Speaking Activity 1 GROUP WORK Interview

UNIT 1 LESSON 1

Target Language Materials

The present perfect One copy of the worksheet per student

Have students mingle and ask the question for

PREPARATION (3–5 minutes)
Write on the board the title of a popular movie
that’s currently showing. Call on a student and
ask: Have you seen the movie, ?
If the student says no, keep asking other
students until you get an affirmative answer:
Yes, I have. Or Yes, I’ve seen it. Write the name
of that student and the response next to the
title of the movie.
Ask that student follow-up questions such as,
How was it? Did you like it? Write the student’s
response next to the yes or no answer on the
board.
Report to the class: has seen
Then ask: Has anyone else seen it?
Call on one or two other students who
have also seen the movie and ask follow-up
questions.
PROCEDURE (10–15 minutes)
Give each student a copy of the worksheet.
Point out the third column (Information) on the
worksheet. Tell students to write the responses
to their follow-up questions in this column.
Explain the activity: Students try to find
someone for each of the activities listed on the
worksheet by asking yes / no questions using
the present perfect. (For example, Have you
been to another country?)
Remind students that it is natural to give a little
extra information when answering a question.
For example, the following is a natural pattern:
Q: Have you been to another country?
A: Yes, I’ve been to England.
Students should be aware of this when
thinking of possible follow-up questions.
each item, remembering to use the present
perfect and writing the names of people
who give positive responses in the second
column (Name) on the worksheet. For each
positive response, students should ask a
follow-up question and write the answer in
the Information column. For example, the
questioner should write been to England under
Information if a respondent says he or she
has been to England.
The first student to complete the worksheet
should call out Done! and return to his or her
seat. This student is the winner. At this point
you can either end the activity or allow the
other students to continue until they have
.
completed their worksheets.
OPTIONS / ALTERNATIVES (5–10 minutes)
Have a volunteer come to the front of the class,
introduce himself / herself, and tell something
about one of the activities he or she has done.
For example, Hi, I’m Tom. I like to travel. I’ve
been to and . Have the class
ask follow-up questions such as: What did you
do there? When did you . . .? How did you feel?
Where did you go? Did you enjoy it? How was it?
Was it fun / scary / interesting? and so on.
Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Top Notch 2, Third Edition LESSON PLAN 1

 Find someone who has . . . Name Information

been to another country.

met a famous person.

lost his/her credit card.

won a prize.

performed on stage.
Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

eaten any strange food.

studied other languages

(not English).

ridden on a motorcycle.

gone skydiving.

taken a limousine.

2 UNIT 1, SPEAKING ACTIVITY 1 Top Notch 2, Third Edition

 Speaking Activity 2 GROUP WORK Board game
UNIT 1 LESSON 2

Target Language Materials

One copy of the game board per group;
The present perfect with already, yet, one set of four adverb cards per group; a
ever, before, and never die per group; a coin or other marker for
each player

The other players judge if the sentence is

PREPARATION (3–5 minutes)
grammatically correct or not. [NOTE: Players
should use the present perfect form of the
Write the following chart on the board:
verbs in the HINTS box.] If the sentence is
Adverbs Verbs correct, the player leaves his / her marker
where it is. If the sentence is incorrect, the
yet ever be try have player must move his / her marker back to the
already before go eat take a tour of square where the turn began.
never climb see
At the end of the turn, the player puts the
Show the picture of the Eiffel Tower on adverb card back at the bottom of the pile.
page 6 of the Student’s Book. Ask, In what city The turn then passes on to the next player.
is the Eiffel Tower? (Paris). Circle the adverb ever
and ask a student, Have you ever been to Paris? Remind students to use the name of the place
Write the answer on the board: No, I haven’t. or thing in the picture in the space they land.
Or Yes, I have. If a player lands on the same square more than
once (because of “Go back” squares), that
Write this question on the board and have player should use a different verb each time.
the class ask you the question: Have you had
breakfast yet? Say your answer aloud and then As students are playing, go around the room,
write it on the board: Yes, I’ve already helping judge the sentences.
had breakfast. The first player to reach END is the winner.
Remind the player who reaches END that he or
she must still draw an adverb card and make a
PROCEDURE (10–15 minutes) statement or a question in order to win.

