Upper Middle

UM1

Scheduling &Workplace Relations

（Related to Ellis Senior Mastery Unit 7 Lessons 1 and 2）

Handout 1

Handout 2

Introduction and Setup (3-4 minutes)

Greet the students, introduce yourself if you have never met them before. Write your name and theirs on the top left hand corner of the whiteboard. Sign off their attendance. Make a comment about the weather, something topical in the news or what has happened recently with a tag question to get the student actively talking right from the start and more comfortable.

Vocabulary （at least 15 vocabularies）

 

QuarterSemesterTrimesterper frozen item

Raisetrade schoolcommunity collegesystem budget

ChemistryPlumbingCarpentryroofing

Tuitionwork out (solve)credit(s)/hour(s)load (work)

 

Skills

Discussing university life and study schedulesTalking about budgeting

Asking for help/adviceTalking about work/study balance

 

 

 

Warmer – The Passive (5-7 minutes)

Context Creation

Elicit from the students: Where in the world do people speak Spanish? What should people do to get good grades in university? What would happen if the world temperatures increased by 5 degrees Celsius? Many other questions in the passive could be asked. Make sure they answer using a full sentence and in the passive form. Ensure they can use the modals correctly.Eg: How much was spent on the building project? £5,000 was spent on the building work.

 

Instructions

On the whiteboard, write down a few of the following verbs (told, asked, expected, forbidden, encouraged, allowed, supposed, taught, advised, forced, warned, brought up) and model the target language. Eg. When I was young I was told to eat my vegetables.

Get students to create a few sentences with these verbs and in the passive.

 

Wrap Up

The students could ask the teacher some questions using these verbs.

 

Communication (3 Activity Options A-C)

1. University Life – Role Play(10 minutes)

Context Creation

Ask the students if they know of any universities outside of China? How do you know it?

 

Tell students that they are to imagine they have just arrived at a university in an English speaking country and that they start a conversation with another student in the waiting area of the registration building. Some questions that they could ask would include:

 

“Where are you from?” “What high school did you attend?” “What are you going to major in?” “What are you majoring in?” “Are you staying in the dormitories or off campus?” “Where do you live?” “Why did you decide to come to this school?“

“What made you choose…university name .?“”How many credits are you taking this semester?” “What classes are you taking?” “What year are you?” “What is an easy class to take?” “Where is the best place to hang out?“

 

Wrap Up

Ask the students why do so many Chinese students wish to study in universities abroad?

 

1. Short Reading Extract on Harvard University (15-20min)

Context Creation

Ask the students what are the top universities in China? What must a student do to get into these universities? Does going to these top universities really make a difference to their future prospects?

 

Get them to read the article from handout 1. Do the true and false exercise, followed by the synonym match. Write the 8 majors listed at the end of the handout on the whiteboard. Get the students to rank them in order of what they felt was best to study. If there is more than one student get them to ask each other what they chose and give a reason for this choice.

 

Wrap Up

Finish up the activity by asking the students which majors they think are the best ones to study in China and why.

 

1. Schedules (12min)

Context Creation

Ask “What is your schedule these days? The follow up question, “are you busy or do you have much free time? Should help them understand the question better if they are unsure.

Ask the students where do we see schedules? Can they give any examples of schedules?

 

Give them a copy of handout 2 and ask them to examine the schedule.

Some questions could include:

What is the earliest time I can arrive into Fox Lake from Chicago?

What is the final stop for the 7.24am train from Chicago?

If I take the last train of the day, what time would I arrive at Fox Lake?

What departure will take me to Fox Lake in the shortest possible time?

If I wanted to take the bus in addition to the train for travelling to work everyday, what is the best ticket to purchase?

 

Wrap Up

Ask the student what their schedule is for tomorrow. They must give a few points relating to the morning, afternoon and evening. One single sentence will not suffice.

 

Sign off the student notebook and make comments on what they need to focus on