The

Sports

1. Basketball

2. Volleyball

3. Football

Learning Paths

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Using classification processes

Classifying strategies are constantly involved in language learning, both in comprehension and in production activities.

Making sense of language input often implies assigning items of information to categories which already exist in our mind, or creating new categories by closely examining individual items. The most obvious example of this mental activity is when we try to store vocabulary in our memory by arranging words into groups, according to their form or their meaning.

However, classifying information is not limited to individual words and phrases. When we want to understand and remember the content of a text, whether its main ideas or a number of facts or figures, we need to find some ordering system, i.e. a set of general categories which can help us to group together more specific items.

The same strategies come into play whenever we want to produce a text, particularly in writing. Selecting and ordering what we want to express implies assigning a range of isolated pieces of information to larger units of meaning. For example, we may need to mention many individual items (e.g. the ozone layer hole, air pollution, waste disposal) but make it clear that they belong to the same category (ecological problems). Or we may need to highlight a general statement and then provide a set of more specific examples.

These lesson plans train students to use classifying strategies at a variety of levels. At the most basic level, we ask them to closely examine individual words in order to spot similarities and differences and thus start grouping items: students are given both the categories and the elements (Lesson Plan 1). We then ask students to recognise the "odd word out" in word groups (Lesson Plan 2) and to rearrange words into groups (Lesson Plan 3): in both activities the number of groups, and the number of items in each group, are given.

In Lesson Plan 4 students have to distinguish categories from elements through identifying "general words" (like cold snacks). The next activities ask students to carry out complete classifications, from identifying the most suitable categories to deciding the items to include in each category. This is first done with items from a map (Lesson Plan 5), and then with book covers which suggest appropriate genres (Lesson Plan 6).

Classifications gradually become more complex as students are asked to consider short texts like advertisements (Lesson Plan 7) and magazine features (Lesson Plan 8): in both activities students are asked to focus their attention on the clues which help them to assign a text to its type. Finally, Lesson Plan 9 shows students how classifying strategies can assist them to process the content of texts by identifying suitable categories into which the information can be rearranged.

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 1: Tree diagrams

AIM	To spot similarities and differences; to distinguish categories from elements
RATIONALE	This activity introduces analytical thinking (close observation and description) to spot features which are shared by a number of items. This is the first step in finding out criteria for grouping items into categories, i.e. the basis of classifying strategies.
MATERIALS	No special materials are needed
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT	Lexical sets (selected topics)
IN CLASS	1. Draw this diagram on the board and call it a "tree diagram":

Ask the students if they use tree diagrams when studying English or other subjects and let them provide examples.

Write this list of words: documentaries, quiz shows, westerns, horror pictures, TV programmes, concerts, news, thrillers, films. Ask the students to scan the words and decide what they think is the most general item, the one which could include all the others (TV programmes). Write this in the top box in the diagram on the board.

2 Ask the students to scan the words again and find a group of TV programmes for which particular examples are given (films). Write this in your diagram on the board.

3 Allow a few minutes for the students to complete the diagram in pairs, then draw it on the board as you check it with the class.

FOLLOW-UP 1

Dictate these words or write them on the board: chess, indoor games, golf, sports and games, cricket, squash, outdoor games, football, cards. Ask the students, working in groups, to organise the words using a tree diagram. Remind them to follow the same procedure: first identify the most general category - then find possible sub-categories - finally add the elements.

FOLLOW-UP 2

Write these words on the board: rose, carrot, orange, apple, onion, cherries, tulip. Tell the students to group the items by finding the appropriate categories under the general class plants. Ask them to write the categories, and not just the elements, in a treediagram. Let them work in pairs or small groups, helping them with vocabulary if necessary (flowers, vegetables, fruit).

FOLLOW-UP 3

You can use material from your coursebook (both pictures/photographs and texts/dialogues) to practise close observation, description and classification along the lines described above. The chosen materials should contain items which can fairly easily be grouped into categories. You can provide the names of the categories (e.g. people/places/animals/objects) or ask students to provide them.

