Unit 1 The Present Tense: Simple and Progressive

Transcription

1 Unit 1 The Present Tense: Simple and Progressive Student Book pages 8-9 Introduction Before you have students open their books to Unit 1, review uses of the present tense. Say: We use the present tense constantly. It tells how someone or something looks, it tells how we feel and think, and it tells about our everyday lives. Much of this section should be review, so as students open their books to Unit 1, ask them to point out the present tense verbs in the first paragraph. They should mention talk, do, describe, use, live, think, feel, are, and analyze. Ask two students to describe classmates. As they do, write the verbs and the tense they use for their description. Students can see how natural it is to use the present tense in this circumstance. Ask several students how they feel, what they think about television programs today, and what they like to do in their spare time. Again, have others listen to their natural use of the present tense. Ask students if they remember the two forms of the present tense. If they do, ask if they can give an example of each. As you re writing their answers on the board, ask students to point out examples of the two forms of the present tense. If they don t remember, write two sentences on the board and ask them to point out the simple present and the present progressive. The Simple Present Tense Read together the keywords indicating the use of the simple present and ask students to create sentences with examples from each. Ask volunteers to create sentences about themselves using always, sometimes, and never. Forming the Simple Present Tense The easiest part of the English language is the formation of verbs, especially the present tense. Ask students if they remember the only time the present tense verb changes. Since it only changes in the third person singular, they really have very little to master, as opposed to endings in many of their native languages. It s important that they remember this carries over into the negative of the do verb: I don t, but he doesn t. Ask a student: Do you like movies? Listen to the response then ask another student: Does like movies? The verb response should be different from the first student s response. Have students read the information in the Affirmative and Negative Statements box. Respond to any questions about verb formation or vocabulary. Write these sentences on the board and ask for the correct form of the verb: The anorexic, neurotic teenager (model) her life after her favorite rock star. The cause of all the tension in this world (be) our selfishness. Ask: What is the subject of the second sentence? As you read the information in the Yes/No and Information Questions and Short Answers box together, note that when a question is asked in second person, it is replied to in first person. At all other times, the question and answer require the same verb. The Present Progressive Tense When something is happening as we speak, we use the present progressive tense. Ask various students: What are you doing? Marta, what are you thinking? This is often good for a quick class laugh as the person being questioned thinks he/she has been caught doing something wrong or daydreaming. Once students know they re simply using the present progressive to respond, they usually remember this tense. You might want to ask someone what his/her sister or brother is doing right now or where a good friend is living. Ask several students what their plans for the weekend are. Read the examples in the student book together. Forming the Present Progressive Tense This is another easy verb formation. Students simply use the appropriate form of be plus the verb that tells what they re doing or thinking with the -ing ending. This is called the present participle. Even if students don t remember that five-dollar word, they know to add the -ing to the base form of the verb to tell what is happening right now or what is going to happen in the future. Read the Affirmatives, Negatives, and Questions box with students. Ask: Are there any questions? Say: Remember, there is no such thing as a dumb question. If you aren t sure about something now, at the beginning, it s easier to clarify it before the grammar gets more sophisticated. And you may not be the only one who is puzzled. You may be the only one brave enough to speak up. Stative or non-progressive verbs, are not used in the present progressive. Look at the examples in the Stative or Non-Progressive Verbs box together and ask students to give examples of their own using the sensory verbs smell, taste, love, and hate. Together, study the stative verb forms that become participles in idiomatic expressions. Ask volunteers to give examples of the present progressive in idioms using The Present Tense: Simple and Progressive

