Unit 9: Target Language (by phase)

Mark's Notes:

phase 1 and phase 2 are fairly similar (no big jumps in grammar structures) here. If you have older students you may find that some of phase 2 target language will be useful and they can handle it. Remember that the phases are simply a guide for building slowly and practicing. Please edit to suit your students needs.

You'll also notice the supplementary materials getting sparse from here on out. That's because I haven't made the videos, listening, ready to print worksheets, pages, etc. yet. However, I want to get the curriculum up and then I'll work towards some of those. You can always make your own worksheets at Tools for Educators, which does have all of these images to use.

Phase 1: I have a specific set for "want to.." and "like to ..." which isn't on MES yet. It's basically just made up of verb sets 1-4. Until I can get the actual set up, you should be able to design a grouping using those. You can make small game cards using the handout maker on Tools for Educators and also make bingo cards with your word groups as well.

I add in bathroom here to continue practice describing a room and objects in that room. It's useful everyday vocabulary and will also be helpful for building some general background vocabulary before we head into daily routines later on. You can also continue to practice "there is/are ..." with you asking questions like "How many mirrors/combs/brushes are there in your bathroom?" or "How many bathrooms/bedrooms are there in your house?"

Pronouns are tough, but up to this point we have covered, "I, you, he, she, it and they." At this point I make sure to stress that English doesn't differentiate between animate and inanimate, nor masculine or feminine for inanimate objects. Most of the students have probably figured that out by this point, but it's good to just have it said. Subject pronouns are a good place to do it.

I like to play a freeze game where some students are performing an action and then I say freeze. They have to stop and you can have other students describe what people are doing. Before I had them describe just on person, but now if some people are doing the same action, we try to use "they" or "you" plural and the people doing the action will also explain what they are doing using "we". Score points, make it a basketball game, baseball game for question practice.

For possessive pronouns, I like to introduce with the flashcards. I start with just those that are the most salient to the group, my, your, his, her, its. I use a set of bag cards and with small groups play bag bingo. I deal out a set of bags to the students, maybe each student has 2-3 bags and I place a boy card, a girl card, and a monkey card down outside the edge of the circle, also with bags. Next, I place another set of bags in the middle of the group and I draw a card, show the card and ask the group "Whose card is this?" I continue like that for a while and then drill the question with them. Later, I start to let them draw cards and they begin to see that what they need to use depends on the reference point, your bag and his bag change depending on who asks the question. Once we've got it under control a bit, we play bingo, drawing the cards and asking "whose bag is this?"

In this unit, I really work with the third person singular. We'll use worksheets and play a variety of guessing games to practice. You can go back to the characteristics set and play a bingo guessing game, but I like the yes/no game and have students draw cards asking "Does he have a pink shirt?". You can also use the Little Town cards or Big Town cards if they're ready for a little reading.

Phase 2: I'll come back to phase 2 and phase 3 once I get all of phase 1 posted.

Phase 2: I'll come back to phase 2 and phase 3 once I get all of phase 1 posted.

Phase 3: I'll come back to phase 2 and phase 3 once I get all of phase 1 posted.

If you'd like to listen to the the curriculum explained, I discussed the curriculum and how it runs on ESL Teacher Talk.com:

The MES curriculum part 1, The MES curriculum part 2, Phonics part 1, Phonics part 2