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 2: Odd word out

AIM	To recognise categories, form groups and name them
RATIONALE	In this activity students recognise the "odd word out" in word groups and assign it to the proper group. This implies the recognition of the features shared by the words in each group, i.e. a criterion for classification. Students are also asked to give a name to each category, thus making categories explicit.
MATERIALS	A task sheet for each student
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT	Lexical sets (selected topics)
IN CLASS	1 Ask the students to look at the first group of words (No. 1) and find the one that they think is different from the others. Ask them to give reasons for their choice: they may find it easier to mention what is shared by the other words (e.g. the fact that all words except pain describe the weather). 2 In pairs, ask the students to circle the odd word out in each group. 3. Have a quick class check. 4 In the same pairs, the students write the odd words out in the correct group (column F). Then they write a name for each group (column "Groups"). Help them if necessary, particularly with the names for the groups. 5 Ask the students to compare their work in different pairs. 6 Check with the class. Briefly discuss the choice of categories and their relevant names.
VARIATION 1	The students can give a name to each group just after they have spotted the "odd word out".
VARIATION 2	Students can do steps 2 and 4 above in one go.
VARIATION 3	You can build a similar activity with easier or more difficult words.
TASK SHEET	Group A B C D E F . 1. ............ fog rain pain snow sunshine ........... 2. ............ worried angry bored long sad ........... 3. ............ college history physics maths art ........... 4. ............ arm head leg toilet foot ........... 5. ............ glass wind plastic wood metal ........... 6. ............ low wide deep shirt high ........... 7. .........… science kitchen bedroom garage bathroom ........... 8. ............ middle nursery primary unhappy secondary ........... 9. ............ cough throat headache temperature flu ........... 10. ........... socks skirt tie rubber trousers ...........
ANSWER KEY	The "odd word out" in each group is printed in italics. 1. (weather) fog rain pain snow sunshine wind 2. (feelings) worried angry bored long happy unhappy 3. (school subjects) college history physics maths art science 4. (parts of the body) arm head leg toilet foot throat 5. (materials) glass wind plastic wood metal rubber 6. (size) low wide deep shirt high long 7. (parts of a house) science kitchen bedroom garage toilet bathroom 8. (schools) middle nursery primary unhappy secondary college 9. (illness) cough throat headache temperature flu pain 10.(clothes) socks skirt tie rubber trousers shirt

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 3: Word salad

AIM	To recognise categories, form groups and name them
RATIONALE	As in Lesson Plan 2
MATERIALS	A list of words (see Preparation below)
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT	Lexical sets (selected topics)
PREPARATION	Write a list of 20-25 words students have already met. The words should belong to three or four different lexical sets (e.g. food, clothes, weather, etc.). Also include some words which "don't belong" anywhere.
IN CLASS	1. Tell the students that you will slowly write a list of words on the board. They should look at them very carefully and stop you when they think they have spotted two words that "belong" to the same group or category. Give them an example of a "category" if necessary. 2. Write the first few words and, when the students stop you, ask them to say what the two words have got in common. The students may come up with "unusual" combinations: challenge them to give reasons which are not just personal associations, but can be widely accepted by the class. Rewrite the selected words on the board using lists or diagrams (see 9.1) and ask them to do the same in their notebooks. Help them to formulate suitable names for the groups. Continue until you have covered the whole list.
VARIATION 1	This activity can be done in pairs or groups. Give a student in each pair or group the original list of words.
VARIATION 2	Ask students to make their own lists (see Preparation above). Then they can take turns, in pairs or groups, reading their list to their partner(s).
VARIATION 3	To make the activity easier, you can give students a diagram, e.g.: A. ............... B. ............... * ............ * ............ * ............ * .......…. * ............ * ............ C. ............... D. ............... * ............ * ............ * ............ * ............ * ............ * ............ The students will then know the number of groups and the number of items in each group.
FOLLOW-UP 1	At the end of a unit of work give the students scrambled lists of words and ask them to sort them out into groups. Encourage the students to integrate the new words into pre-existing groups, and to use graphic devices like diagrams and tables.
FOLLOW-UP 2	From time to time give the students some general categories and ask them to list all the words they can remember that "belong" to each category. This can be turned into a game, with groups of students competing for the highest number of acceptable words in each category.

