wish they’d stop complaining about you: you don’t see why you should change your lifestyle. Go-Between You have to carry messages from one person to the other. Your object is to get them to reach an agreement, but you must report exactly what they said to each other.
Husband You wish your wife would:
- Stop complaining
- Have dinner ready every evening when you come home
- Stop quarreling with your mother
But you don’t see why you should change anything about your lifestyle. Wife You wish your husband would:
- Help in the house occasionally
- Look after the children sometimes
- Talk to you in the evenings instead of slumping in front
of the TV But you don’t see why you should change anything about your lifestyle. Go-Between You have to carry messages from one person to the other. Your object is to get them to reach an agreement, but you must report exactly what they said to each other.
Paranoia Your neighboring country Neurotica is causing a lot of problems:
- They are illegally occupying part of your territory on
the Eastern border.
- They are destroying large areas of rain forest, which is
causing flooding and damage to land in your country.
- Their high taxes on food imports are crippling your
economy. You don’t want to start a war: you’d prefer to solve these problems through negotiation. At the same time, you don’t want to give way on any issue. Neurotica Your neighboring country Paranoia is causing a lot of problems:
- They are illegally occupying part of your territory on
the Western border.
- They have built a nuclear power plant near the border.
- They have a ban on car imports (your main industry).
You don’t want to start a war: you’d prefer to solve these problems through negotiation. At the same time, you don’t want to give way on any issue. Go-Between You have to carry messages from one person to the other. Your object is to get them to reach an agreement, but you must report exactly what they said to each other.
Think Bowl
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To make criteria, or methods of ranking or evaluating solutions for a problem, to think creatively by brainstorming (thinking of everything they can about one subject, as a group) criteria and problems, to act out a problem and solution. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Pens / pencils
- Student workbook
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Arrange tables for students to sit in two teams. Write objectives on the board.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Explain what a problem is in Korean “munje”. Present a problem, like “ Are school uniforms the best way to dress students?” (a problem with many solutions) that possibly relates to the student’s lifestyle. Other examples of problems might be "What can we do so there are fewer cars?" or " How can we make students happier?" With an advanced class you may choose to brainstorm to find a problem and write it on the board. Students then brainstorm solutions to the problem, writing down every idea their team comes up with. One team member can write the solutions
Activity (30 minutes): The groups must now decide on how to set criteria to assess the solutions to the problems. Write A, B, C, D, E on the board as column headers. The teacher can provide some of the criteria.
For example:
- Is this idea original?
- Do we like this idea?
- Would other people like this solution?
- Is it feasible (doable, can it be done)?
- Does the idea work, does it solve the problem?
Alternatively you can have the groups can decide on the criteria. You must have a total of five criteria. On a five by ten or twenty grid provided in the workbook (an example of the grid follows the lesson summary) the criteria are written at the top of the five columns, and the solutions are written in the ten or twenty rows. Then going down one column, each solution is rated by the criteria on a scale of one to ten. For example, if the solution in row one was to allow for school uniforms to be optional, and the criteria in column A was “Is this idea original?”, a number from one to ten would be written in the box for column one, row one.
When finished with the ratings, the numbers across one row are added up, the total points for the evaluations of the solutions resulting.
Finally the solution with the highest score is then used as the subject to perform a skit or short play, depending on the nature of the solution, it can be acted, spoken, mimed or a combination of these. Encourage loud talking for the skit.
Summary (5 minutes): The teacher can show how the objectives were met, ask students to suggest other ways to meet the objectives, and conclude with praise.
Think Bowl
Criteria A B C D E Total Solutions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Detective Work
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To solve a crime using detective work and guessing, deductive reasoning, ordering events. To report past events, practice past tenses (perfect), and learn some everyday activity vocabulary – (crime, committed, chatted, knock, neighbor) Materials needed:
- One set of cards and one introduction sheet for each
group, three to four sets Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Copy and cut out the clue cards at the end of this lesson summary. Laminate them if possible. You will need three or four complete sets. Write objectives on the board.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Arrange the students into groups of three or four. Tell the students “You are the famous detectives Sherlock Holmes and Watson” or some similar phrase to introduce the detective activity. Inform the students that a murder was committed last night. An old lady was found dead in her living room. She had been hit on the head with a frying pan, and jewelry worth five thousand dollars had been taken from the house. (Do a concept check to see if students understand past perfect, it can equate to past tense for some purposes, and is used for news reports or reports sometimes). The murder occurred between seven and ten-thirty p.m. One of the principal suspects is Annie Hudson, the district nurse, who has the key to the old lady’s house, and who lives ten minutes walk away.
Activity (30 minutes): Distribute a deck of clue cards to each group. Ensure that the cards are shuffled and in a random order. The cards contain details of Annie’s movements that evening. The students should read them together, and try to work out if she could have committed the murder or not. Since the cards have been shuffled, the events will be in a muddled order.
Students should turn up one card at a time from the pile, and discuss the probable sequence of events together.
The object of the game is to reconstruct Annie’s evening and to work out if she could have committed the murder or not. The group that finishes first is the winner. .
Filler: Have a mock trial or kangaroo court to try the guilty party.
Summary (5 minutes): Review the vocabulary for comprehension as a concept check; discuss alternative possibilities (who might or might not have been the murderer).
At seven o’clock she went
to her sister’s house for
half an hour.
A friend came to call at
seven forty-five.
By the time her friend
knocked on the door, she
had already started to cook
supper.
Her friend stayed to eat
supper.
Her friend left shortly
after nine p.m.
She had just said goodbye
to her friend when the
phone rang.
She had just finished
speaking to Uncle Bill on
the phone when there was a
knock on the door.
Her neighbor wanted to
borrow some sugar.
She invited her neighbor in
and they chatted until
about ten.
She had just said goodbye
to her neighbor when the
phone rang again. It was
her friend, who had
forgotten her handbag.
She had just put the phone
down when her husband, her
son and friend came in.
They had all been to see a
film.
After they had had coffee
and talked about the film,
they all went to bed.
A murder was committed last night. An old lady was found dead in her living room. She had been hit on the head with a frying pan, and jewelry worth five thousand dollars had been taken from the house. The murder occurred between seven and ten-thirty p.m. One of the principle suspects is Annie Hudson, the district nurse, who has a key t the old lady’s house, and who lives ten minute’s walk away. The cards contain details of Annie’s movements that evening. Read them together, and try to work out if she could have committed the murder or not. Since the cards have been shuffled the events will be in a muddled order. Turn up one card at a time from the pile and talk about what happened and when it happened: what happened before it, what happened after it.
Situational Puzzles
[edit | edit source]Objectives: By asking the teacher questions about curious situations, students will practice abstract thinking and speaking skills. In particular, students will have to ask limiting questions and think creatively by imagining a whole scenario. They will be able to establish logical connections between events and understand how it can be succinctly expressed. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Pens / pencils
- Student workbook
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Use some logic-testing questions to get students thinking. Write a few of these questions on the board and see who can answer correctly:
- Ask students to write this down as one number: 15
thousand, 15 hundred and 15. (Answer: 16,515)
- “What was the highest mountain on earth before Mount
Everest was discovered?” (Answer: Still Mount Everest)“
- Take three apples from five apples. How many do you
have?” (Answer: Three)
- “How many children does a woman have if she has ten
daughters and each daughter has a brother?” (Answer: Eleven)
- “Some months have 30 days and some have 31. How many
months have 28 days?” (Answer: All twelve)
- “How many birth days does the average person have?”
(Answer: Only one – the day you were born)
Activity (30 minutes): Depending on how students have done in the warm up, choose the appropriate puzzle from this list and write it on the board (they get increasingly more difficult).
1. “A birdwatcher sees an unexpected bird. Soon, he’s dead. How did this happen?” 2. “He was killed by breakfast.” 3. “A woman buys a new pair of shoes, goes to work and dies.”
Underneath write YES on one side and NO on the other. Tell students they can ask only yes or no questions in order to guess the whole story behind the death. Write their questions on the appropriate sides.
