Monday 9 May Level 2
Caroline M Mwaniki
I had 8 students in what turned out to be a very lively class.
We focused on the definitions of a verb, and a sentence, and the usage of verbs in simple sentences in the simple present and the simple progressive. I was hoping to highlight the use of a few prepositions as well but we didn't get that far.
I opened the class with a sentence with incorrect verb use: I'm have. This was actually something one of the students said, and I thought it would be a great way to transition into my lesson plan.
I asked students to correct the sentence, and it seemed rather difficult to do. What was easier for them was giving examples of other simple sentences in the simple present and the simple progressive. I therefore used their correct examples to help them work on what was wrong with the sentence "I'm have".
We then moved on to talking about verbs: what they are, and giving some examples. We also talked a bit about verbs in the infinitive, and conjugated verbs using the verb "to be".
Finally, we talked about the structure of simple sentences - subject + verb, again, using examples.
There were a lot of pointed questions along the way, which was great. We shall definitely work more on sentences, subjects and verbs in the coming weeks.
Cheers to all!
Caroline Mwaniki
Department of French/Institute of French Studies
New York University