Tag Archives: vocabulary

Lesson Plan: Families

6 November 2015Lesson Plan: Intermediate, Listening, Picture Description, Speaking, VocabularyB1, family, flashcards, listening, onlinetools, speaking, video, vocabularyCristina Cabal

FAMILY, in capitals, because is there anything more important in this world?

“Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.”Michael J. Fox. How far do you agree with Michael J. Fox?

This is a lesson for Intermediate students (B1) about Family. In this post you will find

A video about traditional and non-traditional families.
Some vocabulary you might need to revise/learn when discussing this subject.
Guided speaking: questions to discuss+ answers offered by a native speaker (Flip Cards).
Freer Practice: pictures to describe and some questions to discuss in pairs or small groups

The first activity in this lesson (the video) will be set as homework.

1. The Video. What Is a Non-Traditional Family? – Definition of Options.

It is a long video. It lasts 8 minutes so I’d suggest breaking it up and asking students to work on different parts of the video. In the video five non-traditional /alternative households are mentioned.

In class, show students the video and explain it discusses traditional and non-traditional families.
Explain that everybody will need to listen to the introduction where the concept of traditional family is explained (from the beginning – 1:02).
Explain that in the video Erin Long-Crowell, an educational psychologist, talks about five different non-traditional/alternative households.
Form groups of five students and tell them that in the next lesson they will be working in groups of five and each of them will share what they have learned about their assigned non-traditional household.
Assign tasks for the different students in the group

Student 1: single parenthood 1:07-2:20

Student 2: cohabitation 2:20-3:23

Student 3: GLBT 3:23-4:32

Student 4: Polygamy 4:32-5:21

Student 5: Singlehood 5:21-6.30

(video no longer available on youtube) Click here to see it

2. Vocabulary. Family Life

Phasal Verbs

To take after your mum/dad
To bring up a child
To fall out ( with your sister)
To make up
To get on (well) with sb
To get along with sb

Verbs

To raise your children
To adopt
To quarrel with your siblings
To get divorced/ to be divorced
To share ( a bedroom)
To cohabit/kəʊˈhabɪt/
to start a family

Expressions

To have (a lot of) things in common
To get together
(A cousin) on my father’s side
To be close to
(not) to see eye to eye
To be the main breadwinner= the person in the family who earns the highest income
to be under age
to come of age

Nouns

A family gathering/ reunion /get-together
Childhood
Birth rate
Birth order
relationship
Immediate or nuclear/extended family
Twin
a spouse
Sibling (rivalry)
A parent
your significant other = Aspouse or long-term sexual or romantic partner
one-parent families
In-laws
Exhusband
Half brother
relationship
Step brother
A relative
Ancestors=aperson, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from whom one is descended
An only child
memories

Adjectives

traditional and non-traditional family
single parenthood
Close knit family

PDF here

3. Speaking .Guided speaking: questions to discuss+ answers offered by a native speaker (Flip Cards)

Students in pairs. Display question 1 and allow two or three minutes for students to discuss this question. Flip the card for them to see how a native speaker would answer the question. Follow the same procedure with the rest of the questions.

Conjunto de Fichas creado con GoConqr por cristina.cabal

Freer Practice: pictures to describe and compare.
Freer Practice:conversation questions.

PDF here

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A Little Bit of Thriller on Halloween

25 October 2015American Cultural aspects, Musichalloween, listening, song, video, vocabularyCristina Cabal

Raise your hand if you have never seen Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. No hands? Right! Just what I thought! You might like it or not, but what is undeniable is that this video has become a classic.

I was racking my brains about the activity I could give my students for Halloween this year when suddenly the image of the undead rising out from their graves in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” appeared in my mind out of nowhere. Yeah! I know! Weird!

A spooky video but also a masterpiece. I hope you enjoy the activity and also the homework.

Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Time required: about 60 minutes

SETTING THE ATMOSPHERE.

