Discuss these points and anything else that you think is interesting.В

You can find the video at this website: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/food-britain В

 

H) Homework!

Please think about some dishes you like, they could be from your country or other countries. Do some research and find out about them. Prepare a presentation for next week.

 

Some ideas: You could find out about the history of the dishes, what they taste like, how you cook them, etc.

 

 

Pictures

The pictures are in this order: bubble and squeak; Cullen skink; jam roley-poley; spotted dick; stargazey pie; toad in the hole; Welsh rarebit.

Remember, these are for a “wall crawl”, so don’t give these pictures to the students, unless you are adapting the lesson, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher Notes

Level: Intermediate/upper-intermediate (CEFR B1/B2)

 

Timing: 60-120 minutes (depending on which ideas are used)

 

Aims: to learn about traditional British dishes; to discuss British food and express opinions; to develop vocabulary skills by defining lexis; to make a “tasting” menu for a British restaurant; to understand and discuss a video about how British food has changed.

 

Style: This is primarily a discussion/conversation lesson with a task-based learning element. В

 

Teaching suggestions:

 

Preparation: remember to stick up the pictures around the class and number them if necessary (see below in part D).

!!!WARNING!!! The dish known as “spotted dick” should be removed from this lesson if it is deemed inappropriate for the age group or learner profiles of your group, but it is genuinely the name of a traditional pudding that is often served under this name in British schools.

 

A – Using the picture as a starting point, have Ss brainstorm adjectives to do with British food. This could be done as a competition to see which group can think of most adjectives or as a class activity making a mind-map on the board. Have Ss discuss the questions.

 

B – Have Ss discuss what they think the dishes contain from some of the names. For example, they could guess from “jam” what jam roley-poley contains and that it is a dessert. For classes with lower fluency the teacher can put up some useful phrases such as “I think it’s made of…”, “I think it has…in it”, “I think it’s a dessert/hot dish/cold dish/etc. because…”, etc.

 

C – Have Ss walk around the class looking at the pictures and discussing the questions. For less confident classes put one on the projector/print a large copy out and elicit answers from Ss, then have them complete the task as explained.В

 

D – Drill the vocabulary in bold and do some basic concept checking (E.G.: does “peer” mean look or listen? Is it a verb or noun?, etc.). Have Ss work in pairs groups to try to guess which dishes go with descriptions by adding in the relevant numbers. Sometimes Ss find this guessing difficult, in this case the teacher can number the pictures in advance according to the list in part B. This can be conducted as a competitive quiz, or more collaboratively by having students change groups and discuss their ideas with reasons, which gives a good chance to negotiate for meaning and give opinions with justifications. These are both skills to be developed at B1 and B2 levels.

 

E – Have Ss look at the example definition, then have them try to create their own, reminding them that this is an excellent way to remember new words and ensure they fully understand lexis.

 

 

F – Ask if Ss have ever heard of tasting menus, if not explain that they are menus including several small dishes to allow people to taste a variety of things, they are very popular in expensive restaurants at the moment. Explain the aim of the activity (to make a British tasting menu in order to practise explaining preferences), also encourage them to make descriptions of their dishes as on a menu to practise the skill of defining words, then have them do the activity in groups. They could then present their ideas and be judged or voted on by the rest of the class, perhaps the winning group could be given a small food-related prize, such as a snack.

Complete general error correction, remembering that the aim here is fluency, so do this after the activity. В

 

G – This can be treated as an extension activity. This website includes an online preparation activity for the video, which can also be printed as a worksheet. Have Ss watch it, introducing the questions in advance. Have them discuss the questions. Remember to prepare some concept checking questions about the video appropriate to your learners.

 

H – Introduce the homework, perhaps eliciting or giving some ideas.