GESE language exam preparation Grades 7-9 (B2) - Lesson Plan 1

Grades 7-9 (B2): choosing a Topic

Level:
GESE Grades 7-9 (CEFR B2)

Time:
2 x 45 minutes

Aims:
To choose individual Topics To develop topics through mind maps To choose the best mind map points for generating the language of the Grades

Resources and preparation:

Pictures of famous people/place/object/activity/ambition/social problem to be used to stimulate ideas at the beginning of the class Handout 1 (H/O1): a simple mind map (1 per group OR shown on black/white board) Handout 2 (H/O2): example functions and language of Grade 7 Handout 3 (H/O3): example functions and language of Grade 8 Handout 4 (H/O4): example functions and language of Grade 9

Procedure: 1. Thinking of ideas for a Topic (45 minutes)

i) Thinking of questions for the teachers favourite things (10 minutes) Show on screen or hold up some large pictures of an object thats important to you/a person that you respect or dislike/a place thats important to you/an important social activity in your life/an ambition/a social problem. (Please note, these are only suggestions for generating ideas. You can choose alternative themes or objects if you think they are more productive and stimulating for your class.) Tell the class that they are going to think individually of questions they would like to ask you about the pictures. The questions can be either FACTUAL (e.g. What are the 3 most important facts about this object/person?) or PERSONAL (e.g. If you could meet the person what would you say? If you could change the object or situation, what would you do?) Use a strong student first to demonstrate a couple of questions. Give the class 2 minutes to write their questions down. After 2 minutes, put the students in groups of 3 to compare questions and discuss grammatical accuracy. Give them another 2 minutes to discuss their questions. Then invite the class to ask you questions about the pictures for 4 minutes. ii) Small group discussion: brainstorming possible topic titles (15 minutes) Ask the class how doing an interview can be more comfortable for us > the answer is: Interviews are more comfortable if we can choose to talk about something that were interested in. Tell the class that they are going to think of a selection of possible interesting ideas to talk about in the Topic.

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Grades 7-9 (B2) - Lesson plan 1: choosing a Topic

Instructions for the class: - Put the students in mixed-ability groups of 3. - Each group must write down at least 5 topics that they are interested in and would like to be interviewed about for 5 minutes. - Tell the class not to choose anything too complex, too technical or a Topic which involves lots of new vocabulary. This will be too difficult to talk about in the exam. - To start the brainstorming, write a few ideas on the board, e.g:

An object thats important to me: my guitar, a special concert ticket A person that I respect/dislike: sports person, humanitarian, politician A place thats important to me: my school, London, the USA, An important social activity in my life: clubs, the people I meet, etc

An ambition: future career, fantasy career, a competition Id like to win A social problem: a problem in my city/country, in a different country
- The students continue brainstorming in their groups. iii) Collecting information, and choosing a Topic (20 minutes) 1 student from each group comes up to board to write all their ideas on the board. When they have finished, look at the suggestions and diplomatically (!) cross out (e.g. crosses out) ideas on the board that are not appropriate or useful, giving a reason (e.g. the Topic is not personalised, its too complex, or its exactly the same as the Grades Subjects for Conversation. Trinity strongly recommends that students do not choose my family, my best friend or my pet as their Topic. In our experience, these are not communicative or productive Topics.) Tell the students that they have to choose a Topic. It can be one from the board, or it can be another idea that they have. Give the students some time to choose their topic.

2. Using mind maps to develop Topic ideas (45 minutes)

i) Making/showing/explaining a mind map (20 minutes) Show a very simple mind map on the board (see H/O1 for an example shape). Ask the class to suggest one Topic to use on the mind map. Then do a class brainstorm of possible ideas to add to the mind map. After 2 minutes, tell the students that it is now their turn to complete a mind map for their own Topic. Give every student a copy of H/O1 and tell the class to make a mind map with as many ideas (words and phrases) as possible on their Topic. Remind the students to use as much variety of language as they can (e.g. not just the present tense) and encourage the students to collaborate and help each other. ii) Choosing the best Topic points: matching ideas with the language of the Grade (20 minutes) Put the students into groups according to the Intermediate grade they MAY or WILL do for the GESE exam (maximum 3 students per group). Give each group a photocopy of the FUNCTIONS and LANGUAGE of their Grade (see H/Os 2, 3, 4). Explain that this language MUST be demonstrated in their Topic. Ask the students to discuss together which mind map points seem to be the most interesting. How can they change these points to show language of the Grade? Tell the students to decide on just 5 points maximum that they think will generate the most language of their Grade. iii) Summary (5 minutes) Invite the students to summarise to the class what makes a good topic. Tell the students to continue developing their mind maps at home. Page 2 of 6

Grades 7-9 (B2) - Lesson plan 1: choosing a Topic

Handout 1: an example mind map

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Grad 7-9 (B2) - Lesson pl des ) lan 1: choosi a Topic ing

