Tag Archives: vocabulary

The Animal Kingdom: A Multi-Skill Lesson Plan for C1 Students

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Packed with engaging activities, this lesson plan about the animal kingdom is going to become your favourite. Trust me!!!

Have you noticed that it seems like everyone’s got a furry friend these days, and not so many babies? Parks are full of dog walkers, not strollers, you know what I mean? This is one of the things we’ll talk about in this lesson.

I was actually planning to publish this when I was not so busy with classes and teacher’s sessions, but I could not wait to get this into your hands because it is a lesson that worked really well. So before I forget, here it is! A lesson plan for C1 students about the animal kingdom and endangered species.

What you will find in this post is:

  • 2 Warm-up Activities
  • Revising and introducing the name of some animals
  • Vocabulary to talk about endangered species
  • Personalized Listening Comprehension
  • Grammar Game: Impersonal Passive
  • Out of their Seats: Controversial statements + some help
Warm-Up One: Sparking Discussion

If you have been reading me for some time, you know how much I like to play with IA, so to engage my students and spark discussion I have generated this image using Microsoft Designer.

In my experience, displaying the image is enough to create debate, but in case you need it, here is some help.

Question: It’s interesting to note the trend of more people opting for pets over having children. What do you think are some of the factors driving this shift in lifestyle choices?

Follow-up Questions: Have you observed this trend in your own social circles or community? How prevalent do you think it is? What do you believe are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having pets instead of children?

Warm-Up Two: Revising Animal Names Students already Know

Building upon prior knowledge is essential for effective learning, wouldn’t you agree?

In this spirit, I have asked my  C1 students to write a list of 10 wild animals excluding the usual : tiger, elephant, lion, zebra…. OK, you get it! I have given them one minute, and we have written the most interesting ones on the board, practising pronunciation.

Ready to revise and introduce some new ones?

Introducing New Vocabulary + Pronunciation
  • Endangered species
  • Threatened ,
  • On the verge of extinction
  • To become extinct
  • Deforestation
  • Habitat
  • Carnivore, herbivore, omnivore
  • Predator
  • food chain,
  • environmentalist,
  • ecosystem,
  • conservation effort,
  • global warming, recover,
  • vulnerable,
  • reforestation,
  • poach,
  • wildlife
  • to decline,
  • overhunt, overharvest, overfish,
  • To breed in captivity,
Helping Students pronounce better:

A word of warning: I forgot to insert some pauses in-between words, so you might need to stop the audio after each word. Sorry, but I realized once I was playing it for my students and I didn’t feel like doing it all over again.

ANIMALS VOCABULARY by cristina.cabal

Personalized Listening Comprehension
PDF here

Animals Listening comprehension by cristina.cabal

If you are wondering why I like using AI so much, I think this lesson is a good example. Most of the time, I am pressed for time and I don’t feel like trawling the internet or the hundred books on the shelves of the English department looking for the right listening comprehension, so now, I just create my own listening comprehension activities with the vocabulary that is relevant for my students. In this case, I have asked ChatGPT to create the text and then used Eleven Labs to read it. Easy-peasy!!

Grammar: Animals: Fact or Myth? Working with Impersonal Passive
Grammar and exercises here

That was fun.

  • I divided the class into teams and asked Team 1 to choose an animal. A representative read the sentence aloud and all teams – and this is really important-have to work  on their notebooks writing two impersonal passive sentences for each statement. Give them about  2 minutes to write both sentences. For example:

People believe that opossums are hanging by their tails.

  • It is believed that opossums are hanging by their tails
  • Opossums are believed to be hanging by their tails
  • When time’s up, ask the representative for Team 1 to read both sentences. If both are correct, Surprise!!!!! they’ll  get 1 point. If they are wrong or one of them is wrong, shout “NO” and the first team to raise their hand have the chance to say the correct sentence and get 1 point. Click on the PASSIVE button in the infographic to check it.
  • Now, back to Team 1. Ask, do you think the statement is a fact or a myth? Hover over the picture to read the answer.

 

 

Speaking: The Three Corners.
Material: Posters
Cards: here and here
  • Take 3 pieces of paper and write the following words on each: “I AGREE”, “I DISAGREE”, and if you have many students, “I AM UNSURE”. Place these papers in different corners of your classroom.
  • Explain they will see a poster with a debatable statement about animals and they will need to choose the corner that best represents how they feel about the statement.
  •  Explain that in their corners, they will need to talk about the reasons for their choice and develop strong arguments to support their opinion, as they will be challenged by students with opposing views. Encourage the use of vocabulary.
  • Give them enough time to come up with their own arguments to justify their position.
  • After a 10-minute discussion, ask students from both corners to face each other.
  •  Battle: This is the part I like best. Ask students to choose someone from the opposing corner. Pair them up and tell them they have 5 minutes to try to convince each other, using strong arguments,  to switch corners. For drama, ask them to use the phrase: “I challenge X”.

