Lesson
Links - DECEMBER
2003
THE
RULES OF “a” vs. “an”
a is used in front of words that begin with a
consonant;
an is used in front of words that begin with
the vowels a, e, i, and o;
For words that begin with the letter u:
an is used if the u is a vowel sound,
as in umbrella, umpire, uncle;
a is used if the u is a consonant
sound, as in united, uniform.
For words that begin with the letter h:
an is used if the h is silent: an hour, an honor;
a is used if the h is pronounced: a holiday, a happy day, a hummingbird.
Exercise 1.
Show your student a chart of words similar to the one
below. Use as many words as you deem
suitable.
Directions: Write a or an in the blanks.
| ____ chair |
____ union |
____ hole |
____ unhappy person |
| ____ university |
____ apple |
____ honest man |
____ horn |
Exercise 2.
Prepare a set of sentences omitting a or and; ask her/him
to insert a or an where appropriate,
or to indicate by “OK” if neither is correct. (Do not leave
a blank space for a or an.)
Examples:
1. I just finished reading a good book.
2. Is he an honest man?
3. It’s fun refinishing furniture. OK
PUNCTUATION,
AGAIN
Give your student a chance to demonstrate his/her mastery
of punctuation and other grammatical skills. Select a paragraph from a
magazine article or a book and “doctor” it by deleting items
such as initial capital letters, commas, periods, quotation marks, etc.,
leaving some sentences unchanged. For an advanced student, you might make
changes in syntax to further test your student’s skills.
The passage(s) you select should be chosen with the student’s
instructional level in mind.
GROUP
PROBLEM-SOLVING (ESOL)
This works better with small groups of students. In a
group of four or five, present the group with a health problem situation.
Ask them to discuss:
o Possible outcomes of the situation.
o Possible actions in response to or treatment of the problem.
o Precautions one could take to avoid the problem in the future.
Some situations you could pose:
o You have been stung by a wasp.
o You have stumbled, with bare legs, into a patch of poison ivy.
o You haven’t used your sunscreen and you have fallen asleep at
the beach.
NOT
QUITE AN IDIOM: FIXED EXPRESSIONS
What is a fixed expression? Like idioms, these expressions
are a way of making statements more vivid or emphatic. You will understand
the whole expression if know the meaning of the parts.
Exercise 1.
Ask your student to read and explain each of the following
fixed expressions.
You won’t believe your eyes! |
_____________________ |
(Dramatizing an occurrence) |
I have a ton of pictures
of it. |
_____________________ |
(Exaggerating an amount) |
I’m not crazy about his music. |
_____________________ |
(Emotional emphasis) |
He was at death’s door. |
_____________________ |
|
What he said freaked me out. |
_____________________ |
|
| Etc. |
|
|
Exercise 2.
Show your student reading material that contains one or
more fixed expressions and ask her/him what
they mean.
(Note: An excellent source for teaching idioms and fixed
expressions is Can You Believe It?, by Jann Huizenga. It’s
available at the LV office in New Haven.)
READING
THE ADS
Show this or a similar chart to your student. Ask your
student questions based on price comparisons, or other issues related
to health, nutrition, etc. The same kind of chart can be applied to clothing
shopping or for any other items.
| SUPERFOOD |
SHOPSMART |
MARKET 1 |
| FreshSkweez Orange juice, .5 gal $1.99 |
FreshSkweez Orange juice, .5 gal $2.10 |
OurOwn Orange Juice, 1 gal $3.49 |
| Baker’s Best bread, $1.50 loaf |
Baker’s Best bread, $1.50 loaf |
Baker’s Best bread, $1.50 loaf |
| Strawberries, 2 qts, $4.25 |
Strawberries, 1 pt $1.99 |
Strawberries, 1 lb $2.49 |
| A-1 Chicken broth, 24 oz, $1.49 |
A-1 Chicken broth, 16 oz, 2/$2.40 |
A-1 Chicken broth, 18 oz, 2/$3.00 |
| Corn flakes, 12 oz, $1.15 |
Frosted flakes, 15 oz, 2/$3.00 |
Corn flakes, 20 oz, 2/$3.49 |
| Maxwell House reg, 13 oz, $1.99 |
Shopsmart coffee, reg, 13 oz, 2/$4 |
Market 1 coffee, reg, 13 oz, $1.79 |
| Milk, no fat, .5 gal, $2.25 |
Milk, 2% fat, .5gal, $1.85 |
Milk, whole, .5 gal, 1.69 |
1. Which market has the best price for Chicken broth?
2. Which market has the best price for the whole “shopping basket?”
3. At which market would you buy milk? Why?
4. At which market would you buy coffee? Why?
5. etc.
(Note: This kind of exercise can be done using the shopping
flyer(s) of your local supermarkets.)
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