Adult Class level 3: introduction lesson

22nd March 2024

Let us start with a quick welcome; students can be put in pairs and spend 3 or 4 minutes asking each other questions (names, age, likes and dislikes). Then they introduce their partners to the class.

I follow by asking the students where they think I am from, and in one class I heard, “Australia.” Couldn’t be further away. Sounds of laughter and of ice-breaking. One of the younger students recognised the British accent, then London was pinpointed as my hometown.

This leads to …

First activity: stop the bus (STB) about the UK.

What is the second biggest city ?

Name of the famous clock. Name of our King.

Name of 007 (also a way to drill the notoriously absent final-s of James),

Traditional food (“fish & chips,”; again -s drill).

This combines ice-breaking games with some pronunciation and grammar drills.

This lead to …

Partner work. I show four different examples of British food and four titles. Students had to match the title and image, with some pre-teaching. The activity:

English food

Toad in the hole Sunday roast

Full English breakfast Fish and chips

Describing the food: can they name the dishes ?

What do they think of them ? (elicit adjectives)

Are they healthy ? if not, why not ?

Encourage all students to contribute, feel relaxed and comfortable, and confident to demonstrate their knowledge.

Phrasal verbs pertaining to eating

eating out

dig in

check out or check it out

pick up the cheque / bill

Vocabulary

unusual for instance partly attracted ingredients typical

Then using these in sentences:

What do you need to make pho ? (noodles, meat, vegetables, stock, herbs)

Those are the ingredients.

What do you do every day ? (go to school or work, exercise, do homework, clean the house)

That is a typical day.

Viet Nam has great food, for instance pho, bun bo Hue, Mi Quang. What is the most unusual food you know ?

Today will be partly cloudy. The smell of the cooking attracted the young lady.

There has to be a lot of time for the students to speak with each other. Sometimes working in pairs, sometimes in small groups. Make sure the students have the vocabulary to do the activity, know what they have to do and feel motivated.

Grammar: present simple and present continuous

I live in HCM or I am living in HCM

What is the difference ? Why do we use one but not the other ? (This will be covered in other blogs)

Pronunciation: the stress on negative words

I like tea, she doesn’t like coffee.

Intonation: rising voice on questions

Does she like tea ? Do you like British food ?

And finally ... students can ask their partner about things that they like: food, music, films, places etc

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Future Worlds

26th February 2024

The future starts right now ! In small teams, let’s review some technology we already use.

1 If you want to listen to music, you can use ____________________ . What is good about these ?

2 Smart phones have many _______ . Which ones can you name ?

3 To connect to the internet, you need __________ . Draw the symbol.

4 A computer that can be carried around is a _____________ . Why is it called that in English ?

5 Some schools use an ________________ ___________________ .

6 Singers use _______________________ to be much louder.

7 No need to buy books if you have an __________________________ . Do you prefer real books or these ? Why ?

8 If you want to use the internet, you need to ____ _________________ .

9 You wear these and it feels like you are in a different place ____________________ .

10 When the battery on a phone or tablet is low, you must ________ .

What will future cities look like ? Will they look like this ?

Remember to answer, “Yes, they will,” or “No, they won’t.”

How will life be in the future ? Will there be …

Robot police officers ? Why or why not ?

Robot doctors ?

Robot servers ?

Robot drivers ?

Robot shoppers ?

Robot cleaners ?

Which ones do you think are good ideas ?

Which ones do you not like.

What do you think about a virtual classroom ?

Give me good and bad reasons.

Points for the most interesting and intelligent answers.

What’s the problem with your city … and what’s the solution ?

9th January 2024

Does this look like your city ?

Or is it more like this … ?

An exercise for students to use critical thinking, and to practise speaking.

First we shall let the students work in pairs, discussing today’s question:

What’s the problem with your city … and what’s the solution ?

Let’s kick off with some useful vocabulary

pollution

litter

noise

traffic congestion

You may start like this:

I live in Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City). The city is very large and busy, and has many great places. However, it also has many problems.

Then talk about pollution (air and water),

litter (paper, plastic, food, bottles, cans etc)

noise (karaoke, motorbikes, street vendors, building work)

traffic (is it fun or safe to drive ?)

Remember to use amazing adjective as well as linking words to give longer, better answers.

Now for some solutions

How can we make rivers cleaner ?

How can we make the roads less congested ?

How can we stop people littering ?

How can we reduce noise pollution ?

Young Learners Levels 3 & 4: class objectives.

27th December 2023

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year one and all. Here is what we shall be studying this block, and what I expect from you:

Students will have a large vocabulary, and speak in long, interesting sentences.