2 have, be, and see. Be sure students understand the difference between the stative verbs and their use in idioms. Student Book pages Pronunciation of final -s Pronunciation of the final -s is always a fun, hands-on experience. Ask students to put their fingers on their throats and to make the sound /b/. Keeping their hands there, have them make the sound /p/. Be sure they notice they don t have to change the position of their lips. They re just changing the sound, or lack of it. The /b/ sound is a voiced sound; you can feel it on your fingers. The /p/ sound is unvoiced. You can do the same with /v/ and /f/ and /d/ and /t/. Ask students which sounds are voiced and which are unvoiced. Do this one last time with /s/ and /z/. Tell students that words that end in a voiced sound (it doesn t matter whether it s a vowel or consonant letter ending) give a /z/ pronunciation to the third person singular -s ending. Unvoiced sounds receive an unvoiced /s/ sound. When a word ends in -es, the ending sounds like /lz/. Practice saying the sounds in the box together before students complete the first activity. n 1-1 Pronunciation When students complete this activity, have various students read the words aloud as others comment on whether the ending is voiced, unvoiced, or has an /lz/ sound. If they aren t sure, they can always put their fingers on their throats to test themselves. Answer Key Base Form 3rd Person Singular /s/ /z/ /Iz/ stop stops X wait waits X miss misses X sleep sleeps X go goes X read reads X drive drives X start starts X pass passes X love loves X point points X type types X play plays X watch watches X want wants X talk talks X need needs X Creative Grammar Teacher s Guide n 1-2 Sentence Writing A. Talk about what a habit is before students begin writing. When they complete the exercise, have several students read about their habits to the class. Ask for a show of hands: how many have the same habit? Ask: Does anyone have a really unusual habit? If you have one, share it with the class. B. Because birthdays are not celebrated in some cultures, tell students they might also write about a recurring event or holiday in their lives and how it s celebrated. C. Following the directions, students should write about four things they can see, hear, smell, or taste right now. It will be interesting to hear their responses to see how many heard the same thing, smelled something entirely different, and so on. D. Tell students to try to be a little imaginative here. Again, have several students read their sentences aloud. Ask if anyone has something really different to say. E. When students have completed the exercise, have them work in pairs to share what they will or won t be doing this weekend. Ask: Is anyone planning anything special? Student Book pages n 1-3 Description of the Illustration Pre-Activity Discussion: Ask if any students are familiar with the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre or what they can tell you about him. The title of his book The Other has generated discussion in literature and philosophy classes as well as in book discussion groups. Who do the students think The Other might be? Look at the illustration together. The alien seen here has come to talk with the students. Form groups of four and have students follow the directions. A. Suggest students take notes on each other s responses to questions about how earthlings treat people who are different. As they respond to the questions, tell them to pay particular attention to responses about why we react to differences as we do. You might have one person from each group tell what the group has come up with. Ask how many groups had the same explanation for why we react as we do. B. Explanations of marriage will differ according to cultural groups and how they celebrate weddings: the colors customarily worn by the bride, the dowry of some cultures, etc. Divorce will be equally interesting to explain since divorce rules are different, not only in different countries, but in different states in the United States. This, too, should prompt some good discussions.

