Links - mrcharles.my
Transcription
Links - mrcharles.my
PLANNING LESSONS for COMMUNICATIVE ENGLISH A Handbook For Teachers Everywhere © 2015 by Department Of Polytechnic Education (Malaysia) First published 2015 eISBN 978-967-0838-07-6 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Every effort has been made to ensure the materials produced are original. Authors are responsible for ensuring the work produced do not violate or breach any copyrights. The publisher and editors will not be held responsible for any breach of rights by the authors. Edited and compiled by: Tan Sui Chee Charles W.K. Cheng Alfred Valentine Bakrin Published by: Politeknik Melaka No.2 , Jalan PPM 10 , Plaza Pandan Malim, 75250, Melaka Tel: 06 – 3376000 Fax : 06-3376007 Planning Lessons For Communicative English A Handbook For Teachers Everywhere EDITOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tan Sui Chee Dr. Prasanna Kesavan Politeknik Ungku Omar Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Aliza Abdul Razak Charles W.K. Cheng Kolej Komuniti Semporna Alfred Valentine Bakrin Politeknik Kuching Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Marina Abu Bakar Politeknik Melaka Ooi Kien Bee COVER DESIGN: Politeknik Balik Pulau Charles W.K. Cheng Kolej Komuniti Semporna Radika Subramaniam Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah Kala Nathan Kolej Vokasional Likas Gurminderjeet Kaur Kartar Singh Kolej Komuniti Sabak Bernam Anita Mary Fathi Rosary Rajan Kolej Vokasional Bentong Jaime Mundu Politeknik Kota Kinabalu Front cover image and topic cover images courtesy of www.negativespace.co; the owner(s) have dedicated these images to the public domain under CC0 creative commons license by waiving their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law. Back cover image © 2015, Charles. W.K. Cheng. Image may not be reproduced or reused for any purposes without written consent from the copyright holder. Roslan Mamat Politeknik Kota Bharu Noorasmawati Shafee Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Nurazmira Abdul Wahab Kolej Vokasional Puteri Temerloh Rozalita Saupi Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Aida Fazlin Hisham @ Hassan Politeknik Kuala Terengganu CONTENTS SECTIONS PAGE Preface Acknowledgements Introduction TOPIC 1 DIGITAL LITERACY Activity 1.1 Activity 1.2 Using Wordle To Describe Products and Services Using Wordle To Pre-teach Vocabulary and Do a Reading Task Using Photofunia To Describe An Experience in Past Tense Using Youtube To Talk About Pollution Using Wordle To Teach Vocabulary Using Padlet To Teach Sequence Connectors Using Youtube To Teach WH-QUESTION words Using Youtube To Teach Warnings, Rules and Regulations Activity 1.3 Activity 1.4 Activity 1.5 Activity 1.6 Activity 1.7 Activity 1.8 TOPIC 2 DIFFERENTIATION Activity 2.1 Activity 2.2 Activity 2.3 Activity 2.4 Activity 2.5 Categorizing Places of Interest in Malaysia Describing How An Electrical Product Works Elaborating Points When Writing An Essay Anticipating Questions and Preparing Responses How To Build Your Future (Listening Activity) TOPIC 3 JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Activity 3.1 Activity 3.2 Activity 3.3 Activity 3.4 Activity 3.5 Activity 3.6 Activity 3.7 Activity 3.8 Activity 3.9 Make Posters on Natural Disasters Discussing ‘Child Abuse’ Discussing ‘Deforestation’ Identifying Sequence In A Process Describing Processes and Procedures Describing Trends On a Line Graph Describe Your Graph Please Extracting Information from Job Advertisements How To Write A Complaint Letter vii viii ix PAGE 2 7 9 12 14 15 16 18 PAGE 21 22 23 26 28 PAGE 33 34 40 44 47 50 54 55 57 TOPIC 4 DRILLING Activity 4.1 Activity 4.2 Activity 4.3 Activity 4.4 Extending, Accepting or Rejecting Invitations I'm Really Drawn To This Job Because… Is Used For/Are Used For What Is This? TOPIC 5 LANGUAGE SUPPORT Activity 5.1 Activity 5.2 Activity 5.3 What Is This Item? What Do These Words Mean? What Can These Equipment Do? TOPIC 6 FILLER ACTIVITIES Activity 6.1 Activity 6.2 Activity 6.3 Activity 6.4 Activity 6.5 Activity 6.6 Activity 6.7 Activity 6.8 Activity 6.9 Remember My Name Back To The Board (Hot Seat) Ice Breaking With Pictures My Dream The Flyswatter Game Ice Breaking With Adjectives Can You Guess The Word? This Is My Opinion DIY TABOO Game PAGE 63 66 67 69 PAGE 72 75 78 PAGE 80 81 82 83 84 86 87 88 89 Preface In 2013, the Ministry began developing the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015–2025 (Higher Education) or the MEB (HE). Over the course of two years, the Ministry drew on multiple sources of input, from Malaysian and international education experts, to leaders of Malaysian HLIs and members of the public. The Blueprint was then launched in April 2015. The focus of the Education Blueprint is improving teacher quality, reducing administrative burdens, broadening access, and reforming curriculum and assessment in order to propel Malaysia to a position in the top one-third of countries globally in PISA and TIMS by 2025. The blueprint also recognizes that a greater emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and proficiency in English is required to support higherincome jobs and raise competitiveness. As such, the Department of Polytechnic Education has worked with Westminster Kingsway College, London, to enhance the English lecturers’ pedagogical skills through a course that focuses on in the planning and delivery of classes to support all learners on vocational courses in which English forms a part of their programme. In return, the participants have written this book to provide other English lecturers and teachers in the vocational sector, not just from polytechnics but other institutions as well, with easy-touse and practical lesson plans to be tried out with their learners. Datuk Haji Mohlis Bin Jaafar Director General Department of Polytehnic Education Ministry of Higher Education I was glad when I heard that English lecturers from polytechnics, community colleges and vocational colleges who went to Teacher Training Programme at Westminster Kingsway College, London gained fruitful insight into teaching English. They have greater understanding about Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), in which the subject areas of their learners will be explored in the context of English language classes. There is a close connection with English for Specific Purposes (ESP). I would also like to thank all writers that have contributed in the publication of this book. I hope this book will help to make the teaching and learning of English in vocational sector more effective yet fun. Tajuddin bin Abdul Rashid Director Professional Excellence Division Department of Polytehnic Education Ministry of Higher Education Acknowledgements This book would not have been possible without the support and guidance from several people. First of all, we would like to thank Datuk Haji Mohlis Bin Jaafar, the Director General of Polytechnic Education Department, the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia, for providing us the opportunity to gain invaluable learning experience at the Westminister Kingsway College (WKC), London in November 2014. To the trainers Simon, Bill, Peter, Chris, Andrew, Carole, Katie, Katrina and the team from WKC, we would like to thank you for your hospitality and knowledge shared. To Pn Nurhafizah Yahaya, our Chef De Mission, thank you for being so patient and committed to the cause. To Pn Yusma Yusof, our sincere gratitude goes to you for your words of encouragement and continual support. We are indebted to our family members for their loving support and kind understanding. Our appreciation also goes to our colleagues who have directly or indirectly inspired us in completing this project. Last but not least, we would like to thank all the lecturers who have taken the time to contribute and edit the materials presented in this e- book. Introduction Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has gained an increasingly significant role in the development of more equitable and sustainable societies. Those in the TVET field need to be exposed to the current leading practices in the curriculum design, delivery and assessment in TVET so they can function effectively in their roles. Planning Lessons for Communicative English is an e-book designed for English language teaching practitioners in the TVET field to help them to discover interesting, practical, current and most importantly effective teaching and learning ideas that can be used in classrooms. Those in the TVET field may find the ideas and resources described in the book useful and meaningful in helping learners to understand and acquire target knowledge and skills. It is hoped that the materials in this e-book will not only be interesting for the teaching practitioners but also benefit their professional development. The materials can be used directly with students or adapted to suit their particular needs. Lastly, this e-book can be read cover to cover or readers can use it as reference for information or ideas on particular issues and needs related to their classroom or teaching field. DIGITAL LITERACY Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 1.1 USING “WORDLE” TO DESCRIBE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 10 minutes OBJECTIVE Describe products and services. PREPARATION PowerPoint slides with words describing www.wordle.net or www.worditout.com. products or services using PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Vocabulary and language structure related to description of products. E.g. “It is made of….” or “blue in colour….” etc. IN CLASS 1. Show power point slides with the 1st Wordle image (refer to Appendix). 2. Ask students to look at the words used in Wordle and guess the products/services. 3. Ask student A to use the words in Wordle to describe the product to student B. The students are given 2 minutes to do this. 4. Show the 2nd ‘wordle’ image and reverse the roles between students A and B. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students are asked to think of a product/ service. Use www.wordle.net or www.worditout.com to create an image that can be saved/printed. If computers are available, students can do this in class and after 20 minutes, students guess the product/ service created by their friends and describe it to their partners. If computers are not available, the task can be given as homework and printed out. Students bring the images to class and describe them in pairs. Page 2 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY APPENDIX Sample images Description of a calculator (www.wordle.net). Description of Air Asia (www.worditout.com). Page 3 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY How to use www.wordle.net 1. First, install Java on your PC. 2. Open the webpage. 3. Click “Create”. 4. Key in the words you want to highlight / pre-teach and click “Go”. Page 4 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY How to use www.worditout.com 1. You can use www.worditout.com if you are unable to use www.wordle.com. Open the webpage and click “Create”. 2. Key in the words you would like to highlight or pre-teach and click “Word it out”. 3. Save the image. Page 5 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY 4. To change the layout click “Random Setting”s and click “save”. Either save in a folder or printscreen. Page 6 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY ACTIVITY 1.2 USING “WORDLE” TO PRE-TEACH VOCABULARY AND DO A READING TASK 10 minutes OBJECTIVES Predict the topic of a reading text Pre-teach vocabulary Comprehend the reading text. PREPARATION Select an article on a current issue to be used for reading comprehension. Create a ‘Wordle’ / ’Worditout’ image of words to pre –teach. Include words from the text that can help students to predict the content of the article. IN CLASS 1. Show the ‘Wordle’ / ’Worditout’ image and tell students that these words are related to the article that they are going to read. 2. Students guess the content of the article. 3. Go through the words in the Wordle image to ensure students understand the vocabulary before doing the reading tasks with the students. 