Amanda Robinson Grammar Task, Page 1

The Zany Zookeeper

Grammar/Listening/Reading

Task objective: To report ones work to the zookeeper boss using past, present progressive and future verbs, and to earn a salary and keep from getting fired Skill: !se of past "irregular#, present progressive, and future tense verbs$ Setting: % worker is talking with the boss in his/her offi&e$ Age: 'igh beginner/Low intermediate(best for students of different nationalities$ Materials: )tudents will work in pairs, with one as the boss, and the other as the zookeeper$ The boss has a *+osss ,he&klist,- and the zookeeper has a *.any .ookeeper Timeline$- "+oth in&luded$# The zookeeper should also re&eive /01 play money as a salary "in 0s and 21s#$ Problem to be solved: The zookeeper must effe&tively &ommuni&ate what work he or she has done in order to earn a pay&he&k and not be fired$ !sing the *.any .ookeeper Timeline,- the zookeeper will tell the boss what was done last week, what is being done now, and what will be done ne3t week$ "4ption: %ll of the verbs used in this a&tivity are irregular$ The tea&her may wish to &hange the tenses "from past, present progressive, future#, depending on what tense is being taught$# Pre-task: 2$ )tudents will review irregular past tense verbs with flash&ards$ They will have used them in senten&es for homework and dis&ussed the senten&es in &lass$ 5$ )tudents will review future tense formations with the verb *will$They will use these in meaningful senten&es$ 6$ )tudents will review present progressive forms through book e3er&ises and &ommenting on a movie$ Task sequence: 2$ The tea&her will ask students to move in pairs, and inform them that one person in the pair is the *boss,- and the other is the *zookeeper$- The tea&her will pass out the materials to both students$ 5$ The tea&her will e3plain that the boss has a &he&klist of tasks that need to be done, and the boss should say to the zookeeper, *Give me a report of your work so far$6$ The zookeeper has a reporting timeline$ The zookeeper should read ea&h senten&e in the timeline with the appropriate tense, depending on whether the work was done last week, now, or ne3t week$ 7$ The boss listens and &he&ks the bo3es on his or her sheet a&&ordingly$

Amanda Robinson Grammar Task, Page 2

0$ 8ay &uts: The tea&her should inform students that the wrong tense &an be potentially disastrous a$ 9or wrong past tense: )tudents missing past irregulars will get a pay &ut be&ause the boss will think they didnt do what they were supposed to$ 9or ea&h missed word, students should pay /0$ b$ 9or wrong present progressive: )tudents pay /0$ :f they use past tense 5 or more times, they should be fired, be&ause they are &laiming to do work they didnt do$ &$ 9or wrong future: )tudents pay /0$ :f they use past tense 5 or more times, they should be fired, be&ause they are &laiming to do work they didnt do$ eedback: )tudents re&eive feedba&k through the bosss &he&klist, and through losing money "pay &uts# for reporting the wrong information$ They &an also be *fired- for giving the wrong information$ The zookeeper with the most money at the end *wins$- ":f the tea&her wants to make it a &ontest$# !ption ": :nstead of having ea&h se&tion "Last week, now, ne3t week# labeled as su&h on the bosss sheet, the boss may simply have a list of words "possibly even mi3ed up#$ The employee must &ommuni&ate when the ;obs were done, and the boss must determine this by &ir&ling the &orre&t times$ Then they must go ba&k and see how many times the employee mis&ommuni&ated, and dedu&t from the employees salary a&&ordingly$

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#oss$s %hecklist
(Circle each word that your zookeeper says in his or her report.)
&ast 'eek: "9or anything other than the bold words, take away /0 from the zookeeper # %nimal/Thing 8ast 8resent 9uture 4ther )loths (oke <ake <ill wake =lephants #eat +eat <ill beat ,heetah )ung 'ang <ill hang %nteater #ought +uy <ill buy Tou&an ound 9ind <ill find 8ython orgot 9orget <ill forget ,heetah )ung 'ang <ill hang +ob&at ro*e 9reeze <ill freeze +ison +an Run <ill run =verything (as :s <ill be Gazelles Sold )ell <ill sell >ulture &ost Lose <ill lose %lligator Meant ?ean <ill mean <orkers Paid 8ay <ill pay ,o': "9or anything other than the bold words, take away /0 from the zookeeper 9or more than one in the *Last week- &olumn, theyre fired # %nimal/Thing 8ast 8res$ 8rogr$ 8resent 4ther %lligator +uilt Am building +uild Tree +urned Am burning +urn 9lamingoes ,hose Am choosing ,hoose Turtles @ug Am digging @ig 'yena 9ed Am -eeding 9eed <arthog 'id Am hiding 'ide ,e.t 'eek: "9or anything other than the bold words, take away /0 from the zookeeper 9or more than one in the *Last week- &olumn, theyre fired ## %nimal/Thing 8ast 8resent progr$ 9uture 4ther )Auirrel monkey +egan %m beginning (ill begin =mus +ought %m buying (ill buy ?eetings ,ame %m &oming (ill come =lementary @rew %m drawing (ill dra' s&hools Bing snake Bept %m keeping (ill keep %kron zoo Told %m telling (ill tell ,hin&hillas )ent %m sending (ill send 4tter 8ut %m putting (ill put Lions Threw %m throwing (ill thro' .ebras <rote %m writing (ill 'rite

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Last Week:
1. 2. 3. 4. '. *. +. -. /. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. I _____ the sloths (wake . I _____ m! best time "or #leaning the ele$hants% #age (beat . I _____ the dead bran#h o"" o" the tree in the #heetah%s habitat (break . I _____ the new #ontainers o" ants "or the anteater (b&! . I _____ the to&#an. (e was hiding in the )er! ba#k o" his habitat ("ind . I _____ to gi)e "ood to the $!thon ("orget . I _____ the e,tra "ood o&t o" rea#h o" the #heetah (hang . I _____ the meat we will gi)e to the bob#at ne,t week ("ree.e . I _____ tests on the bison to #he#k "or si#kness (r&n . 1ort&natel!, e)er!thing _____ oka! (is . I ____ two ga.elles to the 2in#innati 3oo (sell . I _____ the new $a$erwork "or the new )&lt&re (lose . I ____ to make a new habitat "or the alligator, b&t I%ll ha)e to do it this week (mean . I _____ the other workers ($a! . 1. 2. 3. 4. '. *.

