SCUOLA INTERATENEO DI SPECIALIZZAZIONE PER LA FORMAZIONE DEGLI INSEGNANTI DELLA SCUOLA SECONDARIA

INDIRIZZO LINGUE STRANIEREIV CICLOII ANNOA.A. 2003-2004

SPECIALIZZANDA: PAOLA GAIANIGONUMERO DI MATRICOLA: R02568LINGUA DI SPECIALIZZAZIONE: INGLESEDOCENTI: PROF.SSE BARBARA BERTIN & ANNAVALERIA GUAZZIERI

LANGUAGE TEACHING MODULE

1) TARGET CLASS

Level: complete beginnersAge: 11Type of school: 1st class of Scuola MediaTime of school-year: beginning of 1st termNumber of students: 20Degree of student homogeneity: mixed-ability class, no streamingPrerequisites: there are no prerequisites for the entry module

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2) OVERALL EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE MODULE

Pupils will:

- experience group work- experience helping weaker students to participate in group work- practise taking turns in dialogues- socialize

LINGUISTIC OBJECTIVES OF THE MODULE

Functions:

At the end of module 1 pupils will be able to:

- greet- identify things- identify people- ask for and give personal information- express age- ask and talk about possession- ask and talk about family members- introduce oneself and introduce other people- describe people- express likes and dislikes

Grammar:

In module 1 pupils will study:

- demonstratives: “this/that”- possessive adjectives- the definite article: “the”- the indefinite article: “a, an”- plural of nouns- subjective personal pronouns- the verb “to be”- the interrogative adverbs: “what”, “where”, “who”, “how”, “how many”- the possessive case- the quantifiers “some/any”- the verb “have got”- objective personal pronouns

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- the verb “to like”

Vocabulary:

In module 1 pupils will find words belonging to the following semantic fields:- numbers 1-100- musical instruments- countries- nationalities- jobs- colours- clothes- pets- family- hobbies- physical appearance

Skills:

In module 1 pupils will develop the following skills:

LISTENING: - understanding personal information, understanding a simple conversation about hobbies

and jobs, recognizing numbers, understanding a simple conversation in a shop

SPEAKING:- introducing oneself, asking for personal information, compare notes about personal

information, asking and saying one’s age

READING:- understanding a short letter of introduction, understanding a simple passage about pets,

understanding a simple passage about job, hobbies and physical appearance of a famous person

WRITING:- filling in a chart with personal information, using punctuation and capitalization

correctly, writing a short letter of introduction, giving personal information about people, describing physical appearance

STUDY SKILLS:- asking how you say words in English, learning vocabulary, understanding, inferring,

answering questions orally and in written form, extensive reading (skimming), intensive reading (scanning), memorising, using the dictionary

PRONUNCIATION:- pronouncing the alphabet, identifying word stress, recognizing sound groups, spelling

words

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3) ELEMENTS/STRONG FEATURES OF THE FRAMEWORK ON WHICH THE MODULE IS BASED

Approach:

PPPPPP stands for Presentation, Practice and Production. In PPP classes or sequences, the teacher presents the context and situation for the language and both explains and demonstrates the meaning and form of the new language. The students then practise making sentences with the new structure before going on to the production stage in which they talk more freely about themselves or other people in the real world. PPP is extremely effective for teaching simple language at lower levels. It becomes less appropriate when students already know a lot of language, and therefore don’t need the same kind of marked presentation. Because many people acquire languages by hearing them first, many teachers prefer to expose students to the spoken form first. However, some students may need the reassurance of the written word as well. In the presentation stage of each unit of this module the teacher should choose to use a listening comprehension (a dialogue for example); listening can be a very effective activity in language learning if played twice at least, the second time with the support of the written text. In the other stages of each unit the four basic linguistic skills are developed; this makes the module a skill-based module.

Method:

The teacher should use a NOTIONAL-FUNCTIONAL METHOD. He/she has to reproduce in class realistic situations and facts which arouse communication, so that pupils - through a willing suspension of disbelief - learn English as if in real life.

Modalities:- Frontal lessons, group work, pair work, individual work.

Activities:- Listening comprehension, note-taking, reading comprehension, underlining, multiple-

choice questions, open questions, charts to fill in, open dialogue, dramatization, cloze text, structural exercises, report, guided composition, games, songs.

