A Day at the Beach 9 Giving Advice 13
Ailments and Treatments 17 Animals and Pets 21
Appearances 25 At the Doctor’s 29
Beauty 33
Cars and Driving 37
Celebrating Birthdays 41 Cell Phones 45
Chores 49
Your Hometown 53 Clothes and Fashion 57
Clothes for Special Occasions 61 Color 65
Computers and Technology 69 Crime 73
Education 77
Emergency Responses and First Aid 81 Entertainment 85
Transcripts & Answer Key 01
02 03 04
05 06
07 08
09 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20 How to Teach This Book 4
Suggested Lesson Plan (60 min.)
scaffold speaking tasks for lower-level or less secure speakers. However, it is not mandatory for higher-level and more advanced speakers to work systematically through all of the activities. Because the speaking topics are related by theme rather than specific content, the material in each unit is flexible and adaptable.
The lesson plan presented here is suggested for a class that requires significant support for each speaking task. Classes that do not require as much support may be able to jump right into the topics and start talking. It is left up to individual instructors to gauge how thoroughly each step of this lesson plan needs to be implemented in their classes.
Warm-up with Listening
Have students look at the unit topic. Ask the class to brainstorm a few possible questions they might ask someone about the topic and write them on the board. While students are suggesting possible questions, be sure to suggest the three questions that are answers for Activity 1 if students do not suggest these questions on their own (see the Answer Key for these questions). You might suggest additional questions as well for more variety.
After a reasonable list of questions is written on the board, play the audio track for Activity 1. Students will hear three speakers give short talks related to the unit topic. Based on what they hear, students should guess the question that the speaker is answering.
Activity 1 (10 min.)
Vocabulary and Brainstorming
Have students read through the list of words and phrases as a class, focusing on their pronunciation and meaning. Then have students sort the words and phrases into the three categories provided. After everyone has finished sorting the list, check it as a class. After checking each category, ask students to brainstorm three to five additional words that could be added to the given category. All of the vocabulary brought out in this activity can help students as they answer the speaking prompts that follow in the unit.
Activity 2 (5 min.)
Model Dialogs
Play the audio track for Activity 3 and have students read along as they listen. After each dialog, stop the audio and discuss any questions student may have regarding vocabulary or grammar presented in the dialog. After all three dialogs have been heard and discussed, have students work in pairs. Pairs should practice the dialogs, taking turns saying each role.
Activity 3 (5 min.)
For classes that need additional pronunciation practice, replay the audio track, but stop after each line or sentence.
Students should try to repeat what they hear on the audio track, focusing on their pronunciation and intonation.
Note
Interviews
Ask each student to choose one of the three questions to answer.
Give the students a few minutes to write notes related to how they would answer the question.
Next, assign each student in the class as either “A” or “B.” Have students work in A-B pairs. Have the “A” students interview “B”
students. First, they should ask which question their classmate chose. “A” students may then refer back to Activity 3 to see possible questions to ask in the interview. Give students two or three minutes to collect information from their partner. Then have the “B” students interview “A” students in the same way.
When these interviews are completed, have all of the “A” students stand up and move to work with a new “B” classmate. Repeat the interview process for the new pairs.
Because this activity is an interview, students should not feel pressure to talk at length about their answers during the interviews. Giving one or two sentences as an answer is sufficient for this activity. The interviewer should then ask a follow-up question to get more information from the interviewee until the instructor stops the interview.
Note
Reporting
Choose a number of students to report to the class the information they learned through one of their interviews. An example of how students can report information is provided with this activity in each unit.
As an alternative to asking only a few students to report for the class, instructors may divide the class into several groups. Then
Activity 5 (10 min.)
Matching and Modeling
Play the audio track for Activity 6, and have students match the given questions with one of the responses they hear. These questions and responses are meant to provide additional speaking topics and models of responses for students. While checking the answers for this activity, it may be helpful for students to read the responses shown in the transcript for the unit.
Activity 6 (5 min.)
For classes that need additional pronunciation practice, have students work in pairs reading aloud the sample responses shown in the transcript.
Note
Pair Work
Have students work in pairs. One student in each pair will open his/her book. The other student will close his/her book and put it aside for the moment. The student with the open book will choose one of the questions listed in Activity 7 and write notes related to answering the question. The student who does not have a book will be the timer. The timer will look at the board while the instructor marks off increments of 10 seconds on the board.
After one minute, the timer tells his/her classmate to stop making notes.
Now it is time for the student with the open book to start talking for two to three minutes (depending on the level of the class).
