CELTA Written Assignment: Skills assignment

Task 1 – Reading for gist

Procedure

Generate interest in the topic by showing students a photo of a 5 euro note on the street and asking them to discuss the following questions in threes (5 min):

1.       Have you ever found money, for example, on the street?

2.       If you found money, what would you do?

Monitor to trigger feedback.

OCFB: Students share their stories.

Orientate: Tell students they are going to read about something that happened to a teenage boy from New Zealand.

Task 1: Display the pictures on the WB (Appendix 1)

Ask students to predict the story using the pictures given. Let students talk in threes for about 3 minutes. Monitor closely.

OCFB: Stop the activity after 3 minutes and ask students for feedback. Let students compare their ideas.

Signpost by telling students they are going to read the text and check whether their predictions were right or wrong. Tell them they need to decide what type of text it is (a story, a newspaper article or a review). Give students 2 minutes to do the task individually. Give out the text (Appendix 2) and ask students to read it.

After two minutes, ask students to compare their answers with their partner. Then do the OCFB to make sure students know what type of task they are working with.

Materials

Newspaper article from The Christchurch Press: “Do not pass go, do not collect $151” (Appendix 2).

A slide with pictures (Appendix 1), digital projector, WB.

Aims

To develop students’ ability to predict the content of and read for gist an authentic article about a boy who found a 10,000 yen note.

Rationale

By giving students the visuals to predict the story I want to generate their interest in the story. I believe that once they see the pictures and share their ideas they will be really curious about what happened (Harmer, 2007, p. 289).

Reading for gist is one of the techniques designed to increase the speeding read. Even if the students read the text very quickly they will be able to decide what type of text they have just read. “Speed reading” will make the students focus on the text and will not allow them to analyse the vocabulary item they may not know (Scrivener, 2005, p. 185).

Task 2 – Reading for detailed comprehension

Procedure

Signpost by telling students that they are going to read the text again. Tell students that this time they have to read the text carefully as they are going to answer some true or false questions. Tell students that they should underline a line or mark a paragraph whenever they can see the answer in the text. Give students handouts with the task (Appendix 3) and set the time limit – 8 minutes.

After 8 minutes, allow students to compare their answers in order to increase students’ confidence and provide opportunity for self and peer-correction. Tell students to justify their answers and explain why they think certain sentences are true or false.

After 2 minutes, do the OCFB to establish correct answers. Have the answer key (Appendix 4) with reference to the text at hand to help students understand why the answer is True or False.

Materials

A copy of the handout with the detailed comprehension task for each student.

The answer key with reference to the text.

Aims

To provide practice in reading for more detailed information.

Rationale

By giving students this detailed reading comprehension task I want them to focus on the details and the meaning conveyed in the text. I want them to be attentive to every nuance that might indicate whether the sentences in the task are true or false.

I am aware of the fact that this type of activity is not a “normal” way of reading a text but it may prepare students for taking exams (Scrivener, 2005, p. 186).

Task 3 – Writing: An informal e-mail

Procedure

Re-Generate Interest: Ask students the following question:

Ø  What do you think happened after?

Allow students 3 minutes to discuss the question in threes. Monitor closely.

OCFB: Start the feedback by asking one of the students about what you hear he/she said during monitoring. Ask other students to share their ideas.

Signpost by telling students that they are going to write an e-mail. Tell them to imagine that they are Lance Auckett and they are writing to their best friend. Elicit from the students what type of e-mail it is going to be – formal or informal (informal).

Give students 3 minutes to brainstorm ideas and create a mind map with any ideas they could possibly use while writing their e-mails. Suggest that Lance would probably tell his friend about what happened after the situation described in the newspaper article.

OCFB: Ask some of the pairs about their ideas.

                Give students 5 minutes to choose 2-3 ideas they would like to use while writing their e-mails and to prepare a plan. Monitor and help students with organizing their plan.

                Give students 5 minutes to write the first draft and then ask pairs to swap the e-mails with their “neighbours”. Students read e-mails and discuss mistakes or possible corrections (5 minutes).

Give students handouts with task 3 (Appendix 5) and ask them to write their e-mails individually (10 minutes).

Materials

Handouts with the writing task (Appendix 5).

Aims

To develop students’ ability to write an informal e-mail to a friend based on the story from the reading tasks.

Rationale

                Writing e-mails may be one of the most useful tasks we teach in the classroom nowadays. Students are very well acquainted with this type of writing and see it as something useful. Being able to write a good e-mail is certainly a desirable skill. I chose this task because according to Scrivener (Learning Teaching, 2005, p. 192) while choosing the writing task we have to keep in mind whether it is useful practice. Furthermore, it is a nice continuation of the reading practice.

