TEACHER´S

GUIDE

PRE - INTERMEDIATE

By Nancy Ortíz
 TEACHER´S
GUIDE
PRE - INTERMEDIATE

Topics:
1) Simple Past .................... 3
2) Past of To Be .................. 7
3) Can / Could .................. 10
4) Quantiers .................... 13
5) Simple Future ................ 16
6) Past Continuous ............ 19
7) Adverbs of Frequency .... 21
8) Tag Questions ............... 24
9) Imperatives ................... 27
10) Expressions with How ... 30
11) Should ......................... 33
Simple Past
Topic 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Auxiliary for the past tense
Time expression for simple past
Narrating

LIFE SKILLS
Express activities and/or actions in the past
Talking about past experiences

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Start asking your students what they did last weekend. This question will allow you
to check what they already know. If they know some verbs in past praise them and
tell them today they will learn more about the simple past tense. On the other hand
if your students express what they did but using verbs in present, write 2 of their
sentences on the board and circle the verb, then explain they need to use the verb
in past since they are talking about a past event. Use this as an introduction and
write down the name of the topic.

INSTRUCTION
Start by writing down on the board the use of the simple past

Use: We use the simple past to talk about past actions and events. Use
gestures and body language to illustrate it.

Then say: It is very easy to talk in the past in English, all you need is a person,
a verb in past and a complement.
3
Write this down:

listen listened
go went
visit visited
wake up woke up

Make your students see the difference between regular

verbs and irregular verbs with those 4 verbs. Hand them
a list of regular and irregular verbs. (Found at the
reception desk, prepare the ones you need for your group
before the class)

Say: Let´s look at some positive examples

I visited my grandmother last Saturday

She prepared apple pie for me
We watched TV and had fun.
Once you write the sentences on the board , have students read them for you and now
say. Ok let´s practice I want you to use my sentence as a model and write 3 sentences
about what you did last weekend. Monitor the time, you don´t want to spend too much
time on this activity, 3 minutes are enough and then make them read their sentences.

Now say: alright let´s practice some more. Play the game verb in the hat. Students will
take out a verb from the hat ( which you will prepare before hand , the materials are
prepared for you, just bring them to you classroom before the class to avoid leaving
students alone) Have students sit in a circle and take turns in grabbing a verb, then
they will give you an example sentence with the verb they get. Play this game for about
ve minutes.

Once done tell your students you will now explain the negative structure. Say: To use
negative sentences in the past tense we need auxiliary DID which is the past of do (used
in simple present)
Write these 3 sentences on the board in afrmative, and then transform them into
negative so that your students see the changes.

4
I went to a party yesterday. I didn´t go to a party yesterday.

They visited England last year. They didn´t visit England last year.

Tom drove to Manchester. Tom didn´t drive to Manchester.

Make emphasis in the words in bolds(use a different

color for them) and say: As you can see in afrmative the
verb is used in past BUT in negatives the verb is in present
because we use auxiliary did.( did not = didn´t)

Now tell your students they will practice with a game

called ¨Sentence transformation¨ You teacher say a
sentence in past in afrmative form and then they
transform it into negative.

Once done with the practice introduce the question form.

Go back to the basics use 2 sentences in afrmative,
make them see how you transform them into questions.

You went to a party yesterday. Did you go to a party yesterday?

They visited England last year. Did they visit England last year?

Make sure they know how to ask questions. Have them participate and give you
some examples.
Now use the activities on this guide to provide extra practice on the topic

ACTIVITIES

SIMPLE PAST BOARD GAME

Use the simple past board game, The board game is done just ask your
coordinator for it and get a dice. Students will roll the dice and come up with
complete sentences in simple past using the cues given.

5
ACTIVITIES
TALKING CARDS

Have your students work in teams. Use the Talking

cards and divide them among the students, they will
have to use them to ask and answer questions, once
done, chance the people from teams so that they
practice with different cards.

VERB CARDS

Part of the material for this class is a set of verb cards.

Have your students divided in teams and then make a
contest, each team will be asked the verbs from a set.
You as a teacher hold up the verb cards and read
them ( Example: The past of become is . . . . if team A
does not know, then team B gets a chance to answer)
The team that scores the most points wins.

