Totally True 1, Unit 16: “Man Leaves Wife in the Atlantic” 

Here are two exercises that worked well with this unit.  The first is a worksheet to 

pre-teach some of the vocabulary and the second is a pantomime activity to 

reinforce the vocabulary and the details of the story. 

1.  Before starting the unit, give each student a copy of the worksheet.  They can 

do it individually, or in pairs.  They may need dictionaries to check the spelling of 

the words.  Check the answers together. 

2.  Teach the unit in the way you prefer. 

3.  After the story has been read and understood, make groups of four and give 

each a set of cut-up pantomime cards.  They should be shuffled and put face 

down in a stack on the table.  They should have their textbooks open to the unit 

16 story (p. 70) at this point.  The teacher demonstrates by picking up a card and 

pantomiming the sentence.  I usually do “They were in a race with 35 other 

rowboats.”  The students look at the story and guess which sentence I’m 

pantomiming. 

4.  In their groups, the students take turns picking up a paper and pantomiming 

the action.  Others look at their story and say the sentence they think is being 

pantomimed.  The correct guesser receives the card.  At the end, the one with 

the most cards, the “best guesser”, is the winner. 

5.  Do a second round, but this time have the students all close their books. 

Have fun!

TT1-u16-instructions

TT1-u16-pantomime-cards

TT1-l16-vocab-pre-teach

This is a commercial that I found on the net. I have used and still use it in my reading classes. I have prepared a number of comprehension questions that I give the students or ask the students to find the answers for. There are some other extension questions too.The commercial is about “Grandpa Chew”watch?v=9ll-bDmK3EAThe questions are at this link reading-comprehension-questions-for-grandpa-chew-life-insurance-commercial

This is a simple activity that needs a bit of preparation before the class, but is usually enjoyed by the students. It’s a simple game where the students have to correctly identify the object that has been taped to their foreheads by asking a series of questions.

Put the students into small groups of four or five, and place the object cards face down in front of them with the sticky tape or blue-tac already attached to the back of the cards. When you say go, the students should place the cards on their foreheads at once, and janken to decide who goes first. Each student then takes it in turn to find out what they are “advertising” by asking Yes/No questions. If the answer to the question is “Yes” they may ask another question, if it’s “No” then the turn moves to the next player. Obviously the player who guesses first is the winner, but you may want to keep the game going until everyone has discovered their product. For the faster students, have them try to guess the exact product (brand etc), for the slower ones a generic object would probably suffice as an answer.

The time-consuming bit is in the preparation - it’s best to cut up the pictures - which you can download here (cards) - and put them onto some kind of card so the students can’t see through the paper. Two sets per class should be enough

This is a sheet with Classroom English that I often use in class. Attached with this is a set of audio files that students can download and listen to if they want to practice them.
Classroom English audio files:classroom-english
Classroom English handout: Classroom English Handout

This zip file contains an overview of the Reading Swap Shop, facilitated by Kay Irie on June 5, 2008, along with some of the materials presented. For more information about ideas and activities in the folder, please talk with the contributors listed below.

Kay Irie
Dan Jackson
Paul Joyce
Christine Wilby
Deborah Bollinger

Download Reading Swap Shop Folder

In his presentation on May 13, 2008 entitled, “A Discourse Approach to Teaching Reading/Writing,” Peter McDonald considered whether modern theoretical approaches to linguistic description can be effectively applied to the teaching of reading/writing at all levels.

This zip file contains Peter’s PowerPoint presentation and handout.

Download A Discourse Approach to Teaching Reading/Writing Folder

These are some short listening activities that can be used to introduce each unit or to provide extra practice. There are three types: gap-fill, correction, and re-ordering. There are also a variety of shorter, follow-up tasks, such as scrambled words, choose a summary, and complete the sentence.

Download the zip file below.

NOTE: this is a new zip file. The previous one contained a mistake in the Unit 2 supp file (there were 11 mistakes, not 10!)

ttunit1_8pdfs

tt3_unit9.pdf
tt3_unit10.pdf
tt3_unit11.pdf
tt3_unit12.pdf
tt3_unit13.pdf
tt3_unit141.pdf
tt3_unit15.pdf
tt3_unit16.pdf
tt3_unit17.pdf
tt3_unit18.pdf

Cat and Couple are Homeless

Ordering Activity

Here is an ordering activity using a similar Cat Adventure story to the one students will read in Chapter 13. You can choose to have the students cut the story into strips, or you can prepare it beforehand. When it is time to show the order of the story, open this file in class and page two of the document is a good size for showing on the OHP. This way you can easily highlight key words, phrases and ideas you might like to focus on.

