Adverbs: A Lesson Plan in 2 Sessions 
by Hristina Keranova

Since the schedule does not  specify what kind of students we should be teaching, I made  it on the assumption that we are teaching in an academic  ESL program where the students are already familiar to a  certain and, surely, different extent with adverbs and  adverbials.  

These assumptions made me use the chapter in a  retrieval-revision-consolidation plan forming a curve in  the moving upwards spiral of knowledge which most   textbooks create and serving as a base for a subsequent  introduction of adverbial clauses. 

Time range: two sessions of hour and  a half each 

The Two Sessions for the Plan


Session
1
Aim – to enhance the students' cognitive  awareness of the role, form and meaning of adverbs and  adverbials and facilitate their use. 

1. formal instruction -- the connection between adj. and  adv., classification of adv. based on form.  Students are  given handouts containing the information printed from the  exercise session of lecture 8, the link to adverbs, which,  in a very simple form, introduces the types of adv. on the  basis of their formation from adj. The order is: ly, the  same as adj., irregulars.  In the following discussion the  students are encouraged to add examples of their own. 

2. short controlled practice -- handouts with sample  sentences illustrating the transformation of adj., similar  to the sentences shown on p. 332 in the practice section  but incorporating all the varieties of adv.(any grammar  with exercises shows a lot of examples) 

3. consolidating receptive stage-- focus on use of adv. as  modifying activities,  adjectives and other adverbs.   Students are given newspapers, magazines, or copies of  articles and the task is to identify the adverbs, their  type and use.  That stage is used to draw the students  attention to adverbials of time, space, manner, reason,  their difference from single – word adverbs is pointed out,  position variations are discussed.  The examples in the  newspaper are backed up by the information on p. 336, and a  word order exercise, similar to D p. 339 is done 

4. Integrated skills -- task: you saw an accident on your  way back home.  Describe it and your reaction to it;  include adv. and advl. and be ready to explain and justify  their form and use.  Depending on the level of the  particular group, we can give them the beginning: At 5  yesterday evening, I was slowly driving home... variation:(more skills involved, but more controlled) The  teacher saw an accident, the students ask 
questions to get  inf. about it, take notes, and write a description. 

5. kind of evaluation stage – students exchange stories in  pairs and discuss adv. use and form in closed pairs, the  teacher moving around, ready to join in , if asked. 

Session 2 Aim: To revise and expand the knowledge of frequency adverbs, usually introduced with  present simple 

1. reaching back to old knowledge - talking about routines.   Tell students what you do every day; they asked to  reciprocate by telling about their own days 

2. draw attention to table p. 333 and discuss both meaning  and position.  Use diagrams, percentage to illustrate  meaning 

3. for controlled practice do A-C p.337-338 

4. briefly introduce negative adv. at beginning p. 335,  explain it is used for emphasis and show several examples;  do E p.339 

5. famous integrated skills kinesthetic task - handouts  containing a table with name students horizontally and  recreations vertically.  Students move around interviewing  colleagues on where, how often they go on holiday what they   usually do free time.  The inf. is entered into table as  notes and as a follow up a short talk is given.