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Learning Strategies

For the Teacher

The following learning strategies activities are intended to help students become
effective learners of English. These strategies may be used as a way to prepare
students for the corresponding activities in the Student’s Book. However, since they are
intended to teach students to become effective learners, they may also be applied to
other Student’s Book activities.

The strategies included in Top Notch 2 are:

• Vocabulary-building
- keeping a vocabulary journal
- applying new vocabulary to real-life contexts
- applying new vocabulary to other contexts
- personalizing
- categorizing
- association
- collocations
• Reading
- making inferences
- recognizing point of view
- critical thinking
- scanning for details
- clarifying your own point of view
- summarizing
- paraphrasing
- predicting
- scanning for information
• Listening
- listening for general ideas
- focusing attention
- listening in steps
- making inferences
- understanding the order of events
- guessing meaning from context
• Conversation
- preparing for conversation practice
- confirming understanding
- encouraging conversation
- planning ahead for a role play
- preparing for a task
- planning ahead

The following are the suggested points in the units when students can do each activity:

Top Notch 2 For the Teacher

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UNIT 1 Keeping a vocabulary journal

- After A, Vocabulary, on page 6

Preparing for conversation practice

- Before Conversation Pair Work, on page 7
Making inferences
- After B, Reading, on page 8

Listing for general ideas

- Before A, Listening Comprehension, on page 10

UNIT 2 Preparing for conversation practice

- Before Conversation Pair Work, on page 17

Applying new vocabulary to real-life contexts

- After A, Vocabulary, on page 18

Keeping a vocabulary journal

- After A, Vocabulary, on page 20

Recognizing point of view

- After B, Reading, on page 22

UNIT 3 Confirming understanding

- Before Conversation Pair Work, on page 29

Focusing attention
- Before B, Listening Comprehension, on page 32

Critical thinking
- After B, Reading, on page 34

UNIT 4 Encouraging conversation

- Before Conversation Pair Work, on page 41

Applying new vocabulary to real-life contexts

- After A, Vocabulary, on page 44

Scanning for details

- Before B, Reading, on page 46

Top Notch 2 For the Teacher

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UNIT 5 Planning ahead for a role play

- Before Conversation Pair Work, on page 53

Applying new vocabulary to other contexts

- After A, Vocabulary, on page 56

Listening in steps
- Before C, Listening Comprehension, on page 56

Clarifying your own point of view

- After B, Reading, on page 58

UNIT 6 Making inferences

- Before B, Listening Comprehension, on page 64

Personalizing
- After A, Vocabulary, on page 66

Summarizing
- After B, Reading, on page 68

Categorizing
- After A, Vocabulary, on page 70

UNIT 7 Association
- After D, Vocabulary, on page 77

Listening in steps
- Before A, Listening Comprehension, on page 80

Paraphrasing
- Before B, Reading, on page 82

UNIT 8 Personalizing
- After A, Vocabulary, on page 90

Recognizing point of view

- Before B, Reading, on page 92

Keeping a vocabulary journal

- After A, Vocabulary, on page 94

Understanding the order of events

- Before C, Listening Comprehension, on page 94

Top Notch 2 For the Teacher

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UNIT 9 Preparing for a task

- Before Conversation Pair Work, on page 101

Collocations
- After A, Vocabulary, on page 104

Predicting
- Before B, Reading, on page 106

UNIT 10 Planning ahead

- Before Conversation Pair Work, on page 115

Guessing meaning from context

- Before A, Listening Comprehension, on page 116
Scanning for information
- Before B, Reading, on page 118

Top Notch 2 For the Teacher