The Company 4 U- Simple Present vs Present Progressive
Pre-intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To provide practice and review of simple present vs present progressive in the context of work
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide fluency speaking practice in a debate in the context of work
Procedure (38-54 minutes)
Ss are asked to listen to the first sentence of the listening passage, recording 3, “Hi. I work at Kinko’s coffee shop across the street. But, er, at the moment I’m having a break here in the music shop”. Then some CQs are asked e.g. “What does he do?” , “Is he working now?”, “What is he doing now?” . After eliciting the answers as a W/C FB “he works at a coffee shop…..” and “He is having a break at music shop now.”, another part from the listening is played, “I: That’s excellent. And are you studying at the moment? W:Yeah, but I’m not studying anything connected with fashion. I: What are you studying? W: I’m studying history.” Then some other CCQs are asked e.g. “Is she studying exactly at the moment of speaking?”, “What is she doing now?”. Then the answer "No, she is not studying right now, she is talking with someone now" is elicited.
Ss are asked to listen and, at the same time, read the transcript given out to underline the sentences saying about something happening now (around now) or in general. Then they pair up to check their answers and a W/C FB is taken along with some CCQs and choral and individual drills to make sure about the Ss’ pronunciation in the –s and -ing ending verbs.
Two models sentences “I work…..” and “I am having…..” from listening are put on the board, under the titles “now” and “general” meanwhile focusing on the spelling rule for the changes made to some verbs after adding –ing and -s ending verbs. Then the marker sentence “I am studying history" is added onto the board under the column “now” while adding the word “around” to it in order to draw Ss' attention to an action which is not happening at the moment of speaking. Alternatively, timelines corresponding to these both aspects can be drawn.
Ss will listen to three motivators but in third person pronoun. While listening, they are told to put the three different -s ending verbs into the correct column. For FB, the answers which are filled out tables are given out to Ss to check and discuss their answers with their partners. Finally the the rules for -s ending verbs are put on the W/B while asking the Ss for both individual ad choral drill.
Students’ attention is drawn to instruction for Ex. 6 and the first example is modelled out to the class. Ss do it individually and compare their answers in pair. Eventually, some CCQs are asked in W/C FB.
At this point a clarification is made about state and non-state verbs by referring to two verbs “need” and “sound” in the listening passage which are happening “now” but took simple present form. Some other examples are elicited or given. Then a grammar maze hand-outs are given out, one to each pair. Ss are told to begin at the start box and to decide if the question is in the correct tense form. If the question is correct, they follow the solid black arrow to the next box and if not, they follow the dotted arrow. They record the order of the boxes they visit by writing the letters at the bottom of the worksheet. This continues until they arrive at the finish. They also make written correction to the incorrect questions. Ss will be monitored and helped by CCQs for any incorrect answer. The correct order will be put on the board in FB. As follow-up, Ss are arranged into larger groups to ask and answer the Qs.
The instruction for Ex. 7A is given and the first example is modelled out to the class with a CCQ focusing on “think” as a state verb, “Do you think……, is this question asking about all the time in your life?”. Ss do the ex. individually and check their answers in pair. A W/C FB is taken with an emphasis on two verbs “like” and “have”. Finally they take turns to ask and answer the Qs, definitely having paired up with a new partner. Two Ss are called out to report back to the class.
Students are asked “What is the important things for them at work?”. Then they are given one minute to go through the items in Ex. 8. Next, they will discuss and agree on the top three items in order of importance in group. In the meantime their errors and good language are put on the W/B. Finally one secretory from each group will tell the class about their decision and they discuss and correct errors in pairs.