Nancy Cervantes Tinoco

Activity 5: Unit of work

 e s & C h a n g e s
Ex p e r i e n c
Objective: At the end of this unit, you will learn how to express
activities from the past that have changed and that have made an
impact on you on the present.

LESSON A:
From past to present

LESSON B:
Everyday situations

LESSON C:
Unusual experiences
 Lesson A
Objective: At the end of this lesson you will talk about the changes you have experienced in
you life.

Rose is getting ready to go away on a trip. She has to do different things to do before she leaves at 7 o'clock.
It is now 7 pm. Look at pictures A and B and circle the things she has managed to do since 2 pm in picture B.

the shoes are dirty the shoes are clean

her hair is long her hair is short
the window is open the window is closed
the computer screen is on the computer screen is off
there is a full cake the cake has a couple of pieces missing
her dirty car is outside the window her car is clean
the suitcase is open and empty the suitcase is still empty
a notepad on the desk is blank a notepad on the desk with a message

Task 1
Find the differences
A. Find the differences in the pictures A and B above.
B. Look again at Picture B. Match the two parts of each of the sentences below.

a. She has cleaned her computer

b. She has cut a note to Thanos
c. She hasn't packed her car
d. She has eaten her suitcase yet
e. She has turned off her shoes
f. She hasn't closed her hair
g. She has written some cake
h. She has washed the window yet
Task 2
How have you changed in the last five years?
A. Check (✔) the statements that are true for you. If a statement isn't true, give the correct information.

I dress differently now.

I've changed my hairstyle.

I've made some new friends.

I got a pet.

I've joined a gym.

I moved into my own apartment.

I'm more outgoing than before.

I'm not in high school anymore.

My life is easier now.

I am in a relationship.

B. PAIR WORK Compare your responses in part A. Have you changed in similar ways?

Task 3
Online photo albums
Madison and Zachary are looking through online photo albums. Listen to their conversation. How have they
changed? Write down three changes.
Task 4
Changes
A.Complete the word map with phrase from the list. Then add two more examples to each category.

Appearance School
dye my hair

fail a subject

have an good score in the test

participate in class

grow a beard

improve my English vocabulary

learn a new sport

learn how to dance

Skills
be absent

pierce my ears
Changes
start a new online course

wear contact lenses

PAIR WORK
Have you changed in any of these areas? Tell your partner about a change in each category.

A: I've improved my English vocabulary a lot. I always watch movies with English subtitles now.
B: I've participated more in class. I need extra credit to pass the class.

Task 5
Class activity
A. Go around the class and find this information. Write a classmate's name only once. Ask follow-up questions.

Find someone who... Name

1. doesn't wear glasses anymore
2. goes out more often these days
3. got his or her hair cut last month
4. got married last year
5. has changed schools recently
6. has gotten a part-time job recently
7. has started a new hobby
8. is happier these days

B. Compare the information, Who in the class has changed the most?
 Lesson B
Objective: At the end of this lesson you will talk about situations that have happened to you.

Have You Ever Been Locked Out?

Terri and Brad McDonald have a Sunday section in the local newspaper of the Bay Area in California. They usually
ask questions to the readers about different situations to know what people think or feel about them.
Last week, they asked their audience to answer the following question: "Have you ever been locked out?" "Was this
an embarrassing situation?" Let's see what some of their readers answered to the question.
Dear Terri and Brad,

My husband lost all the keys to our house so we had all the locks
changed. The next day we went out took the new keys only to leave one
of the essential keys inside the house. When we came home obviously
we were unable to get back in. Luckily, we had left the tiny bathroom
window open. I couldn't fit so sent my five-year-old son through to
unlock the back door. He thought breaking into a house was great fun
and now wants to do it all the time, and told it for his news at school the
next day. The teacher sent me a message telling me that I needed to take
my son to a psychologist because he told her he wants to break into
houses for a job as he is very good at it! How embarrassing!

Melanie Harris, Fairfield, CA

Dear Terri and Brad,

I get locked out all the time. The worse time was at a surf camp at Manly beach. I surfed my heat and
came back to my van and discovered I had locked the keys inside. Because I do this regularly, I normally
have a spare key hidden under it, but I didn't replace it from the last time I locked myself out.

So, I'm dripping wet in a wetsuit with a few hundred people walking past watching me try to break into
my van with the radio antenna had snapped off...

The funny part of the story: I'm a locksmith and it says so in very large letters all over my van.I got in of
course (after a while), and I like to think that I made a few people's day a little bit happier that day.