6
Past of To be (Was- Were)
Topic 2
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Conjugation of the verb
To Be: was & were

LIFE SKILLS
Learn how to express a past description,
location, age and mood.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
As a warm up activity use the material for ¨Guess the mood¨, use the set of cards,
show them to students and they will have to guess the mood of the people
depicted. They will have to say sentences like : She is happy, he is angry, they are
tired. Once done say: Perfect this is how we express moods and feelings but what
about in the past,? Let´s learn about that in today´s class.

INSTRUCTION
Start by reminding your students the present conjugation of to be.

Write the subject pronouns on the board and say: help me complete the
conjugation of to be in present. I …. Students will say am, and so on.

7
Once done, Write down the conjugation of to be in
past:

Explain students the use of to be in the past is exactly

the same as to be in present
Say: We use it to talk about moods, states, age,
place, personal information but all of this in the
past. Let´s look at some examples :

AFFIRMATIVE

I was happy
He was hungry
She was a nurse
We were good students
They were at W almart yesterday

Make sure students understand the different uses of to be in the past. Make them
practice rst just in afrmative sentences.

Once done teach the negative structure, again give and elicit examples from
students. Make them practice until they understand. Work with sentence
transformation. You as a teacher give them sentences in afrmative past of to be
so that they transform them into negative ones.

Introduce the question form. Give and elicit examples. Once understood use the
activity waves to practice sentences in all of their forms afrmative, negative and
questions. The activity waves is describes in the activities below.

8
 ACTIVITIES
Was- Were . . . Find someone who. . .

Give each student a copy of the nd someone who

activity and have them practice while having fun with
this mingle activity. As in any nd someone who, this is
a standing up mingling activity, students go around the
classroom and ask questions to each other until they
complete the activity.

Reading Accidental Inventions

Use the short paragraph Accidental Inventions (already

printed ask your coordinator) and have students
complete using was-were and verbs in the past. Since it
is laminated they can write on it with white board
markers.

Waves

Nominate one student, tell him to look around and give you a positive example
using was/were such as “Yesterday WAS rainy” and now another will have to stand
up immediately after and say “Yesterday WASN´T rainy” and one more will stand
up and say “ Was yesterday rainy”? one more student will stand up and answer “ Yes,
yesterday was rainy” This is a cool game, just make sure you explain them how it
works.

Boardgame

Practice and have fun with the Was-Were Boardgame. * Material is done ask your
coordinator

9
CAN & COULD
Topic 3
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Structure of a sentence using can/can´t
The use of could to express ability in the past

LIFE SKILLS
The ability to express an ability, make a
request or ask for/give permission in
both present and past.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Start the class by showing students the set of ashcards for the warm up of this
class. Write down on the board the word ability and capacity, ask them if they can
do some of the actions on the ashcards.

INSTRUCTION
Teacher begins by explaining the uses and structure of using Can

Structures:
Subject + can + verb + complement (positive)

Used to talk about present abilities: I can make tamales / She can´t jump very
high.

Make requests (favors): Can you close the door, please? / Can you bring me
some ice?

Ask for permission: Can I use the car? / Can you lend me your pencil?
10
Teacher practices by asking students questions while they
answer in complete sentences.
Explain the uses briey and each time you explain a use,
make your students participate with it. Focus more on the
use for ability.

Ask them to share 3 abilities they have.

Explain now the negative structure.

Subject + can´t + verb + complement (negative)

Have your students practice the negative structure . Have

them share 3 things they can´t do.

Explain the question form and have your students

participate giving you examples.

Once done, introduce could. Explain it is used for exactly

the same purposes but in the past.

NOTE: In the case of could use only the use for past abilities and focus on it.

Write a sample sentence on the board and have them give you examples as well,
teach the positive, negative and question form.

Use the activities below to practice during your class.

11
 PRACTICES / ACTIVITIES
Can / Can´t cards

Divide your students in teams or pairs and give them

cards to ask each other questions. They will have to give
complete answers using can or can´t. The questions are
easy , they ask for ability and have a picture to provide
visual aid. Monitor the activity.

