Tuesday, March 27, 2012

What do you do? Verbs, professions and places


(nouns) teacher police officer chef student truck driver dentist waiter postal worker firefighter doctor nurse singer
(verbs) teach fight cook study drive take care of serve bring fight treat looks after sing

Who works in a hospital?
Who works in a post office?
Who works in a police station?
Who works in a school?
Who works in a restaurant?

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Family (for young AND older learners)


Verbs: to have, to be
mother, father, husband, wife, daughter, son, sister, brother, grandfmother, grandfather, granddaughter, grandson, extension: aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, cousins

- Have students draw and label their family tree. Then, have student describe their family. I have a mother. I have a father. There are five people in my family.
- Complete pairs: mother-______(father); husband-_______(wife), etc.
- Have students think! My mother's mother is my _______ (grandmother). My father's father is my ________ (grandfather). My mother's sister is my ________ (aunt). etc.

Do you have a mother? Does he have a mother? Do you have a sister? How many sisters do you have? Who is the oldest/youngest? What is your mother's name? How old are you? How old is your brother? What is her sister's name?

Older learners:

An incredible amount of material, exercises for older leaners about the family!
Use "We Are Family" as a wrap-up to a grammar ppint. MODIFY the song (take out verbs, nouns, vocabulary for a fill in the gap workseet). It's easy. Have your students LISTEN for the missing pieces. What does the song mean? Listening comprehension can be fun!

Speaking: What does family mean? What other types of families are there? What type of family do you want for your future? What are the biggest problems facing families today?

We Are Family, by Sister Sledge
(CHORUS:)
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev'rybody and sing

Ev'ryone can see we're together
As we walk on by
(FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won't tell no lie
(ALL!) all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose

(CHORUS x2)

Living life is fun and we've just begun
To get our share of the world's delights
(HIGH!) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal's in sight
(WE!) no we don't get depressed
Here's what we call our golden rule
Have faith in you and the things you do
You won't go wrong
This is our family Jewel

(REPEAT CHORUS TO FADE)

Monday, March 19, 2012

Listening Task: Vocabulary Expansion Jobs/Occupations



Listening Task:

What jobs did you hear?  Write them all down.
Check with partner. Listen again/Check with partner.
Teacher elicits and writes list on board.
Listen again and write remaining jobs.

Which job would you like? Write your reasons/compare.

National symbols of Georgia and the Autonmous Republic of Adjara; Nino Vashalomidze, Batumi

Listening: A Traditional American Song



Pre-listening:

What jobs do you know that are hard work?
Why are they hard work?


During Listening:

Fill in the blanks with the correct word.

I’ve been working on the railroad. All the live long ______. I’ve been working on the rail
road, just to pass the time ________. Can’t you hear the _______ blowing? Rise up so early in
the morn! Can’t you hear the captain shouting? Dinah, blow your _______! Dinah, won’t you
blow, Dinah, won’t you blow, Dinah won’t you blow your ______? Dinah, won’t you blow,
Dinah, won’t you blow, Dinah won’t you blow your _______? Someone’s in the _________
with Dinah, someone’s in the _________, I know! Someone’s in the _________ with Dinah,
strumming on the old banjo. Fee fi fiddley aye, oh! Fee fi fiddley aye, oh- Fee fi fiddley
aye, oh! Strumming the old ban-jo!


After listening: (partners/groups)

What is the man's job? Where does the man work?
Is this man's job hard work? List three reasons.
Why do you think the captain is shouting?

International Symbols by Miranda Kakabadze and TLG James Greisler with worksheet, Batumi


International Symbols Worksheet-downloadable (to accompany Powerpoint)

Grade 6, compliance with national curriculum, objective: using language and vocabulary to express nations and geographic themes and terms. This could work as a two-part lesson, with languages and more nations and nationalities, as well as the foundation for giving directions (north-south-east-west, etc.)

Batumi Symbols by Miranda Kakabadze and TLG James Greisler with worksheet, Batumi


Great warm-up to go into national symbols for intermediate-level students

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

British Council material on heroes

The British Council has TONS of free material (all you have to do is sign up - it's FREE), including a whole section on heroes. There are songs (for modal verbs), games, worksheets and even a design your own superhero section. The British Council also has different sections for older kids and teenagers, as well as adult learners.

British Council Superhero section




American Flag Symbolism


Lead in

What do you think the American flag represents?
What do the symbols on the American flag represent?
What do the colors on the American flag represent?

Quiz American Flag: (watch video without this quiz first)

1.  What does the American flag represent?
  a.  victory        b.  power         c.  freedom/independence

2.  What do the thirteen stripes on the American flag represent?
  a.  original states   b. original colonies            c.  famous presidents

3.  What do the 50 stars represent?
  a.  the states    b. the capital cities      c. famous presidents

4.    What does the color red represent? (clue: a synonym for valor)
  a.  love             b.  blood          c.  courage/bravery

5.  What does the color white represent?
  a.  faith            b. purity    c.  justice

6.  A word that means liberty:
  a.  strength      b.  freedom      c.  fairness

7.  What word is the opposite of innocent:
  a.  pure    b.  brave   c.  corrupt


Georgian and American flag (compare/discuss):

What do the symbols on the Georgian flag represent?
Are there similarities in what the two flags symbols represent?
Are there differences in what the two flags symbols represent?

