This is a lesson plan for intermediate and up based around pictures of interesting people and language of speculation and deduction. Credit to my workmate Mont for the idea, thanks Mont.
Then show them the picture of the guy at the top of the post. Students come up with 5 deductions/speculations based on the picture. Tell them they can speculate about his age, nationality, job, personality or anything else they like.
The show them the pictures from the handout. Give them a few minutes to make speculations about the people.
Then show them the following list:
A lawyer
A police officer
A serial-killer
A billionaire
A rock star
A bank robber
A chef
A professional sports-person
Tell student that they must decide which person has which job. The secret is: There’s no correct answer! But don’t tell them that yet. Give them 5-10 minute to make speculations and provide reasons for which person has which job, then have them present their reasoning to the class and debate them. Only then can you reveal that there’s no correct answer!
Follow up activity
Composition: Can you judge a book by it’s cover? Have students write and essay/article on the topic of first impressions and judging people based on their appearance.
Before you use these materials, why not check out our new podcast for learners and teachers alike? It’s called 2Ts in a Pod, have a listen here:
This is a conversation lesson plan to practise past (3rd) conditional structures whilst debating the value of specific professions to society. Credit to the university of Kent for the inspiration for the activity. I have changed the wording of the task slightly so that students must imagine a world without the achievements and inventions of some famous names from history.
You will need the handout, I have made 4 versions:
I planned this as an activity to practise uses of advanced 3rd conditional structures such as:
But for + noun phrase, would/could/might have….
But for Thomas Edison, the lightbulb would have been invented much later.
Or inverted past conditionals:
Had it not been for Shakespeare, we wouldn’t have such a rich vocabulary.
You may want to preteach these structures using my other materials which you can find here and here.
Below you will find they advanced adults version of the activity.
Balloon Debate
You are in a hot air balloon which is losing height rapidly and will soon crash because it is overweight. You are travelling with a group of school children who will grow up to be very famous. You have to decide which 7 to throw over the side; if the balloon crashes you will all die. The passengers are:
Mother Teresa
Mao Tse-tung
Mahatma Gandhi
Florence Nightingale
Nelson Mandela
Mikael Gorbachev
Charles Darwin
William Shakespeare
Diego Maradona
Albert Einstein
Leonardo da Vinci
Abraham Lincoln
Beethoven
Vincent Van Gogh
Jane Austen
Steve Jobs
Language
Conditionals
Making Decisions
If_____ hadn’t invented_____, _____ wouldn’t have happened.
There’s no way we’re throwing ______ overboard because______
But for ________ we wouldn’t have________.
Throwing _______ is out of the question because________
If it hadn’t been for ______, we wouldn’t have _______ now
I think ________ is expendable.
Had it not been for _______, we wouldn’t have________.
What did _______ really do for us?
Examples:
If Charles Darwin hadn’t discovered evolution, society wouldn’t have developed like it has.
If it hadn’t been for Gandhi, India would still be a British colony.
But for Shakespeare, we wouldn’t have such a rich language.
Had it not been for Abraham Lincoln, the slaves wouldn’t have been freed.
Homework Activity:
Students write an essay examining two of the people from the balloon and deciding which one has contributed most to society. They must compare and contrast the achievements of the two and reach a conclusion as to which should be crowned as the most inspiring person in history.
Show the Chucky bus stop prank video until 2:20, tell students to focus on the actions:
Have them report back the different actions they saw.
Powerpoint
Go through the powerpoint, it will take students through present participle clauses and perfect participle clauses.
Guess My Job Game
Cut out and give out the job cards on the hand out, tell students to keep them secret from the rest of the class.
Students have to imagine that they are the person on their card; they have been invited to the class to share their experiences with the other students and give advice using participle clauses.
Example: Explorer, Having traveled all over the world, I can say that there’s no place like home. Having learnt 6 different languages, I thoroughly recommend it because it has broadened my mind immensely.
Give students a couple of minutes to think of their sentences, they then read them to the rest of the class who have to guess what job card they were given.
“Having robbed a lot of banks, I have loads of money” “Are you a bank robber?” “Yes, I am!”
Homework
Set a film/book review task as participle clause can easily be used to describe narratives, encourage students to use at least 2 in their review.
“Seeing her sister nominated to participate in the Hunger Games, Katniss volunteered to take her place.”
