Celta Authentic Materials Assignment

This receptive skills (reading) lesson plan, based on authentic materials chosen from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com,   is aimed at the intermediate students who have attended the CELTA teaching practice lessons for this course throughout May. The article, 'interesting facts about the United Kingdom', has been written as a guide for native speakers and foreigners alike, therefore, it can be used as an acceptable piece of authentic reading material for the class. It is assumed that the class have an appropriate vocabulary ability that will allow them to read the article fluently and answer all the questions on the worksheets. However, some particularly difficult vocabulary will be addressed after the main reading tasks.   Written in short factual sections, this article shouldn't present many difficulties to the class.

The students who attend the TP classes are mostly European immigrants with a select few from other parts of the world. A multitude of facts are presented within the article, it should provide the students with some stimulating conversation both in the classroom and when they are at home with friends and family. Upon completion of a personal English language questionnaire, the students indicated that, on the whole, they are relative strangers to the UK.   Therefore, this type of reading material will be beneficial to their stay in the UK. Additionally, sparking an interest from the students will allow them to take more from the reading exercise. As Scrivener (2011, pg. 265) states:

"The more someone reads, the more they pick up items of vocabulary and grammar from the texts, often without realising it, and this widening language knowledge seems to increase their overall linguistic confidence, which then influences and improves their skills in other language areas, too (though this is probably only true in cases where the material they read is self chosen and is genuinely relevant and interesting to them)."

Pre-reading task (5 mins) - This...