CELTA Written Assignment: Language Related Tasks Assignment

Analysis of a structure: If I’d known, I’d have baked the cake! (Type 3/3rd/Past Conditional) [Level: Upper-Intermediate]
A.      MEANING ANALYSIS	We use this conditional “to express reproach and regret”. “We sometimes use the Type 3 conditional to make excuses.” Reference: Parrot p. 276; Unit 19 Conditional sentences
B.      MEANING ILLUSTRATION	I’d tell students the following story: Mary’s at home reading a book. Suddenly, somebody knocks on the door. She opens the door and sees her friend Laura. Laura: Hello Mary, I was just passing by your house and I thought I’d pay you a visit. Mary: Oh, please come in. If I’d known, I’d have baked a cake! I’d show students the picture to help them visualise the context.
C.       MEANING CHECK	·         Did Mary know Laura would visit her? (no) ·         Did she bake a cake? (no) ·         Are we speculating about now or past? (past) ·         Is it a real situation or hypothetical? (hypothetical)
D.      FORM ANALYSIS	If clause Conditional clause If + Past Perfect (had + 3rd form), If I had known, If I’d known, would + have + 3rd form I’d (=I would) have baked a cake!
E.      PRONUNCIATION ANALYSIS	The arrows show sentence intonation:           ↗                              ↘ If I’d known, I’d have baked a cake! Words in bold show sentence stress. Note: “have” is usually pronounced as /əv/ in this conditional, Contraction: I’d (I had) I’d (I would)

Analysis of a functional language: Would you mind if I opened the window? [Level: Upper-Intermediate]
A.      MEANING ANALYSIS	Would you mind . . . ? is often used to ask people to do things or to ask for permission.” Reference: Swan p.331; Section 342 It’s more formal and polite than using “Can I open the window?” and shows social distance between the speakers. Reference: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/analysing-language
B.      MEANING ILLUSTRATION	I’d show a picture of two flatmates talking to each other. I’d display the dialogue in speech bubbles with the target language contextualised. Mark: It’s really hot in this room. Would you mind if I opened the window? Tom: Not at all!
C.       MEANING CHECK	·         Does Mark want to open the window? (yes) ·         Is Mark asking for Tom’s permission? (yes) ·         Is the conversation rather formal or informal? (formal) ·         Is it a polite or casual way of asking for a permission? (polite) ·         Are Mark and Tom very close friends? (no) Checking response: ·         Does Tom allow Mark to open the window? (yes)
D.      FORM ANALYSIS	Functional chunk Past Simple Would you mind if I opened the window? changed the channel? stayed here?
E.      PRONUNCIATION ANALYSIS	The arrows show sentence intonation:                     ↗                                       ↗ Would you MIND if I Opened the WINdow? Words in bold show sentence stress and capitals show the main stress.

Analysis of a lexical item: I insist on it! (phrasal verb)[Level: Upper-Intermediate]
A.      MEANING ANALYSIS	to demand something and refuse to be persuaded to accept anything else Reference: Oxford Learner’s dictionaries http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/insist-on?q=insist+on
B.      MEANING ILLUSTRATION	I’d show the picture and role play the following dialogue with one of the students: Paul: It’s getting late. I should go home now. Margaret: No, no. Please stay and have dinner with us. Paul: Oh, I don’t know I didn’t plan on dinner. Margaret: It would make us really happy. Paul: Mhm, I’m not sure. Margaret: I insist on it! Paul: OK then. I’ll stay.
C.       MEANING CHECK	·         Did Margaret really want Paul to stay and have dinner with them? (yes) ·         Did Margaret ask Paul to stay and have dinner with them or did she demand it? (demanded) ·         Was Margaret willing to accept a “no” to her invitation? (no) ·         If somebody insists on something, do you have a choice?
D.      FORM ANALYSIS	insist on something OR insist on verb+ing Insist is a regular verb. It can be followed by on or upon (more formal and less common). It’s a type B phrasal verb. “These phrasal verbs take a direct object (they are transitive) but you cannot separate the two parts of the verb.” Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode33/languagepoint.shtml
E.      PRONUNCIATION ANALYSIS	I INsist on it! Words in bold show sentence stress and capitals show the main stress. Note: It’s an exclamatory sentence. The intonation at the beginning of the sentence is higher than in an affirmative sentence and it falls. The stressed syllable is pronounced more loudly and has stronger stress.

