Authors' Teaching Tips Focus on Listening and Speaking: Advanced Sherry Preiss   Unit 4: Toast to the Tap: The Water We Drink Last summer, our staff decided to create a water theme for an entire session. Students learned about the function of water in the human body, read and wrote water poetry, studied water-related idioms, discussed both positive and negative water experiences, went white water rafting, and learned about and reported on various "water destinations" like Niagara Falls and Virginia Beach. Some students brought in pictures of favorite water places in their native countries and gave short reports about them. During the last week of the session, we held a water tasting and all of the students participated. It was a big success! Advanced students utilized the chart and vocabulary on page 79 of the text to create the survey for the tasting. They were asked to include synonyms or brief explanations for the more difficult adjectives, and to be available to assist lower-proficiency students while they filled out the surveys. Students and staff sampled three different popular bottled waters, along with local New York City tri-state area tap water, and rated them each on taste, aroma, and clarity on a scale from one to five. They were also required to describe each sample as extensively as possible using the new vocabulary. The advanced class collected the surveys, tabulated the results, and posted them around the school. We received lots of positive feedback about the water theme from our students. Approaching the theme of water from so many different angles allowed students to think in English about something that is very central to all of our lives, explore and use a vast expanse of vocabulary, and to have a lot of fun while doing it.