4. The teacher can decide to use the text as a reading or listening comprehension task. REMARKS Instead of www.wordle.net, we can also use www.photofunia.com to upload the picture from the article and allow students to guess the content of the article before they read it. Page 7 DIGITAL LITERACY Planning Lessons For Communicative English APPENDIX www.worditout.com MALAYSIA POLICE PROBING SCHOOL BULLYING CASE AFTER VIDEO OF BEATING WENT VIRAL PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A video depicting a schoolgirl being brutally set upon by a group of female schoolmates has gone viral in Malaysia and is now the subject of police investigation. The 77-second video clip is believed to have been recorded via a mobile phone. The video clip begins with a group of about 10 girls loitering near a staircase where they are seen taking "selfies" and rather ironically, flashing "peace signs" to the camera. It all seems rather harmless before the immediate turn around. The girls suddenly gang up and start attacking the victim who, based on the clip, was standing among the group. The attackers proceeded to tear off the victim's headscarf in the attack. The girls were also seen dragging, kicking and pulling the victim's hair. The victim was seen raising her hands to protect her face. After the assault, the sobbing victim was left alone on the top of the staircase. A male pupil was seen in the background observing but was not involved in the beating. The video also showed a rude hand gesture from the student recording the clip, who referred to herself as a "pailang" (bad person in Hokkien). She was seen holding the victim's hand tightly at the beginning of the video. Although the video quality was blurry, the victim appeared to be in tears at the start of the recording, indicating that she may have been subject to verbal abuse before the beating took place. None of the girls were seen to be wearing school emblems but are believed to be students from a school in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. A statement released by assistant chief inspector-general of police secretariat Asst Comm Datin Asmawati Ahmad in the Royal Malaysian Police's official Facebook page said the incident was believed to have taken place on April 25 this year. A report was lodged on May 25 and an investigation is under way. Furious netizens managed to trace the Facebook account of one of the attackers. But the profile has since been deactivated. (Source: The Straits Times 3rd June 2014) Page 8 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY ACTIVITY 1.3 USING “PHOTOFUNIA” TO DESCRIBE AN EXPERIENCE IN PAST TENSE 30 – 40 minutes OBJECTIVES Describe an experience; Use the past tense form in describing events/activities. PREPARATION PowerPoint slide with a picture using ‘photofunia’ (refer to appendix); Book the language lab or get students to use www.photofunia.com and upload a photo they like in .jpeg or .jpg format. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Simple past tense Formulating questions IN CLASS 1. Show the ‘photofunia’ picture (refer to appendix). 2. Let students obtain information about a recent traveling experience of yours by asking them questions. E.g. Where do you think I went? Whom did I go with? What did I do there? 3. Teacher describes her/his experience in the “photofunia”. 4. Teacher demonstrates how to upload pictures in the “photofunia”. 5. Students are given 10 minutes to use the computer to upload a favourite picture using “photofunia”. 6. In pairs, student A describes her/his picture to student B using the past tense form. After 2-3 minutes, student B describes his /her picture. Page 9 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY REMARKS If the language lab is not available, students can be asked to prepare the ‘photofunia’ image at home/library and print out/save it in their smart phones. If the focus is on questioning, students are required to ask their partner questions to elicit information about the picture. However, if the past tense form is the focus, students can be asked to describe their past experience to their partner. APPENDIX Page 10 DIGITAL LITERACY Planning Lessons For Communicative English HOW TO USE www.photofunia.com 1. 1. Open the webpage. 3. Click ‘Choose photo’ and drag a picture image to the centre or upload from a file. 5. Click “go”. 2 .Double click on the design. 4. Crop the part that you like. 6. The picture is now ready to be used. Save/printscreen and crop. Page 11 DIGITAL LITERACY Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 1.4 USING “YOUTUBE” TO TALK ABOUT POLLUTION 25 minutes OBJECTIVES Describe pollution and its effects on mankind Think critically about a current issue PREPARATION Book a computer lab with internet access. Inform the students that they need to give their views on pollution a week before the lesson. IN THE COMPUTER LAB 1. Students work in pairs. 2. Provide students with a link to a short video on water pollution (refer to the Suggested Links section below). They will need to open the link on their computers’ internet browser. 3. Ask students to watch the video and allow them ample time to discuss it with their partner. 4. Students are then given a set of questions (refer to the Appendix). 5. Ask a few pairs to present their views to the class. 6. At the end of the lesson, ask students to choose another video clip (refer to the Suggested Links section below) and write a short article on pollution. They must also cite the link in their article. 7. Allow students at least 4 days to complete the task in Step 6. REMARKS This lesson is suitable for learners with above average English proficiency. Page 12 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY APPENDIX Questions to be answered as they watch the YouTube video on pollution 1. What do you see? 2. How does this video make you feel? 3. What can you do as an individual to prevent this from becoming worse? 4. What can the community do to prevent this from becoming worse? 5. Is there hope in the future for things to get better? Give a reason for your answer. SUGGESTED LINKS Insert the links below exactly as shown; do not change the case of any letter or number. a. https://goo.gl/KMe5Ft b. https://goo.gl/1zx7nW c. https://goo.gl/4P7e3g Page 13 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY ACTIVITY 1.5 USING “WORDLE” TO TEACH VOCABULARY 10 - 20 minutes OBJECTIVES Reinforce words learned in previous lesson Encourage students to speak PREPARATION Create a ‘wordle’ / ’worditout’ image of words that have been taught or discussed in the previous lesson. IN CLASS 1. Students get into groups of four. 2. Show the ‘wordle’ / ’worditout’ image and tell students that those are words taken from the text that they read in the previous lesson. 3. Taking turns, students choose one word from the image and tell the meaning of the word to the group. 4. Other members of the group may correct the student or add more information to his/her explanation. REMARKS Teacher may ask the students to come up with a sentence with the selected word in it. Page 14 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY ACTIVITY 1.6 USING “PADLET” TO TEACH SEQUENCE CONNECTORS 20 - 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Write instructions using sequence connectors. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students are aware of the functions of “instructions”. IN CLASS 1. Show video (https://goo.gl/0HuYuZ) to students; students watch and listen to the explanation in the video (teacher may stop the video to provide explanation as needed). 2. Students then try to construct instructions for a certain procedure (this may be a recipe) using sequence connectors. 3. Open www.padlet.com on a browser and show students how to post on it. 4. Students post their answers on www.padlet.com. Ask students to post their own instructions as much as possible. 5. Teacher discusses the answers with the students and provides feedback on the usage of sequence connectors. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES a. Students are taught how to use imperative instructions, for example : Close the door. Stir for 20 minutes. Boil 20ml of water. b. Teacher may provide extra exercise from www.busyteacher.org or other websites, e.g. http://busyteacher.org/10903-how-to-make-asandwich.html). Students can then post their answers on www.padlet.com. Page 15 DIGITAL LITERACY Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 1.7 USING “YOUTUBE” TO TEACH WH-QUESTION WORDS 20 - 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Use WH-question words to form questions. PREPARATION A PowerPoint presentation with WH-question words. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students have heard about WH-question words. IN CLASS 1. Show a PowerPoint slide with regular and irregular WH-question words (see the Appendix below). 2. Play a video (https://goo.gl/UuH9fq) on the computer/TV. 3. Ask students to identify the usage of each WH-question word. 4. Ask students to construct a simple question using a WH-question word. Provide several suitable examples. 5. Open www.padlet.com and show students how to post their responses on a “virtual wall”. 6. Ask students to post a sample question using at least a WH-question word on a “virtual wall” on www.padlet.com. 7. Teacher may then discuss students’ input and provide appropriate feedback. Page 16 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students are taught phrases that can be used to begin an enquiry, for example: “Could you tell me about .....” and “I’d like some information about ...”. Using https://padlet.com/, students post phrases of their own on the virtual walls. Besides that, students can use the phrases and WH-question words that they have learned to prepare and role play based on specific situations. APPENDIX Sample slide on WH-question words. Page 17 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIGITAL LITERACY ACTIVITY 1.8 USING YOUTUBE TO TEACH WARNINGS, RULES AND REGULATIONS 20 - 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Use imperatives to create warnings, rules and regulations. PREPARATION A PowerPoint presentation on the usage of imperatives. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students have learned about warnings, rules and regulations. IN CLASS 1. Show power point slides on imperatives (see the Appendix below). 2. Provide sample sentences using imperatives. 3. Play a video from https://goo.gl/E0zZmG. 4. Get students to try activities from the video. 5. Open www.padlet.com and show students how to post on a virtual wall. 6. Ask students to post 5 sentences that use imperatives on a virtual wall. 7. Discuss the answers and provide appropriate feedback. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students find examples of warnings, rules and regulations; then they attempt to identify the imperatives used in them. Students could also find pictures/images of warnings and write their own imperatives/rules/commands for each picture. Page 18 Planning Lessons For Communicative English APPENDIX Sample usage of imperatives. Page 19 DIGITAL LITERACY Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION ACTIVITY 2.1 CATEGORIZING PLACES OF INTEREST IN MALAYSIA 120 minutes OBJECTIVES All students will be able to categorize "Places of Interest in Malaysia" into suitable categories; All students will be able to present interesting places to visit for each category; Most students will be able to compare one of the categories with a similar category that can be found in neighboring countries; Some students will be able to state and explain the effects of tourism at these places. PREPARATION Sample brochures/pamphlets on places of interest in Malaysia. IN CLASS LEVEL Beginner SUGGESTED ACTIVITY / ACTIVITIES All students can: Categorize places of interest in Malaysia into “highland” or “island”; Pesent interesting places to visit for each category. Elementary Most students can: Categorize places of interest in Malaysia into “highland” or “island”; Present interesting places to visit for each category; Compare one of the categories with a similar category that can be found in neighboring countries. Advanced Some students can: Categorize places of interest in Malaysia into “highland” or “island”; Present interesting places to visit for each category; Compare one of the categories with a similar category that can be found in neighboring countries; State and explain the effects of tourism at these places. Page 21 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION ACTIVITY 2.2 DESCRIBING HOW AN ELECTRICAL PRODUCT WORKS 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Describe how an electrical product works. PREPARATION Get a manual of an electrical product, for example: an electric kettle, a rice cooker or a vacuum cleaner. Make enough copies for everyone. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students are aware of vocabulary or phrases related to use of electrical products, for example: cable, connection, socket, heating element et cetera. IN CLASS 1. Talk about various electrical products that can be found in a house. 2. Put students in groups and distribute copies of an electrical product’s manual to students. 3. Students use sequence connectors to re-write the manual in a single paragraph: Proficient students work independently; intermediate students are given list of sequence connectors; Weaker students are given a cloze passage and fill in the blanks with suitable sequence connectors. