UPDATE 8Mar09 - this lesson plan now has an additional animated video which can you use to discuss process with students -especially good if teaching ESP:Aviation students.
Disasters in the news are great opportunities to get your students talking.
Whenever a major crisis hits the news media, words and facts fly out and students begin embedding statistics about the event in their brains.
SimplyConversations lesson:
Business Travel (freelancers, institutions)
Any more tips, tricks? Related links? Don't hesitate to add them below in the comments box. Ta!
Best,
Karenne
New:March8,2009
Animation Video
Recommended book: Aviation English
USA + world
UK
Germany
Disasters in the news are great opportunities to get your students talking.
Whenever a major crisis hits the news media, words and facts fly out and students begin embedding statistics about the event in their brains.
If your students are anything like mine, after any major incident, they arrive in the classroom bursting to share what's happened (maybe because I'm constantly reminding them that I want them to small talk).
They're often able to tell us in English- even the lower level students - just how many people were involved, where 'it' occurred and the process: the before, during and aftermath.
Sometimes in their passion of finally having a story for me, though, I see clear areas of grammatical weakness and occasionally their sequencing adverbs are a little off.
Does this happen to you too?
If you'd like to test this exercise out, the crash of Flight 1549 into the Hudson River is a great example. It's dramatic, it's almost everyone who fly's greatest fear and it had a happy ending.
A very 'real' way to demonstrate the importance of adverbs of sequence/ adverbials of time.
- first
- then
- next
- after that
- finally
If you'd like to spice things up and get your students stretching their linguistic muscles, add things like:
- initially
- firstly, secondly...
- while
Stick up words/ phrases + adverbial clauses like
- by the time
- during this time
- in the aftermath.
To really hone in on the point, once you've finished discussing the story as it occurred in the news, why not go through in-flight safety instructions.
And for my TwIT teachers, I really don't have to remind you that you can grab videos of flight 1549's crash (here) to turn this into a great multi-media lesson. You can also use this tracking map from the New York Times.
They're often able to tell us in English- even the lower level students - just how many people were involved, where 'it' occurred and the process: the before, during and aftermath.
They have opinions too.
Sometimes in their passion of finally having a story for me, though, I see clear areas of grammatical weakness and occasionally their sequencing adverbs are a little off.
Does this happen to you too?
If you'd like to test this exercise out, the crash of Flight 1549 into the Hudson River is a great example. It's dramatic, it's almost everyone who fly's greatest fear and it had a happy ending.
A very 'real' way to demonstrate the importance of adverbs of sequence/ adverbials of time.- first
- then
- next
- after that
- finally
If you'd like to spice things up and get your students stretching their linguistic muscles, add things like:
- initially
- firstly, secondly...
- while
Stick up words/ phrases + adverbial clauses like
- by the time
- during this time
- in the aftermath.
What exactly do stewardesses say?
To really hone in on the point, once you've finished discussing the story as it occurred in the news, why not go through in-flight safety instructions.
And for my TwIT teachers, I really don't have to remind you that you can grab videos of flight 1549's crash (here) to turn this into a great multi-media lesson. You can also use this tracking map from the New York Times.
SimplyConversations lesson:
Business Travel (freelancers, institutions)
Any more tips, tricks? Related links? Don't hesitate to add them below in the comments box. Ta!
Best,
Karenne
New:March8,2009
Animation Video
Recommended book: Aviation English
USA + world
UK
Germany
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