The story of the telephone

TOPIC: The story of the telephone.

Language focus: Order of adverbs and adverbial phrases in a sentence

Vocabulary: Telephoning

Optional materials: English-Polish dictionaries

Warm-up

• Ask students if they often talk on the phone. Ask them which phones they prefer – stationary or mobile and why.

Vocabulary and speaking

Telephoning

1
• Students work in pairs to match the expressions in 1 with the photos.
Key: phone card, receiver, keypad, mouthpiece, mobile, fax machine, phone box

2
• Tell students to match the expressions in 2 with their definitions. Ask several pairs for their suggestions.
Key:
a) wrong number
b) engaged
c) make a local call
d) call someone
e) dial a number
f) make a long distance call
g) phone book
h) dialing tone
i) ringing tone
j) area code

3
• ask students to look at the set of instructions for using the phone in the telephone box and put them in the correct order. Check the answers with the class.
Key: b, g, c, h, i, f, a, e, d.

4
• Draw students’ attention to the L!ve hint. Say your telephone number and ask some students to say their numbers in the same way.
• Tell students to prepare pieces of paper and something to write with. Students will walk around the class asking the other about their telephone numbers. They note their numbers on the prepared sheets of paper.
• If students want to, they can make a class phone book.

Language across the curriculum

History of science

Reading and speaking

5
• Tell students to look at the photos and ask them what they know about Alexander Graham Bell. Do not give them the answer yet.
• Tell students to read The Story of the Telephone and find the answers to the questions in 5.
• Check the answers with the class

Key:
a) inventor and teacher
b) 19th century
c) Edinburgh, London, Canada, USA

7
• Tell students to read the story again and to look for the sentence which describes what they can see in the photo.

Finally, he spoke these famous words slowly…

8
• Ask them to find the answers to the questions. Ask several pairs for the answers

Grammar

Order of adverbs and adverbial phrases in a sentence

9
• Write the two example sentences on the board. Underline the adverbials and ask students what questions they answer. Draw students’ attention to the position of adverbials.
• Tell students to read the three ...