What can you do?

Objective & content

By the end, A2+ pupils can give advice on an everyday problem with You could ..., You should ... and Why don't you ...?, and say which idea is the best. The bank is 19 projectable slides: a how-to slide, then 18 pictured problems from the life of teenagers, such as a dead phone battery, a missed bus or a forgotten birthday.

Pedagogical guide

Use it as a five-minute speaking warm-up. The problems are small and familiar, so pupils have ideas at once and the effort goes into the language of advice. Asking for two ideas per pair, then a class choice (I think the best idea is ... because ...), adds a reason and a comparison. The slides are interchangeable: show one or two per lesson.

Suggested procedure

1. (1 min) Show the how-to slide and read the example together.
2. (1 min) Show one problem and read it together.
3. (2 min) In pairs, pupils find two ideas with You could ... and You should ....
4. (1 min) Pairs share their ideas; the class chooses the best one.

Adaptations

• [S] Race: which pair finds three ideas first? Pupils can give short ideas from the starters.
• [A] Role play: one pupil has the problem, the other gives advice. Or pupils write a short message to a friend with this problem.

Materials & prerequisites

A projector or screen; the bank is a 16:9 PDF, one slide per page, with no printing needed. Assumes could and should for advice, Why don't you ...?, and the present perfect in short forms (you haven't studied).

Curriculum alignment

Maps to Cycle 3 "child and close environment" and Cycle 4 "encountering others" (FR): talking about everyday problems and helping others.