CLASS BEGINNING CEREMONY

STEP 1. WATCH THE INTRO VIDEO FROM OUR LOVELY TEACHER!!!

 CLASS BEGINNING CEREMONY

STEP 2. PAIR INTRODUCTION

Work in pairs and ask your partner about the following

details
Name
Age
Job
Hometown
Hobby
Personal interests
What he/she has done today
How he/she feel today
 CLASS BEGINNING CEREMONY

STEP 3. COMMITMENTS

Read outloud all the commitments:

 Today, I will concentrate 100% on my lesson
 Today, I will have fun and laugh a lot
 Today, I will take in as many vocabulary as possible
 After today, I will do my assignment
 CLASS RULE

 USE ENGLISH ONLY

 PRACTICE SPEAKING UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
THE TEACHER
 REFRAIN FROM DOING PERSONAL TASKS IN OUR
CLASS
 HAVE FUN AND LAUGH
 LESSON INTRODUCTION
STEP 1. PAIR PRACTICE WITH PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS

1. Have you ever had a pet? What did you name them?
2. Do you know any other kinds of pet?
3. Do you like dogs or cats?
4. Keeping a cat and keeping a dog, which is more
difficult?
5. Can you describe a pet dog (cat) that you love very
much?
6. What do you think are the roles of pets in our lives?
7. Can you keep a pet in your house?
 MAIN POINTS AND KEYWORDS
STEP 1. MAIN QUESTIONS / ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION
What is a pet? The characteristics of each pet
The role of pets in our lives. Do you think we need pets?
The benefits of having a pet dog
The disadvantages and difficulties when having a pet dog
The benefits of having a pet cat
The disadvantages and difficulties when having a pet cat
Which species can also be pet?
Some people say it’s better to keep expensive breeds of
dogs like Golden Retriever, Husky, Big Ass Corgi compared
to normal Vietnamese breed. Do you agree or disagree?
Is it more difficult to raise a pet in Vietnam compared to
other countries?
Why do people say “Dogs are human’s best friends”?
 MAIN POINTS AND KEYWORDS
STEP 1. KEYWORDS FOR TODAY

