Idiom Lesson part 2
Number of students: 2
Kind of student: OL (Office Lady) & Retired business man
A powerful course student joined the second part of this lesson, due to this I checked his file beforehand on whether he had studied these idioms before. He had taken the lesson 3 months previously, so I thought it would make a good opportunity to reinforce these idioms and really see how many he could remember. The OL as always was very diligent and she had completed her homework.
For this Item I immediately moved onto the OL’s homework. She had made a question for each idiom sentence as I previously requested. The students knew each other from other lessons in the past so were aware of each others abilities and personalities. I told the gentleman that the OL is going to ask us some questions that she prepared for homework and we would answer them as a group. He was eager to know what kind of questions the OL had. Below are the questions she made.
1. (Keep under wraps) If you win lottery ticket, do you keep under wraps?
2. (Have a big head) Do you know anybody, that have a big head?
3. (On top of the world) Which month in year are you on top of the world?
4. (Get your head around it) Can you get your head around math in high school?
5. (Keep your word) Is it possible to keep your word to your friend?
6. (Have a heart of stone) Is there co-worker is have a heart of stone?
So, she commenced with her first question. She first said her idiom question aloud (Keep under wraps) If you win lottery ticket, do you keep under wraps? I corrected the syntax. I could see the gentleman was thinking hard, because he is retired, searching his memories was somewhat of a challenge. He said he remembers learning this idiom a few months ago. In the end he sifted through his note book and found that idiom lesson and then understood their meanings. While correcting the OL’s question on the white board, she wrote the correct syntax in her notebook (If you were to win the lottery, would you keep it under wraps?). The gentleman also wrote down the example question and proceeded by answering. The gentleman said, “It would be impossible to keep it under wraps, because I’ll be shopping for things like crazy and my wife and family would become suspicious.” He said, “What about you guys?” The OL replied, “I would be in the same boat as you”. Coincidentally this idiom she remembered from a previous unit which she applied in answering. The gentleman kind of guessed what she was talking about and said, “Do you mean in the same situation?” She answered “Yes”. It was satisfying to see they both new a previous idiom that they were now incorporating into another lesson. They continued on the discussion topic of winning the lottery for sometime before we moved onto the second idiom question.
The OL commenced with asking the following question to us (Have a big head). Before answering, I corrected the syntax. While correcting the OL’s question, the secretary wrote the example in her notebook.
I asked the OL to answer first. The question was “Do you know anybody, that have a big head?”, which I corrected to, “Do you know anybody that has a big head?” She answered the question and directed it to the gentleman and in turn he answered too. They continued to discuss about famous people and people they knew who they thought had big heads.
We moved onto the third idiom question (On top of the world). As before I checked for syntax and the routine was repeated again and another discussion ensued with that topic. We had time to finish all the OL’s questions and thoroughly enjoyed incorporating the idioms into the various topics of discussion
Likely Scenarios
Be aware that it will probably be the students first introduction to these idioms, so it is well advised to keep the lesson at a balanced pace for them to absorb this new information. The teacher’s manual touches on brief explanations of the idiom, however it may be wise to teach it further to be made fully understood. The board game is somewhat complex to explain and has more features to understand compared to the vocabulary board game. Take the time and be thorough in you explanations on how the game works and you may want to model it yourself as (a student) on how each category works. It would be quicker to have a veteran student to explain it to other novice students. The lesson plan and structure may seem overwhelming at first, but don’t be intimidated, after a few tries you will become accustomed to its flow and format and will be able to teach it affectively and get much satisfaction and fun from it as will the students, as they too will also become accustomed to it after time.
Presentations of Narrative Lesson Structures
Ending Notes: I’d like to wrap up this short series with a few general comments. The narrative is one example on how to teach that particular Item lesson, but remember it is only a guide as is the Item lesson plan, depending on your students’ ability, it is up to you, on how you best want to teach that Item lesson. It is you, who has the freedom on what’s best for you and your students.
There are a high number of students that have powerful courses. So it is very likely they may join a class on short notice, thus changing your preparations. These Item lessons are designed in a way that would not hinder your ability to take full advantage of manipulating this opportunity to your needs.
For example: The student may have prepared homework questions that can be presented and discussed in class. The other student may have already learnt these particular words in a previous class, but it wouldn’t hurt to review these again or on the other hand it maybe the student’s first time to learn these words. In any case, it will be beneficial for all involved.
There are also students that do not wish to be assigned homework. This is neither a problem as you could easily mention that the information taught in today’s lesson will be reviewed again in next week’s lesson, touching on the point that we will verbally be making questions, thus creating it into a discussion lesson.
It is always best to have 2 or more students in a class, so taking yourself out of the equation. We do not however live in a perfect world, meaning that it is your responsibility to take the role of the other student, such as participating in board games and creating questions to ask the student, etc.
Leave a Reply