Theme: Friendship, using text messages and types of relationship
Lexical area: Adjectives to describe personality, methods of communicating, SMS messages
Cross curricular links: Personal and Social Education, Social Science, Technology

Instructions for language assistants in italics

Classroom materials

Introduction
Here you will find a series of activities to help students to talk about their friends and the different types of friendships they have inside and outside their immediate family. It will be important in the initial stages of the lesson to distinguish between acquaintance, friend and best or close friends. There is a second theme which looks at the role of new technology in building and maintaining friendships.

• To lead into the lesson you could brainstorm the word 'friends' or the idea of 'friendship'. How many words do your class associate with it? Ask the students to write down the names of 4 people who are very close to them. How many people on their lists are family members? How many are school or college friends?
  
  Tell the class how much you miss your close friends. Write 2 names on the board (preferably one male and one female) and ask them to think of questions about your friends. How long have you known Mary? Where did you meet? Where does she live? Higher levels can be put in pairs to do the same exercise or ask them to do this after task 1.

1. Your friends

• Run through for yourself and support with prompts on the board for the class.

• Ask different individuals the questions as you go along.. Introduce words like best friend, close friend and contrast with acquaintance.

• Run through the ways you contact your different friends Some friends who are not very close send Christmas cards and meet up for a drink once or twice a year. Your best friend e-mails you every day. Your friend nearby calls you on your mobile every evening or texts you during the day

• Put students in pairs to compare their answers.

Task 1 Your friends
Complete this questionnaire about your friendships.

• Who was your first friend and when did you meet?
• Do you prefer to have a couple of close friends or a big group of friends?
• Do you have any special friends?
• How often do you see them?
• How often do you speak to them?
• How do you keep in contact?

2. Friendship in the UK

• Encourage to guess the answers to the questions before they read the text and involve them in the topic from the start. Pre teach words and ideas such as 'text messages' and 'SMS'.

• Let pairs check their answers and then ask the final question in the reading text. 'How much is too much?' Try to get suggestions for the number of times you might speak to a close friend. What do students think the teenagers are writing about in their text messages? Get suggestions and try to introduce the verb 'to gossip'. This will be useful for task 5.

Task 2 Friendship in the UK
Try to think of possible answers to these questions before you read.

• What's the most popular method of contact between school friends? (Sending text messages/texting)
• Who sends the most text messages, adults or teenagers? (Teenagers)
• What are the advantages of text messages for friendships? (People feel closer because they can contact each other more frequently)
• What is textitis? (This is a disease when someone cannot stop sending text messages/sends too many/depends too much on text messages. Point out that this is not an official term, just a joke word invented by an angry father!)

3. Your country

• Run through the first couple of questions with the whole class after they confer in pairs. Then put them in pairs or small groups to work through some sentences.

• Do one example with the whole class to get them started. Then each group can read out one of their sentences.

Task 3 Your country
Discuss these questions in pairs.

• Does any of the information in the text surprise you?
• Is any of the information similar to your own country?
• Do your parents send them?
• Do your parents phone or go to see their friends?
• Do you think adults use their mobiles more than teenagers?
• Do people use them too much?
• Are people obsessed with them? (pre teach this idea and phrase)
• Make sentences about friendships at school or between students in your country.
• Make a sentence about the ways people use to contact each other.
• Compare adults and teenagers in your country. Do they have similar ways of communicating with friends?

4. Reasonable or obsessive contact
Lead in to this task by asking a few questions around the class.

• 'Is it true that teenagers need to see their friends more?'

• 'Is this the reason for so much contact?'

• 'What do they do?'

Discuss the first question with the whole class. Some people like to hear a voice. Some people don't like writing. How do they feel? Put them in pairs or small groups to work through the questions. Then hold a feedback session.

Task 4 Reasonable or obsessive contact
What's the best way to contact friends after school?

