• Identify the book and unit you will be looking at: title, publisher, level, unit, topic, main language and communicative aims of the unit.
Top Notch Fundamentals published by Pearson. Elementary level. Unit 9 Lesson The topic is weather and ongoing activities. The aims are to discuss the weather, make plans and talk about people´s activities using the present continuous.
• Are the tasks in the unit graded? Are there simple tasks, and more complex tasks that could be assigned to faster students?
The unit is graded. There are simple tasks like completing yes/no questions. There´s also a short role play activity which could allow students to practice a variety of vocabulary with at least two different classmates .
• Are there extra exercises and activities available for students who need further practice or for those who need to be challenged?
There´s a pairwork activity in which students discuss today´s weather in the city. There´s also a control practice activity with yes/no questions about the weather and making plans.
• How does the teacher's book deal with the issue of mixed-ability classes? Not available.
• Give some examples of how you could adapt the material of the unit to cater for the needs of faster and slower students.
With faster students I would set up a brainstorming activity so students can go to the board and write vocabulary about weather. Then I would ask them to prepare a short weather report for the news on their favourite city using that vocabulary. Then they can share their report in pairs.
With slower students I would ask them to describe what´s the weather like on perfect day for them. To work on their own first and take some notes and then to discuss about it with a few classmates in pairs.