Students can tell if a word is a noun, adjective, verb, pronoun etc.

Students will be able to use Simple Present & Simple Past (Verb 1 & Verb 2)

Students will come to class on time, and will be prepared; that means having pens, pencils and a notebook.

Class rules will be followed. I demand that MY students

DO NOT RUN in the halls

DO NOT SHOUT.

If you do, you shall receive a …

Additionally, you will have to sing a David Bowie song in front of the whole class !

Our classes will kick off (start) with a song

‘Love Me Do’ by the Beatles.

Next we shall have speaking time.

I will write a subject and you will talk to your partner for as long as possible. Remember, English is never finished – you can always improve (get better). Today the question is:

What do you want in 2024 ?

You can say want you want to have, where you want to go, and why, what you want to study (and why), what new skill you want, maybe some new food or drink.

Let’s break it down.

First, what do you want to have ?

A new toy // a baby sister or brother // Lucky Money // A+ in your tests // an iPhone 15 !

Next, where do you want to go, and why ?

Da Nang because it is beautiful and cool. Also I can eat fresh fruit.

London because I want to see Mr Paul’s hometown 🙂 Also I can visit many famous places like Tower Bridge.

Thailand because the people are friendly and the temples are amazing and peaceful.

Next, what you want to study (and why)

I really want to study English because …

What new food do you want to eat ?

I want to try British Christmas food because …

EXAMPLE:

In 2024 I want to go to Thailand because the food is spicy and delicious. Also, it is quieter because I don’t hear karaoke.

I want to have great classes with super students who are respectful !

Maybe I will learn some more Vietnamese so I can talk to people.

Finally, I really want to learn this music on guitar. However it is very difficult and very fast. I will have to practise every day.

Happy New Year everybody. Peace and Love.

Young Teens: “I’ve just seen a face I can’t forget …”

6th October 2023

Let’s kick the speaking exercises into overdrive !

A surefire way to get that A+ is to speak in long sentences, with adjectives, linking words and some basic expressions.

Let’s practise – look at these photos, then describe what you see. As simple as that.

Then, add your own ideas about how the subject feels and what they are doing.

Let’s go to work

Always start with the subject

Never start with a pronoun

In Picture 1 start with the woman; what does she look like ? What do you think is her personality ?

Next, where is she and what is she doing ?

We need our vocabulary toolbox

First some adjectives about appearance:

amazing / Asian / beautiful / chubby / cute / healthy / middle-aged / old / short / tall / ugly / young / wealthy /

Then some adjectives about personality:

caring / friendly / greedy / hard-working / intelligent / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / outgoing / popular / quick / rude / selfish / talented / talkative /

EXAMPLE

The young Asian woman has long, straight, black hair. She is wearing a blue coat and holding a large, pink book. I think she is very intelligent and hard-working. She looks very happy. In my opinion she is waiting for a friend and they will go for a coffee.

Now … your turn

Young Learners: tell me more, tell me more !

26th September 2023

One of the purposes of teachers asking questions is to give students an opportunity to practise their speaking skills; vocabulary, syntax, intonation etc.

However, many times students, of all levels, will merely answer the question in as few words as possible, and they need to be encouraged to elaborate on their responses.

Teachers are taught to refrain from asking ‘Yes,’ or ‘No,’ answers:

“Did you have a good weekend ?”

“Yes.”

A better option would be:

“What did you do on Saturday ?”

Hopefully this will elicit a more suitable reply.

(Yes, teachers should be prepared for, “Nothing,” “Sleep,” etc … some students simply do not want to learn or work. Teachers have a limited supply of energy and enthusiasm; it should not be wasted.)

And so to work … my young learners have speaking tests soon. Here are some exercises to help boost their scores.

First we need our vocabulary toolbox. Let’s start with some adjectives:

amazing, angry / beautiful, big /clean, clever, cute / dangerous / easy, electric / fantastic, funny / greedy, great, / happy, healthy, huge / important, intelligent / Japanese / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / old, outgoing / popular / quick / rude / sad, selfish, shy, small / talkative, tiny / ugly, unusual / valuable / wealthy / year-long, young

Now some linking words:

also, as well as / because / furthermore / however

Finally, a smattering of expressions and idioms:

in my opinion / it costs an arm and a leg / let’s dive in / more than likely / over the moon.

Let’s dive in ! Work in pairs and ask each other the following questions:

Tell me about your house or apartment

(where is it, how many rooms, what does their room look like, what colour is it, what toys do they have, do they have pets ?etc)

Does this look like your room ?