Friday, March 9, 2012

Valentine's day - worksheet


Click--> "I'm a believer" (song by Monkees)


I’m a Believer by the Monkees  (lyrics from www.stlyrics.com)

Fill in the blanks with correct form of past tense:

I ___________love was only true in fairy tales (think)
_________ for someone else but not for me. (mean)
Love was out to get me 
That's the way it ____________ (seem)
Disappointment __________ all my dreams. (haunt)

Then I _______ her face, now I'm a believer (see)
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love, I'm a believer!
I couldn't leave her if I _______ (try)

I __________ love was more or less a given thing, (think)
Seems the more I gave the less I ________(get)
What's the use in tryin'?
All you get is pain.
When I needed sunshine I got rain.

Then I ________her face, now I'm a believer (see)
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love, I'm a believer!
I __________ leave her if I tried (can)

Valentine's Day is for love)
Discuss the questions below:

1.  The singer says: "Love was out to get me"..and "Disappointment haunted my dreams"
    
      - has the singer had an easy or difficult time with love and romance?
      - what other expressions describe the difficult time he has had with love?

2.   Is the singer going to give up on trying to find love? How do you know?
3.   He says there is "not a trace of doubt" in his mind. Is he optimistic about love now?  

Who was Saint Valentine?

Search for a legend about St. Valentine

Warm up (pairs/groups brainstorm):

What do people celebrate on Valentine's Day?
How do they celebrate? What do they do?
Who do you think St. Valentine was?

Quiz:
1.  A ban on marriages means people:
     a.  cannot meet     b.  cannot marry     c.  cannot date

2.  Valentine was:
     a.  a city official     b.  a Saint     c.  a priest

3.  Why was marriage prohibited by the emperor?
     a.  he hated love     b.  he needed soldiers     c.  to protect people

4.  A legend is:
     a.  a true story     b.  a folk/popular story     c.  a dream

5.  To outlaw something is to:
     a.  to allow it     b.  to ban it     c.  to begin it

Group Task:
Create your own legend of who St. Valentine was.
Describe to other groups/present to class

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Heroes vs. Bullies: What are the differences? Cartoons/Animated Video Task

Heroes are strong, but also..

Sample Task Using Cartoon/Animated Video

Student Presentations on Heroes?

Sample Rubric: Assessment Tool/Feedback for Student Presentations 

Using Quotations for Interactive Tasks

Famous Quotations About Heroes: (www.brainyquote.com)

A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around. - Edgar Watson Howe

A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer. - Novalis


Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times that the hero within us is revealed.
- Bob Riley

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to endure and persevere in spite of overwhelming obstacles. - Christopher Reeve
                                
1.  Which of the above do you like best? Why?
2.  Write your own definition of a hero in one sentence.
3.  Compare your definition of a hero with three other students.
4.  In groups, write a sentence that combines each student's ideas about what a hero is. 

Integrated Skills Task ("Heroes" poems)


Pre-Reading: Students brainstorm examples of ordinary people who are heroes in pairs/groups. Who are they? Why are they heroes? Teacher elicits ideas and compiles bank/list on board.

Reading: Students read the two poems: Student A reads first poem and Student B second poem; each read silently and underline any vocabulary words they cannot understand from context. Teacher elicits from group any unfamiliar vocabulary and helps students to formulate synonyms/definitions.

 Post Reading: Student A describes to Student B and then Student B describes to Student A what poem about in his/her own words. What were the qualities of the heroes in each poem? Each tries to describe what the quality of the heroes described in the poem were. Together, they create a list of common and different qualities of each hero. Students swap papers and read each the other poem before completing the list of differences/similarities.

Holding Out for a hero: Video/Song activity


Where have all the___________ men gone and where are all the gods?
Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night, I toss and I turn, and I dream of what I need.

(Chorus) 

I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero, till the end of the night.
He's gotta be _________and he's gotta be __________
and he's gotta be fresh from the __________

Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasy. 
Somewhere beyond my reach, there's someone reaching back for me. 
Racing on the ____________, and rising with the heat;
it's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet.

(Chorus repeats)

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above, and out 
where the _____________ splits the sea, I could swear someone, somewhere is watching me. 
Through the ____________ and the chill and the rain and the ________ and the _________,
I can feel his approach like the fire in my blood.

(Chorus repeats)

1.    __________________ - makes a loud crashing sound during a storm
2.    __________________ -  very bad weather with a lot of rain
3.    __________________ - air that is moving fast (comes from mountain)
4.    __________________ - bright light that flashes through the sky (in storm)
5.     __________________ - a very large amount of water (from river/storm)
Note - songs are engaging way to focus on vocabulary, grammar, and discussions on topics.

Valentine's Day material (Module 1)

Need help on generating material for your holiday lesson?


Try this... http://www.esl-kids.com/worksheets/worksheets.html
Under themes, choose Valentine. Then USE THESE WORDS. It generates ENDLESS material and exercises for your lesson. HURRAH! Free as well:)

Looking for a Valentine's Day unit? ESL Library has a whole section of flashcards and a ready made vocabulary review (scrambled words and a crossword puzzle).
https://esl-library.com/pdf/lessons/388.type1.pdf

Great review of the words for classtime, and the crossword puzzle for homework? Make your life easier. The reading is higher level but the vocabulary is eas(ier). If you don't want to make copies, use the scrambled words as a on-the-board warm-up exercise.

For older students and mixed-level classes: Valentine's Day vocabulary