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Texas Adult Education Standards and Benchmarks
for ABE ASE and ESL Learners

esl LESSON PLANS

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Texas Adult Education Standards
Lesson Plan

Before you begin

Title: Making an Appointment with School Officials

Setting: ESL

NRS Level(s):

Level 2: Low Beginning
Level 3: High Beginning

Open entry/exit: Yes

Context: Community

Standard(s): Listen Actively

Benchmark(s): 5.2, 5.3

Objective: To gain awareness of how to make appointments and/or leave messages for school teachers and other school officials.

Materials: Chalkboard or overhead projector, telephone dialogue script (included), message memos (or teacher-made memos), paper, pencils

Estimated time needed to prepare for this lesson plan: 15 minutes

Estimated time needed to complete this lesson plan: 2 hours

The Lesson Plan

Introduce the lesson:
Ask the class to brainstorm occasions they have left and/or taken messages over the telephone. Have students brainstorm examples of phrases used when leaving or taking a message.

Teach the lesson:
Write examples of phrases or examples on the board or overhead that students gave during the brainstorming session. Point out language barriers or differences in culture that might present a problem when conveying or writing down information.

Simulating an occasion that a teacher calls a student’s home, the teacher will demonstrate a call in which the following messages are “left.” Individually, students complete a message memo by taking down pertinent information given in the message.

Message #1: Hello this is Mrs. Terry at Columbia Heights. This message is for Maria. I want her to know there will be no classes at Columbia Heights the week of Thanksgiving. That is the week of November 20th through the 24th. If Maria has any questions, she can call Terry at 210 977-8464.

Message #2: Hello, this is Mrs. Jones at Evergreen Middle School. I am the school nurse. It is 11:00, Tuesday, October 17th. This message is for Margret Atwood. Mrs. Atwood needs to come pick her son up at school. Josh isn’t feeling well. He is in the nurse’s office. This number is 345-6789. Thank you.

The teacher will read back each message. Each student will review their message memo and compare what they wrote to what they hear from the second reading.

Practice the lesson:
Working in pairs, students will role play the attached telephone dialogue scripts. The teacher should issue instructions as to how the scripts will be read. For example, in Dialogues 1, 2, and 3, student #1 is the secretary and student #2 is the parent. Students should read each script twice, exchanging roles so that each has played both parts. Students should be instructed to read his/her part and listen to the other person.

Secretary’s Script

Dialogue #1 Ring!!
Secretary:	Edgewood Elementary School. How can I help you?
Parent:
Secretary:	What is the name of your child?
Parent:
Secretary:	Who is his homeroom teacher?
Parent:
Secretary:	And what is the reason for the absence?
Parent:
Secretary:	Thank you for calling
Parent:
Secretary:	Good-bye
Dialogue #2 Ring!!
Secretary:	Windsor School. This is Mr. Alonzo. How may I help you?
Parent:
Secretary:	Okay. How do you spell your name, please?
Parent:
Secretary:	And what is the message?
Parent:
Secretary:	Would you like to reschedule for a later time?
Parent:
Secretary:	May I have your telephone number in case Mrs. Gonzales has any questions?
Parent:
Secretary:	Can you repeat that more slowly, please?
Parent:
Secretary:	Thank you. I will give Mrs. Gonzales the message.
Dialogue # 3 Ring!!
Secretary:	Good afternoon. This Holmes High School. Mr. Smith speaking.
Parent:
Secretary:	My name is Mr. Smith.
Parent:
Secretary:	Yes, Mrs. Hillbig. What is the message?
Parent:
Secretary:	Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope he’s better soon.
Parent:
Secretary:	May I have a telephone number where Coach Big can reach you?
Parent:
Secretary:	And would you spell your name for me, please?
Parent:
Secretary:	Thank you, Mrs. Hillbig. I’ll see that Coach Big gets the message.

Parent’s Script

Dialogue #1 Ring!!
Secretary:
Parent:	This is Mary Smith. My child will not be in school today.
Secretary:
Parent:	Joseph Smith.
Secretary:
Parent:	He is in Mrs. Adam’s third grade class.
Secretary:
Parent:	He has a dentist appointment.
Secretary:
Parent:	Good-bye
Secretary:
Dialogue #2 Ring!!
Secretary:
Parent:	This is Mrs. Watson. I need to leave a message for the Principal, Mrs. Gonzales.
Secretary:
Parent:	W-a-t-s-o-n
Secretary:
Parent:	I have an appointment with Mrs. Gonzales at 2:00 October 20. I cannot keep the appointment. I need to break it.
Secretary:
Parent:	No thank you. Not right now.
Secretary:
Parent:	Yes, it is 210 344-4423.
Secretary:
Parent:	Yes, it’s 210 344-4423
Secretary:
Dialogue # 3 Ring!!
Secretary:
Parent:	What did you say your name is?
Secretary:
Parent:	Mr. Smith, this is Mrs. Hillbig. I need to leave a message for Mr. Big, the football coach.
Secretary:
Parent:	Please tell Mr. Big that my son Jack will not be at football practice today. Jack fell and broke his arm last night and he is in the hospital.
Secretary:
Parent:	Thank you.
Secretary:
Parent:	Yes. My cell number is 210-545-5421.
Secretary:
Parent:	H-i-l-l-b-i-g
Secretary:

Assess the lesson:
Teacher facilitation and observation.

Apply the lesson to the real world:
As students gain confidence, they should be able to call various businesses, organizations, etc. and interact with others to give and receive information.

Submitted by: Ellen Doyal

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