Fashion Star

For this lesson, teachers could choose either of these ideas to prepare students for the following ‘Fashion’ topic.

One is stimulus for a conversation about Harajuku Fashion, to be taught any way you choose.

Harajuku Fashion

The next is a fun (I think so anyway) cloze exercise based on How to Dress Like a Ganguro Girl. The accompanying audio file can be found on CDs available from 2/10/2007 on the Level 2 shelf. Answers/ Transcript are at the end of the page.

How to Dress Like a Ganguro Girl

Hope these bring life to the topic for your class!

Level 2 Reading Chapter 11

This is a short warm up activity to get the students interested in the topic. There is a quick introduction of the key language and then some photos of four ads presented in unusual ways. The students have to guess what the ad is for.

All you have to do is go to this site in class and open the PDF file. The page will come up with the key language, the pictures and finally the answers.

This can be used with the supplentary activities 10~18 to give students a record of their scores and an opportunity to practice more outside class with the textbook CD.

Download the zip file below.

Totally True Supplementary Activities: Units 10~18

These are some short listening activities that can be used to introduce each unit or to provide extra practice. There are three types: gap-fill, correction, and re-ordering. There are also a variety of shorter, follow-up tasks, such as scrambled words, choose a summary, and complete the sentence.

There is also a Student Record Sheet. This can be used if you intend to use most or all of the supplementary activities. Students can keep a record of their score and are encouraged to try again at home using the CD in the textbook.

Thank you to Deborah for TT16 and 17

Download the zip file below.

Totally True Supplementary Activities: Units 10~18

Harry Potter pelmanism game. Students get into groups and then try to find pairs, matching the picture with the text. They could also get extra points for naming the people/characters.

PDF file:
L2 Reading Unit 9 Extra Activity (pdf)
Word file:
L2 Reading Unit 9 Extra Activity (Word file)

Students complete a questionnaire to estimate how long they will live.

N.B. This is meant to be a light-hearted activity but may not be to everyone’s taste… please decide for yourself if you would be happy to use it with your class. Also, please be aware that one question refers to Body Mass Index (BMI) which might make certain students feel embarrassed.

First the students interview a partner and fill out the questionnaire for him/her.
When everyone has finished the teacher reads out the points for each answer and students calculate the estimated life span of their partner.
One question refers to BMI which = (weight in kg) divided by (height in metres squared)

PDF file:
L2 Reading Unit 8 Extra Activity (pdf)
Word file:
L2 Reading Unit 8 Extra Activity (Word file)

An extra activity based on “dream part-time jobs”. Explanation on the worksheet.
You will need 15 or so copies of the free magazine “Town Work” which can usually be found in convenience stores and many other places around town (might be a few raised eyebrows as you help yourself to 15 copies but not to worry… it is free!).
If we’re lucky some kind person may have left some copies on the L2 Reading shelf.
PDF file:
L2 Reading Unit 7 Extra Activity (pdf)
Word file:
L2 Reading Unit 7 Extra Activity (Word file)

A “Survival Game” for Unit 6. Instructions on the worksheet.
PDF File:
L2 Reading Unit 6 Extra Activity (pdf)
Word file:
L2 Reading Unit 6 Extra Activity (Word file)

A worksheet with some extra activities related to “trash” and throwing things away. The worksheet contains some Japanese but feel free to edit the Word file if an all English version is required.
PDF file:
L2 Reading Unit 5 Extra Activity (pdf)
Word file:
L2 Reading Unit 5 Extra Activity (Word File)

Students watch a clip from the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and complete the worksheet.
The DVD should be on the L2 Reading shelf.
(please make sure you know how to use the “time seek” function on the DVD player to be able to find the clip quickly)
PDF file:
L2 Reading Unit 4 Extra Activity (pdf)
Word file:
L2 Reading Unit 4 Extra Activity (Word File)

Students watch a clip from the movie Witness and complete the worksheet.
The DVD should be on the Level 2 Reading shelf.
(might be a good idea to make sure you know how to use the “time seek” function on the DVD player… I’ve learned this from bitter experience)
PDF file:
L2 Reading Unit 3 Extra Activity (pdf)
Word file:
L2 Reading Unit 3 Extra Activity (Word file)