#49, Lesson Plan: Living in the UK
By Tarun Patel
In this lesson, learners read about the different countries of the UK, either online as a webquest or in paper form. They practise reading for specific information, and guessing the meaning of words from the context, both important reading micro-skills. There is an optional extension in the form of a role-play, in which groups of learners compete to persuade a professional couple to move to ‘their’ UK country.
Plan components
Lesson Plan:- guide for teacher on procedure including answers to tasks.
Worksheets: – exercises which can be printed out for use in class. The worksheet contains:
- Warm-up activity
- Reading and vocabulary activities
- Texts on regions of the UK and their culture
- Role-play activity
#48, Lesson Plan: Developing writing skills: A news report
By Tarun Patel
This lesson takes a process approach to developing writing skills. It is staged so that students are guided through the processes of collecting information and deciding how they will structure it within the text before they begin to write. They are then guided through the process of drafting, editing and redrafting the text to produce a final copy.
There are also a number of suggested follow ups.
To download the ‘Developing writing skills: A news report’ lesson plan in pdf format, please click here.
#47, Lesson Plan: Learning styles
By Tarun Patel
Level: Upper-Intermediate to Advanced
This lesson is based on an audio extract which can be found on the British Council LearnEnglish Professional website. It encourages students to reflect on their learning styles and gives them an opportunity to put into practice the learning strategies they hear being discussed on the audio. For teachers without access to audio equipment, we have also provided a link to the script of the audio.
Worksheets: – exercises which can be printed out for class. The worksheets contain:
- Listening tasks
A personal dictionary template
Grammar cards
Blank cards for a grammar game invention workshop
Learner styles questionnaire
Lesson feedback questionnaire
Download the ‘Learning Styles’ lesson plan from BBC TeachingEnglish site
ELT Newsletter, ELT Research Papers, ELTWeekly Issue#47, English Language Teaching
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January 16th, 2010
#46, Lesson Plan: How new words are created
By Tarun Patel
Lesson: How new words are created
Level - intermediate and above
This lesson looks at how new words are created in English. It encourages learners to analyse words they already know and to understand more about meaning from form. It also encourages them to experiment with new words and possible meanings – an important skill in manipulating language.
Plan components
Lesson Plan: – guide for teacher on procedure including answers to tasks.
Download lesson plan pdf 80k
Worksheets: - exercises which can be printed out for use in class. The worksheet contains:
- Seven exercises exploring the way new words are formed
Download worksheets pdf 69k
For more information about this topic you can visit these BBC sites:
#45, Christmas based ELT Lesson Plan
By Tarun Patel
There are lots of Christmas activities on the British Council’s site for young learners – LearnEnglish Kids – which you can use with your students during the festive season. You will find all the resources on one page on NEW LearnEnglish Kids: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/category/topics/christmas
You can also find the resources on these pages:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-christmas.htm
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-christmas-presents.htm
On this page you will find tips and ideas for using and extending the activities in the classroom.
Story: Santa’s little helper
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/short-stories/santas-little-helper
Read further at http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/teaching-kids/christmas
ELT Newsletter, ELTWeekly Issue#45, English Language Teaching, ICT and ELT, Tarun Patel
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January 1st, 2010
ELTWeekly Issue#23, Lesson Plan: ‘Millionth English word’ declared
By Tarun Patel
‘Millionth English word’ declared
By Michael Berman
Which language contains the largest number of words, and approximately how many does it contain? The answer is English and the number is approximately a million. What implications do you think this has for foreign students when choosing what kind of dictionary to use?
Now read through the article below to find words in it which mean the same as:
a. the most recent / b. number one position / c. are not convinced that this is true / d. people who live in a very poor part of a city / e. it has a negative meaning / f. people who write dictionaries / g. a stricter definition of / h. much more than / i. manage to survive with / j. it is not surprising (When you find the words in the passage that you need, underline or highlight them).
