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Unit 12
Life’s firsts Reading; Speaking
6 Monitor, but avoid error
correction. The focus of this task LIFE’S FIRSTS UNIT 12
is on fluency, not on practice of
structures or lexis. Instead, make THE FIRST TIME I …
a note of common errors. Write
a mix of correct and incorrect We asked readers to tell us some of their ‘first times’ and here are three that we liked.
sentences on the board, ensuring
anonymity, and ask students to
identify and correct the mistakes My first time eating spaghetti – Italian style
during feedback. My best friend in my first year at school was Italian. Her name was Caterina Ricci. We were
very different, but we got on really well and went everywhere together. The first time I went
to her house, we had spaghetti for dinner. I asked for a spoon, but when Caterina started
giggling I knew I had made a mistake. Italians only eat pasta with a spoon when it’s in a broth,
Homework she told me. No big deal – watching Caterina I tried to 1 work out how to eat pasta the Italian
way. I tried to spiral it around my fork like she did, but all I managed was to splash the tomato
sauce all over myself. I guess I finished ten minutes later than everyone else. Nobody said
Ask students to write a few anything, but I must have looked great in my white shirt covered in tomato stains! Caterina
sentences based on their ‘childhood and her parents 2 moved away soon afterwards. I wrote to her a couple of times, but she didn’t
reply. It was really strange that she never wrote back, but I’m sure she never got my emails.
river’ in the Activity idea Extension. Emma
My first time in hospital
Activity idea Extension
One winter day, I went ice-skating with some friends. I fell over, hit my head on the ice and
Ask students to draw their own ‘river’ knocked myself out. My friends were worried but I quickly 3 came round. When I told my
mum and dad what had happened, they took me to the hospital. The doctor decided to
as in the warm-up (see page T110). keep me in overnight for some tests. There were other patients in the ward with me. One of
They should include at least three them had had his wisdom teeth taken out. It was the first time I’d heard the words ‘wisdom
teeth’ and it sounded strange to me. I remember that I tried to talk to him, but when he
crosses. Put students into small spoke I couldn’t make out the words, so I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I felt
miserable, even though the nurses 4 looked after me and tried to 5 cheer me up. I didn’t sleep
groups for them to guess what the well at all. It was my first night away from home and I’ve never forgotten it.
crosses refer to. Tell them they can Paul
think of approximate ages if they’re
unsure exactly when the events My first time on stage
occurred. Write these stems on I remember the excitement as everyone 6 put their make-up on and got into their
the board as prompts: Is that when costumes. I also remember how nervous I felt just before the curtain went up. I thought
I wouldn’t remember any of my lines. But in the end I didn’t really have to worry about
you … for the first time? Were you that. Everything started off well, but in the middle of the play I 7 ran into a problem. It
[five] when you … for the first time? was in a scene with the actor who played the role of my husband. He was supposed to
come on stage, but I could see him offstage talking to someone. I knew he was going to
Monitor to help with any questions miss his entrance. He didn’t come on stage, so I had to 8 make some lines up and try not
and to check students’ use of to panic! It seemed like hours, although it was probably only a few seconds. Then I said:
‘I wonder where my husband is?’ He heard me, came on stage and we carried on with
narrative tenses. (These are commonly the scene. I don’t think the audience noticed anything wrong.
used in telling anecdotes.) Make Susie
a note of any students describing
particularly interesting events and SPEAKING
call on these students to share them
with the class during feedback. Also 6 Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss these questions.
go through any common errors with 1 How did the various people feel about their ‘life first’ experiences?
2 Would you have felt the same in their position?
narrative tenses. 3 What personal experiences did the stories remind you of?
111
more
Worksheets
Project Life’s firsts
Communication A first time for everything
Get ing What is your earliest
memory? How old were you?
Unit 12 | Life’s firsts T111
