T tells the ss that this lesson is based on a true story which was reported in The Guardian newspaper a few years ago. T shows the setting on the board and explain the story.

Some of the words and phrases which might cause difficulties. A balaclava is like a ski mask. It covers someone’s face so only their eyes can be seen. Smarties are small brightly coloured sweets with chocolate covered in a thin layer of sugar. A fake is something which is imitation, which is not real. What do you think happened in the story? Try to guess what happened in the story.

Work in pairs or groups and discuss your ideas use as many of the ideas on the board as you can. T tells them he is going to ask some of them to tell their stories to the class. Give them some time to prepare their stories. Go round and listen as they work.

When they have had enough time to prepare their stories appoint a spokesperson for each group. Ask the groups to work with the spokesperson to prepare the final version of their story.

Ask one of them to tell the story. Try to choose someone who thinks the young man is the robber. Ask the others if their stories are the same or different. Choose someone who has a different story and ask them to tell it. Try to choose someone who thinks the eight-year-old is the robber. Engage the class in a discussion as to whose story is the most likely. Hand out the story for them to read.

Ask learners to underline all the phrases with to: tries to rob sweet shop; attempted to hold up a sweet shop; to buy a newspaper; told her to fill up the bag; whether he wanted me to fill the bag with sweets or with money; who did not want to give her name; I pretended to reach for some money; asking the public to help.

Organize sss' knowledge of verbs followed by to: These are the commonest verbs with pattern A: (show the photo) How many of these verbs are to do with speaking? How many are to do with thinking? Can you find other words in the box which mean the same as: appear, attempt, begin, intend, like, want? These are the commonest verbs with pattern B: (show the photo) advise, allow, enable, expect, help, intend, invite, mean, order, prefer, tell, want warn (usually warn someone not to), wish, would like. Can you find eight words that are also used with pattern A? How many words are to do with speaking? How many words are to do with wanting or liking?

Choose either: • Three things you want/would like to do over the next year. OR • Three things you hope/intend/plan to do over the next year. Write down the three thing in your book. Close your book. See How many things you can remember. Listen to a few sentences before learners close their books, then make sure they all have their books closed and lead a class discussion about what people want to do and about what they hope to do. These sentences will generally be pattern A. Choose either • Three things your teacher doesn’t allow you to do in class. OR • Three things you would like someone to give you Write down the three thing in your book. Close your book. See how many things you can remember. Again you can listen to a few sentences before learners close their books, then make sure they all have their books closed and lead a class discussion about what people want to do and about what they hope to do. All these sentences will be pattern B.

11. Ask learners to read the story for homework and be ready to tell the story next lesson. It is useful to build up a repertoire of stories so that in future lessons you can ask learners Who can remember the story about ... and ask them to tell one of the stories that they have studied. This is a good way of getting them to remember the useful language they have encountered. 12 Vanishing words a) Take a sentence from the text. For example: As the shopkeeper gave him his change a young man came in to buy a newspaper. b) Write the full sentence on the whiteboard1. c) Ask one or two learners to read it out. d) Rub out two or three words: ___ the shopkeeper ___ him his change a young man came in ___ buy a _____________. e) Ask learners to work in groups of three or four. Tell them to work as a group to recall the sentence. Ask a learner to recall the sentence. Ask the class if the recall is correct. If they are not satisfied, they can go on guessing until they are content. f) Remove more words: ___ the shopkeeper ___ ____ his ________ a ________ man _____ in ___ buy a _____________. g) Repeat e). h) Go on until you have removed all the words. You can make this activity more difficult: 1 By choosing a more complex sentence: Manchester police are looking for an eight-year-old boy who attempted to hold up a sweet shop last night in the suburb of Ashton-under-Lyme. 2 By removing several words at each stage: Manchester _______ are _________ for an eight-year-old boy ___ ___________ to hold up a _______ shop last night in the _________ of Ashton-under-Lyme. 3 By asking learners to work in pairs or individually instead of groups of three or four.