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 4: Crazy menu

AIM	To distinguish categories from elements and form groups
RATIONALE	In this activity both categories and elements are given, but the students have to recognise them by identifying "general words" (like cold snacks).
MATERIALS	A task sheet for each student
LANGUAGE DEVEL0PMENT	"General" and "specific" words Vocabulary for food and drink Reading and writing menus
IN CLASS	1. Tell the students: You are going to a fast food café. What kind of food and drink would you expect to find? Write their suggestions on the board, but ask them to tell you where each new word should be written, i.e. together with other words or separately. When the students have run out of suggestions, see if they can find suitable names for the word groups. 2. Explain the context of the activity in the task sheet. Owing to a computer malfunction, all the items in the menu have been mixed up. Stress the fact that the computer has mixed up both categories and elements. The students' task is to rewrite the menu, using capital letters for the categories (e.g. HOT DRINKS) and small letters for the individual items (e.g. tea). 3. Suggest that the students first read through the menu, trying to spot the categories (i.e. the most "general" words); then they can assign each item (i.e. a more "specific" word) to its category. Set the students to work in small groups. Go round and discuss any vocabulary problems. 4. Check with the class. Alternatively, ask each group to check another group's work.
VARIATION	Instead of giving explicit suggestions on how to go about the task, you can let the students do it and ask them afterwards how they coped with it. Try to see if different groups have worked in different ways.
FOLLOW-UP 1	See if they students can add other items to the menu once they have rearranged it.
FOLLOW-UP 2	Ask the students to write a menu for a new restaurant, showing their favourite food and drinks (including local dishes). They can add prices if they like. Ask them to compare menus and decide on the "best" one.
FOLLOW-UP 3	The distinction between "general" and "more specific" words is the basis for word definition. You can make students appreciate this by providing definitions of words where "general" words are omitted, and ask them to fill them in, e.g. - A fish is a(n) ………. which lives in water. (animal) - A doctor is a(n) ………. whose ………. is to treat sick people. (person, profession) - A car is a road ………. with four wheels and a motor, which is used as a means of ………. for a small number of ………. . (vehicle, travel, people) Students can then compare their work with dictionary definitions.
TASK SHEET	WELCOME TO THE CRAZY CAT CAFE PEAS HOT CHOCOLATE COLD DRINKS Hot apple pie Crisps Cheeseburger Lemonade Toasted sandwich Coffee Cold snacks Tea Hot drinks Fried egg Fruit cake Cola ICE CREAM FRENCH FRIES NUTS Cheese omelette Peanuts Salad Sweet biscuits Beans Milk Orange juice Hamburger Hot food Pizza Desserts Milkshake
ANSWER KEY	HOT FOOD: hamburger, fried egg, peas, cheeseburger, toasted sandwich, cheese omelette, French fries, pizza, beans COLD SNACKS: peanuts, salad, crisps, nuts HOT DRINKS: coffee, tea, hot chocolate COLD DRINKS: cola, milk, lemonade, orange juice, milkshake DESSERTS. fruit cake, ice cream, hot apple pie, sweet biscuits

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 5: What's in a map?

