Lesson 3 09/06/2015

Time: 80 minutes
Theme: On Dress codes and regulations (part 1)
Level: upper-intermediate
Content: Obligation: Must (affirmative, negative and interrogative pattern).
Clothes.
Objectives of the class: Ss will:

Revise content seen in previous classes

Expand their vocabulary of clothes

Use language communicatively to talk about the content of a text and to share
personal experiences related to the notion of dress codes

Learn both the concept behind must(to talk about internal obligation or
regulations), and the concept behind mustnt (to express prohibition)

Reflect upon the role of garments in institutions.

Materials:
Computer, digital images, handout, and blackboard.

1. Warm-up
Aim: recovering content from previous classes
Time: 5
Materials: Blackboard (to jot down the ideas mentioned)
I will write on the blackboard the following two sentences (worked on in previous
lessons): we should help others and we must help others. Then I will underline
both should and must and will ask Ss whether they remember the concept

behind these words. I will ask: Do you remember the idea behind these words? We
use them to express what? Ss will mention the word advice and I will
continue: Good! Both words are used for advice. But whats the difference
between we should others and we must help? Ss will mention the idea of
stronger advice for must, and I will write it on the board in the following way:

we should we help others =

we must help others

Advice
(stronger) Advice

To make Ss put this theory into practice, I will encourage them to produce
sentences containing these modals. For this, I will tell the class that I was
just invited to the birthday party of a 15-year old cousin, and that Im not
sure what kind of clothes I should wear, or present I should buy. I will then
ask Ss for some advice such as: "should I wear a suit or should I wear
something more informal? What do you think I should give her as a present:
should I buy something or should I simply give her some money?" This way, Ss
will have to come up with sentences containing should/must to be able to
offer advice.

2.

Pre-task
Aim: talking about dress codes: discussing the riot at Duncanville High
School. Expressing opinions through the use of should and must (prior
knowledge). Enriching vocabulary of clothes.
Time: 15
Materials: pictures connected to the riot at Duncanville High School(annex
1), and handout (annex 2)
I will show Ss the pictures in annex 1 and ask them what they see. They will
describe what they make of the images, and I then I will tell them that the pictures
are connected to a riot that took place in Texas, United States, last year. I will first
ask the class whether somebody knows the meaning of the word riot to make
sure they understand the concept. Then I will briefly explain what the pictures are
about: a riot caused by secondary school students, who got suspended (around 170
students in just one week!) for violating the dress code their school had imposed on
them. I will give Ss details about the incident (how Ss objected to the sexist nature
of this dress code, among other things). As soon as the term dress code crops up
in the conversation, I will ask the class whether somebody can explain what this
term means to their classmates, so that all the Ss in the class can truly follow the

discussion. I will ask Ss to make connections to the dress codes they are familiar
with, so that they can grasp the concept easily: are there (in)appropriate clothes
for a club or for school?
After I present the case of Duncanville High School, I will ask Ss some questions for
them to practice should and must: what do you think, folks? Should students
complain if a school creates this kind of regulation? Should the school choose the
clothes students wear? Should parents punish their children for demonstrating? or
should they support them?
Then, I will give Ss the pictures of clothes in annex 2, with which we they will
increase their vocabulary of garments.

Tasks
Aim: developing reading comprehension skills: understanding global ideas and
enriching vocabulary.
Time: 20
Materials: handout (annex 3)
I will give Ss the text in annex 3. I will tell them that the information that they are
bound to read has been taken from the website of Duncanville High School. The
text is short excerpt of the dress code imposed on students at that institution. Ss
will have to work in pairs to make sense of the text with the aid of the vocabulary
of clothes that they have just been given (annex 2). They will take 5 minutes to
read the text: their objective is to identify one regulation they feel is absolutely
unnecessary and one with which they do agree. Their choices will be shared with
the rest of the class. Ss will be also requested to underline the words they have not
understood from the text, so that we can work on them after time is up.
Once they read the text, Ss will dispel doubts related to its vocabulary and share
with the group the 2 regulations they have chosen.
Afterwards, Ss will have to read the second part of the text. They will be given 5
more minutes to do so. Again, they will highlight words whose meaning in unknown
to them, but this time they will have to identify only one regulation: the one they
feel is the most absurd. Once time is up, we will again discuss vocabulary and then
will move onto the regulation they deem the most ludicrous.

4.

Post-task
Aim: Using language to communicate their views on the content of the text.
Time: 5
Materials: blackboard

Once the two parts of the text have been read, I want to know what Ss think of the
dress code imposed at this Texan school. For this, I will ask some questions, such as
would you like to study in a school like this one? Yes/no? Why? Is there anything
interesting/surprising that you have found in the text? According to the text, girls
can wear earrings but boys can not wear them. What do you think about this? Do
you agree? Why men cannot grow a beard but moustaches are OK? What is the
difference (if any)? Does it make any sense? Or do you think it appropriate? Do you
think that the clothes you wear make you a better student? Etc.
I will write on the blackboard any instance of incidental teaching.

Language focus
Time: 15- 18
Materials: blackboard, handout
Aim: learning how to use must and mustnt in a sentence
I will write these sentences from the handout on the board: students must
wear closed toe shoes, Tops must remain tucked in and boys must
not wear earrings.

1) Students must wear closed toe shoes

2) Tops must remain tucked in
3) Boys must not wear earrings

I will tell Ss to look at the sentences on the board and I will ask them: What do
these sentences express? Are they about predictions in the future? Or about advice?
Ss will try to elucidate the function of the sentences, and when they eventually
arrive at the idea of rules/regulations, I will ask them: and how do you know
these sentences are about rules/regulations? Which word indicates that the
sentences are about rules/regulations?

