Family Life: Then & Now
Related Section of pack: Geography and History
Aim:
to find out about family life and different types of houses in Scotland now
and 50 years ago.
Language Points: adverbs of frequency, present tense sentences (e.g.
married couples rarely divorce.)
Materials:
Types of housing sheet, housing reading worksheet, family life in
1950/2006 cards, adverb cards.
ESOL level:
Access 2 - 3
SCQF level:
2-3
Time:
60 minutes
Preparation:
Photocopy worksheets, cut up cards.
In Class:
1) Introduce idea of housing and have students match types of accommodation to the
name.
2) Discuss housing and elicit where students live and who with.
3) Introduce idea of family life by eliciting who lives where, i.e. how many people
live together.
4) Elicit students’ ideas on 50 years ago and if families were the same then.
5) Reading text with True and False questions.
6) Students match ideas about families to the year, 1950 or 2006 (do one example).
Pre-teach vocabulary if necessary.
7) Focus on use of frequency adverbs. Have students order adverbs according to
frequency.
8) Students write own sentences about family life in their countries without
including a name. Put the texts on the wall, number them and have the students
identify whose text is whose by talking to as many people as possible.
Variation:
More emphasis could be put on writing by having Ss create their own truefalse quiz in groups.
If students are comfortable with writing, they could make posters about
family life then and now in their country. This could be a group activity.
If language abilities are high enough, students could list the advantages
and disadvantages of life then and now.
Assessment:
The task helps prepare learners for the following summative assessments:
Access 2 Beginner’s English Outcomes 1 & 2 (DA9M 08)
Access 3 Personal and Social English Outcomes 1 & 2 (DA9K 09)
Family Life: Then & Now
1
2
3
Match the pictures of the
houses to the names.
4
5
6
Match the pictures of houses to the names:
E.g. Terraced house
__3___
Block of flats
______
Semi-detached
______
Bungalow
______
Detached house
______
Tenement
______
House name
A house which is not joined to any other.
____________
A house which is joined to another on one side.
____________
A tall building which has many flats on each floor.
____________
A house which is joined to other houses on both sides.
____________
An old four-storey building with 8 or more flats.
____________
A house on one level.
____________
1950 or 2006?
________
__________
My name is Jack. I live in a Glasgow tenement. There are 6 people in my family,
my mother and father, my two sisters and my younger brother and me. In our flat
there are two rooms, the kitchen/living room and the bedroom. It is a small flat
so we don’t have much space. We share an outside toilet with the neighbours.
In the morning we usually get up early and I always play football with my friends.
Sometimes my sisters play too. Occasionally my mother shouts at us from the
window. In the evening we sometimes have a bath in the living room.
My name is Sarah. I live in a Glasgow tenement. I live alone. In my flat there
are four rooms, the kitchen, the living room, the bedroom and the bathroom. It’s
a nice flat and always warm. I share the garden with my neighbours.
In the morning I always get up early and go to work. I sometimes come home
late from work. Usually at the weekend I visit my friends or go shopping. I rarely
have a bath but I always have a shower in the morning.
True or false?
e.g. Sarah lives by herself.
True
False
1. Sarah never has a bath.
True
False
2. Jack always plays football with his friends.
True
False
3. Sarah shares the toilet.
True
False
4. Jack sometimes has a shower.
True
False
5. Sarah’s flat has four rooms.
True
False
6. Jack’s flat isn’t big.
True
False
2006
1950
Married couples usually live
by themselves.
Married couples often live
with parents.
Married couples sometimes
divorce.
Married couples rarely
divorce.
Couples sometimes have
children before marriage.
Couples rarely have
children before marriage.
Men and women often live
together before marriage.
Men and women rarely live
together before marriage.
Women often have children
in their 30s.
Women usually have
children in their teens or
20s.
Families sometimes have
only one parent.
Families rarely have only
one parent.
Women sometimes stay
home to look after children.
Women almost always stay
at home to look after
children.
Always
Usually
Often
Sometimes
Occasionally
Rarely
Never