Still, it has been one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

Brian, Calistoga, CA

Dear Terri and Brad,

Well, I am a locksmith (and yes I have been locked out, but that is way too embarrassing to post here...)
but I once went out to a "lock-out" where the lady had locked the keys in her car. She was working and
could not come out and was unsure of her number plate, but described her car clearly to me on the
phone.

turned up to the parking lot, looking for a white Volvo with a blue stripe and a fluffy steering wheel
cover. Found it easily. Opened the car and started looking around inside for the keys when the owner of
the car (not the lady I spoke to!) turned up and accused me of trying to steal her car!!! A few rows over
was the car I was supposed to open... ooops!! It was very embarrassing, but fortunately after I explained
to her and the policeman, she understood and dropped the charges.

Cheers,
Kris, Modesto, CA
Task 1
Discussion
Talk with a partner. Ask and answer the following questions. Talk about your own experience.
1. Have you ever been locked out? If you have, tell your partner about it.
2. Go round the class and ask the students questions to find someone who… Write the student's name in the space
provided.
Name Yes, I already have. No, I haven't yet.
1.has spilled food or a drink on somebody? _____________ _____________ _____________
2.has laughed at the wrong time? _____________ _____________ _____________
3.has bumped into something in the street? _____________ _____________ _____________
4.has broken something in a public place? _____________ _____________ _____________
5.has worn a piece of clothing inside out? _____________ _____________ _____________
6. has been caught skipping school? _____________ _____________ _____________
7. has fallen sleep in the cinema? _____________ _____________ _____________
8. has lied to a teacher? _____________ _____________ _____________

Task 2
Embarassing Situations
Has the following situations happened to you?
Look at the picture and write if you have already experienced the situation or you have not yet. Write down
sentences using the information.
fall down bump into spill talk arrive wear break laugh

your clothes inside out

late for class
in the street
at the wrong time
to the wrong person at a party
your drink on someone
someone in the street
something expensive in a store
Task 3
A. Listen (1). Listen to three people talk about things they have done. Match the people and the main
topic they talk about. There are three extra.

1.Albert ________ a. a job d. a hobby

2. Reny ________ b. vacations e. a movie on TV

3. Melissa ________ c. a sport f. an accident

B. Listen again. What did each person just do? Write a sentence.

Task 4
Daily Experiences
Use the verbs in the note on the fridge door and write about things that you have already done or haven't
done yet today.
Examples:
I have already eaten lunch.
I haven't eaten lunch yet. It's only 11 am.
Sleep early
1.
Take a shower
2.
Have breakfast/lunch/dinner
3.
do homework
4. Start the project
5. Send a message

6. Listen to music

7.
Watch a movie
Read a book
8.
Study for an exam
9.
Go shopping
10.

Task 5
An Embarassing Experiences

Go to an adult and ask them to tell you about an embarassing experienced that they had and made an
impact in them. Report the experience in writing and share it with your classmates.
 Lesson C
Objective: At the end of this lesson you will write about activities that you have experienced
during a journey.

Task 1
A Look at the photographs. Which trip would you like to take? Tell the class. Then read the two biogs. Which
blogger had the worst problems?

Pair work Read the biogs again. Are the sentences true or false? Write Tor F
Guatemala is exactly what Jake expected. _____ She and her friends have finished sightseeing _____
The weather has been bad for his entire trip. _____ Chloe enjoyed Carnival. _____
He had problems with his tent one night. _____ She would like to spend more time in Brazil _____
Task 2
A. Listen (2.)Listen to Suzanne's friends talk about her trip to New Zealand. Check( ) the things
Suzanne has done.

B. Listen again. Answer the questions.

1. How does Suzanne's friend know about her trip?
2. Does Suzanne like to try new things?
3. What family does Suzanne have in New Zealand? Did she meet them on her trip?
4. What are Suzanne's photos like? Why are her friends surprised?
5. Have Suzanne's friends traveled a lot?

Task 3
Write a blog
A. Read the excerpt from a blog below.

