one good lesson (so far) 58.75

Words 173

            I don’t understand it.  Why have I achieved three records in less than two weeks?   I was not running slowly before.  I think now I have it in my head that I can run faster.  During this run, I felt like I might start thinking of my legs as if they had cement in them. 

That has been in my mind before.  This time, I forced that thought and the feeling out of my head and kept running on my toes.  I know I use ‘amazed’ quite often.  I was flabbergasted.  I was totally excited on the 27^th when I broke the record for the first time in several months.  Then, when I broke a minute, I was extra-thrilled.  Now, after I’ve taken another second off my best time, it’s like ‘whatever’.  I’m not even going to type it in red.

            Maybe this is because last night, I taught the best lesson, the first truly good lesson of my CELTA experience.  It has been grueling, but last night, it all fell together. 

What follows is not the lesson plan, but the research that does WITH the lesson plan so that we will be prepared:

CELTA TP LESSON PLAN: LANGUAGE ANALYSIS

NAME:  James                                              TP:  6

LEXIS

LEXICAL SET (i.e. what topic is the lexis you’re teaching related to? E.g. crime, transport etc) Lexis consisting of adverbs of manner.

MEANING, FORM AND PRONUNCIATION OF LEXICAL ITEMS (4 or 5 items max.) (write down the word, showing the part of speech, word stress and the meaning of that word)          • 1.  reluctantly  (adv.) - /rɪ’lʌktəntlɪ/ - to do something unwillingly, without eagerness, no excitement for doing something           • 2.  deliberately  (adv.) - /dɪ’lɪbərɪtlɪ/ - to plan to do something, to do something on purpose               • 3.  accidentally  (adv.) - /æksɪ’dentəlɪ/  -  do something by mistake, you didn’t want to do it        • 4.  furiously  (adv.) - /’fjʊərɪəslɪ/ -  do something with great anger                 •    5.  enthusiastically  (adv.) - /ɪn,θju:zɪ’æstəkalɪ/ - to want badly to do something, with great eagerness

WRITTEN RECORD (i.e. how will you give the learners the written record for these lexical items? Through a matching task / boardwork etc) I will write these words on the board and mark their stress.          • 1.  reluctantly  (adv.) - /rɪ’lʌktəntlɪ/           • 2.  deliberately  (adv.) - /dɪ’lɪbərɪtlɪ/               • 3.  accidentally  (adv.) - /æksɪ’dentəlɪ/         • 4.  furiously  (adv.) - /’fjʊərɪəslɪ/                 •    5.  enthusiastically  (adv.) - /ɪn,θju:zɪ’æstəkəlɪ/

REFERENCE MATERIAL USED ( i.e. state the dictionary you looked the target language up in) The Collins Paperback English Dictionary, 1988.

ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: LEXIS (What problems of M, F and P might Ss have with the previously analysed language? List and explain these problems and include details of a solution) MEANING Problem:  The words listed above all appear in the text Ss will meet in the lesson.  They will be encouraged to use them in their writings.  Ss may not be clear on their meanings. Solution:  I will elicit the words and use CCQ to confirm the meaning. 1. reluctantly  If we have to do something that we don’t want to do, how do we do it?  We do it reluctantly.  Are we excited to do something reluctantly? N           • 2.  deliberately  -  If we do something carefully and on purpose, how do we do it?  We do it deliberately.   I want to chop a tree down, so I do it.  I do it deliberately.  Did I plan to do it? Y               • 3.  accidentally   - If we do something by mistake, how do we do it?  We do it accidentally.  Do you WANT to do something accidentally? N        • 4.  furiously   - If we do something with great anger, when we are mad, how do we do it?  We do it furiously.  Are you mad when you do something furiously? Y                 •    5.  enthusiastically -  If we do something with great eagerness, something we really WANT to do, how do we do it?   We do it enthusiastically. Do you really WANT to do something enthusiastically? Y

FORM Problem 1:  Ss need to understand that these are all adverbs, and that they have a common ending. Solution 1:  I will ask CCQs:  What do these words do?  (tell how we do something)  Do they tell more information about nouns?  Or verbs? (verbs)  These words tell HOW we do something.  What is common about the spelling of these words?  (end in –ly) Problem 2:  The students may have trouble understanding the reason that adverbs are placed in different positions of the sentence.  Some adverbs modify, or describe, the verb and some the whole sentence. Solution 2:  I will examine each of the sentences that they have on the paper in front of them. Some adverbs are placed immediately before the verb because they modify the verb: 1. He would carefully choose tea bowls and pots and so on. – modifies the verb 4. Rikyu had deliberately cut down all the flowers! - modifies the verb Some adverbs that modify the verb are placed at the end of a clause: 3. He asked Rikyu to hold a tea ceremony, and Rikyu agreed reluctantly. - modifies the verb 5. Rikyu was just sitting there calmly, waiting to make tea for him. - modifies the verb   Other adverbs modify the whole sentence: 2.  Suddenly, he noticed that Rikyu’s garden was full of these fantastic flowers. - modifies the whole sentence. The adverb refers to the whole sentence because there's a comma. For comparison: He suddenly noticed that... 'Unfortunately' and 'fortunately' are also examples of adverbs that modify the whole sentence.

PRONUNCIATION Problem 1:  The words are quite long so the students are very likely to have problems with the stress. Solution 1: drill. Problem 2:  Some adverbs have very short syllables:           In 'deliberately' there's a very short syllable after the b /dɪ’lɪbərɪtlɪ/.          ‘accidentally’ has a short syllable before the final /lɪ/.          ‘enthusiastically’ /ɪn,θju:zɪ’æstəkəlɪ/  the final /ə/ is nearly silent. Solution 2: drill. Problem 3:  Ss may not be familiar with the intonation that is given to enhance meaning with these adverbs. Solution 3:  I will point out the sentence stress and we will drill the sentences.                                       •                         •                           •             1.     He would carefully choose tea bowls and pots and so on.        •                       •                                        •                     •                          •                 •    2.     Suddenly, he noticed that Rikyu’s garden was full of these fantastic flowers.                      •               •          •               •                       •             •            • 3.     He asked Rikyu to hold a tea ceremony, and Rikyu agreed reluctantly.    •                        •                           •         •                • 4.     Rikyu had deliberately cut down all the flowers!      •                          •                         •                •                 •          • 5.     Rikyu was just sitting there calmly, waiting to make tea for him.

‘Grammar for English Language Teachers’, Martin Parrot, CUP, 2000 pp. 31-34, 280-282.