AIM	To identify items which can be grouped into categories
RATIONALE	This activity requires students to carry out a complete classification, from identifying the most suitable categories to deciding the items to include in each category.
MATERIALS	For each pair of students, a task sheet and a map of a country or continent which shows the names of geographical categories, e.g. Atlantic Ocean, Sahara Desert, Congo River, Zanzibar Island, Red Sea. The example below is based on a map of Africa.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT	Vocabulary describing geographical features Reading maps
IN CLASS	1. Ask the students what kind of information a map usually provides, e.g. rivers, oceans, lakes … . List all suggestions on the board. 2. Hand out the maps and task sheets. Both the diagram and the table in the task sheet provide an example of a category (rivers), and space to write in more categories as well as items for each category. Ask the students how they would go about the task of completing the table or the diagram. If this proves difficult, suggest that they a) scan the map to identify categories (e.g. rivers), and b) find examples for each category (e.g. White Nile, Blue Nile). 3. Set the students to work in pairs. Remind them to choose their favourite format for classifying the information (either the diagram or the table), or think of another possible format. (N.B. Listing countries and cities is time-consuming, so you may want the students to ignore these.) 4. Check with the class, or hand out the key.
VARIATION	You can turn this activity into a game, to see who can find the greatest number of categories and items.
FOLLOW-IP	Give the students a list of geographical features of, e.g. Britain or the U.S.A., in scrambled order (e.g. Liverpool, Thames, Shetlands, Windermere) and a blank map. Ask them to classify the features by category (e.g. cities, rivers, islands, lakes) and then to locate them on the map. You can make the task easier by showing the location of the features on the map. The students can then check their work against a complete map.
TASK SHEET	Rivers: ……… . AFRICA . /.……………… Rivers \| ………. \| ……….\| ………. AFRICA /……………….. \| \| \| \……………….. \| \| \| \………………. \| \| \|
ANSWER KEY	Continents: Africa, Europe, Asia; Oceans: Atlantic, Indian; Seas: Black, Caspian, Mediterranean, Red; Straits: Gibraltar; Mountains: Atlas, Kilimanjaro; Islands: Madeira, Canary, Cape Verde, Sao Tomé and Principe, Ascension, Zanzibar, Comoros, Mayotte, St.Helena, Madagascar; Canals: Suez; Gulfs: Persian, Aden, Guinea; Deserts: Sahara; Peninsulas: Arabian; Rivers: Nile (White Nile, Blue Nile), Niger, Congo (Zaire), Congo (Lualaba), Zambezi; Lakes: Chad, Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa; Channels: Mozambique; Capes: Good Hope; Tropics: Cancer, Capricorn

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 6: On the bookshelf

AIM	To analyse items and assign them to groups
RATIONALE	This activity requires students to carefully examine book covers (both titles and illustrations) in order to assign each book to a genre
MATERIALS	For each pair or group of students, a collection of book covers (e.g. a book catalogue, a catalogue of simplified readers). The items can be provided by the students (see Variations 2 and 3 below).
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT	Vocabulary for book genres Discussing reading habits, likes and dislikes
IN CLASS	1. Ask the students about the latest book they have read: What kind of book was it? Did you like it? Why/Why not? If you go into a bookshop, what sort of books attract you most? As you elicit book genres, write them on the board. 2. Hand out the book catalogues. Ask the students to imagine that they have to spend a book token, i.e. a ticket they have received for their birthday, which they can exchange for two of the books in the catalogue. Which two books would you choose and why? Allow them a few minutes to make their choices, then ask them to tell a partner. 3. Ask a couple of students to tell you about their choices, then say which two books you would choose and why. Then write this table on the board for the students to copy: ____________________________________________________ Genre \| Book titles \| Clues that helped you . \| \| \| \| Choose two books and ask them to say which genre they think each book belongs to and why. Elicit some general clues (e.g. words in the title, illustrations, typographical conventions. Complete the table on the board for the two books. 4. In pairs, the students examine the other book covers and fill in the table in the same way. Go round and help them with vocabulary, particularly names of book genres. 5. The students compare their work in small groups and note any differences in opinions. 6. Check with the class, briefly discussing alternative opinions. Try to make the point that visual and linguistic clues can help us categorise information, because they refer to knowledge that is already organised in our minds (e.g. particular kinds of pictures activate our knowledge of what a children's book cover looks like).
VARIATION 1	To make the task easier, you can provide a task sheet (like the table in 3. above) with a ready-made list of genres, e.g. Adventure Art Autobiography Biography Children's books Fiction History Humour Hobbies Natural history Sport Travel Photography Reference (You can be more specific if you like, e.g. love/spy/detective stories; thrillers; (science fiction) novels; a collection of (short stories); a (historical) adventure; a book about (stamp collecting); a (health care) handbook; an atlas; an encyclopaedia; etc.)
VARIATION 2	Instead of books you can use videos, postcards, stamps, badges, or any other items which can be grouped into categories. Stamps, for example, can be classified according to different criteria, e.g. by continent (and within continents, by country) or by topic (people, animals, places, etc.). You can also ask the students to bring their own items to school.
VARIATION 3	The students can bring to class a book or video they particularly like. The items are pooled and, after each of them has been briefly presented by its owner, a tentative classification is made.
FOLLOW-UP	Using local or English-language TV guides, the students make a list of types of TV programmes and use it to classify the programmes listed for a particular day. They may like to compare different channels and find out how much time is taken up by particular programmes types on each channel.

