At first laugh
by Agnieszka Szeżyńska
©
Macmillan Polska 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Teacher’s Notes
First published online 05.02.08
Type of school: gimnazjum
Type of activity: pairwork, matching,
writing, speaking
Focus: funny quotations related to
the topic of love
Level/age group: intermediate
Time: 20 min
Preparation: copy one Student's Worksheet
per student
Procedure:
1. Introduce the topic of St.Valentine's Day
by asking students if they think the holiday is
a rather serious or a rather funny one, and
about their general attitude to the tradition
(this could be done in pairs). Also introduce
the phrase 'love at first sight' by asking
students if they believe in it.
2. Tell students they are going to read some
funny quotations about love (you may have
to explain what a quotation is). Give out the
Student's Worksheets, ask students to work
in pairs and match the quotation halves to
make full quotations. Check with the whole
group, solving any vocabulary problems as
you go along.
3. Next, ask students to work in pairs again
and choose five of the ten quotations. They
should work together to paraphrase each of
them in 1-2 sentences and write the
paraphrases in the spaces provided. Monitor
and help while they are doing this. (Both
s t u d e n t s s h o u l d w r i t e d o w n t h e
descriptions, as they will next work
separately).
4. When they are finished, ask students to
work with different partners and take turns
to read out their descriptions and guess
which of the quotations is being described by
their partner.
Extension:
With a creative and willing group, ask
students to try to come up with similar
funny sentences about love, for example
using the frame:
Love is like (a) …………… - …………………………,
but …………………………. .
Follow-up:
As homework, ask students to search for
more funny love quotations on the Internet
and bring them for the next class.
Answer Key:
Task 1.
1. Love is being stupidtogether.
2. My wife and I were happy for 20 years
- then we met.
3. Marriage is the process of finding out exactly
what kind of person you do not want to spend
your life with.
4. You can't buy love on eBay.
5. I love being married. It's so great to find this one
special person you want to annoy for the rest of
your life.
6. Love is a fire,but you never know if it is going to
warm your heart or burn down your house.
7. In my house I'm the boss, my wife only makes
decisions.
8. I've been in love with the same woman for forty
years. If my wife ever finds out, she'll kill me.
9. Love is like heaven,but it can hurt like hell.
10. True love is like a pair of socks -you have to have
two and they have to match.
Task 2.
Love is a fire, but you never know if it is going to
warm your heart or burn down your house.