Grammar Fix: Make my homework: make, do, and which is which

Objective & content

students correctly choose make for creating something new (a cake, a decision, a mistake, friends, noise, a phone call) versus do for an activity or task (homework, the dishes, your best, a favour, research), in both directions. The printable is the unit's class pack: one A4 pupil sheet (recognition items, then fill-in and word-order drills) printed once per pupil, and one teacher sheet with the answer key and the notes below.

Pedagogical guide

English splits one everyday idea into two verbs, but most learners' first languages use a single verb for both (French faire, Spanish hacer, Italian fare, Portuguese fazer) and transfer the confusion in both directions. German/Dutch mostly transfer only make-for-do (their own mistake-collocation already matches English); Polish mostly transfers only do-for-make (it has a separate verb for homework). Every market transfers at least one direction. Use it after the class has watched the unit, or on its own as a targeted repair when the mistake shows up in written work.

Suggested procedure

1. (3 min) Write the target sentence on the board and ask what is wrong with it. Collect the class's answers.
2. (10 min) Pupils work through the pupil sheet alone: recognition items first, then the drills.
3. (5 min) Check with the teacher sheet. Read the explanation of each recognition item aloud.
4. (2 min) Exit line: each pupil writes one correct sentence with the structure on a slip of paper.

Adaptations

• [S] Do the recognition items together as a class before pupils try the drills alone.
• [A] give students a fresh list of nouns (a plan, a call, an effort, a promise) and have them sort each into a make or do column, then write one true sentence about their week for each.

Materials & prerequisites

One pupil sheet per pupil, one teacher sheet. No audio needed; the Grammar Fix unit video is an optional lead-in. Watch for: make-for-do on activity collocations ("make my homework", "make a favour"); do-for-make on creation collocations ("do a mistake", "do a decision"); and, once the rule lands, occasional overcorrection back to make on a subtler activity item like favour.

Curriculum alignment

Grammar tags: logical-connectors. Filed at A2- (the level where the mistake starts to appear); the example sentences stay inside that band.

Assessment & extensions

The exit line is the check. Extend with the Grammar Fix unit itself, or with the grammar sheet on the same structure when one exists.