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students find an electrical item at home and write a paragraph on how to use it based on the lesson learnt. Their work can be put on the notice board for everyone to read. This could also form a part of their evaluation. Page 22 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION ACTIVITY 2.3 ELABORATING POINTS WHEN WRITING AN ESSAY 60 minutes OBJECTIVE Identify elaboration strategies PREPARATION Essay question, sample essays of different levels PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students are familiar with essay writing. They know the format for writing essays and the techniques of writing simple sentences but are unable to elaborate the main points. IN CLASS (Pre-writing activity) 1. Present an essay question. For example, writing a talk about ways to be successful at work. 2. Ask students to elaborate the points given. Teacher gives students 10 minutes to try writing the elaboration. This step activates students’ prior knowledge and also reveals their difficulties in writing (knowledge gap). Students would be motivated to read the sample essays in order to fill their gap. 3. Give students sample essays on a similar topic such as ways to be successful in an interview. There are two levels of sample essays. Teacher gives the harder essay (Essay B) to more able students and the simpler essay (Essay A) to weaker students. (Refer to appendix) 4. Students identify the elaboration in the model essay. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students write elaboration for the first essay question which is writing a talk about ways to be successful at work. Page 23 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION APPENDIX QUESTION You are working under the Ministry of Human Resource. You have been asked to give a talk to a group of students about ways to be successful in a job interview. Use the notes below: Read about the position that you are applying for Anticipate potential questions Be punctual Be courteous and pleasant SAMPLE ESSAY A Good morning everyone. My name is Adelynn Goh and I am from the Ministry of Human Resource. I have been asked to give a talk on ways to be successful in a job interview. Nowadays, many job applicants have to attend interviews when applying for jobs. Therefore it is very important to learn how to perform well in interviews in order to get a job. Firstly, prepare well before the interview. You should read about the position you are applying for so that you can convince the interviewer that you are really interested in the position. Additionally, anticipate potential questions that the interviewers might ask. You can do research on the internet and prepare answers for these questions. Then, be punctual for the interview. You can head early to the interview venue in case you are not sure of the way. Lastly, be courteous and pleasant to the interviewers so that you can appeal to them. First impressions are important to be selected for a job. That is all for my talk today. I would like to remind you that preparation is very important to do well in interviews. All the best in your future interviews. Thank you. Page 24 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION SAMPLE ESSAY B Good morning ladies and gentleman. My name is Adelynn Goh and I am from the Ministry of Human Resource. I have been invited to share with you ways to be successful in a job interview. Nowadays, securing a job is becoming more difficult due to the increase of graduates which contributes to a keen competition. Due to the high levels of competition, it is vital to perform well during interviews to have an edge over other applicants. Before the interview, not only must you prepare all the required certificates and documents, you should also read about the company. Make sure you are aware of the company’s main aim and read about the position that you are applying for. By demonstrating knowledge of the company’s goal and the role of the vacant position, you would be able to convince the interviewers that you are genuinely interested in the position offered. To prepare yourself even better, anticipate potential questions by searching online and prepare answers for them. On the day of the interview, be punctual. In fact, plan to reach the interview venue at least half an hour earlier than the designated time. Even if you get lost, you would still be on time for the interview. When dealing with interviewers, be courteous and pleasant. First impressions are extremely important as interviewers only have limited time to get to know each applicant before choosing the best candidate for the job. Due to time constraint, I have to end my talk here. Before I go, I would like to say that going for interviews is not easy but with adequate preparation, you would be able to perform well. All the best in your future endeavours. Thank you. Page 25 DIFFERENTIATION Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 2.4 ANTICIPATING QUESTIONS AND PREPARING RESPONSES 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Anticipate interview questions and prepare responses that relate to a company’s requirements. PREPARATION A box of paper strips containing interview questions for students. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Gather information regarding job specifications, the company/firm/institution and the industry involved. IN CLASS 1. Provide instructions and demonstrate the game first. 2. Then, each student will select one interview question from the question box and answer the questions. 3. Once a student has finished answering a question, he/she will refer his/her answer to the instructor. 4. After receiving feedback from the instructor, the students will choose another question from the box and repeat Step 3. 5. Students who manage to answer the most questions will be winners. SIDE NOTE: Differentiation should be employed based on the type of answers given by the students, i.e: get weaker students to provide simpler answers while more complex answers should be expected from stronger students. Page 26 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION APPENDIX Sample Interview Questions 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why did you leave your last job? 3. What experience do you have in this field? 4. Do you consider yourself successful? 5. What do co-workers say about you? 6. What do you know about this organisation? 7. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year? 8. Are you applying for other jobs? 9. Why do you want to work for this organisation? 10. Do you know anyone who works for us? 11. What kind of salary do you need? 12. Are you a team player? 13. How long would you expect to work for us if hired? 14. Why should we hire you? 15. What is your greatest strength? Create as many questions as needed. Page 27 DIFFERENTIATION Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 2.5 HOW TO BUILD YOUR FUTURE (LISTENING ACTIVITY) 60 minutes OBJECTIVE Listen to a recorded/live speech on a topic and fill in the blanks with suitable answers. PREPARATION For the listening text, teacher can either record his own voice before starting the class or read it live in class. Students are grouped according to their levels of proficiency (low, average and high) IN CLASS 1. During the set induction, write the word “FUTURE” on the board and ask students to explain the meaning of the word. 2. Get students to discuss what their future plans are in their groups. 3. Get one volunteer from each group to tell the whole class his / her future plan. 4. Distribute listening tasks to the students – give Task A (see Appendix) to low proficiency groups and Task B (see Appendix) to average and high proficiency groups. During this stage, students are allowed to clarify the instructions that they might not understand. 5. Play a recording of the listening text or read it live twice (see the transcript in the Appendix). Students will then listen carefully to the audio/live reading and complete their respective tasks. 6. After completing Step 5, get students to exchange their answers for marking purpose. Discuss the answers and provide necessary feedback. Page 28 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION APPENDIX (TRANSCRIPT) HOW TO BUILD YOUR FUTURE Planning for the future is an important step to ensure your future happiness and success. It is about taking responsibility for yourself and your actions. Secure your future financially. 1. Speak to an expert about investments and shares. 2. Open a savings account and decide on savings goals. It's always wise to have savings for a rainy day. 3. Get into good budgeting habits now in order to avoid debt problems in the future. Learn to live within your means. Secure your future professionally. 1. Have your CV written or checked by a professional. 2. Write yourself detailed and achievable career goals for yourself in 1 year, 5 years or 10 years. 3. Polish up your interview skills. Get as much experience as possible by asking colleagues to replicate interview situations for you. Secure your future socially. 1. Value your relationships with friends and family. 2. Respect everyone around you. 3. Get out and about to meet new people. Secure your future personally. 1. Invest time in hobbies you enjoy. 2. Set yourself personal goals to constantly improve. 3. Take time out to reflect on your life and re-evaluate. (Adapted from http://www.wikihow.com/Build-Your-Future ) Page 29 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION TASK A TASK: LISTENING (average & high proficiency groups) a) Listen. A counsellor is giving a talk to students on how to build their future. In the first column of the table below, write the numbers 1 – 4 to order the steps. SECURE YOUR FUTURE SOCIALLY ……………. SECURE YOUR FUTURE FINANCIALLY ………….. SECURE YOUR FUTURE PERSONALLY …………… SECURE YOUR FUTURE PROFESSIONALLY ………. b) a) Value …………………………………………………………. friends and family. b) Respect ……………………………………… you. c) Get out and ……………………………………………. new people. a) Speak to an expert about investments and shares. b) Open …………………………………………… and decide ……………………………………. It is always wise to have savings for rainy day. c) Get into ……………………………………………….. in order to avoid ………………………………………. Learn to live within your means. a) Invest time in hobbies you enjoy. b) Set yourself ………..…………. goals .................... c) Take time out ……………………………………………… and ……………………………….. a) Have your CV written or checked by a professional. b) Write yourself detailed and achievable ……………………………………………………………… or 10 years. c) Polish up ………………………………………………… Get as much experience as possible by …………………………………………. interview situations for you. Listen again. In the second column, note the actions the students must take for each step in building their future. Page 30 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DIFFERENTIATION TASK B TASK: LISTENING (low proficiency groups) a) Listen. A counsellor is giving a talk to students on how to build their future. In the first column of the table below, write the numbers 1 – 4 to order the steps. SECURE YOUR FUTURE SOCIALLY ……………. SECURE YOUR FUTURE FINANCIALLY ………….. SECURE YOUR FUTURE PERSONALLY …………… SECURE YOUR FUTURE PROFESSIONALLY ………. b) a) Value your …..………………. with friends and family. b) Respect ……………..…… around you. c) Get out and about ………………………………. new people. a) Speak to an expert about investments and shares. b) Open a savings ..………………… and decide on savings ..……………. It is always wise to have savings for rainy day. c) Get into good budgeting …………………… now in order to avoid debt …………………… in the ………… Learn to live within your means. a) Invest time in hobbies you enjoy. b) Set yourself ………..…………. goals to constantly …………………….. c) Take time out to ……………………….. on your life and re- …………………… a) Have your CV written or checked by a professional. b) Write yourself detailed and achievable ……..………… goals for ………………………. in 1 year, 5 years or 10 years. c) Polish up your ………………………… skills. Get as …………………. experience as possible by …………… colleagues to replicate interview situations for you. Listen again. In the second column, note the actions the students must take for each step in building their future. Page 31 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.1 MAKING POSTERS ON ‘NATURAL DISASTERS’ 120 minutes OBJECTIVE Create posters on natural disasters. PREPARATION Students are placed into groups and told to bring relevant articles beforehand. IN CLASS 1. Students are divided into groups of 4. 2. Each group brings 4 different articles of natural disasters that have occurred in the world. (earthquake/flood, etc). 