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
Question tags
Learn how to form question tags like “You sent the link, didn’t you?” and use rising or falling intonation to check or confirm. Practice with free exercises.
Use after the complete B1 sequence, not as a lesson quiz.
Open diagnostic →15–20 minutes optional: Tutor-read expected agreement, open confirmation, U.S. tag linking, negative-statement response, and contrastive operator listening check · Next-day operator, negative-meaning polarity, and response-truth 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
Learn how to form question tags like “You sent the link, didn’t you?” and use rising or falling intonation to check or confirm. Practice with free exercises.
What must become clear
Can-do: By the end, you can build standard opposite-polarity tags with be , perfect have , modals, and do ; use contemporary U.S. do -support with lexical have ; replace nouns and indefinite subjects with the right tag pronoun; treat never , nobody , nothing , and hardly as negative in meaning; handle I’m ..., aren’t I? , Let’s ..., shall we? , and common imperative tags; answer according to the truth of the statement; use rising or falling intonation as a context-sensitive social signal; and choose a full question when a tag could pressure the listener.
High-value friction points
- Lena is ready, isn’t she?Echo the statement’s operator is; do not supply does when be is already present.
- Nobody called the speaker, did they?Use positive did after negative-meaning nobody, and use singular they for the indefinite person.
- You haven’t sent the code, have you? No, I haven’t.A truthful negative short answer begins with No. Yes, I have would correct the negative statement and mean the code was sent.
Protect these lesson moments
- Reactivate the statement operators
- Discovery check: form and conversational job
- Operator check: repeat the system already present
- Do-support check: no visible operator in the statement
- Reference check: who or what does the tag point back to?
Learner production
Verified details: Choose three confirmed fictional facts. State each with an accurate tag and a cooperative falling voice.
- Open checks: Choose three blank or uncertain tasks. Use rising tags and accept either confirmation or correction.
- Grammar range: Include be , Present Perfect, a modal, Present or Past Simple, one negative-meaning word, and one special pattern.
- Respect: Replace one tag that embeds a preferred answer with a neutral full question. Respond to every answer rather than repeating the pressure.
Carry this language into the next session
Retrieve Question tags 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
Match the English tag to the main verb
- Possible transfer
You’re coming tomorrow, isn’t it? / She works in sales, isn’t it?
- English rebuild
You’re coming tomorrow, aren’t you? / She works in sales, doesn’t she?
Why it can happen: Turkish adds the same tag, değil mi, to almost any statement to check information. English builds each tag from the auxiliary and subject of the main sentence and reverses positive and negative, so the tag changes with every sentence.
Natural English:
- You’ve met our new director, haven’t you?
- The train doesn’t stop here, does it?
Russian → English
One pattern to test
Answer negative questions about the fact itself
- Possible transfer
A: You don’t eat meat? B: Yes. (meaning: I don’t)
- English rebuild
A: You don’t eat meat? B: No, I don’t.
Why it can happen: In Russian, да after a negative question can confirm the speaker’s assumption, as in да, не ем. In English, yes and no follow the fact: yes goes with a positive answer and no goes with a negative answer, whatever form the question had.
Natural English:
- “You’re not coming tonight?” “No, I’m not. I have to work late.”
- “Didn’t you get my email?” “Yes, I did. I just haven’t replied yet.”
Mandarin Chinese → English
One pattern to test
Answer negative questions by the facts, not by agreement
- Possible transfer
A: You didn’t get the email? B: Yes, I didn’t get it.
- English rebuild
A: You didn’t get the email? B: No, I didn’t.
Why it can happen: In Mandarin, an answer such as 对 (duì, right) can confirm the negative statement inside the question, so 对，我没收到 means “right, I didn’t get it.” English yes and no follow the facts instead: yes goes with an affirmative answer and no goes with a negative answer, whatever form the question takes.
Natural English:
- “Aren’t you coming tonight?” “No, I have to work late.”
- “Didn’t you finish the report?” “Yes, I sent it this morning.”
German → English
One pattern to test
Use a question tag instead of or
- Possible transfer
The meeting is at three, or? / You’re from Hamburg, no?
- English rebuild
The meeting is at three, isn’t it? / You’re from Hamburg, right?
