This is a lesson plan designed to be used with a range of levels and ages. The different slides of the powerpoint indicate the level and age group.
Use the quizlet set to introduce the different shopping vocabulary and then have students play the “match” game in teams to practice it.
Put students in small groups (2 or 3) and show them the first slide from the powerpoint, have them ask and answer the questions in their groups. Repeat for slide 2. Note: Questions are slightly different for teenagers.
Choose two strong students to demonstrate the dialogue to the class or 1 strong student to perform it with you.
Then, put students in pairs and have them practice the dialogue. Monitor and correct pronunciation: weak forms in questions, vowel sounds etc. When students have finished have them swap characters and repeat.
Memory: Flash up the memory slide and have students fill in the blanks in open class.
Your shopping list: Students write their own shopping lists and then repeat the dialogue with the items they have listed. Note: limit students to countable items to avoid opening a can of worms with countable/uncountable nouns many/much etc. unless they’re ready for it, in which case introduce it here.
From memory: Now switch off the projector and challenge them to perform the dialogue by heart helping where needed, then ask if any confident students would like to come to the front and perform it for the class.
This one is only really suitable for higher levels (B1+). Split the class into two groups, flip a coin to decide which group is for/against. Give them 5-10mins to think of as many arguments to support their position as they can and then hold a debate. Allow each team to present one of their arguments uninterrupted, then give the other team the chance to counter the argument, repeat until both teams have exhausted their list. Award a winner at the end. Focus on encouraging the use of the expressions of opinion, agreeing and disagreeing.
I’ve been quiet for a few weeks due to my exciting and terrifying new job in teacher training! However, I’ve made a resolution to work on more posts for the blog over the coming weeks.
Some of my C2 adults expressed an interest in listening to some Bob Dylan songs after reading about his recent Nobel Prize win. So I’ve prepared this short lesson plan with that in mind. Students start by reading and analysing the lyrics to the song as if it were a poem and not knowing the author or that it is in fact a folk song.
What do you think the poem is about?
Who do you think the poet is talking to?
What might have happened to the person?
My DELTA tutor told me that removing words from song lyrics was a horrible crime, “butchering the text” is how he described it, so I’ve decided to keep the text whole. However, feel free to remove some words and have students complete them while listening. One idea would be to remove a part of each rhyming couplet and have students guess at words that would fit, before listening to confirm.
Have students discuss and share their interpretation of the song and then show them the three comments which contain different ways in which the song could be interpreted. Have them compare their own thoughts with those from the comments.
“I think there is one line here that is misunderstood, and it is pretty nifty.
When Dylan is wrapping up the song, and he’s telling the woman to leave the dead and to start over, he says the line “strike another match girl, start anew” I really think it’s “girl” and not “go”– if you listen to the song it could go either way, but just here me out.