After several queries, say if they can figure out what job the person does or where they are, the answer will be easier. Give example questions, such as “Is the birdwatcher in the forest?” Provide hints that narrow down the area of information needed to arrive at the answer. For instance, tell them that he is traveling. Suggest asking if he’s inside or outside, in the air or on the ground, etc. For number one, once the students have determined that the birdwatcher is on an airplane, it should be relatively easy for them to figure the way in which he was killed. The answer is: ‘He is a passenger on an airplane and sees the bird get sucked into the engine at 20,000 feet.’
The same method applies to numbers two and three as well. The answer to 2 is ‘The man is camping in the mountains. He makes breakfast, and then puts pepper on his food. The pepper makes him sneeze loudly, which starts an avalanche that kills him.’
In the case of number 3, the woman’s profession is the key factor in solving the puzzle. Therefore, students must be instructed to ask questions that will limit the range of possible occupations. If necessary, provide clues such as ‘medicine’, ‘education’, or ‘show business’. Once they’ve got the right field, then a further narrowing down of questioning can follow. From ‘show business’, go to ‘movies’ and ‘television’ and, finally, ‘circus’. The answer for number 3 is: ‘The woman is an assistant to a knife-thrower in a circus. The new shoes have higher heels than the ones she used to wear, so the thrower misjudges his aim and one of his knives kills her during the show.’
Summary (5 minutes): Review the objectives of the lesson, ensuring all students realize the importance of asking relevant and specific questions in order to understand the cause and effect of a given situation.
Situational English
[edit | edit source]Drama and Acting
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To learn to act out a situation to an audience, to gain confidence in speaking and presenting to groups, and to practice expressing feelings in English Materials needed:
- Puppets
- Student workbook
- Pens or pencils
- Dice
- Whiteboard and marker
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Write the objectives on the board, and arrange tables for groups of three to four to prepare a skit or little play of no more than three minutes duration. Write ten phrases or short sentences like “ I am hungry”, and ten emotions next to them. Write some situations on the board that can lend themselves to a short skit. For example:
- You want to convince your parents to let you go to a late
concert.
- You want to convince your parents to buy a new computer.
- You are trying to stop a schoolyard fight.
- You are lost and need directions to find the bus stop.
- Your best friend is moving to another province.
- Etc.
Warm Up (10 minutes):
Ask the class some questions such as:
“Who wants to be or wanted to be a movie star or actor or
actress?”
“Who would you like to be in the movies, or what movie would
you like to be in?”
Explain to the students that “Today, you can make and act in your own play, like a movie. Please use body language or movements to give the feeling and meaning of your play, and speak loudly enough so everyone can hear.”
Randomly choose one emotion and one phrase from your list on the board. Then select a student to act out the combined idea (e.g. “Sadly, I am hungry”).
Activity (30 minutes): Tell the class to choose one of the topics suggested, brainstorm others, or use one of their own to write a three- minute play. The play will be about a situation possible in real life or an imagined one. They have 20 minutes to do this.
Do not give the students the list of suggested topics until they have first tried to think of one on their own.
They have the option to use hand puppets (provided by the teacher). This can aid shy students by acting as a prop to distract from shyness.
One person from another team can act as Master of Ceremonies to introduce the group. Ensure that a group member introduces their stage names, and the name of their play or skit. They will perform and act the skit or short play they have prepared. This part of the activity should take about 10 minutes
Fillers:
- One word is given to the students, writing it on the
board, or the group choosing one, one student must say it many different ways, trying to demonstrate different feelings.
- A brief discussion of what the students liked best or
least about the skits or short plays can conclude the activity.
Summary (5 minutes): Point back to the objectives written at the beginning, and ask the following questions. Did they feel the objectives were met for them? What could they suggest as an improvement to better meet the objectives? Finish with “ well done”, “ good job”, or some positive note, e.g. “ I thought I noticed an improvement in your speaking, it was louder and easier to hear.”
Meteorology
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective of this lesson is for the students to learn vocabulary associated with meteorology. Students will also prepare and present a weather report to the class. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this class.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Define the word meteorology to the class as “The science of the atmosphere especially weather conditions.” Talk to the class about meteorology vocabulary such as:
Summer Winter Spring Fall Autumn Cold Hurricane Tornado Cyclone Earthquake Tsunami Blizzard Avalanche Drought Flood Hail Fine Cloudy Stormy Hot
Write the four seasons as column headers on the blackboard. Brainstorm with the class a list of words for each season.
Activity (30 minutes): Start the class by drawing a map of an imaginary country on the board. Mark on the map some imaginary cities. Students should generate the names for the cities. The teacher should give a demonstration weather report using the map on the blackboard. Be sure to point to the particular cities when doing the weather report. Tell the students that in their groups they are going to create and present a weather report similar to the ones they see on the television news.
E.g. In Smithtown today it was rainy with a temperature of 25 degrees. Maplesville was fine and hot with a temperature of 32 degrees. Tomorrow in Smithtown, the rain will finish and it will be a sunny day with a temperature of 29 degrees and Maplesville will be the same as today. People in Seaport City should be careful because there is a typhoon coming toward you tomorrow.
The students should use a page from their workbook to draw the imaginary country and prepare for the weather report. The weather report should have the weather from today, and the forecast for tomorrow. The students should use some of the vocabulary they have acquired in the warm-up lesson. The students should include the weather for 5 different cities.
While the students are working, circulate around the room and correct grammar and vocabulary.
When the students are finished, give some practice time and have them present their reports to the class.
Summary (5 minutes): Review the objectives of the lesson and conclude.
Restaurant
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective of this lesson is to teach students useful restaurant English. The lesson also stresses the importance of being polite when speaking to other people. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils.
Vocabulary substitution: Review the following vocabulary with the class: To place an order I would like … Are you ready to order? Complaint Waiter / Waitress / Customer The bill The tip Daily Specials / Specials of the Day
Procedure:
Setting Up the Classroom:
Copy and cut out the Customer Sheet, Waiter Sheet, Menus,
Complaints, and Special of the Day pages following this lesson
summary. Laminate them if possible. You will need
approximately four sets of these pages.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Brainstorm some different types of restaurants on the blackboard.
Tell the students that they will be ordering food from restaurants today. Call a student to the front of the class and give the student a menu. After the student has had a short time to look at the menu, say, “May I take your order?” Explain that just barking out orders to waiters can be perceived as rude and can have negative consequences. If the student gives a more sophisticated answer, the teacher should write it on the board and then begin to discuss other ways of ordering food.
Activity (30 minutes): Have three students act out the dialog for ordering food (Waiter, Customer 1, Customer 2). As a class briefly discuss the dialog and ways to order food.
Do a role-play activity to practice ordering food. Divide the class into three groups. Some students will be waiters and the other students will pair up and go around to the various restaurants and order food. The waiters are given “Special of the Day” prompt cards and their activity sheet. As customers visit their restaurants, waiters have to write down the orders on their activity sheets. The customers must write down what they ordered on the customer activity sheets. The teacher should also instruct some of the waiters to be rude and insulting on purpose to the customers to see their reactions. Talk about complaints and give some examples of complaints made in a restaurant.
Making a menu. Tell the class that they are going to make a menu for their imaginary restaurant. This is done on the blackboard as a class activity. They must choose:
- Name and type of restaurant (e.g. Ed’s Chicken Town)
- Menu items
- Beverages
- Desserts
- Specials of the day
Summary (5 minutes): Review the new phrases and vocabulary introduced in the lesson. Review the objectives of the lesson and conclude.
Restaurant Role-play Customer Sheet
You are customer in a restaurant. You must go from restaurant
to restaurant with a partner and order some food in each
restaurant:
Restaurant Name Food Ordered Drink Ordered Daily Special Service Quality
Customers should:
- Sit down.
- Listen to the special.
- Look at the menus.
- Order food
- Eat
- Don’t order dessert.
- Ask for the bill.