Regulations
1) Students must wear closed toe shoes
2) Tops must remain tucked in
3) Boys must not wear earrings

Ss will most probably mention the word must, and then I will underline it. Then I
will tell them: excellent! In this text, the word must is used to talk about
obligation, about rules that we have to follow. I will then tell Ss that to better
understand the meaning of must, we have to see the context where it appears.
In this case, we know that the text is about rules (about the dress codes imposed
by this Texan school), so the word must is used to express obligation, rather than
strong advice. I will pay special heed to the idea of context while discussing the
meaning of must, for Ss need to understand that it is through context that they will
be able to decipher/use modals accurately.
Then I will move onto the sentence in the negative, and will try to elicit from Ss
the meaning of mustnt (it stands for prohibition). I will then show them what
must and mustnt truly express by writing do this! and dont do this!
respectively, as can be seen below.

Regulations
1) Students must wear closed toe shoes ------- must

= obligation

= do this!

2) Tops must remain tucked in

-------- must

= obligation

= do this!

3) Boys must not wear earrings

-------- mustnt = prohibition = dont do this!

As with the previous lesson, I will show Ss that these sentences are made up of
three different elements, and that must (or mustnt, for that matter) is the special
word that moves to the beginning of the sentence to create the question. For his,
therefore, I will first make Ss remind me of what we mean by the three
elements. I will pick the first example on the board to discuss the interrogative
pattern: I will enumerate the subject of the sentence (1), the modal (2), and the
verb (3), so that Ss can tell me what each number stands for. I will suggest Ss that
they go back to their notes, if they cannot remember this.

Regulations
Students must

wear closed toe shoes

Once Ss tell me what each number stands for, I will write it on the board.
Regulations
Students
1

must
2

Subject

special

wear closed toe shoes

3
verb

word

Then, I will ask them to tell me whether they see anything strange in the form of
the verb: I want them to see that after must the verb appears in the bare
infinite form. After this, I will ask Ss why must is a special word: What does it
make it special? This way, Ss will tell me that it is this word that moves to presubject position in the interrogative pattern. I will make sure that they also
remember that the special word/modal has another important role: it gives us
information connected to HOW we should understand the sentence. Must is also a
special word because here it tells us: hey! This sentence is a sentence that
expresses obligation!
Regulations
Students
1
Subject

must
2
Special

wear closed toe shoes

3
verb

Word

Must

students

5.

Practice

wear closed toe shoes?

3

Aim: putting into practice must and mustnt to talk about obligation/ regulation.
Time: 15
Material: handout
I will tell Ss that to see if they have understood, we will work on some exercises.
They will have to get together in groups of 4 to work on the creation of a behaviour
code for a club: they will pretend they are the owners of a club or a disco and that
they have to decide what kind of clothes and behaviours are permitted inside the
place. They will have to create 5 sentences saying what people must do, and five
sentences saying what people must not do. I will leave the rule on the board for Ss
to read while doing the exercise. I will give Ss 10 minutes to work on the activity.
Meanwhile, I will walk around to see how they are doing. Once they finish their ten
sentences, each group will have to ask another group whether some behaviour is
obligatory or not at their club, by resorting to the interrogative pattern with
must.
I will provide an example.
Group 1 says: Must people wear slippers in your club?
Group 2 answers: No, they mustnt. They must wear shoes.
Regulations

+) Students

must

1
Subject

wear closed toe shoes

2
+

special +

verb (bare infinite)

Word

-) Students

mustnt

1
Subject

wear closed toe shoes

2
+

special
Word
(in negative)

3
+

verb (bare infinite)

?)

Must

students

2
Special

1
+

subject

wear closed toe shoes?

3
+ verb (bare infinite)

Word

6.

Closure
Aim: reflecting on what they have learnt
Time: 3
Material: We will recap on what we have learnt so far. I will ask Ss: ok, before the
class finishes, I want you to tell me ONE thing you have learnt today (each
student will say one, and they cannot repeat the same thing). Once this is
done, I will thank Ss and say goodbye.

Annex 1

Annex 2

Annex 3

Standard of Dress for Grades 9-12

1)

Shirts, blouses, sweaters, light-weight jackets (Tops)

Tops must be collared, have sleeves, and must be long enough to be fully tucked into bottoms.
Tops must remain tucked in throughout the day.
All tops are free of logos and designs.

2)

Pants, skirts and dresses (Bottoms)

Pants/Bottoms must be solid navy, or solid black in colour.
Skirts, jumpers, and dresses must be hemmed at or below the bend of the knee.
Pants must be worn at the waist.
Bottoms must be worn at the natural waistline. Sagging is not permitted.
Denim or jean, and workout or warm-up material is not permitted.

3)

Belts: Belts must be worn by students.

4)

Shoes: students at all grade levels must wear closed toe shoes

5)

Hats/Hoods: hats and hoods must not be worn on the head inside the building.

Grooming Standards for all Grades PK-12

Hair:
A clean, natural-looking and neatly groomed hairstyle is expected. Unusual hairstyles are not permitted.

Facial Hair:
Boys must be clean-shaven, with the following exceptions: For boys, facial hair such as beards and goatees
are not permitted. Mustaches are permitted, if they do not extend beyond or below the edge of the lips and
are neatly trimmed.

Earrings:
Girls may wear appropriate earrings. Boys must not wear earrings and must not have any object in the ear
or earlobe.

Body Piercing and other items:

For boys and girls, visible body piercing of any type (other than appropriate earrings for girls), including
face and tongue piercing, is not permitted on campus or at any school-sponsored activity. For boys and girls,

teeth "grills" are not permitted.