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 7: Classified ads

AIM	To interpret elements and find suitable categories to group them
RATIONALE	This activity asks students to skim classified advertisements in order to find categories into which they can be grouped. Students first draw up their own list of categories and classify the ads accordingly; then they are given a fuller list of "ads sections" from a magazine and compare their classification with the original one.
MATERIALS	Copies of classified ads and a list of sections for each group of students (see Example below)
EXAMPLE	List of sections Accommodation Offered Health and Beauty Music Accommodation Wanted Hotel and Catering Property For Sale Activity Holidays Jobs Shops Business Opportunities Lonely Hearts Sports Cars & Bikes For Sale Lost & Found Travel For Hire Medical Services Tuition Gifts Messages Volunteer Work
LEVEL	Intermediate
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT	Skimming advertisements Writing advertisements
IN CLASS	1. Hand out the ads and ask the students to look at them. What are these short texts? What's their purpose? Where do you usually find them? Do you ever read them? Have you ever put an ad in a paper? As you collect answers, write possible categories on the board (you can give them a name, e.g. For Sale, Jobs, Travel, or list their purposes, e.g. To sell things, To find a job, To leave a message). 2. In groups, the students try to put the ads into categories, giving a name to or describing each category. Remind them that they don't have to understand every single word - they should just skim the ads to get an idea of their purpose. 3. Check with the class. Accept all "names" for the categories, provided they clearly describe their purpose. Ask the students: Which words helped you most to spot the purpose of each ad? Did the first few words (the ones printed in bold capitals) provide enough clues? If not, what else helped you? In which ads is the purpose explicitly stated? (In most cases the format of the ad does not require to state its purpose; also, ads usually appear in sections, i.e. they are already classified.) 4. Give the students the list of sections, or write it on the board for them to copy. Explain that this is the original list from which the ads were taken. Read through the list, eliciting or explaining meanings as necessary. 5. In pairs, the students decide which section each ad originally appeared in. 6. The students check their answers in different pairs. Have a brief class check, discussing alternatives. Does your classification match the original one? If not, what are the differences?
FOLLOW-UP	In pairs, the students choose a situation in which they would have to put an ad in a paper or magazine, then write the ad, using the models provided in this activity. Stress that ads are expensive and should therefore be as short as possible - they should use abbreviations and lists of words rather than full sentences. The ads can be collected, photocopied and handed out to the class. The students can then write the list of sections in which the ads should appear. They can also evaluate the ads (are they short enough? Are they clear and effective? Could they be shortened or improved in any way?).

