Who do I want to be?

What are my interests and strengths?

Learning Intentions
Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to evaluate personal qualities, identify areas of interests and relate strengths.
Self Management

In order to introduce the idea of personality, interests and strengths, a game of target language Four Corners or Walking Debates* could be played. Simple statements could include:

• I like making things;
• I like going out with my mates;
• Manchester United are better then Liverpool ;
• X-Factor is the best programme on TV;
• I-Pods are better than Playstations.

Prompt questions:

• When do you go out and with whom?
• Where do you go and why?
• What is your favourite programme on TV? Is it because you are musical/sporty etc?
• Do you have a part-time job?

To consolidate their learning, pupils play People Bingo*. This will also develop oral communication around relevant issues. They are given a sheet with various sentences in the target language (TL). Sentences may include:

• I have a part-time job;
• I earn over £20 a week;
• I like hurling;
• I surf the net every night;
• I am very good at Art etc.

They formulate questions using the sentences, then ask questions to find a person in the class to go with each statement.

…to demonstrate originality in ideas and suggestions…
Being Creative

…to relate information in the target language about part-time jobs.

…to encourage others towards a team goal

…to be willing to take increased responsibility…
Working with Others

Collage Challenge

Using target language magazines, pupils create a collage of pictures and target language words which reflects their personality, interests and strengths. Product criteria might include:

• at least five relevant TL words;
• at least five images;
• demonstration of a future hope or intention.

Once completed, pupils could randomly choose one collage and describe the person on it in the TL.

Opportunity to assess Communication

Pupils play a memory game using language relating to the world of work (I work, I earn, etc).

Three identical sheets are placed at the front of the room. The sheet will contain a set of eight sentences in the TL relating to what a very busy young person does on each day of the week to earn money. Each sentence could include ‘I work’ or ‘I earn’ and an opinion. For example:

• On Mondays, I work in a computer shop. It’s fun!
• On Tuesdays, I earn £10. I deliver newspapers. It’s boring!

Pupils in each group will take it in turns to come up for thirty seconds and look at the sheet. Each person has three turns. The aim is for pupils to work as a team and write out the sheet as accurately as possible. Follow this with an exploration of what worked well for each team and the problems that they encountered.

As an extension activity, pupils in groups could look at the unsequenced diary extracts for this particular young person from last week. They could match the extract to the correct day and give a reason for their decision. Additionally, the extracts could contain information about what went well or not on each day. Pupils could develop a ‘fortune line’ to chart the person’s progress throughout the week.

Pupils could play a game such as Consequence to consolidate the language used in the unit so far. Pupils start with a blank page. The teacher asks a question, such as ‘what is your favourite hobby?’ Pupils write the answer in sentence form and fold the page over slightly to hide their answer. They then pass on to the next person who will write the answer to the next question. Other questions might include:

• Do you have a part-time job?
• How much do you earn?
• How would you describe yourself?

In groups of four, pupils open up and read out the sheets they have. They choose one to focus on and draw an image which represents the interests, jobs, strengths and characteristics of the person on the sheet. They give their person a name and describe them to others in the class.

What could I write about myself on an application form in the target language?

Learning Intentions
Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to express their personality, interests and experiences in a written form in the target language.

Pupils could write an e-postcard about themselves that they could send to a partner in a target language school or even in their own school. Pupils could create their own e-postcard or use target language websites such as:

german.about.com/library/blpostkarte.htm.

Opportunity to assess Communication and/or Using ICT

Show pupils an example of a young person’s job application form. Create a set of ten ‘fact or opinion’ statements; use these to develop comprehension skills. Pupils then fill in a typical one-page application form in the target language.

How can I talk about making future choices and career options in a different language?

Learning Intentions
Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to express and justify opinions on career options and choices.

…to order, classify and examine options.
Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

As an introduction to this key question, pupils could acquire job vocabulary relevant to the discussion of future career options. www.linguascope.com is a useful site for reinforcing vocabulary. The slide show resource available from this web site can be used on an interactive whiteboard.

Give pupils a set of picture cards showing different occupations; ask them to classify the pictures in whatever way they think best. There is no right or wrong answer. For example:

• They earn a lot of money.
• It’s done mostly by men/women.
• They work with children.
• They travel a lot.

Discuss in the TL how they have classified the groups and how they came to these decisions.

Alternatively, a set of statements could be created to match specific occupations, such as:

• I have long holidays;
• I work from home;
• I make lots of decisions.

Pupils match the statements to the pictures. In the TL, ask pupils to justify their decisions.

…to make choices, within specific contexts in the TL.

…to evaluate information and evidence…to analyse decisions and justify choices.
Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

An activity might be used at this point to allow pupils to start thinking about decision-making. They could generate options for a fictional 14 year old trying to choose GCSE subjects, taking into account their interests and hobbies. A similar activity could be used to decide a person’s future career pathway.

