GRADE 9 English PERSONAL GROOMING – LISTENING AND SPEAKING:LISTENING TO RESPOND-EXPRESSING FEELINGS Notes
English — Listening & Speaking: Listening to Respond — Expressing Feelings
Topic: Personal Grooming | Level: Age 14 (Kenya)
Learning objectives
- Use correct grammar to say how you feel about personal grooming (hair, uniform, shoes, cleanliness).
- Listen and respond with suitable phrases and correct sentence forms (questions, short answers, explanations).
- Use modals and reason connectors to give advice or explain feelings (should, shouldn't, because, since, as).
Key grammar: ways to express feelings
Use these structures when talking about feelings related to personal grooming:
- Simple: I feel + adjective. — I feel proud. I feel embarrassed.
- Be + adjective: I am + adjective. — I'm nervous about my haircut.
- Present continuous for current emotion: I am feeling + adjective. — I'm feeling excited today.
- About + noun/verb-ing: I'm proud about my clean shoes. / I'm nervous about meeting new friends.
- Explain with reason: ... because / since / as + clause. — I'm embarrassed because my uniform is dirty.
- Intensity: a bit / a little / very / extremely / quite. — I'm a little nervous.
- Negative: I don't feel comfortable. / I'm not happy about my haircut.
- Questioning: How do you feel? / Are you happy with your new hairstyle?
- Short responses & agreement: Me too. / So am I. / Neither am I. / I don't (either).
Useful phrases for listening & responding (empathy & grammar)
- Listening prompts: "So you feel...?" / "Do you mean that...?"
- Empathy phrases: "That sounds difficult." / "I'm glad for you." / "I understand."
- Clarifying questions: "Why do you feel that way?" / "What happened?"
- Giving advice (modals): "You should comb your hair." / "You shouldn't skip washing your uniform."
- Polite suggestion: "Why don't you try..." / "How about..."
- Reported speech (when retelling feelings): She said (that) she was embarrassed. — Note tense backshift (present → past).
Pronunciation & intonation notes (important for listening)
- Questions → usually rising intonation: "Are you happy with your uniform?" (rise at the end).
- Statements → falling intonation: "I'm proud of my clean shoes." (fall at the end).
- Strong emotion → rising then falling: "I'm so excited!" (shows excitement).
- Short empathetic responses are quick and lower: "I see." / "Oh no." — Useful when listening to a classmate.
Example dialogues (focus on grammar & listening responses)
Dialogue 1 — At school (short)
A: "How do you feel about the new haircut?"
B: "I feel a bit embarrassed because it's shorter than I expected."
Good listener response: "I see. You look fine — maybe it will grow quickly. Do you want some tips?"
Dialogue 2 — After cleaning shoes
A: "I'm really proud of my polished shoes."
B: "So am I — they look smart! Good job."
Grammar point: use "So am I" to agree when the verb is "am".
Dialogue 3 — Advice using modals
A: "My uniform got dirty during games."
B: "You should wash it tonight so it is ready for school."
Note: "should" gives polite advice; "must" is stronger obligation.
Short grammar practice (do these in class or at home)
-
Fill in the blanks with the correct form (feel / am feeling / am):
a) I ____ a little nervous about the school assembly.
b) She ____ proud of her new plait.
c) They ____ excited about the sports day. -
Choose a connector (because / as / since) to explain the feeling:
a) I'm embarrassed ____ I spilled ink on my uniform.
b) He is happy ____ he received a comb for his birthday. -
Change to reported speech (use past):
"I'm embarrassed about my haircut," she said. → _________________________. -
Make a polite suggestion about grooming (use "Why don't you..." or "You should...") for this situation:
Your friend says: "I always forget to polish my shoes." →
Answers
- 1a) am feeling 1b) is 1c) are
- 2a) because 2b) because / since / as
- 3) She said (that) she was embarrassed about her haircut.
- 4) Example: "Why don't you set a reminder to polish them every Saturday?" or "You should polish your shoes every week."
Listening-to-respond checklist (use while listening)
- Listen for the main feeling word (happy, proud, embarrassed, nervous, excited, worried).
- Notice tense: present / present continuous → respond with the same tense if describing now.
- Ask a short clarifying question: "Why?", "When did it happen?", "How does that make you feel?"
- Paraphrase the feeling using correct grammar: "So you feel embarrassed because..."
- Give advice politely when asked: use should / shouldn't / Why don't you...?
- Use short empathy replies: "I see. That must be hard." or "Great! I'm happy for you."
Role-play ideas (2 students)
Practice one role as the speaker and one as the listener. Focus on correct grammar when expressing feelings and clear responses.
- Situation A: You just trimmed your hair and you are unsure. Use: "I feel... because..."
- Situation B: Your classmate cleaned their shoes and is proud. Respond using an agreeing short form (So am I / Me too) and add a question.
- Include one piece of advice in each conversation using a modal verb.