Presentation given at the BTTC - Basic Teacher Training Course at Cultura Inglesa, Boa Viagem in Recife, Brazil.

1. Teaching Teenagers
Eduardo Santos
Basic Teacher Training Course
Nov. 3, 2011

2. Warmer
Try and think back to when you were a teenager.
Can you remember a teacher or person who
made a lasting impression and motivated you?
What characteristics did he or she have?

3. Group work
In groups, think of specific characteristics about
teenagers.
What problems might you encounter with this
age group?
What characteristics are specific for this age
group?

4. Teenagers
• Young teenagers, aged 12-14
• Middle teenagers, aged 14-17
• Late teenagers, ages 17-19

5. Young Teenagers
• Watch the video.
• What characteristics of young teenagers can
you see in the video?

7. Middle Teenagers
• Watch the video.
• What characteristics of middle teenagers can
you see in the video?

9. Young teenagers (12-14 years old)
• They can be a bit moody and difficult to handle at times.
• The most important thing in their lives is themselves = natural
egocentrism
• A bit of melodrama.
• Their position in school society and hence their level of self-
esteem and self-confidence are closely tied to how they look.
• They want to belong to the pack. Groups are very important
as a means of establishing identity and gaining confidence.
• They will still tend to have same-sex friends and move in
same-sex groups.
• They need to be monitored closely since they ‘regress’ into
more childlike behavior and fool around.
• A strong ability to think abstractly.
• They often believe what they think and what everyone else
thinks is essentially the same.

10. Middle teenagers (14-17 years old)
• Full physical growth has in most cases been nearly
achieved.
• They exhibit strong abilities to work independently.
• They are less reliant on the group for support.
• Same-sex groups get replaced by girl-boy relationships.
• While friends are still very important, group identity
loses some of its importance and is replaces by
individual relationships.
• They learn that there is not only ONE answer to every
question.
• They are more willing to accept that there is more than
one solution to a problem.

12. Teening up
your
textbook

13. Teening up your textbook
Objectives:
1. To present simple activities that make
the book more “teen-like”.
2. To demonstrate how any activity can be
adapted to make teenagers more
engaged and more motivated.
3. To show how the use of the textbook
can be very enjoyable.

14. 1. Reading Activities

15. 1.1 Matching characters’ descriptions
1. Who are they? Do you know their names?
2. What do you know about them? Describe
them in pairs.
3. Think about their personalities, what are
they like?

18. 1.2 The story behind an image
• You will see a picture for 10 seconds.
• Pay attention on the details, the expression
on the girl’s and boy’s faces.
• What are they talking about?
• What’s the target language of this lesson?

22. 2. Vocabulary Activities

23. 2.1 Photographic Memory
1. You’ll see a picture for 20 seconds.
2. Try to memorize what there is on the picture.
3. Then you’ll have 1 minute to write down
everything you can see in the picture in pairs.
Ex: There is a TV...

26. 2.2 Sports Gymkana
Have you ever tried doing a sports gymkana
with your students?
If so, how did it go?
If not, how could you adapt your classroom or
part of your school to make a gymkana?

27. 2.3 Fashion show
1. Do the vocabulary exercise and correct with
your students.
2. Make sure that students know the vocabulary
of clothes.

29. 2.3 Fashion show
1. In groups of 3, one of the students will go on
the catwalk and the other 2 students will
have to describe what he/she is wearing.
2. Example: Sarah’s wearing a blue dress and a
yellow hat. She’s wearing pink shoes and
white socks.

30. 3. Listening Activities

31. 3.1 Raise your hand
1. I have 7 different kinds of Tv programmes.
2. Can you guess them?
3. You’re going to listen to a survey about TV
programmes. What programmes do the
children mention?
4. Raise the TV programme card you have if it’s
mentioned.

33. 3.2 Radio interview
1. You are going to listen to a radio interview
with 3 students: Mark, Hannah and Alex.
2. In groups of 3, listen and find out what they
are going to do in the school holidays.
3. After the listening, compare their answers
with your school holidays. Are you doing the
same as any of them?

35. 4. Grammar Activities

36. 4.1 Adverbs of Frequency
1. Match the slips of papers with the adverbs of
frequency.
2. Open your books to p.29 and check your
answers.
3. In groups, think of sentences that are true for
you. What do you always/usually/never do...

38. 4.2 Comparatives & Superlatives
1. How do you work with Comparatives and
Superlatives with your students?
2. List 1 or 2 activities you think are motivating
and enjoyable for your students.

40. 4.2 Comparatives & Superlatives
1. Ask for 5 volunteers to participate in the
activity.
2. Each student will be an animal.
3. Line up according to what your teacher says.
The other students have to agree or disagree.

41. 4.3 Chinese Whispers
1. Divide the class into 2 groups.
2. The two groups line up facing the
whiteboard.
3. T shows the sentences to the last one in line
and the students have to whisper to the
other students the sentences.
4. The first student to write the sentence
correctly on the board gets the point.
5. Open the books and check if the sentences
are correct.

43. 4.4 Scrambled Grammar
1. Divide the class into groups.
2. Each group will receive slips of paper with
sentences (There is/There are).
3. The stds have to unscramble the sentence
and write them correctly on the board.
4. Open your books to p.39 and check if the
sentences are correct.
*variation (missing words)

45. 5. Speaking Activities

46. 5.1 Match ‘n’ Speak
1. Divide the class into 2 groups.
2. Each group will receive some slips of papers.
3. Match the 2 parts of the questions.
4. The first group to finish wins.
5. Ask and answer with a partner.

48. 6. The activity Book
- Prepare a homework chart and glue it at the
end of their activity books.
- Save 5min. after each lesson when you think
stds might have trouble with the homework.
- Do the first exercise as a model.
- Explain key words they might not understand
when they are alone. Translate so

50. 7. Song Activities

51. 7.1 Together
1. Watch the video.
2. Show the chorus to the students.
3. Students prepare the together sign.
4. Discuss with your students the meaning of
‘together’.

52. 7.2 Happy
1. Listen to the song HAPPY.
2. Count how many times the word HAPPY
appears in the song.
3. You CAN’T use paper or your fingers.

53. 7.2 Happy
Happiness project
‘Happiness is...’

57. Youtube links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGtS2-a4CBI
(together)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HTSlLg8eCI
(Happy)

58. Further reading
• Understanding how adolescents think:
http://www.edutopia.org/classroom-management-learning-
states-teenagers-interview
• Understanding the teenage brain
http://teenagebrain.blogspot.com/