Here’s another pronunciation video from our TikTok channel. This time we’re looking at 4 words that Spanish speakers struggle to pronounce:
mountain
fountain
vegetable
comfortable
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This is a lesson plan for C1/C2 students by Soleil García Brito on the topic of face recognition based around a video and a gapped text exercise. The warmer could also be used with lower levels (B1/B2). At the end of the lesson students can take an online test to see if they are “super recognisers”; you’ll find the link below.
Download the student’s handout and teacher’s notes below.
Here is the video:
This is another guest post by Soleil García Brito on the topic of gender roles and the colour pink but this time for higher level students (C1/C2). The lesson plan is made up of two video exercises, a gapped text reading exercise and a discussion on the topic. Download the student handout and teacher’s notes below:
Here are the links to the videos:
The colour pink:
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/12/health/colorscope-pink-boy-girl-gender/index.html
Ross’s Shirt:
This is a guest post by Soleil García Brito. It is a lesson plan on the topic of gender roles. Students complete a First-Certificate-style multiple choice cloze exercise, a listening comprehension based on a clip from Friends and finally, a discussion on the topic. Download the student handout and teacher’s notes below:
Video clip:
Some questions in the discussion have been adapted from: http://www.englishwithjo.com/english-conversation-gender-roles/
Multiple-choice cloze text adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/
This is a reading and listening lesson for B2+ students based around the topic of survival skills and myths created by Soleil García Brito. Download the student handout below:
Survival Skills – Student Handout – Word
Survival Skills – Student Handout – PDF
Look at these statements about survival. Are they factual or myths?
a) Anyone can start a fire with just two sticks
b) Boiled water is always 100% safe to drink
c) Reality shows about survival will help you prepare for a dire situation
d) You need to find food right away
e) You need to find water immediately to survive in desert heat
f) You can outrun a bear
g) The best way to stop a shark attack is by punching it in the nose
Read the texts and match the titles a-g
| “In reality, you can survive on just your body’s fat stores for weeks, as long as you have water. Conserving energy, avoiding injury, and sourcing a supply of water are key to surviving,” said Ras. “Hunting and trapping prey are hit and miss activities which often produce nothing and simply end up expending energy and risking injury or illness. It’s extremely rare for someone to die of starvation in a survival situation. Injury, illness, poisoning and exposure are much more likely to result in death. By definition, ‘surviving’ a situation is short-term, and in the short term a person can be fueled by their fat reserves.” | |
| “None of us would be here today if our ancestors hadn’t mastered the fine art of friction firemaking, but this is a skill to practice on camping trips and backyard outings,” said Tony Nester of Ancient Pathways Survival School. It’s a big mistake to rely solely on friction firemaking in a survival situation, especially when you could end up in a damp environment. Modern survival is about being prepared and carrying at least three firestarters (waterproof matches, spark-rod, lighter) with you at all times,” said Nester. “I teach primitive firemaking skills to show my students how to perform the method but find that, even under the best of conditions, it is a challenge and not reliable for most people.” | |
| “I’ve worked as a consultant on several reality shows and these shows are heavily-scripted,” said Nester. “On one program, there was a crew of 12 people accompanying us, including two staff whose sole job was to drag around coolers filled with double-shot espressos and sandwiches while filming scenes of the host living off the land. There’s nothing romantic or fun about real survival—it’s only adventure in retrospect.” | |
| Running away from a bear is a lost cause: Usain Bolt himself couldn’t beat one in a footrace, let alone on uneven terrain. The best thing to do depends on the species. If you encounter a black bear, said Nester, “Hold your ground and make yourself look big—open your coat up, throw your arms up above your head—and shout and scream and, a lot of times, they’re as spooked as you are, and will take off.” Take the opposite approach with a grizzly: “Avoid eye contact, which a bear will perceive to be a challenge. If the bear’s not approaching, back away slowly. If it charges, simply stand your ground. If you have pepper spray, be ready to use it… and pronto. If it makes physical contact with you, cover your vitals and play dead.” | |
| “Even though it’s true that sharks get stunned if they get punched in the nose, not many people the strength to do this, especially underwater,” said Manighetti. Even if you could manage the strength to hit the nose hard enough, there’s a chance your hand could end up getting injured by shark teeth. “The best way to scare a shark away is to scratch its eyes or gills, it’s impossible to overpower these fierce creatures in attack mode.” | |
| “While boiling water will kill off organisms and germs, it will not clean harmful particulates from the water. For instance, no matter how long you boil chemically contaminated water it won’t be safe to drink,” said Jack. “This same principle applies to stagnant dirty water. If the water you are attempting to purify is visibly dirty or murky, you should filter the water before attempting to boil it. If you don’t have a commercial water filter available, then you can either pour the dirty water through a clean fabric (towel or shirt) or leave the water to stand until the sediments sink to the bottom. Then just pour the clean water from the top…and then boil.” | |
| “You will last longer in the heat by holding up in the shade versus searching for water during the afternoon hours,” said Nester. “If you do run out of water, find a north-facing boulder and sit in the shade; keep covered to prevent evaporative sweat loss; stay off the hot ground by sitting on your pack or a pile of debris; and only move around during the cooler hours of the morning or evening.” If you didn’t tell anyone about your travel plans, though, rescue will likely take more than a few hours and you should search for water when the temperature drops. |
Text adapted from: https://www.theactivetimes.com/15-survival-myths-could-actually-kill-you-slideshow/
You are going to watch a video about surviving in extreme situations. These are the topics; are they good or bad ideas?