Prove it!

In this activity, students will play a game of Prove it. Please

explain the rules in the following manner:
Student A will ask the question and if Student B answers
with “Yes, I can_________”, Student A will say “Prove it!”
Student B will have to demonstrate the action in that
moment. Then Student B will ask the question and follow
the same rules.

Could Find someone who

Have your students mingle and practice with this fun game on which they have to ask
each other questions about past ability.

12
Quantiers
Topic 4
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Build up vocabulary of quantiers
Students will learn about countables
and uncountables

LIFE SKILLS
Students will be able to talk about quantities
and measure units when conducting
everyday conversations.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Teacher writes the word ¨Quantiers¨on the board and ask students if they have
any idea what they are. Listen to students and explain what quantiers are and
their importance.

INSTRUCTION
Explanation : Use the explanation below and divide the quantiers as you
teach them as shown below.

A quantier is a word that usually goes before a noun to express the quantity of
the object; for example, a little milk. Most quantiers are followed by a noun,
though it is also possible to use them without the noun when it is clear what we
are referring to. For example:

Do you want some milk? – Just a little. (It's clear that I mean 'a little milk'.)

13
There are quantiers to describe large quantities (a lot,
much, many), small quantities (a little, a bit, a few) and
undened quantities (some, any) . There are also
quantiers that express the idea of a sufcient amount
(enough, plenty).

There are some quantiers that have a similar meaning

but differ because one is used with countable nouns and
the other is used with uncountable nouns. Countable
nouns are things that we can count; for example, a table,
two chairs. Uncountable nouns are things that we cannot
count and only have a singular form; for example, some
furniture, some fruit.

Let's start by looking at quantiers that express large

quantities.
We use many, much, a lot (of) to refer to big quantities. We use 'many' with
countable nouns and 'much' with uncountable nouns, and we can use 'a lot (of)'
with both countable and uncountable nouns. In modern English it is very common to
use 'a lot (of)' in afrmative sentences instead of 'many' and 'much'.

Give some examples and elicit more from students.

To talk about small quantities we can use 'a few' and 'a little'. We use 'a few' with
countable nouns and 'a little' with uncountable nouns. It's also possible to use 'a bit'
with uncountable nouns, but it is more informal.

14
Give some examples and elicit more from students.

When we want to refer to a plural noun or an uncountable

noun, without giving a specic quantity, we use 'some' and
'any'. We use 'some' in afrmatives and 'any' in questions
and negatives.

Give some examples and elicit more from students.

As is common in English, there is an exception to this
rule. When we make requests and offers, we usually
use 'some' instead of 'any'. For example:

Can I have some water please?

Would you like some chocolates?

ACTIVITIES
Much / Many Board game
Divide students in teams and let them practice while having fun with a much / many
board game. Monitor the activity and provide help when needed.

Team Woskheet
Use the material for this class. There´s a worksheet ( some- any) students will be
divided in teams and you will allow them some time to complete the worksheet as a
team, they can write on it with markers since we can easily erase their writings
(worksheet is laminated). The team with less mistakes wins!

Quantiers Cards
Explain students that this is an oral activity. You will show them cards of quantiers (one
by one) and they will have to give you an oral example using that word, then take
another card and ask them to also share oral examples.
15
Simple Future
Topic 5
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LANGUAGE SKILLS
To practice the uses of
the simple future

LIFE SKILLS
Talking about the future
events and actions.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Start the class telling your students that you will teach them how to talk about future
events.

Tell them the simple future is very simple in English. Go back to the basics and write
down a sentence in simple present

I eat pizza.

Now say to make it into future all we have to do is add auxiliary WILL. Show them,
add will with a different marker color.

I will eat pizza tomorrow.

INSTRUCTION
Now explain students as you said before all they need to do to talk in future
tense is use will in their sentences. Explain it is the same auxiliary for all of the
persons. Give students 2 written examples and then elicit some from them . Ask
them about the activities they will do tomorrow or next weekend.
16
Once the structure is clear. Introduce the uses of the
simple present one by one. Don´t introduce them all at
once. Go one by one , explain, give and elicit
examples. Only positive form at this stage.