PET DOG / PET CAT

LOYALTY

COMPANIONSHIP

CHARACTERISTICS

CUTENESS
 RELATED READING 1
READING 1. The important role pets have in society
A pet is a domesticated animal that lives with people, but is not forced to work and is not eaten, in most
instances. In most cases, a pet is kept to entertain people or for companionship. Some pets such as dogs and cats
are placed in an animal shelter if there is no one willing to take care of it.
The latest figures show that 80 million European households have a pet. As this figure grows, so does their role
in people’s lives. Pets provide companionship, affection and protection and unique bonds are formed with
owners.
In addition to being a source of love and friendship, there have been numerous scientific studies analyzing the
many ways in which pets are good for our health.
One of the more obvious health benefits of owning a pet is that of exercise - dog walking or playing with a cat is
a great way for people to burn a few more calories. Other pets such as rabbits, birds and fish, all have their part
to play.
Contact with animals can give confidence and bring real physical and psychological benefits: reducing stress,
helping to prevent illness and allergies, lowering blood pressure, aiding recovery and boosting chances of
survival after a life-threatening illness. In today's high-pressure society, the presence of pets helps many humans
cope with increasing stress and anxiety.
For more information on these benefits please look in the menu where we have looked at the physical, social and
emotional benefits and also at specific health benefits.
 RELATED READING 1
Physical, social and emotional benefits
In addition to encouraging us to get outside and be more active through play, pets play a key role in every stage
of human development.
For the child, pets encourage a sense of responsibility, care and communication. There is clear scientific
evidence that children growing up with a pet have a greater respect for all living things. Pets also provide
children with unconditional love and this relationship provides friendship and instils confidence.
For adults, the pet takes on new roles - providing companionship for those living alone; encouraging owners to
socialise when out walking. The benefits of pet ownership to the elderly are enormous.
People with psychological illnesses are also often happier as a result of looking after a pet. Psychiatrists
willingly prescribe the adoption of a pet to combat depression, inactivity, neurosis and stress.
 RELATED READING 1
Health benefits
BEATING STRESS
As we know, the presence of a pet can make a happier household. It therefore makes perfect sense that research
proves pet interaction can lead to a reduction in stress, a decrease in blood pressure and the lowering of anxiety
levels. Scientific studies have shown that the chances of recovery among pet owning heart patients are higher
than among non-owners.
PREVENTING AND OVERCOMING HEART DISEASE
One study showed that keeping a pet significantly reduced levels of cholesterol and blood triglyceride (two risk
factors for heart disease). These effects could not be explained by differences in diet, smoking or socio-economic
classes. This fact, combined with the reduction in blood pressure from being with a pet, may make pet owners
less prone to heart attacks than non-pet owners. Pet ownership proved to be one of the best predictors of survival
from a heart attack, according to an American study. The study showed that pet owners were found to have a far
greater chance of surviving a heart attack.
PETS AS THERAPY
Pet animals are used for therapeutic reasons in hospitals and nursing homes where the benefits are increasingly
being recognised. Patients have something to look forward to and talk about after a pet visit. Although some of
these values have been suggested since the eighteenth century, the use of animals in hospital wards is not yet
common in Europe. In the United States, more than half of all nursing homes, clinics and hospitals use animals
in a therapeutic capacity.
 RELATED READING 1
Health benefits
COMBATTING ALLERGIES
A wealth of research now shows the benefits of pet interaction to help prevent asthma and other allergies. For
example, exposure to a dog in the first year of life was linked to a 13% lower risk of asthma in later childhood
among a study of 650,000 children (Early Exposure to Dogs and Childhood Ashtma, JAMA Pediatrics,
November 2015).
 RELATED READING 2
READING 2. The importance of pets
 RELATED READING 2
Issue
Pets are part of our everyday lives and part of our families. They provide us with companionship but also with
emotional support, reduce our stress levels, sense of loneliness and help us to increase our social activities and
add to a child’s confidence and positive emotional development.
In return, as responsible pet owners we need to ensure that our animals are kept healthy, fit, get nutritious food,
love and affection and proper housing and care. Pets help out in many societal ways as well, especially dogs.
Their sense of smell and the fact they can be easily trained have led to dogs being used to help people in an
extraordinarily diverse range of activities: therapy dogs are taken to nursing homes, hospitals, care centres for
the disabled to engage with patients to help their quality of life by making them more sociable and encourage
interaction and activities. Rescue dogs have been trained to take on a number of tasks in searching for survivors
after natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, avalanches, etc. They assist firemen and policemen in
tracking people and they rescue thousands of people across the world every year. Medical alert and detection
dogs help in detecting cancer, but also have been trained to help people with severe forms of Diabetes,
Narcolepsy, Addison’s Disease, and Epilepsy to ensure they get medical attention when necessary. These dogs
save people’s lives on a daily basis. And then there are the assistance dogs we see regularly when we are out and
about: they are trained to help physically impaired people (the disabled, blind and deaf people) in their everyday
needs and perform a number of tasks to facilitate people’s lives from opening and closing doors to helping
people undress, to emptying washing machines. More and more people have pets who share our homes and daily
lives. Like us, our pets live longer as well. We need new and improved ways to care for them as our pets are
living longer than in the past.
 RELATED READING 2

HELP FOR THE DISABLED

For some, the presence of a pet has even more meaning. With training, pets can help their owners to lead a more
normal life, as with the case of guide dogs. For those hard of hearing there is specialised assistance available
from "hearing dogs" which are trained to react to specific noises (e.g. doorbell, fire alarm and telephone) and
draw their owner's attention to them. The best thing assistance dogs can provide, in addition to real help and
companionship, is a large measure of independence.
 RELATED READING 3
READING 3. The importance of pets
 RELATED READING 3