Analysis of a lexical item: I’m sick and tired of it! (idiom)[Level: Upper-Intermediate]
A.      MEANING ANALYSIS	to be sick and tired of sth (informal) to have experienced too much of someone or something with the result that you are annoyed Reference: Cambridge Dictionary http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sick-and-tired-of-someone-something?q=sick+%28and+tired%29+of+someone%2Fsomething
B.      MEANING ILLUSTRATION	I’d tell the students about my (imaginary) friend Anna, who’s lived in a big city for a long time and who hates it. I’d show this picture:
C.       MEANING CHECK	·         Is Anna happy about living in a big city? (no) ·         Is she annoyed? (yes) ·         Has she had enough of living in the city? (yes) ·         Does she want to continue living in the city? (no) ·         Is Anna sick? (no) ·         Is she tired? (no) ·         Is this a formal phrase? (no)
D.      FORM ANALYSIS	subj. + be + sick and tired of + object  OR subj. + be + sick and tired of + verb+ing Sick and tired is a fixed expression and we cannot change the order of the adjectives, e.g. I’m tired and sick. The only part of this idiom that changes it the verb be.
E.      PRONUNCIATION ANALYSIS	I’m SICK and TIRed of it! Words in bold show sentence stress and capitals show the main stress. Note: It’s an exclamatory sentence. The intonation at the beginning of the sentence is higher than in an affirmative sentence and it falls. The stressed syllable is pronounced more loudly and has stronger stress. Note 2: “and” is pronounced very weakly here. We hear just /ən/.

CELTA Materials

Preparing for and doing a CELTA course is not as easy as it may seem (at least at the beginning!). Therefore, I've decided to share some of the materials I created before and during the course to help those of you who are planning on doing the course and facing all of the challenges it brings.

I hope these blog entries will help you and inspire you. You'll find here my written assignments, lesson plans and links to the worksheets, Power Point presentations, etc. I hope they'll be helpful to you!

Enjoy!

Written Assignment #1 - Language related tasks assignment
Written Assignment #2 - Focus on the learner
Written Assignment #3 - Skills assignment
Written Assignment #4 - Lessons from the classroom

Teaching Practice #3 - Listening
Teaching Practice #4 - Lexis
Teaching Practice #5 - Questions and answers
Teaching Practice #6 - Reading
Teaching Practice #7 - Lexis
Teaching Practice #8 - Functional language

