Relative Clauses

I'm sharing a couple of simple activities I created to introduce, review and/or assess the use of relative pronouns and adverbs with B1 students. After they had revised and applied the structure, I had them work with some songs for them to link the structure to something popular. Here's how I did it.



Warm up: to introduce the grammar, I gave them some nouns (related to the unit we were working on) for them to come up with a definition. In groups, they defined the items using their own words, and then they presented their ideas for their partners to guess the concepts.

Activity 1: Whenever a student used a sentences containing a relative pronoun or adverb, I wrote it on the board.

NB: If this doesn't occur, write a definition yourself or reshape on of theirs.

Grammar discovery: Students and teacher write the grammar rules or explanation on the board.

Activity 2: Any sort of practice. Perhaps, if they are starting to work with the structure, they could use a game like these so that they work in groups. After that, they could work individually on any worksheet or text book exercise.

Activity 3: Application. Have one student sit with his/her back to the screen. The rest will see the slides on this presentation, and will define the image which appears on the screen. Do not accept any answer without the use of a relative clause.

You may write on the board:

It's a person who...
It's an actor who...
It's a thing which...
It's an item that...





NB: Point out that this is a way in which they can communicate concepts they do not know or remeber. They could hone their speaking through the acquisition of this strategy whenever they get stuck.

Closure: Music time! 



Here you have the presentation, the worksheet and the audio.



What do you think about the lesson?

Stay tuned,
Claudio

Culture shock

Here's an activity I created for B2 students to talk about culture shock and to introduce the use of the suffixes ful and less. Throughout this lesson, students will be introduced to the use of suffixes, they will analyze its meaning and use, and finally they will apply it.

Warm up: Listen to the song "Englishman in New York" by Sting. 

How does the singer feel? 
Have you ever been in a similar situation? Share.

Activities 1, 2 and 3: Trailer watching. 

Teacher's copy

Ful or less?

This is a touching story of a woman, full of character, with an idealistic vision for herself and her daughter, and a typical American family. The woman and daughter emigrate from Mexico seeking a better life in America, and discover that the family culture, at least in one American family, runs counter to the values that the woman holds dear. The woman starts working as a maid for the American family which is wrought with some typical American family dysfunction. The American mother is thoughtless to the needs of her daughter and husband--she has been caught up in the "me" age of self improvement, addicted to high paced life of a working mother, turning into a heartless mom. The husband is a sensitive, caring, and thoughtful chef and father who has become estranged from his wife due to her emergent self obsession and insensitivity to the husband and daughter's needs from a mother and wife. The stark contrast in cultures between the beautiful emotionally intelligent Mexican woman and the American family, whose matriarch is lacking in the same valuable characteristics present in the Mexican mother, provides learning opportunities. The daughters learn to appreciate each other's cultures. The husband and Mexican woman discover in each other a special connection which transcends language barriers and allows the husband to see what he is missing in his meaningless relationship. And the daughter of the Mexican woman discovers that she appreciates her mother's values more than she ever thought possible.

Follow up: Writing.

Task A) Send Flor a lettter and offer her some tips on how to deal with her new family life and how to fit right in. Try to include some pieces of advice on ways not to feel homesick as well.

Task B) Traveling can be a very enriching experience; however, moving to another country can pose many challenges. It is not easy to adapt to new places and there are cases in which it does not happen even after many years of living in the new site. Write an essay stating the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a new place.

Here's the worksheet

See you around,

Claudio