Level

Upper Intermediate

Lesson Length

90 minutes To be able to use the past perfect tense when speaking about past events. Subject + had + past participle of main verb (She had got a heart tattooed on her shoulder) At upper intermediate level, students could be revising the past perfect, but it wont be a new structure for them. Students should have a sound knowledge of the present and past tense and be able to use indicative, negative & interrogative verb forms.

Objective
Target Language

Assumed Knowledge Anticipated Problems

Students may come across vocabulary they have not encountered before. Drilling new vocabulary chorally and individually. Checking with concept questions, reinforcing this with a timeline and substitution table. Flash cards and drawings to elicit the context of the story, white board, markers and handouts.

Solutions Preparation and aids

Stage Activity WARMER: Begin with some word associations, (to revise vocabulary).

Interaction Timing

Check homework, first in pairs, then as a class. 1 INTRODUCTION: 2

T-S P-W 5 mins

T-S

5 mins

Elicit from students, does anyone know what a tattoo is? Begin to show students various flash cards of tattoos. Talk about the pictures, ask anyone if they have, or know anyone, who has a tattoo. If so how do they feel about it now?

Put students into pairs and ask the students what they think, are the benefits of tattoos, and also, what they think the S-S negatives are. 3 Elicit the vocabulary from the students, focusing on the key words that will prevent them from understanding the text. PW 2 mins

Then use concept questions for the meaning of the words, for example; horrified. I could write the word on board and ask questions, such as;

Are you happy? Are you nervous? Are you scared?

I could also show pictures of people with scared expression on their face, or mime this expression. This can be applied to other words they dont know. 4 Have students brainstorm words they know, that have a similar meaning to those previously identified. Also, some vocabulary that might be associated with the text. 5 Allow students 2/3 minutes to gist read the text. 6 T-S 5 mins T-S 3 mins T-S 15 mins

Write up on the board some gist questions about the text to give them confidence, such as;

T: Does Sylvie have a tattoo? S: Yes T: Is the speaker talking about an action in the past? S: Yes T: Does Sylvie have a tattoo in her shoulder? S: No T: Does she regret having the tattoo? S: Yes

Put students in pairs and have them compare answers to the S-S gist questions. 7 PRESENTATION: Write target language on the board, I will then elicit the past perfect tense in the sentences from the students. Using lots of examples such as; PW 3 mins

Past Perfect: She had already eaten when I arrived. The painting had been sold twice before it was destroyed. He had been waiting for four hours when he finally arrived. 8 The house had been being painted for over a month before T-S 20 mins

they began to decorate the interior.

I will also draw a time line on the board, like the one below, to further explain these sentences. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A TIME LINE HERE, BUT IT FAILED TO COPY OVER.) PAST before then then now FUTURE

I We You They He She

d

Had
Hadnt

always never been done

I could then write this substitution table on the board to help students identify the past perfect tense in the text. CONTROLLED PRACTICE: Put students into pairs and give them jumbled sentences from the text, have them write out the sentences correctly, using the past perfect tense. From a hand out, or from jumbled sentences on the board. 9 Put students into different pairs, and then get students to compare the sentences they have written. 10 Go round each student, asking them to read out the sentences they have written. 11 PRODUCTION: Put students into pairs; have them read the text again. Then ask them to write more detailed comprehension questions about the text. 12 Have every student read out one of their comprehension questions and ask each other for the answer. 13 T-S 2 mins

S-S PW S-S PW 2 mins 5 mins

S-S PW S-S GW 4 mins 10 mins

Put students into new pairs and ask them to write 2/3 sentences about something they have done, in their own life, S-S with the sentences in the past perfect tense. 14 Have students read out these sentences, then ask each other to read out the next sentence. 15 PW S-S GW 4 mins 4 mins

16

Have students write a summary about their thoughts on the text for homework.

T-S

1 min

20th November 2008New Member04