“Having never seen a troll before, Bilbo was petrified.”
I use this game as a revision/warmer after we’ve already studied advanced relative clause phrases with which and whom.
Draw two columns on the board with the titles which (objects/things) and whom (people) and have students recall as many relative clause phrases as they can:
Which (objects/things)
Whom (people)
In which (where)
All of which
Some of which
None of which
Both of which
Neither of which
(1,2,3) of which
All of whom
Some of whom
None of whom
Both of whom
Neither of whom
(1,2,3) of whom
Students may struggle with the difference between neither of whom/which and none of whom/which.
Neither refers to just two people/things where as none refers to a group of at least three:
Two students came to class, neither of whom had done their homework.
Ten students came to class, none of whom had done their homework.
There were two buses waiting to take people to the city centre, neither of which had enough space for us.
There were three buses waiting to take people to the city centre, none of which had enough space for us.
Cut out the hand out and divide the class into teams, one volunteer must attempt to draw the situation described in the picture, the team that calls out the corresponding sentence gets 1 point. Continue until all the situations have been used.
Draw the following sentences:
A group of children, some of whom are wearing hats, are waiting for the bus.
Four houses, two of which are on fire.
A group of men, all of whom are wearing glasses, are watching TV.
Two dogs, both of which are eating bones, are at the beach.
Two men, neither of whom has hair, are playing tennis.
Two pizzas, both of which have mushrooms, are on the table.
Two snakes, both of which are green, are sleeping on the carpet.
Ten bottles, all of which are full, are sitting on the wall.
Five babies, two of whom are sleeping, are lying on the bed.
Five cats, some of which are black, are playing with a ball.
Ask students the following: What do you do when you get hiccups?
Show them the following video and tell them to write down as many causes and cures for hiccups as they can.
Mine the video for vocabulary:
Spasm, stuck, breathe, gasp, exhale/inhale, hold your breath, difference between breathe (verb, long vowel sound) and breath (noun, short vowel sound), chug, pull, tongue, drink from, wrong side, take a sip, swallow, tip your head back, plug your nose, a teaspoon of, sprinkle, squeeze your pinky, pressure point, pinch, recite, backwards, think of, bald, cure/get rid of hiccups.
Ask them which methods from the video they use.
Model a few sentences on the board:
When/whenever I get hiccups, I ask a friend to scare me.
Tell students that this is called the zero conditional. Give out the first page of the handout and go over it quickly.
We use the zero conditional to talk about general or scientific truths and habits.
If you heat ice, it melts. (General truth)
If I drink coffee after 6pm, I can’t sleep. (Habit)
We also use it to talk about what people should do in certain situations.
Match numbers 1-5 with letters a-e to make zero conditional sentences.
1. If it rains,
a. The roads are dangerous.
2. If it snows,
b. I try a new flavour of ice-cream
3. Whenever I visit Rome,
c. Tell a security guard.
4. If you see someone stealing
d. It boils.
5. When water reaches 100º C,
e. We play basketball inside.
Matching Key
1-e, 2-a, 3-b, 4-c, 5-d
Conversation exercise
Cut the following cards up. Students take them one at a time and discuss them in conversation. Encourage the use of: “Me too/neither” or “So/neither do I”
My CAE students have a progress test next week so here’s their test on some of the grammar and vocab we’ve covered this year so far. Download the hand out and key here:
This is a lesson plan for higher levels (B2+) to teach verb patterns with reporting verbs using video and scripted roleplays. It will be especially useful for CAE students as these structures tend to come up in key word transformations quite often.
Write the verbs “accuse” and “deny” on the board. Then play the first minute of the following video:
Elicit the following sentences from students:
The Dad asked the boys who had got the paint out.
The older brother accused the younger brother of gettting/having got the paint out.
The younger brother denied getting/having got the paint out.
The older brother accused the younger brother of building stairs out of blocks.
Analyse the sentences and come up with the formula for the verbs accuse and deny:
accuse somebody of doing/having done something
deny doing/having done something
Ask students if they have ever been in a similar situation with a sibling or friend.
Have you ever been wrongfully accused of doing something?
Stage 2: 4 groups of reporting verbs
For this part you can either give out the handout on the 4 groups of reporting verb patterns. Or model the sentences on the board and have students dedicate a page in their vocab books for each group of verbs.
You’re going to need a lot of space on the board for this part. Divide the board into 4 quarters.