Materials:- Blackboard, photocopies, pictures, cassette and video recorder (laboratory), magazines,

pen-friend, charts and classroom objects. Notebooks should be divided into four parts: VOCABULARY, FUNCTIONS, GRAMMAR and EXERCISES.

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Duration of the module:

24 fifty-minute-hours.

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4) PLAN OF THE MODULE MODULE 1 THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU

FUNCTIONS STRUCTURES VOCABULARYUNIT 1: WELCOME TO BRITAIN!1st lesson: listening activity2nd lesson: speaking activity3rd lesson: reading activity4th lesson: writing activity5th lesson: revision 6th lesson: oral testing

- greeting people- identifying objects

- this/that- possessive adjectives: my/your/his/her- articles the, a/an- plural of nouns

- numbers 1-10- musical instruments

UNIT 2: ARE YOU SYLVIA HART?1st lesson: listening activity2nd lesson: speaking activity3rd lesson: reading activity4th lesson: writing activity5th lesson: written testing6th lesson: correction and remedial work

- identifying people- asking for and giving personal information- expressing age

- subjective personal pronouns: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they- possessive adjectives: our/their- the verb “be” in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms- what, where, who, how, how many, how old- possessive case-some/any

- countries- nationalities- numbers 11-100- jobs

UNIT 3: SYLVIA’S GOT A BROTHER1st lesson: listening activity2nd lesson: speaking activity3rd lesson: reading activity4th lesson: writing activity5th lesson: revision6th lesson: oral testing

- asking and talking about possession- asking and talking about family members

- the verb “have got” in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms

- colours- clothes- pets- family

UNIT 4: PLEASED TO MEET YOU1st lesson: listening activity2nd lesson: speaking activity3rd lesson: reading activity4th lesson: writing activity5th lesson: written testing6th lesson: correction and remedial work, “Check your objectives”!: ( four activities for self-assessment concerning functions, grammar,skills and lexis of the whole module)

- introducing oneself and introducing other people- describing people- expressing likes and dislikes

- objective personal pronouns: me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them- adjectives to describe appearance- the verb “like” in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms

- hobbies- physical description

5) TWO CONSECUTIVE LESSONS: LESSON 3 AND LESSON 4 (UNIT 3)

THIRD TIME UNIT: READING (REINFORCEMENT)

During the previous lesson pupils practised speaking in a dramatization of a dialogue between Mike and the shop assistant in a sports shop, a pair work and an interview simulation. Finally, the teacher delivered this photocopy for HOMEWORK:

FILL IN THE CHART:

FATHER MOTHER BROTHER SISTER FRIEND ME

glasses

computer

calculator

secret diary

bicycle V = has got/have got X = hasn’t got/haven’t got

NOW REPORT LIKE THIS: My father has got (a pair of glasses) and (a computer), but he hasn’t got ..................... .

The lesson ended with a CHAIN-WORK, a very amusing activity for pupils, suitable for the last minutes of a lesson, because it widens the pupils’ attention span. The teacher picked up an object (a light pencilcase), he/she said: “Have you got a computer?”, then he/she threw the object to a high-achiever, who answered, and did the same as the teacher to continue the game. Some extra-work was given as forfeit to pupils who made mistakes and to the one who was keeping the object when the school-bell started ringing.

Today, pupils deal with reading activities. In the first ten minutes the teacher checks homework: he/she asks some pupils to read their report while he/she walks around the classroom to examine notebooks.

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES:

The teacher shows a MAGAZINE for young people to pupils and asks them to look at the pictures. The pictures show people at home with their own pet. He/she hands out photocopies of a reading passage bearing the title “Pets”. As WARM UP, the teacher explains the title of the reading passage and asks some general questions on the pictures and some personal spontaneous questions to anticipate the topic of the reading:“Who can you see in the picture?”“Where is she?”

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“What has she got in her hands?”“Do you like pets?”“Have you got any?”etc....

