SECTION A
The beginning of the lesson is a natural
and motivating opportunity for you
to help your students to get used to
listening to English. They can also
learn to give simple replies in English.
The first few minutes of most lessons
follow the same pattern, which means
that you can build up useful language
routines and exchanges. Gradually you
can introduce new language for these
same routines. If students can take
part from the very beginning, it adds
to their confidence and shows them
that the language they are learning
actually works. It is a good idea to
remind students that the phrases they
are hearing and using at the beginning
of the lesson are also useful outside the
classroom.
1 Entering the classroom
Let's go in.
Take offyour coat.
Come in and sit down.
Hurry up now.
2 Everyday greetings
Good morning, everybody.
How ore you all today?
Thats good.
I hopeyou all had a nice weekend.
3 Meeting a new class
Let me introduce myself.
I'm your new English teacher.
Our lessons are on Mondays and
Wednesdays.
It's nice to meetyou all.
4 Taking the register
Let's see if everyone's here.
Who's absent?
Where's Mari this morning?
Who wasn't here last time?
What was the matter?
5 Dealing with lateness
You 're late.
That's all right.
Try not to be late next time..
6 Getting down to work
It's time to start. .
I'm waiting to start.
Putyour things away, please�
Points to think and talk about
1 Think about a typical school class in your country. What usually happens
between the time the bell rings and when you, the teacher, actually start
working with the students? Are you already waiting in t�e classroom when
the students arrive, or standing outside? How long does 1t usually take for
students to settle down? What are you doing during this time?
2 What are the classroom rituals or routines at the beginning of a typical
language lesson in your country? Think about these routine�-how many
of them could be done in English? How could you gradually introduce such
English routines?
3 What kind of topics could you talk about at the beginning of the lesson?
Would it make any difference what day of the week or time of the day your
lesson was? What about the age of the students? ls the length of time you
have been working with the class also important?
4 How would you introduce yourself to a new class? What sort of impression
do you want to make? What sort of classroom culture would you like to
create?
5 How do you address your students? And how do they address you? Could you
change these'rules, for the English class?
6 How do you deal with students who arrive late? Do you expect them to
apologize in English? Is a late arrival an opportunity to develop some useful
language?
7 How could you make it easier to remember the students' names? Do you
know any ice-breaker games or activities?
8 Would you use 'please'when asking or telling a student to do something?
Language to think about
1 How many ways can you think of for saying hello?
2 How else can you ask how are you?
3 Can you introduce yourself in English and say something about yourself?
4 Can you spell your name in English?
5 Can you explain the timetable for your English classes?
6 How do you ca11 the rol I or take the register?
7 What would you say to a student who arrives late?
8 What kind of reasons do students usually have for arriving late? What would
you say if you, the teacher, arrived late?
9 How would you greet a student who has been away for two weeks?
10 What sort of things could you say while you're waiting for the class
to settle down?
Classroom English vocabulary to collect
1 School wear for indoors and outdoors. (For example.jeans, anorak)
2 Special clothes and equipment for sports lessons. (For example, swimsuit,
leotard,footba/1 boots)
Key to symbols:
<Il Idiomatic phrase i=i) Pedagogical pointer
CD. Student reply ® Cross-reference
© Typical mistake <ii) Listen to the CD
l1 Language comment RECORD Record yourself