Main Course 2-3 / SMOOTH N STICKY / Day 3 of 3
GENERAL AIMS
- To have the students apply some of what they’ve been studying in the past two classes, especially in a more real-life situation which doesn’t always conform to nicely packaged concepts
- For the students to have fun, to enjoy themselves while exploring the use of the language
- To bring the students closer together as they share common experiences in the classroom
STEP SUMMARY
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A |
Review |
Go over vocabulary before the surprise |
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B |
Preparation |
Some preliminary instructions |
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C |
Smelling |
Students guess colour from smell |
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D |
Active exploration |
Different foods are explored & described |
RECOMMENDED LEVELS
Intermediate up
ACTIVITY TIME
30+ minutes
MATERIALS
- Board, screen or flip chart
- Handouts for class:
HO2 descriptive vocabulary relating to the 5 senses
HO3 ‘shopping list’ of items you could bring for the activity
SPECIAL NOTES
– Note 1
– Note 2
Things to bring to the class
Something to keep in mind: This lesson plan was made with the idea that it is the third of three classes. If you wish to skip the preliminary work done in the first two classes (see Main Course 2-1 and 2-2), you will have to make a few modifications. The first two classes dealt primarily with vocabulary that could be used in the third class. Should you decide to do it all in one go, be selective but it is definitely recommended to dedicate a little time to drawing the students’ attention to some of the vocabulary they could use when describing what they see, smell and feel, for example.
This class requires some preparation beforehand, including buying the supplies from your local supermarket and bringing along some paper towels, knives, etc. The effort is worth it as you will see, but it is better to have it all in place and clear in your mind to get the effect you would like. Below are some suggestions on what to bring / do:
Quickpage
Class Plan
PART A: REVIEW
| A | 1 STEP | FINAL REVIEW STUDY VOCABULARY SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Tell the students to individually study their handouts (HO2) for a few minutes while you get yourself organized for the coming activity. Inform them that they will get more out of the surprise you have prepared for them if they are familiar with that vocabulary.
(Note: they will not be allowed to look at their handouts during the activity.) |
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| b) | Quiz a few random students.
Ex: What’s the opposite of bumpy? (smooth) Ex: How does an apple taste? (it could be sweet or sour) Ex: If it has six sides, it is _____ . (elicit the adjective six-sided or hexagonal)
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PART B: PREPARATION
| B | STEP 1 | CLEAR SPACE NO BOOKS & REARRANGE FURNITURE SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Tell the students to put away their books and papers. | ||
| b) | If it helps (and if it’s possible in your room), rearrange the tables and chairs, or the students, so you can have better access to them as you circulate in Part C. | ||
| B | STEP 2 | PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Explain to them that
1) you have a special surprise for them and 2) the first part involves trusting you. They will have to keep their eyes closed for part of the activity. If they feel uncomfortable with that, they don’t have to participate but they will miss out on some of the fun and explorations. |
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| b) | Describe the procedure so they will know what to expect. You will be placing something under their nose and they will have to guess what colour the object is. | ||
| c) | It is important that they don’t open their eyes or say anything until everyone has had a turn and you tell them to open their eyes. | ||
| d) | Assure them that what they will be smelling is something neutral or good, nothing bad. | ||
| e) | Ask if anyone has any special allergies. If someone might possibly react negatively to one of the items you wish the students to interact with, then eliminate that item from the list and concentrate on the remaining ones. (For example, if someone is allergic to a certain kind of nut which might be one of the ingredients in the chocolate.) | ||
| f) | Remind them that what they will be smelling will not be bad, and for them not to say anything or open their eyes until you tell them to. | ||
PART C: SMELLING
| C | STEP 1 | GREEN BEANS GUESS COLOUR SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Have everyone close their eyes and keep them closed, even after they had their turn. | ||
| b) | While giving the instructions take 3 or 4 long green beans and break them in half. (Your speaking will mask the noise it makes.) | ||
| c) | Hold them as a bunch with the broken ends facing upward. | ||