WHILE-READING ACTIVITIES (about 10 minutes):

PETS

Introduction:The British love animals. Many families have got one or two pets. Their pets are part of the family. Popular pets are dogs, cats and birds. But some people have got very unusual pets, like Anne: she hasn’t got a dog or a cat, she has got a rat.Anne: “I’m twelve and I’m from London. I’ve got a white rat. His name is Winston. My friends don’t like Winston, but he’s beautiful. He isn’t dangerous. He’s very friendly.”Dave:“I’m a 30-year-old employee. I live in Oxford. I have got lots of pets. I have got two dogs, three cats and some canaries. But my favourite pet is a peacock. His name is Henry. I love Henry and he loves me. I haven’t got a wife or children, so I haven’t got a real family. My pets are my family. We are happy.”

The teacher reads aloud the text once and then asks a few easy questions on it, to help pupils grasp the general meaning. “What is the text about?”“Who is it about?”Pupils do not need to give full answers, the simple required piece of information can satisfy the teacher and assure him/her that they have grasped at least the general meaning of the text (SKIMMING).Now, in order to involve pupils in the reading, a girl is asked to read Anne’s part aloud, a boy to read Dave’s part and a volunteer to read the introduction.

POST-READING ACTIVITIES:

At this stage the teacher allows pupils to ask about the meaning of at most 5 new words, so that pupils learn to find out KEY WORDS, such as <unusual>, <rat>, <dangerous> etc. and get used to making inferences in spite of unknown words. To get a better understanding pupils need SILENT READING, because it takes every pupil a different time to get the exact meaning of each sentence. The teacher gives them about 10 minutes to make in pairs the following SCANNING activities in written form:

a. CLOZE TEXT/FILL IN SUMMARY:

Many British families have got pets such as ....................................................................... .Anne has got an .................................. pet: a white .......................... called .......................... .Dave has got ............................................................................................................... but his................................................. pet is a .......................................... called ............................ .

b. YES/NO QUESTIONS: Do the British like animals?

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Is Anne eleven years old? Is Dave from London? Has Anne got any dogs?

c. TRUE/FALSE SENTENCES: Anne has got a friend called Winston. T F(correct false sentences) Anne’s friends don’t like her pet. T F Dave has got many pets. T F Dave is a student. T F

QUIZ SIMULATION:

After the teacher has listened to as many answers as possible and corrected the wrong ones, he/she divides the class into three teams (pet owners, children with brothers or sisters and only children). Each team chooses a leader. The teacher orders to put away the photocopies “Pets” and reads some MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS such as the ones below:

a popular petsRats are b unusual pets c the British’ favourite pets

a beautiful but dangerousWinston is b friendly c horrible

a because he has got a big familyDave feels happy b because he hasn’t got a family c because he has got many pets

a two cats, two dogs and one peacockDave has got b three cats, two dogs, some canaries and one peacock c three cats, two dogs, four canaries and one peacock

The first leader who raises his/her hand is allowed to give the answer prompted by the team (a, b or c). Of course, the team which gives more right answers is the winner. The quiz is a quick simulation activity (5 minutes’ time), it developes team spirit, amuses pupils and widens attention span.

LANGUAGE AWARENESS:

LEXIS FOCUS (5 minutes): the text can offer the teacher an opportunity to introduce briefly the lexis concerning likes and dislikes (love, don’t like, my favourite ....... is) which will be dealt with more in detail in unit 4. Then he/she asks to circle all the words referring to pets and has them dictated on the blackboard. He/she explains meanings pointing at the pictures in the magazine (“this is a peacock”, etc...) and adds other nouns of pets, like <horse>, <rabbit>, etc... Pupils copy them into their notebooks and repeat them aloud after the teacher. Finally, the rest of the unknown words (<employee>, <wife>....etc.) are explained for a complete understanding of the passage.

GRAMMAR FOCUS: in the last ten minutes of the lesson the teacher helps pupils elicit grammar rules and structures in an inductive way. Grammar focus should be a PUPIL-CENTRED activity

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and should not come before now, as pupils tend to use structures first and to reflect on them afterwards.The teacher asks to underline all the <have got> structures in the text “Pets” and has them dictated on the blackboard:

Some people have got unusual pets.She hasn’t got a dog.She has got a rat.I’ve got a white rat.I haven’t got a real family.

