Miss Devine

You are going to

• look at language for describing people
• watch a video and do a listening comprehension quiz
• write a description of someone you know

1) Discuss

• How many words do you know to describe someone?
• How many can you think of in one minute?

2) Vocabulary match

Look the words below. Can you match them?
Drag and drop each word on the right to its nearest opposite on the left.

3) Discuss

Most of the words in the exercise are adjectives.
How many are nouns?
How many are verbs?
Answers - highlight below

nouns = a pensioner, a toddler, a party animal, a loner

verbs = to fit in, to stand out

4) Watch

Miss Devine

You are going to listen to cousins Cherrie Johnson and James Ransom who spent many weekends at their grandparents house in Florida. During these visits they attended the local methodist Church Sunday school. They now remember their neighbour and Sunday school teacher, Miss Lizzie Devine.


Look at the photo.
Describe the photo.
What kind of person do you think she is?
Kind, generous, short-tempered?




Watch the clip and answer.

• How do they describe Miss Devine's appearance? What did she look like?
• How do they describe her character or personality? What was she like?
• What stories do they tell about her?
• Do you think they like or admire her?
• Did they learn anything from her?

5) Gap-fill

How much do you remember?
Here is a summary of the clip. Fill in the blanks.

Printable versions here

6) Write

Write about someone special you know or remember.

1. Introduce him / her. Who is he / she? Your brother, sister, best friend, teacher, colleague...?
2. Describe his / her appearance.
3. Describe his / her personality.
4. Tell one or two stories about him / her to illustrate his / her character
5. Explain why you like or admire him / her?
6. Did you learn anything from him / her?
7. Conclude. Say why the person is special to you.

More posts about describing people here

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2012/01/achievements-laura-dekker-heroine-for.html

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2012/02/inspiring-people.html

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2011/10/shakira-and-beyonce-contrasting-writing.html




More from StoryCorps here http://www.youtube.com/storycorps
and here http://storycorps.org/

The Icing on the Cake

You are going to

• watch a video about memories and do a listening exercise
• use remember + gerund for talking about memories
• practise would and used to for talking about past habits
• describe and write about memories and past habits

1) Discuss

• What things do you remember from your childhood?
• What are your earliest memories?
• What are your favourite memories?

2) Introduction
You are going to watch a StoryCorps video.
Blanca Alvarez and her husband crossed the border to immigrate into the U.S. and then struggled to make ends meet. They hoped to shelter their children from these harsh realities, but Blanca's daughter Connie reveals how much children can really see of their parents' lives—and the inspiration they draw from their struggles.

A) Watch the video
What does Connie remember from her childhood?
The film is called "The Icing on the Cake" what do you think that means?

B) Answer the questions

3) Grammar

Look again at what Connie says

Remember. If you are remembering things in the past and you use the verb remember, what must you do with the verb which follows?

Answer - Highlight here = Use a gerund -ing. I remember eating, I remember playing...

If we want to talk about past habits and repeated activities what language can we use?

Answer - Highlight here = Would. You can also use Used to

See here - Contrast of Used to and Would

http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/ask-the-experts/grammar-questions/grammar-contrasts-1-used-to-and-would/146344.article

4) Practise

Have a look at this presentation and practise Remember + Gerund, Would and Used to

Remember the Past from David Mainwood

5) Gap-fill

Practise Remember + Gerund, Would and Used to in this gap-fill exercise

Printable version here

6) Writing

Memories

Write about a memory you have of something you did in the past.

It could be a holiday, your first visit to the UK (or another country), a school trip, a memory from your childhood or just somewhere you used to live...

• Talk about what you remember doing
• Use Would and Used to but remember the secret of good writing is variety so try and use both of them with a variety of other past tenses
• Introduce the topic and have a concluding sentence or paragraph
• You can use the ex 5 gap-fill as a model

7) More Practice

Would for Past Habit Jumbled Sentence Games 1 - 10

http://www.englishclub.com/esl-games/grammar/jumbled-past-would-1.htm

Past habits - Used to / Would interative exercises

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/cgi2/myexam/liaison.php?liaison=_use_

More videos from StoryCorps

http://www.youtube.com/storycorps