- Go to a new restaurant.
Restaurant Role-play Waiter Sheet
You are a waiter in a restaurant. When people sit down at your
table, give them some menus and take their orders:
Name
Food Ordered
Drink Ordered
Complaints
Comments
Waiters should:
- Welcome.
- Give Menus.
- Tell the guests the special of the day.
- Give them some time to look at the menu.
- Take their orders.
- Confirm their orders.
- Ask how the meal was and if they want dessert.
Restaurant Menus
Breads
Croissants……...$1.25 Bagels……… ….$1.25 Donuts………….$0.75
Cakes Blueberry Cheesecake……..$2.50 Chocolate Cheesecake………$2.50 Drink
Coffee…………..$1.25 Café Au Lait……$1.75 Espresso ……….$1.75
Food
B.L.T . . . . . . . . .$3.50 Crispy bacon with lettuce and tomato. With or without cheese. Ham & Cheese . $3.25 Fresh ham with cheddar cheese and pickles. Vegetarian . . . . $2.75 Fresh cucumber, avocado, and tomatoes. Drink
Coffee . . . . . .$1.00 Milk . . . . . . . . $1.25 Juice . . . . . . . $1.50 Cola . . . . . . . .$1.00
Food
Sweet and Sour Pork …………..$4.50 Garlic Ribs …….4.50 Chicken Fried Rice ……………$4.00 Spicy Shrimp…..$5.00 Soups and Drinks
Wonton Soup….… $3.00 Jasmine Tea ……… Free Zing Toe Beer …… $2.00
Food
Meatball Spaghetti…….. $8.50 Seafood Spaghetti……. $9.50 Lasagna……… $8.50 Fettuccine Alfredo……….. $7.50 Drink
Red Wine Glass . . . . . . . $3.50 Bottle . . . . . .$17.00 White Wine Glass. . . . . . . .$3.00 Bottle . . . . . .$15.00
Food
Tuna Roll………..$2.00 Salmon Roll……...$2.00 California Roll…...$3.00 Mixed Sushi……..$6.00 Miso Soup……… $1.00 Extra Ginger and Wasabi ………….$0.50
Drink
Tea …………… Free Cola………….. $1.00
Food
Grilled Steak…... $12.50 BBQ Ribs…………11.50 Steak Teriyaki…. $12.50 Fajitas………….. $11.50 Drink
Coffee ……… .$1.00 Beer …………. $1.25 Juice ………… $1.50 Cola …………..$1.00
Food
Hawaiian Pizza (s) $10.00 (l) $15.00
Pepperoni Pizza (s) $10.00 (l) $15.00
Supreme Pizza (s) $12.00 (l) $17.00
Kimchi Pizza (s) $9.00 (l) $14.00 Drink
Coffee ………..$1.00 Milk …………..$1.25 Juice ………… $1.50 Cola………….. $1.00
Food
Lousy Burger….. $18.00 Cold Grilled Steak……………..45.00 Soggy Spaghetti…………35.00 Stale Nachos…… $20.00 Drink
Coffee . . . . . .$1.00 Beer . . . . . . . $1.25 Juice . . . . . . . $1.50 Cola . . . . . . . .$1.00
Customer Complaints
- When you are eating, complain that your food is cold.
- When you are eating, complain that the restaurant is too
hot.
- When you are eating, complain that the food is too salty.
- When you are eating, complain that the restaurant is too
cold.
- When you are eating, complain that the food is burnt.
- When you are eating, complain that the restaurant is too
noisy.
- When you are eating, complain that the food is not cooked.
- When you are eating, complain that the restaurant is too
smoky.
Specials of the Day
Special: Pumpkin pie and
whip cream.
Price: $2:00
Special: Spring rolls
Special: Smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel. Price: $4.50
Special: Four cheese ravioli. Price: $7.50
Special: Eel rolls Price: $2.50
Special: Mexican pizza made with chili peppers, avocado, and hot pepperoni. Price: (s) $11:00 (l)$16:00
Special: Roast chicken with potatoes. Price: $12.50
Special: Hot chicken wings. Price: 12 wings for $5.00.
At a Party
[edit | edit source]Objectives: This activity is a simple, yet effective role-play where students imagine they are extremely successful and famous people who meet other equally successful and famous people at a 5 star hotel. It gives students the opportunity, amongst other things, to try their hand at “acting.” Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Go through the instructions in the workbook with the whole class, so that the students fully understand what they have to do.
Activity (30 minutes): Allocate classroom space for each group and let the role-play begin. The teacher can go from group to group, pretending to be a waiter and offering drinks, small snacks, etc. Set a time limit (e.g. 15-20 minutes).
Below is the student worksheet information:
Imagine you could choose any identity for yourself. What name would you choose? What nationality? What job? What background? Are you married? Etc.
Everyone in the class is at a party at the Ritz Hotel in London. Go around talking to and meeting as many people as possible as your “new” identity. Remember, you can be as glamorous or as important as you like.
Before you start, make up a background for yourself. Think about the following: 1. Your name, age, nationality. 2. Your job (pop star, Prime Minister, head of a multinational company, actor, nuclear physicist, hairdresser for the stars, TV personality, supermodel, photographer, film director, plastic surgeon, world famous violinist, famous detective story writer, etc.) Remember you can choose any job! 3. Where you live (place, what sort of house, etc.) 4. Your family (married, single, divorced, etc.). 5. Why you are in London. How long you are staying. 6. Anything else you can think of.
Here are some useful phrases you can use:
When introducing yourself: “Hello. I’m…” “Hi there! My name’s…” “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Introducing another person : “(x) may I introduce (y).” “(x), I’d like you to meet (y).” “(x), this is (y).”
When leaving to talk to someone else: “It was nice meeting you. See you later.”
Talk to each person for about two minutes. Try to find out his/her job and one or two other things about him/her.
Summary (5 minutes): Ask one or two students to introduce some people they met and to tell the rest of the class one or two things about them.
Strangers on a Train
[edit | edit source]Objectives: This is an excellent activity for students to practice oral fluency. Materials needed:
- Student workbook
- Pens / pencils
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this lesson.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Explain to students that they will be getting practice speaking through role-play and other improvisational activities. There are two warm up activities, choose one and run it. In the first activity, two students must take the stage and the teacher will whisper one line of dialog to one of the players.
Possible conversation starter ideas:
- Are you lost?
- You’re in a lot of trouble.
- Let’s pretend that yesterday never happened.
- You shouldn’t have come here.
- We are never going to get out of here alive.
- I’m going to call the police.
- We have to be quiet.
- Where is my wife (or husband)?
- Where is the money?
- Don’t cry.
- We were fired.
- Is your name Sam?
- Why was I fired?
- He won’t confess to the crime.
- She doesn’t want to talk to you.
The other player must not know the line in advance. Once the player delivers the line, the other player should respond appropriately, and the improvisation should continue until a signal is given to stop. Then you can discuss the performance with your players and audience. You can use the following guide questions.
- Were you surprised by the second player’s response to the
first line? Why or why not? Would you have responded in a similar way?
- How would you describe the first player’s tone of voice,
attitude, emotional state, or mood when he spoke the first line? You may run through this activity several times so that many students get the chance to participate.
The second activity is another improv game. This activity uses contrasts and provides conflicting character traits and emotions as a means to begin improvisations. The teacher should have the players take the stage and then read aloud the scene and character descriptions for each player. The students should then begin role-playing their part
Character roles:
- The scene: Two students are comparing each other’s report
cards. Player One: You’re stupid. You’ve failed every subject, even gym. Player Two: You’re smart you’ve earned A’s in every subject including math, chemistry and English literature.
- The scene: Two passerby’s are outside a bank where
robbers are holding the people at the bank hostage Player One: You’re brave. You want to sneak into the building and try and free the hostages. Player Two: You are not brave. You want to stay as far as possible from the bank.
- The scene: A man and a woman at a party have just been
introduced Player One: You are brave, unafraid, and bold. You make it clear that you like this person. Player Two: You are very shy.
