Gateway

Family dinners

Speaking lesson

Anapa, Jan, 12th, 2023

It has been a year since I started giving Taya proper lessons. I mean properly planned lessons, with a course book (Go Getter 3 -the course is great! Want to get back to it soon). It worked well for a couple of months, then we declined for summer vacations and just enjoyed lisening to a nice audiobook “Gladys" by Bertie (Storynory.com) 😍 an absolutely enjoyable book for early teens!) 

Today I am restarting proper teaching - and I try a new coursebook: Gateway B1

Goal: speaking

Topic: Family dinner

Student's age: 11

Level: B1

Stages:

1) Warm up.

comparing two pics (exam skill: 

▪ point out the common thing in both pics - food, having a meal

▫ tell the difference - all together / alone

➡ elicit the idea: which situation is nicer, better scenario and why ➡

the importance of eating together

I got Taya speaking! ⛵

I was happy with what I got - a good balance of teacher's talking time and Student's talking time ☺

There is a room for improvement however. If we stick to the exam skills algorythm it'll work best.

2) Lead in.

People call to the radiostation to tell about their situation: whether they eat together or not, whether they have a small talk or not. 

What can you tell of your own dinner habits? Are you happy with wat we've got? What can be done to improve it?

⭐ Together we stated the problem: we don't have proper conversations around the table. Normally we, parents, discuss some adult issues like politics and kids have to mind their own business. 

⭐ I like Taya's ideas, her speculating ability. However I made he feel uneasy by asking of the solutions to our family problem. I tried to give a positive mindset, we could work it out together. She didn't seem to be ready to offer anything at all. - it is okay, I guess we just have to go on with the listening activity which could give you more ideas and we can get back to our question later.

 

3) Pre-listening

How many speakers are there? - 6.

How many statements to match - 8.

So, two versions are are there to distract your attention.

Here's the strategy: put down the names and be ready to take some notes for each speaker ( age, occupation, whethe he/she is happy or not with their dinner habits)

4) Listening to audio 4. 

Gist listening (Match the speaker and the ideas)

1 Mike - D

2 Chris - G

3 Sally - E

4 Alice - A

5 Jennifer - F

6 Daniel - B

5) After-listening 

Evaluation of the situations: which is the best, which doesn't sound right, which resembles yours? Which speaker do you think reminds you anyof your friends? What do you know about your friend's family dinners?

⭐ I enjoyed working with Taya, she can concentrate allright. Her listening skills are quite strong. It  can be challenging yet - which is good, the B1 level coursebook is just right.

⭐ Together we tried to work out some suitable topics for family dinners. We speculated about how life could change when we move to the new flat with a big telly in the kitchen. It'll never be the same. And what could be done about it not to end up in having zombie family dinners. We even discussed a layout of ouf future kitchen.

⭐ What I liked most in this lesson is the level of her engagement. It was not a hypothetical situation, but things that really matter, something real to focus on. I tried my best to show Taya the positive mindset and a problem solving approach. She was not as excited as I was. And I feel uneasy about switching between two roles: a mother and a teacher.

6) Follow up. 

special questions ex 3

(didn't get to that stage - Taya got already tired)

Abrau-Durso, Nov, 24th 2022