The independent-user threshold. Learners deal with most situations while traveling, produce connected text on familiar topics, and explain their opinions, plans and experiences.
Printable one-to-one lesson plan
Reported speech (statements)
Report statements accurately by controlling say and tell, speaker and listener reference, time and place viewpoint, and purposeful rather than mechanical backshift.
Use after the complete B1 sequence, not as a lesson quiz.
Open diagnostic →15–20 minutes optional: Tutor-read say-versus-tell frame, backshifted state, earlier canceled event, reported future, and would-versus-had contraction listening check · Next-day say-tell frame, optional backshift, and person-time reference retrieval
Derived from this lesson’s source
Lesson-specific teaching brief
This is not a second lesson registry. The plan reads the same native content that produces the learner page.
What the learner should do
Report statements accurately by controlling say and tell, speaker and listener reference, time and place viewpoint, and purposeful rather than mechanical backshift.
What must become clear
Can-do: By the end, you can distinguish exact quotation from reported meaning; use said (that) + clause , told + person + (that) + clause , and said to + person accurately; map original and new speaker-listener reference; adjust pronouns, possessives, time words, place words, and demonstratives when their reference changes; use common backshifts; recognize legitimate no-backshift and Past Simple alternatives; interpret ’d from the following verb; and relay a statement without adding certainty, doubt, or a promise that the original speaker did not express.
High-value friction points
- Mina told me that she was late.Tell takes a listener directly; say would require Mina said that she was late or Mina said to me that she was late.
- Mina said she would bring her folder.When Alex reports Mina’s words, Mina is she and her possessions use her.
- Mina said she had sent the forms the day before.The day before preserves the day preceding Mina’s original Monday message.
Protect these lesson moments
- Reactivate three common shifts
- Discovery check: follow each original reference
- Reporting-frame check: is the listener named?
- Backshift check: use the requested careful later viewpoint
- Reference check: name the person behind each pronoun
Learner production
Original situation: Mina speaks to Alex on Monday at Harbor Station. Create a four-part fictional statement with a current situation, completed event, ability, and future intention.
- New situation: Alex reports later from Riverside Office to Jordan. State the reporting time and place before rebuilding pronouns and references.
- Viewpoint control: Use one common backshift, one explicit earlier Past Perfect layer, one modal shift, and one justified still-current form.
- Accuracy: Use said neutrally, told + listener once, and do not invent an exact quote, promise, or doubt.
Carry this language into the next session
Retrieve Reported speech (statements) in one true sentence at the next lesson.
Tutor-only contrastive support
L1 Transfer Lens
Test a pattern. Do not label a learner. Use this only after the learner’s actual production gives you evidence.
Select a first language to reveal only the contrasts relevant to this lesson.
Turkish → English
One pattern to test
Express the source of knowledge explicitly
- Possible transfer
Apparently he came, but I saw him arrive.
- English rebuild
Apparently he came. / I saw him arrive.
Why it can happen: Turkish can grammatically mark that past information is reported, inferred, or newly discovered. English has no single equivalent ending, so speakers choose evidence phrases and stance verbs such as apparently, reportedly, seems, must have, or I was told.
Natural English:
- The figures must have been copied from an older report.
- Apparently, the committee changed its decision overnight.
Use while teaching
Operational teaching notes
Choose a route before class, but change it when the learner’s production gives you better evidence.
Ask before explaining
- Which examples in “Reactivate three common shifts” express the same core meaning?
- How would you explain this decision in your own words: Can-do: By the end, you can distinguish exact quotation from reported meaning; use said (that) + clause , told + person + (that) + clause , and said to + person accurately; map original and new speaker-listener reference; adjust pronouns, possessives, time words, place words, and demonstratives when their reference changes; use common backshifts; recognize legitimate no-backshift and Past Simple alternatives; interpret ’d from the following verb; and relay a statement without adding certainty, doubt, or a promise that the original speaker did not express.
- What needs to change in this repair, and why: Mina told me that she was late.
Correct for the stage
- Controlled work: correct immediately, then require the complete repaired sentence.
- Fluency building: note repeated errors and reformulate after the learner finishes the thought.
- Communication: interrupt only when meaning breaks down or the target decision is the lesson’s main evidence.
Retrieve, do not reteach
Retrieve Reported speech (statements) in one true sentence at the next lesson.
Short, core, or extended
Choose the route
All three routes end in learner production. More time means more contrast and transfer, not a longer explanation.
Short route
Retrieve for 3 minutes. Notice and discover for 8. Use the two most diagnostic tasks from Reactivate three common shifts and Discovery check: follow each original reference for 12. Protect 9 minutes for Learner production, then reflect for 3.
Core route
Follow the six-stage sequence below. Reduce repeated controlled items when accuracy is already stable, but keep the nearest useful contrast and final production.