Write the following sentence, one at the top of each quarter:
I’ll come to the party. (say)
I’ll come to the party. (tell)
I will definitely help with the cleaning. (promise)
I didn’t steal the money. (deny)
Tell students to change the sentences to reported speech using the verb in brackets:
He said that he would come to the party.
He told me that he would come to the party.
He promised to help with the cleaning.
He denied stealing the money.
Tell students that these are the 4 groups of reporting verbs.
Group 3: Reporting actions: Promises requests etc.
He promisedto help with the cleaning.
Subject + reporting verb + infinitive with to
Common verbs of this type:
agree
ask
claim
demand
offer
promise
propose
refuse
threatentell (imperative)
He encouraged meto take maths instead of history.
Subject + reporting verb + DO + infinitive with to
Common verbs of this type
advise
ask
beg
convince
encourage
forbid
instruct
invite
order
persuade
remind
tell
urge
warn (not to)
Group 4: Reporting verbs with gerund.
He deniedstealing the money.
Subject + reporting verb + gerund
Common verbs of this type:
admit
deny
mention
propose
report
suggest
Verbs with prepositions and gerund:
Accuse sb of doing st
Confess to doing something
Apologise to sb about/for doing st
Blame sb for st
Complain to sb about st
Insist on doing st
Object to st/doing st
Advise ab against doing st
Stage 3: Controlled Practice
Have students complete the 10 sentences on the back of the handout.
Report the sentence using the verb in brackets
I want to see the manager! (demanded)
_________________________________________
Don’t leave the path, there are dangerous snakes. (warned)
_________________________________________
I will help you clean up after the party (promised)
_________________________________________
Don’t forget to feed the fish. (Reminded)
_________________________________________
No no no! I’m paying for dinner. (Insisted)
_________________________________________
Listen everyone! I’m moving to New York next week. (announced)
_________________________________________
You are not allowed to chew gum in class. (forbid)
_________________________________________
I will punch you if you call me that again. (threatened)
_________________________________________
I’m really sorry that I broke your favourite cup. (apologised)
_________________________________________
Stand up and put your hands on your head. (ordered)
________________________________________
Key
He demanded to see the manager. He demanded that he saw the manager.
She warned us not to leave the path. She warned (us) that there were dangerous snakes.
She promised to help clean up after the party. She promised (me) that she would help clean up.
He reminded me to feed the fish.
She insisted on paying for dinner. She insisted that she paid for dinner.
He announced that he was moving to New York the following week.
She forbid me to chew gum in class.
He threatened to punch me in the face if I called him that again.
She apologised for breaking my favourite cup.
He ordered me to stand up and put my hands on my head.
Stage 4: Scripted role-play
Split the class into groups of 2-3 and give out the role-play scenarios, give them a couple of minutes to read and rehearse and then have students come to the front of the class and act out the scenarios. Then the other groups have to write sentences using as many reporting verb patterns as they can based on what happened in the scenarios. Guide students and model sentences, encourage them to place them in the correct group.
Reported speech – Scripts
Scenario 1
A: Hi son, How’s it going?
B: Hi Dad. I’m going out.
A: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Have you done your homework?
B: Ahhh come on Dad, it’s Friday night.
A: I don’t care, have you done it or not?
B: No. But I promise I’ll do it tomorrow.
A: Ok, but if you don’t you’ll be grounded for a week.
B: Ok it’s a deal.
They shake hands.
Scenario 2
Sarah: Hi Fiona, how’s it going? Are you coming to the party tonight?
Fiona: No I don’t think so; I’m not in the mood and I have to work tomorrow.
Sarah: No you don’t! Tomorrow is a holiday, the shop is closed.
Fiona: Oh yeah! I’d completely forgotten. I’m still not sure.
Sarah: Oh come on, you’ve got to come! Tommy’s going to be there.
Fiona: Really? Hhhhmmmm well, ok go on then, I’ll come.
Scenario 3
Teacher: (to John) You stole €5 from the charity collection box!
John: Me??? It wasn’t me! How dare you accuse me! It was Sandra who stole the money. I saw her do it!
Sarah: Me? No way! He’s lying!
Teacher: I want to see what’s in your pockets right now!
They turn out their pockets. John’s pockets are full of money.
Teacher: Aha! What’s all this?
John: Ok, it was me. I admit it.
