Here are a couple of late-breakers that didn’t make it into the binder at the start of the semester. You might want to use them to help your students prepare for Speaking Task 1 (summer vacation interview).

Activity to promote accuracy in questions (PDF): Past tense question writing worksheet

If you decide to follow the same interview pattern as on the DVD, this document may help you guide your students through the various stages of the interview. Either hand it out, or write on the board doing the final practice session.

Interview pattern (PDF): Interview Pattern

These documents can also be found in Shared Files, and in the level binder.

Many teachers are planning encourage their students to read graded readers this semester. This worksheet may come in handy to help students prepare for a short oral book report.

Download the PDF: l1-book-report

A wonderful free site. Difficult to describe what it is, or what it does ~ but if you are curious, go and take a look.

http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SWhH8QsOtha6ElG2QhBBQ2~

If you can think of ways to integrate it into our classes, or have already used it in some way, please share your ideas & experiences as comments to this post.

No ~ don’t call the decency police!

http://diddlefinger.com/

Is an interesting little site, which allows you to search for addresses in Japan in English.

I am sure you will find a use for it … Why not test it by looking for your own home?

Most first-year students already know that the FLSC is a great place for self-study, but post-first-year students may not be aware that it exists. This A4 handout briefly explains the benefits of the FLSC as a self-study centre. You may wish to make copies for your students, or publish the PDF on your class’s Moodle course.

Download file:  FLSC SELF-STUDY HANDOUT (PDF)

There are many ways to approach Task 1 - both in terms of exactly what you want your students to do, and how you want them to prepare for it. In the Level 1 L&S binder there is a set of worksheets to help your students prepare for the task - which may well fit in exactly with your plans. However, just in case you want to approach the prep in a slightly different way, here is an alternative set of worksheets.

They focus strongly on the concept of one ‘big’ event, and two ’small’ events. There are no Teacher’s Notes, but the worksheets themselves should prove self-explanatory, especially if you have already seen the example interview on the DVD. You may want to use them very early in the semester - in fact I plan to start work on them in my first class.

Download the worksheets (3 worksheets, in one PDF file): Alternative Task 1 student prep worksheets

Speaking task 1 is a pair interview in which students talk about what they did during the summer vacation. An example conversation (performed by 2 ELP teachers) can be found on the Level 1 DVD, and on the Resources web site. This worksheet can be used with the video, and may be useful in preparing your students for the task.

Worksheet (includes Teacher’s Notes): Task 1 DVD Worksheet

Past Tense. From words to a story

This activities make use of the u12 Vocabulary Map (in the back of the text book).

Two different ways of using the vocabulary listed in the unit 12 Vocabulary Map as prompts for writing/telling a story.

File is basically Teacher’s Notes, and also includes a set of vocab cards which would need cutting-up.

Download file: Unit 12. Vocabulary Map. PDF.

Past Tense: Predicting / Listening / Drawing / Writing

This activity could be done at any time (and by any level), not just to supplement unit 12.

Stage 1: Students look at 6 pictures which illustrate a true story, and predict the correct order of the pictures, and the story itself. They then listen to the story and check their predictions.

Stage 2: Students then illustrate their own true ‘interesting’ story, and pass it to another student. The other student predicts the story.

Sounds complicated, but it’s not really! Extensive instructions, and transcript, are included in the PDF.

Download file: Unit 12. Picture Story. PDF.

 Download audio MP3 file: Unit 12. Picture Story. MP3.

Past Tense. Chain writing a story: Replacement ‘Ensemble’ activity.

This is a substitute for the Ensemble activity ~ which has poor picture prompts in the text book. This activity may be quite demanding!

Students write the first half of a short story, based on a picture prompt. They then pass their story to other students, who finish the story.

Brief Teacher’s Notes are included, but the rubrics on the worksheet itself should be clear enough.

Download file: Unit 12. Our own story. PDF

Modals. Pair Work Activity: What do the signs mean?

The pair work activity in the text book is lame. You might prefer to do this instead!

Students look at images taken from real (old..) Japanese street signs, and write down what they think the sings mean. They then hand their sentences (not the pictures) to another student, who then draws what he/she thinks the original sign looked like.

Your students should be reasonably familiar with the target modals before attempting this task. It does require a considerable amount of imagination, so please keep this in mind when deciding if it will be suitable for your class.

Teacher’s Notes are included in the PDF.

Download file: Unit 11. Signs Pair Work. PDF.

Modals. Language covered:

Card game played in small groups. Instructions are included in the PDF. There are no Teacher’s Notes.

Download file: Unit 11. Card Game. PDF.

Superlatives

Board game, played in groups. Land on a square & talk about the topic for 30 seconds, followed by Q+A from other students in the group.

Materials needed: one worksheet per group // one ¥10 per group

No teacher’s notes, as it should be clear how the game is played. You may want to blow-up the worksheet to A3 size.

Download: u8 Talk about Game

Superlatives Class Survey

Students write survey questions in order to find the ‘Most ….’, or ‘… est’ person in the class.

Teacher’s Notes (These instructions are included in the pdf)

The student worksheet has been kept as clean and simple as possible, to leave more space for writing ~ & to reduce confusion!

Suggested lesson plan

1 Ask three students these questions (Also ask follow-up questions to get a little more information.):

How often do you laugh?
Do you like to watch comedy shows on TV?
Are you worried about anything?
Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
How many friends do you have?

Write short, memo notes summarising their answers on a grid on the board.