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 8: Magazines galore

AIM	To recognise a category by analysing its features; to group items and assign them to a category
RATIONALE	This activity asks students to * analyse samples of magazine features, in order to find elements which help them define the kind of magazine the samples come from * group similar features into appropriate categories, in this case text types (e.g. letters, horoscopes, reviews, etc.).
MATERIALS	Photocopies of samples of magazine features for each group of students; the samples should come from the same magazine or similar ones. (See also Variation 2 below.)
LEVEL	Intermediate upwards
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT	Skimming to identify and describe text types
IN CLASS	1. Start by describing your favourite paper or magazine. Tell the students how often you buy it, why you like it, and what features you read first or with most interest. Then ask them if they have a favourite magazine too. Elicit the reasons why they like it, and prompt other students to express their views about it. In this way, start collecting names of magazine features on the board (e.g. sport, music, fashion, health and beauty, etc.). 2. Hand out the samples to groups of students and give them a few minutes to decide whether the samples could all come from the same magazine. If so, why? What sort of magazine could it be? Who would read it? 3. Collect the students' opinions and elicit the clues that helped them to decide, e.g., in the case of a teenage magazine, favourite topics and concerns (like music, fashion, computer games, personal problems), feature types (like book/CD/video reviews, letters, messages), pictures and photographs (e.g. of pop/film stars), other typical content areas (like quizzes, competitions, horoscopes). Add other names of magazine features to the list on the board. 4. Tell the students that they will now group as many features as they can into groups, and give a name to each group. Stress that they won't need to understand every single word. Ask them to make notes of the visual and linguistic clues that seem to help them most. Elicit one or two examples: What will help you to group some features into a horoscope group, despite the fact that the word horoscope may not be mentioned? How will you be able to spot a competition or a "pop gossip" column? Set the students to work in groups. 5. Check with the class. Discuss the classification, eliciting as many clues as possible. Try to make the point that identifying text types (i.e. assigning them to a particular category) through the use of appropriate clues is a useful strategy to approach a reading comprehension task.
VARIATION 1	You may want to make the task easier by providing the students with a list of features/text types, e.g. for a teenage magazine: Fashion Health and beauty Fiction, short stories Competitions Reviews Comics "Top ten" Sport Puzzles Tests, quizzes and questionnaires Letters and advice /"Problem page" Song lyrics Personal messages Pop star gossip/interviews Photostories TV programmes Horoscopes
VARIATION 2	The materials can be provided by the students according to their own interests. You can ask them, individually or in pairs, to provide samples of magazine or paper features; these are pooled and a selection of them is handed out to groups of students, who then classify them along the lines suggested above.
FOLLOW-UP	Depending on the level of your class, you may want to exploit the materials in more detail; e.g. following work on a teenage magazine, the students can * discuss the content of letters and/or write the editor's answers; * answer messages; * prepare and roleplay an interview with a pop or film star; * write and exchange "pop gossip" columns, quizzes, reviews, horoscopes; * find fashion photographs and write suitable captions.

The “Pigeonhole” Strategy

Lesson Plan 9: Three sports

AIM

To recognise and name categories of information in a text

RATIONALE

This activity ask students to identify possible categories of information in a text, to name them, and to use them as the basis for rearranging the essential information conveyed by the text. The activity aims to show how classifying strategies can be used to process the ideas in a text so that these can be rearranged in new, personal ways (see Section 13: Elaborating).

MATERIALS

A few short texts which give a variety of information types, e.g. simple encyclopaedia entries (see Example below).

EXAMPLE

Three sports

This sport was invented in 1891 by a US physical-education instructor, Dr James Naismith. Peach baskets were hung at opposite ends of a hall, and two teams tried to throw a ball into their opponents' basket.

Today, the basket is a metal ring with an open net, attached to a backboard. There are five players in a team, and up to five substitutes may be used. The ball may be thrown or bounced, but a player must not take more than one step while holding the ball. Play is divided into 20-minutes halves.

This sport was invented by an American in the 1890s and spread round the world. It is a fast and skilful game for teams of six, men or women.

The two teams face each other across a high net. A player from one side serves the ball over the net from behind the court with hand or arm. The object then is to make the ball land in the opponents' court or to prevent them from returning it fairly.

A team may touch the ball three times before returning it over the net. But no player may touch it twice in succession.

