A day of thanks

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Check your understandingReading comprehension
7. 7Listen: Carla's voicemailListening comprehension
8. 8Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
9. 9What does it mean?Grammar exercise
10. 10Find the plansGrammar exercise
11. 11The present continuous for plansGrammar rule
12. 12Carla's busy weekGrammar exercise
13. 13Now or the future?Grammar exercise
14. 14Say it right: ThanksgivingSpeaking practice
15. 15Find a time to meetSpeaking practice
16. 16Let's discussDiscussion
17. 17Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: plans and arrangementsGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: an invitationDiscussion

Words

• harvest/ˈhɑːrvɪst/

  the time when farmers pick their fruit and vegetables, or the food they pick

• feast/fiːst/

  a big, special meal for a lot of people

• celebrate/ˈseləbreɪt/

  to do something special and fun for an important day

• tradition/trəˈdɪʃn/

  something people do in the same way again and again, for many years

• thankful/ˈθæŋkfl/

  glad about something good in your life

• relative/ˈrelətɪv/

  a person in your family, like an aunt, an uncle or a cousin

• parade/pəˈreɪd/

  a big show that moves down a street, with bands, music and dancing

• leftovers/ˈleftoʊvərz/

  food that is still there after a meal, for eating later

• crowded/ˈkraʊdɪd/

  full of people

• pumpkin/ˈpʌmpkɪn/

  a big, round, orange vegetable

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about holidays.

1. What is your favorite holiday of the year? Why?
2. Which holidays do you spend with your family?
3. What do you know about Thanksgiving?

Grammar rule

The present continuous for plans

am / is / are + -ing + a future time

We use the present continuous for arrangements: plans that are fixed, often with other people, a time or a ticket.

	Example
Now	I'm cooking right now.
The future	I'm cooking the turkey on Thursday. Uncle Joe is picking me up at ten.
Negative	We're not staying at a hotel. She isn't coming on Friday.
Question	What are you doing this weekend? Are you coming to dinner on Thursday? — Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.

A future time (tonight, tomorrow, on Thursday, next week) or the situation shows that it is a plan, not now.

going to or the present continuous?

Both are fine for plans: I'm going to visit my grandma. / I'm visiting my grandma on Saturday. The present continuous is more usual when the plan is fixed, with a day, a time or a place.

Not for things nobody can plan: It's going to rain on Thursday. (not It's raining on Thursday)

Remember unit 10: for a decision you make now, use will. "Who can bring the drinks?" "I'll bring them!"