Handou 2: Gr ut rade 7 la anguage e

GRADE E
Example language: :
Give advice and make suggestions: e including s should/ough to, etc. ht What yo should do is .... ou o If I were you, Id .... e You oug to ght Youd be etter .... Have yo thought about ....ing ....? ou a g What should be don is .... ne There ar advantag and disa re ges advantages s. One of the advanta t ages is .... One of the disadvan t ntages is ..... When I was younge I used to .... w er, We didnt use to .... Its diffe erent now, but it used t .... b to I might/ /might not .. ... It could be .... It may be .... b Can you tell me mo u ore? What ha you don so far? ave ne Im not sure I agree with you. s e Im sorry I dont ag y, gree. I comple etely agree. I couldnt agree mo ore. Im not sure what should be do s one. It is used for ....ing. d It is mad from .... de If I could ...., I would .... d d If I were rich, I would .... e It would be better if .... Shes the person who .... ing Its a thi that/which .... Its a pla where .... ace He could go due to the wea ther dnt I passed the exam because of the teacher d b r.

Here are som exam me mples of Gr rade 7 la anguage e...

Talk about advantage t es/disadvan ntages:

Describe p past habits u using used to:

Possibility and uncert tainty:

Ask for fur rther inform mation:

ment: Agreement/disagreem

The simple passive te e ense:

Second conditional:

Relative clauses:

Because o and due to of

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Grad 7-9 (B2) - Lesson pl des ) lan 1: choosi a Topic ing

Handou 3: Gr ut rade 8 la anguage e

Here are som exam me mples of Gr rade 8 la anguage e...

GRADE E

Example language: :
Feeling and emotions s: It makes me feel... I have mixe feelings about it. ed a I cant be sure, but it might be .... m One possib bility is that it could be .... A reason fo this may be .... or Im sure it cant be .... c It cant pos ssibly be .... There is no way I woul .... o ld Have you ever conside e ered ....? It might be better if yo .... ou d w ur I wouldnt do that if I were in you shoes. Im not sure that woul be a good idea. ld d My friends say that I .... My family think that ... t .. Most peopl seem to believe that .... le b t My teacher told me sh had .... r he I heard that you shoul ldnt .... If I hadnt studied so hard, I would s h dnt have passed. I would hav gone, if I hadnt bee late. ve en If I hadnt had an accid h dent, I woulld have won n. Ive been st tudying Eng glish for 10 years. Ive been th hinking about .... Before I me you, I had never me t an English person. et d h I had never been to En r ngland untill last month h. Even thoug its rainin its still w gh ng, warm I passed the exam, in spite of the noisy room s e m. I enjoyed windsurfing, although I wouldnt go again. w To continue I was talk e, king about m plans. my In other wo ords, I dont understan d! t

Speculatin ng:

Impossibili ity:

Persuading and disco g ouraging:

Reporting the conver rsation of ot thers:

3rd conditional:

Present pe erfect continuous:

Past perfect tense:

Linking expressions/c cohesive de evices: Even thoug in spite of, although, gh, to continue in other w e, words, for exampl le

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Grad 7-9 (B2) - Lesson pl des ) lan 1: choosi a Topic ing

Handou 4: Gr ut rade 9 la anguage e

GRADE E
Paraphrasing and rec capping: In oth words .... her What I mean is ... .. What Im trying to say is .... t Anywa as I was saying .... ay, s I wish I could .... I wish I hadnt .... ve I wish I could hav done .... I regre doing tha now. et at I regre not ....ing et g. I hope I will be ab to .... e ble I hope to go to En e ngland. Presu umably, this is right. Im no sure, but my best gu ot uess is .... I assu me the reas is .... son I supp pose one reason could be .... In the eory, if I did X, Y might happen. Im no sure what to do. On the one han .... ot nd but on the other hand .... n I can s benefits on both si see s ides. If I do X then I mi ight learn something, b if I do Y, but Y it mig ht be quicker. It mig ht have bee better if we hadnt ..... en Thinki about it now, I prob ing t bably shoulldnt have .. ... I woul ldnt be late if my alarm had gone off. e m e It mus have been a difficult decision. st t It can t have been easy I reme ember think king that wa a bad ide as ea. I reme embered to bring some money. o e I forgo to bring any money. ot a . I alwa ys forget sa aying things when Im tired. k top I think I should st studying maths. I stopp to buy a magazine ped e. I woul be in Lon ld ndon now if I hadnt mis issed my pla ane. If I we rich, I wo ere ould never have bough this car. ht It mus have been wet in London! It can have bee sunny! st nt en I migh have mad a mistake. ht de He co uld have wo the lotte on ery! P Page 6 of 6

Here are som exam me mples of Gr rade 9 la anguage e...

Regrets, w wishes and h hopes:

Expressing assumptio g ons:

Hypothesis sing:

Evaluating options: g

Evaluating past actions/events: g

Verbs + ge erunds and/ infinitive /or remember stop, forget r,

Mixed cond ditionals:

Should/mu ust/might/c could +have + infinitive