B. Write a blog entry about an exciting experience you've had. Do you have a photo to add to the blog?

C. Take turns reading your classmates' biogs. Discuss who has ...
had the most exciting experience.
done something you'd love to do.
been somewhere you'd love to go.
 EVALUATION
Needs Improvement 2 Lack Competence 1

Competent 4 points Satisfactory 3 points
points point
Student pauses unnecessarily
Student is fluent most of the
Student is fluent throughout during the oral presentation Student is not fluent most
Fluency time during the oral
the oral presentation. or has verbal interruptions of the time
presentation.
(eh, uh, words in Spanish)
Student mispronounces
Student pronounces correctly Student has few Student mispronounces
words many times,
Pronunciation most of the time and errors pronunciation errors that several words that affect the
affecting the meaning of
don't affect message. don't affect meaning. message.
what is being said
Student makes many
Student uses language and Student uses language and Student makes several
language mistakes and/or
Use of language vocabulary appropriately and vocabulary appropriately and language mistakes or uses
doesn't use appropriate
correctly most of the time. correctly with few errors. vocabulary inappropriately
vocabulary
Student presents in an Presentation lacks
Student presents in an Student does not present in
organized manner most of organization and other
Overall organized manner, uses visual organized manner and/or
the time, uses visual aids and presentation skills (body
presentation skills aids and appropriate body a fairly appropiate body
doesn't use visual aids nor
language) and/or didn't
language. body language appropriate
language. use any visual aids.
Description of the student's Description of the student's Description of the student's Description of the student's
profile and of other three profile or of one of the other profile and of two of the other profile and of the other
Message
persons are interesting, three persons are incomplete three persons are incomplete three persons are
complete and clear. or unclear. or unclear. incomplete or unclear.

Learning Log
A learning lng sa space where you can record details about your learning process. This reflection can help you plan
a strategy in order to improve your learning and your grades. Continue doing what you feel is helping you learn,
and check with your teacher those concepts that you haven understood well.
What did I learn this block?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
How did learnt?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
What do I need to review? (didn't leam or didn't learn well)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do I need to do to learn this material well?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What will I do to improve my learning? (three concrete actions)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
 EVALUATION
Party work evaluation- Coevaluation
Honestly evaluate your classmate's work and attitude. Use the following format.

Name of evaluator: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Person who is being evaluated: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Always Most of the time Sometimes Rarely

My classmate showed interest in our assignment.

My classmate worked in our assignment.
My classmate showed a positive attitude towards learning.
My classmate helped me learn.
My classmate shared his/her ideas.
 Annex
Audio
Listen (1) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vdYAgfa4JKNj2QcgHXoJBLttTMa6zoOI/view?usp=sharing
Listen (2) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nJv_-pypeT95RP-zwSO-Se6caW2tpxC7/view?usp=sharing
Behind the scenes
I work in a public high school in the State of Mexico. My have teenager students in groups that are made
up of about forty-five to fifty-five students per group. I have considered the characteristics of my
students to design the unit. I chose the topic changes and experiences as it is a topic that I work every
year with my students, and I have been working diffent strategies for them to get motivated, and willing
to participate, however the grammar structures become more important to students than the
communicative purpose. I want students to become aware of their L2 vocabulary and grammar needs to
communicate meaningfully and not that the important aspect of the language is only grammar.

While doing this activity I kept in mind the same subject as in the past assignments, I tried to apply the
same grammar topic but into different approaches. During the design of this activity I can surely say that
it was a hard task, before I started to design look into the different books I have used thought out my
teaching career, looking into the grammar point, present perfect, in order to take ideas of these to help
me design my unit; however a complication came into play, all books I have used are based on a
grammar approach.

I observed that though some books worked with a "communicative approach" or a "task-based
approach" the books ended up giving more emphasis to the use of the proper grammar use in order to
express correctly or get a message through correctly rather than giving the student the opportunity to
explore around the topic and be aware of the vocabulary and structures needed to communicate as
accurately as possible.

After I became aware the activity became challenging. As I was planning the unit, the tasks, the material,
it seemed as I went back to the grammar point, there was the need of going back to my comfort zone.
Moreover, through the design it was complicated to think about what type of activities could be
meaningful to my students, as many of the topics in the books were not related to their context, either by
age or by economic status, so I tried to modified them to fit their context and make them feel attracted
to expressing their thoughts eagerly or to participate during the class.

It was a great course. I have created material or modified materials for my classes’ needs, however I
have never thought of making material without the grammar point being the main purpose of
communicating correctly.
References
Universidad IEXPRO. (n.d.). From Tasks to Units of Work (pp 44-49).

5.1 UNIT 5. Change and experience. Everyday experiences. (n.d.). Διαδραστικά Σχολικά
Βιβλία - Αρχική σελίδα. https://ebooks.edu.gr/ebooks/v/html/8547/2302/Agglika_B-
Gymnasiou-Arch_html-empl/index5_1.html

McCarthy, M., McCarten, J., & Sandiford, H. (2014). Touchstone level 3 student's book
(2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.