3. Each group is responsible to gather the following information: a. What caused the disasters? b. What are the effects of natural disasters? c. What agencies/ NGO offer assistance during natural disasters? 4. After students have read the articles and obtained the information above, assign them into new groups. 5. In their respective new group, students will present the information that they have gathered from Steps 3 and 4. 6. Finally each group will create an A3 poster to present the following information: a. Types of Natural Disasters; b. Ways to help those affected in Natural Disasters. Page 33 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.2 DISCUSSING ‘CHILD ABUSE’ 120 minutes OBJECTIVES Identify significant points of a current issue; Discuss significant points of a current issue. PREPARATION A picture / an illustration of an abused child; “Don’t Beat Me” text (see Appendix); 6 strips of paragraphs (of the above text); Task Sheet A (Vocabulary exercise); Task Sheet B (WH-question words). PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Identifying main points and supporting details in a text. IN CLASS 1. Show a picture / an illustration of an abused child. 2. Ask students to say a few words based on the picture and guess the topic of the day. 3. Write ‘Child Abuse’ on the whiteboard and ask students to say a few things related to it and then, continue writing students’ feedback on the whiteboard. 4. Label each student in class from A to F. 5. Ask As to sit in one group, Bs in their group, followed by Cs, Ds, Es and Fs in their respective groups. Hence, there will be 6 groups altogether. 6. Provide one paragraph to each group. For instance, Para 1 to Group A, Para 2 to Group B, Para 3 to Group C and so forth. 7. In 2 minutes, ask students to read the assigned paragraph and identify the main point and supporting details. Inform students that they are not allowed to capture the paragraph or rewrite the whole paragraph on another piece of paper. Page 34 Planning Lessons For Communicative English 8. JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Collect the paragraphs from the groups and then, regroup the students. Label each student from each group (A to F) from 1 to 6. 9. Ask these students to sit in their respective new groups (1 to 6). 10. Ask each student in the new group to take turn and share what he/she has read in the paragraph assigned earlier (based on the main point and supporting details recorded). 11. Choose one reporter from each group to report to the whole class about their reading. 12. Distribute Task Sheet A to enrich students’ vocabulary knowledge. Then, distribute Task Sheet B to check students’ understanding of the text. 13. Discuss answers with students and provide feedback. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students can be asked to do a short write up based on ‘Child Abuse’. They can use the information which has been obtained through the discussion earlier. Page 35 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION APPENDIX READING TEXT – cut the paragraphs into strips and distribute each to a group. DON’T BEAT ME When a child experiences physical or emotional abuse, the wounds run skin deep. Kids who suffer repeated trauma feel lonely, scared, worthless and unloved, which is exactly the opposite of how children should feel. Abused children often become broken, hollow and bitter, with mental consequences that last long after the physical wounds have healed. According to the non-profit organization Prevent Child Abuse New York (PCANY), several factors cause some people to have difficulty meeting the demands of parenthood, leading them to become abusive when they reach a breaking point or don't know what else to do. These factors include immaturity, unrealistic expectations, emotional problems, economic crisis, lack of parenting knowledge, difficulty in relationships, depression and other mental health problems. When the stress of childcare combines with anxiety from other sources, some parents lack the skills to cope with it in healthy ways. Instead, their tempers get the best of them in times of crisis. The two main causes of child abuse are domestic violence and substance abuse. Children who live in households where violence is present usually end up becoming victims themselves. PCANY reports that 50 to 70 percent of men who abuse their female partners also abuse their children. Substance abuse is another leading cause of child abuse. According to PCANY, drugs or alcohol contribute to 70 percent of cases of child maltreatment, meaning physical abuse or neglect. Kids under 5 are the most susceptible to abuse or neglect by a substance-abusing parent and represent the fastest growing population of foster children. The most obvious effect of child abuse is physical injury to the child. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, physical injuries can be minor, such as bruises, or severe, such as broken bones or even death, but the pain and suffering leaves much deeper emotional scars. Sometimes, abuse can lead to lasting or recurring health problems, such as shaken baby syndrome or impaired brain development. Abused babies and toddlers are especially vulnerable to injuries to important regions of the brain that are still developing, causing long-term problems with cognitive, language and academic abilities. CWIG reports that adults who experience abuse or neglect during childhood are more likely to suffer from physical ailments such as arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, high blood pressure and ulcers. Kids who get abused often feel isolated, fearful and untrusting, and these immediate emotional effects can transform into lifelong consequences, including low self-esteem, depression and relationship difficulties. According to the CWIG, about 80 percent of young adults who were abused as children met the diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder at age 21, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicide. Other psychological conditions associated with abuse are panic disorder, dissociative disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder. CWIG also reports that many kids who are abused score lower than average on tests of cognitive ability, language development and academic achievement. According to CWIG, abused and neglected kids are 25 percent more likely to experience problems such as delinquency, teen pregnancy and teen drug use and 11 times more likely to be arrested for criminal behavior as a juvenile. CWIG says about 66 percent of people in drug treatment programs report being abused as children, and over 30 percent of abused and neglected kids eventually victimize their own children. Adapted from: Hermes, A. (2015, May 25). Causes & effects of child abuse. Retrieved May 12, 2015 from http://www.livestrong.com/article/229260-causes-effects-of-child-abuse/ Page 36 JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Planning Lessons For Communicative English TASK SHEET A – Vocabulary exercise Match the words below with its most suitable meaning based on the text. 1. Trauma Damaged 2. Consequences Problem 3. Tempers Illness 4. Substance Abuse 5. Maltreatment Exposed 6. Impaired Mood 7. Vulnerable Ordeal 8. Ailments Effects 9. Disorder Crime 10. Delinquency Drugs Answer Keys 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Trauma Consequences Tempers Substance Maltreatment Impaired Vulnerable Ailments Disorder Delinquency Ordeal Effects Mood Drugs Abuse Damaged Exposed Illness Problem Crime Page 37 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION TASK SHEET B – Comprehension exercise (answers are underlined and set in italic) Answer the following questions based on the text. 1. What is the lasting effect on an abused child even after the physical wounds have healed? Abused children often become broken, hollow and bitter, with mental consequences. 2. What are the factors which cause parents to abuse their children? Immaturity, unrealistic expectations, emotional problems, economic crisis, lack of parenting knowledge, difficulty in relationships, depression and other mental health problems. 3. How does domestic violence lead to child abuse? Children become the victim of abusive acts in certain families where in certain cases, men who abuse their female partners also abuse their children. 4. Why is substance abuse said to be the leading cause of this crime? It contributes to 70 percent of cases of child maltreatment, meaning physical abuse or neglect. 5. How does the traumatic childhood experience of adults affect them? Adults who experienced abuse or neglect during childhood are more likely to suffer from physical ailments such as arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, high blood pressure and ulcers. 6. In your opinion, how can we curb this problem? - parents should be good friends to children - parents should not bring work tension home - no violence at home among the adults - love and care for your child more - counselling to abusive parents - young parents need to be educated on how to bring up a child. Page 38 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Sample image Msmyvids. (2010, July 23). Baby Brianna 2010 - News Story 1 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTWLj1_ISB8 Page 39 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.3 DISCUSSING “DEFORESTATION” 60 minutes OBJECTIVES Identify significant points of a current issue Discuss significant points of a current issue PREPARATION A picture / an illustration of deforestation; “Effects of Deforestation” text (see Appendix); 6 strips of paragraphs (of the above text) coded with different colours. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Identifying main points and supporting details in a text. IN CLASS 1. Show a picture / an illustration of deforestation. 2. Ask students to say a few words based on the picture and guess the topic of the day. 3. Write ‘Deforestation’ on the whiteboard and ask students to say a few things related to it and then, continue writing students’ feedback on the whiteboard. 4. Paste all 6 strips of paragraphs with different colour codes which have been prepared beforehand around the class. 5. Ask students to sit in a group of six. 6. Label each student from each group with 6 different colours (i.e.; red [R], blue [B], yellow [Y], green [G], purple [P] and orange [O]). 7. Ask students to move around and read the paragraph which has the same colour with the colour which has been assigned to them. Ask them to take down some important points for about 3 minutes. 8. Ask students to return to their respective groups and communicate to others what he/she has read in the paragraph (based on the main point and supporting details recorded). Page 40 Planning Lessons For Communicative English 9. JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Each student in the group is to note down the details shared by their group members. 10. Choose one reporter from each group to report to the whole class about their reading. The reporting should follow the structure below (which is applicable): All of us know that………. Many of us know that……… Half of us know that……… One of us knows that……… None of us know that……… 11. Choose a secretary to draw a table on the whiteboard (separating the categories above) and note down the information. 