This is the world's most popular team sport. Children and adults have enjoyed kicking the ball around in games of different kinds for hundreds of years. Organised games began in 1863 when the first association was founded in England. It is now played in more than 150 countries.

A team has 11 players, who may play the ball with any part of the body except hands or arms. Only the goalkeeper may handle the ball. This is the only sport in which the head is used to hit the ball. The object is to score goals in the opponents' part of the field. A game is divided into 45-minutes halves.

LEVEL

Intermediate upwards

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Skimming to identify information categories

Rearranging information using a table

IN CLASS

(N.B. The following notes show how the text Three sports in the Example above could be exploited.)

1. Tell the students that you are an alien, just arrived from outer space, and that you have seen a particular sport played in their country, but you don't know its name. What sort of questions would they ask you to identify the sport? Think of a particular sport and answer their questions, but don't be too precise in your answers - let them find a number of appropriate questions. Meanwhile, try to turn their questions into categories of information, which you will write on the board (e.g. How many players are there? = number of players in a team; Where is it played? = place; What do you have to do to win? = object of the sport; Can you handle the ball? How are scores calculated? = rules; etc.).

2. Ask the students to quickly skim the texts in order to find out the names of the three sports. Check with the class (1. Basketball; 2. Volleyball; 3. Football/soccer).

3. Draw the following table on the board and ask the students to copy it, leaving as much space as possible to be filled in later:

4. Tell the students that the main information in the texts can be arranged into categories (e.g. number of players in a team - see 1. above). In pairs, ask them to read the texts, find as many categories as they can and write their names at the top of the columns in the table. Stress that not all categories need appear in all descriptions (e.g. duration of the game). Help them with new vocabulary and/or let them use dictionaries. (Words which might be new to the students include bounce, serve, prevent, kick, handle.)

5. Check the categories with the class (see the Answer key below).Try to make the students agree on a set of categories.

6. In pairs, the students fill in the table with information for each sport. Suggest that they use abbreviations and compress sentences.

7. The students can check their work in different pairs or groups before you have a brief whole class check (see the Answer key below).

8. As a final round-up, ask the students if they think that identifying categories of information could be useful in processing a text, e.g. when taking notes or writing a summary. Can this procedure be useful for particular purposes or on special occasions (e.g. when studying a text)?

VARIATION 1

If you are pressed for time, give the students the names of the sports instead of carrying out steps 1. and 2. above.

VARIATION 2

For a quicker final check, hand out the completed table (see the Answer key below).

FOLLOW-UP 1

The students may like to include other sports in the table and fill in the relevant information, adding or changing the categories as necessary. They may like to research information about unusual sports and present it on cards or posters.

FOLLOW-UP 2

You can ask the students to classify vocabulary related to sports and games into sets, starting from the activities they are most familiar with, e.g.

Sports Places Equipment Actions Other terms

tennis court ball serve serve

rackets hit

FOLLOW-UP 3

Classifying items of information is one of the first steps in processing a text. You can provide students with further practice by selecting texts which give a variety of information types. Texts describing a country, for example, usually give information about its geographical position, history, economy, population, languages spoken, etc. Different categories obviously apply to, e.g. biographies or travel stories. Provided this information is not already too explicitly classified, students can be asked to classify it into a set of given categories, or to identify the categories and then rearrange the information accordingly.

ANSWER KEY (Suggested)

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1. basketball | U.S.A. 1891 | court has baskets | to throw ball into | 5 | ball may be thrown | 20-min

with open net, opponents' or bounced-players | halves

attached to basket must not take more

backboard than one step while

holding ball

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2. volleyball | U.S.A.1890s | court divided by | to make ball land | 6 | team may touch ball| ---

high net in opponents' 3 times before

court or to returning it - but not

prevent them twice in succession

returning it fairly

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(soccer) | first can be used, | halves

| association, including head,

|England 1863 but no hands/arms -

only goalkeeper can

handle ball

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