Note: Again, using AI, I have helped my students with some ideas to support their opinion. Of course, this is entirely optional, but I felt my class needed some modelling to get started. Here you’ll find the cards for two of the statements. Animal testing here and Animals in circuses here

I know writing is missing from this lesson plan. Keep posted! It’s coming!

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Let’s Move!!!! A Simple Low-Prep Speaking Activity to Revise Vocabulary

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Hello hello! Still enjoying Easter holidays? Yeahhh me, too! So, I just wanted to pop in real quick with an activity I think might make going back to the grind a little bit easier.

What are the main goals of this activity?

  • Revise and activate newly-acquired vocabulary
  • Reinforce how to formulate questions
  • Boost students’ speaking abilities
  • Introduce movement in the classroom: gallery walks
How to do it
  • Write six to eight words or expressions you want to revise on cards, big enough to see from a distance. Stick them on the walls of the class for everybody to see.
  • Depending on the number of students in your class, ask them to work in pairs or groups of three. For each word on the wall, the group must think of an open question using the target vocabulary.
  • Walk around the room and help with grammar and spelling.
  • Once the group have their question, ask them to write it on a post-it note or a scrap of paper and put it next to the target word on the wall.
  • When they have finished and all the questions are displayed on the walls, ask learners to stand up and, in new groups, do a gallery walk discussing the questions.

Politics: Biden and Trump Visit my Class. A Lesson Created with AI.

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Picture this. Me announcing to my C1 students that the next lesson in the textbook was going to revolve around Politics. To be honest, any other year, I would have probably shared my students’ feeling of apathy or disinterest.  But this year I was really looking forward to this lesson as AI is shaking things up in my English class!

Imagine my students’ jaws dropping when I announced a class debate featuring… wait for it… virtual versions of Biden and Trump! And both using the vocabulary we have been studying, revising and reinforcing.

In this lesson for C1 students, you will find

  • Tailor-made texts using specific vocabulary
  • Talking avatars reading these texts to create a listening comprehension activity
  • Mediation activity using the talking avatars and the texts
  • Speaking activity using target vocabulary

How I Did it

Using ChatGPT to Generate Text Using Target Vocabulary

Prompt: You are an English teacher. Write a text divided into paragraphs. Each paragraph should be preceded by a heading. The headings should be: economic policies and immigration policies. Write it from a Republican point of view. Write a short paragraph for each heading, using C1 English and include such as the verbs benefit, trigger, boost, undermine, bankrupt, to earn peanuts, to be into, compound, combat, and lead

I repeated the same prompt but asking ChatGPT to generate the text from a Democrat point of view.

Listening Comprehension: creating talking avatars to read the text

I created two separate talking avatars. I created Joe Biden and uploaded the text generated by ChatGPT, and then did the same for Donald Trump, and uploaded them to YouTube. This step was important as I wanted to use Twee.com to generate the comprehension questions, which you can find here.

Mediation Activity

Download:  Joe Biden PDF, Donald Trump PDF

And … we shouldn’t let the visit of these two politicians to our class go to waste, so the next step will be to use these talking avatars for a mediation activity, hitting several birds with one stone.

  • help students boost pronunciation
  • help students boost speaking and mediation skills
Steps:

Note:The day before, I asked my students to bring their earbuds and mobile phone s with a QR Code reader installed for the next class.

During the class, I organized the students into two groups – Republicans and Democrats – and paired them up accordingly. I handed out copies with Joe Biden to the Democrats and photocopies featuring Donald Trump to the Republicans.

Aim: engage in a mediation activity by conveying the information to the other candidate using your own words.

Instructions:
  • Scan the QR code to listen to the candidate reading the text. Repeat as many times as necessary until you feel confident in pronouncing the vocabulary correctly.
  • Take notes of what each candidate says. Note: You don’t have to copy word by word.

Joe Biden:

C1 Politics Joe Biden by cristina.cabal
Donald Trump

C1 Politics D. Trump by cristina.cabal

  • Time allotted for individual work in this part: 15 minutes
  • Finally, pair up students and ask them to retell their part, trying to use the target vocabulary. This part might take another 15 minutes.
Speaking: Retrieval Practice
  • Give students one minute to write in their notebooks all the vocabulary words they remember from this unit.
  • When the minute is up, ask the students to say their words and write the most interesting ones on the board.
  • Put the students in pairs or groups of three, underline two/three words and ask students the first questions, asking them to try to use all or some of the words underlined on the board.