Prediction
It is very cloudy. I will rain later.

Voluntary action (offering help)

I will help you with your homework tonight.

Promise
I will call you when I arrive to my job.

Asking for help (favor)

Will you make me a quesadilla

Once students have understood and practice all of the simple future uses. Introduce
negative and question structures.

Explain the negative form of will is will not or WON´T

Use the model. I will eat pizza tomorrow………… I won´t eat pizza tomorrow.

Elicit some examples from students. Have some controlled oral practice give students
a sentence in afrmative and ask them to transform it into a negative.

Introduce the question form. Go back to the basics and write down a positive sentence,
so that you show them all they have to do is send Will to the beginning of the sentence.

You will go to the concert tomorrow……………. Will you go to the concert tomorrow?

Use the following activities to practice production.

Make predictions

Chain Stories? 17
 ACTIVITIES
Fortune Teller

Tell students they will have to imagine they are fortune

tellers and using each others palms or general
predictions have students make predictions about each
other. Write these on the board Predictions should
include: Professional life, marital status, family, friends,
leisure and travel, success, pets, etc

Chain Stories

One student starts the chain stories by saying their plan

for (tomorrow, weekend, etc…) and the next student
adds on to the story and so forth. Make the story as
long as possible. Then, start a new story with another
student.
S1 – I will go to Fashion Mall next Saturday
S2 – You will see your friends at Fashion Mall
S3 – Your friends will invite you to Comix
S4 – You will order a burger and fries and you will drink some beer
S5 – You won't be able to drive so your friends will call a taxi for you

Speaking Cards

Get the sets of speaking cards for this class, divide students in pairs or teams and
have them ask questions to each other, monitor the activity and provide aid when
needed.

18
Past Continuous
Topic 6
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Review the past of to be
Structure of past actions

LIFE SKILLS
How to express actions in the past focusing
on their duration. Students will be able to
express two past actions simultaneously
when one interrupts another.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Individual work – student begin by doing the PAST OF TO BE (review) in order to
remember which subject goes with was and were.

Teacher follows with an explanation of the past continuous.

INSTRUCTION
Teacher explains the past continuous is used to emphasize an action that was
happening at a particular time in the past. It is an action that was happening,
this means it was an action in progress, the emphasis in on that.

Teacher writes 2 examples of the past continuous on the board. Underlines the
past of to be and the verb in ing form.

Then the teacher explains that when using the past continuous we either talk
about two actions happening simultaneously in the past , or ac action that
interrupts another one. And writes the following examples on the board to give
students a better idea.
19
I was studying for my test while my sisters were watching
a movie.

With this sentence the teacher explains 2 simultaneous

actions in the past, use colors so that students understand
better and make emphasis on the role of the word WHILE.
Explain this word is used to join to simultaneous past
actions.

Using this sentence the teacher explains the person was in

the process of making dinner when his parents arrived,
hence one action interrupting the previous one. Make
emphasis on the role of the word WHEN.

Teacher will focus only in the afrmative part so far.

Practice with the students orally.
Once done T explains and introduces the negative structure, use models on the
Board. Give and elicit examples.

Finally T introduces the question structure for the tense and provides further

ACTIVITIES
Explain Why cards
Students will get cards that accuse them of doing certain actions, they will have to read
them to a partner and say: When I saw you you were ……….? Why? The student they
will have to say: When you saw me I was ……… because ………… Make sure you
have your students use complete sentences so that they practice the tense.

Find Someone Who Past continuous

Use the handout for a nd someone who activity for this class. Use the instructions and
models on it to provide further oral practice for your students.

Board game
Provide extra practice while your students have fun with this board game.
20
Adverbs of Frequency
Topic 7
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LANGUAGE SKILLS
The use of adverbs to state
the frequency of events.

LIFE SKILLS
By the end of the class students
will be able to say how often
something happens

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Start the class writing down three activities your students do.

*Take a shower *Visit friends *go to a park

Ask ¨Do you take a shower everyday? ¨ They will probably say Yes!
Now ask ¨Do you visit your friends every day? They will probably say no!
Ask ¨Do you go to a park everyday? They will most likely say no!