Now4
I _____ a new habitat "or the alligator (b&ild . I _____ the old bran#h that I sawed o"" the tree (b&rn . I _____ a new $la#e to $&t the "lamingoes (#hoose . I _____ a new $ond "or the t&rtles (dig . I _____ the h!ena more o"ten ("eed . I _____ the warthog habitat "rom the )iew o" the lion habitat (hide . 1.

Next Week4
I _____ to obser)e and write down the beha)iors o" the s5&irrel monke! (begin . 2. I _____ more "en#ing to $&t &$ "or the em&s (b&! . 3. I _____ to more meetings (#ome . 4. I _____ &$ a $lan to in)ol)e elementar! s#hools in s&$$orting o&r animals (draw . '. I _____ #loser tra#k o" the king snake, to make s&re o" its health (kee$ . *. I _____ the Akron .oo that we #an gi)e them one o" o&r to&#ans (tell . +. I _____ an e6mail to a s#ientist "or more in"ormation on the #hin#hillas (send . -. I _____ more "ish in to the otter habitat ($&t . /. I _____ more meat to the lions (throw . 10. I _____ to the #hildren%s maga.ine to tell them the! $&blished "alse in"ormation on .ebras (write .

Amanda Robinson Grammar Task, Page '

#oss$s %hecklist /!ption "0

Circle or write each verb that your zookeeper says in his or her report. Determine the time that the job is/was done: last week, now, or ne t week.
<oke +eat 'ung +uilt +ought +urned 9ound ,hose 9orgot @ug 'ung 9ed 9roze 'id Ran <as )old Lost ?eant 8aid <ake +eat 'ang %m building +uy %m burning 9ind %m &hoosing 9orget %m digging 'ang %m feeding 9reeze %m hiding Run :s )ell Lose ?ean 8ay <ill wake <ill beat <ill hang +uild <ill buy +urn <ill find ,hoose <ill forget @ig <ill hang 9eed <ill freeze 'ide <ill run <ill be <ill sell <ill lose <ill mean <ill pay

)loths

%nimal/Thing =lephants ,heetah %lligator %nteater Tree Tou&an 9lamingoes 8ython Turtles ,heetah 'yena +ob&at <arthog +ison =verything Gazelles >ulture %lligator <orkers %nimal/Thing
)Auirrel monkey =mus ?eetings =lementary s&hools Bing snake %kron zoo ,hin&hillas 4tter Lions .ebras

4ther:

<hen done:

4ther +egan +ought ,ame @rew Bept Told )ent 8ut Threw <rote %m beginning %m buying %m &oming %m drawing %m keeping %m telling %m sending %m putting %m throwing %m writing <ill begin <ill buy <ill &ome <ill draw <ill keep <ill tell <ill send <ill put <ill throw <ill write

<hen done:

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(7$tion 2

Past:
1'. I _____ the sloths (wake . 1*. I _____ m! best time "or #leaning the ele$hants% #age (beat . 1+. I _____ the dead bran#h o"" o" the tree in the #heetah%s habitat (break . 1-. I _____ the new #ontainers o" ants "or the anteater (b&! . 1/. I _____ the to&#an. (e was hiding in the )er! ba#k o" his habitat ("ind . 20. I _____ to gi)e "ood to the $!thon ("orget . 21. I _____ the e,tra "ood o&t o" rea#h o" the #heetah (hang . 22. I _____ the meat we will gi)e to the bob#at ne,t week ("ree.e . 23. I _____ tests on the bison to #he#k "or si#kness (r&n . 24. 1ort&natel!, e)er!thing _____ oka! (is . 2'. I ____ two ga.elles to the 2in#innati 3oo (sell . 2*. I _____ the new $a$erwork "or the new )&lt&re (lose . 2+. I ____ to make a new habitat "or the alligator, b&t I%ll ha)e to do it this week (mean . 2-. I _____ the other workers ($a! . +.

Present progressive4
I _____ a new habitat "or the alligator (b&ild . -. I _____ the old bran#h that I sawed o"" the tree (b&rn . /. I _____ a new $la#e to $&t the "lamingoes (#hoose . 10. I _____ a new $ond "or the t&rtles (dig . 11. I _____ the h!ena more o"ten ("eed . 12. I _____ the warthog habitat "rom the )iew o" the lion habitat (hide .

Future:
11. I _____ to obser)e and write down the beha)iors o" the s5&irrel monke! (begin . 12. I _____ more "en#ing to $&t &$ "or the em&s (b&! . 13. I _____ to more meetings (#ome . 14. I _____ &$ a $lan to in)ol)e elementar! s#hools in s&$$orting o&r animals (draw . 1'. I _____ #loser tra#k o" the king snake, to make s&re o" its health (kee$ . 1*. I _____ the Akron .oo that we #an gi)e them one o" o&r to&#ans (tell . 1+. I _____ an e6mail to a s#ientist "or more in"ormation on the #hin#hillas (send . 1-. I _____ more "ish in to the otter habitat ($&t . 1/. I _____ more meat to the lions (throw . 20. I _____ to the #hildren%s maga.ine to tell them the! $&blished "alse in"ormation on .ebras (write .