Sarah McGuire Sarah McGuire

Grammar: Present Perfect Simple
Pre-Intermediate level

Description

In this lesson, students learn about the present perfect simple through guided discovery based on a short reading text. Students are given a lead- in which activates schemata related to the established context of jobs. The lead-in elicits ideas from learners re: related vocabulary and the concept of job "experiences" (used with present perfect simple). Students then undergo restricted exposure in which they read a text and get a general understanding of it through a sequence of tasks and feedback (comprehension questions, general and specific). The teacher then uses the text to elicit examples and information about the target grammar; this stage includes a handout that elicits answers from students regarding the meaning, use and form of present perfect simple. Following this is the stage of restricted output in which students do some written exercises to practice the grammar, then are given an authentic oral job interview activity in which they use the grammar communicatively.

Materials

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Main Aims

  • Teach students the present perfect simple language items using guided discovery through a short text.

Subsidiary Aims

  • To have students read for general and specific information in the context of talking about job experiences.

Procedure

Lead In (5 minutes) • To elicit ideas from learners about the context of jobs and job-related vocabulary and experiences.

Teacher shows class the pictures of employees, one by one, eliciting the names of each job from students. After a correct answer, the teacher puts the picture on the whiteboard and writes the name under it. Once all of the names of jobs have been elicited, the teacher writes "I've worked as...." and "I've never worked as...." on the whiteboard as well as "It was a good job because..." and "It was a bad job because..." The teacher explains to students that they will now do an activity in pairs in which they answer if they have worked as/have not worked as the jobs listed on the board with their partner and tell their partner if it was a good/bad job and why. The teacher provides a personal example here to model the activity. ICQs, as needed: "Will you talk about if you have or have not worked the jobs on the whiteboard?" "Will you say "I have" if the answer is yes?" "Will you say "I've never" if it's no?" "What will you tell them about that job?" Have students switch pairs. Monitor and provide feedback.

Restricted Exposure: My First Job (5 minutes) • Learners read a text and get a general understanding of it.

Show students the reading handout. Instruct them that they will read the text quickly to get the main idea and answer the first question. When students are finished, instruct them to read again and answer the following questions, True or False, and to underline where they find the answer in the text (model this activity on the whiteboard). ICQs: "When you find the answer in the story, what will you do?" Put students in pairs and have them check their answers. Provide WC feedback.

Teacher Clarification: Grammar Analysis (10 minutes) • The text is anayzed through a series of questions that elicit examples and information about the item of language.

Show students the handout. Instruct students to look at the sentences and complete the questions in groups of 3. Monitor and provide assistance/error correction where needed. If there is an area re: meaning form and use where students struggle in particular, provide feedback on the whiteboard in WC format. Provide answer key.

Restricted Output: Infinitives of Past Participles (5 minutes) • Review the infinitives of past participles and put verbs intwo two groups: regular and irregular.

Show students the handouts. Tell them that in pairs they will complete question ONE only in which they will write the infinitives of the past participles in the box, then cut out both the infinitive and the past participle and match them. Model the first example on the whiteboard: Past Participle: DONE Past Simple: DID Infinitive: DO (mime matching the two cutouts) ICQs if necessary: will you write the past simple of the past participle or the infinitive? When students have completed this activity, have them complete question TWO: Students are shown the stations around the classroom which are labelled with "regular" or "irregular". Students are to put the verbs on the walls under the right group. Monitor. Provide answer key post-activity.

Restricted Output: Complete the Dialogue (5 minutes) • Students do a written practice to practice putting items into the present perfect simple or the past simple.

Show students the handout. Tell them that, in pairs, they will complete the dialogue by putting the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the present perfect simple. Give an example by completing the first question on the whiteboard: A. _______________ you ever _____________ (hear) of Thomas Mapother IV? Answer: Have you ever heard of Thomas Mapother IV? Monitor. Provide feedback. After students have finished the activity in pairs, have them switch partners to compare answers. Provide answer key.

Restricted Exposure: Make questions out of scrambled sentences (5 minutes) • The students work on creating questions using the present perfect simple.

Show students the stations around the room with the cut out words on it. Tell students that, in groups of three, they will choose a station. Each station has five sentences on the wall that need to be put in order. For example: Ever, Have, Drive, Sports, Car, A = Have you ever driven a sports car? Model this activity using a demonstration and writing a sentence/language model on the whiteboard. ICQs as needed: will you put the sentences into present perfect or past simple? Are there four sentences or five sentences? Assign each group of 3 to a station. Monitor.

Authentic Output: Job Interview (10 minutes) • Students are given the opportunity to use present perfect language in a communicative job inteview role-play.

Show students the cut out activities. Tell students that in pairs, one student will pretend to be a person who is interviewing for a job and the other person will be doing the interview. Explain to students that they are not to show their cut out paper to their partner, but tell them what their job is (ie. doctor). The person who is interviewing needs to ask questions until they find out the reason why they SHOULD NOT HIRE the person. Every person who is interviewing has something important related to the job that they cannot do. Students will use the present perfect to ask/answer questions. For example: Have you ever used a computer? Yes I have, or no I have never used a computer. Model this activity with a stronger student to demonstrate the activity non-verbally. Put students in pairs and give them their handouts. Monitor and provide feedback.

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