Sarah: I think it’s unfair that I was accused of this crime. I’m going to tell my parents.
Teacher: I’m terribly sorry Sarah, it was a misunderstanding.
Scenario 4
Anna and Natalie are having a party. The music is very loud. There is a knock at the door.
Anna: (opening the door) Yes? Who is it? What do you want?
Little old lady: It’s 3am, I can’t sleep please turn the music down.
Natalie: Turn it down? No way! We just graduated!
Little old lady: Oh please please please turn it down, I’m so tired.
Anna: Nope sorry, we’re not going to turn it down.
Little old lady: (angry) Well, if you don’t turn it down I’m going to call the police.
Natalie: Go ahead! You can come in and use my phone if you want.
Little old lady: oooo the cheek of it! That’s it! I’m going to call the police!
Reported Speech Script Key
Scenario 1
The Dad asked the son if he had done his homework.
The son admitted that he hadn’t done his homework.
The son admitted to not doing/having done his homework.
The son promised to do his homework the day after.
The Dad warned the son that if he didn’t do his homework he would be grounded for a week.
Scenario 2
Sarah asked Fiona if she was going to the party tonight.
Fiona replied that she didn’t think so. She said that she wasn’t in the mood and that she had to work the day after.
Sarah reminded Fiona that the day after was a holiday.
Sarah persuaded/convinced Fiona to come to the party by telling her Tommy would be there.
Scenario 3
The teacher accused John of stealing/having stolen the money.
John denied stealing the money and accused Sarah of stealing the money.
The teacher ordered them to turn out their pockets/demanded that they turned out their pockets.
John admitted to/confessed to stealing the money.
Sarah objected to being accused of stealing the money.
The teacher apologised for accusing Sarah of stealing the money.
Scenario 4
Anna asked who it was and what they wanted.
The old lady asked/urged them to turn the music down.
Natalie refused to turn the music down.
The old lady begged them to turn the music down.
Anna refused to turn the music down.
The little old lady threatened to call the police if they didn’t turn the music down.
Anna invited the old lady to use her phone.
The old lady announced that she was going to call the police.
Stage 4: Follow up activity, students write their own scripts.
Students come up with their own scenarios trying to use as many of the different verb patterns as possible. Other groups have to correctly guess the verb they were trying to express.
We use the short answers “So do I/Neither do I” to express agreement or something in common that we have with another person.
We use “So do I” to respond to positive sentences and “Neither do I” for negative sentences.
A: I love Spanish wine. B: So do I!
A: I don’t like fast food. B: Neither do I.
Auxiliary Verbs
The auxiliary verb we use depends on the sentence we are responding to.
Present Simple: DO
A: I love Spanish wine. B: So do I!
A: I don’t like fast food. B: Neither do I.
Past Simple: DID
A: I went to the cinema last weekend. B: So did I.
A: I didn’t like the film though. B: Neither did I.
Or if another auxiliary verb is present we repeat it.
A: I can run the hundred metres in under 11 seconds. B: So ______ I.
A: I wouldn’t like to go there at night. B: ________ _________ __________.
Write the short answer responses in the first person for the following sentences:
I’ve always wanted to visit Hong Kong. __________________________
I’m not a big fan of basketball. _______________________
I’d quite like to try to scuba diving. ___________________
I shouldn’t smoke so much. _____________________
I work in a bank. ______________________
I can’t stand karaoke. _________________
I had seen the film 3 times before. ____________________
I couldn’t believe my eyes! _________________________
We can also use this structure with a possessive pronoun (mine/his/hers etc.)
A: My husband works in finance. B: So does mine.
A: My children go to St. Peter’s school. B: So do mine.
Role-play the perfect date
You go on date with someone you met on tinder. First, complete the following sentences about yourself, and then read them to your date. You discover that you are a match made in heaven!
Student 1:
I’ve always dreamed of_____________________
I’m crazy about_______________________
I can’t bear____________________________
I’m petrified of ___________________________
I will never forget___________________________
I really should _____________________________
Tomorrow I have to_________________________
When I was I child I used to_______________________
When I was little I couldn’t________________________
I’ve been ______ing ________________ for___________________.