To explore the issue of choices further, pupils could be presented with a series of cards, with three possibilities in the TL, for example:

• There is a clash between two subjects on the timetable.
• Your favourite teacher will not be taking GCSE.
• There will be an exchange visit to Spain next June.
• A German engineering firm opens in the town.

Pupils re-evaluate their decisions and justify their answers in a discussion afterwards.

…to make personal statements about future plans in the TL.

…to sort and classify information using the TL.

Managing Information

In order to introduce pupils to the relevant functional language for talking about their own plans (I hope/I would like/I want/I intend to), pupils could play ‘job clusters’. Every pupil has a statement in the TL on a piece of card. Three other people in the room have a similar statement, worded differently. Pupils go around the room asking questions of other people in order to find those who have similar sentences to themselves and form a cluster. A sample cluster might include the following statements:

• I want to be a teacher;
• I would like to work with children;
• I intend to work in a school;
• I hope to have two months holiday in the summer.

…to express their future hopes using the functional language already acquired.

Once completed, place all statement cards on the wall under the headings ‘I would like’, ‘I hope’, ‘I want’ and ‘I intend to’. Pupils could look at the wall display and then, on similar pieces of card, write their own sentence in the TL using the four headings. This will allow pupils the opportunity to express their own hopes or plans using the functional language. Pupils could develop this further by justifying their future plans using language already acquired throughout this unit.

How do I use my language skills to explain what I want and to persuade others?

Learning Intentions
Pupils are learning …

…to use functional language to negotiate, present and persuade in the TL within a particular business context.

…to adapt language and behaviour to a business context…

....to take on different roles within a group.

....to positively influence others and take the lead.

…to mediate within a group.

…to reach agreement using negotiation and compromise.
Working with Others

Airplane Challenge

Divide pupils into groups of four and ask them to assign roles (a designer, a developer, a seller and an advertiser). They discuss what each role involves and decide what each person will take on. Allocate each group a buyer, who sits separately. The buyer only speaks the target language. Each pupil receives a card outlining the responsibilities for their chosen role.
Opportunity to assess Communication

The designer/developer must create a paper airplane from a choice of twelve different designs to sell to the buyer (see www.bestpaperairplanes.com). The advertiser must work on an advertising campaign in the TL for their plane. Ideally, the seller should converse with the buyer beforehand in the TL to find out what they want (what design, what colour, how many, etc, the buyer will have this information on a card). If the seller does not approach the buyer before the plane is created, the buyer should refuse the plane and negotiate with the seller on what they actually want. The seller must then go back to the designer and developer. In the meantime, sellers and advertisers from other groups might approach the buyer in the TL with their advertising campaign to try to persuade them to buy their product!

Through this exercise, pupils should come to an understanding of how functional language already explored in this unit (I want, I would like, I hope, I intend to) can be used in real-life situations.

As a follow-up pupils could practice using the telephone: for information, booking hotels for business purposes or communicating with business partners in the target language country.

Useful websites:

BBC Languages - German

BBC Languages - French

BBC Languages - Spanish

BBC Languages - Italian

Why is language learning important for my future?

Learning Intentions
Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to learn how language-specific and language learning skills can have a positive impact on future employment options and lifestyle.

Conclude the activities in this unit with an explicit look at how languages are important for future work patterns and prospects.

Use the WorkTalk or WorkTalk1 worksheets from www.languageswork.org.uk (in the Learning section of ‘Getting Started’) for reference. Give pupils just one of the paragraphs with a list of the key questions or headlines. They must decide which key question or headline best suits their paragraph and why. Once completed, individuals could move around the class doing an Each One Teach One* activity.

Ask pupils to fill in the questionnaires from www.languageswork.org.uk on how they perceive the role of languages in the workplace.

Pupils compile a digital database of jobs which involve an aspect of language proficiency.

Development of Learning Outcomes

• Research and manage information effectively to investigate target language issues, using Mathematics and ICT where appropriate.
• Show deeper understanding by thinking critically and flexibly, solving problems and making informed decisions, using Mathematics and ICT where appropriate.
• Demonstrate creativity and initiative when developing ideas and following them through.
• Work effectively with others.
• Demonstrate self-management by working systematically, persisting with tasks, evaluating and improving own performance.
• Communicate effectively in oral, visual, written and ICT formats, improving accuracy and showing clear awareness of audience and purpose.

Links to Key Elements

Links with Learning for Life and Work

Employability

Mutual Understanding

Economic Awareness

Employability
Key Concept: Career Management
Develop personal skills, develop interpersonal and negotiation skills, develop presentational and self-marketing skills, investigate skills required in a range of jobs, engage in the career planning process.