INSTRUCTION

Now explain students there are many activities we do. But we don´t do all of
them everyday. Explain we sometimes do this activities, on weekdays, on
weekends, always, often, and even never.

Explain to make our meaning clear, we need to use adverbs of frequency. And
introduce them.

21
We use adverbs of frequency – like sometimes or usually
– to say how often we do things, or how often things
happen. Make sure they understand the meaning of
often, this will be crucial.

Write down the following frequency adverbs on the

board. Draw the chart and rst write only the adverb of
frequency and the percentage. ( Do not add the examples
yet).

As always in any vocabulary class, introduce the frequency adverbs one bye one as
well as the percentage so that it is clearer for students. Give an oral example and
elicit some more from students.

Once the chart is complete introduce the examples so that your students can
have notes on their notebooks as well.

Brainstorm as many activities as possible. Tell students to tell you activities that
come to mind. List them on the board and then write this model on the board.
¨How often do you………………..¨

Follow the instructions in the Ask a partner Activity

Practice with cut outs.

Finally provide some extra practice with their workbook.

22
 PRACTICES / ACTIVITIES
Ask a partner Activity

Practice the model with students and once they have

mastered its pronunciation. Ask a student how often he
does any of the actions on the list brainstormed¨once he
replies invite him to now ask someone else a different
action using the model.

Cut outs.

Before the class prepare some cut outs of how often

questions. Place them in a hat or a box and have students
take turns coming to the front and taking a cut out. They
will then ask another students and he or she will reply and
now take another cut out. Practice like this.

23
Tag Questions
Topic 8
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LANGUAGE SKILLS
To introduce students to tag questions
and explain their use
To practice tag questions with present,
future and past simple tenses.

LIFE SKILLS
Students will be able to conrm
information using these structures.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Start by explaining what a question is.
Tell students we ask questions when we don´t know the answer. However
sometimes we have an idea, we are almost sure, but we need conrmation. This is
when we use Tag questions. Give them this example, tell them to imagine the
following:

Imagine you see a man wearing only white. White shirt, white pants, white coat,
white shoes. What do you imagine his profession is?
Students most likely say doctor or nurse . Tell them exactly, but are you 100% sure?
What if he just loves white? So you are almost sure, but you need conrmation.
This is when we use tag questions.

You are a doctor, aren´t you?

24
 INSTRUCTION

Explain tag questions are ¨small¨ questions we add at the

end of sentences when we want to conrm those ideas.
For instance, in our example, I believe the man is a doctor,
so I can say
I believe
You are a doctor, aren´t you?

Question for conrmation.

Make sure students fully understand. If they do

proceed, if not elaborate more in your explanation.

Give them another example. And make them

understand they are looking for conrmation to an idea.

Once they understand. Explain how to make tag questions

It is essential to know that if the idea is positive, the tag is negative and if the idea
is negative the tag is positive. It´s better to illustrate this on the board.

You are a doctor, aren´t you You are not busy, are you?

It is also very important to make students see, they use the same person and
auxiliary in the statement in their tag question. Teach only present tag questions at this
stage
He is late, isn´t he You love pizzza, don´t you?
You are hungry, aren´t you? You don´t like soccer, do you?
She plays basketball, doesn´t she? It doesn´t run fast, does it?

25
 Have students practice the tag questions only in
present ( you can include to be as well) .

Give them ideas for which they have to come up with the
tag question.

Now that you have had enough practice move on

and practice the tag questions with past and future. Write
an example on the board as a model.

Use the following activities to practice production.

Cut Outs.

Do you know your classmates? Game

ACTIVITIES
Cut outs
Make plenty cut outs of sentences in present and have students take turns and take a
cut out. They will have to read it to the class and complete it with the tag question.

Do you know your classmates?

Give each students a copy of the worksheet
Tell students to write the name of a classmate in each sentence that they think best
matches the statement.
Explain they can only write the same name twice. When students have completed their
sentences, they ask their classmates tag questions to see if their statements are right or
wrong. Students receive one point for each correct statement. The students with the
most correct statements is the winner.
Worksheet provided on students´ worbook.

