General English Mock Lesson Guidelines

Modern manners?

Duration: about 40 min

The lesson should be entirely in English. Please go through the activities from the book before you
continue reading the guidelines.
The listening exercises are not done. You should either work out a way to do the exercise without
playing the recording, or just dont do it at all.
Every lesson has one or several aims this is what your students will be able to do better after the
lesson. There is target language (new vocabulary or grammar) that helps students achieve the aims.
Aim what do you want to achieve?
Target language how are you going to achieve it?
1. At the end of the lesson students
Phone language dial, text/message, hang up,
will be able to talk about their phone ringtone, call back, leave a message, voicemail,
habits.
engaged/busy
Skype, a screensaver, silent/vibrate mode, quiet
zones, instant messaging
2. At the end of the lesson students
Modals of obligation must, have to, should
will be able to talk about obligation.

Although the activities in the book are fun and useful, only doing the exercises is not enough to
achieve the aims. You can be creative and use other materials as well.
This is a suggested plan for the lesson:
1. Lead-in 5 min
Every lesson should start with something fun and creative to set students in the mood and
introduce the topic. It can be a discussion, a game, brainstorming, etc. You can use pictures,
video, songs, etc.
At this point books are closed.
2. Aim 1 Phone habits 15 min
First you need to introduce the new vocabulary students are going to use. Students should
not only be able to understand the meaning, but should also be able to use it in everyday
situations.
New vocabulary is introduced in the following stages:
1. Give examples
Students have a look at some examples of the new vocabulary in context. It is really
useful for them to try and work out the meanings of the words themselves from the
context.
2. Write the definition
Write down a definition of each new word in English on the board.

The definition should be short and easy to understand. It doesnt need to be

dictionary-like, just a few simple words is enough.
3. Pronunciation
Each new word should be repeated several times by the students. This makes them
more confident to use it.
4. Practice - Speaking about phone habits
Students work in pairs or groups and discuss their phone habits. Encourage them to
use the target vocabulary.
3. Aim 2 Obligation 20 min
To be able to talk about obligation, students will need to be able to use the modals must,
have to, should. Again, there is a difference between understanding grammar and really
being able to use it.
1. Introduce grammar in context
Grammar is introduced with the help of a text about mobile phone etiquette. First,
students should read the text once for general comprehension.
Then, you should focus on the use of the modals in the text.
2. Examples
Give more examples with the modals and write them down on the board. It would be
better to give more personal examples about you or the students. This will make the
meaning more understandable. (e.g. You mustnt smoke on the school premises.)
3. Meaning
Ask students questions about the particular examples to help them work out the
meaning. (e.g. Can you smoke on school premises?, What would happen if you do?,
Does it mean you will break the rules if you do?)
Then write down key words explaining the meaning on the board.
4. Form
You should write down examples how to make the positive, negative and question form.
5. Pronunciation
Focus on sentence stress and intonation and make students repeat the examples a
couple of times to feel more confident.
It would be better to go through steps 2-5 with each modal separately. For example,
start with examples, meaning, form and pronunciation of must, then continue with have
to, and so on.
6. Practice
After you have gone through the previous steps with each of the modals, now its
time for some practice. Students work in pairs or groups and talk about obligation.
Encourage them to use the modals by having some examples on the board.
4. Finish the lesson on a positive note.