SUMMER PROJECT

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN – ENGLISH SKILLS

DAY 4 – Information Gap

Information Gap- An information gap activity is an activity where learners are missing information
they need to complete a task and they need to talk to each other (ask question) to find the missing
information.

DAY # 4

SESSION TITLE: Information Gap

TIME: 50 min

OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson teacher trainees will:

1. Understand what an information gap is and list information gaps that EFL/ESL students
can use to practice their English skills
2. Practice their oral English skills
3. Engage in classroom community building by becoming better acquainted with a
classmate’s daily routines

MATERIALS:
1. copies of hands outs (included in this lesson plan), one per student
2. the first page of “Information Gap Exercises” must be cut down the middle, half for
partner A, the other half for partner B
3. each trainee must have a partner

PROCEEDURES:

WARM UP: Board-race (see 10 Short Games for an explanation). List as many topic
ideas as you can for 3:2 – 3:2

ACTIVITY:
1. Have students sit with their partners. Explain that this lesson will use the western
method of “peer-teaching”. Partner A will receive a different handout than partner B,
they must not show each other their handouts. They will have time to read the
handout and then ask and answer the questions on the handout to teach each other
about information gaps. Distribute the handout “The Info Gap Student A and B”.
2. If you heard common oral English grammar mistakes as you circulated amongst the
groups, write them on the board and correct them as a class.
3. When partners finish debrief as a class: What did you learn? What are the
advantages/disadvantages of teaching using information gaps? (It’s just like real-
world English; students must use their English skills to acquire information; all
students can work at their maximum English level; can be difficult to correct all
mistakes; error correction isn’t immediate)
4. Explain that now trainees will have the opportunity to complete three additional
 information gap activities and have a chance to get to know their partner better. Pass
out the handout “Information Gap Exercises”. You may wish to quickly review the
vocabulary words: brainstorm, cents and grid. Have students complete the exercises.
5. Review common mistakes and some possible correct answers.
6. Debrief. Were you successful? How did you get the answers you needed? What
English skills did you have to use? What are some other examples of real world
communication gaps you can think of? (buying train tickets, making dentist
appointments, getting directions, making plans to have lunch, asking for someone’s
phone number)

CLOSURE / REFLECTION: Play Stand-Up If. Trainees should refer to their “Information Gap
Exercises” handouts. The facilitator will ask a question, to respond ‘yes’ trainees should stand
up. Who had a partner who likes to get up early? Sleep in? Watch movies? Eat noodles for
breakfast? Cook lunch for their family? Go out to KTV?
 INFORMATION GAP EXERCISES

A. STUDENT A STUDENT B

This Tonight Kim is going to stay

evening
at home, because he wants
to write a letter to a friend.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning he has
morning
classes as usual at college;
but he has the afternoon
Tomorrow
afternoon free, so he’s going to help
his father repair the roof on
Tomorrow their house. In the evening
evening
he’s been invited out to a
party.

B.
STUDENT A STUDENT B

Shopping List You Sell

2 packets tea Tea -75 cents a box

1 kilo sugar Sugar -30 cents a kilo
1 can orange juice Rice -20 cents a kilo
2 kilos rice Orange juice -25 cents a can
1 kilo beans
1 kilo oranges
 EXCHANGING PERSONAL INFORMATION

1. Work in pairs. Ask your partner questions about his or her daily routine.

Get up?

Breakfast?

School?

Lunch?

Evening?

Go out?

2. Think of another activity like this, using a grid. Choose a topic that
students would find interesting. Brainstorm with your group or partner
and write your ideas below.

THE INFORMATION GAP

 STUDENT A
In the real world, information gaps are very common. One person, the
speaker, wants to ask a question and the other person, the listener, tries to
answer it. In the real world, people ask questions because they do not know
the answer, and because they want to find out some information. Think of a
man at a bus stop (A) who asks a woman (B): Do you have the time? There
is an information gap between the two people that the man is trying to fill.

An information gap is useful in the classroom because it gives students a

reason to communicate. Sometimes, the teacher can decide the kind of
language that the students will use. Sometimes, the language can be very
free and the students decide what kind of language they will use. You can
use an information gap to practice grammar, especially verb forms such as
the past simple or present continuous. You can also practice vocabulary--in
fact, anything you choose.

The teacher’s job is to organize the activity, and, while the students are
working together, to monitor. This means that he or she listens carefully, and
makes a note of any errors the students make. The teacher tries not to
interfere with the students while they are working together.

For an information gap to work well, it needs to have a purpose. The

students’ purpose is to fill the gap by asking questions.

NOW ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR TEXT:

1. What kind of information gaps do you find in real life?

2. Why are they useful in the classroom?
3. What kind of language do students use in the information gap?
4. What kind of grammatical structures could you practice?
5. What should the teacher do during the activity?

NOW ASK YOUR PARTNER THESE QUESTIONS:

 What kinds of materials can you use for an information gap?

 What kinds of skills do students practice in an information gap?
 How can the teacher make sure the activity goes well?
 What can the teacher do after the activity?
 When does the teacher correct the students?
THE INFORMATION GAP

STUDENT B
In the real world, information gaps are very common. One person, the
speaker, wants to ask a question and the other person, the listener, tries to
answer it. In the classroom, we want to use information gaps to give the
students a chance to communicate with each other, just like people do in
real life.

You can use a wide variety of different materials in the classroom to design
information gaps. Sometimes you can use a picture, which one student tries
to describe to another student. Sometimes you can use a written text with
information that the students must pass to each other. An information gap
can involve the different skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

An information gap activity needs careful organisation. The teacher must

think carefully about the instructions he or she will give to the students so
that they are very clear about what they have to do. Sometimes it’s useful to
practice the activity before starting.

At the end of the activity, the teacher can give the students feedback on how
well they did the activity. The teacher can also correct any errors the
students made. But it is important to remember that the teacher corrects
mistakes after the activity.

NOW ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR TEXT:

1. What kinds of materials can you use for an information gap?

2. What kinds of skills do students practice in an information gap?
3. How can the teacher make sure the activity goes well?
4. What can the teacher do after the activity?
5. When does the teacher correct the students?

NOW ASK YOUR PARTNER THESE QUESTIONS:

1. What kind of information gaps do you find in real life?

2. Why are they useful in the classroom?
3. What kind of language do students use in the information gap?
4. What kind of grammatical structures could you practice?
5. What should the teacher do during the activity?