Who inspires you?
Write about someone who inspires you.
Plan
1. Introduce the person. Who are they? Why are they important to you?
2.
Describe the the person in more detail. Describe their character /
personality. Why / How do they inspire you? Do they inspire you because
of their beliefs / their actions? What exactly have you learnt from
them?
3. Are you a better person because of them? How have they changed you? Give an example of something you do that they inspired.
4. Conclude. How would your life be different without them? Restate why they are important to you in a few words.
watch a video about inventions and do a matching exercise
watch a video about a science exhibition and do a quiz
listen to a radio interview about what motivates inventors and do a gap-fill
read an interview with inventor Mark Champkins
discuss and describe inventions
write about an invention
1) Video 1 - Discuss
What are the most useful inventions that we use today?
What couldn't you live without?
Is it a simple everyday object like a pen or a paper clip or something more complex?
You are going to watch a videocalled "10 Accidental Inventions"
What inventions do you think they are?
Why do you think they are called "accidental"?
Watch and find out
2) Matching exercise
Match the beginnings of the sentences with the ends. Watch the video again if you need to.
3) Grammar
Look at the sentences again. How many tenses are there?
Which phrases are Past Simple?
Which are Past Continuous?
What's the difference between the Past Simple and Continuous?
Not sure? Look here
4) Video 2 - Discuss
You are going to watch a clip about an exhibition called the "Hidden Heroes Exhibition."
Who do you think are the "Hidden Heroes?
Why do you think they have called them "hidden"?
What kind of objects do you think are in the exhibition?
Watch the clip
Now answer these questions. Watch the video again if you need to.
5) Discuss - Listen
Rawlplugs and screws
Do you agree that the objects in the Hidden Heroes exhibition are very important?
Why do inventors invent things?
What do you think is the main motivation for inventing?
Is it a simple everyday object or something more complex?
What's it for?
What kind of design has it got?
Has the design changed much since it was invented?
Look on the internet. Find out some history
Who invented it?
Where was it invented?
Was it invented by accident?
Why and how was it invented?
What were they trying to do when they invented it (what else were they working on)?
What do you think about it?
Why is it important?
What did it change or make better for people?
What couldn't we do without it?
Why couldn't you live without it?
Write about your invention
Write it using 3 - 4 paragraphs (see above)
Don't forget to have an introduction (say what it is and why you are choosing it)
and a conclusion (your opinion of it / why couldn't you live without it and why you think it's important)
Look at vocabulary and expressions to describe personality
Discuss keeping diaries and blogs
Discuss and write about an achievement using a variety of past tenses
Discuss and write some IELTS style questions
1) Introduction A) Who is Laura Dekker? What do you know about her?
Where is she from?
How old is she?
What is her achievement?
How long did it take?
Why did the authorities try to stop her?
B) Watch the news report to check your answers
C) Watch again, listen and fill in the spaces in the gap-fill exercise with a verb
D) Grammar - Look again. What are the tenses in each sentence?
2) Discuss
Look at the map below
Would you like to sail around the world on your own?
What skills do you think you need?
What kind of a person do you need to be? Think of some adjectives or expressions.
Do you agree with the Dutch authorities that Laura was too young to do the trip?
What do you think Laura learned from the trip?
3) Reading
3a) Read the text below quickly and put these paragraph headings into the correct spaces in the text. Each heading describes the paragraph which follows
A) She is determined
B) She is a reluctant superstar
C) She is good with cockroaches
D) She was born to sail
E) She becomes the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe
Read the text again and find the answers to these questions.
3b) What expressions or adjectives are used to describe Laura? 3c) What did she learn from the trip?
4) Vocabulary
Check / Guess / Find out What do these underlined expressions from the text mean? Try and guess from the other words in the sentence.
Paragraph 1
a trip her father had hoped would "cure her wanderlust"
Paragraph 2 She took on six-metre-high waves and extreme weather heading into the Cape of Good Hope
her storm jib (a sail used in storms) got jammed
Another of her sails ripped completely
She dodged near-collisions with cargo ships
Not in the least squeamish, she had to rescue live flying fish that had flung themselves into her cabin, and scrub the stinking remains of decomposing squid from the deck
the ants and cockroaches that had stowed away in her cabin. Paragraph 3
she set off
in the meantime
Paragraph 4
Dekker has just pipped the previous youngest
Now do the exercise
5) Grammar
Tenses. Look again at part 1D. What were the tenses?
How many tenses can you find in the reading text? Give one example of each.
Find a past simple = She survived weeks at sea...
Find a past continuous =
Find a present perfect =
Find a past perfect =
Find a conditional =
Find a passive =
6) Discuss
What do you think of Laura's achievement?
Do you think she is a heroine?
Was she right to follow her dream or was she too young?
Were the Dutch authorities right to try and stop her?
What are the advantages of keeping a learning diary or blog in English?
