Technology and Possibilites

© 2007/2008 Languages Out There and its licensors. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited except as may be provided under the terms of a Licence Agreement. Lesson Plan Level 4 Topic Aim Language Focus Skills Lesson 4 Technology and possibilities To enable students to discuss future possibilities Modals of probability, possibility and certainty Reading, writing speaking, listening Out There – real world Out There – VoIP Take the class to a well-populated area of the town or city, somewhere where people are not in a rush and are easy to approach (i.e. sitting down). Tell students to call conversation partners using VoIP. # Details Task Sheet Minutes 1 2 3 4 5 6 To introduce the aim and task of the day, tell the class about something currently big in the news. Ask students what they think will happen and encourage them to use expressions like ‘I reckon/probably’ or modals of probability (e.g. ‘I reckon the MP3 will be superseded by another form of playing music, as with vinyl records and CD’s.’). Task Sheet 1: In pairs students rearrange the sentences expressing possibility and certainty and go through them. Students check with other pairs and discuss. Check in open class. Hand out Task Sheet 2 and make sure students are clear about the answers/rules. Discuss possibility and certainty and modals of probability and possibility. Students create two sentences each -one expressing probability and one of possibility. Feedback and correction to class. Ask students to change the level of certainty in the sentences by using different modals/adverbs/verbs, e.g. ‘(8) In fifty years time machines will possibly govern our lives’. Alternatively, students make their own examples using the new language. Task Sheet 3: reading. Ask the students to read the text carefully and fill the gaps using the six phrases at the beginning. Discuss some of the ideas in the text. Do they agree with the writer’s opinions about the technological future? Explain the Out There task. Students make questions about the future of the various topics and discuss possible answers. 1 2 3 4 5 15 20 10 15 10 Out There Tasks 7 8 Real world: Students ask members of the public their questions to start conversations. Feedback: Ask how it went. Check the students have completed the task. Ask them to list their favourite new expressions and words of the day. Ask if they feel confident with the language taught and get feedback. VoIP: Students ask conversation partners their questions to start conversations. Feedback: Same as real world when in class, but also think about having students do the task as homework, record it and email it to you as an assessment. 40 45 © 2007/2008 Languages Out There and its licensors. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited except as may be provided under the terms of a Licence Agreement. TD4.04 p1 Task Sheet 1 Possibility and certainty Look at the sentences and try to put the words into the correct order: 1. shopping on people definitely do most will of the internet their 2. will probably videophone have everyone a 3. smaller mobile get and computers will smaller and phones 4. replace money electronic will probably transactions 5. effect on this certainly have an human will interaction 6. and more people will more home work at 7. protect the the the may government individual have to privacy of 8. in machines years time will fifty completely lives govern our Write your answers here: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. © 2007/2008 Languages Out There and its licensors. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited except as may be provided under the terms of a Licence Agreement. TD4.04 p2 Task Sheet 2 Possibility and certainty Look at these sentences. Circle all the words expressing possibility. Then circle all the words expressing certainty: 1. People will definitely do most of their shopping on the internet. 2. Everyone will probably have a videophone. 3. Mobile phones and computers will get smaller and smaller. 4. Electronic transactions will probably replace money. 5. This will certainly have an effect on human interaction. 6. More and more people will work at home. 7. The government may have to protect the privacy of the individual. 8. In fifty years time machines will completely govern our lives. Which of the circled words are modal verbs? And which are adverbs? What is their position in the sentence? Write your changed sentences below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. © 2007/2008 Languages Out There and its licensors. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited except as may be provided under the terms of a Licence Agreement. TD4.04 p3 Task Sheet 3 Fill the gaps in the text using these phrases: • work at home • on the internet • human interaction • smaller and smaller • protect the privacy • replace money What is our society going to look like in fifty years’ time? What with amazing advances in technology and medicine, not to mention the globalisation of trade and information, it seems to me that the world is about to enter a new technological age. I think that the most important scientific advance in our time is the computer. Computers have automated uncountable operations in our daily lives. For example, rather than travelling to the bank, people will do their banking on the internet. Electronic financial transactions will probably __________ __________. I also think that people will definitely do most of their shopping __________ __________. Nowadays you can buy just about anything online, from cars to houses. Also, as a result of the internet’s networking capability, more and more people will __________ __________. Virtual offices are becoming more and more popular, because the absence of a physical office cuts overheads significantly. In addition to this, everyone will probably have a video phone or will use video conferencing over the internet. Mobile phones and computers will also get __________ __________, making them increasingly portable. Furthermore, with the massive increase in online communities and chat software, including MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Skype, people are spending more time at home having virtual relationships online. I believe this will certainly have an effect on __________ __________. The internet is a very open network, which makes it vulnerable to hackers and others who want to invade the privacy of those who use it. In response to this I think that the government may have to __________ __________ of the individual. In order to do this, they will have to monitor the usage of the internet more strictly. I can’t help thinking that in fifty years time machines will completely govern our lives. © 2007/2008 Languages Out There and its licensors. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited except as may be provided under the terms of a Licence Agreement. TD4.04 p4 Out There Task Real world – To start your conversation, first say to people: “Excuse me, I am learning English. Can I ask you some questions please?” If you work in pairs one person should speak while the other writes. Swap roles for the next person you speak to. Talk to at least four people each. VoIP – Call conversation partners and ask them these questions to start a conversation. Remember you can record your conversation to listen to later. internet shopping videophones mobile phones electronic money working from home machines replacing people