• Go to see them
• Phone them
• Write to them
• Send an SMS message to them
• E-mail them

• Which method of contact is the most personal?
• Do you need to speak to friends every day?
• Are UK teenagers different from you?
• Why do you think the teenagers at the school gates have an urgent need to text their friends?
• Do your parents control how often you see friends or contact them? How?

5. Problem page

• Run through the first 3 questions and ask more to check they have understood the problem. Then ask pairs to tell each other what they think of Gemma.
• Higher levels could choose an adjective to describe her behaviour. Practise the language of advice and suggestions with the question: 'What should Lucy do?'
• Get 2 or 3 example sentences. Then put them in groups to write a short reply. Read out examples if you have time. This exercise could also be a homework task if you are required to give this type of work.
• Get students to talk about it and plan. Then ask them to complete the writing at home.

Task 5 Problem Page
Read this letter from a teenage magazine in the UK.

• Who is writing the letter?
• What's her problem?
• What do you think of Gemma?
• What should Lucy do?
• Write a reply to her

6. Quotations and lyrics
This task will work best with intermediate students. You could use a song on this theme at this stage in the lesson or in the next lesson. If you have higher levels you could take 2 songs or two poems on the theme of friends and ask which they prefer. Comparing and contrasting two songs or poems is dealt with in the Resource Manual for assistants.

• There are hundreds of sites on the internet where you can search for lyrics and poems. Famous songs that are easy for lower levels are: The Beatles 'I get by with a little help from my friends' or Queen - 'You're my best friend'. Some songs on friendship might be too sugary sweet for your taste or your students!! This discussion and the project work can be done in small groups.

Task 6 Quotations and lyrics
Look at these famous quotations on friends and friendship. Some of them are lyrics from pop songs.

• Do you agree with them?
• Which is your favourite?
• Do you have any similar sayings or quotations from writers in your country?
• Have you got any favourite songs about friendship?
• Do you know any lines or lyrics well?
• Make a poster or leaflet with English lyrics for everyone to keep. All the lyrics should say something about friends or friendships.

7. A true friend

• Brainstorm some adjectives to describe personality and friends: loyal, honest, dependable, sincere, interesting, affectionate, caring, understanding. Help students by putting a list on the board.
• You could also ask them to list the things that friends might do for you: listen to your problems, care for you when you are sick, give you presents on your birthday. Get suggestions round the class.
• After the language preparation pairs write a definition. Then collect them in and have students read them out so they remain anonymous if students prefer.

Task 7 A true friend
A recent survey in the UK asked 10,000 people about their friendships.

The main findings were:
Most people will have about 360 friends in their whole life.
Only 6 of their friends will be called a 'true friend'.
Most people tell their innermost secrets to their' true friends'.

• Write a definition of a true friend. A true friend is a person who……..
• Read your definitions to the class.
• Do you all agree?

8. Role play
The level and amount of language your students are able to produce will vary depending on the class.

• For lower levels build an example dialogue one the board with pictures and prompts. Higher levels might well enjoy the freedom to experiment a little more.

Task 8 Role play

• You have just arrived home from school and a close friend from your class calls you on your mobile. Imagine the sorts of things you might talk about. Why is your friend phoning? Make notes.

• Invent a typical after school conversation in pairs. Act out your conversation.

Internet links

This is an excellent site if you want to explore the texting theme further. There are pages of abbreviations and common text. Look at the pros and cons of texting.
www.bbc.co.uk/joyoftext

This is a collection of quotes from real teenagers on what makes a good friend.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/your_comments/newsid_3247000/3247...

Essential UK archive links

Teen tribes continues the theme of forming groups of friends and being part of a teenage community.
Christmas for young Brits looks at how the younger generation communicate.
School discipline links to the theme of school rules.
Know the net follows up the idea of making new friends through internet chat rooms. The dangers of the net are explored.
Freedom and you looks at the rules which teenagers must respect. The issue of how responsible they are allowed to be can be discussed. Can they go out with friends when they want?
Teenagers talking links to the theme of family relationships and parental control. Do their parents welcome friends they bring home?

By Clare Lavery