The teacher asks the class to compare and explain in Italian the different forms: HAVE GOT, HAS GOT, HAVEN’T GOT, HASN’T GOT. He/she can ask questions in Italian to guide them to the right conclusions (“Che differenza c’è tra .......?”, “I’ve got è l’abbreviazione di che cosa?”, etc...).Then he/she presents a chart like this:

AFFERMATIVE SENTENCES

subject verb <have got> object

IYOU HAVE GOT (full form) A PETWE ‘VE GOT (short form) THEY

HESHE HAS GOT (full form) TWO DOGS IT ‘S GOT (short form)

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

subject verb <have/has got> + not object

IYOU HAVE NOT GOT (full form) A SECRET DIARYWE HAVEN’T GOT (short form) THEY

HE SHE HAS NOT GOT (full form) A CALCULATORIT HASN’T GOT (short form)

The same technique is used to show the structure of interrogative sentences and short answers. The teacher asks some more questions and gives further explanations; the chart is quite easy to understand, so it is not necessary to dictate rules.

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For HOMEWORK pupils are given the following task and these STRUCTURAL EXERCISES:

A. RICAVA 6 DOMANDE DALLA LETTURA “PETS” USANDO I PRONOMI INTERROGATIVI: <WHAT>, <WHO>, <WHERE>, <HOW OLD>, <HOW MANY>, E <WHY>.

B. RICAVA LE FRASI USANDO LA FORMA AFFERMATIVA E NEGATIVA DI <HAVE GOT>:

ex.: I/black shoes. I have got black shoes. I haven’t got black shoes.

1. Mary/your telephone number. .................................................................................... ...................................................................................

2. They/a lot of pets. ................................................................................... ................................................................................... (etc....)

C. RICAVA LE DOMANDE USANDO <HAVE GOT>, POI RISPONDI CON RISPOSTE BREVI:

ex.: SUE/a dress Has Sue got a dress? Yes, she has.

1. YOU/a bicycle ................................................................................... ...................................................................................

2. JOHN AND HELEN/a camera ................................................................................... ...................................................................................

D. COMPLETA IL SEGUENTE DIALOGO:

SHOP ASSISTANT: Hello! ..................................I help you?

CUSTOMER: Yes. Have you got ...................................... trousers?

SHOP ASSISTANT: Sure! We ...........................got many!

CUSTOMER: .............................. colours ..................................got?

E. COME CHIEDERESTI A QUALCUNO IN INGLESE:

a. se ha fratelli o sorelle: ....................................................................................................b. quanti ne ha: ..................................................................................................................c. come si chiamano: .........................................................................................................

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F. INSERISCI “HAVE GOT/HAS GOT/HAVEN’T GOT/HASN’T GOT” NEGLI SPAZI:

My friend .............................................. a big computer, but he ..................................... any computer games............................................... (you) a red pen? - Yes, here you are. My cousins .............................................. any pets.

G. RIORDINA LE SEGUENTI PAROLE:

a. has/a pair of/she/jeans/got.b. sister/got/my/hasn’t/money/any.c. a/pen/you/have/red/got/?d. have/got/I/black/jacket/ae. haven’t/got/any/they/CDsf. name/What’s/cat’s/your/?

Pupils are also asked to bring the poster of a pet to the next English lesson.

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FOURTH TIME UNIT: WRITING (PRODUCTION)

SPELLING REVISE:

After checking homework (10 minutes), the teacher collects all the posters and pictures of pets brought by the pupils, he/she shows one picture and asks someone:“What pet is this?”“Can you spell it, please?”“What colour is it?”It is a short oral activity to revise the lexis learnt in the previous lesson and to get the class ready for a dictation.

DICTATION:

The dictation is the best written reinforcement. It may be a short text similar to the one read in the previous lesson. The teacher reads the whole text aloud once, then he/she dictates slowly every single sentence, finally he/she reads the whole text one more time and collects the pupils’ sheets to correct the dictations at home. The activity should last at most 15 minutes altogether.

