Week 48 – Describing trends & change

Week 48 – Describing trends & change (get/become, more and more, used to review, B1‑)

Theme: Talking about how things change over time (people, cities, technology, prices, habits) and describing trends.

Main grammar & functions:

• get / become + adjective for change of state:
  • It’s getting colder., He became very successful.
• more and more + adjective / noun for gradual increase:
  • People are becoming more and more busy., There are more and more cars.
• used to review, to contrast past and present:
  • I used to watch a lot of TV, but now I watch series online.

CEFR link:

B1‑: Can describe changes in habits, people, and situations over time, using simple expressions for trends and comparisons (CEFR: “Can describe events, real or imagined, using a simple linear sequence of points.”)

1. Lesson objectives (for students)

By the end of the week, students can:

1. Use get / become + adjective to describe changes in people and situations.
2. Use more and more + adjective / noun to describe trends.
3. Combine used to with these forms to compare past and now.
4. Talk about changes in their life, their city, and the world (technology, lifestyle).

2. Grammar focus (with Ukrainian‑speaker notes)

a) get / become + adjective (change of state)

get + adjective (spoken, common) and become + adjective (slightly more formal):

• It’s getting dark.
• It’s getting colder.
• He got angry.
• She became very successful.
• Life is getting more expensive.

Meaning:

• Change from one state to another: cold → colder, happy → angry, cheap → expensive.

Ukrainian issues:

• Overuse of be instead of get/become:
  • Life is more expensive (static) vs Life is getting more expensive (change).
• Direct translation of verbs like становитися – choose get/become in English.

At this level, emphasise get + adjective in spoken English.

b) more and more + adjective / noun

Form:

• more and more + adjective
  • People are more and more busy.
  • It’s getting more and more difficult to find time for hobbies.
• more and more + plural/uncountable noun
  • There are more and more cars in the city.
  • People drink more and more coffee.

Meaning:

• A continuing, growing trend.

Ukrainian issues:

• Using "more" only once: more busy and busy → more and more busy.
• Word order with verbs:
  • There are more and more… / People are becoming more and more…

c) used to (review) – past vs now

Form & use (quick review):

• used to + verb for past habits/states that are not true now:
  • I used to live in a village. (Now I don’t.)
  • She used to watch a lot of TV. (Now she doesn’t.)
  • There used to be a park here. (Now there isn’t.)

Combining with change language:

• I used to be shy, but now I’m getting more confident.
• Our city used to be quiet, but now it’s becoming more and more noisy.

3. Vocabulary & topics

Areas of change:

• Personal: shy → confident, quiet → talkative, lazy → active, unhealthy → healthy, busy, stressed.
• City/country: quiet → noisy, small → big, clean → dirty, cheap → expensive, safe → dangerous.
• Technology/lifestyle: more online, more cars, more pollution, more people working from home.

Useful adjectives:

• busy, expensive, cheap, noisy, quiet, big, small, old, modern, popular, healthy, unhealthy, difficult, easy, dangerous, safe.

Nouns for trends:

• cars, people, shops, cafés, prices, jobs, smartphones, apps, online lessons.

4. Lesson skeleton (60–90 minutes)

1) Warm‑up – What is changing? (10–15 min)

• Brainstorm in pairs: "What is changing in our city / country / world?"
  • Students mention: traffic, prices, technology, work from home, etc.
• Board 6–8 ideas; later you reformulate with get / become / more and more.

2) Presentation – get / become + adjective (15–20 min)

1. Show sentences contrasting static vs changing:
   • "Kyiv is big." vs "Kyiv is getting bigger."
   • "Life is expensive." vs "Life is getting more expensive."
   • "I’m tired." vs "I’m getting tired."
2. Underline get + adjective.
3. Elicit meaning: "change now / around now".
4. Controlled practice: students complete sentences:
   • "It’s _ (cold) – It’s getting cold."
   • "The traffic is _ (bad) – The traffic is getting worse." (introduce "worse" as irregular if you like.)

3) Presentation – more and more (15–20 min)

1. Add to examples:
   • People are becoming more and more busy.
   • There are more and more cars in the city.
   • Students use more and more technology in class.
2. Board patterns:
   • become/get + more and more + adjective
   • There is/are more and more + noun
3. Controlled practice:
   • Transform ideas:
     • "People are busy" → "People are becoming more and more busy."
     • "There are cars" → "There are more and more cars."
     • "People use smartphones" → "People use more and more smartphones." (or "More and more people use smartphones.")

4) Practice – Past vs now with used to + change (15–20 min)

Students compare past and present using used to and get/become/more and more.

1. Provide prompts for personal and city changes, e.g.:
   • "watch TV" vs "watch YouTube/Netflix"
   • "live in a small town" vs "live in a big city"
   • "few cars" vs "many cars"
   • "quiet" vs "noisy"
2. Model:
   • "I used to watch a lot of TV, but now I watch series online."
   • "Our town used to be quiet, but now it’s getting more and more noisy."
3. Students write 4–6 sentences about themselves and their city.
4. Share in pairs; partners react and ask 1–2 questions.

5) Freer practice – Trends mini‑presentation (15–20 min)

Students describe 2–3 trends they see (their life / city / world).

1. Planning: students choose 3 areas (e.g., work, free time, technology, city life).
2. For each area, they write 2–3 sentences, trying to use:
   • used to (if relevant),
   • get/become + adjective,
   • more and more.

Example:

• "People used to read newspapers, but now they read news online."
• "Our city is getting more modern. There are more and more new buildings."
• "I’m getting busier at work, so I have less free time." (you can keep "less" as receptive if needed).

3. In small groups, students give a short talk about these trends.
4. Group members can ask: "Do you think this is good or bad? Why?" → link to Week 42 (opinions & reasons).

5. Homework / revision ideas

Choose 1–2:

1. My changing life
   • Students write 8–10 sentences about how their life has changed in the last 5–10 years, using used to, get/become, and more and more.

2. City trends paragraph
   • Students describe 5–6 changes in their city/town (traffic, buildings, shops, people, prices) using the target language.

3. Trend spotting
   • Students note 3 "trends" they see in daily life (e.g., phone use, working from home, buying online) and write 2–3 sentences each with more and more and get/become.