Questions:
Why are they bad ideas?
Image credit: Chambers Management
Just a quick note…
Before you use these materials… We’ve created a new podcast aimed at B2+ level English students and teachers alike. You can listen for free at our SoundCloud page below. You can download teacher’s notes to accompany them from our Facebook page or from this blog. All comments and feedback welcome! Give us a like and a share 😉
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This is a listening activity for B2+ students based around a Youtube clip of a Joe Lycett stand-up comedy routine on the subject of scammers. Download the handout, teacher’s notes, full transcript and powerpoint below:
The video:
Use the first slide of the PowerPoint to pre-teach the UK cultural references students will need for the video:
Students discuss in pairs.
Watch the first part of the video (until 01:26) and answer the question:
Now watch again and answer these questions:
Prediction: What is Joe going to do next?
Watch the next part (until 2:06): Were your predictions correct?
Watch again:
Predict: What do you think Joe will do next?
Watch the next part (until 3:28): Were your predictions correct?
Watch again:
Predict: What do you think will happen next?
Watch the rest of the video: Were your predictions correct?
Watch the first part of the video again and fill in the gaps in the transcript with what you hear:
So this is my favorite thing that’s come as a result of me being a bit weird with somebody online. A friend of mine was looking for somewhere to live in London, which as I’m sure you’re aware is quite expensive, quite difficult increasingly.
He found somewhere on gumtree that looked kind of promising did a bit of emailing back and forth and realized pretty quickly this is probably a scam and so he sent all the emails that he’d done already over to me and just did the subject heading: “do your absolute worst”. A girl called Gemma, who was supposedly advertising this property, I sent her a fresh email, I said: “Hello Gemma I’m contacting you regarding the apartment listed on Gumtree, I’m interested in a viewing and wanted to arrange, regards Joe Lycett.” I used my own name on this one.
If students are struggling to understand the text, try slowing the speed down on youtube, or give them the full transcript as a last resort.
Image credit: ITV.com
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
This is another Christmas themed lesson based around the latest John Lewis Christmas advert about Buster the boxer. Download the lesson plan and powerpoint below:
buster-the-boxer – Powerpoint
buster-the-boxer – Lesson Plan
Procedure
Put students in pairs, depending on their level show them either the first slide with 4 photos or the second slide with the word cloud. Give them 10 minutes to invent a Christmas story using all of the words or pictures, monitor while they work and feed in any language that is needed.
Students then read out their stories to the class, discuss any language issues that come up. Students can then vote on which story they liked best.
Then show students the John Lewis advert:
Ask students the following questions:
Show the word cloud again, have students write out the story of the advert again from memory using the words as prompts. Students then read out their different versions.
Follow up
For homework, students write the next part of the story, what did the girl do next? How did the foxes and the badger spend Christmas day?
Image credit: www.ted.com
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
This is a new TED talk lesson plan for higher levels (C1+) on the subject of bio-engineering and cloning. Thanks to my colleague Cliff Grossman for recommending this fascinating talk. You can download the materials below:
TED Bio-engineering – Student handout
TED Bio-engineering TEACHER NOTES
Procedure
You can either give students the handout and have them watch the talk and answer the comprehension questions for homework, or do it in class.
Then depending on class size students can ask and answer the discussion questions in small groups or in open class. The topic also lends itself well to debates on GM food, cloning and bioengineering.
Student Handout
Look at the language in bold. What do you think it means?
Key
Comprehension Questions
Discussion Questions
Language
Look at the language in bold. What do you think it means?
Image credit: http://www.ted.com
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
This is a new TED talk lesson plan for C1+ students. You can either set the TED talk with the comprehension questions as homework or watch the talk in class as it’s only 12 minutes long. Download the handout and teacher’s notes below:
TED Daniel Levitin Stress sts handout
TED Daniel Levitin Stress Teacher notes
Student Handout
Discuss the meaning of the phrases in bold with your partner.
What things could possibly go wrong in these situations, and how could you prepare for the problems?
| A job interview | Travelling by plane | An important exam | A first date |
| A wedding | The first day at a new job | A surprise party | Climbing a mountain |
Teacher’s notes
Image credit: www.ted.com
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
This is a conversation lesson plan based around Rita Pierson’s TED talk entitled: Every Kid Needs a Champion it’s suitable for C1+ although high B2s might be able to deal with it if you break the video up a bit. Download the handout below:
TED Rita Every child needs a champion
Have students watch the TED talk for homework or you can show it in class as it’s only 8 mins long. Then give out the handout and have students discuss it in small groups or as a class.
Handout
Look at these quotes from the talk and discuss the questions below:
“And we know why kids drop out. We know why kids don’t learn. It’s either poverty, low attendance, negative peer influences… We know why.”
“James Comer says that no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship.”
“George Washington Carver says all learning is understanding relationships.”
A colleague said to me one time, “They don’t pay me to like the kids. They pay me to teach a lesson. The kids should learn it. I should teach it, they should learn it, Case closed.”
Well, I said to her, “You know, kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.”
“How do I raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time?”
“One year I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students, “You were chosen to be in my class because I am the best teacher and you are the best students, they put us all together so we could show everybody else how to do it.”
“I gave a quiz, 20 questions. A student missed 18. I put a “+2” on his paper and a big smiley face.”
“Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”