Phrasal verbs lesson plan by OnTESOL: TESOL certification online–
Level: High Intermediate
Lesson Aims:
• To give students practice with developing their speaking and listening skills.
• Revision of phrasal verbs, by scanning the video for the verbs, and using them in sentences.
• Guessing the meaning of vocabulary through synonyms, answering questions, gap filling activities.
By the end of the lesson, students should have improved their speaking and listening skills, and feel confident using the phrasal verbs introduced in the video episode.
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Assumptions: Students at this level should have knowledge of all basic tenses, including the past perfect. This tense was used in the first scene of the Friends episode, and used in the introductory questions as well.
Students should have the ability to imagine and describe what they think their lives would be like if they had made different decisions. They should be familiar with conditional forms.
Students should have the ability to understand informal English, sarcasm and humour; all of which are used in the television show.
Anticipated Problems and Solutions: Students may have forgotten the definitions of some of the phrasal verbs used by the Friends characters. If this is the case, the teacher will have an extra exercise prepared just in case. The handout will have all the phrasal verbs from the video, along with some other common phrasal verbs, with definitions. However, students will have to match the best definition to the phrasal verbs.
Time: Approximately two hours and ten minutes (for entire lesson)
Material: Friends Episode 6.15, Whiteboard, Markers, Handouts
clicker.com/tv/friends/the-one-that-could-have-been-part-i-330330/
friends-tv.org/zz615.html
PRESENTATION STAGE
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Step 1: Introduction to the topic of “what if?”
Aim: Speaking skill
Technique: Personalization.
Interactive pattern: T-S; S-S-S
Time: 10 minutes
Aids: None
Student Activity: Students will discuss their ideas and exchange information
Teacher Activity: Teacher will suggest the topic and walk around the room if students have questions.
Teacher will ask students: Have any of you ever wondered how different your lives would be if you had made different decisions or life choices?
What if you chose different friends?
What if you didn’t go to school?
What if you didn’t choose the profession (if you have one) you are in now?
If you had done things differently, how different would your life be?
Feedback: Allow students some time to discuss this idea, and to tell one another some ideas they had about what could have been different.
Step 2: Introduction to Vocabulary needed for Comprehension
Technique: Find a word that means…. (synonyms)
Interactive Patterns: S-S, T-S
Time: 10 minutes
Aids: Vocabulary Handout, Whiteboard
Student activity: Students work in pairs and try to think of synonyms. In order to illustrate the meaning of the words, they will also make sentences.
Teacher Activity: Teacher will walk around classroom to answer any questions
Teacher will tell students that they are going to watch a popular television show, but that they will need to know some vocabulary before watching, to ensure comprehension.
Teacher will give students a handout with synonyms. Students try to think of as many words to match the synonym. Students will be given the synonyms in the right hand column only.
cheating………. unfaithful
shallow……….. superficial, fake
divorced……… when someone is not married anymore
karate………… Japanese self defense
stocks………… financial market investments, trading
rejection…….. a refusal to accept an offer
assistant…….. a person who helps with daily activities
wear in………. to make something more comfortable
Feedback: Students will check their answers with the other pairs in the classroom. Teacher will circulate the room to see how students are doing. Teacher will elicit answers from students, and insure the correct answers are put on the whiteboard. If they do not mention the vocabulary in the left hand column, teacher will suggest them.
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PRACTICE STAGE
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Step 1: Listening for details. (Scanning)
Technique: Answer comprehension questions
Interactive Patterns: S-S-S
Time: 10 minutes
Aids: Video Clip, Scene 1, Whiteboard
Student Activity: Students answer comprehension questions about the FRIENDS episode
Teacher Activity: Teacher gives out handout with comprehension questions for students to discuss. (See below)
Scene 1: Characters from the show FRIENDS are talking about how different their lives would have been if they had done things differently.
Ask students to take notes on the information they think is important. Have students look at the comprehension questions and see if they understand what they have to do. Show students the opening clip.
Once students have seen the first scene, ask them to discuss the following questions:
• What are the friends talking about?
• What did Ross wonder? (how different his life would be if he didn’t get a divorce)
• What did Rachel wonder? (how different her life would be if she married Barry)
• What did Monica wonder? (how different her life would be if she wasn’t fat)
• What did Joey wonder? (how different his life would be if he wasn’t fired from his job)
• What did Phoebe wonder? (how different her life would be if she had worked for Merrill Lynch)
• What did Chandler wonder? (how different his life would be if he had quit his job)
Script:
Rachel: Well, apparently she caught him cheating on her with someone else. Isn’t that sad? (Giggles.) God, could you imagine if I actually married him?! I mean how different would my life be?
Ross: I know what you mean, I’ve always wondered how different my life would be if-if I’d never gotten divorced.
Phoebe: Which time?
