HELP NEEDED - Grammar Lesson

[Elke]

DESPERATE - I have to write a lesson plan - (A grammar lesson: past simple question forms ) - i have searched hundreds of lesson plans sites but can find nothing - any help would be greatly appreciated

[Lorikeet]

Why don't you just make up your own? In explaining grammar, there are lots of things to try. I presume it's a low level class, because teaching how to make yes/no questions in past tense is a pretty low level activity . I can tell you how I might do it, but my methods might not suit you at all, and they are probably "out of fashion." In particular, teaching "grammar" can be deadly boring so I try to do it by asking them questions along the way. It seems that they stay more engaged that way. I teach adults, so I teach them like I prefer to be taught, which means explicit grammar explanations.

I usually start with something they know. If, for example, they have already done simple present, I would start by putting

"They wash the clothes on Monday." on the blackboard and asking if this was good English. After the students agree it is (or I tell them ) I change the "on Monday" to "last Monday" and ask if it is good English. Usually someone will answer that it isn't, or I can just explain that you need a past tense marker (-ed) if it's past.

I put various other regular verb examples on the board and they answer whether or not they are correct. Then I show them that to make a question we take the "-ed" out of the verb and put it in the front, combining it with a "do" to make a question. (If I've already taught yes/no questions with simple present, I review that first.) After that I do the same thing with the irregular past.

Of course, it is easy to have a practice with these forms because they just have to ask each other about activities that they did the previous day. Anyway, I have three Internet lessons about asking questions, which I use for my CALL classes. They are here if you are interested:

http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~lfried/gramma ... ions1.html
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~lfried/gramma ... ions2.html
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~lfried/gramma ... tion1.html

[Elke]

Thanks Lorikeet - my class are elementary (adults) - do you have any lesson plans for this age group - thanks for the websites i am just going to look at them now. sadly i am not too hot on devising my own lesson plans - i do keep practising though - its just that this one is needed asap - so thanks once again for your help

[Roger]

Maybe you should look at lesson plans in a long-term perspective: you won't cover the past tense in questions only, right? Where does this lesson plan meet with other grammar issues? DOes it border on past tense negative statements, for instance? Or does it form a continuum with other tenses such as present perfect, past perfect, etc.? Then you should introduce the notion of the time-line as it is called in English grammar. The time-line will help you plan most lessons for the remaining semester.

[LarryLatham]

Elke,

Nice suggestions from Lorikeet. I've no doubt that she is an excellent teacher, and so take her advice to heart. Don't forget, however, that she warned you that her methods might not suit you. Good teaching, as you probably know, is a very personal and individual matter. What works well for Lorikeet, you might need to tweek a little or a lot for yourself.

And pay attention also, to the advice from Roger. I have equally as much trust in him as an excellent teacher, and his advice needs more than a cursory glance. Lesson plans do not stand well on their own, which is to say that attention to the flow of ideas that you present to your students is no small matter. Having a good night is one thing. Having a good semester is another.

All this said, I'll offer my own advice: a little chaos in the classroom is a good thing. I'm not much of a believer in lesson plans myself. I do believe in having a good idea where you're going, both within a single class and in the flow from class to class. Knowing your subject very well is a great aid to that end. But detail planning for minute to minute control is, at least in all the observations I've made personally, a recipe for deadly boredom. No fun at all. Nowhere to go. Too controlled. No chance for student input or reaction.

Best of luck.

Larry Latham

[celinehoran]

Hi there,

There is a wonderful site I'm using at the moment, which is fantastic at making light work of grammar.

The lessons are ready to go, so you don't have to spend lots of time preparing yourself, because sometimes we just don't have time, do we?

I too am teaching an elementary student and he's doing very well with the grammar thanks to these work sheets.

If you would like to research this website yourself, email me and I will forward it to you.

Regards
Celine Horan
Personal ESL Trainer, Switzerland

[lucky]

Dear,all i am in desperate need of help in writing a past simple question form.........i have no experience and on the net it is all most useless i need an experienced teachers help.
eg:if i say.......what did you do yesterday ?
how should i write the target language?/the objective
and pls.........give me some exampls and teaching methods ,i am almost in tears.I never knew writing a grammer lesson plan would be difficult.
I need a ready made past simple question form lesson plan............
pls mail me at [email protected][/b]

[Tara B]

I'm afraid I can't give you a whole lesson plan, however, remember that every lesson plan should include:
1) Warm up
2) Objective Discussion (tell the students the goal for the lesson)
3) Instruction
4) Modeling
5) Easy Practice (controlled)
6) Hard Practice (more open-ended, realistic)

For any kind of questions, guessing games are great for your practice activities. Teacher says, "Guess what I did last weekend?" The students will have to ask "Did you. . .?" questions until they get it right. The student who guessed correctly then takes a turn being the teacher.. . .

I would try an oral activity before I did too much written work.

Tara