The timer continues watching the board as the instructor marks off increments of time on the board. After the specified time, the timer tells his/her classmate to stop speaking.
The timer will now become the speaker, and the speaker will become the timer. Repeat the above process with the speaker first opening his/her book and making notes for one minute before speaking for two to three minutes.
Activity 7 (10 min.)
Extra Practice
The questions provided in the Extra Practice activity can be used in a variety of ways. Sometimes, instructors may wish to use these questions for full-class discussions of “hot” topics.
Alternatively, the questions can be used for group work or pair work. The questions can also be assigned as journaling homework or speaking homework. As speaking homework, students can record their responses on a voice recorder or using a computer.
These responses can be submitted to the instructor for a completion grade or for some other type of evaluation.
For classes that need additional pronunciation practice, have students work in pairs reading aloud the sample responses shown in the transcript.
Note
Unit 01
FOOD
ACTIVITIES PEOPLE
A Day at
the Beach
family hot dog player neighbor sandwich
volleyball soccer trip swimming snorkeling
baseball candy bar cousin barbeque hamburger
friend potato chips chef
1
Listen to the speakers. Write the questions that they answer.
a. Speaker #1: __________________________________________________________?
b. Speaker #2: __________________________________________________________?
c. Speaker #3: __________________________________________________________?
2
Sort the words by writing them in the correct categories.
Track 1
ACTIVITIES PEOPLE
FOOD
A: Why do people like to listen to music when they relax at the beach?
B: It is very relaxing to listen to music. Music puts people in a good mood.
A: Do you like to do that?
A: Where is the nearest beach to you?
B: The nearest beach to my house is just a 30-minute drive away.
A: What is the weather usually like there?
B: The weather there is usually very nice.
A: How would you describe it?
B: It can be hot or cool, and there is often a light breeze, too.
B: I like to listen to music when I am lying on the sand.
A: What do you usually use to do that?
B: I usually bring my MP3 player with me. I have a lot of my favorite songs on it, so I just browse through them. Sometimes I make a special music play list for the day, which I listen to.
A: When you go to the beach, what food do you usually prepare?
B: I usually make sandwiches, hamburgers, or hot dogs. Sometimes I bring potato chips or a candy bar if I am not staying at the beach for long.
A: Why do you like to prepare this kind of food?
B: These types of food are simple to prepare and are very tasty.
A: How do you prepare this kind of food?
B: We usually make the sandwiches at home. We make the hamburgers and hot
FOOD
ACTIVITIES
PEOPLE
Name: ___________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
My Classmates
Now interview two classmates. They will interview you as well.
First, ask which question they chose. Then take notes on each answer.
Unit 01
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
My Notes
4
Choose one of the questions below. Prepare your answer to this question by writing notes below. Use the questions from Part 3 to help with your notes.
a. When was the last time you went to the beach?
b. When you go to the beach with your friends, what do you do there?
c. When you go to the beach, what food do you usually prepare?
5
Tell your class about one of the classmates you interviewed.
Name: ___________
_________________________________
________________________
________________________
Information: OK Good Excellent
Fluency: OK Good Excellent
Pronunciation: OK Good Excellent
Rate your own speakingRate your own speaking Rate your own speaking Example:
I talked to Alice. She told me about the last time she went to the beach.
She said that she went to the beach last summer. She went there with her parents and her grandmother. Her father spent the day fishing while she looked for shells with her mother and grandmother.
Question:_____
Question:_____ Question:_____
Now share your response with a classmate.
Try answering one or more of these questions for extra practice.
Use at least three sentences in your response to each question.
ex tra practice
For more practice, look at the transcripts on page 1 and practice these responses with a classmate.
Information: OK Good Excellent
Fluency: OK Good Excellent
Pronunciation: OK Good Excellent
Rate your classmate’s response:
Rate your classmate’s response:
Rate your classmate’s response:
7
Choose one of the questions below. Prepare your own response to this question by writing notes in the provided space. Be sure to explain your answer.
a. Do you like to play beach volleyball?
Are you good at it? Explain.
b. Why do you think people like to spend time at the beach? Explain.
c. Why is it important to have lifeguards at the beach?
a. Do you like to play beach volleyball?
Are you good at it? Explain.
b. Why do you think people like to spend time at the beach? Explain.
c. Why is it important to have lifeguards at the beach?
__________________
________
__________________
________
__________________
________
__________________
________
__________________
________
My Notes Question:_____
Response #1
Response #2
Response #3