Homework: An overview of the structures of the English Language

Activitie 2:
The hands of a man
Building his home; raising a flag; petting a dog; burning a flag. A man’s hands. Hiding his face; saying goodbye; robbing the poor; pointing up “I”. A man’s hands. Skaking his friend’s hands; saving a life; digging a grave; picking tomatoes. A man’s hands. Holding his son; aiming a gun; teasing a woman; killing a man. A man’s hands. Over his head; folded in prayer; shackled in shame; nailed on a cross. God motivates them... The Devil takes them... The hands of a man.

(An Open Letter, by Victor Lundberg, Liberty Records Inc. L.A.,CA, USA.)

I would work the text “The hands of a man” this way:

1) Interpretation
Students should check your reading. For example:
1. According to the text, a man’s hand’s are used for:
a. a good and evil. c. well and bad. e. good and bad. b. God an bad d. God and evil.
2) A flag is not:
a. an identification. c. an emblem. e. a card. b. a signal. d. a symbol.

3) When the hands of a man are folded in prayer it indicates:
a. education. c. devotion. e. motivation.b. protection. d. correction.

4) The text doesn’t present:
a. contrasts. c. antitheses. e. differences. b. apologies. d. opositions.

5) A man with shackles around his hands is probably a:
a. policeman. c. detective. e. cop.b. soldier. d. prisoner.

2) Grammar
2.1 Students shoud underline the Possessive adjective his (home/face/head) and object pronoun them (the Devil takes them).
2.2 Teacher would use the text to teach the Genitive case.
3) Vocabulary
The text shows many new verbs and helps the to revision the spelling of words with the suffix –ing. The teacher could teach or revise some verbs: to raise ( levantar (transitivo direto): Raise your hands. To rise( levantar-se (intransitivo); The sun rises in the east. To rob( roubar (alguém ou algum lugar); Those men will rob the bank and the clients. To steal( furtar (levar algo de alguém sem premissão); Look! That man is stealing the lady’s money. To dig( cavar, “curtir”; They are digging grave is the cemetery. She digs Iron Maiden. You can still explore the following verbs: To say, to tell, to save (salvar; economizar), to take (tomar, pegar, levar). To pet (to touch, to caress), to burn (to incinerate), to hite (to put out of sight, cover), to tease (to excite), to pick (to choose), to nail (to fix with nails), to hold (to embrace).
( Teacher could use flash cards).
4) Conversation and interaction.
4.1 Students should play of mime.
4.2 Teacher could write the phonetic simbols of some words of the text on the blackboard or in cards. Students guess what is the word.