Five-Minute Activities for Young Learners

2.18 About Mars
Level
***
Language focus
Information report, simple present tense
Skills focus
Listening for key words, spelling
Thinking focus
Grouping information
Teaching approach
Promote accuracy – correct errors
Interaction
Whole class, suitable for large classes
Preparation
Photocopy the note-taking grid from Box 44. Do not copy the
answers.
Procedure
1 Give the children a copy of the note-taking grid. See Box 44.
Note: Some answers are given in the answer grid, so that the children
know what kind of information to put there. You may need to explain
this vocabulary before you read.
2 Tell the children that you are going to read some information about Mars
and they have to listen and complete the grid.
3 Read out the information about Mars at a slow and steady pace. See Box
45. This is not a dictation, so your speed of delivery should be a little
faster than for dictation. The children are listening for key words in order
to take notes.
4 When you have finished reading, ask the children to check their answers
with a partner.
Follow-up
• You could ask the children to write a paragraph about Mars, using their
notes.
• You may prefer to do this activity as a reading task. You could photocopy
the text in Box 45 and ask the children to take notes from the text, using
the note-taking grid in Box 44.
• For other information reports, see Activities 1.7, 1.8, 1.13, 2.8, 4.14.
Five-Minute Activities for Young Learners
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