I am really struggling with this checkpoint and specifically Questions 1, 2, 6 and 10.

I researched some ideas for lesson plans for 1,2 and 10 and used these as a base for my answer however it seem I am not allowed to use any resources to help me in my answers.  
I am now at a bit of a loss really as my brain is not helping me at all.  Is anyone able to nudge me at all in the right direction.

Also for question 6 I had submitted these as my gist questions:What country is the passage discussing?
What cities in particular are being discussed?
What kinds of games can be played?
Where do the gamblers go when they are tired of the games?

However the tutor has told me that these are too detailed.  How do I amend them to suit?

Any help would be much appreciated as I obviously need some sort of kick up the behind!  

I have 10 days left to complete and starting to panic as this is my first checkpoint I have failed.  I am now on my last attempt.

If anyone else is struggling let me know!!!

Hi there,

For question 1, you have the stages there - all you need to do is to give more detail e.g. what is the topic?, what questions would you set for discussion?, how would you group students? etc and of course give details of what activities you would do.  Writing can be made fun - so try to think of some fun ways to increase student participation.

For question 2 you need to find a topic that would suit the level of your students, that you think would be of interest. If you choose to do a discussion or a debate it has to be a topic with room for discussion.  When you have decided what you will do you need to think of how you will set up this activity and describe the steps.  If you just give students a topic to discuss without doing any preparation, they  the activity may flop!  When you plan any activity like this you need to think about what your students know and what they will need to succeed in the task.

For question 6 - Gist questions are very simple questions, that ascertain that the student has grasped the general meaning of the text.  They won't have read everything in detail at this stage, so keep it about the general meaning of the passage.

Question 10 - It's  a hard task choosing a song to do in class.  Often songs contain slang, difficult words and don't follow grammar rules.  Have a look at the lyrics for songs and see if you can choose one which will be appropriate for which level.  Also you need to suggest two activities you can do with the song rather than just playing it and getting them to listen.  How could you make a listening task fun and interactive whilst also testing their listening skills?

Hi everyone! I'm doing checkpoint 4, Q1 at the moment. I don't really understand step 7 of the writing task - construct a skeleton text. What is a skeleton text? Any examples??

Hello,

A skeleton text is when there is just bare information there.  If students are doing it together, it would be a draft of what information it could contain/words and phrases they want to use.  It's good to do a skeleton text first, so that students plan what they will write, intead of just starting writing and having lots of mistakes (which even native speakers would have!).

If you want to set a skeleton text for students, you might want to put some information in first to get them thinking about what they will write (amongst other reasons). Have a look at this website for an example: http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips52.htm#skeleton

I am totally struggling with Q2... Would like to do a role-play but finding it difficult to think about what would be suitable for adults? Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks.