Reading: The American Dream
Upper Intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
-
To provide gist and detailed reading practice using a text about Living the American Dream in the context of what a good lifestyle constitutes of.
Subsidiary Aims
-
To provide fluency in speaking practice in a conversation in the context of a good national dream.
Procedure (44 minutes)
1) Tell students they are about to watch a power point presentation and they have to answer the following question after this (in pairs) : a) I would(n't) like to live in the US because... Show them a power point presentation with the American Flag, a typical house in America with picket fences and the ideal family and some basic amenities every American has which can be considered luxuries in other countries. (The Star-Spangled Banner will be playing in the background) 3) Get feedback from few pairs.
1) Ss read the sentence in ex 1 : I'm living the American Dream! 2) Tell them to discuss in pairs what they think this sentence means and what the American dream is 3) Call out on some to share
1) Ask the Ss to read the paragraph by James Truslow Adams, 'The Epic of America' (1931) on pg 90 quickly for gist i.e. to get a general idea about what the American Dream is (give them 30secs) 2) Then they check in pairs and compare what they discussed about the American Dream in the previous stage.
1) Give them the list of the following words and definitions. Ss match words with their definitions i.e. in groups of 4 1) Attain (verb) 2) stature (n) 3) fortuitous (adj) 4) capable (adj) 5) innately (adverb) 2) Show them answer key.
1) Ss read the text in detail individually 2) Discuss and answer the following questions together in pairs
1) In pairs Ss discuss about what a good national dream would be for their country (keep in mind the referendum about to happen) 2) Create two suitable sentences (Give them about 7.5 minutes for this stage) 3) Divide class into gorillas and kangaroos: Gorillas go speak to gorillas and Kangaroos speak to Kangaroos about their national dreams. (About 7.5 minutes for this stage)