Embedded Files
Sample Chapter Ventures 2 Student's Book (Unit 6)
The goals of the chapter are clear to me, seemingly explicit and repeated throughout, though the first section doesn't immediately point to this. The movement from telling life stories to verb tense (simple past) makes prefect sense. There is engagement with content then task based on that content. Each story captures one person's life journey and the offerings are plentiful and on-point. The Listening flows into grammar and vocabulary adroitly the reading and writing follow in understandable steps. There are controlled tasks that shift to unstructured when partner talk is called upon. Standard English is taught throughout but simple past verbs and time based descriptions are not the stuff of the prescription versus description debate. All four ways of language learning but my student balked at the writing prompts (this may be my student or me). The need to express things past tense are readily apparent and this unit prepares the student for using these tools to communicate. My main complaint is the lack of sensitivity to individual's life situations. Otherwise a solid unit where learning takes place.
Timelines and Major Events
Lesson A Listening
A picture of a family in their home with a family photos on the walls is presented (see photo above). A short story of Russian immigrants moving to the USA is told through the QR code (three conversations overheard); the page offers three sets of three true or false questions for each segment. There are three conversation topics suggested for a partner that center on the student's own lives. This is where the chapter to my mind makes some unhelpful assumptions: not everyone is married or has children or a happy family or graduates from college. The emphasis is our universal commonality but the text pursues achievements or marriage/children as givens. I may be a caretaker of sorts, but I felt this unit landed flat with my student as she's has none of these things. I'm sure there are friends and events where knowing these things is beneficial but it seemed to drive home a bleak world.
Lesson B - When did you move here?
Grammar of simple past verbs: adding -ed with regular verbs and six examples of irregular verbs
The QR codes provide four overheard conversations of folks who got new jobs, graduated schools, met new people, moved to America with accompanying questions (14 total); all involve simple past in fill in the blank. Additionally a timeline of Kasem and Nee is presented with ten content questions. Another partner exercise is offered.
Lesson C - He graduated two years ago
Tim is taught in terms of days, weeks, months, years (ago) as well as time of day, before and after, in/on/at prepositions, last year/next week
Statements are presented with sentence answers prompted (for instance Lou and Angela bought a car three weeks ago (fill in the blank).
There's another set of exercises centered on in/on/at prepositions (eight questions)
The partner section centers on life events. My student is unmarried and childless so some of the wedding, baby, graduation asks proved a nit awkward. But she has family with a lot of those things so it's knowledge she needs. But complicated and honestly I can't think of a way to better present (jobs, moving to America worked fine)
Lesson D - Reading
There are pictures and an interview of a woman named Olga presented. There re thirteen questions proffered (five asking for sentence responses and eight asking to set the events in order chronologically .
The adjoining picture dictionary shows nine life events and you match a phrase with each picture. The partner dialogue centers discussing when and how these things happened in the students' lives. Again this felt awkward to teach my student. Hard thing to wade through if life's been hard.
Lesson E - Writing]
Presents Bo-hai Cheng's life via paragraph and a timeline. He's a super high achiever which was not hard to follow and fill in the blanks on exercises but again, the writing prompt asks the student to write out their lives in similar fashion. Not everyone has a bio like Mr. Cheng.
Lesson F - Another View
The life-skills reading presents a completed marriage license application. This will be useful information for a young couple or a mother with adult age children. There are questions to the content and a grammar review asking about the students marital status and other family information. Easy for some, not so much for others.
Review
Another listening exercise based on QR code Read-Aloud; a grammar lesson based on time and travel (fill in the blank). It ends with a pronunciation exercise aiming to get across stress in asking questions (the upbeat at the question mark).
This teaches the grammar well, but there needs to be a more sensitive way to present life events. Even if adult learners habe bountiful lives, many live oceans away from loved ones, or lost them in conflicts. I like the teaching just wish there was a kinder, gentler path chosen.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse