Tag Archives: lesson plan

Lesson Plan: At the doctor’s

Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, , , , , , ,

Let this post be written in memory and as my tribute to my father, if not a good (I’m not the one to say), at least a well-respected doctor among his colleagues and patients. Let this post be a  far too late explanation of why I didn’t choose to become  a doctor when I/ we knew that it had always been my father’s dream.
During  my childhood and adolescence I lived surrounded by scalpels, syringes, pills,… several rooms in my house were dedicated to my father’s private  practice (there was not a Seguridad Social center ). I have seen  too much blood  and bleeding to last me a lifetime and it certainly took its toll on me. I’m going to save you the gory details but one of my earliest memories is knowing there was a piece of frozen lip in the kitchen freezer from one of my best friends’ brother ( a dog had bitten him). My father always dreamed of one of his children following his line of work but we all disappointed him. I wouldn’t like to be a doctor and the reasons are several.

• All my life I have seen my father being woken up in the middle of the night and leaving home in a hurry
• All my life I have dreaded the telephone ringing in the middle of our Christmas’s dinner and even sometimes we opened up our presents while my father was away healing somebody else
• All my life I have seen my father being verbally assaulted in the streets by patients who didn’t understand that he was not working and he, having the patient of a saint, answering all their doubts and above all, listening.
• All my life I have seen my father worrying to death about a patient
• All my life I have heard people criticising doctors for making mistakes, not prescribing enough pills or too many pills, seeing patients too fast or too slowly. I have seen my father cry over the death of a friend when he, who presumably, had the power, could do nothing to save him. Dad!! You were not God!

There’s a long etc of why I have never considered being a doctor but all my life I have seen my father dedicated to a job that he loved. A good doctor is more than academic excellence, it requires more than brain and skill it is also about compassion, kindness, humanity, tolerance, sensitivity and I like to believe that my father possessed all of them.

Here’s a lesson about Going to the doctor’s I have prepared for my pre-intermediate students. You’re warmly welcome to do it.

Click here

The Weather: The British National Passion

Lesson Plan: Advanced, , , , ,

Isn’t it true that one of the first things that comes into your mind when you hear the word “England “is bad weather?

Contrary to the popular belief IT does NOT RAIN everyday but the thing is that talking about the weather is a national obsession and pastime. In England this is an ever-interesting, even thrilling topic, and you must be good at discussing the weather . It’s also important to learn this rule:”Never ever contradict anybody when discussing the weather”. Should it hail and snow, should hurricanes uproot the trees from the sides of the road, and should someone remark to you: “Nice day, isn’t it?” – answer without hesitation: “Isn’t it lovely?” (adapted from How to be an Alien)

It’s therefore important that you know how to respond to comments about weather as it often seems to be the device to start a conversation. Now that you have been warned, don’t miss the opportunity to do this lesson plan I have prepared for my Advanced students on The Weather. Click here to see the whole Lesson Plan

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Good table manners help dieting

General, Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, , , , , , , , ,

If only I had known first I’d have paid more attention to my mother when she persistently tried to teach me and my siblings good table manners, but when you are a child you can’t see the point of not getting a bit of fun out of flinging crusts of bread, making a mashed potato snowman or getting my brother and sisters’ hair red with tomato sauce (my mother would have never allowed ketchup to enter her kitchen).  

My mother was educated in a nun’s school. It was a time when subjects such as Maths or Languages were not as important as knowing how to knit or embroider. In a way it wasn’t as different as the education received by the female characters depicted in “Jane Eyre” by Charlote Brontë or in “Pride and Prejudice”  by my very much admired Jane Austen.

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One of the things my mother was taught was good table manners and since me and my siblings were very young we were insistently reminded of  things such as keeping elbows off the table, eating small bites, sitting straight, placing the napkin on our laps and …. a long etc I’m not going to bore you to death with.
What I didn’t know and have just found out is that good table manners can help you lose weight so as I’m a bit on the plumpish side my mother might not have taught me so well.
That’s why I have paid careful attention to this video where Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, an Australian and an etiquette expert, explains how good table manners can help you lose weight.
Watch the video here and do the activity

If you are interested in this theme, Click here to see a whole lesson plan I have prepared for my pre-intermediate students on Restaurants and Food.

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What’s a “veggie”?

…a pescatarian

Explore

Lesson Plan: Advanced, Listening, , , , , , , ,

The video you are about to watch is part of  an activity I will be doing with my students one of these days. The videos of Mali and Dubai and all the exercises from the videos have been provided  by my colleague MªJosé (visit her blog here). My only contribution has been to arrange what she so generously provided into a Lesson Plan which you will find here: Lesson Plan

[flashvideo filename=https://www.cristinacabal.com/videos/Mali.flv /]

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Let’s go Shopping

Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, Listening, Word of the Day, , , , , , , ,

I never say “no” when one of my friends phones me to suggest going shopping. I love it!!!

Although I like going shopping a lot I don’t see myself as a shopaholic: I am definitely not a compulsive shopper although I am one of those who sort of view going shopping as a hobby. It helps me relax but I certainly do not spend money I do not have and I am not drowning in debt because of my purchases. Well, this is what I tell my mother every single time she tells me off for wearing new clothes.

Anyway, this is a video from the film Pretty Woman, which I’m sure all of you have seen.

You can do three things:
♦ Just watch and enjoy it

For students in the elementary level
♦ Watch the video and do some exercises 
♦ Do a whole lesson plan on going shopping  Here

And now that we are on the subject what about learning some expressions containing the word shop?

→ talk shop
if people who work together talk shop, they talk about their work when they are not at work
Even when they go out in the evening, they just talk shop all the time.

→go window-shopping
to go about looking at goods in store windows without actually buying anything.
Joan said she was just going window-shopping, but she bought a new coat.

→shop around (for something)
 to shop at different stores to find what you want at the best price.
You can find a bargain, but you’ll have to shop around.

→be like a bull in a china shop
to often drop or break things because you move awkwardly or roughly.

Rob’s like a bull in a china shop – don’t let him near those plants.