Men with big hats (a lesson plan)

October 25th, 2008 · 6 Comments

I never had a class that didn’t ask me if I wear a kilt when I am in my country.

I wonder if Mexican teachers working abroad get asked the same thing about sombreros.

This is a silly game that I remember from my childhood. I really hope my Mexican friends forgive me for taking advantage of their national dress stereotype in the name of grammar teaching.

What are these?

Answers:

a. A Mexican frying an egg
b. A Mexican riding a bike
c. A Mexican playing the trumpet
d. A giraffe walking past a window (it’s the Mexican’s day off)
f. A Mexican visiting Egypt
g. A Mexican having a bath
h. 2 Mexicans kissing
i. A koala climbing a tree (it’s the giraffe’s day off)

This can be used in class to teach a really useful piece of language: Noun phrases containing -ing structures. Here are some more examples:

10 green bottles sitting on the wall (Song)
Q. Why did the tomato blush? A. Because it saw the salad dressing. (Joke)
Hey now, all you children, leave your lights on, leave your lights on. ‘Cause there’s a monster living under my bed (Song)
Who’s that girl running around with you (Song)
Have you ever seen a man-eating chicken? (A silly question that I remember from my childhood)
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, etc (Christmas carol)

It can be useful for students to be shown the difference between this structure and the present continuous:

A Mexican frying an egg (noun phrase)
A Mexican is frying an egg (sentence)

Here is a lesson plan that uses the pictures above: men-with-big-hats.pdf

Tags: -ing forms · Grammar · Lesson plans · Noun phrases · Present continuous · Student drawings

6 responses so far ↓

1 Sigo // Nov 26, 2008 at 9:16 pm

I loved the lateral thinking Mexican pictures here. Wonder if you heard why the Mexican pushed his wife over the cliff ….answer…wait……..
Why did the Mexican push his wife over the cliff?…. ta kiiilll ha
2 admin // Mar 25, 2009 at 1:30 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdwmQXnT64U
I love it
3 Stephen Brewer // Nov 8, 2009 at 10:27 am

Hi Jamie, I was the participant whose scientific chicken reminded you of Picasso’s line technique… Wanted to thank you once again for the truly memorable contribution you made to the colloquium this weekend. As a classical musician, I look back on your three ‘performances’ like a “symphonie fantastique” with three distinct but related movements… brilliant! More prosaically, I thought I’d add a Mexican -ing drawing to the eight you already have and which I recall from my own childhood. (You may have already seen it too.) You have the concentric circles (the sombrero), a long y axis and much shorter x axis (What’s this?: A Mexican walking a tight rope). Anyway, it’s a terrific lesson plan. It bridges the innocence and fun of childhood with a ‘deep’ aspect of English grammar which learners really benefit from learning how to use. Hope to see you and hear you speak in the near future. Best regards, PS I live a block from the Picasso museum here in Paris; maybe that’s where I got my technique from!
4 admin // Nov 10, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Stephen!
Thank you very much for saying such nice things and for saying them so poetically!

I loved your scientific chicken idea. But I am really kicking myself because I left the chickens on the desk in the Pecha Kucha room. This is terrible. Can you remind me of the reason for your scientific chicken crossing the road? Can you remember verbatim? I bet you can’t!

Thanks again and thanks also for the new Mexican drawing. Great to have another one to add to the list.
Jamie =)
5 E Wilton // Aug 6, 2010 at 2:20 pm

Thank you so much for the Mexicans. I was trying to remember them to show my son (10) and couldn’t find them anywhere.
6 admin // Aug 8, 2010 at 8:10 pm

Happy to have helped. Hope he enjoyed them