Board game
Students will get extra practice with the Tag question board game.
26
Imperatives
Topic 9
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Identify and use the correct form
of imperative verbs (bare innitives)

LIFE SKILLS
Students will be able to give
and follow instructions

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Start the class playing Simon Says.
Write this on the board

Simon says touch your head

Practice the pronunciation with students and explain you will change the verb and
they will have to follow what you say.

Simon says touch your leg, Simon says jump, etc.

Once you practiced about 5 verbs with this lead in. Explain what you gave them
were instructions and they followed them. Explain in today´s class they will learn
imperatives.

27
 INSTRUCTION

Now explain students what imperatives are.

We use imperative clauses when we want to tell someone
to do something (most commonly for advice, suggestions,
requests, commands, orders or instructions).

We can use them to tell people to do or not to do things.

However leave prohibitions or the negative imperative for
later

Explain they don't have a subject – they are addressed to

the listener or listeners, who the speaker understands to
be the subject.

Write down some basic eamples. Such as :

Open the door…….. take out your notebook……. Erase the board…… be quiet
Elicit some examples from students. Give them a situation so that it is easier for them.
Tell them to recall all of the orders their mom gives them at home.
Now give them another situation. At work. Ask what are the orders they need to follow
at the ofce
Once they have practiced the imperatives, move on and explain we also use
imperatives to tell someone not to do something. This is called a prohibition .
· Write down negative imperative = prohibitions on the board and write down
some examples such as
Don´t speak Spanish…… don´t arrive late ……… don´t eat in the classroom
Make students see, we use don´t to make the negative imperative.
Elicit some examples from students. Give them a situation so that it is easier for them.
Tell them to recall all of the prohibitions their parents gives them at home.
Now give them another situation. At work. Ask what are the prohibitions they have at
the ofce

Use the following activities to practice production.

Giving Instructions
Oral Match
Finally provide some extra practice with their workbook.
28
 ACTIVITIES
Giving instructions…

Students will be given a situation and they must give the

instructions (verbally). Make sure they include positive
and negative imperatives. Teacher will give the rst
example:

Take out the cheese and tortillas.

Turn on the stove.
Put one tortilla on the “comal”.
Cut the cheese
Add the cheese to the tortilla.
Put another tortilla on top.
Turn over.
Do not burn.
Use the following situations so that students give you instructions.
Make a Maruchan ; Study for an exam; Check Facebook; Change a tire; Wash your
clothes; Make your bed; Prepare coffee; Order a pizza (phone); Write a essay;
Download music; Change a lightbulb.

Oral Match

Have students match images with sentences. The images should depict either
scenarios or actions where use of an imperative sentence would be appropriate. A
good example would be to match the universal “no smoking” sign with the sentence
“Don't smoke”.

Oral MatchSimon Says Cards

Students will be encouraged to take turns and pick a card ( teacher will place them
in the middle of the table or desk) Once a student takes a card he or she will say the
name of another student and give him/ her a command to do.
29
Expressions with How
Topic 10
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LANGUAGE SKILLS
To learn the different words that go
with how to ask questions

LIFE SKILLS
Students will be able to ask questions
related to money, age, reason, etc.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Hangman
This popular ller can also be a great way to start a lesson with beginner learners
and review the alphabet. Just put a recently learned word on the board and let the
students take it in turns to guess a letter.

INSTRUCTION
How is used in a number of various combinations to ask questions. The following
are the most common.

Introduce each use of have one by one. Don´t explain them all together. Explain
one give examples, elicit , practice and move on to the next one.

A good way to do this is to make a mental map on the board. Like this

many
much How often
far come 30
First introduce the words we use with how to ask
questions. Then explain one by one and write down one
example, give more examples but make it orally.

Introduce the following words how come, how many, how

much, how far, how long, how often, how old,
how+adjective (how interesting!), and also how
questions with to be and do and does.