12. This simple information analysis method may provide more space for further discussion by the teacher. Page 41 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION APPENDIX READING TEXT – cut and color-code the following paragraphs. EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION Scientists are finding more and more links between deforestation and global warming. The carbon footprint created by four years of deforestation is equal to the carbon footprint of every single air flight in the history of aviation up to the year 2025. Let's break that down into simple logic: Trees absorb carbon dioxide. So fewer trees means more carbon dioxide is loose in the air. More carbon dioxide means an increased greenhouse effect, which leads to global warming. Reduced biodiversity is another deforestation concern. Rainforests, arguably the biggest victims of deforestation, cover only about 7 percent of the world's surface. However, within this 7 percent live almost half of all plant and animal species on earth. Some of these species only live in small specific areas, which make them especially vulnerable to extinction. As the landscape changes, some plants and animals are simply unable to survive. Species from the tiniest flower to large orangutans are becoming endangered or even extinct. Biologists believe that the key to curing many diseases resides within the biology of these rare plants and animals, and preservation is crucial. Soil erosion, while a natural process, accelerates with deforestation. Trees and plants act as a natural barrier to slow water as it runs off the land. Roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away. The absence of vegetation causes the topsoil to erode more quickly. It's difficult for plants to grow in the less nutritious soil that remains. Because trees release water vapor into the atmosphere, fewer trees means less rain, which disrupts the water table (or groundwater level). A lowered water table can be devastating for farmers who can't keep crops alive in such dry soil. On the other hand, deforestation can also cause flooding. Coastal vegetation lessens the impact of waves and winds associated with a storm surge. Without this vegetation, coastal villages are susceptible to damaging floods. The 2008 cyclone in Myanmar proved this fact to catastrophic effect. Scientists believe that the removal of coastal mangrove forests over the past decade caused the cyclone to hit with much more force. Deforestation also affects indigenous people, both physically and culturally. Because many indigenous people actually have no legal rights to the land on which they live, governments that want to use the forest for profit can actually "evict" them. As these populations leave the rainforest, they also leave their culture behind. Adapted from: Ronca, D. (n.d.). Effects of deforestation. Retrieved May 12, 2015 from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/deforestation2.htm Page 42 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Sample image wtf0111. (2007, February 24). Deforestation [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzK2XITThZM Page 43 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.4 IDENTIFYING SEQUENCE IN A PROCESS 60 minutes OBJECTIVE Identify sequence of processes and procedures presented in linear form. PREPARATION Paper strips of a few sentences on how to make tuna sandwich; “Paper recycling process” text (see Appendix); 6 strips of paragraphs (of the above text) coded with different colours. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Identifying main points and supporting details in a text; Some knowledge on linkers/cohesive devices. IN CLASS 1. Write / paste paper strips of a few jumbled up sentences on how to make tuna sandwich on the whiteboard. (e.g.; Drain any liquid from the tuna. Put 5 to 6 ounces of tuna into the bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise and mix well with the tuna. Lay 2 slices of bread on a plate. Spread the tuna mixture on one of the bread slices. Place the other slice on top of the tuna spread.) 2. Ask students to identify the correct steps. Then, ask students how they managed to identify the steps. 3. Insert some sequence connectors in the sentences and inform students the lesson objective for the day. 4. Label each student in class from A to F. 5. Ask As to sit in one group, Bs in their group, followed by Cs, Ds, Es and Fs in their respective groups. Hence, there will be 6 groups altogether. 6. Provide one paragraph to each group. For instance, Para 1 to Group A, Para 2 to Group B, Para 3 to Group C and so forth. 7. In 2 minutes, ask students to read the assigned paragraph and identify the main point and supporting details. Inform students that they are not allowed to capture the paragraph or rewrite the whole paragraph on another piece of paper. Page 44 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION 8. Collect the paragraphs from the groups and then, regroup the students with different colour codes. Label each student from each group (A to F) with 6 different colours (i.e.; red [R], blue [B], yellow [Y], green [G], purple [P] and orange [O]). 9. Ask these students to sit in their respective new groups (R, B, Y, G, P & O). 10. Ask each student in the new group to take turn and share what he/she has read in the paragraph assigned earlier (based on the main point and supporting details recorded). 11. Provide jumbled up paragraphs of the text to the groups and ask them to rearrange the paragraphs to identify the correct steps of paper recycling process. 12. Choose one reporter from each group to read aloud their paragraphs in sequence. 13. Discuss in plenary and ask students how they managed to identify the correct sequence. 14. Highlight sequence connectors. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students can be asked to read more about sequence connectors for future lesson. Page 45 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION APPENDIX READING TEXT – cut and color-code the following paragraphs. Paper recycling process Successful recycling requires clean recovered paper, so your paper must be kept free from contaminants, such as food, plastic, metal, and other trash, which make paper difficult to be recycled. The recovered paper is unloaded by paper mill workers and put into warehouses, where it is stored until needed. The various paper grades, such as newspapers and corrugated boxes, are kept separate, because the paper mill uses different grades of recovered paper to make different types of recycled paper products. When the paper mill is ready to use the paper, the paper is moved from the warehouse to large conveyors. The paper is moved by conveyor to a big vat called a pulper, which contains water and chemicals. The recovered paper is chopped into small pieces. Heating the mixture breaks the paper down more quickly into tiny strands of cellulose (organic plant material) called fibers. Eventually, the old paper turns into a mushy mixture called pulp. The pulp is forced through screens containing holes and slots of various shapes and sizes. The screens remove small contaminants such as bits of plastic and globs of glue. This process is called screening. Mills also clean pulp by spinning it around in large cone-shaped cylinders. Heavy contaminants like staples are thrown outside of the cone and fall through the bottom of the cylinder whereas lighter contaminants are accumulated in the center of the cone and removed. This process is called cleaning. Sometimes the pulp must undergo a “pulp laundering” operation called deinking (de-inking) to remove printing ink and “stickies” (sticky materials like glue residue and adhesives). Papermakers often use a combination of two deinking processes. Small particles of ink are rinsed from the pulp with water in a process called washing. Larger particles and stickies are removed with air bubbles in another process called flotation. During flotation deinking, pulp is fed into a large vat called a flotation cell, where air and soap-like chemicals called surfactants are injected into the pulp. The surfactants cause ink and stickies to loosen from the pulp and stick to the air bubbles as they float to the top of the mixture. The inky air bubbles create foam or froth which is removed from the top, leaving the clean pulp behind. During refining, the pulp is beaten to make the recycled fibers swell, making them ideal for papermaking. If the pulp contains any large bundles of fibers, refining separates them into individual fibers. If the recovered paper is colored, color stripping chemicals remove the dyes from the paper. Then, if white recycled paper is being made, the pulp may need to be bleached with hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, or oxygen to make it whiter and brighter. If brown recycled paper is being made, such as that used for industrial paper towels, the pulp does not need to be bleached. Now the clean pulp is ready to be made into paper. The recycled fiber can be used alone, or blended with new wood fiber (called virgin fiber) to give it extra strength or smoothness. The pulp is mixed with water and chemicals to make it 99.5% water. This watery pulp mixture enters the head box, a giant metal box at the beginning of the paper machine, and then is sprayed in a continuous wide jet onto a huge flat wire screen which is moving very quickly through the paper machine. On the screen, water starts to drain from the pulp, and the recycled fibers quickly begin to bond together to form a watery sheet. The sheet is moved rapidly through a series of felt-covered press rollers which squeeze out more water. The sheet, which now resembles paper, is passed through a series of heated metal rollers which dry the paper. If coated paper is being made, a coating mixture can be applied near the end of the process, or in a separate process after the papermaking is completed. Coating gives paper a smooth, glossy surface for printing. Finally, the finished paper is wound into a giant roll and removed from the paper machine. One roll can be as wide as 30 feet and weigh as much as 20 tons! The roll of paper is cut into smaller rolls, or sometimes into sheets, before being shipped to a converting plant where it will be printed or made into products such as envelopes, paper bags, or boxes. Adapted from: How is Paper Recycled? (2001). Retrieved May 12, 2015 from http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/earth_answers/earthanswers_recycle.pdf Page 46 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.5 DESCRIBING PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES 60 minutes OBJECTIVES Describe processes and procedures Give instructions using the imperative verb form PREPARATION Prepare a set of instruction. The sentences are divided into 4 sections according to the complexity and length of the sentences. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students have already learned “imperative verb form”. IN CLASS 1. Students are grouped in groups of 4. 2. Each student is labelled as A, B, C and D (it is better if all the group members are of mixed abilities from low to highly proficient students). 3. Each student will write sentences which have the same label as them, i.e. students A will write down all As sentences (see the Appendix). 4. Each sentence will be read twice. 5. After all the sentences are read, each student is asked to show his/her sentences to the group members. Later, they will arrange all the sentences accordingly to show a set of instructions (see the Appendix). 6. The first group which manages to arrange all the instructional steps correctly will win (this activity can be turned into a competition). SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES In the same group, students are asked to write a set of instructions using the imperative verb form. They will later present it in front of the class. Page 47 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION APPENDIX Information for students A: Next, apply the parking break to prevent the car from rolling. B: Pull your car as far off the road as possible for your own safety. C: Once your car is safely off the road, turn off the engine and turn on the hazard lights. D: Take your tire jack and jack the car up slightly higher than needed to remove The flat tire. A: Do this in a star pattern. B: Loosen one lug nut and then the one opposite from it until all are slightly loose. C: Get out your spare tire, car jack, tire gauge and lug nut wrench. D: Open the hood to show other drivers that you have pulled off the road for repairs. A: Remove the flat tire and exchange it with the spare. B: Remove the lug nuts and put them in a safe place so you don’t lose them. C: Use your lug nut wrench to loosen the lug nuts D: Place something such as a rock or wheel block in front of the opposing wheel so that the car won’t roll. A: Check the air pressure of your spare with your tire air gauge. B: If the tire pressure is safe to drive on, jump in your car and you’re on your way. C: Replace the lug nuts by tightening them the same way you loosened them D: Carefully lower the car jack and tighten the lug nuts once more and make them as tight as you possibly can. Page 48 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Answer Key How to Change A Tyre 1. Pull your car as far off the road as possible for your own safety. 2. Once your car is safely off the road, turn off the engine and turn on the hazard lights. 3. Next, apply the parking break to prevent the car from rolling. 4. Open the hood to show other drivers that you have pulled off the road for repairs. 5. Place something such as a rock or wheel block in front of the opposing wheel so that the car won't roll. 6. Get out your spare tire, car jack, tire gauge and lug nut wrench. 7. Use your lug nut wrench to loosen the lug nuts. 8. Do this in a star pattern. 9. Loosen one lug nut and then the one opposite from it until all are slightly loose. 10. Take your tire jack and jack the car up slightly higher than needed to remove the flat tire. 11. Remove the lug nuts and put them in a safe place so you don't lose them. 12. Remove the flat tire and exchange it with the spare. 