Wednesday 30 January 2008

CAN YOU FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS

*Ask them to write the name of the places according to the directions;


You are in the middle of the piece of paper.
Straight ahead is the hospital.
The airport is to the right of the hospital.
The bus station is to your left.
Straight ahead of the train station is the hotel.
Between the hotel and the hospital is the restaurant.

* Invite a volunteer to draw the anwser on the board, and enjoy it!

DIRECTIONS - LESSON PLAN

*Aim

To present and practice describing where things are and giving simples directions in the context of local area.

*Procedure

Pre-teaching vocabulary.

*Ask to the group:

How do I get to the library?

Can you tell me where the ………. is?

Can you tell me how to get to the ………… ?

*Work the words we need to give directions

Go straight on, turn left, turn right, next to, beside, opposite, in front of, behind…………

*Check out understanding

Using the map take turns to give each other directions

DESCRIBE YOUR LOCAL AREA

Prepare a vocabulary list – directions, places of interest and services shown on map;

Hand out local information brochure with a map and ask participants to give each other directions to a point on the map;

In large group discuss local places of interest.

UNDERSTANDING DIRECTIONS

It is polite to say excuse me when stopping some-one to ask for help.


Excuse me, where is the ……bank…………..?
Excuse me, where is the nearest ………pub…………………….?

Excuse me, is there a ……Post Office…………………. near here?

Excuse me, can you help me …I am lost…………………?
Excuse me can you give me directions to…Damacre Centre………………..?

Excuse me is the ……hotel………………….. close by/ far from here?

Wednesday 23 January 2008

Tuesday 22 January 2008

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

BASED ON THE SCRIPT "THE BURNS SUPPER" EXERCISES

Activity A

Listen to the conversation again and find a word that
means:

A main meal eaten in the evening or a small snack eaten before going to bed.
A special or formal event like a party.
When you pay to use something for a short period
People who are invited to an occasion such as a party or a meal
A person in charge of a meeting
Seeds which are used in cooking and baking and also to feed animals
A Scottish word for a poet
Scottish word for women
Funny

Activity B

Listen and answer the questions:

Where has Olga been invited? A Burns Supper
When is she going?
Where is the party?
How does she feel? Why?
What should she wear?
Is she going alone?
What will they eat?
What will they do?
What is Olga’s husband going to do before the party?

Activity C:

Listen again and mark TRUE or FALSE:

There will be a lot of people at the party. ( T )
This happens every year. ( )
The women can wear trousers. ( )
He needs to buy a kilt. ( )
Someone will play traditional Scottish music.( )
The women will make a speech. ( )
There won’t be many speeches. ( )
Some of the poems are funny. ( )

SCRIPT FOR "THE BURNS SUPPER"

Script for “The Burns Supper”

Olga: Helen, I haven’t seen you for ages. How are you?

Helen: I’m fine thanks. How are you?

Olga: I’m glad I’ve seen you – I’ve been invited to a Burns Supper and I don’t know what to wear or what it’s about.

Helen: Well, Robert Burns is Scotland’s national poet and every January 25th people get together to have a meal in his memory. It can be just a few friends, or it can be a big occasion where everyone dresses in traditional clothing, the men with their kilts and the women wear tartan skirts or sashes. Where is it happening?

Olga: It’s in the City Hall, so it’s bound to be a big event. I’m really nervous – what should we wear?

Helen: I wouldn’t worry too much. It might be nice if you wore tartan or wore your national costume. Do you have a partner for the night?

Olga: Yes, my husband. Should he hire a kilt?

Helen: That would be a nice gesture but he could wear a tartan tie or his own national costume.
What usually happens is the general audience arrives first and then the main guests are piped to their seats …

Olga: Piped?

Helen: Yes, a piper plays the bagpipes while they are walking in.

Olga: Oh, I see, the bagpipes. Lovely.

Helen: And you should stand up for that part. Then the Chairman will say The Selkirk Grace – it’s like a prayer that Burns wrote. And once everyone has had a drink, the haggis will be piped in too.

Olga: Ah. The haggis – I’ve heard of that. It’s a type of sausage, isn’t it?

Helen: Well it’s more like a pudding made of oats - and meat - and spices.

Olga: Ok, what happens next?

Helen: Usually there’s an address to the haggis …

Olga: Address?

Helen: Not that kind of address! It means a kind of speech …

Olga: To the haggis?

Helen: Yes. Again it’s a poem that Burns wrote …

Olga: To a pudding?

Helen: No it’s called To a Haggis …, Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o' a grace as lang's my arm. …something like that. Anyway, after that, it’s cut up and served to everyone with tatties and neeps. Em, potatoes and turnip.

Olga: Sounds delicious.

Helen: It can be – not that I’m too fond of it myself. Then there will be a toast to Rabbie Burns, we usually drink whisky. There will be lots of Scottish music and dancing and the next speech is the toast to the lassies.

Olga: Lassies …?

Helen: Yes, the women. Burns was famous for his love poems and for his love of women.

Olga: Ok then what happens?

Helen: The last speech is called the reply to the lassies and is given by one of the female members of the party.

Olga: Lots of speeches then.

Helen: Aye, but they are meant to be humorous and entertaining, like a lot of Burns’ poems. That’s followed by dancing and singing.

Olga: It sounds like a lot of fun.

Helen: Aye it is. I hope you enjoy it. See you later

Olga: Bye, see you later

ROBERT BURNS SUPPER

The best way to live in Scotland and at the same time to teach English for speakers of other languages is to have an experience and bring the Scottish culture into the classroom, which is absolutely incredible.

On the 25th of January is celebrated Robert Burns anniversary, who was born in 1759 and died in 1797, considered one of the most famous poet. He was humanized and a special and sensible man, who wrote about life, feeling, religion, love, friends, work.

All schools celebrate this memorable date reciting his poems, singing his songs, performing the famous characters, with competitions, presentations, and studying the history of that time. For us it is not different.

We started our class with a gorgeous entrance of a piper, a Scottish man playing the pipes, followed by a lady bringing a tray of Haggis, traditional food made of oat meal, stomach of sheep, spicy and stuff. A poem was recited to Haggis, "Address to a Haggis", and served to every one with some Irn Bru, a traditional Scottish no alcoholic drink, substituting the Whisky.

Then everybody listened and read the script of a dialogue between a Scottish lady and a foreigner introducing the national costume, "The Burns Supper". Some exercises were developed as a listening comprehension and worked by the participants in small groups.

Everybody joined for the dancing, which was great and lots of fun.

A break for some coffee and Scottish shortbread brought a huge smile for the ones who are not used to have a very exciting evening and warm evening.

Why not to close this beautiful celebration with a golden key? Let's sing..."AULD LANG SYNE"...the international song, which very few people know it is Scottish, and written by Robert Burns. Lovely!!!!

Friday 11 January 2008

MATCH THE WORDS

There are some combination of words we can learn and keep in our minds if we have some time to play with them. A very good activity is to prepare some cards in different colours for verbs and nouns, mix them, and give a set of these cards to each pair of students. Give them some time to match the cards. The ones to finish first start the reading.

Example:


read the newspaper
listen to the radio
answer the telephone
ask a question
sing a song
tell a story
play cards
write a letter
watch television

Just use your imagination. Combine the words you are working and remember...

HAVE FUN!!!!

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Winter in Scotland

The holiday winter season is over. But back to school we can enjoy the winter time with lots of funny activities and involve the students in a warm environment. Although it is snowing outside, a very hot cup of tea and some games inside can make the season remarkable.

Enjoy and have fun!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Monday 7 January 2008

WRITING SENTENCES

New Year has just started and here I am with lots of perspectives of a very good refreshment to start the term with innovative ideas, , reflecting about methodology and trying different approaches.

I would like to spend more time in reading and writing with my students, and for the first day of classroom, and all the excitement about Christmas time, presents, trips, holiday abroad, the kids want to spread the good news. So, using the topic, I believe it is a good idea to write about it.

Notes:

Use: and, then, because, of, for...

Ask: who, when, what, why, where, how...

Think: make up the story in your mind...

Write at least 3 very good sentences.

Ex:

"Long time ago, my uncle and I went to the store. My uncle bought a bike for me, because I wanted it."

It was written by Gvidas, P2.