| d) | Go to the first person and while saying that they are to think of the colour but not say it aloud, you pass the beans slowly back and forth below that person’s nose. | ||
| e) | Remind them not to say anything and to keep their eyes closed as you go from student to student. Also continue telling them to imagine what the colour could be. | ||
| f) | After everyone has had a turn, hold the beans behind your back and tell the class to open their eyes. | ||
| g) | Elicit the colour (it should be unanimous) and then show them what you are holding. | ||
| C | STEP 2 | 2 CHOCOLATES GUESS THEIR COLOURS SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Explain that you’re going to repeat the process except now you will be placing two objects under their noses and they will have to guess what colour number 1 is and what colour number 2 is. | ||
| b) | All the students close their eyes. While you’re reminding them to keep them closed until you tell them otherwise and to not say aloud what the colours or substance is, you break off a piece of dark chocolate and another of white. | ||
| c) | Continue speaking throughout the whole process so they can know where you are and what you’re doing. Besides informing them you are also calming and reassuring them. | ||
| d) | Go to the first person, placing the two different chocolates under their nose, saying something like,
“Number one, number two. Number one, number two.” (I let them smell each twice.) |
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| e) | Go on to the next person and repeat until everyone has had a turn. | ||
| f) | Return to the front of the class, place the chocolates behind your back and tell the class to open their eyes. | ||
| g) | Elicit what they thought and show them. | ||
PART D: ACTIVE EXPLORATION
| D | STEP 1 | SETTING THE TABLE & THE SCENE SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Put the students into groups of 3 (or 4) and give each group:
— at least one paper towel per person — a knife — several pages from a newspaper or more paper towels or plates to place and cut the food on |
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| b) | Break off a piece of dark and another of white chocolate for each person and tell them not to eat it (yet). | ||
| c) | In their groups they are to compare how the two pieces differ and how they’re similar, looking at colour, composition, thickness, smell, etc. | ||
| d) | They can taste them and continue their evaluation. (“A is much sweeter than B.” etc) | ||
| D | STEP 2 | ORANGES SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Ask the class to describe an orange.
(Elicit colour, taste, its different layers – like having a porous outer skin etc) |
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| b) | Ask them if they were to cut one in half, how many sections would it have?
Would the number be odd (5,7,9) or even (4,6,8)? |
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| c) | Give each group an orange and encourage them to think of what they can say about it (uniformity of colour, is the exterior bumpy or smooth, etc). | ||
| d) | Tell them to cut it open and check their guesses as to how many sections it has. | ||
| e) | They tell you and then continue further analysis, exploring as many ways as possible to describe it. | ||
| D | STEP 3 | LEMONS SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Elicit how oranges are different to lemons. | ||
| b) | Ask the students if lemons have more, fewer or the same number of sections as oranges. Odd or even? | ||
| c) | Give each group a lemon and they find out. | ||
| d) | As before, they continue their descriptive analysis. | ||
| D | STEP 4 | SMALL PIECES SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Give each group samples of small items which you have gathered beforehand.
(see some suggestions in SPECIAL NOTES 2) |
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| b) | They are to guess the identity of what they are, describe them as best they can, and compare some, such as grains of salt vs sugar. | ||
| D | STEP 5 | BIG PIECES SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | As with the previous group, offer a variety of types of food (but noticeably bigger in size). They are invited to taste (and eat), hold, smell, feel, look at and think about as many different characteristics as they can possibly come up with. If there are two flavours of potato chips, for example, can they correctly identify them before tasting? Or after? How are they different? | ||
| b) | Give the students a few minutes to enjoy this phase before you bring it to an end. | ||
| c) | –OPTIONAL—offer them some mints or gum (2 different flavours) before they help you clean up and put the tables and chairs back to their original place. | ||
| D | STEP 6 | QUICK REVIEW SMOOTH n STICKY | |
| a) | Some new vocabulary came up during the explorations (such as ‘crunchy, raw, chewy, or peeling). Briefly quiz the students on anything that you wrote on the board or ask them to describe a green bean as thoroughly as they can. | ||