Stretch route
Add Tutor-read say-versus-tell frame, backshifted state, earlier canceled event, reported future, and would-versus-had contraction listening check · Next-day say-tell frame, optional backshift, and person-time reference retrieval, then repeat the communication task with a new situation or stricter success criteria.
60–70 minutes core working plan
Session sequence
Protect the final communication and reflection time. If the learner needs more support, reduce the number of controlled items instead of removing production.
- 5 min
Retrieve
Activate what the learner already controls and check any prerequisite language.
Teacher move: Open with the first practice route: Reactivate three common shifts · Discovery check: follow each original reference · Reporting-frame check: is the listener named?.
- 6–8 min
Notice
Let the learner observe meaning and form in a small sample before naming the rule.
Teacher move: Keep the noticing conversation anchored to this decision: Can-do: By the end, you can distinguish exact quotation from reported meaning; use said (that) + clause , told + person + (that) + clause , and said to + person accurately; map original and new speaker-listener reference; adjust pronouns, possessives, time words, place words, and demonstratives when their reference changes; use common backshifts; recognize legitimate no-backshift and Past Simple alternatives; interpret ’d from the following verb; and relay a statement without adding certainty, doubt, or a promise that the original speaker did not express.
- 8–10 min
Discover
Connect form, meaning, use, word order, and the nearest useful contrast.
Teacher move: Test the learner’s explanation against this repair: Mina told me that she was late. Tell takes a listener directly; say would require Mina said that she was late or Mina said to me that she was late.
- 12–15 min
Build + drill
Move from accurate choices to faster retrieval and sentence construction.
Teacher move: Prioritize these lesson tasks: Reactivate three common shifts · Discovery check: follow each original reference · Reporting-frame check: is the listener named? · Backshift check: use the requested careful later viewpoint. Reduce repetitions if needed, but keep the final production time.
- 12–15 min
Communicate
Use the target language for a real adult purpose the learner cannot complete by copying.
Teacher move: Learner production: Original situation: Mina speaks to Alex on Monday at Harbor Station. Create a four-part fictional statement with a current situation, completed event, ability, and future intention.
- 3–5 min
Reflect
Make progress visible and choose one specific next use.
Teacher move: Retrieve Reported speech (statements) in one true sentence at the next lesson.
Tutor-only source
Listening scripts
Read these lines from the tutor plan while the learner lesson remains on screen. Each clip names the learner item it supports.
Tutor-read say-versus-tell frame, backshifted state, earlier canceled event, reported future, and would-versus-had contraction listening check
- Clip 1
Read: Mina TOLD Alex that the TRAIN was deLAYED.
Supports: In the first line, what role does Alex have?
- Clip 2
Read: Mina said she was running LATE.
Supports: What does Mina said she was running late do?
- Clip 3
Read: She said her train had been CANceled that MORning.
Supports: What time relation does had been canceled mark?
- Clip 4
Read: She said she would CALL the NEXT DAY.
Supports: What does the fourth line report?
- Clip 5
Read: She’d CALL on Tuesday. She’d SENT the form on Monday.
Supports: What does ’d mean in she’d call and she’d sent ?
Keep only useful evidence
After-lesson notes
These notes are for deliberate tutor records or printing. Nothing is stored in the learner’s browser.
The learner can now…
Write one observable use of the target language.
Still needs support with…
Record one repeated error, contrast, or point of hesitation.
Next retrieval prompt
Write one short prompt the learner will answer at the next session.
Anonymous live-lesson evidence
Learner pilot worksheet
B1 · Reported speech (statements)
Pilot 1 of 30 recorded · 3 remaining
Date
Approximate starting level
Core lesson time
Starting evidence
What did the learner already control? What was the first misconception, hesitation, or contrast that mattered?
Did the principle become clear?
Can-do: By the end, you can distinguish exact quotation from reported meaning; use said (that) + clause , told + person + (that) + clause , and said to + person accurately; map original and new speaker-listener reference; adjust pronouns, possessives, time words, place words, and demonstratives when their reference changes; use common backshifts; recognize legitimate no-backshift and Past Simple alternatives; interpret ’d from the following verb; and relay a statement without adding certainty, doubt, or a promise that the original speaker did not express.
Did the first hint help?
Record the first item that caused difficulty and whether the contextual hint led to self-correction before the full repair appeared.
Could the learner do the outcome?
Report statements accurately by controlling say and tell, speaker and listener reference, time and place viewpoint, and purposeful rather than mechanical backshift.
Listen for: The learner uses the target language independently for a real purpose.
What remained available?
If possible, check before rereading in the next session. Record what returned independently and what still required a cue.
Keep, revise, or investigate?
Note any explanation the tutor still had to supply, the smallest useful revision, and whether another pilot should test the same issue.