How + to be (present/past) – asks for a description

How + do/does…? – asks for instructions

How much…? – asks for the quantity of a non-countable

noun

How many…? – asks for the quantity of a countable noun

How far…? – asks for distance (meters, kilometers, minutes, hours)

How long…? – asks for time (minutes, hours) or measurements (centimeter, meters)

How often…? – asks for frequency (once, twice, 3 times…)

How old…? – asks for age (reminder: answer with To Be….. NOT HAVE)

How + adjective…? – asks for detailed information about the noun

How come…? – asks for the reason (another way to say “Why?”

Use the following activities to practice production.

The right question

How much and How many cards.

31
 ACTIVITIES
The right question.

Students should be divided in groups of 4 or 5 people.

Each group gets a set of How-question words (how far,
how often, how many, how much, etc. ). Place an easy-
to-sit-on chair in front of the board.

The teacher reads an answer; the groups send

someone to sit on the chair carrying the right question
word. The student who sits there rst has a chance to
produce the whole question and score 5 points. If the
question is wrong, another group can give it a shot, but
this time it is worth 10 points.

How much and How many cards.

Before the class, prepare some how much and how many cards. Have students
work in pairs and they will have to ask each other the questions on the cards.
Monitor the activity.

Dice

Use the HOW words dice created for this class. Instead of numbers or dots it will
have a how Word. Students take turns in throwing the dice and formulate a question
with the how Word they get.

32
Should
Topic 11
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LANGUAGE SKILLS
To introduce and practice 'should'
and 'shouldn't' for giving advice

LIFE SKILLS
Students will be able use advice
related expressions when someone
is sick or in trouble.

STAGES OF THE LESSON

INTRODUCTION
Start the class by drawing a person on the board, draw something easy not to
elaborated. Tell them his name is Tom. Tom must have his hands on his head. Now
write ¨I have a terrible headache¨, ask students if they know what a headache is. If
not explain.

Now tell students to ¨recommend¨ or suggest something for Tom with a

headache. Listen to their ideas. Now tell them in English we use SHOULD for
giving suggestions, or advice. And write down this model ¨You should take an
aspirin¨ make students repeat the model. Focus on the pronunciation, make them
see the L is silent. Elicit more suggestions from them.

33
 INSTRUCTION

If you use the suggested lead-in you will nd students nd
it easy to give you suggestions. Maybe they'll even try to
use some typical Mexican remedies for which they don't
know the words in English. Remind them they can ask for
help or words in English using the expression “How do
you say….. in English?

Once students give you plenty of “recommendations or

suggestions” tell them they can also use should to
recommend people what not to do.

Introduce the negative at this stage so that students can

give you more broad examples of suggestions using both
what they recommend someone should do, and what they
recommend not to do.

Introduce the negative through a modal. Use the same example. Tell them ok now
what would you recommend Tom not to do. Give them the following model yourself
rst
He shouldn't listen to loud music

Focus on the pronunciation of shouln't . Again remind them the L is silent. Make them
repeat and practice until they get it right.

Now tell your students you will give them situations to practice giving suggestions with
should and shouldn't

Situations

*you have a backache * lisa is always late for work * you have the u * the boy
broke a leg

34
Present each situation one by one and listen to students
giving advice.

Introduce the question form. Use this model “You should

study the verbs” now change it in front of them into a
question and make them see all they have to do is use
Should rst. Practice eliciting some questions. You can use
sentence transformation.

Explain students when they need to ask for advice they can
mention the problema and then ask for suggestions, like
this
I think my boyfriend is cheating, what should I do?

Students will have fun and give you a lot of suggestions for
the situation. Now focus on practicing production.

Use the following activities to practice production.

Asking for Advice

A picture is worth a thousand words.

ACTIVITIES
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The teacher starts by giving students ashcards that show either an illness or an issue.
Explain students they will have to work in pairs and ask each other what to do. Model it
rst
Student A I have a toothache, what should I do?
Student B You should see a dentist. You shouldn´t drink or eat anything cold.

Asking for Advice

The teacher gives each student a problem and sends them to another teacher or a
student (above Intermediate). The student must say their problem and ask: “What
should I do?” Student must then return to the class and share their answers.

My brother wants to kill me. People bully me at school.

I am pregnant. I am constipated.
I want to commit suicide. I found a wallet with $10,000. 35