DICT.COMP. OR MUTUAL DICTATION:

It can be instead of or after the dictation. The teacher prepares two versions of the target text and gaps it, so that the gaps in version A correspond with the words in version B and vice versa.He/she pairs the pupils - preferably face to face so it’s hard for them to look at each other’s sheets - and gets them to dictate their versions to each other to complete the text in front of them.At the end, each looks at the other’s version to check accuracy.The teacher delivers the following texts:

TEXT A:Sam is a ..........-year-old student from ............................ . He is quite tall and slim, he has got .......................... eyes and fair hair and has got ............................ . He lives in a big house with his family: his parents and .......................................................... Sally. He hasn’t got any brothers.Sam loves dogs, but his parents ................................. animals, so he hasn’t got any pets but a goldfish. Its name is ...................... . Sam hates ....................................................... , he prefers feeding Pablo or playing computer games. His favourite computer game is .................................. .

TEXT B:............ is a 12-year-old ............................. from Manchester. He is .................................................,he has got blue eyes and ........................ hair and has got glasses. He lives in .....................................with his family: his parents and his little sister ...................... . He hasn’t got any brothers.Sam loves ........................., but his parents hate animals, so he hasn’t got any pets but a ......................... . Its name is Pablo. Sam ...................... doing homework, he prefers ............................................................................................... . His favourite computer game is “Star wars”.

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The class is divided into rows A and B, so that no pair is delivered the same text.This activity improves the pupils’ spoken time and compels to cooperation; they can ask the partner questions such as: “How old is Sam?”, “Where is he from?”, “What colour are his eyes?”, “Who is Sally?”, etc.... They can also ask: “Can you spell it, please?”, so it gets also a vocabulary revise on family members and pets and an introduction to likes and dislikes (see next unit). At the end one pupil is asked to read the whole text aloud.

OPEN DIALOGUE (10 minutes):

Pupils now fill in an OPEN DIALOGUE to practise the <have got> structure in the first person. It is advisable to fulfil this task in the laboratory, where pupils can write their cues, then listen to the mum’s cues from the tape and answer in a limited time span.

STAI USCENDO PER ANDARE A SCUOLA, COMPLETA IL DIALOGO CON LA TUA MAMMA:

MUM: Have you got your school-bag?YOU: .......................................................MUM: How many books have you got?YOU: ................................................................MUM: What about your English book?YOU: ............................................................MUM: And the ticket for the bus? Where is it?YOU: ............................................................MUM: Oh! But you haven’t got an umbrella!YOU: .............................................................MUM: Here is a chocolate snack.YOU: ...........................................................MUM: Have a nice day!YOU: ...........................................................

An open dialogue is a very useful form of guided production, because it developes linguistic competence in a realistic communicative situation.

RIDDLE:

In the last 15 minutes of the lesson the teacher writes the following questions on the blackboard:“How old are you?”“Have you got any brothers or sisters?”“How old are they?”“Have you got any pets? What pets?”“What are their names?”Pupils are given a few minutes to write down the answers on a sheet, then the teacher collects all the sheets and puts them one on the other. He/she orders one pupil: “Say a number!”, then he/she counts that number out of the pile of sheets, reads aloud and asks the class: “Who is it?”. The game can go on till all sheets are read. Here language is used not only as an aim, but also as an effective means to get personal information, to get to know each other better. Before the school-bell rings, the teacher hands out photocopies for homework.

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HOMEWORK:

A. JIGSAW: RICOSTRUISCI LA LETTERA DELLA TUA “PEN-FRIEND” CHE E’ STATA STRAPPATA PER ERRORE:

My parents’ names are Martin and Kate. I have got one brother. His name is Nick and he is 15. I also have got a dog, two cats and a canary.

Hello! I am your new pen-friend! Write soon! Bye!

What about your family? Have you got any brothers or sisters? How many have you got? Have you got any pets? What are their names?

I am an English pupil from London and I am 12. My name is Mary Green.

The dog’s name is Wolf and the cats’ names are Blackie and Jordan. My favourite pet is my canary, he is light yellow and his name is Frank.

B. GUIDED PRODUCTION: COMPILA LA TABELLA, POI SCRIVI UNA LETTERA DI RISPOSTA A MARY USANDO LA SUA LETTERA COME MODELLO:

MARY YOU________________________________________________________________________________FULL NAME ________________________________________________________________________________NATIONALITY________________________________________________________________________________AGE________________________________________________________________________________JOB________________________________________________________________________________FAMILY MEMBERS________________________________________________________________________________PETS________________________________________________________________________________PETS’ NAMES________________________________________________________________________________

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