Ross: The first time! No seriously, imagine if Carol hadn’t realized she was a lesbian.
Joey: (starts to imagine it) I can’t. I keep seeing it the good way.
Ross: I’d bet I’d still be doing my kara-tay. (That’s karate, he’s just saying it that way.) Towards the end of our marriage I was doing a lot of kara-tay as a way of releasing the tension from y’know, not doing anything else physical.
Chandler: Maybe the problem was you were pronouncing it kara-tay.
Monica: And what if I was still fat? (To Chandler) Well, you wouldn’t be dating me, that’s for sure.
Chandler: Sure I would!
All: (simultaneously) Oh yeah! Come on! Yeah right!
Chandler: What, you guys really think that I’m that shallow?
Ross: No, I just think Monica was that fat.
Joey: Hey, imagine if I never got fired off Days Of Our Lives! (Closes his eyes to do so.) Oh-hey, there’s Carol again!
Chandler: What if I had had the guts to quit my job? I’d probably be writing for the New Yorker, getting paid to be funny. But my job’s fun too! I mean tomorrow, I-I don’t have to wear a tie.
Phoebe: What if I had taken that job at Merrill Lynch?
Ross: What?!
Rachel: Merrill Lynch?
Phoebe: Yeah, I had a massage client who worked there and-and he said I had a knack for stocks.
Rachel: Well why didn’t you take the job?
Phoebe: Because at that time you see, I thought everything that rhymed was true. So I thought y’know that if I’d work with stocks, I’d have to live in a box, and only eat lox, and have a pet fox.
Ross: Hey, do you guys think that if all those things happened, we’d still hang out?
Step 2: Speaking
Technique: brainstorming and prediction.
Interactive Patterns: S-S
Time: 5 minutes
Aids: None
Student Activity: Predicting how the characters’ lives would be different if they had made different choices.
Teacher Activity: Monitoring, answering questions
Teacher will ask students to discuss and predict how the characters’ lives would be different. What would Rachel’s life be like, if she had married Barry, etc.
Feedback: Allow students time to discuss and brainstorm. Have them predict the lives of each character, then share ideas with the entire class.
Step 3: Listening for details (scanning); speaking (discussion)
Technique: note taking; asking and answering questions;
Interactive Patterns: S, S-S
Time: 20 minutes
Aids: Video, Scene 2
Student Activity: Students take notes while listening to the video. When finished, compare information with other students.
Teacher Activity: Monitoring, answering any questions
Scene 2: This scene shows the lives of the friends if their predictions had come true.
Students to scan the television scene and take notes on the differences.
Once the scene is shown (probably more than once, since it is a few minutes in length), students work in pairs to discuss the characters’ lives. In order to do so, students will be asked to create questions, and then ask the questions to a partner.
Give an example of a question as a guideline:
Why was Chandler unhappy? (because someone rejected his comic)
How was Phoebe’s life different? (She is a very stressed corporate woman)
Script:
Chandler: (entering, depressed) Hey.
Joey: Hey.
Monica: Oh no! What’s the matter?
Chandler: Oh I just got another rejection letter. They said my writing was funny, just not “Archie Comic funny.”
Joey: Hey man, look sorry about that Archie thing. Do uh, do you need me to give you some money?
Chandler: Hey, I may have no money, but I still have my pride.
Joey: Really?
Chandler: Ehh.
Monica: Maybe Joey doesn’t have to give you the money, TV stars have assistants right?
Joey: That’s an idea! (To Chandler) Hey, if I hired an assistant, would-would you take money from her?
Monica: No Joey! Chandler could be your assistant! See, he could answer all of your fan mail and stuff!
Joey: That’s great! That would be great! Let’s do that!
Chandler: I could use the money; it could give me time to write.
Joey: Oh right great! Welcome aboard!
Chandler: Okay!
Joey: All right! Now hey, I need to use the bathroom. Since I don’t need any assistance in there, take a break!
Chandler: All right!
(As Joey goes to the bathroom, Corporate Phoebe enters. She’s wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase.)
Phoebe: (entering) Hey!
Monica: Hey Phoebe! Guess what?
Phoebe: What?
Monica: Joey just hired Chandler to be his assistant!
Phoebe: Ohh that’s so sweet! (Her cell phone rings.) Oh! Hang on! (Quickly grabs a cigarette and starts to light it as her phone rings.) Hang onnnnnn!!! (Gets the cigarette lighted and answers the phone.) (On phone.) Go!! No! No-no! I
said sell when it hits 50! 5-0, it’s a number! It comes after 4-9!! No, it’s okay. It’s okay, you’re allowed one mistake. Just kidding, you are of course fired.
(She hangs up as Ross and Rachel enter.)
Ross: Hey Mon!
Monica: Hey!
Ross: Mon, look who I ran into! (Gestures towards Rachel.)