Christmas songs - FCE practice

Part 2: Open cloze – Shake up Christmas

Shake up the happiness

Wake 1) ___ the happiness

Shake up the happiness

It's Christmas time

There was a story that I 2) ___ told

And I want to tell the world before I 3) ___ too old

And don't remember it, so let's December it

And reassemble it, oh yeah

4) ___ upon a time in a town like this

A little girl made a great big wish

5) ___ fill the world full of happiness

And be on Santa's magic list

Shake it up, shake up the happiness

Wake it up, Wake 1) ___ the happiness

Come on all, it's Christmas time

At the same time miles away

A little boy made a wish that day

That the world 6) ___ be okay

And Santa Clause would hear him say

I got dreams and I got love

I got my feet 7) ___ the ground and family above

Can you send some happiness with my best

To the rest of the people of east and the west

And maybe every once in a while

You give my grandma a reason to smile

'Tis the season to smile

It's cold but we'll be freezing 8) ___ style

And let me meet a girl one day

That wants to spread some love this way

We can let our souls run free

And she can open some happiness with me

Shake it up…

I know you're out there

I hear your reindeer

I see the snow where

Your boots have been

I'm gonna show them

So they will know then

Then love will grow and

They believe again

Part 3: Word formation – Sleigh Ride

Just hear those sleigh bells 1) ___ Ring-ting-tingling, too Come on, it's 2) ___ weather for a sleigh ride Together with you 3) ___ the snow is falling And friends are calling, "Yoo-hoo!" Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride Together with you Giddy-yap, giddy-yap, giddy-yap, let's go Let's look at the show We're riding in a 4) ___ of snow Giddy-yap, giddy-yap, giddy-yap, it's grand Just holding your hand We're gliding along with a song of a 5) ___ fairyland Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy-cozy are we We're 6) ___ up together Like two birds of a feather would be Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two Come on, it's 2) ___ weather for a sleigh ride Together with you There's a birthday party at the home of Farmer Gray It'll be the perfect 7) ___ of a perfect day We'll be singing the songs we love to sing Without a single stop At the 8) ___ while we watch the chestnuts pop Oh pop pop There's a happy 9) ___ nothing in the world can buy When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie It'll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives These 10) ___ things are the things we remember All through our lives! Just hear those sleigh bells jingling… Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy-cozy are we We're 6) ___ up together Like two birds of a feather would be Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two Come on, it's 2) ___ weather for a sleigh ride Together with you Giddy-yap, giddy-yap, giddy-yap, go Giddy-yap, giddy-yap, giddy-yap, now Sleigh ride, sleigh ride Giddy-yap, giddy-yap, giddy-yap, let's take a Sleigh ride, sleigh ride All right girls sing Let's take a sleigh ride now Come on

JINGLE LOVE SIDE WONDER WINTER SNUGGLE LOVE (2) END FIRE FEEL WONDER SNUGGLE (6) LOVE (2)

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Download the worksheets here (*docx)

Mickey's Christmas Carol - activity for Younger Learners

My favourite time of the year, Christmas is coming and I've decided to prepare some movie based activities for my (younger) students.

The activity  is based on Disney's adaptation of  A Christmas Carol. Students simply have to circle one of the two options while watching the movie (+/- 22 minutes). You can find links to the worksheets below.

1. Scrooge loves / hates his money.
2. Cratchit (Mickey) says Christmas is a time to spend with family / a time for working.
3. Scrooge accepts / doesn’t accept Donald’s invitation to dinner.
4. Marley’s ghost haunts Scrooge / Cratchit.
5. Marley’s ghost is graceful / clumsy.
6. The first spirit that visits Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas past / present.
7. Scrooge loved Isabelle more than money / money more than Isabelle.
8. The second spirit visits Scrooge at 12 o’clock / 2 o ‘clock.
9. The spirit of the Christmas Present uses a street lamp as a torch / a torch as a street lamp.
10. The second spirit takes Scrooge to Marley’s / Cratchit’s house.
11. Tiny Tim will be fine / will die if nothing changes.
12. The spirit of Christmas future shows Scrooge Marley’s / his grave.
13. Scrooge wakes up in his bedroom / at the cemetery.
14. Scrooge gives money to the rich / to the poor.
15. Scrooge gives Cratchit pay rise (more money) / more work in his company.

Answer key

1. loves
2. a time to spend with family
3. doesn’t accept
4. Scrooge
5. clumsy
6. past
7. money more than Isabelle
8. 2 o’clock
9. a street lamp as a torch
10. Cratchit’s house
11. will die
12. his
13. in his bedroom
14. to the poor
15. pay rise

 

Error hunt

While doing my CELTA course, I learnt to add PACS (Post-Activity Correction Stage) to every lesson I plan. However, everyone who does it will admit that sometimes it's challenging to notice and write down any mistakes, and sometimes, as in case of this writing assessment I did with my students, there are so many mistakes to analyse that you need far more time than a couple of minutes you'd normally dedicate to the PACS stage.

Personally, I think I sometimes neglect my students' mistakes, don't get me wrong. I use different correction techniques, such as reformulations, instant and post-activity corrections but I feel like there's much more I could do to actually make my students learn from their mistakes.

Therefore, last week I started brainstorming while correcting my students' FCE writings (it was one of those moments when you could do anything else but correcting and marking - we've all been there). And I came up with the idea of an ERROR HUNT game for my students. It was quite easy, but a little bit time consuming, to prepare and what's crucial my "guinea pigs" hugely enjoyed it.

How to prepare an ERROR HUNT game

You'll need:

1. A list of your student's mistakes.
2. Post-its.
3. Pins.
4. Answer sheets for your students.
5. A sheet with error codes you've used while correcting writings. I used this one from British Council - I added P for punctuation mistakes, ESP for Spanglish or Spanish and X for extra words.