13. Replace the lug nuts by tightening them the same way you loosened them. 14. Carefully lower the car jack and tighten the lug nuts once more and make them as tight as you possibly can. 15. Check the air pressure of your spare with your tire air gauge. 16. If the tire pressure is safe to drive on, jump in your car and you're on your way. Adapted from: http://www.dmv.org/how Page 49 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.6 DESCRIBING TRENDS ON A LINE GRAPH 60 minutes OBJECTIVE Use different phrases to describe trends in a line graph. PREPARATION Blank graph template (see the Appendix). PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students have already learnt useful phrases to describe trends on a line graph. IN CLASS 1. Distribute a blank template of a line graph to each student (see the Appendix). 2. Read aloud the sentences (see the Appendix) to describe a line graph. Each sentence is read twice. 3. Ask students to draw a line graph based on the sentences that they have heard. 4. Ask students to compare their line graphs with their friends’. If they find that their graphs are different from their friends’, they need to find out why and explain the reasons for the differences. 5. Pick a few students to present their line graphs in front of the class. 6. Show the actual line graph (see the Appendix) to the students and ask them to correct their line graphs as necessary. Page 50 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES This activity can be carried out in different ways for different purposes: 1. This activity can be carried out for other charts and graphs to check the students’ understanding on the use of correct words and phrases to describe graphs and charts. 2. This activity can be done in small groups (to avoid sleeping partners). Each group is given a mahjong paper for the students to draw the line graph. Later, the line graphs are pasted on the wall and the students do a gallery walk. 3. This activity can also be done in pairs. One student will read the text aloud and another student will draw the line graphs. Later, they change their role. After that, the students are asked to compare their line graphs with their partner. Finally, the teacher will show the actual line graph so that the students can check their work. Page 51 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION APPENDIX Transcript and Answer Key 1. From January to March the percentage of children using supplements remained fairly static at approximately 10%. 2. It then fell gradually in March. 3. It fluctuated for the following two months. 4. Between June and August, the percentage of children taking dietary supplements increase dramatically. 5. It reached a peak of 25% in April. 6. Between August and October, this figure dropped dramatically to 11%. 7. Supplement use continued to fall steadily over the next two months until it reached 5% in December. Adapted from: http://www.ielts-exam.net/ielts-preparation-tips/describe-a-line-graph.html Page 52 JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Planning Lessons For Communicative English Blank Line Graph Template Use of dietary supplements by children 25 20 15 10 5 0 J F M A M J J Page 53 A S O N D Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.7 DESCRIBE YOUR GRAPH PLEASE 20 minutes OBJECTIVES Describe trends and movements in graphs and charts Use the past tense form in describing graphs and charts PREPARATION Two versions of the same graph, one which is fully illustrated and another with only x and y axes. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Simple past tense, vocabulary to describe trends and movements in graphs and charts. IN CLASS 1. Students are to work in pairs, sitting facing each other. 2. Student A is given the fully illustrated graph while student B gets an empty graph. 3. Student A has to describe the trend and movement of the graph to Student B who will then plot the graph accordingly. 4. Teacher goes round to ensure proper sentences are used and may ask Student B if Student A uses appropriate sentences and words. 5. Before checking with Student A if he/she has a similar graph, Student B checks with other students who have the same role. Page 54 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.8 EXTRACTING INFORMATION FROM JOB ADVERTISEMENTS 10 - 20 minutes OBJECTIVE Locate and extract information about a company’s background, job requirements and specifications. PREPARATION Job advertisements (can be obtained at http://goo.gl/4iME8n); Jigsaw organizer (see the Appendix). PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Identifying relevant job advertisements. IN CLASS 1. Divide students into groups of 3 – 5 (depending on the class size). Each group should have the same number of students if possible. Give these groups a number each. 2. Every group will assign roles to their group members (Bearer = students who will handle the job advertisements information, Seekers = students who will seek answers from other groups, Writers = students who will stay in their ‘headquarters” and only write the answers). 3. Provide each group with random job advertisements and a jigsaw organizer with omitted information such as company’s background, job requirements and specifications. 4. Seekers will have to find bearers from other groups in order to find information that they require (5 minutes). Once the seekers have the information, they will have to inform their own writers so that the writers may fill in their jigsaw organizer. (* Seekers cannot write the answers on paper) 5. Once the time is up, they will have to stop writing and present their findings to the whole class (5 minutes). Page 55 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION APPENDIX Job Advertisement Jigsaw Organizer ELECTRICIAN COMPANY’S BACKGROUND JOB REQUIREMENTS Page 56 SPECIFICATIONS Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION ACTIVITY 3.9 HOW TO WRITE A COMPLAINT LETTER 60 minutes OBJECTIVE Find six steps in writing a complaint letter by extracting information from a reading text PRIOR KNOWLEDGE In the previous class, students have familiarized themselves with the steps of making an oral complaint and they have had some practice with their friends. IN CLASS 1. Divide students into groups of 4 - 6. 2. Provide each student with a reading text (see the Appendix) and ask him / her to read silently in their respective groups. While reading, each student needs to fill in a “WHAT I KNOW” form (see the Appendix) by classifying information into 3 areas, namely ‘things they know’, ‘things they did not know’ and ‘examples to remember’. 3. After they have finished classifying the information, they need to share their findings with other group members. In each group, while all the members are sharing their findings, one person acts as the group leader and summarizes all the findings by completing the 11 sentences given to him / her (see the Appendix). 4. After that, each leader will appoint someone in the group to present their summary. Each group will take turn conducting their respective presentations. 5. In each presentation, students must use the “How To Present Findings” template given earlier (see the Appendix). 6. After all the groups have presented their summaries, they must sit together again to find six steps in writing a letter of complaint extracted from the reading text. Then, each group has to write the steps on white board and compare their answers with other groups. 7. Finally, discuss the steps written on the white board with the students and eventually reveal the 6 correct steps to the students (see the Appendix). Page 57 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION APPENDIX Reading Text HOW TO WRITE A LETTER OF COMPLAINT When writing a letter of complaint, your best chance of success will come from directing the letter to the customer service department of the company. The customer service department is accustomed to dealing with complaints and your letter is likely to be processed efficiently and effectively. Try to find out the name of the customer service manager or director and address your letter to them personally. Begin your letter with Dear Mr, Mrs, Miss followed by their surname. If you cannot find the name of the customer service manager, simply write Dear Sir or Madam. You should be able to find the address of the customer service department on the company's website, on any of the company's promotional or advertising materials or product packaging or labels. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The very first line of your letter should clearly address why you are writing the letter and what your exact complaint is. Give as many pertinent facts as possible, including the date, time and location where you made the purchase or received the service, along with any relevant serial or model numbers. The recipient of the letter should be able to identify the point of the letter in under five seconds, so avoid any long, rambling intros. You may provide further detail or explanation of the situation in the paragraph following your opening sentence, but the first line should draw attention to your complaint as succinctly as possible. For example, your opening sentence might read: "I am writing to complain about a faulty hair dryer that I purchased from your company on the 15th of July at your location on Jalan Pekeliling, Kota Bharu." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------… continues on next page Page 58 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION If you want a replacement, a refund, a repair, or some other form of compensation, state this clearly in your second paragraph. This will help to avoid receiving a form letter or other stock response, and give the recipient something to work with on their end. Try to be as constructive as possible in your comments, suggesting a way that you can move forward and continue your relationship with the company. If you demand a refund or some other form of compensation, while simultaneously informing them that you plan on taking your business elsewhere, they will have little incentive to try and resolve the problem. If you would like the company to correct a broader problem, state that in your letter as well, but recognize that such a thing may take time. Do not threaten legal action in your first communication. It may be the solution you ultimately require, but send your complaint letter first and await a response. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You may include receipts, guarantees, warranties, copies of checks you sent and, if appropriate, photos or videos. All documentation should be included with your letter. Make sure that you send copies of any documentation you wish to include, not the originals. That way, there's no chance of this key information being lost or mislaid, should you need to provide evidence to someone else. Also make sure to state in the body of the letter the exact materials you are including. For example: "Please find attached a copy of my original receipt, along with a copy of the hair dryer's guarantee and information regarding the serial number." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It is helpful to provide an exact time period within which you would like the issue to be resolved. This will give you peace of mind and will help bring the issue to a speedy conclusion. Providing a time limit will also help to prevent the possibility of your letter becoming lost or forgotten about, which may lead to further awkwardness and resentment between you and the company. Just make sure that the time period you provide is reasonable. A week or two is usually sufficient, though this will vary depending on what your requests are. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------… continues on next page Page 59 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION Thank the recipient for their assistance, and let them know how and when they can reach you to resolve the matter. This will make their job a lot easier, resulting in a more efficient outcome for you. Sign off the letter with ‘Yours sincerely’, if you know the name of the person you are writing to, or ‘Yours faithfully’ if you referred to them as "Sir" or "Madam". Avoid informal closings such as "Best," or "Yours truly." This will ensure a respectful finish of the letter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adapted from: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Complaint-Letter-to-a-Company#/Image:Write-aComplaint-Letter-to-a-Company-Step-5-Version-2.jpg What I Know THINGS I KNOW THINGS I DID NOT KNOW EXAMPLES TO REMEMBER Page 60 Planning Lessons For Communicative English JIGSAW READING & DICTATION How To Present Findings - Half of us know that…. - Several of us know that…. - Some of us did not know that…. - Quite a lot of us know that…. - None of us knows that…. - All of us know that…. - Every single one of us knows that…. - Almost all of us know that…. - Only one of us knows that…. - A few of us know that…. - Most of us know that…. Steps In Writing A Complaint Letter 1. Address your letter to the customer service department. 