Texas Standardized Curriculum Framework
Lesson plans for ESL, ABE, GED, Study Skills and Workforce

Materials/Supplies

Phone directories, message pads, overhead transparency of a sheet from a message pad (blow up the size to letter), tape recorder and tapes.

Contributors and Organizations

Chris Hakan HCDE
Monica Hernandez AAMA
Marilyn Goeters HCDE
Gayle Fagan HCDE

1. Temp agency representative for receptionist workplace qualifications, training, job opportunities.

Objective

Student will be able to use telephone greetings, leave and take a message.

Vocabulary: Alphabetize words

greeting, message, answer, dial, receiver, button, pound, star, hang up, good bye, hello, name, phone directory, white pages, yellow pages, take, leave a message, urgent message, time of call, name of caller, name of person called, thank you, return call, make a call, customer service ... (other as determined)

Text Books

Harris County Department of Education's Blue Curriculum Book - Level 1

Activity/Procedures:

Warm-Up Activity (15-30 min. suggested time)

Divide students in to groups. Access prior knowledge by having the groups discusses their knowledge and experience of using the phone in the U.S. Have them rate themselves individually on a scale of 1-10 how comfortable they are making calls, leaving and taking calls in English.

Extension: Discuss situations (workplace, home, other where good phone communications skills are a must.

Introduction: (1 to 1 ½ hours suggested time)

State the lesson's objective. Introduce vocabulary. Brainstorm with the class various greetings on the phone. Create a multiple of dialogues between the person making a call and the various responses of places being called. Ex. Referring to another department, person calling not there, person calling on vacation ..."can somebody else help you?" being put on hold, person calling not there... "Would you like to leave a message?", etc... Encourage the students to offer their personal experiences as models. Chart these dialogues on a flip chart for your class to use in their presentations.

Extension: Have students use a message pad to record information needed to return a phone calls for work and home.

Presentation: (1 to 1 ½ hours suggested time)

Have the students work in pairs and select two of the previous dialogues and role-play together. Monitor their progress and have them switch roles as they master the dialogue. Following their mastery of the dialogue have students practice taking messages for incoming calls. They will present to the group by introducing themselves individually and then their partner to the class. "Hello, my name is Claudia and this is my partner Hector." Have them pick one dialogue of the two practiced and present their dialogue to the class. Have them demonstrate using the message pad overhead transparency how they would take a message from the incoming call.

Practice: (1 hour)

Evaluation/Assessment:

Teacher evaluation of audiocassette.

application, resume and cover letter.

Grammatical Focus:

Use of common verbs (message taking)

Use informative questions (dialogues)

Use of adverbs (tomorrow, next week)