Monica: (gets up and gasps) Oh my God! Rachel!! (Rachel is stunned to see that her long lost friend is still fat.) (Monica goes over and gives Rachel a big bear hug, which is quite easy for her.) You look terrific!
Rachel: Ohh, so do you! Did you lose weight? (She’s not quite sure of that one.)
Monica: You are so sweet to notice! Yes, I lost three and a half pounds!
Ross: And, and uh, you-you remember my friend Chandler. (Points to him.)
Chandler: Hey.
Rachel: Oh yeah.
Ross: And that’s Phoebe over there! (Points to her.)
Phoebe: Hi!
Monica: Oh my God, sit down! Sit down! How long as it been since we’ve seen each other?
Ross: (answering it) 1987, the day after Christmas, at Sean McMahon’s party. I played you one of my songs, y’know Interplanetary Courtship Ritual.
Rachel: Oh yeah. Right. So now, are—do you, do you still do music?
Ross: Sometimes, you should come over (Joey returns from the bathroom) sometime! I’ll play you one of my other…
Rachel: (interrupting him and seeing Joey) Oh my God! Joey Tribbiani from Days of Our Lives, just walked in here!
Monica: Rach, he’s a friend of ours.
Rachel: (stunned) You are friends with Dr. Drake Remoray?
Rachel: He’s coming over! He’s coming over!
Monica: (getting up) Joey!
Joey: (holding a plate of what looks like Rice Crispies Treats) I know, here-here!! (Hands her the plate.)
Monica: Ohhh! (Takes the plate.) No! This is my friend Rachel, we went to High School together.
Rachel: (giggles and can’t look at him) Hi!
Joey: (shaking Rachel’s hand) Hi!
Rachel: (still not quite able to look at him) Hi! I love you on that show! I watch you everyday! I mean, when you took out your own kidney to save your ex-wife even though she tired to kill you…
Joey: Well, it’s always nice to meet the fans.
Rachel: Ah!
Joey: (turning and whispering to Monica) She’s not crazy is she?
Monica: No.
Joey: (To Rachel) So uh, how you doing’?
***
Joey: All right, here’s a list of things for you to do today. Man, this going to be so great! Thank you so much! All right, I got to go to work I’m delivering twins today, but only one of them is mine! (Exits.)
Chandler: (reading the list) Drop off my dry cleaning. Pick up my vitamins. Teach me how to spell vitamins. Wear in my new jeans.
Step 4: Listening for Details
Technique: Gap-fill
Interactive Patterns: S, S-S
Time: 25 minutes
Aids: Video Scene 2, Gap-fill handout
Student Activity: Listening for vocabulary to complete gap-fills
Teacher Activity: Monitoring, giving students the handout
Teacher will give class a handout with blanks; students must listen for details and complete the blanks. (Using Scene 2)
Teacher will split the class into two groups. Group A will be given a handout with different gaps than Group B. (Group A receives blanks in first part of the scene, group B receives blanks with the second part of the scene)
Handout A:
Chandler: (entering, depressed) Hey.
Joey: Hey.
Monica: Oh no! What’s the matter?
Chandler: Oh I just _____________________. They said my writing was funny, just not “Archie Comic funny.”
Joey: Hey man, look sorry about that Archie thing. Do uh, do you need me to _____________________?
Chandler: Hey, I may have no money, but I still have my pride.
Joey: Really?
Chandler: Ehh.
Monica: Maybe Joey doesn’t have to give you the money, TV stars _____________________?
Joey: That’s an idea! (To Chandler) Hey, if I hired an assistant, would-would you take money from her?
Monica: No Joey! _______________________! See, he could answer all of your fan mail and stuff!
Joey: That’s great! That _________________! Let’s do that!
Chandler: I could use the money; it could ____________________________.
Joey: Oh right great! Welcome aboard!
Chandler: Okay!
Joey: All right! Now hey, I need to use the bathroom. Since I don’t need any assistance in there, _________________!
Chandler: All right!
(As Joey goes to the bathroom, Corporate Phoebe enters. She’s wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase.)
Phoebe: (entering) Hey!
Monica: Hey Phoebe! Guess what?
Phoebe: What?
Monica: Joey just _________________ to be his assistant!
Phoebe: ________________! (Her cell phone rings.) Oh! Hang on! (Quickly grabs a cigarette and starts to light it as her phone rings.) Hang onnnnnn!!! (Gets the cigarette lighted and answers the phone.) (On phone.) Go!! No! No-no! I said sell when it hits 50! 5-0, it’s a number! It comes after 4-9!! No, it’s okay. It’s okay, ___________________. Just kidding, you are of course fired.
Handout B:
Ross: Hey Mon!
Monica: Hey!
Ross: Mon, look ______________! (Gestures towards Rachel.)
