English Essays assignments

1. Classroomscenarios

Look at these classroom situations. Explain how you would deal with each of the situations shown below. Write not less than 200 words on each one.

Situation 1 

You are the head of department and you observe an upper-intermediate class of 12 students, all about 20 years old. During the lesson the teacher gives out a newspaper article. She then asks each student to read a paragraph from the article in turn, starting on the left hand side of the room and moving round the room. When they have finished reading, the teacher asks them factual questions on the text. What advice would you give this teacher?

Situation 2 

You have provided your pre-intermediate class with plenty of speaking and writing practice. However, your class of 15 adults is always asking you for more grammar. At first you were unhappy about this and told them that learning to speak the language did not just involve learning grammar. However, they have continued to ask for more grammar. How can you best deal with this situation?

Situation 3 

You are teaching a class in an English-speaking country and you have stuck closely to the textbook with your intermediate-level class of adults. However, the students say that they have difficulty understanding people outside the classroom; for example, people in shops, and English-speaking students. How can you respond in order to improve their listening skills?

Situation 4 

You are the head of department and you observe this exchange in a teacher’s lesson. What advice would you give this teacher?

Teacher: 

Jacob: TT: Maria: TT: Ying: Teacher: Marta: Teacher: Dodee: Teacher: 

Now you try to complete this sentence in your own way. ‘If I win the lottery I ……….’ 

If I win the lottery, I will buy a new car.

Maria?

If I win the lottery, I will buy a new house.

Ying?

If I win the lottery, I will go China for a holiday.

Marta?

If I won the lottery, I will go on holiday.

No, that’s not right Marta. You haven’t been listening. Dodee? If I win the lottery, I will stop working and retire.

Ok. Now write five sentences of your own. 

 

2. Vocabularychallenge1

You teach a class of lower-intermediate students. In one week you meet the following words in different reading passages. Each sentence contains a word that is new to your students. (We will pretend here that they cannot guess the meaning!) Explain clearly how you would help them to understand the meaning of the words in bold in each case.

.a)  Thehousewassurroundedbyalow,woodenfence.

.b)  She welcomed him very warmly and offered him some food.

.c)  Hewipedherfacewithamoistcloth.

.d)  Shereluctantlyagreedtocleanherbedroom.

.e)  Theteacherlivedinasmallterracedhousenotfarfromthepark.

.f)  He picked up the pebble and threw it as hard as he could.

3. Vocabularychallenge2

You teach a class of lower-intermediate students. In one week you meet the following sentences in different reading passages. Each sentence contains a phrase that is new to your students. (Again, we will pretend here that they cannot guess the meaning!) Explain clearly how you would help them to understand the meaning of the phrases in bold in each case.

.a)  However hard he tried to get rid of the stain he just seemed to make it worse.

.b)  Her father agreed to come to the school to try to sort out the situation.

.c)  The crowds were very thick and he held tightly onto his wallet because his

wife had told him to look out for pickpockets.

4. Lessonplancritique

Look carefully at the lesson plan that follows. Comment on the preliminary headings (Aim etc.) and then each step of the plan with regard to its value and effectiveness. Since there are some weaknesses in this plan, show clearly what changes you would like to make.

Class Elementary level – 12 students Date 17/3/05

Time 9:30

Aim:

To teach students to use have got / has got and contracted forms ‘ve got / ‘s got

Theme:

Describing people

Teaching Aids:

 

 

Table (on board)

Taped dialogue

Fill in the blanks activity

Notions / Functions:

Making statements and describing

Target Language:

I have got/’ve got red hair.

He has got/’s got black hair.

They have got/’ve got freckles. We’ve all got large feet!

He’s got a beard and he’s wearing ….

New Vocabulary:

freckles, beard, moustache, scar, blond hair, dyed hair, wig

Assumptions:

They are familiar with the Present Continuous tense.

Lesson Steps:

1. 2.

3.

4. 5. 6.

Explain how the expression has got is constructed. Tell the students how it is used.

Use a large picture of several people. Point to one of the figures and elicit individual words from the students about that figure. (e.g. moustache, hat, jacket, red shoes, scar etc.) Repeat with the other figures. Write the vocabulary on the board. Teach any important new vocabulary. Ask the class to repeat the new vocabulary altogether 4 or 5 times.

Using the picture and the students’ vocabulary, introduce the target language using he’s got. E.g. He’s got red hair. Write examples on the board. Ask the students to repeat each sentence 4 or 5 times altogether.

Encourage individuals to use the target language when you point at the picture.

Class practice – students work in pairs to describe the figures on the board. Teacher watches from the doorway.

Give students the script for a dialogue. Play the short recorded dialogue between John and Peter. They are at a wedding and talking about their new girlfriends, and describing them. Students listen and take notes.

 

7. 8. 9.

10.

Elicit from students the descriptions of the girls and what they were wearing. E.g. She is wearing a blue dress.

Hand out a short passage (based on tape dialogue) with gaps which the students complete to practise have got / has got for describing people.

In groups of three, the students play a game. They take turns to describe any member of the class. The other two look around the room and guess which student it is. Teacher observes from a distance.

 

For homework the students write a story in which people are described.