Sights and sounds of winter by Marusya Price

The Little

Snowman Lesson plan for young learners www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2020

Teacher’s notes Step 1 Discussion Show the picture from page 5 and then ask the students the following questions: 1. What are the kids doing? 2. Have you ever made a snowman? 3. What do we need to build a snowman? Step 2 Visualising Tell the students that you´ll give them the chance to create their own snowman now. Ask them to sit comfortably, relax and close their eyes. If you have not done a visualisation with your students before, please, make sure that all the mobile devices have been switched off and everyone is sitting comfortably. If you have the chance, you can all sit on the floor or rearrange the chairs for this activity. Here´s a link to the visualisation here Step 3 After the visualisation, ask the students to draw a picture of the snowman they envisioned during the visualisation. Tell them to include as many details as possible. Step 4 Put the students in pairs and ask them to compare their pictures. At this point they mustn´t show their creations to one another. Give them an example:

My snowman has a stick for a nose. My snowman is wearing ….. There´s a ……. next to the snowman.

Afterwards tell the pupils to reveal their pictures and find the differences. For instance: My snowman has/is wearing…….but yours has/is wearing…..

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Step 5 (If you don´t have time, assign this task for homework)

Put the students in different pairs and ask them to write instructions on how to build a snowman. You may have to help out with some vocabulary that I used in the visualisation, such as roll the snow, make a ball, stick.

1. What are the kids doing? 2. Have you ever made a snowman? 3. What do we need to build a snowman?

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ 5

Winter

Wonderland Lesson plan for teens & adults Level: B2 www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2020

Teacher’s notes Step 1 Steps 1 and 2 pre-teach the vocabulary from the visualisation which has been specifically created for this lesson. Ask the students to match the words with the right definition: 1. Enchanting 2. Crunching 3. Disrupted 4. Coachman 5. Tartan 6. Mulled 7. Reins

a) moving over a surface, making a loud crushing noise b) referring to a drink that has been mixed with sugar and spices and heated c) a man who drives a coach pulled by horses d) delightful e) a long narrow leather band that is attached to a metal bar in a horse’s mouth and is held by the rider in order to control the horse f) made difficult for something to continue in the normal way g) a pattern of squares and lines of different colours and widths that cross each other at an angle of 90°, used especially on cloth. It comes from Scotland

Key-1-d, 2-a, 3-f, 4-c, 5-g, 6-b, 7-e Step 2 Choose the correct answer:

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4. What trees have needles? a) an elm tree, b) a pine tree, c) a willow tree 5. What do we call “a hard black hat with a curved brim and round top, worn, mainly in the past by men in business in Britain”? a) a cap, b)beret, c)a bowler hat

Key- 1-b, 2-c, 3-a, 4-b, 5-c Step 3 Let´s play WHEEL DECIDE I´ve prepared a game with the vocabulary from Steps 1 and 2 in order to practise it. Link to the wheel: https://bit.ly/2tnJmTc

Put the students into two groups and spin the wheel. A student from group A reads the definition of the first word and if he/she gives a correct answer then they´re given a point. If their answer is incorrect, then the first student from Group B is given the chance to reply. For the second word a Step 4 Let´s visualise Tell the students that you will take them on a special trip to WINTER WONDERLAND. Ask them to predict what they could see/hear/taste/smell/ feel there. After you brainstorm the students´ ideas, tell them to sit comfortably and relax. Invite them to close their eyes if they feel comfortable to do so and listen. If they haven’t done a visualisation before, say that they need to listen carefully and follow the guidance of the voice. NB. Explain that breathing is important and illustrate how they need to breathe in and out at the beginning and the end of the visualisation. Link to the visualisation here Step 5

After the visualisation, give the students Handout 2 which contains a shorter version of the script. Explain that there are eight factual mistakes. Give them five minutes to read the text and find the errors.

Key: 1. near a lake- in a forest 2. barking dogs- jingling bells 3. brown horse-black horse 8

4. young-elderly 5. woollen- bowler 6. wine-apple juice 7. cafe-log cabin 8. pop-instrumental Step 6 Discussion

1. How did you feel while visiting WINTER WONDERLAND? 2. What did you hear/see/feel/smell/taste while being there? 3. If you could have taken someone with you, who would that person be? Why? 4. Would you like to have the same experience in real life? Step 7 As a follow-up activity which could be assigned for homework or carried out in another lesson, put the students in groups and ask them to create their own WINTER WONDERLAND. Explain they have to plan the following:

*location *activities *rides *prices *food and drink

For more inspiration, you can show them the website for Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: https://hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/. There´re also lots of videos on YouTube.