Monica: (gets up and gasps) Oh my God! Rachel!! (Rachel is stunned to see that her long lost friend is still fat.) (Monica goes over and gives Rachel a big bear hug, which is quite easy for her.) ____________________!
Rachel: Ohh, so do you! __________________? (She’s not quite sure of that one.)
Monica: You are so sweet to notice! Yes, I lost ___________________________!
Ross: And, and uh, you-you remember my friend Chandler. (Points to him.)
Chandler: Hey.
Rachel: Oh yeah.
Ross: And that’s Phoebe over there! (Points to her.)
Phoebe: Hi!
Monica: Oh my God, sit down! Sit down! How _________________ we’ve seen each other?
Ross: (answering it) 1987, the day after Christmas, at Sean McMahon’s party. I played you one of my songs, y’know Interplanetary Courtship Ritual.
Rachel: Oh yeah. Right. So now, are—do you, ______________________?
Ross: Sometimes, you should come over (Joey returns from the bathroom) sometime! I’ll play you one of my other…
Rachel: (interrupting him and seeing Joey) _________________________________________, just walked in here!
Monica: Rach, he’s a ______________________.
Rachel: (stunned) You are friends with Dr. Drake Remoray?
Rachel: He’s coming over! He’s coming over!
Monica: (getting up) Joey!
Joey: (holding a plate of what looks like Rice Crispies Treats) I know, here-here!! (Hands her the plate.)
Monica: Ohhh! (Takes the plate.) No! This is my friend Rachel, we went to High School together.
Rachel: (giggles and can’t look at him) Hi!
Joey: (shaking Rachel’s hand) Hi!
Rachel: (still not quite able to look at him) Hi! _____________________! I watch you everyday! I mean, when you took out your own kidney to save your ex-wife even though she tired to kill you…
Joey: Well, it’s _______________________.
Rachel: Ah!
Joey: (turning and whispering to Monica) She’s not crazy is she?
Monica: No.
Joey: (To Rachel) So uh, _______________________?
Step 5: Listening for Details- Student Reading
Technique: Information exchange; gap fill
Interactive Patterns: S-S, S-S-S
Time: 15 minutes
Aids: Gap-fill handouts
Student Activity: Students exchange information from previous exercise
Teacher Activity: Monitoring, going through correct answers when students finish
Teacher will give students from Group A the gap-fill that Group B had, and vice versa.
Teacher will ask students to form pairs, but the pairs must be one student from Group A with one student from Group B. The two students will exchange information, so that they are able to fill in the blanks on the new handout. In order to do so, the student in Group A will read the script (the one that they filled out already) to the Student from Group B. The student from Group B will listen, then fill in the gaps. They will switch roles until both partners have the full script completed.
Feedback: When students finish reading to one another, they will look at one another’s original gap-fill from the video to check their answers. As a class, we will go through all the gaps from the entire script to ensure all answers are correct.
Step 6: Listening for Details; Grammar Review, Phrasal Verbs
Technique: Identifying information
Interactive Patterns: S, S-S-S
Time: 20 minutes
Aids: Video Scene 2, Whiteboard
Student Activity: Students scan the episode for phrasal verbs
Teacher Activity: Monitoring, checking for accuracy
Teacher will play Scene 2 again, but will ask students to listen and scan for the use of Phrasal Verbs. Ask the students to write down all the phrasal verbs they hear in the video.
Teacher reminds students of the structure of phrasal verbs: verb + particle
Phrasal Verbs: hang on, ran into, sit down, come over, walked in, drop off, pick up, wear in
Feedback: When students have finished watching and writing down, they will compare their answers in groups. Teacher will then ask volunteers to come up to the whiteboard to write down the phrasal verbs.
Step 7: Grammar Practice, using Phrasal Verbs in Sentences
Technique: writing sentences using phrasal verbs
Interactive Patterns: S-S-S
Time: 10 minutes
Aids: Strips of paper with phrasal verbs, one die
Student Activity: Creating sentences using phrasal verbs
Teacher Activity: Explaining activity to students, then monitoring progress
Teacher will ask students to create sentences from the phrasal verbs introduced in Scene 2.
Activity: teacher will have small strips of paper with phrasal verbs written on them. Teacher will arrange the papers into a circle, then will tell students to roll a die. Each student will take turns rolling the die, and landing on the corresponding phrasal verb. When they land on the verb, they must create a sentence using the phrasal verb.
This will be a very good activity, as it is good review of phrasal verbs, and will ensure students understand the meaning of the phrasal verb and how to use it.
PRODUCTION STAGE
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Technique: Role play; speaking skill
Interactive Patterns: S-S-S
Time: 15 minutes
Aids: None
Student Activity: Creating a Role Play
Teacher Activity: Monitoring, then watching the performances of the role plays
Teacher will ask students to create their own role play, as if they are the “Friends” from the television show. They can include anything in their role play, but the theme should be “what if..”
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