How to go about it:

1. Write the errors on post-its, don't forget to write the error code on the post-it (you can write it right above the mistake - I didn't want to make it too easy for my students).
2. Pin/stick the post-its in your classroom, hall, wherever your students will be able to access during the activity.
3. Divide your students into groups of 3-4.
4. Set a time limit.
5. Give each group of students an answer sheet and explain how to use the error code to decode/find mistakes.
6. Students get one point for correcting each mistake.
7. After correcting 5 mistakes students can come and check it with the teacher. If their corrections are OK they can steal the post-its so that other teams can't score the point for that "mistake" (Plus you'll have fewer/no post-its to collect after the lesson).
8. Allow students to error hunt until they've corrected all the mistakes or until the time's over.

Feedback  

Go through the mistakes with all the students. The best way to do it is by preparing a PowerPoint presentation with ready error corrections.

What I would change or improve

It was the first time I prepared this activity so I didn't really know what to expect from my students. As I had hoped, they were absolutely into the activity and they got quite a number of mistakes corrected. However, I wish I had assigned more time or had not prepared as many mistakes. I dedicated 40 minutes to the game and only 5 minutes to the feedback. There was not enough time for my students to correct all the mistakes and go through them all.

I didn't do it, Pac-Man did!

When I was a little girl, I played a lot this game called Pac-Man. Luckily, I am not the only one who did so. You might even be shocked, but even my younger students know the game quite well. This helps me a lot when I explain the form of the verb after the auxiliary DID.

You see, the very first time I had to explain Past Simple to my younger students I had a brainwave. I realised that DID "eats" all the "-ed" endings and irregular forms (extra points!!!) just like Pac-Man eats all the dots on its way.

Since then, I always refer to Pac-Man when I explain Past Simple, I do it to such an extent that my students use Pac-Man more often than DID, for example:

"Did Lisa go to the supermarket yesterday?"

When I ask my students why we don't say "Did Lisa went to the supermarket yesterday?" They simply answer "Because, Pac-Man!" It's all as simple as that. What I am glad about is the fact that they remember to use infinitive without to after DID.

I think using Pac-Man is an entertaining way of explaining how DID works. If your students don't know the game (Poor them!) you can always find an online game on the Internet and play it to show them or you can play it as a reward at the end of the grammar lesson.

I hope you'll enjoy your next grammar lesson with this trick!

P.S. Pac-Man/DID explanation is also compatible with adult learners - we're never too old for a little bit of fun!!!

How to make a cup of tea AKA a conditional sentence...

Have you ever wondered how to explain the form of a conditional sentence to a bunch of nine-year-olds?

While my students had no problems deducing or discovering the meaning of the conditional sentences, they almost always struggled with the form. I have always wondered why, at the end of the day it's just If + Present Simple, will + infinitive. I even got the students to memorise this formula, but as you can probably imagine - it is never that easy. Memorising never equals learning but I guess even teachers learn through their own guided discovery - make a mistake, spot the mistake and correct it.

And so, one day I asked my students how to make a cup of tea. It was a funny situation because they listed everything but a... cup. And as everyone knows, you can't have a cup of tea without a cup!

I took my students to the staff room and we prepared a real cup of tea. I got everything they listed plus all the extras (sugar, milk, sweetener, teaspoon). And then I asked them if I could start pouring the hot water over the teabag. Finally, someone said "Teacher! You need a cup!". At that moment I asked my students whether the cup was important or not. They all agreed that it was essential.

Therefore, the cup became my "IF". All the conditional sentences start with if (I know, not all of them, but don't forget we're dealing here with a bunch of nine-year-olds, we don't want to complicate it too much). And IF we want to make a cup of tea, we need something simple like... HOT WATER, and something characteristic of a cup of tea - a tea bag (will)!

My students remembered the formula immediately, and I never had to repeat it again. What's more, whenever they lost some part of the sentence, I just said "Ana, where's the teabag?" And my students knew which part of the sentence was missing.

One week later, following the same pattern, we learnt how to make a cup of coffee - 2nd conditional sentences. This time, everyone started with the "CUP - IF". And making conditional sentences resulted being a piece of cake, ahem, a cup of tea/coffee, for my students.