I Forgot my Phone

Mobile Phones? by Tim Ellis is licensed under CCBY2.0

Main Activities  Vocabulary acquisition, word formation, talking about mobile phone use

Suitable for  Pre-Advanced (B2.2) teens and adults.

We’re moving on to a “mobile” theme this month on the blog and this first post is designed to encourage students to push at the boundaries of their vocabulary and to think about word form as tested in exams such as the First Certificate and Advanced. Thanks to our colleague Nikki for the heads-up on this beautiful and thought-provoking short film about how much those little phones have taken over our lives.

TEACHER’S NOTES    (Click here for a pdf version)

STEP 1

Divide the class into two large groups – A and B. Then, within each group, form pairs so that all As are working with another A and vice-versa. Tell them that they’re going to hear the audio from a short piece of video. They have to guess the different places and events from what they hear. Some are more obvious than others and they’ll need to use their imaginations. Play the video (sound only) and stop at the following points, asking the students to write down what they think is happening and where:

a. 00:10          e. 01:00          i. 01:30

b. 00:24          f. 01:05           j. 01:50

c. 00:43          g. 01:09           k. 02:03

d. 00:51          h. 01:22

STEP 2

Once all the pairs have written their agreed suggestions, hand out the A/B answer sheet to the two large groups. Give them time to look up words/phrases for pronunciation or meaning using dictionaries or mobiles as they’ll have to tell a partner the answer in a moment.

STEP 3

Make A/B pairs. Each person has the answers that the other one is missing. They take it in turns to read each other their suggestions from step 1 and then to hear the answer from their partner.

STEP 4

Tell them that the protagonist of the video is annoyed by a similar thing in all of the scenes described. Ask them to guess with their partner what it might be.

STEP 5

Now show them the video to see if they guessed correctly.

STEP 6

Keep the students in the same A/B pairs. Tell them that you’re going to give them this sheet with 11 sentences describing the people with the mobiles. In each sentence, similar to the FCE/CAE word formation exercise, there is a word missing. To fill the gap, they must use the appropriate version of the word given in bold at the end of the sentence. Note that two of the words don’t need to be changed at all, and one is not the base word, as in the Cambridge exam. They get one point for each correct answer but only if the spelling is perfect!

STEP 7

Now regroup the class into groups of three and ask them to discuss the questions below the 11 sentences. Encourage people to ask questions for vocabulary etc. and make your own notes on interesting errors or nice language, for example. Write everything up on the board and allow some time to go through it at the end of their discussion.

STEP 8

Tell students not to take notes. Finish by telling them that they’re going to use their mobiles for something positive and then ask them to stand up and take a photo of the board. Ask them to write up their own notes, either in their notebooks or on their computer, using the photo. Bring them in, or print them out for the next day to compare how they’ve organised the information.