Ask students some of these questions:

Do you believe in ghosts? Do you know any stories about ghosts?
Has anything ever happened to you that you cannot explain?
Do you believe that vampires or zombies exist?
What is the most frightening experience you have had?

THE VIDEO.

Pdf of the lesson here.

Ask students if they know who Michael Jackson was. Can they name any of his songs? Most probably students will know who Michael Jackson was and will probably mention the song “Thriller”. If you deem it appropriate, give students some information about this video, like for example, that it was voted the most influential pop video of all time.

More information about the video here.

The video lasts about 13 minutes. It is going to be divided into two parts, with a different task for each part .

TASK 1. Dictation (from the beginning to 4.40)

Tell students they are going to see the first part of the video where there is a dialogue between Michael Jackson and his girlfriend. Half the class will take Michael’s role and half the class the girl’s role.

Have the students work in pairs. Half the pairs in the class will write down the part of Michael Jackson and the other half the part of the girlfriend.
I suggest you give students the beginning of the dialogue as M. Jackson’s first sentence might be difficult to understand.

Jackson: Honestly, we’re out of gas.

Girlfriend: So, what are we going to do now?

You might need to play it twice.
Students help each other complete the dialogue
Pair students once again, this time you want to pair a student with Michael’s part and a student with the girlfriend’s part.
Ask students to act it out.

TASK 2. The Song (from 4.40 until the end)

Write/display the following words on the board and ask students to guess meanings. Explain if necessary and drill pronunciation.

Download the pdf with the activity here

Play the video once.

Play the song and ask students to fill in the gaps with the words in the box. Words can be used more than once.

Play the video a second time

Students complete task 1 and try to fill in the blanks for the words in phonemic transcription.

Check and listen again to enjoy the video and maybe… sing along?

TASK 3. The homework

I am well aware that I won’t be able to check this homework and I am also pretty sure my students, which are all adults, won’t be volunteering to show how much they have learnt from doing this homework, but I guess that at home they will be having a great time and that’s important too. Enjoy!

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I Short Scary Story Writing Contest

22 October 2015Generalcontest, halloween, narrative, vocabulary, writingCristina Cabal

Open to all my students at intermediate level until October 31st!
Are you willing to try your hand at writing a short scary story in English? This could be your chance to be internationally known. Who knows who might be visiting the blog and reading your stories. You might end up being a well-known writer !!!
Yeah! I know ! Probably too far-fetched ! But, what is undeniable is that this activity can help you improve writing and this is what really matters!
As in every single contest of some importance, there are RULES. These are mine:

Please ensure you read the rules carefully before entering the competition.Entry implies acceptance of all the rules and failure to comply may result in disqualification.

♥Theme: a scary/horror story

♥Stories must be written in English

♥Stories must be entirely your own work and must be previously unpublished

♥Only one entry per person can be submitted

♥ Stories may be of any length

♥Stories shall be titled

♥Submit your story via email by 11.50 p.m on October 31, 2015. Late entries will not be considered. Please, don’t paste your work into the body of the email, send it as an attachment with your name in the upper left-hand corner of the page

♥Prizes to be determined

♥Winners will be announced the first week of November, online and on this blog

Some pictures that might inspire you, below!!!

Ready-Made Lesson: Food and eating

18 October 2015Lesson Plan: IntermediateB1, eating, food, lesson plan, listening, picture description, speaking, video, vocabulary, writingCristina Cabal

Lesson on Food and Eating at Intermediate Level.

Vocabulary
Listening Comprehension
Picture description
Questions for discussion
Writing

STEP 1. VOCABULARY. You can download the pdf here.

To talk, you need words. These are the words I think my intermediate students will probably need.

