Students are given a gapped text about sitcoms. The missing words are all verbs. Students have to read the text and choose the correct verbs for each gap. The verbs are provided in the infinitive so students have to write them in the appropriate form.
Preparation
You will need one copy of the handout (photocopiable sheet Sitcoms 1) for each student.
Procedure
Introduce the topic of sitcoms. Write the word "sitcom" on the board and ask students what it means.
Try to elicit the fact that the word "sitcom" is a blend of two words: "situation" and "comedy". We call words like this "portmanteau" words. Other examples are "brunch" (breakfast and lunch), "smog" (smoke and fog) and "Wikipedia" (wiki and encyclopaedia).
Discussion
Put students into small groups and ask them to discuss the following:
- What do you know about sitcoms?
- How long does a sitcom usually last?
- Do you watch any sitcoms?
- Do you know any English language sitcoms?
- Where and when do you think sitcoms first started?
Elicit a few ideas from each group and write them on the board.
Gap fill exercise
Tell students that they are going to read about sitcoms. Explain that they are going to have a text with ten gaps. The missing words are all verbs.
Give each student a copy of photocopiable sheet Sitcoms 1. Tell students to read the whole text first ignoring the gaps. Give them a few minutes to read. Explain the meaning of any unknown words as necessary or encourage students to guess the meaning from the context.
Put students into pairs to do the gap fill exercise. First get students to check that they understand the meaning of all ten verbs. Provide dictionaries or get students to share their ideas.
Explain that students have to choose the correct verb for each gap and make sure that they write the verb in the correct form. Give students plenty of time to finish the exercise before providing them with the answers.
Answers
1 broadcast / broadcasted (both are correct)
2 happen
3 changes
4 return
5 know
6 become
7 expect
8 renamed
9 adapted
10 reborn
If you have the resources you can show students a clip of one of the sitcoms mentioned in the text. Otherwise get students to watch a clip at home and share their opinions in the following class.