The following learning path  is part of a larger project focused on some cultural aspects of the main English speaking countries. This teaching unit is particularly addressed to teachers who want to introduce their students to some geographical, historical and cultural aspects of the United States.

Class:   the following lessons are recommended for students of a secondary school

Level:  pre-intermediate (A2 to B1 according to the Common European Framework)

Pre-requisites:

Grammar

•     Past tense
•       Superlatives and comparatives
•       Passive

•       Students know a few words related to the area of geography, economy and  politics

A habit to work in groups and in pairs is recommended.

Objectives: By the end of the lessons, students should be able to:

     Linguistic

•       read and understand general information about the United States;
•       orally describe the main features and events related to the U.S.;
•       answer different type of questions to the texts.

Lexical

•       learn some new vocabulary related to the area of geography, economy, politics,… ( words, such as:  tributaries, mountain chain, fall, trade, cattle, dairy produce, impeach, welfare…);

Cultural

•   identify the main geographical features, historical events and other cultural aspects of the United States;

Teacher’s notes

The following material could be used in classes with a large number of pupils. According to their number, it would be up to the teacher whether to have plenary explanations or better a cooperative learning activity such as the jigsaw reading [E1] [F1] [I1]. This way the class could be divided into smaller groups to learn all about one specific cultural aspect (e.g. history or geography); then each group member could relate the rest of his/her group about what he/she has learnt.
As regards the students’ activities to test their knowledge, the teacher would decide to use these questions for a written or oral report, according to the material at disposal in your classroom.