 

  1. How important is it for individuals to stay informed about current political events?
  2. Do you think there’s a growing sense of disconnect between politicians and the people they represent? Why or why not?
  3. What do you think are the most important qualities for a good leader?
  4. Do you think that social media can be used to trigger political polarization? If so, how?
  5. What are the most important factors that people consider when casting their vote?
  6. Does the current political landscape adequately represent the diverse voices and needs of society? If not, what needs to change?
  7. Are there particular areas of policy you’re interested in, like education, healthcare, or the environment?

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Creative Collaborative Writing with a Touch of Fun to Fix Fossilized Errors

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It might not be your case, but most teachers, including myself, do not dedicate enough time to practise writing in class. And this needs to be fixed because students may simply get better if given the right guidance and enough practice. However, I think it’s crucial that we ask them to reflect on their errors and then, ask them to make the necessary corrections, rather than just correcting them ourselves.

This exercise you are about to read is fun, creative, and collaborative; it gets students out of their seats but most importantly, gives them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and fix fossilized errors.

On Fossilized Errors

Fossilized errors are persistent mistakes that students make despite repeated correction. You know what I am talking about, don’t you?  While teachers play an important role in identifying and correcting these errors, it is imperative for students to take ownership and  conscientiously analyse and rectify their errors; that’s, in my experience, the most effective way to eliminate them.  If you ask me and generally speaking, when students are given a composition with corrected errors, they just have a quick look at them, but they don’t truly reflect on their mistake and then, inevitably, they are bound to make the same mistake over and over again.

IMPORTANT:For this activity, I have used a classroom that has several small whiteboards on the walls. I am not going to deny that using these whiteboards is more appealing, but what if you don’t have these cute whiteboards? No problem, it will work just the same with A3 or A4 paper (the bigger, the better)

Step by Step

STEP 1: FORMING PAIRS AND GETTING A STORY STARTER

  1. Pair up students.
  2. Display the visual below and explain that the boxes contain different story starters. Ask pairs to choose a box. The sentence inside the box will be the beginning of their story. All pairs must choose a different box, meaning they will all have different beginnings.
  3.  I have asked each pair of students to stand next to a board  (alternatively, as explained, a A3 or A4 sheet of paper ) and write the beginning of their story.
  4. Give students about 5/6 minutes to continue the story in any way they fancy.

STEP 2: ADDING A RANDOM PROMPT AND A CONNECTOR OF CONTRAST

After approx 5 minutes, draw students’ attention and ask a volunteer for the whole class to

  • choose a box from the exercise below. Pairs will have to continue the story, incorporating the prompt in the box. Right after opening the box with the prompt,
  • click on the wheel  (fed with connectors of contrast and purpose and some verbs) and ask them to continue the story using the connector/verb randomly picked in the wheel.

Give students 5 or 6 minutes to continue the story.


How many times have I repeated Step 2? 

I have repeated this procedure three times (i.e. three prompts+ three connectors). Make sure you tell them when they need to finish their stories.

Step 3. Giving students Feedback on their Writing 

Give students something to do while you quickly underline the mistakes in their writings. Keywords here: underline their mistakes. I don’t correct them, I underline them. This is vital if you want students to get rid of errors.

Step 4. Students correct their mistakes

Ask students to stand up in their pairs and comment, reflect and try to fix the underlined mistakes.

Important: I ask them not to delete the original text so that I can have it as a reference.

Step 5.  Quickly give feedback on their corrections
Step 6. Students vote for the best story

Student stand up again, read their classmates’ stories, and individually vote for the best. They do it by drawing a heart next to the story they like best.

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Game: Team Crossword Challenge

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My favourite way to start a lesson is by involving all my students in an activity that helps them revise previous content.

I usually like to engage my students in a fun activity, most of the time teacher-guided, and that will require their attention and active participation. It can be quite challenging, though, because my classes start at 3 pm, right after lunch, and most of them are feeling pretty full and sluggish. (Side note: I live in Spain.)

For this activity, we will complete a crossword using clues related to work vocabulary, but this game can be easily tailored to any vocabulary or level of difficulty. So, if you are looking for a fun and engaging way to test your students’ vocabulary and teamwork skills, you’ll love this game.

As expected, being a technology enthusiast, I have used a digital tool to design a crossword that is completely adapted to the vocabulary I have taught my students.

  • Crossword game
  • Teacher-paced
  • Topic: Work
  • Level: B2+
How to play

The rules of the game are:

  • Divide the class into two groups, with each group choosing a representative.
  • A coin flip will determine which team starts the game.
  • The active team will select a number, and the corresponding definition will be read out loud.
  • The active team has 10 seconds to provide an answer, which will be given by their representative. If the answer is correct, the team can keep playing. Yes, they keep on playing.
  • If the team cannot provide an answer or makes a mistake within the time limit, the other team will take their turn.
  • The game is won by the team that correctly answers the final question.

Note:Click on the red arrows in the top right corner to enlarge the crossword.

Tool used: Learningapps