Discussing Hobbies Lesson Plan

Discussing Hobbies Lesson Plan This lesson focuses on one of the most common topics of discussion in class: Hobbies. Unfortunately, the topic of hobbies is often introduced without a lot of follow-up beyond a superficial discussion. This is most likely due to the fact that students lack the vocabulary needed to discuss hobbies in any meaningful detail. Use this lesson to first teach students the names of various hobbies, and then to delve more deeply into the individual hobbies. Use the linked resources in class by printing out the referenced pages by clicking on the printer icon in the upper right-hand corner of each page. They key to a successful discussion of hobbies is to make sure that students are allowed to explore the various steps involved in participating in a hobby. One of the best ways to do this is to develop a group project focusing on teaching other students about a new hobby. To do this well, students will need to learn new vocabulary, choose a new hobby - perhaps by exploring a hobby quiz online - break up the hobby into various phrases or tasks, and provide instructions for a slideshow that will be presented as a group to the class. Aim: Encourage deeper discussions of the specifics of a wide range of hobbies Activity: Hobby vocabulary expansion, review of imperative forms, written instructions, development of a slide show Level: Intermediate to advanced level classes Outline Choose one of your favorite hobbies and provide the instructions on how to participate in a specific phase of the hobby. Make sure to not mention the name of the hobby as students should guess which hobby you are describing.On the whiteboard, write down categories of hobbies. Solicit as many names of specific activities/hobbies that belong to each category.In order to help students learn specific names of hobbies, use this hobby vocabulary resource to help students expand their list of hobbies.Ask students to choose one new hobby from the list. Its a good idea to use an online quiz to help students choose a hobby they will find interesting, as well as learn related vocabulary that they will find useful in the future. Search on the phrase choosing a hobby quiz and youll find a wide variety of quizzes.Once students have selected a hobby, encourage them to visit a site dedicated to the hobby they have chosen. About.com has a wide selection of excellent hobby guides.Ask students to colle ct the following information for they hobby the have chosen:Skills RequiredEquipment RequiredEstimated Cost Review the imperative form as used for giving instructions. Provide an example of your own such as playing volleyball, writing a poem, building a model, etc. Its best to choose one phase of the hobby, rather than trying to provide instructions to the hobby in general (people write entire books on that!). Make sure to use the imperative form in your description.Ask students to describe the various phases in their chosen hobby. For example for building a model:Choosing a Model To BuildSetting up Your WorkspaceGluing Pieces TogetherPainting Your ModelTools to UseEach student of each group then provides steps to achieving the specific task/phase using the imperative form.Once each phase description has been described, ask students to find photos/pictures using a Creative Commons resources such as Flikr, Free Clip Art site, etc.Create a PowerPoint or other slideshow with just one slide for each phrase/task of the hobby.Have students present their chosen hobby to the rest of the class usin g the slideshow theyve created with each student using the instructions theyve developed for their respective slides.