‘Millionth English word’ declared
A US web monitoring firm has declared the millionth English word to be Web 2.0, a term for the latest generation of web products and services.
Global Language Monitor (GLM) searches the internet for newly coined terms, and once a word or phrase has been used 25,000 times, it recognises it.
GLM said Web 2.0 beat out the terms Jai ho, N00b and slumdog to take top spot.
However, traditional dictionary makers are casting doubt on the claim and the methods behind it.
GLM, based in Texas, makes its money telling organisations how often they are mentioned in new media, such as the internet, but it can also track new words and expressions.
Once a word has been used 25,000 times on social networking and other sites, GLM declares it be a new word.
The terms Jai ho and slumdog originate from the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire, about India’s slum dwellers.
But N00b comes from the gaming community, the company said, explaining that it is used as a disparaging term to describe a neophyte in a particular game.
It is also the “only mainstream English word that contains within itself two numerals”, GLM said in a statement posted on its website.
Landmark doubted
However lexicographers doubt GLM’s claim, says BBC arts correspondent Lawrence Pollard.
Dictionaries have tighter criteria about what constitutes a new word. For example, it has to be used over a certain period of time.
Lexicographers say the exact size of the English vocabulary is impossible to quantify, but if every technical term or obscure specialist word is accepted then we are already beyond one million, according to our correspondent.
And if the inclusion of specialist slang is restricted, then there are possibly three quarters of a million words in English.
All of which is way beyond the 20-40,000 words a fluent speaker would use, or the few thousand you could get by with in English.
But with 1.5 billion people speaking some version of English, it is small wonder it is the fastest growing language in the world, our correspondent adds.
Discuss the following questions in small groups, and then elect a spokesperson to present your findings to the rest of the class:
- Which dictionary or dictionaries do you use to help you with your English, and why? And now that you’re aware of all the facts, are you going to make any changes in future?
- What’s your favourite English word or a word in English you find yourself using a lot?
- What about your favourite word in your own language or a word you find yourself using a lot?
- What word best sums up these times we are living in (a word from any language)?
- Invent a new word in English, and then be prepared to tell the rest of the class what it means.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/8092549.stm
Published: 2009/06/10 11:14:01 GMT
© BBC MMIX
ANSWERS: a. the latest / b. top spot / c. are casting doubt on the claim / d. slum dwellers / e. it is used as a disparaging term / f. lexicographers / g. tighter criteria about / h. way beyond – much more than / i. get by with / j. it is small wonder
***
Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD, works as a teacher and a writer. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, and The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story for Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Shamanic Journeys through Daghestan and Shamanic Journeys through the Caucasus are both due to be published in paperback by O-Books in 2009. A long-awaited resource book for teachers on storytelling, In a Faraway Land, will be coming out in 2010. Michael has been involved in teaching and teacher training for over thirty years, has given presentations at Conferences in more than twenty countries, and hopes to have the opportunity to visit many more yet. For more information please visit www.Thestoryteller.org.uk
** This lesson plan is submitted by Michael Berman.
ELTWeekly Issue#21, Reading lesson plan by Michael Berman
By Tarun Patel
What’s the atmosphere like when Election time approaches in your country? Are the expectations of the people high or are they negative about the likelihood of any change taking place? This is what the story that follows is all about:
THE CANDIDATES AND THE ELECTORATE
Election time was fast approaching in the remote and inaccessible land of Dan Glen and it was being heralded by the inhabitants with the usual apathy that was reserved for such occasions. Everyone knew who would win before it even took place and everyone knew that it would result in no changes. The rich would remain rich as they always did and the poor would continue to suffer. The two main candidates were wracking their brains to come up with new ideas, which they hoped would to appeal to their notoriously disinterested electorate and so bring them out of their hovels to vote.