My ex was a_______________________
My sister ________________________________
Student 2:
I will always remember________________________
If I wasn’t so ___________________, I would_________________
I must remember to_______________________
I can’t_____________________________
My grandparents__________________________
I should_____________________________
I’d love to________________________
When I was a student I used to_________________________
If I could go back in time, I would______________________
Before last week I had never___________________________
I couldn’t live without ___________________________
I’m a huge fan of__________________________
Disagreeing – A date from hell
If we disagree or don’t share the same taste or opinion as the person we can talk to we can simply repeat the auxiliary verb in affirmative/negative:
A: I love Woody Allen films. B: I don’t.
A: I wouldn’t like to try sky-diving. B: I would. – Repeat the date role play but disagree with everything!
This is an activity to practice various ways of making offers and requests.
First go over the language on the handout for making offers and requests then cut up the situation cards and have students role-play them, simple as that. Here are the handouts:
It is common that English speakers make offers in conversations in order to be polite and helpful. When they do so they use these expressions:
Can I… ?
Shall I… ?
Would you like … ?
How about …?
English learner must be able to make offers as well as accept or reject them. The following are useful expressions to do so.
Can
I
help you?
Shall
get you some juice?
Would you like
a glass of water ?
How about
some pizza?
Examples:
· “Can I help you?”
· “Shall I open the window for you?”
· “Would you like another cup of coffee?”
· “Would you like me to clean the board?”
· “How about a juice? “
Remember:
· Shall, can and will are followed by the verb without to.
Example:
“Can I help you?”
“Shall I bring you the mobile phone?
· Shall is more formal than can.
· Would you like… is followed either by a noun, or by the verb with to.
Example:
“Would you like some tea ?”
“Would you like to drink some coffee?
Responding to offers
Accepting
Declining
Yes please. I’d like to.
That would be very kind of you.
Yes please, that would be lovely.
Yes please, I’d love to.
If you wouldn’t mind.
If you could.
Thank you, that would be great.
It’s OK, I can do it myself.
Don’t worry, I’ll do it.
No, thanks
No, thank you
Examples:
· “Can I help you?”
“No thanks, I’m just having a look.” (With a shop assistant.)
· “Can I help you?”
“Do you know where the post office is.”
· “Shall I help you with your maths problem?”
“Yes, please. That would be very nice of you.”
· “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No thanks.” Or, “No thank you.”
· “Would you like another piece of cake?”
“Yes please, that would be nice .”
“Yes please, I’d love one.”
· “Would you like me to do the the ironing for you?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
“If you could.”
· “I’ll do the washing, if you like.”
“It’s OK, I can do it.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you, that would be great.”
Asking others to do things – making requests
Asking
Saying Yes
Saying No
Can you…?
Yes, sure.
Well, I’m afraid + reason
Could you…?
Is it all right if you…?
Do you think you could…?
Will you…?
Would you…?
Yes, of course.
Certainly.
Well, the problem is
Sorry, but…
Do you mind -ing…?
Would you mind -ing…?
No, not at all.
Of course not.
Situation cards:
Offers and Requests Situations
You have just broken your leg. You have to stay in bed for 2 months. You have 3 children and 2 dogs. Ask your friends for help.
You have to go away for the weekend for a business trip. You have lots of plants in your house and 3 cats.
Your house is in a bad state: the walls need painting, one window is broken and the front door doesn’t close properly. You have no money for repairs. Ask your friends for help.
You have an important job interview tomorrow morning but your car is at the mechanics being fixed. You also need to take your children to school at the same time as the interview.
You are organising a cocktail dinner party but you can’t cook or make cocktails and you don’t have any CDs or records to play.
You had a big party last night and your house is a complete mess, the carpet is stained with red wine, all the dishes are dirty, there are cans and bottles everywhere and the toilet is broken. Ask your friends (who were also at the party) for help.
You are a little old lady. You have just been to the supermarket, you are carrying a lot of heavy bags and you want to cross the road. Ask a group of teenagers for help.
You are in an expensive restaurant with friends. There is a group of loud football players at the table next to you singing and shouting. The restaurant is also too cold and smells bad. Ask the waiter for help.
You had an accident at work and you have to wear two patches over your eyes for 2 weeks. Ask your friends for help with your daily activities.
You are moving house. You have to transport everything in your old house to your new one. You don’t have a van, ask your friends for help.
You have a new boss at work. You want to impress him/her because you want a promotion. Offer to do some extra work.
You are an old man, you have come to visit your children, you have arthritis and you need help with lots of things.
