A Lost Boy

Level 1 and 2

This week we read the story about Paul Lee, the 2 year old boy from Queensland who was lost in the bush. Paul survived because he ate insects and sucked leaves. In this video Bear Grylls from Man Vs. Wild (SBS, Monday night, 8.30 pm)eats an African worm! Very funny ... but not very yummy!


LISTENING : A LOST CHILD

When listening to a description of a lost child, what kinds of information would you expect to hear (e.g., the child's name)?

CLICK HERE FOR LISTENING COMPREHENSION ACTIVITY - MISSING CHILDREN IN A SHOPPING CENTRE(Randall's ESL Lab - American English)



MAKING ENQUIRIES ... "I lost my son"



You are at Highpoint Shopping Centre. You look in a shop window for a minute. You look around - your son is gone!

What do you do?
What do you say?
Who do you ask?
Where do you go?

1) ASK THE PEOPLE NEAR YOU ...

a. Excuse me

b. I lost my son

c. Did you see a boy about 3 years old wearing a blue T-shirt and white pants?

WHAT WOULD THEY SAY

No luck!

ASK AT THE INFORMATION DESK

a........

b........

c........

d. Can you make an announcement?

What questions would the lady at the information desk ask you?

eg. Can I help you? / Does he speak English? / What's his name? / etc

1. NOW WRITE A DIALOGUE
Lady: Can I help you?
You: Yes, I lost my son?
Lady: Oh dear! Don't worry. What's his name?

(continue)

2. PRACTISE YOUR DIALOGUE WITH A FRIEND

3. RECORD YOUR DIALOGUE HERE

Here is a PAIR WORK exercise to help you complete the exercise above

Messages, Notes, Risks and Dangers

LEVEL 1 and 2

Last week we studied instructions - what to do in an Emergency.

In the video Mr. Bean visits the Emergency department at a hospital.

What is his problem? How would you help him? How does he try to get to the front of the queue?

LEVEL 1

Read this note and answer the questions:


11.15 am

Fred

Grandma is in hospital. Don't worry, it's not serious. I'm going there now. She is in the Queen Victoria Hospital in Carlton. She is on the 4th floor in Room 409.

See you there.

Susan

P.S I've taken the car

Who wrote the note?
Who is the note for?
What is the message?
What time was it written?

LEVEL 1 : Assessment Task - Listening and Speaking VPAU 493.3/493.4

TAKING NOTES

Listen to the phone discussion. CLICK HERE.

1. Take notes from the conversation you hear ...

HOSPITAL:

FLOOR:

ROOM:

VISITING HOURS:


What happened?

Is he alright? Yes / No

If yes, how do you know?

What was he wearing?

2. A FRIEND OF YOURS HAS HAD AN ACCIDENT. WITH A FRIEND WRITE A DIALOGUE. RECORD IT HERE AT VOXOPOP.COM

CLICK HERE TO READ AND PRINT SCRIPT OF THE CONVERSATION

Teachers: Here is a copy of the VPAU 493.3 Assessment Task


LEVEL 2 and 3: Dangerous Sports : Taking risks



Watch the video above to get an idea about the "exciting" new sport of Free Running (also known by its French name, Le Parkour)

Boxing / Skydiving / Karate / Footy / Diving / Free Running (Le Parkour)...

We talked about these sports in class.

1. Which sport is the most dangerous? Why?
2. Which sport is the least dangerous? Why?
3. Is Boxing more or less dangerous than Free Running? Why?

Now ask your friend what she thinks? Use REPORTED SPEECH and tell me your answers:

eg. Teresa said Boxing was the most dangerous sport because people get brain damage.

Grammar Exercise : Reported Speech (Click here and complete)

LISTENING - LEVEL 2 and 3

DANGEROUS ANIMALS

Which animals are dangerous in your country? In Australia we have sharks and crocodiles, snakes and spiders --- but are they really dangerous?

CLICK HERE to hear from Jingwei and Joseph from Singapore. Which animals do they think are dangerous? Note: Click VIDEO QUIZ on the right hand side ofthe page to complete the listening exercise when you have finished listening to Jingwei and Joseph.

READING ... Are Sharks Really Dangerous?

Facts about Sharks ... CLICK HERE

Read and take notes about sharks from this website to answer the question.

LEVEL 3

The Letters of Rachel Henning ... Life in a Foreign Land

In our reading of the novella last week we discovered that Rachel does not seem to like life in Australia very much. She complains about many things and seems very homesick for England.



CLICK HERE to visit the Permanent Australia Collection at the Ian Potter Gallery (NGV) Melbourne.

Find some paintings of early Australian life to show to the class and discuss with your classmates

Level 1

APPOINTMENTS

We listened to people making appointments last lesson. Here is Mr. Bean trying to get to his Dentist appointment on time ...

Letters: From Me to You

LEVEL 3 : THE LETTERS OF RACHEL HENNING (Chapters 1 and 2)

Last week we started reading the novella, The Letters of Rachel Henning (1853). We will also use this book in our study elective, Australian History.

You have been writing personal and business letters, letters of complaint and emails. How do Rachel's letters differ from the way we write personal letters today?

The letters are very interesting and give us a good idea of what life was like in Australia for a young woman 150 years ago. Her letters are like a diary.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION: Do you think you would like being a young woman in the bush back then? How was the voyage out to Australia? What was life like when a young woman arrived? What was life on the farm like? What was life in Sydney or Melbourne like?

Complete the following questions to help you with the discussion topic



(if you cannot see all of the form, click here)

Level 3 : Writing letters of complaint

Exercise 1 : Rental Property Problems

Go to this page - copy and paste into Word - then practise writing a letter of complaint to Bowman's Realty about problems a - f in our class reading text. Use the reading text to help you complete the task.

Exercise 2 : Problems with a Purchase

Go this page - copy and paste into Word- then practice writing a letter about something you bought which is faulty.

You can copy and paste other templates into Word from this website.