The leader of the Democracy Party decided to sort out the problem of the daily electricity cuts that had been plaguing the people for as long as most of them could remember. At least this is what he had been told by his team of advisors. or so he’d been told. For years he’d had his own generator so the problem had never really affected him. Anyway, by bribing the right people, within two weeks the supply was restored, the street lights came back on for the first time in years and the one and only cinema re-opened. However, this caught the owner of the cinema by surprise and the only film he had to show was “The Glories of The Revolution” Not surprisingly, it played to empty houses.
The leader of the Justice Party realized had to do something fast to counter the upsurge in the popularity of his main rival. He chose to sort out the problem with the postal service. For years nobody had bothered to post any letters for they knew they had no chance of reaching their destination. The only means of communication with the outside world for the majority of the population had been persuading the few people who could afford to travel to take letters to other countries for them. At least that’s what he’d been told. For years he’d corresponded by email on his computer so the problem had never really affected him. Once again, by paying the right people, the problem was quickly solved and within a couple of weeks the postal service was fully functional again. The only problem was that the Post Office had been caught unawares and no stamps had been printed for years. The only available ones dated back before the revolution and had pictures of the assassinated monarch on them. This coupled with the fact that most houses had no numbers and most streets had no names rather spoilt the effect of the reform.
And so the day of the Election finally arrived, with both of the main candidates confident of their success as a result of the radical improvements they had brought about.
However, they were in for a bit of a surprise. The changes they had introduced only succeeded in making them even more unpopular than they had been previously (if that was possible) with the electorate. The people correctly reasoned that if it was possible to solve the misery caused by constant electricity cuts and the inconvenience caused by a non-existent postal service with such ease, why on earth had these issues not been dealt with earlier? In fact, the turn-out on Election Day was zero percent and both candidates ended up losing their deposits.
There were indeed queues of people on Polling Day, just as the candidates had hoped there would be, but outside the cinema rather than the polling stations. The delighted cinema owner had just received a new film to show, the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
***
Find words in the story which mean the same as: a. was getting close b. far away and difficult to reach c. total lack of interest that was normal in such circumstances d. trying as hard as they could to devise novel schemes e. making the people’s lives a misery f. to offer some effective opposition to g. substantial changes they had introduced h. they were about to have a shock
In small groups, work through the following questions, and then elect a spokesperson to present you answers to the rest of the class:
a. How involved are you in national or local politics?
b. Do you believe your vote can make a difference? Why or why not?
c. In some countries people are obliged to vote. Do you think this is a good idea?
d. Describe when and how elections take place in your country.
e. What changes, if any, would you like to see take place?
f. Do you think the voting age should be lowered or perhaps even raised?
g. How do you feel about proportional representation or do you prefer the first past the post system?
h. It has been suggested that all politicians are corrupt. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Working in small groups, choose a name and create a political manifesto for a new Party. Decide on five new laws that you would like to introduce if you got into power, and then be prepared to justify your policies to the electorate – in other words, the other members of the class. (At the end of the session, when a spokesperson for each Party has presented their respective manifestos, a ballot could then be held to find out if there was a real General election, which Party would be likely to get the most votes).
ANSWERS
Find words in the story which mean the same as: a. was fast approaching b. remote and inaccessible c. usual apathy that was reserved for such occasions d. wracking their brains to come up with new ideas e. plaguing the people for as long as most of them could remember f. to counter the upsurge in the popularity of g. the radical improvements they had brought about h. they were in for a bit of a surprise
Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD, works as a teacher and a writer. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, and The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story for Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Shamanic Journeys through Daghestan and Shamanic Journeys through the Caucasus are both due to be published in paperback by O-Books in 2009. A long-awaited resource book for teachers on storytelling, In a Faraway Land, will be coming out in 2010. Michael has been involved in teaching and teacher training for over thirty years, has given presentations at Conferences in more than twenty countries, and hopes to have the opportunity to visit many more yet. For more information please visit www.Thestoryteller.org.uk.
*ELTWeekly would like to thank Michael Berman for contributing this lesson plan.