First published online 05.02.09

©

Macmillan Polska 2009

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Teacher’s Notes

American symbols

by Hubert Karbowy

Type of activity: Pair work

Focus: Reading and Speaking

Level: Pre-Intermediate

Time: About 15 minutes

Preparation:

Photocopy worksheet 1 (one for the whole class)

and worksheet 2 (one per pair). Cut up the slips

from worksheet 1 and stick them randomly on

the classroom walls. If you want to make this

activity more difficult, you can cut off the

pictures on the slips, so that students will not be

able to tell what the slip describes without

reading it.

Procedure:

1. Get students to work in pairs. Give them

exactly one minute to list anything that comes

to their mind when they think about the

United States of America. Get feedback.

2. Explain that in this activity students will learn

about four important American symbols: the

flag, Uncle Sam, the Independence Day and

the Statue of Liberty.

3. In each pair there should be one person who

does the writing (Student A) and the other

who does the running (Student B). Hand out

worksheet 2 to every Student A.

4. Student A now reads one question from the

worksheet to Student B, who must find the

answer on one of the slips stuck on the walls.

Emphasize that only one question at a time

may be read.

5. The pair who correctly answers all the

questions first is the winner.

Follow-up:

1. Students can try to describe the symbols of

their country.

2. If you have a more imaginative class, you can

ask your students to invent a new country and

design its symbols – the flag, the emblem and

the national plant. They should also be able

to justify their decisions.