Category Archives: Lesson Plan: Advanced

A Book Review

Lesson Plan: Advanced, Reading, Resources, Writing, ,

You have been reading your books for a while now and I sincerely hope you are enjoying it. But… hurry up if you haven’t finished because your writing test is coming… sorry to give you bad news. I have already made up my mind to do it on Thursday April 22 in class.
Here are some considerations and tips about writing book reviews. I hope you find them useful.What is the difference between a book report and a book review? A book report is completely factual. It includes information on the author, title, place and year of publication as well as a summary of the content of the book. A book review, on the other hand, is much more personal. It is really an expression of the reader’s opinion of the work, or of specific aspects of the work. The review will probably include much of the same factual content as the report, but it is the reader’s personal opinions that are most important.

You have read your book. Your next step will be to organize what you are going to say about it in your report. Writing the basic elements down in an outline format will help you to organize your thoughts.What will you include in the outline?
The description should include such elements as:

•The setting-where does the story take place?
•The time period-is the story set in the present day or in an earlier time period? Perhaps it is even set in the future!
•The main character(s)-who is the story mostly about? Give a brief description. Often, one character can be singled out as the main character, but some books will have more than one
•The plot-what happens to the main character? WARNING! Be careful here. Do not fall into the boring trap of reporting every single thing that happens in the story. Pick only the most important events. Here are some hints on how to do that. First, explain the situation of the main character as the story opens. Next, identify the basic plot element of the story-is the main character trying to achieve something or overcome a particular problem? Thirdly, describe a few of the more important things that happen to the main character as he/she works toward that goal or solution. Finally, you might hint at the story’s conclusion without completely giving away the ending.

WRITING TIPS

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As we are learning about the weather..

In the Computer Room, Lesson Plan: Advanced, Listening, ,

As we are learning about the weather …I thought it might be a good idea to teach with rhythm.
It’s Raining Men was originally recorded by The Weather Girls ,who were the duo formed by Martha Wash and Izora Rhodesand. The song went number 1, selling over 6million copies worldwide. Barbara Streisand and Diana Ross were both offered this song and turned it down, I guess they are still regretting it.

 

Geri Halliwell, formerly a member of The Spice Girls, also recorded this song in 2001. Her version was used on the soundtrack to the movie Bridget Jones’ Diary. When released, the single shot straight to number 1 for 2 weeks.
If you want to do the listening we did in class, click here https://www.cristinacabal.com/advanced/itsrainingmen1.htm

Related entries:

Memories to Share

In the Computer Room, Lesson Plan: Advanced, Listening, Music, ,

Good memories, bad memories but memories anyway.

Only this week I asked my students to reminisce about the past and, because we are on the lucky side of the world, all their memories were great. Most of them remembered their childhood with nostalgia, which is a good thing to do.
They remembered and talked about memories they will always cherish: about fighting with siblings, wonderful holidays when the family used to stick together, inventing tall stories to tell your parents so as not to be grounded, giggling with your classmates after mocking the teacher… you have given me lots of material to bribe you with.
We all have memories that are persistent throughout most of our life. Sharing them provides others a precious window to who we are.

Now, I have found and done with my students this song by James Morrison Once When I was Little, food for thought I should say, which both fits the grammar we have been studying to refer to the past, namely : “would” and “used to” and also the topic “Memories”.

I hope you enjoy it!. If you want to see the Lesson Plan , click here

Have you got any memories to share? So, come on, send them!!

Putting the emphasis on Emilia

In the Computer Room, Lesson Plan: Advanced, Music, The English language,

Have you never heard about her? I’m sure you have. But even if you haven’t , if I hum the words” I’m a big, big girl…” you’ll probably think,” Yeah ,I know this song “or, at least, this small verse though maybe not the singer.

Why this song today? Well, the only reason is because I’ve been teaching Emphasis and it’s a good song to illustrate this point. I’m afraid that’s my only reason as she is not one of my favourites. “Sorry , Emilia ! I’ve heard you are on your way to the European Song Contest and I wish you well, you are just too soft for me”

Anyway, it is very good for students to see how the emphasis is placed on some words (actually, they can find three different ways).
But, why don’t you go to my website and do the exercises ? or alternatively ,if you are up to your eyes with homework , just enjoy it.
First option, click here

Improving your writing skills

Lesson Plan: Advanced, Resources, Writing, , , , ,

You know that I have been for some time now trying to improve your written work making you aware of the fact that you always tend to use the same simplistic words when you write, even though we both know that you have a wider range of vocabulary. So why not use it? Look at this text and try to replace the verbs “say” and “look” with some others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here when you finish to see my suggestions.

“Watch out” ! I said at the top of my voice; but it was already too late. Jim and I both stood there looking at the cyclist flying off his bike and hitting the enormous hole in the road. “Is he hurt?” Jim said quietly, trembling with fear. “I don’t know” I said softly. At that moment the young man slowly lifted his head and looked at us in confusion. “What happened?” he said, in pain. “Where am I?”

Here’s another one. This time replace the words underlined to make it more interesting to the reader. Click here when you finish to see my suggestions.

It was a nice sunny morning when we set off on our journey. The sky looked very blue with only a few small clouds on the distant horizon. The ship we travelled on was big and had good cabins. We must have been halfway there when I was roused from my nap by a bad scream. It took me a while to come to my senses, but then I saw a small woman in front of me, looking very scared.

And now an entertaining task online that shows you how you can develop a simple sentence like ‘I made tea.’ into a detailed text. Go to the website: http://www.telescopictext.com/. You will see the sentence with shaded words, click ing on a shaded you’ll see that part of the sentence expand. Read the new sentence and then choose another part to click on

Homework: Create your own detailed sentences from one of these:
– I went to the beach.
– I saw a film
Once you have finished your sentence you can post it in the comments below and I’ll publish it.