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Student Handout 1 I. Match the words with the right definition: 1. Enchanting 2. Crunching 3. Disrupted 4. Coachman 5. Tartan 6. Mulled 7. Reins

II. Choose the correct answer:

1. What animal neighs and snorts? a) Lion, b) horse, c) monkey 2. When you see “a myriad” of trees, are they: A) dozen, b) a few, c) an extremely great number 3. If a vehicle comes to a halt, does it: a) stop, b) leave, c) speed up 4. What trees have needles? a) an elm tree, b) a pine tree, c) a willow tree 5. What do we call “a hard black hat with a curved brim and round top, worn, mainly in the past by men in business in Britain”? a) a cap, b) beret, c) a bowler hat

Student Handout 2 This is a shorter version of the text you have just heard. Find eight factual mistakes.

See yourself on a snowy path near a lake. You are surrounded by tall pine trees whose needles have been hidden by the soft snow...This white wonderland has such a tranquil feeling……The only sound you hear is your footsteps crunching in the snow … And then suddenly this idyllic quietness is disrupted by …barking dogs. Where is this sound coming from? You look around and then you see it… A big sleigh is coming along the path. It´s pulled by a beautiful brown horse which stands out against the white background. The sleigh stops beside you and you see an young coachman with the biggest smile. The horse snorts as if it wants to greet you. The man is wearing a black tartan suit and a big woollen hat, straight out of a Dickens ‘novel. You remember reading about this fun ride the nature park offers and gladly accept to hop on the sleigh. The man covers you with a soft woollen blanket and hands you a small flask with mulled wine. After thanking him, you give the coachman a sign that you are ready… The horse neighs as the driver pulls the reins. And off you go…You feel elated and joyful as the sleigh glides smoothly along the path. The chilliness in the air makes you shiver and so you pull up the blanket. …..It´s at that point you decide to take a sip of the hot drink which makes you feel warm…. The taste of apples, cinnamon and orange reminds you of Christmases past. Where is the sleigh taking you? ……You pass by a small cafe which has its lights on… You haven´t noticed that dusk has slowly settled in. The black tail of the horse is swaying like a pendulum …and the pine trees look majestic… tall and strong … They are like guardsmen watching over you on your journey. Soon you notice that the sleigh has slowed down. And this is when it dawns on you…you have left the snowy path and have entered a brightly-lit tunnel. Soothing pop music plays in the air… A myriad of twinkling lights hanging from above touch your face… yellow, green, orange, red, blue...the colours keep changing …and you feel as if you could stay in this fairy land forever… You gasp stunned by this beauty …Suddenly you try to catch one of the red lights but it flies by too quickly. As the sleigh moves out of the tunnel, you realise this experience has left you breathless… you were living in the moment...not thinking about your daily routine and your to-do list. You promise yourself to come back again soon. The horse´s neigh interrupts your thoughts and the sleigh comes to a halt. The coachman reaches out to you and helps you down. You feel grateful for this unforgettable experience and thank him sincerely.

Winter hot-air

Teacher’s notes Step 1 Show the picture (page 15) to the students and ask them to brainstorm some vocabulary related to what they can see in the image. Possible answers: breath-taking, ragged mountains, snowy hills, cold, freezing, rocks, balloons, clear sky, winding road, snowy fields Step 2 Discussion Explain that a winter hot-air balloon race has been organised and this photo has just been released in a popular sports magazine.

Questions to discuss: 1. Where do you think the race was held? 2. What makes you believe so? 3. What challenges might have the contestants gone through? 4. What could the prize have been? Step 3 Split the class into two groups. Task for group A: Put the students in this group in pairs and explain that each pair has to imagine they have been riding in the balloon race. They will be interviewed by a reporter from the same sports magazine where the image had appeared so they have to come up with some details about the race. For example: where and when it took place/ how many participants there were / what difficulties they faced, the prize, etc.

Task for group B: Put the students in this group in pairs as well. Explain that in each pair one student is a reporter and the second one is a cameraman. Assign who will be who in this task. However, first they need to work together and prepare ten questions to interview contestants from the hot-air balloon race.

Allow both groups to prepare their tasks, monitor them and help with vocabulary. Suggested time 10 min. www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk ©Inspirational English 2020

Step 4

Take a pair from each group to work together: 2 contestants and a reporter and a cameraman. They have to record an interview. The reporter will ask his/her questions while the cameraman is using a mobile device to record a video.

NB. If you don´t have access to any mobile devices, split the class again into two groups: Group A- contestants, Group B- reporters The students will still act out an interview but without recording it.

Image credit: yonatan-anugerah- unsplash

Thank you for purchasing this special winter bundle. For more resources, please, visit www.inspirationalenglish.co.uk