991 words

Bibliography

Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English Language Teaching 4th ed. Harlow: PEARSON Longman.

Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching. Oxford: MACMILLAN.

Appendix 1 – Prediction task

Appendix 2 – Reading for gist

Task 1 – Read the text quickly. What type of text is it: a story, a newspaper article or a review?

DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $151

5 10 15 20 25

When 13 year old Lance Auckett of Pouto, south of Dargaville, was told to clean out his bedroom before the start of the school term the results had repercussions no-one could have envisaged. When he pulled out a box of school books from under his bed and thumbed through them, out fell a 10,000 yen note. "Mum, do you reckon this is real?" he asked. Lance was told the only way to find out was to take it to a bank.     At the first bank he went to he asked if the note was real and, if so, how much it was worth. While the teller was speaking to him, the manager telephoned Auckland and was advised not to pay out without sending the note through for verification.     Meanwhile the teller checked the conversion rate and told the boy he could expect to get about $15. He tried another bank and the amount went up to about $49.     As his mother was still shopping, Lance and his mate decided to try yet another bank. They were told the note appeared to be real and the teller arranged to have a cheque made out for it, but Lance had one more bank to visit. At the Dargaville branch of the National Bank he was given the best rate of $151.20, which he accepted. A delighted Lance gave the money to his mother to look after, and they returned to Pouto.     During the next couple of weeks he spent some of the money on a tape, a soft drink, and a wedding present. No-one expected the next development.     Lance went off to school as usual when he was called into the principal's office where a police officer was waiting. Lance was asked where he got the note. He told them.     At this point his mother was brought back into the picture and asked to contact the National Bank because, on sending the money to Japan, they had discovered it was Japanese Monopoly money - worthless.     Now the bank would like its money back and the parents feel they should not be responsible for paying it because the boy had not intended to defraud. He had asked if the note was real.     The bank declined to comment. The Christchurch Press. 11.03.93

Appendix 3 – Reading for detailed comprehension

Task 2 – Read the text carefully and decide whether the following sentences are true or false:

		T	F
1.	Lance found a 10,000 yen note while he was reading his school books before the start of the school term.
2.	Lance’s mum advised him strongly to take the note to the bank to check if it was real.
3.	Lance went to five different banks to check the conversion rate.
4.	Before going to the last bank Lance was told that the note was definitely real.
5.	The conversion rate at the Dargaville branch of the National Bank was 10 times higher than then the conversion rate at the first bank Lance visited.
6.	When Lance started spending the money he felt something bad was going to happen.
7.	A Police officer took Lance to the principal’s office to interrogate him about the note.
8.	Lance’s parents refuse to pay the money back as his son’s intentions were honest.

Appendix 4 – Task 2 – Answer key

		T	F
1.	Lance found a 10,000 yen note while he was reading his school books before the start of the school term. He found them while he was cleaning his bedroom before the start of the school term (paragraph 1).		√
2.	Lance’s mum advised him strongly to take the note to the bank to check if it was real. (Paragraph 1)	√
3.	Lance went to five different banks to check the conversion rate. He went to four different banks (Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4).		√
4.	Before going to the last bank Lance was told that the note was definitely real. He was told that the note appeared to be real (line 12).		√
5.	The conversion rate at the Dargaville branch of the National Bank was 10 times higher than then the conversion rate at the first bank Lance visited. (Lines 10 and 14)	√
6.	When Lance started spending the money he felt something bad was going to happen. Nobody expected what would happen (Line 18).		√
7.	A Police officer took Lance to the principal’s office to interrogate him about the note. A police officer was waiting for Lance in the principal’s office to interrogate him about the note (Lines 19-20).		√
8.	Lance’s parents refuse to pay the money back as his son’s intentions were honest. (Paragraph 8)	√

Appendix 5 – Writing task

Imagine that you are Lance Auckett. You are going to write an e-mail to your best friend to tell him about what happened to you recently. Write 120-180 words in two paragraphs. Use informal language.

Ø  Start your e-mail by greeting your friend: Hi X,

Ø  Paragraph 1: Write about what happened to you (use the information from the article),

Ø  Paragraph 2: Write what happened after the article was published in the newspaper (use the ideas you discussed with your partner),

Ø  Use some closing expressions to end your e-mail: Anyway, that’s all for now. / Hope to hear from you soon. / Best wishes, etc.