Form groups of four or five. Give each group

one copy of the game board, one set of the OPTIONS / ALTERNATIVES
four adverb cards, one die, and one marker
per player. For a more intensive activity, have each player
Have each group shuffle the adverb cards and on the team think of a follow-up question to
Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc.
put them facedown in the designated space the sentence of the player whose turn it is. That
on the game board. player must answer each follow-up question
with a grammatically correct sentence to keep
Explain the game: The first player puts his or his or her marker on that square. Otherwise, he
her marker on START, tosses the die, and moves or she must go back to the square where the
his or her marker as indicated on the die. turn began.
Upon landing in a space, the player draws an
adverb card. Then he or she makes a statement
or question using: (1) the picture or word
prompt in the space, (2) the adverb on the
card drawn, and (3) one of the verbs from the
HINTS box.

Top Notch 2, Third Edition LESSON PLAN 3

 Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

4
UNIT 1, SPEAKING ACTIVITY 2
Top Notch 2, Third Edition
 Speaking Activity 3 GROUP WORK Guessing game
UNIT 1 LESSON 3

Target Language Materials

Language to discuss gestures and customs One set of travel tip cards per group cut
around the world into 14 cards

Explain the game: A student from each group

PREPARATION (3 minutes)
selects a card and reads the statement aloud.
Each card features a travel tip about a gesture
Write the following travel tip on the board:
or custom from a specific country. All group
It’s not polite to ask how much money someone
members, including the reader, then guess if
makes or how much an expensive item costs.
the statement is true or false for that country.
(United States)
Remind students to discuss each travel tip
Explain that you are going to play a guessing
together and talk about what they may know
game about gestures and culture around the
about each specific country before writing their
world. Read the statement above aloud. Ask,
own guesses on a piece of paper. Emphasize
Do you think this is true about the U.S.?
that it’s OK to just make a “wild guess.”
Encourage the class to debate the answer to the
When all cards have been read and each guess
question. Students can use any information they
is written down, review the answers as a class.
have about other cultures to help them guess.
Call on individual students to come to the front
Emphasize that it’s OK if students don’t know
of the class and read the statements. After each
the answer—they can just make a “wild guess.”
statement is read, have the class indicate their
Elicit by a show of hands how many students guesses with a show of hands. Then read the
think the statement is true. Tell the class that answer provided in the answer key. The student
the statement is true. Explain that people in with the most correct guesses wins.
the U.S. avoid talking about wealth or money.
It’s rude to ask about a person’s salary or how
much someone paid for expensive items such OPTIONS / ALTERNATIVES (10–15 minutes)
as homes, cars, etc.
Elicit from the class what the custom is in their Have each student research one more true and
own country for talking about wealth. false travel tip for another country, using the
library or the Internet.

PROCEDURE (10–15 minutes)

Form groups of three students. Have each

group form a circle. Give each group a set of
8 travel tip cards.
Answer Key
1. True: In the U.S., if you cross your middle
finger over your index finger while
making a promise, it means that you
don’t intend to keep the promise. It’s a
common joke played by children.
2. False: It’s bad luck to wear a coat in a
public building or put a coat on your
chair in a restaurant in Russia. Every
public building has a coatroom where
you should hang your coat.
3. True: In Egypt, handshakes between men
are sometimes followed by a gesturing
touch on the elbow or shoulder of the
opposite man. This shows that you value
the person’s friendship.
4. False: In India, always use the right
hand when eating or receiving food and
never the left. As the left hand is used
for washing the body, it is considered
unclean.
5. True: In Nigeria, parents wink to their
children as a signal that they would like
the room to themselves. For example,
parents may do this when guests arrive
and they want some peace and quiet!
Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc.
6. True: Australians sit in the front seat of
a taxi when traveling alone. A single
passenger sitting in the back seat is
viewed as anti-social or arrogant.
7. True: In the Ukraine, people believe that
it’s bad luck to greet someone, shake
hands, or exchange gifts in a doorway.
8. True: In Singapore, people never share
their leftover food with others once it
touches their plate. In fact, it’s even bad
manners to let a serving spoon touch
your plate!