Adjectives

fresh fish
frozen lasagne
low-fat /high fat cheese
raw fish
spicy chicken
takeaway pizza
tinned meatballs
ready-made dish
delicious /nice taste
it’s nice/ it’s disgusting
fizzy drinks
healthy/unhealthy food
fatty food

Verbs

to eat out
to eat sensibly
to cut down on sugar
to cut out sugar
to be on a diet
to lose weight
to put on weight
to order food
to take vitamins
to take food supplements
to try new food
to contain vitamins and minerals
to have a balanced diet

Nouns

(food that is high/low in) carbohydrates “carbs”
(rich/high – low/poor in) proteins
(high in ) sugar
eating habits
a nutritionist
fats

STEP 2. LISTENING COMPREHENSION

At this level, students know what a “vegetarian” is. So write the word VEGETARIAN on the whiteboard and ask students if they know any vegetarians and if they do, what it is like for them when they eat out. Write the word “veggie” and explain that it is another term for vegetarian. Play the listening below, just for fun! It only lasts 36 seconds and it is worth every second of it!

The word “vegetarian” is a blanket term used to describe somebody who does not eat meat, poultry, fish or seafood. But then, within this term there exist different sub-groups. Ask students if they know any of these sub-groups and if they think a diet without meat is better than a diet with it.

Tell students they are going to do a listening comprehension about the different types of vegetarians.

STEP 3. SPEAKING. You can download the pdf here

Picture description: Students describe the pictures talking about the topic suggested .

EATING OUT IS NEVER A HEALTHY OPTION. Do you agree?

Interaction. Students in pairs or in threes talk about the questions elaborating on the answers.

Is there any food or drink that you couldn’t live without? How often do you drink/eat it?
Is there any food that you dislike? Which is it?
What was your favourite food when you were a child?
Do you eat healthily? Explain
Do you ever have…

ready-made food?
takeaway food?

Do you prefer to eat at restaurants or at home?
What’s the best restaurant you have been to?
Is a vegetarian diet better than a diet that includes meat? Why?
What kind of diet would you recommend to a friend?
Eating habits have changed a lot in Spain . Do you agree?
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” Do you agree with this proverb?

STEP 4. WRITING

Write an opinion essay on :

Eating meat can cause serious health problems so the best option is to become a vegetarian. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Check out how to write a for and against essay in my Writing Section here.

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Word of the Day: Expressions with MIND

14 October 2015Word of the Dayidioms, mind, vocabularyCristina Cabal

How many expressions do you know containing the word MIND? Have a look at these ones:

Can you guess their meaning? Click to display

What gift do you have in mind for Harry?

Intend ( to get)

[collapse]

Emily has set her mind on a degree on medicine

decided to try and achieve// it can also be followed by “to”

[collapse]

You should bear in mind that the text is only one hour

remember

[collapse]

I must be out of my mind lending Gavin money!

crazy

[collapse]

I tried to remember her name, but my mind went completely blank

cannot remember anything

[collapse]

He turned to go and then seemed to change his mind

Adopt a different opinion or plan

[collapse]

He made up his mind to attend the meeting although it was a difficult decision

Make a decision

[collapse]

I do not have any particular person in mind for this job

Be thinking of someone or something

[collapse]

We should take Alice to the cinema tonight.It will take her mind off her exams

make her stop thinking about

[collapse]

Now , try to answer these questions containing expressions with the word “mind”

What do you need to bear in mind when …?

buying a second-hand car?
setting up your own business?
writing a composition?

Are you an indecisive person ? Do you often change your mind? Do you change your mind about trivial things or about more serious ones? When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
Are you planning your next holidays? What sort of holidays do you have in mind?
Do you find it easy to make up your mind ..

when you are buying clothes?
when the option is telling a lie or telling the truth?

Talk about the last time your mind went blank. Where were you? What were you doing? What happened?
Talk about a time

you went out of your mind with grief
you wanted something so much , you just went out of your mind and paid a fortune for it
you were bored out of your mind

Finish the sentence: It seemed impossible at first but I set my mind on …. and
Where do you go and what do you do to take your mind off your problems?

Test your knowledge below (only for Spanish students)

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