The city: New York

Objective & content

This sheet on a big city opens on a conversation: Ava, a New Yorker, shows her cousin Ben from Bristol around New York, from the Empire State Building and the subway to Central Park, the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. Every target word is in it first, with places (skyscraper, block, corner), ways of getting around (subway, cab, ferry) and Ava's directions. By the end, pupils can name places in a city, say how to get around and give simple directions.

Pedagogical guide

The tasks go from understanding the words to using them: six multiple-choice questions on the conversation, six city pictures to name from a box of eight, eight words to match with their meanings (including the American elevator and subway) and nine sentences to complete. On page 3, pupils label six direction pictures (turn left, go past, on the corner), all taken from Ava's directions, then finish a crossword whose ten clues come from the conversation, with no word list. It is the hardest task. Grammar stays on the A2 floor (imperatives, can, let's, comparatives) and is never tested.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Show New York on a map; pupils say what they know about the city.
2. (10 min) Read the conversation aloud in pairs, one pupil as Ava, one as Ben, then answer the six questions.
3. (10 min) Page 1 pictures and page 2: name the places, match the meanings, complete the sentences.
4. (10 min) Page 3: the directions, then the crossword.
5. (10 min) Correct with the answer key on page 4; pupils read Ava's directions aloud.

Adaptations

[S] Before page 3, give directions together from the classroom to another room in the school.

[A] Pupils plan one day in New York for Ben: three places and how to get there.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy per pupil of the three pupil pages, in colour or black and white. Page 4 is the answer key with teacher notes: keep it. A map of New York helps for the start. To take it further, pupils write directions from their school to a place in their town.