Empower_A1_L3 (Reading and Speaking)
A1 level starter level
Materials
Main Aims
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To provide gist, specific information and fluently speaking practice using an email about people in the office
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide gist and scan reading practice of an email in the context of people in the office
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To provide fluency and accuracy speaking practice in an email in the context of people in the office
Procedure (61-86 minutes)
The teacher starts by greeting the students and asking simple questions like "How are you? or "Where are you from? to create a friendly environment. Then, introduce the topic by talking about new jobs or new places, just like Mark does in the email.
Students focus on understanding and using key words and phrases from the email in a meaningful context. The teacher selects useful lexical items such as "office", "office manager", "language school", "married to", "nationalities like Australian" or "Japanese", and time expressions like "from 8 am to 1 pm". They interact with the vocabulary by identifying it in the email, categorizing it (e.g., jobs, places, nationalities), and applying it short, personalized reading and speaking tasks.
The teacher prepares students by creating interest and activating their prior knowledge related to the topic of the email. The teacher introduces the context by briefly explaining that the text is an email from someone talking about their job in Australia, helping students connect to the topic. Students are encouraged to make predictions about the content of the email based on the greeting and general idea. Finally, the teacher sets a clear purpose for reading to focus students' attention on specific information in the text.
Students read the information such as details about Mark's new job, his colleagues, and where they come from. They focus on understanding the main ideas and supporting details by completing tasks related to the email. The teacher monitors and supports students as they read, encouraging them to use strategies like scanning for names, locations, and relationships.
Students read the email more closely to engage with complex details information. They work individually to complete tasks that require deduction and inference, such as interpreting relationships between colleagues, understanding time schedules. The teacher provides activities like true/false statements requiring careful reading.
Students use the context and content of the email to personalize the topic and practice speaking skill. After reading about Mark and his international colleagues, students are asked to simulate a real-life situation where they meet a new classmate for the first time. They work in pairs or small groups and role-play short conversations introducing themselves (name, country, job, etc), mirroring the format and content of Mark's email. After that, students record themselves on their phones or class devices to build confidence and improve fluency and accuracy.
After speaking task, the teacher provides delayed error correction based on students' performance. Common grammar, vocabulary mistakes are written on the board anonymously. Students work in pairs or as a class to correct the errors together.