3 Post-Activity Discussion: Ask students from other countries how weddings are celebrated there. If there is divorce in their country, how difficult is it to get one and how frequent is it? Do students believe arranged marriages might make for fewer divorces? n 1-4 Grammar Practice A. Go back to the unit introduction and show students how to proceed. When they have completed their chart, have several students write their list of words, phrases, and clauses on the board. B. When students have completed their sentences, have several write them on the board as others read theirs aloud. Ask volunteers to point out if they are hearing a word in the simple present or present progressive tense and how the word is used (in phrases or clauses, for example). Ask the writers to underline the time indicators in their sentences. Student Book pages n 1-5 Theme-based Discussion Have students form groups of four. Each group member should take a number from 1 to 4. A. Students should discuss their feelings about superhero movies and why they think they re so popular. Suggest that they discuss superheroes in their native country or culture, too. Are there similarities in appearance, goals, etc.? One person in each group should take notes to report back to the class. As each group spokesperson shares the group s views, make a list on the board of the reasons given for the popularity of superhero movies. Then ask those with the numbers 1 and 3 to move to the group on their left. Those with the numbers 2 and 4 should move to their right for participation in Exercise B. B. After the individual group discussion, create a chart to see who is the most popular superhero in the class and why. Then have students continue to move in the direction they went last time. C. Be sure students understand the importance of not talking all at once and of listening carefully and politely to other ideas. When they have finished creating their new superhero and all the information about him/her, have each group report to the class. Ask: Is there one superhero that stands out above the rest? Why? What does this exercise teach us about our own ideals? n 1-6 Sentence Analysis As students read the instructions and the example, point out that they are asked to justify their choice of tense when they share their work with the class. Ask if anyone sees any other way of completing the example. Write any answers on the board and ask students to justify why their choice. If no one comes up with another answer, write: Mia s toe is broken, so she isn t walking much these days. Ask if anyone can tell the class why this is also correct. When students have completed the sentences, have volunteers read their answers aloud. Then ask if anyone has a different response for any of the sentences. Ask: Which sentences have only one correct answer? Why? If students seem unsure of the answer, do a brief review of stative verbs. Answer Key 2. is driving 11. works 3. works 12. am thinking 4. has 13. are having 5. is using 14. is studying 6. has 15. prefers 7. studies 16. is wearing 8. need 17. knows 9. wash 18. likes 10. is taking Student Book pages n 1-7 Communicative Activity Photo Alert The photo, "Walking in the Andes," was taken in Peru. A. After discussing the photo with a partner, students should write their own feelings about what is taking place and whether they think it s fun or not. Tell them to study the photo closely as they discuss what is taking place. B. When two pairs have completed their conversation, have a member from each foursome talk about the opinions of the group. How similar or dissimilar were they? Why did they feel as they did? Did anyone have an opinion completely different from those of the majority? C. After students have completed the exercise, try to get a consensus of most fun activities and least fun activities. Does anyone have a really different way of having fun? n 1-8 Grammar in Action A. Ask students how they feel about flying. Have they had much experience with flying? Is there anyone in class who would like to be a pilot? Read the directions with the student, and have them complete the exercise. Ask several students to read their paragraphs aloud. The Present Tense: Simple and Progressive

4 B. Tell students to close their eyes. Tell them to think about a place they love and to let this place envelop them as they sit there thinking about it so that they can begin to see, hear, smell, and feel as if they are actually there. Then they can open their eyes and write their description for everyone else to be able to see and feel it. As they read their descriptions to the class, the others should close their eyes and try to visualize the place too. At the end, you might want to ask which description did the best job of bringing others into the moment and what it was about the description that did that. C. When students have completed this section, have them work in groups of four to share their feelings. Be sure they understand the idiom get on your nerves. Student Book pages n 1-9 Error Correction Advise students to read through the sentences first, and then to go back and look for the errors. Once they underline the error(s) and are sure they know why the sentence is wrong, have them write the correct answer. Invite them to work in pairs to compare their sentences, and then have several pairs present their rewritten work. Answer any questions about why the sentence needed to be corrected. Answer Key 1. John is having a party this Saturday night. 2. Bruce and Bob love to play chess. They are very good players. 3. Do you want to go to a club with me tomorrow night? 4. Marco doesn t want to go to his mother-in-law s house, but he is going anyway, 5. Do you smell burned bread? I hate that smell. 6. Why do you always yell at the dog? He is just an animal. 7. I always write in my journal before I go to bed. 8. This fall, I am going to look at the beautiful leaves. 9. I don t like apple pie. It s too sweet. 10. I always listen to music when I am cleaning the house. 11. When are you leaving? Is your brother going with you? 12. Right now, Paul is living in Florida with his parents. 13. Quincy eats too much, so he is very fat now. n 1-10 Sentence Stems Sentence stems can be a lot of fun. They allow students to use their imaginations while showing their understanding of a concept. When they finish the activity, have several students write their sentences on the board and others read theirs aloud for discussion. n 1-11 Sentence Conclusions When students have completed this activity, have volunteers share their sentences with the class. Ask: Which is easier to do: sentence stems or sentence conclusions. Why? Ask students to convert some of the affirmative sentences to negative sentences for more oral practice. Student Book pages n 1-12 Description of the Photograph Photo Alert This picture of a mother and her child was taken in Rome, Italy. A. Encourage students to look carefully at the photograph. What can they tell from the two people in the picture? How did they come to these conclusions? Encourage class discussion based on their writing. B. Ask a student to read his/her paragraph. How many others wrote about the same lifestyle, etc.? Have those that wrote different descriptions read theirs aloud, too. In each case, ask students what led them to their conclusions. n 1-13 The Writing Page Pre-Activity Discussion: Be sure everyone understands the concept of mosaic. If you have other pictures of a mosaic or something made in mosaic pattern, it would be great to bring your example(s) to class. Students who have visited museums will probably have been exposed to mosaics (if they visited Roman or Greek exhibits, for example). If anyone is familiar with mosaics or has ever made one, have that person share the knowledge with the class. Begin this activity by telling students something about how you see yourself and how you have come to be the way you are today: the key elements that influenced your development and personality. Talk about all the influences in our lives that we are aware of and the many we aren t aware of. Be sure everyone understands personality and nature in this context. After students have finished writing, have several read their paragraphs read. Post-Activity Discussion: In small groups, have students discuss their writing and ask if others in the group saw them the same way they depicted themselves. If not, did hearing how they came to develop into the person they are make them more understandable? You might want to have each group draw up a list of the three or four most influential elements that make up a person s nature. Creative Grammar Teacher s Guide 7

