PP104: Additions and Revisions

As I've continued working with the sample lesson materials for PP104, they've evolved in various ways.

First, I fleshed out the lesson plan with information on the student "audience," expected time needed for the activities, and objectives. I also added a simple sequencing exercise to the first reading and may add a short "Ask Your Partner Questions" to it; I haven't yet decided.

Next, I'd originally intended to have one homework exercise involving multiple meanings for the same combination of verb + particle(s)—for example, differing meanings of pick out, take out, check out. I don't know if I'll have enough time to do that, however. I did add a free-answer comprehension quiz, though--and this should be a good way of determining whether students understand the meanings of the targeted phrasal verbs and have some idea of their syntactic behavior.

Also, I'd like to include vocabulary and grammar notes to focus on the idiomatic character of phrasal verbs (vocabulary) and the issues of separability / inseparability / no object (grammar). These sections are, I think, necessary; without them, the lesson exists only in isolation and is useful only as a demonstration of how to create different types of exercises and link them to other materials.

One more thing I want to include is a short list of WWW links. (I did my own phrasal verbs site years ago and at the time, it was all there was. Now, however, there are a number of very informative and useful sites devoted to that particular topic; I think my classmates would be interested in knowing about them.

Speaking of links, I'm pleased to have been able to enable students to find definitions for the targeted phrasal verbs in the online Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (via www.onelook.com).