2 Look at the answers for a short time, and decide who is the ‘happiest’ of the three students. On the board, write ‘(name)……….. is the ____est student.’
Elicit ‘happiest’.

3 Tell the students that they are going to write questions to find the ‘most ….’, or ‘… est’ student in the class. Put students into pairs, then go round to each pair and tell them the theme of their survey (Make sure other students can’t hear!).

Suggested themes (Obviously substitute with your own ideas, if you like.): laziest most serious craziest fittest

coolest most healthy most unhealthy cleanest etc etc …

4 Pair works together to write 5 questions. Explain that the theme of the survey shouldn’t be 100% obvious from the questions.

5 Divide the class in half ~ one student from the pair in each half. Students then talk to 5 students, writing short memo notes on the worksheet. Encourage follow-up questions. Explain that the theme of their survey is secret, so they shouldn’t tell anyone!

6 Students get back into original pairs, and compare the results of their surveys. They then talk together to decide who is the winner. (Each pair chooses one winner.)

7 Awards ceremony. Organise the announcing of winners in any way you consider appropriate.

Download File: u8 Class survey

Comparatives & Superlatives

Running dictation quiz, which reviews the facts and structures in unit 8. Best done as a review activity, after most of the unit has been covered.

Teacher’s notes are included in the pdf.

Download file: Unit 8. Running Quiz. PDF

This is one way to launch unit 4 of the text book. It is a quiz, in which groups of students write definitions of places in a town (eg, bank, bus stop) - followed by a class quiz.

The file

Places in a town (cut into strips, and give each group 4 places to define)

Possible lesson plan

1 Use ‘bank’ as an example of how to write a definition (either of the 2 structures is OK)

2 Put students into groups. Students work together and write definitions.

3 Class quiz: There are many ways to do this!

Follow-up

~ Collect strips after quiz. Copy them, and hand out to all students in the next class.

~ Use the definitions to make a crossword puzzle - to use as a warmer or filler in the next class.

This is a PowerPoint quiz that might be fun to do while your students are preparing for Speaking Task 1. It consists of 15 examples of statements / questions, each containing a common grammatical mistake. Suggested use is as a fun warmer, prior to a practice session.

There are 2 versions of the quiz:

• With inline answers (Question ~ Answer // Question ~ Answer, etc)
• With all answers at the end (Question / Question // Answer / Answer, etc)

Suggested lesson plans

Inline answer version (Fast pace)

1. Put students into groups.
2. Show question #1.
3. Students discuss, and call out corrected sentence.
4. Award a point, and go on to next question.
5. After quiz, distribute handout showing all corrected sentences.

All answers at the end version (Slower pace, may take a long time)

1. Put students into groups.
2. Distribute one answer sheet per group.
3. Show question #1.
4. Students discuss and write corrected sentence.
5. Show next question.
6. At end of quiz, groups exchange answer papers.
7. Show answer slides.
8. Groups check another group’s answers.
9. After quiz, distribute handout showing all corrected sentences.

Files

PowerPoint.zip

Keynote.zip (Keynote (Mac) versions of same slideshow.)

Answer sheet (PDF)

Handout showing all corrected sentences. (PDF)

The level 1 team are generating supplementary materials to augment English Firsthand Success. The aim of the materials is to:

• extend textbook activities
• covers language related to a unit, but not in the textbook
• help with speaking task prep

Use them all. Use some of them. Use none of them. - It’s up to you! Look in the header of each document for an explanation of why each activity was created.

Copies of these materials can also be found in the Level 1 binder. Materials that include listening activities are indicated with an “*“. (All files are PDF.)

• Clothes crossword
• Fashion and me *
• Getting it right
• Who is that man
• Why do people

Audio files
Audio files (in MP3 format) for the above activities can be downloaded here:
Unit 2 Supp Mats audio files (.zip archive) 9.2 MB

Another way to access the audio files is to open iTunes on the ‘Level 1′ Macintosh computer in the Part Time teachers’ area, and burn your own audio CD. Additional audio files will be added during the semester, so it will be a good idea to check iTunes on a regular basis.

The level 1 team are generating supplementary materials to augment English Firsthand Success. The aim of the materials is to:

• extend textbook activities
• covers language related to a unit, but not in the textbook
• help with speaking task prep

Use them all. Use some of them. Use none of them. - It’s up to you! Look in the header of each document for an explanation of why each activity was created.

Copies of these materials can also be found in the Level 1 binder. Materials that include listening activities are indicated with an “*“. (All files are PDF.)

• Physical appearance
• Best friend *
• Families vocab. Family tree
• Family members *
• Names *

Audio files
Audio files (in MP3 format) for the above activities can be downloaded here:
Unit 1 Supp Mats audio files (.zip archive) 19.5 MB

Another way to access the audio files is to open iTunes on the ‘Level 1′ Macintosh computer in the Part Time teachers’ area, and burn your own audio CD. Additional audio files will be added during the semester, so it will be a good idea to check iTunes on a regular basis.

Finding the transcripts in the Teachers’ Book, and then having to cut and paste to create a handout, can waste a lot of your valuable time. To speed things up, you can download a Word version of the transcripts for the main listening activities in units 1 - 6 of English Firsthand Success.

Transcripts. Units 1 - 6.

Note: Gapped versions of the transcripts also appear in the back of the Students’ Book.

The Word versions are available here, in the event that you decide to devise more imaginative listening activities.

Finally, the usual plea! If you do devise any activities based on these transcripts, please upload them here to OEKS, or give a copy to a member of the Level 1 coordination team.