2. Quickly get to the point of your letter. 3. State specifically what outcome or remedy will satisfy you. 4. Attach copies of supporting documents. 5. Give them a time limit to resolve the matter. 6. Finish the letter respectfully. Page 61 DRILLING Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 4.1 EXTENDING, ACCEPTING OR REJECTING INVITATIONS 60 minutes OBJECTIVES Extend an invitation Accept or reject invitations PREPARATION A PowerPoint presentation with pictures of places to visit (see the Appendix); Picture cards of places to visit (see the Appendix). PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Would you like to ……… / How about ….ing……? / I would love to / I’m sorry I can’t. IN CLASS (Activity 1) 1. Revise the structures “Would you like to….” , “How about going…..?”, “I would love to.” and “I’m sorry I can’t”. 2. Divide the class into groups A and B. Group A will extend the invitation and group B will respond by accepting or rejecting the invitation. 3. Show the picture of a place, e.g. a restaurant, cinema, etc., with the main verb. 4. Provide an example for group A: “Would you like to go to the restaurant?'” Make group A repeat the invitation. 5. Group B looks at the symbol (Accept) or X (Reject) and responds appropriately (see the Appendix). 6. Show the next picture and Group A uses the same structure and group B responds based on the given stimulus. 7. Repeat the steps above for 5 other pictures and get the groups to exchange their roles. Page 63 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DRILLING IN CLASS (Activity 2) 8. Students are put into groups of 4-5. 9. Give a set of 15-20 picture cards consisting of pictures from the first activity as well as extra pictures to each group. 10. Students place the picture cards facing downwards. 11. Student A picks up a card and extends the invitation using either ‘Would you like to…’ or ‘How about …..ing ……’. 12. Student B accepts or rejects the invitation and picks up a card then extends the invitation to student C. This is repeated until all the cards are finished. IN CLASS (Activity 3) 13. Students form 2 big circles. The same picture cards from Activity 2 are reused and distributed. Each student is given one card. 14. The lecturer appoints the first student in each group. The first student from both groups looks at their picture card and extends the invitation to someone specific in the group. The student then responds appropriately and extends his/her invitation to a different student. This is repeated till every student has taken their turn. REMARKS Lecturers can stop with the second activity if there isn’t enough time to continue. The activity starts with a class activity to provide comfort and then followed by a small group activity to allow students to gain confidence. Finally, for reinforcement and checking on achievements, students are required to perform in a bigger group. Page 64 DRILLING Planning Lessons For Communicative English APPENDIX Sample Pictures On The Power Point And Picture Cards Have dinner at the restaurant / having dinner at the restaurant Play tennis / playing tennis Go to the library / going to the library Go for a swim / going for a swim Page 65 DRILLING Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 4.2 I’M REALLY DRAWN TO THIS JOB BECAUSE… 10 minutes OBJECTIVE Use “I’m really drawn to this job because …?” or “I really believe in your company because …” to answer job interview questions. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Interview questions. IN CLASS 1. Divide class into three groups (depending on size of class). 2. Teacher says “I’m really drawn to this job because …”. 3. Teacher goes round the groups. 4. Teacher points to individual student who uses the phrase. 5. Teacher repeats using the other structure. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students use the phrases and answer in full. Students write down the answers by sharing their personal examples and teacher checks the individual answers. Students use the answers to answer questions at a mock interview. Page 66 Planning Lessons For Communicative English DRILLING ACTIVITY 4.3 IS USED FOR / ARE USED FOR 10 minutes OBJECTIVE Use “is used for” and “are used for” to describe things. PREPARATION Substitution table (see the Appendix). PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Vocabulary related to descriptions of products, for example: “It is made of….” or “blue in colour….” etc. IN CLASS 1. Show the substitution table to the class (see the Appendix). 2. Divide class into four groups (depending on size of class). 3. Teacher points to a word/phrase in the table and students read out the words to string a sentence together. 4. After reading a few sentences together, point randomly to a group and get that group to read the sentences. 5. Once the students are confident, select a student to make his/her own sentence from the table. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students are asked to write sentences from the table on their own. Students are given 3 minutes to write as many sentences as possible. Page 67 DRILLING Planning Lessons For Communicative English APPENDIX Substitution Table A drill A protractor Hacksaws Erasers A lens metal is made of plastic glass are Tyres rubber Callipers Windscreens Page 68 DRILLING Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 4.4 WHAT IS THIS? 10 minutes OBJECTIVE Use “This is” or “These are” to describe things. PREPARATION Objects/Equipment and pictures of objects (see the Appendix). PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Vocabulary related to objects. IN CLASS 1. Divide the class into three groups (depending on size of class). 2. Show an object and teach students to ask “What is this?” and answer the question by saying “This is a tumbler”. 3. Students repeat the step above by saying the question and answer in unison. 4. Repeat the steps above in individual groups. 5. Ask another question and point randomly to a group to elicit similar responses. 6. When students are confident, one group asks question and another answers. 7. Finally, get students to ask questions and provide answers individually. SUGGESTED FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES Students ask and answer questions on their own. Page 69 Planning Lessons For Communicative English APPENDIX Sample objects as stimuli Page 70 DRILLING LANGUAGE SUPPORT Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 5.1 WHAT IS THIS ITEM? 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Describe products correctly from pictures PREPARATION Pictures of various products on PowerPoint slides and printed handouts (see the Appendix); PowerPoint slides or handouts with sample sentences that describe products (see the Appendix). IN CLASS 1. Show a PowerPoint presentation containing pictures of products and ask the students to describe them. 2. Show them sample sentences on how to describe the products in correct sentences. 3. Ask students to describe the products by referring to the sentences given. 4. Ask students to form subgroups of four. 5. Pair two subgroups together, for example subgroups A1 and A2 will form group A. 6. Each group will be given two sets of cards (A and B). 7. They have to arrange the cards as shown in the picture below. A A 8. B A B A B A B A B B The card should be placed down and the first member from subgroup A1 will need to open a card and describe the picture (product) printed on the card. Then, he/she will open one of subgroup A2’s cards to try and get the same picture obtained earlier. Page 72 Planning Lessons For Communicative English 9. LANGUAGE SUPPORT If they can find a match (same picture), they can keep the card. If they fail to get the same card, they will need to put back the card at the same place. 10. The game will be continued by the first player from subgroup A2 and they will take turn until all cards are drawn. 11. Use more cards if the class is large. Page 73 Planning Lessons For Communicative English LANGUAGE SUPPORT APPENDIX Sample products to be used as pictures Sample sentences to describe a product 1. The colour – It is red. 2. The shape – It is cylindrical in shape. 3. The use – It is used to illuminate a place, for example a room when there is no electricity. 4. The characteristic – It has a wick in the middle. 5. The materials – It is made of wax and the wick is made of strings. Page 74 Planning Lessons For Communicative English LANGUAGE SUPPORT ACTIVITY 5.2 GET THAT JOB! 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Match words found in job advertisements with accurate definitions. PREPARATION A job advertisement, 10 strips of individual words from the job advertisement and their definitions (see the Appendix). IN CLASS 1. Divide students into groups of four. 2. Provide each group with the 10 strips; they must match each word with the correct definition. 3. Groups that manage to complete the step above will be declared as winners. 4. Provide students with a job advertisement to read and study; ask some questions pertaining to the content of the advertisements. 5. In addition, ask students to write a grammatically correct sentence for each word. Page 75 Planning Lessons For Communicative English LANGUAGE SUPPORT APPENDIX A sample job advertisement Minions (M) Sdn Bhd, a multinational company, a leading manufacturing of high quality Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitors (Electronic Components). We have a long history of developing capacitors for audio equipment and is highly evaluated by professionals worldwide for its high-quality products. We are presently inviting dynamic and high motivated individuals who have the passion to excel to join our progressive team as:SENIOR LINE LEADER/LINE LEADER Puchong Responsibilities: To guide, train and motivate a group of operators to meet company goal. To make sure the line discipline well followed by all operators. To monitor the production line performance and report the line output, process reject etc. Update daily attendance on individual line. Requirements Candidates must possess at least a Higher Secondary/STPM/ Certificate, Diploma, Engineering (Industrial), or equivalent. Required language(s) : Bahasa Malaysia, English Good leadership qualities & computer literate Applicants must be willing to work in Puchong. Willing to work in night shift. Fresh graduates are encouraged to apply. 10 full-time positions available. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their applications online. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified. Minions (M) Sdn Bhd No 5, Jalan 50, Bandar Puchong Jaya, 44500 Selangor.Telephone: 603-895764521 Fax : 603-85476214 Email : hrd.recruitment@minions.com.my Page 76 Planning Lessons For Communicative English LANGUAGE SUPPORT Sample words that can be found in job advertisements and their definition WORD DEFINITION multinational A company operating in several countries. candidates a person who applies for a job. dynamic (of a person) positive in attitude and full of energy and new ideas Highly motivated person not only works hard, but is also proactive, which means that they look for things that need to be done without being asked. passion any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling. excel be exceptionally good at or proficient in an activity or subject. equivalent equal in value, amount, function, meaning, etc. notify inform (someone) of something, typically in a formal or official manner. Computer literate (of a person) having sufficient knowledge and skill to be able to use computers; familiar with the operation of computers. Fresh graduates is a person that has just recently graduated. They usually have little to no skill sets, making them ideal for apprenticeships. Page 77 Planning Lessons For Communicative English LANGUAGE SUPPORT ACTIVITY 5.3 WHAT CAN THIS EQUIPMENT DO? 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Describe what a piece of specialised equipment can do PREPARATION Get permission from various technical instructors for learners to go visit their workshops/labs/classes to learn how a piece of specialised equipment works; Teach the learners to ask appropriate questions pertaining to the functions of a piece of equipment, for example: “What can this thing do?”, “What is this equipment called?” et cetera. IN CLASS 1. Divide students into groups of three or four. 2. Allow each group to visit a technical lab/workshop. 