- The scene: Two students are discussing their new teacher.
Player One: You are mean and nasty. You don’t have one nice thing to say about the teacher. Player Two: You are very kind. You only say nice things about the teacher.
- The scene: Two people have been stuck, trapped for an
hour in an elevator. Player One: You believe that someone will come rescue you soon. Player Two: You think that you will be stuck, trapped in the elevator all day.
You may use the following guide questions when discussing the performances with your players and audience.
- Did the players talk about their characteristics or did
they show that they possessed them?
- Did the improvisation develop as you expected, or were
you surprised by the direction in which it turned?
Run through a couple of times so that different students get the chance to participate.
Activity (30 minutes): Now it is time for the main activity, one that all students will get to participate in. Get the students to imagine they are strangers in a train compartment – get them sitting opposite each other, in groups of 3-5. Elicit what people usually talk about on the train- the weather, where they are going/coming from, etc. Tell the students you are going to give them a line to memorize and that it’s secret – you must give them out, have the students memorize them, and then take them back. Then explain what they have to do- each student must say their lines as naturally as they can in the conversation, without the others guessing it is their line. So they have to direct the conversation so that they can say their line naturally, without the others noticing. At the end, the students then tell each other what they thought were each other’s lines.
Sample lines for the students to memorize and use in their conversations:
- My husband (wife) died last week.
- I bought a big, new house last week.
- I was in jail for three years.
- I am a famous actress (actor).
- I have no more money.
- I am running away from my boyfriend (girlfriend).
- I am leaving home and I will never return.
- I have cancer and will die soon.
- There is blood on my shirt.
- I can speak five languages fluently.
Summary (5 minutes): As a wrap up, if there is still time left in the class, you can have the students each think of lines to give each other and repeat the activity
Speaking
[edit | edit source]Hints
[edit | edit source]A little every day…
When giving a speech, make sure that you speak a little slower than normal. People need time to hear what you are saying.
Eye contact is very important when you are speaking. Try to look at everyone in your audience.
Try to speak as much as you can when answering questions. Remember IRE. Give your teachers an idea, a reason and an example.
Choose a time every week to speak English with your friends. Watch the same movie together and then talk about it.
Keep a spoken journal. Use a tape recorder or your computer to record your thoughts every day. You will feel great as you hear yourself improve.
Ifs
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective of this lesson is to build conversation skills and for the students to express their opinions in English. Students also improve sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary. These objectives are achieved by asking questions from the pack of cards and discussing the opinions of each student. The purpose of this lesson is to generate discussion. Most questions will not yield a single sentence answer. Materials needed:
- ‘Ifs’ cards.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Photocopy the cards on the following pages. Cut out, fold, and laminate them if possible. These are the cards that will build your deck of choices. This lesson can be done in the normal classroom environment or somewhere outside where the class can be seated as a group.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Explain to the students the objectives of the lesson. Stress that the purpose of the exercise is to generate discussion and not just to obtain single sentence answers. Reinforce the IRE concept described at the beginning of this manual.
Activity (30 minutes): The teacher chooses a card from the pack of ‘Ifs’ cards and gives his/her answer to the question (It is a good idea to choose this question carefully to make the first exchange of opinions interesting). Each student should answer the question and give his or her opinion.
Correct any grammar or vocabulary problems.
Summary (5 minutes): Congratulate the class on their effort. Point out any outstanding responses that the students gave.
> If you were given one wish, what would
it be?
> If you could go anywhere in the world,
where would you go?
> If you could play one musical instrument
perfectly, what would it be?
> If you had to live the rest of your life in
another country, where would it be?
> If you had to lose one of your five
senses, which would it be?
> If you could say one sentence to the
president of the USA, what would it be?
> If you had to choose a color that
describes you, what would it be?
> If you were to drown in a liquid other
than water, what would it be?
> If you had to name the scariest moment
in your life, what would it be?
> If you could have one power over all
people, what would it be?
> If an actor was to play you in a movie,
who would it be?
> If you could be any person from history,
who would you be?
> If you could have any job, what would it
be?
> If you could have only one electrical
appliance in your house, what would it be?
> If you could have one person to be your
slave for a month, who would it be?
> If you could commit one crime without
being caught, what would it be?
> If you were kidnapped and could take only
one personal item, what would it be?
> If you could eat one food in any quantity for the
rest of your life with no health affects, what would
it be?
> If you could have a secret camera in any
room in the world, where would it be?
> If you had to lose one of your limbs,
which would it be?
> If you had to spend one year in the
wilderness alone, where would you go?
> If you could possess one supernatural
ability, what would you choose?
> If you had to kill somebody, who would
it be and how would you do it?
> If you could choose what you would eat and drink
for your last meal, what would you choose?
> If you could be in any musical group,
which would it be?
> If you could decide how to spend your
last day alive, what would you do?
> If you had to choose the most important thing
you ever learned, what would it be?
> If you were kidnapped and were allowed a one
minute phone call to anyone, whom would you call?
> If you could own only one thing for the rest
of your life, what would it be?
> If you could be the current champion of
one sport, what would it be?
> If you could have invented one thing
from history, what would you pick?
> If you could have any singer/band play at your
birthday party, who would you choose?
> If you had to eat the same meal everyday of
your life without worrying about nutrition, what
would it be?
> If you could be invisible for one hour, where
would you go and what would you do?
> If you won the lottery, what is the first
thing you would do?
> If you were to perform in the circus,
what would you do?
> If you were a machine, what would you
be?
> If you could be married to any living
person, who would it be?
> If you could put any person in prison,
who would you choose?
> If you had to name your worst fear,
what would it be?
> If you could cure one disease, what
would it be?
> If you had to be an animal, what kind
would you want to be?
> If you had to pick the worst meal of
your life, what would it be?
> If you could hit one person without
recourse, who would you hit?
> If you had to name the worst job in the
world, what would it be?
> If you had one year to live, what would
you do?
> If you were allowed to eat only one vegetable
for the rest of your life, what would it be?
> If you could choose one famous person
for your neighbor, who would it be?
> If you had to drop a nuclear bomb on any
country, which would you choose?
> If you were to live inside any cartoon
world, what would it be?
Debate Class
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To learn to politely disagree, to speak in public, and give reasons for an opinion. Materials needed:
- Whiteboard
- Student workbook
- Pencils or pens
Vocabulary substitution: Introduce the following vocabulary: pro, con, debate, agree, I disagree because…, in my opinion…, I see your point but…, Yes but… Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Write the objectives, vocabulary, and the debate topic or topics for the groups on the board. The topic(s) can be suggested, brainstormed, or assigned, depending on the ability level of the group.
Warm Up (10 minutes): “Yes, but …” game Divide the class into two groups and line them up in two rows, all facing the same direction. Have the end students in each of the lines turn and face each other. Play a game of rock- paper-scissors to see which team is first. Select a topic from the board. The winner of rock-paper-scissors must respond to the topic with a “Yes, but...” sentence. This student then runs to the end of his line, the line shifts position, and the student at the front of the other line must say a “Yes, but...” sentence in reply to what the first student said. The end students are always facing each other. Repeat the process until all the students have spoken. The objective is to complete a full cycle of students as fast as possible.
For example, the topic sentence could be “ Winter is the best season.” The reply “ Yes, but many people like the spring.” And the next “ Yes, but most people like the summer best.” And so on.
Activity (30 minutes): Select an appropriate topic for debate, for example, “Is it better to have school uniforms” Remind the students to make polite arguments. Assign one group the pro, or in favor, side of the proposition and the other group the con, or against, side of the proposition. They are given about seven minutes to prepare their arguments. One student from each group presents the arguments to the class.
Give the students another seven minutes to prepare a rebuttal (arguments against the first arguments given). Two different students are chosen to present the rebuttal to the class.
Repeat the process one more time, so that a second round of rebuttals are prepared. Ensure that different students are chosen to give the presentation to the class.