5 Student Book pages n 1-14 Unit Review Task: Write a three-paragraph essay describing yourself. Prewriting Pre-Activity Discussion: This is an interesting time for cultural input. Many cultures ask questions like How old are you? or What do you do for a living? while others find this shocking. Ask students what common questions might be asked of a person in their culture. Look at the chart together and suggest students follow the suggestions in the instructions, making sure they have details to support their notes. First Draft Review the form of a paragraph first: indenting the first line and making sure the topic sentence states the main idea. As they read the model, make sure students notice that they should provide details to support their main idea. It s also important that they remember when to use the simple present and when to use the present progressive. Final Draft This is the time to make final changes and/or additions before typing a copy to be handed in to you. Be sure students start a portfolio of their writing so they can refer to it as the semester progresses to see how much improvement they re showing. Just before they hand in their papers, suggest they read them one more time to really be sure they ve done the best job possible. Evaluation Students should understand that their work will be evaluated according to the three bulleted items. This may make them want to go over their paper one more time to be sure they have clear main ideas with supporting details, correct use and forms for the tenses, and use of appropriate time indicators for the simple present and present progressive. Once again, if they need to refer to the beginning of the unit for clarification, now is the time to do so. Revision Read the bulleted items together and tell students it s important for them to read their essays at least twice to be sure they have answered the questions their partner will be looking for. They can refer to the beginning of the unit to clarify any confusion about when to use each verb tense. Once they have answered the bulleted items, students should proofread their paragraph again before handing it to a partner. Partners should make separate notes on items they want to discuss with each other. When they return papers to the writer, all items should be clarified to the satisfaction of both partners. If there is a question, the instructor or other classmates should be able to provide an answer. 8 The Present Tense: Simple and Progressive

6 Name Class Unit 1 Writing Task: Write a three-paragraph essay describing yourself. Rubric Score 1 Score 3 Score 5 Needs improvement Shows progress Good understanding Clarity of main ideas; Ideas not clear; lacking Some basic errors, but Main ideas clear; level of supporting supporting details main ideas and good details details details clear Correct use/forms for Some forms used Only two errors in One or no errors in simple present and correctly tense use tense use present progressive Use of appropriate Little understanding Two errors in use of One or no errors in use indicators for of time indicators time indicators of time indicators simple present and present progressive Creative Grammar Teacher s Guide 9