The grammar of present perfect continuous with the use of for and since
intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To introduce present perfect continuous with for and since in the context of life changes. To highlight the avoidance of the stative verbs (be, know and understand) in the use of present perfect continuous.
Subsidiary Aims
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To help the students use the present perfect continuous in their speaking.
Procedure (40-63 minutes)
I will refer back to the reading the students had by asking: who did you guys just read about? Where does she work? Is she still working now? The students will then be asked to directly go back to the reading and tell me when Zoƫ started working. At this point, I will write the sentence they find on the W/B.
I will ask the students the following: When did the action start? Is it finished? What tense is being used? The students will then be exposed to a timeline I will draw on the board.
I will now ask the students to identify the form (have/has +been + the ing form of a verb). I will also ask how this form could be changed to the negative form. I will continue by having a more natural practice of the pronunciation. There will be a pronunciation drill with at least 5 times of repetition.
I will elicit verbs related to working on a farm. (feed, water and pick) could be some of these verbs. Following that, the students will be encouraged to make sentences with the elicited verbs in pairs using both the negative and positive form of TL.
I will start this stage by directing the students to read ex 1 on the HO I will provide (avoiding the gaps) to report to their partner what changes happened in Dave's life. They will then be asked to fill in the gaps. During this time, I will be monitoring without interference. Once I feel that W/C has finished, I will elicit some answers and put them on the W/B. I will get F/B and tackle any problems that may occur.
I will now refer back to the timeline which has been left on the top of the W/B. At this point, I will introduce for and since through the timeline. I will also add a new timeline with more specificity in terms of dates (exact time references). I will then divide the students into four groups and provide the HO (flash cards which include time expressions used with for and since). They will be asked to go to one corner of the room and either place the flash cards on the paper saying for, or the paper saying since. It should be noted that these pieces of paper will have been positioned around the classroom prior to Lisa's class.
I will now direct the students to go back to their prior group formation. Moving on, I will give HO to each group. This will provide them with the opportunity to check their answers and also serve as a reference to the TL.
I will introduce the question format of TL by writing how long on the W/B. I will extract a few (3-5) correct examples and highlight them on the W/B. At this particular time, I will bring one student in front of the class and have the others ask questions using how long, while encouraging answers using for and since from the student. Provided that time allows it, I will repeat this process 2 or 3 times.
I will assign the students to pair up with a partner and ask each other questions using TL in terms of both questions as well as answers. During this time, I will monitor them closely and do delayed correction on the W/B.
I will write the verbs: be, know and understand on the W/B and emphasize on the fact that they cannot be used in the TL. I will demonstrate this by comparing them to action verbs such as do, eat and so on. I will wrap up the session by giving students time to do ex 3 on the HO. The answers will be checked as a W/C.