Budget another five to seven minutes to prepare the summation. Students must give a summary of the points made with no new arguments allowed. Ensure that different students are chosen to give the summaries to the class.
Summary (5 minutes): The teacher praises the students for a job well done, saying something like “the points were well made, and easy to follow or to understand”.
Speaking Skills
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To practice different speaking skills: pronouncing the words with variety using intonation, stressing through loud and soft sounds, or fast and slow sounds, or pausing, to prepare for public speaking. Materials needed:
- Workbook
- Pencils / pens
- Whiteboard
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Arrange the desks so students can work in groups of three or four. Write the Robert Frost poem, with markings of the first stanza, on the board.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Practice the tongue twisters “ The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.” “ How many chucks could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” “ While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash Washington’s windows with warm washing water.” “ There those thousand thinkers were thinking how did the other three thieves go through?” Model them, if necessary, and then have the groups practice them. Ensure that each one performs one for the class. An optional game is to time each group to see who can finish saying all twisters (perfectly) in the shortest amount of time. The purpose is to practice the sounds found in the activity, “th” and “w”, which can cause problems for Korean speakers.
Activity (30 minutes): Explain the symbols following the poem. Then read the first stanza of “ Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost, using the symbols for the sounds used and modulating your voice to correspond to the symbol.
Repeat the stanza several times, changing your modulation each time. For example, first read the stanza in a monotone voice. Ask the students to suggest how you should improve the monotone version and write the students suggestions onto the stanza written on the board. Second, read the stanza in a high voice, or fast voice, with pauses and so on, to model how the voice can be changed to give interest to reading and speaking.
Have each group practice their stanza (the group number is given in brackets next to the stanza). They should mark the stanza with the symbols to indicate how they think it should be read. Each person reads their group’s stanzas according to the markings (the teacher should also encourage body language or facial expressions) to give the feeling of the poem. The other groups mark on their papers what they thought the markings were that the group reading their paper to the class made.
With the remaining time have them read one of the other poems provided. Encourage them to apply the speaking skills they have been practicing.
“ Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”
by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are/I think I know. His house is in the village though; {Group practice} He will not see me/stopping here To watch his woods /fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake {Group One} The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. {Group Two} The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, {Group Three} And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.
= say the word louder than the other words in the
sentence.
= say the word softer than the other words in the
sentence.
= speak it faster, to give interest by changing the
speed, to give less important words or ideas
= speak slower, to stress a word, give it feeling, or
for the more important words
/ = pause for effect, to emphasize or stress a word, to give the feeling, or to give time for the listener to understand better what is being said.
= put additional stress on the most important word in the sentence.
WATCHING
By Andrea Shavick
What if I told you The stars in the sky Were not really stars at all
But eyes
Winking and blinking And spying on you Watching your every move
Try and imagine it
Now try to fall asleep On a clear night If you can.
PREDICTABLE By Andrea Shavick
When I come out of school today I know what Mum is going to say: How was school? What did you do? Who did you play with? What was for lunch? How did you get that bruise on your knee? Why is it a secret? Please tell me.
When I come out of school today I know what I am going to say:
Can’t remember.
Summary (5 minutes): The groups tell each other what markings they made on their stanza, the teacher writes them on the poem that was written on the board, and they check to see if they were correct. Say goodbye, good job, I heard improvement, …
Get to Know Your Classmates
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The students will practice speaking English in a fun and interesting way while learning about each other. Materials needed:
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils
- Scissors
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Make four copies of the number sheets following this lesson summary. Cut them out and, if possible, laminate them. You will need one deck of cards for each group of students you create.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Using the list of questions in the student workbook have a student in the class choose a number and ask the teacher the corresponding question. The teacher will answer the question as a model for how the students will answer the questions (e.g. complete sentences).
Activity (30 minutes): The students work in groups (3-5 students each). Give each group a set of number cards and have them turn to the list of questions in their workbook. Tell them to place the number cards face down on the table. The first person in the group turns up a number, looks at the equivalent question on the handout and asks someone in the group the question. That person must try and answer (but tell them that they can always ‘pass’ if they can’t think of an answer or don’t want to answer.) The next person now picks up a number and again asks someone the appropriate question. The activity continues in this manner.
Questions: 1. Say one or two ways in which you are like your mother of father. 2. Say something about the town or village where you were born. 3. Say what you are planning to do tonight. 4. Say where you spent your last holiday and what you enjoyed most about it. 5. Summarize the plot of a film you have seen recently. 6. Walking under a ladder is considered bad luck in some countries. Name two things that are considered bad luck in your country. 7. What are the most popular tourist attractions in your country? 8. What are you going to do at the weekend? 9. What did you do last weekend? 10. What do you remember about your first day at school? 11. What do you think is the greatest invention ever, and why? 12. What do you usually do in the evenings? 13. What is the ideal age to get married (a) for a man (b) for a woman? 14. What is the nicest present you have ever received? 15. What is your idea of the perfect husband or wife? 16. What sorts of clothes do you like wearing? 17. What sort of things do you find difficult to learn in English? 18. What sorts of things make you angry or annoyed? 19. What sorts of things make you happy? 20. What things from your country would you miss if you ever emigrated? 21. What three adjectives do you think others would use to describe you as a person? 22. What three adjectives would you use to describe yourself as a person? 23. What sort of job would you like to have? 24. What type of men or women are you most attracted to? 25. What sorts of films do you like watching? 26. What’s the most exciting thing that has ever happened to you? 27. What’s your favorite country for a holiday? Explain why. 28. Which country would you not like to visit? Explain why. 29. Which person (still alive!) would you most like to meet and why? 30. Which person from history do you hate most and why? 31. Which person from history would you most like to have met and why? 32. Would you like to be famous? Explain why or why not.
Summary (5 minutes): When only 5-10 minutes remain in the class period the students can share what they learned about each other with the rest of the class.
In My Opinion
[edit | edit source]Objectives: This is a discussion/speaking activity for groups of 3-5 students where students are given the opportunity to present their opinions on various topics and agree or disagree with each other. Materials needed:
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Make four copies of the opinion cards following this lesson summary. Cut them out and, if possible, laminate them. You will need one deck of cards for each group of students you create.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Have the student cut out the opinion scorecards from their workbooks. Explain what the numbers on the opinion cards stand for:
-2 = strongly disagree -1 = disagree 0 = you are undecided +1 = agree +2 = strongly agree
Four sets are provided in the workbook but the students only need one. Do a sample opinion in front of the class.
Activity (30 minutes): Put the students into group of three or four and give each group a stack of opinion cards. The opinion cards are shuffled and placed face down on the table. The first student turns up a card and reads out the statement. Each person now shows his/her opinion by placing an appropriate number card in front of him/her. The first student now gives his/her opinion. After this the rest of the group can join in. Encourage them, in particular, to concentrate on students whose opinions are different or those who are as yet undecided. Also explain that if they change their opinion during the discussion, they show this by changing the number card in front of them. For example, a student might have placed 0 at the start, showing s/he is undecided. Then during the course of the discussion s/he starts to agree with the statement, so they can exchange the “0” card for the “+1” card. Tell them to spend approximately 3-5 minutes for each statement. The second student now turns up a card and the whole thing begins again.
Summary (5 minutes): Conclude the activity with a general class discussion. Ask groups to select the statement that caused the greatest argument.
> Men and woman can never really be equal.
> The future is frightening rather than exciting.
> The Internet will completely change the way people work, learn,
shop and do business.
> Politicians are mainly interested in advancing their own careers.
> It is better to take any job than to be unemployed.
> English is a fairly easy language to learn.
> Today’s pop music is not as good as it used to be.
> Smoking should be banned in all public places.
> Living in a city is better than living in the country.
> There are no such things as ghosts, flying saucers, etc.
> There is too much money in sport nowadays,
> It is better to stay single than to get married.
> There are certain jobs that are not really suitable for women.
> When you speak a foreign language, it doesn’t matter if you make
mistakes, as long as people understand you.
