At the vet's

Objective & content

A two-page pack for one everyday situation: taking a pet to the vet. Pupils learn the words (vet, collar, lead, bowl, medicine, pet basket) and the phrases to explain what is wrong (He hasn't eaten since yesterday. He can't walk properly.), ask questions (Is it serious? How often should he take it?) and understand the vet's advice (Give him this medicine twice a day. He should rest.). Then they hear the same language in a real conversation, the Listen Up! episode "At the vet's", and use it themselves in a role-play. By the end, they can explain a pet's problem to a vet and understand what to do next.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 is the language of the situation. Pupils talk about a picture of a vet's waiting room, write six words under new drawings (the first is done), read a box of useful phrases (what you say or ask, and what you hear), and match five questions to their answers. Page 2 puts the language to work. Pupils complete a short dialogue with words from a box (Sam, whose dog Biscuit has a cut on his leg), then listen to the episode: Mia and her dad take their pet Pepper to the vet because she has stopped eating. A QR code on the sheet plays the recording on a phone or a tablet, with no app and no login. Pupils tick true or false, listen again for four short answers, then do a role-play with A and B cards: a dog owner and a vet talk about a dog that cannot walk properly. Card B holds the information card A needs, so pupils have to ask. Every task opens with an example. Page 1 and the dialogue use other names, places and prices, so they never give away a listening answer. Page 3 is the answer key with the teacher notes.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Pupils look at the picture on page 1 and say where the people are and what they are doing.
2. (5 min) Pupils write the words under the pictures; check together.
3. (5 min) Pupils read the useful phrases aloud in pairs, one asking and one answering.
4. (5 min) Pupils match the questions to the answers.
5. (5 min) Page 2: pupils complete the dialogue with the words in the box.
6. (10 min) Play the episode once for true or false, then again for the short answers.
7. (10 min) Role-play in pairs with card A and card B, then pupils swap cards.
8. (5 min) Check the answers with page 3.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils read the useful phrases aloud in pairs before the role-play, and keep page 1 in front of them while they play it. [A] Pupils invent their own problem in the same place and act it out without the cards.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 and 2 per pupil; cut out the role cards on page 2. Page 3 is the answer key: keep it. To play the episode, pupils scan the QR code with a phone or a tablet, or you play it to the class from the app (Listen Up!, "At the vet's"). Pupils need the present perfect with since in set phrases, should for advice, and pets and body words.