Top Notch 2, Third Edition LESSON PLAN 5

 2 It’s customary to keep your coat with
1 When you cross two fingers on you and to put your coat on the back
one hand, it means you just told of your chair when you are seated in a
a lie. (United States) True or False? restaurant or other public building.
(Russia) True or False?

3 It’s polite to touch a person’s 4 When eating, use only your left
elbow with the fingers of your left hand for taking food from a serving
hand after you shake hands. (Egypt) dish. Use only your right hand for
True or False? eating. (India) True or False?

6 If you are the only passenger in

5 If you wink at a child, it means
a taxi, sit in the front, next to the
you want the child to leave the
driver, and not in back. (Australia)
Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

room. (Nigeria) True or False?

True or False?

7 It’s bad luck to shake hands in a 8 When eating dinner, you should
doorway because people believe never share food from your plate
it will lead to an argument. with other people at the table.
(Ukraine) True or False? (Singapore) True or False?

6 UNIT 1, SPEAKING ACTIVITY 3 Top Notch 2, Third Edition

 Speaking Activity 4 PAIR GROUP WORK Interview and discussion
UNIT 1 LESSON 4

Target Language Materials

The present perfect One copy of the worksheet per student

Tell the applicants that they can use their

PREPARATION (3–5 minutes)
imagination in answering the questions; their
answers don’t have to be true.
Write the phrase reality TV on the board. Ask
the class what they think it is and to give some Partners switch roles. Student B asks the
examples. Explain that reality TV is a genre of questions.
television programming in which the lives of
After both partners have finished, divide the
“real people” (not fictional characters played
class into two groups: Put all A’s in one group
by actors) are followed by cameras. Some
and all B’s in another.
examples are the American TV shows Survivor
and The Apprentice. Students are now all producers. They report
the results of the questionnaire to their groups.
Write the word producer on the board. Elicit or
Each group must choose only one applicant to
explain that the producer is the person who
be on the TV show.
supervises or finances the making of a movie,
TV and radio show, or play. After both groups have chosen, ask for a
volunteer from each group to announce their
Ask a student: Have you ever watched a reality
group’s choice and give reasons for their
TV show?
choice. Remind the volunteers to use the
Write the response on the board: Yes, I have. Or present perfect in their reasons.
No, I haven’t. Ask other students until you get
an affirmative answer. Then report to the class:
has watched a reality TV show. OPTIONS / ALTERNATIVES (10–15 minutes)
Ask follow-up questions to encourage those
Form groups of three or four. Designate one
who enjoy watching reality TV shows to share
student in each group as the producer. The
their reactions to these shows.
producer questions all the applicants in the
group and enters each person’s answers on
that person’s worksheet.
PROCEDURE (10–15 minutes)
The producers then get together and choose
Pair students. Designate A and B students. one applicant for their TV show.
Give each student a copy of the worksheet.
While the producers are meeting, distribute
Explain the activity: Student A is the additional worksheets, so the other group Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc.
“producer” of a reality TV show and Student members can practice asking and answering
B is the “applicant.” The director is looking the questions.
for contestants for a new reality television
Rotate roles and repeat the activity.
program. The producer asks the applicant the
questions on the worksheet and writes down
the applicant’s answers.

Top Notch 2, Third Edition LESSON PLAN 7

 ALIT Y
RE

Questionnaire
TE
LEVISION

APPLICANT’S NAME: AGE:

1. Have you ever lived in 4. Have you done other interesting

another country? or unusual sports activities?
No Yes No Yes
If yes, what country have you What other interesting or unusual
lived in before? sports and activities have you done?

2. Have you ever eaten . . . 5. Which experience was the most . . .

s a snake? s frightening?
s insects? s thrilling?
Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

s a frog? s disgusting?
s anything unusual? s fascinating?
What unusual things have
you eaten?

3. Have you ever . . .

s gone hang gliding?
s gone parachuting?
s done anything else
dangerous?
What dangerous sports and
activities have you done?

8 UNIT 1, SPEAKING ACTIVITY 4 Top Notch 2, Third Edition