> My country is not as nice as it was ten years ago.
> You can tell a lot about a person from the clothes he/she wears.
> Murderers should always be executed rather than be given life
imprisonment.
> Marriages work best when couples are from the same background,
race, and religion.
> People who follow fashion are fools and probably have more money
than sense.
> The most important thing about a job is the money.
Free Conversation
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To improve the students conversation skills and introduce new vocabulary. This lesson provides an opportunity for you do explore ideas and topics more relevant to the student’s experience. Materials needed:
- No materials are required
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Arrange the desks or chairs in a circle to promote a group dynamic during the conversation.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Brainstorm some topics / current events that the students are interested in.
Activity (30 minutes): This class is a free conversation class. At the beginning of class, the teacher may generate a list of topics from students that they would like to discuss, for example: boys/girls, movie stars, politics, pop groups etc.). Then the teacher will lead the class discussion. The teacher may also prepare their own topics for class discussion (current events, she died because of…, etc.). This class is a great way to generate student discussion and for students to enhance their English speaking skills.
Summary (5 minutes):
Point out any particularly good arguments or points of
discussion that were made. Thank all the students for their
participation.
The Sport Star Interview
[edit | edit source]Objectives: For the students to develop interviewing skills including question creation and note taking. Students will develop their creativity as the make up the questions and answers in the interview. Students will be encouraged to speak clearly and loudly during the interviews. Materials needed:
- Student workbook
- Pens / pencils
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Arrange the desks or chairs in a circle to promote a group dynamic during the conversation.
Warm Up (10 minutes): The class begins with a general discussion about sports. The teacher should ask the students which athletes are popular. The teacher can ask the students why those athletes are popular. The teacher should then ask the class to generate the names of popular/famous sports stars. These names should be written on the board. The teacher should make sure the class has a good choice of athletes (at least twice as many as the number of students).
Activity (30 minutes, 15 minutes for the creation of interviews – 15 minutes for performance):
The class should be placed into pairs. One is the interviewer and the other will be a sports star.
Ask the class if they have ever seen a sports interview. Get the class to think of typical questions that are asked in a sports interview. These questions should be written on the board.
Ask the pairs to choose one of the sports stars on the board and not to tell the rest of the class whom they have chosen.
Take a bit of time to encourage the students to speak clearly and loudly during the interviews, as the class has to be able to hear them to decide the name of the athlete being interviewed.
The pairs (interviewer and sports star) will then create a short question and answer interview (should be about 2 to 3 minutes in length). At no point in the interview should they mention the sport the star plays or the star’s name.
When the students have finished writing their interviews, they will perform them for the class. At the end of the interview the class should guess the identity of the famous athlete.
Summary (5 minutes): Take 5 minutes at the end of class to comment of the creativity of the interviews, point out pairs that spoke well during their interview, and talk about the different athletes that were chosen.
Media
[edit | edit source]Hints
[edit | edit source]A little every day...
Choose one English radio program to listen to. Listen to it every day. When you get used to the person’s voice, choose another radio program. You can find a lot of radio stations on the Internet.
When you watch English TV programs at home, cover up the Korean subtitles. Then you will have to listen.
Use the Internet to watch videos on your computer. You can save the videos and watch them more than once. If you try writing down what the people say, you can really improve your listening skills.
Listen to English songs. You can find the lyrics on the net. This will help you understand the songs.
When you watch a movie at home, turn off the subtitles. If you have problems understanding, you can always turn them back on.
Advertising
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective of this lesson is to communicate using advertising language. Students will also develop a new product and advertise it in a print display format. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils
- Colored markers or pencils.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: There is no special preparation for this class.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Ask students what they know about advertising and where they can find advertisements (Magazines, Newspapers, TV, Radio, Billboards, Shop fronts, Internet, Subway, Bus, etc.).
Ask the students if they find any type of advertising annoying (e.g. SPAM, Pop-up ads). Ask students what their favorite advertisements are.
Activity (30 minutes): Brainstorm on the blackboard different products such as toys, computers, weapons, furniture, household items, etc.
Divide the class into groups of 2 or 3 students. Tell the students that they must combine 2 or more products together to develop a new product. (e.g. Cell phone + Lighter = A cell phone that can light a cigarette)
Have students think about the following points:
- What does it do?
- Who would buy it?
- Where could people buy it?
- How much would it cost?
- Would it be a seasonal item?
In their groups students must design a newspaper advertisement for their new product. Be sure to emphasize the importance of copy rather than illustrations. Distribute colored markers and pencils for the students to color their advertisements after the copy has been completed.
Summary (5 minutes): Choose creative advertisements and display to the other class members. Review the objectives of the lesson and conclude.
Internet EFL Scavenger Hunt
[edit | edit source]Objectives: To give the students a fun way to discover EFL resources on the Internet that they can later use at home. Materials needed:
- Computers with internet access(one per pair)
- Student workbook
- Pencils / pens
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: First, make sure that all the computers to be used are functional and can connect to the Internet. Make sure that all students have their workbooks with them and that there are enough chairs for all the students.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Put the students into pairs (two students per computer) and explain the rules of the activity:
- The object of this activity is for the pairs of students
to find as many of the answers to the question in their workbook in as little time as possible. The first pair that answers all the questions correctly wins.
- Students may only work with their partner and not share
information with other pairs.
- Students must do all searching using English search
engines such as Google. If students go to http://www.google.com and it is in Korean, click on “Google.com in English” to change it to English.
- Checking e-mail, chatting, instant messaging, looking at
CyWorld, or looking at pages not related to the scavenger hunt is not allowed.
Activity (30 minutes): Once the students have been briefed on the rules, the teacher needs to make note of the time and say, “GO!”
While the students are working, the teacher needs to circulate through the computer lab monitoring the students’ activity. The teacher will need to sign the students’ workbooks when the students complete the word search.
While a pair declares that they have all the answers, the teacher needs to check their answers. If any answers are not correct, tell the students to fix them. The first group to have all the questions correct wins and may or may not be given a prize.
Internet Scavenger Hunt - Questions 1. What is the Yahoo! Word of the Day? 2. Go to The Teen Times web site. a. What colors are the three semi-circles in The Teen Times logo? b. Now, click on The Kids Times link. What is The Kids Times theme of the week? 3. a. Translate the above sentence into English on your own. b. Now translate it again at http://babelfish.altavista.com. 4. According to the CIA World Factbook, what is the birth rate of South Korea? 5. Go to http://miracle.nahome.org/konglish.htm a. What is a “Mini-Sand?” b. What is the real English word for “ball-pen?” 6. Find Dave’s ESL Café. a. What is the title of the Hint of the Day? b. Go to the Idioms section and click on Meaning and Examples. Now, write your own sentence using the idiom “get up and go.” c. Go to the complete list of phrasal verbs. How many phrasal verbs start with the letter H? 7. Find the gorilla flash card on Boggle’s World. What is the gorilla doing? Write a complete sentence. 8. Go to http://www.bartleby.com and find “Strunk’s Style” under “Reference.” a. Which is correct? i. James’s book has a hole in it. ii. James’ book has a hole in it. b. Give one of the most commonly misspelled words? 9. Go to http://www.vocabulary.co.il. Choose and complete one of the word searches. When you complete the word search, show your teacher. 10. Find the Teeth Sound File in the Links section at http://www.ryanbrainard.com/english. Listen to the passage and fill in the following missing blanks: Teeth aren't like our A or B - they C there and D to E as soon as we are F . Although as G we had the H of our I teeth, they weren’t J until we were about six or K months L . 11. Go to http://www.1-language.com/eslphonics. Give your own examples of words with each of the short vowels (a, e, i, o, u) sounds.