3. When visiting a lab/workshop, students need to ask several questions to get a general idea about the functions of a piece of specialised equipment as well as how it works. Allow 20 – 30 minutes for this. 4. Students need to jot down their findings for the next step. 5. Students then return to the class and prepare a short presentation on their findings. Each group will need to tell the entire class the following: a. Name of equipment; b. Functions of equipment; c. How the equipment works; d. Its special features and other supporting information (if applicable); 6. Students may use PowerPoint slides to enhance their oral presentation. Suggested Follow Up Activities Students may find an electrical gadget at home and write a paragraph on how to use it based on the lesson learnt. Their work will be put up on the notice board for everyone to read. This could form a part of their evaluation. Page 78 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.1 REMEMBER MY NAME? 20 minutes OBJECTIVE Remember and recall their friends’ names. PREPARATION No preparation is needed. IN CLASS 1. Ask students to form a big circle in class. 2. Inform students that they are going to play ‘remember me’ game. In this game, each student needs to introduce him/herself by giving an appropriate adjective which best describes them. The rule is that the first letter of the adjective chosen must be the first letter of their name, for example “Marvellous Mary”. 3. The next person will start by repeating the first person’s name before introducing him/herself. This will be continued by the next person till the circle completes. 4. Provide an example to the students: First person : I’m Mary. You can call me Marvellous Mary. Second person : This is Marvellous Mary. I’m Radiant Radika. Third person : We have Marvellous Mary, Radiant Radika and I am Maverick Mahmud. REMARKS This game can also be used to teach pronunciation to students. Ask students to choose an adjective which has the same initial sound as the initial sound of their names. Page 80 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.2 BACK TO THE BOARD (HOT SEAT) 10 minutes OBJECTIVE Recap key terms/vocabulary PREPARATION A list of words to be recapped PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students should be exposed to the words that will be used in this game before doing this activity. IN CLASS 1. Teacher places a chair at the front of the class facing away from the board. 2. A student sits on the chair; the teacher writes a word on the board. 3. The rest of the students in the class describe the word to the student sitting in front of the class. 4. The student guesses the word on the board. 5. Repeat the steps above with different students and words. REMARKS To encourage active participation from students, the game can be conducted in pairs. A student from each pair faces away from the board. The other student explains the word on the board. The students may exchange roles. Page 81 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.3 ICE BREAKING WITH PICTURES 15 minutes OBJECTIVE Get to know the others in a group PREPARATION Students should have something to draw on (paper/books). PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students know how to formulate questions and have intermediate level of language proficiency. IN CLASS 1. Students draw 2 pictures that are meaningful to them. The pictures should symbolise some aspects of their life. 2. Students walk around the class to show their pictures to other students. Working in pairs, students take turn to guess the relevance of the pictures. 3. For example, Student A has a picture of a cat and shows it to Student B. Student B: “Do you like cats?” Student A: “No.” Student B: “Do you have a cat?” Student A: “Yes!” 4. Then, reverse the roles - Student A asks questions about Student B’s pictures. After the pair has completed the activity, they find new partners and repeat the process. REMARKS This ice-breaking activity should be conducted after the students have introduced their names. This activity creates a creative platform for students to share information about themselves instead of giving mundane speeches. Page 82 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.4 MY DREAM 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Allow students to know one another and talk about their dreams with their friends. PREPARATION A4 paper in various colours. IN CLASS 1. Provide each student with a piece of A4 paper; students need to write a simple paragraph about “My Dream” in a few sentences. Allow 10 minutes. 2. Guide the students by providing them with some sample paragraphs that they can modify. Students are encouraged to provide as much detail as possible. 3. Once they have finished writing their dreams on the paper, ask the students to fold their paper into paper airplanes. 4. Ask all students to throw the airplanes onto the air at the same time. 5. Each student will pick a paper airplane, read the content and find the owner of the airplane. 6. When they have found the owner, they will need to ask more questions about the owner’s dream. 7. The other person needs to explain more about it. 8. Stop the game after everybody has found the owner of the airplane and talked to each other about their dreams. Page 83 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.5 THE FLYSWATTER GAME 10-20 minutes OBJECTIVE Identify language forms and functions. PREPARATION PowerPoint slides with sample sentences and 4 choices of language functions for each (see the Appendix), a few plastic/rattan flyswatters. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Students know the various commonly used forms and functions that will be used in this game. IN CLASS 1. Divide the class into two teams. 2. Draw a starting line about 3 metres from the board/screen. 3. The first student in each team is given a flyswatter. They stand up next to each other at the starting line, looking at the board/screen. 4. The teacher shows a slide that has a sample sentence and four choices of language function for each. 5. The students may not cross the line until they identify and locate the correct language function, which they then go “swat” with their flyswatter. 6. The first student to swat the correct answer wins a point for his/her team. 7. If contested, the flyswatter on the bottom wins. 8. Allow only one swat per player, so if one player hits an incorrect answer, the other player can take his/her time selecting an answer. 9. If neither player knows the answer, the whole class identifies the answer. 10. The two students return to the end of their team’s line. 11. Repeat steps 3 – 10 until everybody has had their turn. Page 84 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES REMARKS Remind students these basic rules: a. Players should not hit another player with the flyswatter; b. Players should not "block" another player with their arm or body to prevent others from getting to the answer The game can be used for other language items such as vocabulary, grammar, etc. APPENDIX Sample PowerPoint slide with a question and choice of answers Page 85 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.6 ICE BREAKING WITH ADJECTIVES 10-15 minutes OBJECTIVE Use adjectives and socialize PREPARATION Small cut-out pieces of paper with a word or a picture. Each piece should belong to selected categories such as fruits, sports, stationery etc. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Adjectives, descriptive words IN CLASS 1. Provide each student with a piece of paper each with a photo/word of an item. 2. Students must come up with two words to describe their respective photos. 3. Students will then go round asking/telling other students about their items. They have to look for other students who possess items of similar categories. Page 86 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.7 CAN YOU GUESS THE WORD? 30 minutes OBJECTIVE Improve/practice vocabulary by guessing words PREPARATION Mini whiteboards (made from laminated pieces of A4 paper) PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Words used in previous tasks/exercises IN CLASS 1. Provide each student with a mini whiteboard. 2. Describe a word or provide definition(s) of a word; students will then have to guess the most suitable word that matches the definition or description. 3. All students will have to show their answer when they are done. 4. Allow peer correction or allow the students to correct their answers if their answers are incorrect. 5. Repeat the steps above for a few more words. REMARKS This can also be used as a cloze test where students write down a word to complete the teacher’s sentence. Using mini whiteboards allows immediate response from students and immediate feedback from peers and the teacher. Page 87 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 6.8 THIS IS MY OPINION 30 minutes OBJECTIVES Agree/disagree and give/ask for opinions Use present tense form to describe current issues PREPARATION Mini whiteboards (made from laminated pieces of A4 paper) IN CLASS 1. Provide each student with a mini whiteboard. 2. Students write their opinion about a specific theme on their own whiteboards, for example “feeding the needy”. 3. Students have to work in groups of four. 4. Each student will take turn to show his/her board, and the rest can agree or disagree, giving comments or asking for clarification. 5. Go round to ensure the target language is used. REMARKS Using mini whiteboards allows immediate response from students and immediate feedback from peers and the teacher. Page 88 FILLER ACTIVITIES Planning Lessons For Communicative English ACTIVITY 6.9 DIY TABOO GAME 30 – 60 minutes OBJECTIVE Guess correct words from explanation given by peers PREPARATION A manila card, stationery and 2 stop watches/ digital watches/ smart phones. See the Appendix for sample Taboo cards. IN CLASS 1. To produce the Taboo cards, get students to cut a manila card into small rectangles of 3” x 2”. Then, divide students into two big groups. 2. Give 20 cards to each group and they have to come up with their own words. They have to decide on the words themselves by helping one another to get the best words. 3. Provide a common theme for the words, for example “VERBS” (one of the eight parts of speech). Students must find twenty verbs and come up with five words that are associated with the verb (the Taboo words). For example, if they choose the word “cry”, the Taboo words might be “sad”, “hurt”, “tears”, “child”, and “pain”. If they want the words to be more challenging, they can find verbs which are more uncommon. See some examples of the cards in APPENDIX A. 4. After they have found all the twenty words, they can start playing the game. (In time keeping, they can replace the hourglass with a stop watch/ digital watch/ smart phone and to make the sound when the opposing team violates the rules or the time is up. They can just knock on a table twice.) 5. To start playing this game, the two groups will sit facing each other. One representative (the player) from Group A will go to Group B and pick one of their cards. There must be one different player in one turn. 6. The player will provide oral clues to his group to guess the word. The selected card is placed in front of and facing him. One person from Group B will stand behind the player to see if he uses any Taboo words, and another will keep the time (one minute for each turn) using a stop watch/ digital watch/ smart phone. Page 89 Planning Lessons For Communicative English FILLER ACTIVITIES 7. If the player uses any of the Taboo words or when the time is up, the person who stands behind the player will knock the table twice to stop him. After that, Group B will take its turn. This will go on until all the twenty cards are finished. There will be no marks deducted if the player uses the Taboo words or fails to give clues within one minute. The only penalty is the group loses its turn and this will give a higher chance for the other group to win. On the other hand, one mark will be given to the group for any successfully guessed words. The group which scores the most marks will win the game. REMARKS The benefits of this DIY TABOO GAME are: There’s no need to buy the real TABOO game, thus one can save money. The students are involved in preparing for and playing this game. They come up with their own words during the process of discussion, sharing of ideas and existing knowledge as well as helping out each other to succeed as a group. The teacher only acts as a facilitator. Most of the input comes from the students themselves. The students can improve their English vocabulary on a specific area according to the theme of the words. They acquire the knowledge through the discussion held in the groups and the explanation and clues made during the guessing session. This game is both fun and informative. APPENDIX Page 90