Animals play an important role in many people’s lives. In addition to seeing-eye dogs and dogs that can be
trained to detect seizures, animals can also be used in occupational therapy, speech therapy, or physical
rehabilitation to help patients recover. Aside from these designated therapeutic roles, animals are also valued as
companions, which can certainly affect the quality of our lives. Is that companionship beneficial to our health?
The better we understand the human-animal bond, the more we can use it to improve people’s lives. This article
summarizes what is known and not known about how animals help improve the health and well-being of people,
and what the implications might be for helping people who don’t have pets of their own.
Over 71 million American households (62%) have a pet, and most people think of their pets as members of the
family. Some research studies have found that people who have a pet have healthier hearts, stay home sick less
often, make fewer visits to the doctor, get more exercise, and are less depressed. Pets may also have a significant
impact on allergies, asthma, social support, and social interactions with other people.
 RELATED READING 3
Impact on Physical Health
Companion animals may improve heart health by lowering blood pressure and regulating the heart rate during
stressful situations. In a 2002 study, researchers measured changes in heart rate and blood pressure among
people who had a dog or cat, compared to those who did not, when participants were under stress (performing a
timed math task). People with a dog or cat had lower resting heart rates and blood pressure measures at the
beginning of the experiment than non-pet owners. People with a dog or cat were also less likely to have spikes in
heart rates and blood pressure while performing the math task, and their heart rates and blood pressure returned
to normal more quickly. They also made fewer errors in their math when their pet was present in the room. All
these findings indicated that having a dog or cat lowered the risk of heart disease, as well as lowering stress so
that performance improved.
A similar study found that having your dog in the room lowered blood pressure better than taking a popular type
of blood pressure medication (ACE inhibitor) when you are under stress. Other research has indicated that the
simple act of stroking a pet can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
Children’s exposure to companion animals may also ease anxiety. For example, one study measured blood
pressure, heart rate, and behavioral distress in healthy children aged 3 to 6 at two different doctor visits for
routine physicals. At one visit, a dog (unrelated to the child) was present in the room and at the other visit the
dog was absent. When the dog was present, children had lower blood pressure measures, lower heart rates, and
less behavioral distress. 
 RELATED READING 3
However, research on the health benefits of child and animal interaction is still limited. Further research is
needed on how pets influence child development and specific health outcomes.
Findings suggest that the social support a pet provides can make a person feel more relaxed and decrease stress.
Social support from friends and family can have similar benefits, but interpersonal relationships often cause
stress as well, whereas pets may be less likely to cause stress. The social support provided by a pet might also
encourage more social interactions with people, reducing feelings of isolation or loneliness. For example,
walking with a dog has been found to increase social interaction, especially with strangers, compared to walking
without a dog.
Among elderly people, pet ownership might also be an important source of social support that enhances well-
being. In one study, elderly individuals that had a dog or cat were better able to perform certain physical
activities deemed “activities of daily living,” such as the ability to climb stairs; bend, kneel, take medication;
prepare meals; and bathe and dress oneself. There were not significant differences between dog and cat owners
in their abilities to perform these activities. Neither the length of time of having a dog or cat nor the level of
attachment to the animal influenced performance abilities. Companion animals did not seem to have an impact
on psychological health but researchers suggested that a care-taking role may give older individuals a sense of
responsibility and purpose that contributes to their overall well-being.
 RELATED READING 3
A large German study collected pet information (dog, cat, horse, fish, bird or other pet ownership) from over
9,000 people at two different times (1996 and 2001). The survey included a number of health, economic, and
labor issues, so that respondents would not realize the researchers’ interest in a link between pets and health.
Researchers found that people who said they had a pet in both 1996 and 2001 had the fewest doctor visits,
followed by people who had acquired a pet by 2001; the group of people who did not have a pet at either time
had the highest number of doctor visits. Similarly, a study of women in China found that those who were dog
owners had fewer doctor visits, took fewer days off sick from work, and exercised more often than non-dog
owners.
 RELATED VIDEOS

STEP 2. WATCH VIDEO(S) ABOUT THE TOPIC AND LEARN VOCABULARY

Talking About Pets - English Video

Conversation 3:39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxuFtvXFDyM
 RELATED VIDEOS

STEP 2. WATCH VIDEO(S) ABOUT THE TOPIC AND LEARN VOCABULARY

Why Animals Are Important For Us? 6:04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcQWk1dHzk

 PRACTICE ANSWERING AND
TALKING ABOUT KEY POINTS

Our teacher will try to give answers based on the readings then the students will practice in pairs

What is a pet? The characteristics of each pet

The role of pets in our lives. Do you think we need pets?
The benefits of having a pet dog
 ROLE PLAY / TEMPLATE
CONVERSATION
Talk with your friend about his / her pet
A: Hey, I see you walking your dog, he’s so cute
B: Ya, we have kept him for almost 3 years
B: Ya, we have kept him for almost 3 years
A: He’s so big! What breed is he?
B: It’s Alaska. Wow, he eats a lot everyday! I have
to feed him 4 to 5 meals a day. Can you believe
it? But we are currently no children so I think I
can afford it.
A: Wow, that’s amazing! Do you take him out for
a walk every morning?
B: Yes, He demands to go out everyday. He can’t
stand staying in the house all day long.
A: Do you enjoy having him around?
B: Of course. He’s very lovely and loyal. Every
one in my family loves him. He keeps me
company and comforts me whenever I have
something unpleasant
 CLASS ENDING CEREMONY

Step 1: Let’s wrap up what we have learned so far

Step 2: Let’s do our assignments after class

Now say with me: (Let students say out loud)

+ Today I'm so proud of myself
+ Today I studied with 100% concentration
+ I will do my assignment after this lesson