Internet Scavenger Hunt – Answers 1 <variable> 2A Green, orange (red), blue 2B <variable> 3A That person (he, she, the person) said that Korea is beautiful. 3B That minute Korea the truth is beautiful. 4 12.33 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) 5A A small sandwich 5B Ball point pen 6A <variable> 6B <variable> 6C 5 (7) 7 The gorilla is scratching his bum. 8A (i.) James’s book has a hole in it. 8B accidentally, formerly, privilege, advice, humorous, pursue, affect, hypocrisy, repetition, beginning, immediately, rhyme, believe, incidentally, rhythm, benefit, latter, ridiculous, challenge, led, sacrilegious, criticize, lose, seize, deceive, marriage, separate, definite, mischief, shepherd, describe, murmur, siege, despise, necessary, similar, develop, occurred, simile, disappoint, parallel, too, duel, Philip, tragedy, ecstasy, playwright, tries, effect, preceding, undoubtedly, existence, prejudice, until, fiery, principal 9 <teacher’s signature> 10A Heart 10B Brain 10C Aren’t 10D Ready 10E Work 10F Born 10G Babies 10H Beginnings 10I First 10J Visible 10K Seven 10L Old 11a a <variable> 11e e <variable> 11i i <variable> 11o o <variable> 11u u <variable>
Summary (5 minutes): If time permits, have the winning team share their answers with the class. Also tell the students that they should use these Internet EFL resources to continue learning English at home.
Song Gap Fill and Discussion
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective of this lesson is to refine the student’s listening skills. Students also gain valuable discussion practice. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils
- Music CD or file
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Prepare the Music CD or file for playback. Have the song lyric sheet and CD/music file prepared before class. (Teachers should choose a song that has a story in its lyrics)
Warm Up (10 minutes): Talk to the class about music in general. Some points the teacher can discuss are:
- Favorite musical artists.
- Favorite musical genres.
- How do the students listen to their music? (CD, MP3…etc)
- How many CDs do the students have in their collections?
Explain to the students that many songs have a story in their lyrics. Ask the students if they can think of any songs that are of this type.
Activity (30 minutes): Tell the class that they are going to listen to a song for which the lyrics will be provided. There will be some missing words in the song that they must fill in.
Tell the class that they are going to listen to the song once in its entirety. Tell the students to concentrate not so much on the words but on the rhythm of the song and how it makes them feel. Play the song once entirely.
Ask the students their feelings about the song and how it made them feel. Ask them to predict the story behind the song.
Listen to the song verse by verse so the students can fill in the gaps in the lyrics. Re-play each verse as many times as is necessary for the students to complete all the missing words.
When completed, talk about the meaning behind the lyrics and discuss if this matched their earlier prediction.
Tears in Heaven – ERIC CLAPTON
Would you __________ my __________ If I saw you in __________? Would it be the same If I __________you in heaven? I must be __________and carry on ’cause I know I __________belong here in heaven...
Would you __________my __________ If I saw you in heaven? Would you __________me stand If I saw __________in heaven? I’ll find my __________through __________and day ’cause I know I __________can’t stay __________in heaven...
Time can __________you down, time can __________your __________ Time can break your __________, have you begging please...begging please
Beyond the __________there’s __________I’m sure And I know there’ll be __________more __________in heaven...
Would __________know my name If I __________you in heaven? __________it be the __________ If I saw __________in heaven? I must be strong and carry on __________I know I don’t __________here in heaven __________I know I don’t __________here in heaven…
Teacher Answer Key
Would you know my name If I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same If I saw you in heaven? I must be strong and carry on ’cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven...
Would you hold my hand If I saw you in heaven? Would you help me stand If I saw you in heaven? I’ll find my way through night and day ’cause I know I just can’t stay here in heaven...
Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees Time can break your heart, have you begging please...begging please
Beyond the door there’s peace I’m sure And I know there’ll be no more tears in heaven...
Would you know my name If I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same If I saw you in heaven? I must be strong and carry on ’cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven ’cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven...
Summary (5 minutes):
Discuss any new vocabulary from the song lyrics. Students
should all be given the opportunity to present their opinions
during the lesson. Review the objectives of the lesson and
conclude.
Understanding Song
[edit | edit source]Objectives: By listening repeatedly to a song, students will write out the lyrics they hear, collectively arriving at a complete version. It should improve listening ability and help in sharpening note-taking skills. The class discussion of the theme that follows, will engage their abstract thinking ability as well. Materials needed:
- Blackboard
- CD player or computer with selected pop/rock song
- Pen and paper
- Student workbook
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Have the music queued up to play for the class.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Talk about song structure: Verse – Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Instrumental – Verse –Chorus, etc. Then explain how good songs have profound meaning, a theme useful for us to know.
Activity (30 minutes): Play the first verse of the song, stop it, and elicit lyrics from the students. Write them out on the board, having them write their own copies simultaneously. Repeat as many times as necessary until first verse is complete. Do the same for the chorus section. Provide difficult words where required. Point out the instrumental section and ask what instruments they hear. Write the names on the board. When lyrics to the whole song have been written on the board and each student has written his/her own copy, play the song in its entirety for them so they can read the lyrics. Ask them to think about meaning while they listen. Then, write “theme” on the board and discuss how to create a “theme statement’. Tell them this is a sentence that describes both the meaning of the song and gives a general description of the same situation occurring in real life. Illustrate a method for deciphering theme. Each teacher may have his/her own way of doing this. As an example, one might introduce the ideas of plot and conflict. Recount the story of the song, and identify the problem. Explain that by considering these two elements, one can figure out the theme. Depending on amount of time remaining, students can be divided into pairs and instructed to write out their own theme statement, or the teacher can generate a whole class discussion to arrive at a theme statement written on the board.
Example Song “Gone Daddy Gone” by The Violent Femmes has clear, easy to understand lyrics with a precise message about teenage relationship. This worked well with high school students, and may also be suitable for middle school students. The Plot is about a boy who was in love with a girl who is very attractive to many other boys, so he leaves her (“Your love is gone”). The conflict is that the girl cheats on the boy, thus destroying their love. By taking these two concepts, students can write their own theme statement beginning with the structure, “After hearing this song, I think the singer wants me to understand…”(that I should not fall in love with someone who is in love with being attractive to others”, for example).
Summary (5 minutes): Students should come away with the knowledge of how English lyrics are formatted in a song, with a complete concrete example. Additionally, they will have practiced their listening skills, and exercised their intellects by learning how to figure out theme by way of understanding plot and conflict.
Sight and Sound
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will learn the importance of using both their hearing and sight to understand movies in English. Students will cooperate in the construction of their understanding of a text. Materials needed:
- 2 DVD copies of Mrs. Doubtfire (The teacher should choose
a piece of film of appropriate length. We suggest the last scene from the Robin William’s movie Mrs. Doubtfire. If you choose a different movie the selected scene should be between 10 and 15 minutes in length.)
- 2 television and DVD players
- Students workbook
- Pens / pencils.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: The class must be split in two. Two rooms need to be prepared, with the scene queued, to view the selected scene. Watch the scene two or three times so you are familiar with it.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Discuss with the class their viewing habits. Find out how many English movies the students watch. The class should discuss why viewing movies in English is difficult.
Activity (30 minutes): The students are split into their two groups. One group watches the scene without the sound. The students must write down in their workbook what they think the scene is about and note any clues that helped them. The students do this individually.
The other group will listen to the scene but won’t be able to watch it. Using the dialogue and background noise as clues, they too will decide what is happening in the scene. The students do this individually.
The two groups them come together and pair off. The pairs work together to get a more complete picture of what happened in the scene.
Summary (5 minutes): The paired groups will discuss with the class how they came to their conclusions and will compare their stories with other paired groups. Take some time to stress the importance of using all the available clues when watching movies.
Movie Visual Response
[edit | edit source]Objectives: The objective of this lesson is for the students to communicate their feelings in a written form. Students will also improve their skills in the usage of adverbs and adjectives. Materials needed:
- Student Workbook
- Pens / Pencils
- DVD Movie
- DVD Player and Monitor.
Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: Have the chosen DVD ready to play at the selected scene and students seated near the monitor. The teacher should choose a movie and a scene that has strong visual images and/or scenery. For example, Scene 16 from “Jumanji”.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Tell the students to look at the images of the puppy and the Hindenburg in their workbooks. Tell the students to write in their workbooks their feelings about these pictures. They should write, firstly, in their native language and then translate these words into English using a dictionary. Finally, the students should write a short paragraph about each of the pictures using the vocabulary they have found.
Activity (30 minutes):
Play the selected scene to the students. Be sure the sound is
muted if the scene contains speaking. As in the warm-up, tell
the students to write their feelings about the scene in their
native language. The students should then translate the words
to English using a dictionary. Divide the class into pairs and
have the students discuss their feelings about the scene.
Finally, the paired groups should write a paragraph describing
their feelings about the scene.
Summary (5 minutes): Scan the produced stories and read some of the more creative ones to the class. Review the objectives of the lesson and conclude.
Extensive Viewing
[edit | edit source]Objectives: Students will learn the importance of watching movies very closely. Students will work on study skills—i.e. paying close attention to subject and anticipating answers to questions. Materials needed:
- The teacher should choose a piece of film of appropriate
length. For this lesson, the class will watch the first scenes from Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. Teachers can choose their own movies/scene but will have to generate an appropriate list of questions. The selected scene should be about 25 minutes in length. This lesson has a prepared series of questions based on the first scenes from the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The questions are of a type that necessitates a close viewing of the scene. The worksheet will cover the first 16 minutes of the film. The last 8 minutes should be left open for student-generated questions. Vocabulary substitution:
Procedure: Setting Up the Classroom: The classroom should be prepared for the viewing of movies. The students should sit in such a way as to make the viewing of the scene easy.
Warm Up (10 minutes): Discuss with the class their viewing habits. Find out how many English movies the students watch. The class should discuss why viewing movies in English is difficult. Show the first few minutes of the selected scene and then stop the scene. Ask difficult questions about the scene (e.g. -----
).
Have the students open the worksheet and tell the students to pay close attention to the movie. The teacher should inform the students the importance of watching the time code on the film as a way of anticipating the timing of the answers.
Activity (30 minutes): The students should be given 3 minutes to look at the questions. Students should be reminded to be always looking ahead at the next question. The students watch the film and answer the questions at the same time. The film cannot be stopped.
At the 20 minute mark the film should be stopped and the students instructed to watch the last 5 minutes and create their own questions.
At the end of the scene the students should question each other using their own questions.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Worksheet/Answers: Time Code Extensive Viewing Questions Answer
0:18 What kind of bird is on the sign? An Owl
1:18 How many lights does Dumbledore put out? 5 1:46 What is Prof. Dumbledore’s first name? Albus 2:40 Did Hagrid have any problems? No
3:29 What is the number on the house? 4 4:10 What is the first thing that Harry Potter hears? Up! Get up! 5:21 How many presents did the boy get? 36 6:02 What is the name of the building that the family goes into? Reptile House 6:49 Where is the snake from? Burma 7:01 What city is the zoo in? London 7:29 What does the snake say to Harry? “Thanks” 7:41 What animal can you see outside the building? A gorilla 8:34 What does Mr. Dursley say to Harry after he puts Harry into his room? “There is no such thing as magic.” 8:51 How many letters did Harry pick up? 3 9:16 What letter is on Dudley’s hat? S 9:42 How many owls can you see? 3 10:19 What does Mr. Dursley say to the owls? “Shoo! Go away!: 10:46 In the father’s opinion, what is the best day of the week? Sunday 11:32 What is next to Harry’s hand on the window ledge? Shoe and cookies
12:10 What does Dudley say when his father is covered with letters? “Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he? 12:26 What is on the table next to the bed? Cup 12:31 Where is Dudley sleeping? On a sofa 12:47 What is the exact time on Harry’s watch when we first see it? 11:59:59 13:11 How many times does Hagrid knock on the door? 6 13:11 How many buttons are there on Dudley’s pajamas 4
13:27 What is the first thing that Hagrid says knocking down the door? Sorry about that 13:48 When was the last time that Hagrid saw Harry? When he was a baby 14:15 What is the color of the ribbon on the cake box? Blue 14:21 What are the two spelling mistakes on the birthday cake? Happee Birthdae 14:27 How old is Harry? 11
14:32 How many fireballs come out of Hagrid’s umbrella? 2
14:50 What is Hagrid’s first name? Rubeus
15:20 How many times do you hear “Just Harry”? 3
Not needed
Student Questions Answer
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Summary (5 minutes):
The teacher should stress the importance of watching movies
closely, as anything could be important. The teacher should
remind the students to think about what kind of questions can
be asked about a movie/or other text. By anticipating the
questions, the students will be better prepared to give the
answer.
My Jump Into English Diary
[edit | edit source]This is the part of the student workbook that students can use to write down their thoughts. Students may write about what they did today, things they like or dislike, or ideas they may have. There are pages to write in each night that the students are staying at the Jump Into English program. They must complete each one. Give your students an email address for you. Have them write it in the space provided. My teacher’s email address is:
On Wednesday night the students must use the computers in the
multimedia room to email a diary entry to you. This will help
you practice writing in English and provide an assessment tool
for the student’s performance.
My Jump Into English Diary
Example
Date:
27 October 2005
My favorite meal today was…
Today at lunch we had spaghetti. I really like spaghetti!
What I did today.
Today I was sad because it was my birthday and I had to be
at school.
But it was okay because my friends sang “Happy Birthday” to
me.
Today we did the Moon Survival lesson.
I liked it because I am interested in space.
Tomorrow we are going to play the Amazing Race.
I hope it is fun.
Learning log.
Today I learned about writing poems.
They were five line poems and they were a lot of fun.
It was hard to think of many English words but I used my
dictionary.
My teacher also helped me.
EFL Resources
[edit | edit source]The purpose of this part of the student workbook is to help the students study English on their own after they leave the Jump Into English program. Using the Internet can be a very helpful way of studying and practicing English. Students should be encouraged to use it!
Hints
[edit | edit source]A little every day…
The Internet is a great place to find things to listen to. You can find radio stations, videos from around the world, and music to download. If you do any voice chatting, be careful.
Join a chat room like the one at Dave’s ESL Café. You can find people from around the world to talk to.
You can find a lot of things to read on the Internet. There are magazines, newspapers and lots of fiction. Do a little research about your favorite author or book.
You find a wealth of English games on the Internet to practice your English skills. Just put “English games” into your browser and see what you can find.
If you have a problem with grammar, check out the Internet. There are lots of grammar teachers waiting to help you.
EFL Resources
[edit | edit source]General & Links
[edit | edit source]- Interactive Grammar Exercises
- Teaching English and Living in Taiwan
- Activities for ESL/EFL Students
- Interesting Things for ESL/EFL Students
- Everything You Need to Know About Teaching ESL/EFL in Taiwan
- ESL Blues
http://www.collegeem.qc.ca/cemdept/anglais/trouindx.htm
- Karin’s ESL Partyland
- Voice of America (VOA) Special English
http://web.archive.org/web/20010902230430/http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/
- Textbook Templates to design your own ESL textbook
http://fontispublishing.com/textbook
- ESL Teaching for Teacher in Taiwan
http://www.esldewey.com.tw/faq.php
Reading & Listening
[edit | edit source]- Arlyn Freed's ESL/EFL Listening Resources
http://www.eslhome.com/esl/listen/
- California Distance Learning Project
Pronunciation
- Phonetics: The Sounds of American English
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html
English Newspapers
[edit | edit source]- The Teen Times
- The Kids Times
- Yahooligans News
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/news/
Quizzes
[edit | edit source]- Randall's Basic Self-Study Guide
- Interactive Grammar & Writing Quizzes
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/quiz_list.htm
Dictionaries
[edit | edit source]- Cambridge Dictionaries Online
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
- Dictionary.com
- Thesaurus.com
- Naver Korean-English English-Korean Dictionary
- Babel Fish Translator
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
- German-English Dictionary with links to Etymology