Why it can happen: German speakers often check information by adding oder? to the end of a statement. English does not use or that way. It uses a question tag built from the auxiliary, such as isn’t it or didn’t you, or an informal right.
Natural English:
- You sent the invoice yesterday, didn’t you?
- This is the right address, isn’t it?
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 the statement operators” express the same core meaning?
- How would you explain this decision in your own words: Can-do: By the end, you can build standard opposite-polarity tags with be , perfect have , modals, and do ; use contemporary U.S. do -support with lexical have ; replace nouns and indefinite subjects with the right tag pronoun; treat never , nobody , nothing , and hardly as negative in meaning; handle I’m ..., aren’t I? , Let’s ..., shall we? , and common imperative tags; answer according to the truth of the statement; use rising or falling intonation as a context-sensitive social signal; and choose a full question when a tag could pressure the listener.
- What needs to change in this repair, and why: Lena is ready, isn’t she?
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 Question tags 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 the statement operators and Discovery check: form and conversational job 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 expected agreement, open confirmation, U.S. tag linking, negative-statement response, and contrastive operator listening check · Next-day operator, negative-meaning polarity, and response-truth 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 the statement operators · Discovery check: form and conversational job · Operator check: repeat the system already present.
- 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 build standard opposite-polarity tags with be , perfect have , modals, and do ; use contemporary U.S. do -support with lexical have ; replace nouns and indefinite subjects with the right tag pronoun; treat never , nobody , nothing , and hardly as negative in meaning; handle I’m ..., aren’t I? , Let’s ..., shall we? , and common imperative tags; answer according to the truth of the statement; use rising or falling intonation as a context-sensitive social signal; and choose a full question when a tag could pressure the listener.
- 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: Lena is ready, isn’t she? Echo the statement’s operator is; do not supply does when be is already present.
- 12–15 min
Build + drill
Move from accurate choices to faster retrieval and sentence construction.
Teacher move: Prioritize these lesson tasks: Reactivate the statement operators · Discovery check: form and conversational job · Operator check: repeat the system already present · Do-support check: no visible operator in the statement. 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: Verified details: Choose three confirmed fictional facts. State each with an accurate tag and a cooperative falling voice.
- 3–5 min
Reflect
Make progress visible and choose one specific next use.
Teacher move: Retrieve Question tags 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 expected agreement, open confirmation, U.S. tag linking, negative-statement response, and contrastive operator listening check
- Clip 1
Read: The speaker arrives at FIVE THIRty, doesn’t she? Use a falling voice through the tag.
Supports: What job does the falling tag perform in the first supplied context?
- Clip 2
Read: You haven’t sent the WI-FI code, have you? Use a rising voice through the tag.
Supports: Why does the second tag rise in this supplied context?
- Clip 3
Read: You have the ROOM key, don’t you? Link don’t you naturally.
Supports: What grammar remains recoverable in the linked phrase don’t you ?
- Clip 4
Read: You haven’t sent it, have you? No, I HAVEN’T.
Supports: What does No, I haven’t communicate?
- Clip 5
Read: I said he HAS arrived, HASN’T he?
Supports: What does the final contrast make explicit?
Delivery and evidence notes
- The confirmed schedule plus falling voice presents 5:30 as expected shared information.
- The blank task plus rising voice makes the completion check more open.
- Possessive have uses contemporary U.S. do -support. Linking does not erase don’t you .
- No, I haven’t confirms the negative statement: the item remains unsent.
- The participle arrived resolves he’s as he has , and contrastive stress highlights matching hasn’t .
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 · Question tags
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 build standard opposite-polarity tags with be , perfect have , modals, and do ; use contemporary U.S. do -support with lexical have ; replace nouns and indefinite subjects with the right tag pronoun; treat never , nobody , nothing , and hardly as negative in meaning; handle I’m ..., aren’t I? , Let’s ..., shall we? , and common imperative tags; answer according to the truth of the statement; use rising or falling intonation as a context-sensitive social signal; and choose a full question when a tag could pressure the listener.
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?
Learn how to form question tags like “You sent the link, didn’t you?” and use rising or falling intonation to check or confirm. Practice with free exercises.
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.