Popa Ioana

Faculty of Letters
IIIB

Teaching Reading
Textbook: High Flyer Students Book; Authors: Ana Acevedo, Marisol Gower; Level:
Intermediate and Upper Intermediate; Ministerul Educaiei Naionale, 1999, pg. 22 -23

Lesson Plan

1. Beginning

writing on the blackboard the course name (Practical English), the lesson title
(Teenagers and how to survive them), the topic (Reading activities), the class level
(Intermediate), the date (14.01.2015) and the skills to be consolidated during the
lesson (Reading, Comprehension, Writing, Speaking)
checking the attendance
checking the previous homework

Pre- reading stage

a lead-in activity (warming up): brainstorming (the students are asked to make
associations with a given word Classroom )
stating the issue to be developed during the lesson (Reading Skills)
stating the aims of the lesson (cursive reading of the chosen text, comprehension of the
given information, new vocabulary, speaking on a related topic, writing)
a second warming up activity: the students are requested to look at the image and
imagine the situation presented in the picture)

2. Middle
While-reading stage

reading the text: the students are invited to read the text out loud (by taking turns)
getting more familiar with the fragment (skimming): the students read the text again
(individually) and solve a set of exercises (deciding which sentences are true and
which are false, learning new vocabulary, making word associations based on the text,
finding correspondences between the main text and another fragment, etc.)

3. Ending
After-reading stage

deducing the writers intention(s), attitude(s) and opinion(s): the students are asked to
answer a set of questions
dialogue: the students are invited to take turns in role-playing an imaginary dialogue
between a teenager and his mother after her last class.
composition: the students are asked to briefly describe what they think about the
differences of perception between teenagers and their parents.
translation: the students are given a short text as homework

Exercises

1. Imagine you enter for the first time in a classroom. What items would you associate with
the word classroom? Give as many answers as you can think of.

Classroom
E.g. blackboard, teacher,
2. Read the text Teenagers and how to survive them, then match the words that can be
found in the fragment with their correct definition.
eagerly

to make less dangerous, or hostile

innate

an intermediate level or degree

quarrel

an expression of pain, or resentment

scruffy

intense desire, thirstily

to defuse

possessed at birth, inborn, inherent

complaint

untidy

average

to shift

to change position

an angry dispute; an altercation

3. Write sentences for every word given in the previous exercise. Translate them.
4. Read the text again, then decide which of the following statements are true () and which
are false (x). Correct the false ones.
a) None of the students is paying attention at what the teacher is saying.
b) The average age of the participants is thirty-eight.
c) The teacher, John Ashby, disagrees the fact that at the age of thirty-eight years old
parents need skills for adolescence.
d) A major source of tension in some families is the apparel of the teenagers.
e) When it comes to pay attention at the lessons, parents are always interested and
empathic.
f) The name of the course was changed because parents weret able to admit that they
have problems regarding their relation with their children.
g) Most parents mention problems like untidy bedrooms and late homecomings.
5. Find the words in the text which belong to:

the positive aspects of life: useful, skills, ...

the negative aspects of life: untidy, explosive,

6. Read the following fragment and compare it with the text Teenagers and how to survive
them.
It is night in a classroom at the City of Portsmouth Girls' School and a group of
cheerful-looking parents are about to study the worst years of their children's lives.
Subject heading: 'Skills for Adolescence'. Unspoken sub-text: how to survive that crucial
period of rows, late nights, dirty bedrooms and toe-nail clippings on the bathroom floor
which can drive a family mad. As one mother put it: 'We've come because we don't want
anything drastic to go wrong. I want to know that if a problem arises, I can deal with it.'
The lesson begins and out pours a mixture of wry anecdotes, gentle instruction
and home-grown wisdom that keeps the class bubbling for two hours.
Janet Aughey introduced the course that dragged parents back to the classroom because
she recognised that caring for teens demands special tactics: 'For some it is an innate
skill,' she says, 'but others struggle tremendously. Their young ones are treading two
paths - being children and young adults. They switch from one to the other and that is
one of the things that makes it so difficult for parents.'
Her course runs once a week for a month and is crucially aimed at parents whose
children are aged 11 and 12: pre-teen. < Start now >, is the central message and
problems will be easier later.
7. Which of the following pieces of advice would you chose to improve the relationship
between teenagers and their parents?

Set goals.
Read for pleasure.
Protect your body.
Talk to your parents when you have problems.
Clean your room.

Show your parents the teachers notes.

Dont give up.
Have the courage to live a life true to yourself.

8. The text is...

... formal or informal?

... interesting or boring?
informative or common knowledge?

9. Think of the information you have been presented with in the text and then answer
the following questions:

a) Do you have problems with your parents? If so, what do you think it can be done to
minimalize their effect upon your relationship?
b) What would you do if you were the parent having problems with his child? How
would you manage the situation?
c) Have you ever considered becoming a teacher? If so, why?
d) Do you think a teacher can become a confident for the students? Give examples.

10. Group into pairs of two and imagine the possible dialogue between a parent and
his child, taking into account the fact that the parent was active at the course Skills
for Adolescence.

11. Translate the following fragment into Romanian:

Defining Life Skills

Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable
individuals to
deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.

Described in this way, skills that can be said to be life skills are
innumerable, and the
nature and definition of life skills are likely to differ across cultures and settings.
However, analysis of the life skills field suggests that there is a core set of skills that
are at the heart of skills-based initiatives for the promotion of the health and wellbeing of children and
adolescents.

These are: decision making, problem solving, creative thinking, critical

thinking, effective communication, interpersonal relationship skills, self-awareness,
empathy, coping with emotions, coping with stress.

(http://www.asksource.info/pdf/31181_lifeskillsed_1994.pdf)