Lexis lesson
Pre-Intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To enable students to better understand and use adverbs of manner in the context of work/university.
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide gist reading practice using a text about what they are like in the context of work/university.
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To provide accuracy speaking practice in a description of their usual day at work using adverbs of manner.
Procedure (43-45 minutes)
1. Show a pictures of an office desk. Ask the students what they see. 2. Then show the picture of a messy one next to it and ask the students to compare them. Elicit answers. 3. Ask them if they are more like A (tidy) or B (messy). The students share their different answers. 4. Then the students answer whether they think all people act the same or not.
1. Present the following quiz to the students. Tell them that there is no good or bad answer. Give them 2-3 minutes to do it. What are you like at work/university? I. It’s your first day at work/university and you sit next to a new colleague/classmate, what do you do? a. I say hello to them. b. I smile politely. c. I avoid eye contact. d. I have a short conversation. II. If a person sitting next to you starts listening to music loudly on their headphones while you are working/studying, what do you do? a. I look at them angrily. b. I ask them nicely to turn it down. c. I don't do anything, because it doesn't bother me. d. I move quickly to a different area. III. At university/work, you are the type who: a. makes friends and connections easily. b. always does well on exams/projects. c. prefers to study/work alone. IV. If your boss/tutor asked you to take some documents to a client/different faculty in 10 minutes, but you know it takes 20 to get to them, would you: a. drive or run fast and try to arrive in 10 minutes? b. explain it’s impossible, even if your boss/tutor gets angry? c. give your boss/tutor an excuse to not go? 2. The students share their answers in OCF.
1. Show students the same quiz with the target language in bold (politely, loudly, angrily, nicely, quickly, easily, well, fast). Go back and forth between the previous slide and the new one until students notice them. 2. Ask students what those words have in common. (They are adverbs.) Then ask them if they know what type of adverbs they are. Prompt them by asking "Are these adverbs of frequency like 'always, 'usually' and 'never'?" (No.) 3. Show students the grammar point and tell them they will learn and practice adverbs of manner during the session.
1. Show 8 sentences/questions with the adverbs of manner in bold: a. I smile politely. b. My new colleague listens to music loudly. c. I look at them angrily. d. I ask them nicely to turn it down. e. I move quickly to a different area. f. I make friends and connections easily. g. I always do well on exams. h. Do you run fast? 2. Tell the students to read them and then answer the following: Choose the 'incorrect' option: Adverbs of manner… - describe verbs/actions. - tell us how we do something. - describe things and people. (x) - tell us how something happens. 3. Proceed with Meaning CCQs and Pronunciation of each target item. a. I smile politely. Do I show bad manners? (No) Am I respectful? (Yes) Choose the most appropriate picture. b. My new colleague listens to music loudly. Can I hear their music? (Yes) Which is the synonym: - noisily (yes) - quietly (no) c. I look at them angrily. Am I showing that I like the situation? (Yes) How much do I dislike it? A little, a lot? (A lot) Have the students show an angry face. d. I ask them nicely to turn it down. Do I raise my voice? (No) Am a being kind and friendly? (Yes) Show picture of a modern room: Is the decoration of the room attractive? (Yes) "The room is decorated nicely." e. I move quickly to a different area. Do I do it later? (No) Do I do it after only a very short time? (Yes) f. I make friends and connections easily. Is it hard? (No) Do I do it quickly? (Yes) g. I always do well on exams. Do I pass my exams? (Yes) Are my grades satisfactory? (Yes) h. Do you run fast? Do you move slowly or at a great speed? (at a great speed) Do you know any synonyms? (quickly) Does it have to do more with time or movement? (movement) Per item: Number of syllables & Stress Drilling at word and sentence level 4. Show the sentences once more and ask students how those adverbs are made. (From adjectives). Elicit the adjective of each adverb. 5. Have the students do a gap-fillng and two-choice task to teach Form: Complete the gaps: x. Adverbs of manner often end in ____. y. If the adjective ends in ___, the adverb ends in _____, e.g., angry --> angrily z. Some adverbs are irregular, e.g. _______ --> _______, or don't change, e.g. ______ --> _______. (x. -ly y. -y, -ily z. good, well; fast, fast) Choose the right alternative: i. Usually, adverbs of manner go before/after the object. j. If there isn't one, before/after the main verb. (i. after j. after)
1. Show students a text with gaps and a list of 8 adjectives (polite, loud, angry, nice, quick, easy, good, fast). Tell them to change the adjectives to adverbs of manner, and complete the text with the right adverb. Give the students 4 minutes of individual work. Check instructions. "I always wake up very early because I hate driving ____________ in the morning; I like to take my time. The first thing I do when I arrive at the office is to turn my computer on and check for any new emails. After responding to the most urgent ones _____________, I go get a cup of coffee. I stay in the lounge area talking to Marie, my colleague, for about 15 minutes. We are both introverts but have a lot in common, so I can talk to her ____________. She dresses ____________ and gives me fashion advice, so it’s fun. By the time I return to my desk, my boss is usually reprimanding Adam for one thing or another, even though he always works ____________ and is one of the best employees. We all wonder why. When Mr. White comes to my desk I greet him _____________ and give him the reports from the previous day. He never says anything to me. Today something interesting happened! It was about 11:30 a.m. when the secretary, Ms. Moore, got a call. She was speaking so ____________ that Mr. White, who was on the other side of the office, heard her. He walked up to her desk and just looked at her ____________ until she finished her call. Before he could even say anything, she smiled and told him “It was a call from my new job. I quit. Bye-bye!” Then, she took her purse and left. I wonder who’s going to replace her." 2. Share PDF file with the gap-fill activity and send them to BORs to check their answers for 2 minutes. 3. The students return to the main room. Feedback. Show answers after eliciting them.
A usual day at work/university! 1. Tell the students to take some notes of what they usually do at work/university and how they do it Give them 2 minutes. 2. Tell them they will go to groups and and have to: - Describe what they do at work/university. - Explain how you do it. - Use at least 4 adverbs of manner! Show the list of adjective from the previous exercise to help them. 3. Check instructions, share PDF file where they can find the activity, and send the students to BORs to work in pairs for 4 minutes. Monitor closely and note down some of the students' mistakes. 4. Students return to the main room. Whole-class feedback: - What does your partner usually do? How do they do it?
1. Show students some of the sentences with mistakes and words that were mispronounced noted down during the monitoring phase. 2. Elicit the correct syntax/lexis and pronunciation. Students correct their own mistakes. 3. Drill.