Think of an achievement in your lifeand talk about it eg learning to drive, learning English, entering a competition, doing a course...
Why did you decide to do it?
Describe doing it. Was it difficult? How did you feel during and after?
What did you learn from it?
What did you learn about yourself?
7a) Writing
Now write about your achievement
Organise and plan
Paragraph 1 - Introduce the achievement. Say why you wanted to do it. Use past tenses - past simple and continuous / past perfect
Paragraph 2 / 3 - Describe doing it - preparation, difficulties, your feelings. Use past tenses - past simple and continuous / past perfect.Use some adjectives to describe the activity and your feelings.
Paragraph 4 - What have you learnt from doing it? How has it changed your life? How have you changed? What are the benefits? Would you recommend the activity to others? Try and use a variety of tenses; past simple and continuous / past perfect / present perfect / conditional / passive
7b) Writing (IELTS)
Discuss and prepare to write about one of these questions
Should parents be obliged to send their children to school? Or should they have the right to choose how to educate them?
Some people believe that governments have a duty to make sure all their citizens are healthy, safe and well educated. Others say that this can lead to state interference and infringes on the freedom of the individual to choose how to live. Discuss both views and give your opinion
“Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
1D Answers 1) Present Perfect. 2) Past Simple. 3) Past Perfect. 4) Past Simple, Past Passive. 5) Past Simple x 3. 6) Past Perfect, Past modal - should. 7) Present Perfect Passive.
3a) Answers
She was born to sail
She is good with cockroaches
She is determined
She becomes the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe
She is a reluctant superstar
3b) Answers
stoic, a cool head, wanderlust, not in the least squeamish, determined, experienced solo sailor, values solitude and a proximity to nature, has a deep appreciation of the beauty the world has to offer, "mostly I simply enjoy the endless silky blue ocean and the quiet peace that it brings," "At sea, I feel comfortable and I come to rest."
3c) Answers
- To prepare for the trip Dekker had done training in first aid and sleep management, and had become a more experienced solo sailor,
- Sailing around the world, navigating difficult port approaches, storms, dangerous reefs, and the full - responsibility of keeping herself and her boat safe
- Learned to value and appreciate nature
5) Answers
past simple - She survived weeks at sea...
past continuous - Her Dutch parents were living on a yacht...
present perfect - Her mother has said...
past perfect - ... flying fish that had flung themselves into her cabin
conditional - If Laura had drowned people would have accused us of not doing enough to protect her
passive - Dekker was placed under state guardianship by a Dutch court
2) Read, discuss and put in order
Read the list of predictions for the future
Discuss. What do you think? How many will come true?
Choose 10 and say when you think they will happen (Soon? In 2020? In the distant future?... )
The predictions are not in order. Put the 10 predictions you think will come true in order with the year you think they will happen. Two are done as examples
Our Future?
2015 - We will be using translating apps to speak foreign languages
We will be "cloud computing" (storing all our data and using apps on the internet)
People will be using bionic limbs
Petrol vehicles will have become obsolete
Personal flight will have become normal transport
We will be living on the Moon
Robot companions will be living with us
Robot servants will be working for us
Renewables will have overtaken fossil fuels
We will be travelling on interstellar spacecraft
Cars will be driving themselves
Earth population will have peaked at 20 Billion
Nuclear fusion will have met our energy needs
2050 Men and women will have landed on Mars
We will have discovered other Earth-like planets
We will be recording every moment of our lives
Most people will have moved to other planets
We will have worked out how to unify quantum theory
We will have become "cosmosapiens" living in the universe
We will be experiencing "augmented reality"
All tyranny will have ended
We will be growing human spare parts
3) Watch the video to see if you are right.
Answers below
4) Discuss the video
Do you agree with the predictions? Why / Why not?
Can you discuss or comment on them?
For example I can't believe that cars will be driving themselves in 2040 I hope all tyranny will have ended by 2040 If we use translators we won't need to study foreign languages If robots do all the work what will we do? People may / might / could be living on the Moon sooner than 2050
5) Discuss / Practise Future Perfect
Look at the predictions again. What tenses are they?
Which ones are Future Continuous?
Which ones are Future Perfect?
What's the difference between the Future Continuous and the Future Perfect?
Look at the presentation and practise the Future Perfect
What are your targets and predictions for the future? Targets
What will you be doing in the next 12 months?
What will you have achieved by this time next year?
Predictions for 1 year ahead
What will be in fashion?
What will we be talking about and doing?
What will be in the news?
Don't forget to use the Future Continuous and the Future Perfect where possible.
7) Writing
What are the positive and negative effects of the progress of science and technology on our lives? What influence will they have on our future?
8) Reading
What do you think are the 20 top predictions for the next 100 years?
Find out what BBC readers thought here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16536598
How likely are they to come true?
How many do you agree with?
Take notes and discuss or comment on them (as in ex 4)