Tell me about your school

(Name of the school and address, their favourite subjects and teachers, why do they like them, their friends, what do they do at break time, do they play sports or music ? etc)

Does this look like your school ?

Tell me about food you love and food that you hate

Tell me about a film you love

Where would you most like to visit ?

What job would you like to do. What job would you hate ?

Fishing with birds: a writing exercise

25th August 2023

Let’s dive straight in ! Watch this short clip.

Board some new words:

swallow (verb) // count (v) // seek (v)

peaceful (adjective) // calm (adj) // tranquil (adj) // golden (adj) //disgusting (adj) // talented (adj) // cheeky (adj) // expert hunter (adj + noun)

landscape (noun) // cormorant (n) // noose (n) // tiddler (n)

Remember this chart ?

This blog may be accessed here: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2023/05/23/boost-your-english-speaking/

We shall have four sections to our writing:

1) Landscape 2) the men 3) the birds 4) the cheeky bird

1) Landscape

Where is this ? What can you see ? Describe the scene

(China, mountains, river, lake, trees, rocks. The sun is rising with a golden light. The scene is peaceful and tranquil.)

2) The Men

What do they look like ? What do they do ?

(The men are old, with lines on their faces. They smoke and have disgusting teeth, yellow and black. They dance and chant. They feed the birds tiddler fish.)

3) The Birds

Describe them

(The birds are intelligent and talented. They are expert hunters and can swim well. Also, they can count, up to 7. After 7, they refuse to work unless they get some tiddlers to swallow.)

4) Cheeky bird

What does the cheeky bird do ?

Now, write your short story about fishing with birds. Advanced students can practise writing in the simple past, using verb 2.

Good luck !

Young learners, level 1: some classroom games.

14th August 2023

A couple of games to help review recent lessons. First up, ‘Runaround‘.

A game based on a TV show. The teacher asks a question and then gives three possible answers.

EXAMPLE:

What animal is small, green and can jump ?

A – a dog B – a frog C – a hedgehog

The students – just one from each team – run to a letter. They are allowed 3 seconds to change their mind – then give the answer.

The following questions are based on our textbook, so adapt as you see fit.

What colour is a banana ?

A – purple B – white C – yellow

What is correct ?

A – 2 red marbles B – 2 red marble C – 2 marbles red

What animal is big ?

A – a mouse B – an elephant C – an ant

How much is 3 and 4 (3 + 4 =) ?

A – 6 B – 7 C – 8

What is in your bag ?

A – a pen B – a chair C – a classroom

Is this a book ?

A – Yes, it isn’t B – No, it is C – Yes, it is

What toy can fly ?

A – a train B – a plane C – a doll

What shape is this ?

A – a rectangle B – a circle C – a triangle

What animal has rectangle pupils in the eye ?

A – an elephant B – a goat C – Ms Huong (haha)

You play with a bat and

A – an egg B – a desk C – a ball

If you want to drink water, raise your

A – hand B – toes C – hair

Next, good old Snakes and ladders. In the same teams, hand out writing boards. Use an online die or dice, and this template:

1: Make a sentence I have a colour + toy

2: A rainbow is very (adjective)

3: Write 3 colours that begin with the letter ‘b’

4: What is your favourite toy ?

5: What can you see in this classroom. Write 2 things

6: What colour is your bag ?

7: A puppy is (2 adjectives)

8: Write a question starting with ‘Can …’

9: Tell me what is in your bag

10: Draw an elephant and then tell me about the animal.

Summer Project: make a toy theatre

3rd August 2023

Extending the concept of recycling, and phasing out plastic, this project shows how to turn old cardboard boxes into toy theatres with just scissors, sellotape, colour paper, wooden sticks … and imagination.

The subject was King Arthur, and my manager printed out some great colour pictures.

An introduction to the King Arthur story, myth or legend may be accessed here: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2022/04/20/young-teens-king-arthur-the-sword-in-the-stone/

Without further ado, let’s build some theatres.

The first theatre was made from a large box, and I just cut out a central square and a side panel. I found some old yellow material in my house, so the students could make curtains or a backdrop.

The middle theatre is my first attempt (I am hopeless at art and crafts, as you can see). The box was not ideal, being oblong, so the theatre is tall and thin, but it at least gives an idea how an old box can be transformed.

Now, this is how I turned an old electric toothbrush box into a palace of dreams and fantasy.

{many instructional videos can be found on YouTube}

First, I flattened the box, and cut away the flaps. Then I made a stage by folding and taping down the front panel.

The side panels form the frames for the sides and roof.

Next, decorate with paper. I used adverts from a free newspaper with large areas of bright colour. I selected a picture for a backdrop, an impression of Arthur’s Camelot.