Environmental prints. Safety messages (signs & symbols) Enabling Language Skills

1. Developed by Oksana Pashalyk
Environmental prints. Safety messages (signs & symbols)
Enabling Language Skills
Before beginning this lesson students should be able to:
 Use the imperative mood of verbs to make a set of rules;
 Name reasons for reading English;
 Write a simple instruction for using smth;
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
 Recognize names and tell the meaning of various signs, notices and
symbols;
 Correctly spell in written English commonly used signs and symbols;
 State examples of the usage of signs and symbols in a real life;
 Differentiate symbols from the label on the clothing article to know what
way to wash it.
Equipment: handouts, a power point presentation, an overhead projector, the
pictures of labels, signs and symbols.
Procedure
Introduction
Dear students! Today is an ordinary day by calendar, but it’s special one by its
atmosphere.
Warm-up
To understand the topic of our lesson better, I suggest drawing your attention to the
board. Here you can see three different colours (red, green, yellow).

2. Up to you, what nouns are associated with these colours? What adjectives do you
associate with them?
Possible answers:
1) Red colour is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy and
danger. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights and
fire equipment are usually painted red;
2) Yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this
colour.
3) Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Green, as opposed
to red, means safety, it is the colour of free passage in road traffic.
Everywhere we go, we are surrounded by environmental print. Everything has its
notion and meaning. How can colours help you in everyday life?
Possible answer: each of these colours are relevant to the safety, security and
comfort.
Today we’ll speak about different devices of reading, I mean instructions, signs,
symbols which help us to feel comfortable in the modern world.
II
Listening www.youtube.com/watch?v=izeWHwDCUes
By the way the ISO committee has standardized some graphical symbols in a
worldwide basis.
1) Listen to the ISO presenter and tell what ISO stands for. ( ISO stands for
International Organization for Standardization).
2) Watch the video again and answer the questions.
3) Work in groups. Ask each other the questions and answer them.
Group I Group II Group III
What are graphical
symbols vital for? (They
What is developed by
ISO? (International
What has ISO
standardized?(They’ve

3. are vital for giving
information when written
words are not adequate)
standards are developed
by ISO)
standardized a lot of
graphical symbols, safety
formats, safety label
formats, colours on a
worldwide basis)
How can you recognize
warning signs? (Yellow is
used on warning signs as
a background, there is a
black symbol on a
warning triangle )
What does a warning sign
indicate? (It indicates
about potential hazard)
What is prohibition sign
made up of? (It is made
up of a red circle border
with a line through it, a
white background and
black symbol )
Do prohibition signs
indicate what you should
or shouldn’t do? (They
indicate what you
shouldn’t do.)
What are mandatory signs
used for? (They indicate
what you should do to
avoid a hazard)
Mandatory sign is made
up of blue, isn’t it? (Yes,
there is a white graphic on
a blue background)
What do mandatory signs
tell you? (They tell you
about actions you should
take)
Where are they used?
(They are used on the
personal protective
equipment, hard parts)
What do symbols on red
and green squares mean?
(The symbols on a red
square tell you the
location of firefighting
facilities.
The symbols on green
background show where
emergency safety
equipment is kept.)
It is said that every sign tells you a specific message. What do these signs tell you?
Where might you see it?

4. www.123rf.com
Caution wet floor!
It’s a warning sign. I think it means that
people should be careful when the floor
is wet. You might see it at the
supermarkets, hotels, aqua parks.
www.teamavalon.com
No entry
This sign is a prohibition one.
Personally, I think this sign forbids you
to enter somewhere. You can see it at
the airports, factories, railway stations.
www.temavalon.com
No smoking
It’s a prohibition sign too.
It seems to me it is one of the most
frequently used signs in public places
nowadays. It forbids smoking.
www.jactonesigns.com
Pedestrian route
It’s a mandatory sign. To my mind this
sign gives the direction for pedestrians.
It must be a road sign.

5. ru.clipartlogo.com
Please don’t litter
In my opinion this sign tells you to keep
the area free from litter and put it in the
dustbins. You might see it in the parks,
at the bus stops, on the beach.
www.creationsgroup.com.au
First Aid
It is the universal symbol for first aid.
First aid means the
provision[prə'viʒ(ə)n] of immediate care
to victim with an injury or illness, so
you can see this symbol next to the
hospital or chemist’s.
www.clker.com
Fire extinguisher
This sign tells you about the location of
a fire extinguisher.
You see, reading signs and symbols is very important and it is one of the reasons
for reading English.
What else do we need reading in English for?

6. Reading
Pre-reading T→P1→P2→P3 Look through the text on your desk? What kind
of text is it? (It is an instruction how to use a washing machine).
When you’re going to wash the new clothes, what do you
usually do first? (Look at the label on the clothing article)
Here are some labels which you can see on clothes. What do
they mean?
www.clothingstudy.com/wash-care-instructionssymbols/
This symbol means
washing.
Reasons
for
reading
English
labels on
products
books about a
subject you are
studying
lyrics of songs
that you like
things in
English in
advertisements
the label on
the article of
clothing you
have bought
menus when
you go abroad
graffiti written
on the walls
signs and
notices when
you go abroad
instruction for
a computer
game
instruction how
to use a
washing
machine

7. This symbol means that the
item should be washed at
30ºC.
This symbol means that the
item should be hand
washed only. The
temperature should not be
above 40ºC.
This symbol means that the
item should not be washed,
at least not using domestic
washing techniques.
This symbol means that the
item can be bleached.
This symbol means that the
item should not be
bleached.
This symbol means an iron.

8. This symbol means that the
item should be ironed at a
low temperature.
This symbol means that the
item should not be ironed.
While-reading
1) Read the text and find some specific terms in it.
2) Complete the words with the missing vowels.
m_ch_n_ l_ _ndry m_n_ _l _nstr_ct_ _n m_t_r_ _l f_br_c
d_t_rg_nt s_ftn_r
3) Using the glossary explain the meaning of these terms.
Manual – a book containing information or practical instructions on a given subject
Laundry –the process of washing clothes
Button control – a small device on a piece of electronic or electrical equipment
Fabric – cloth produced by weaving or knitting textile fibres['faibə]
Detergent – a substance that removes dirt from the surface of clothes or dishes
Softener – a chemical substance used for making the clothes feel softer
Post- reading
Fill in the gaps with the missing words or phrases.

9. 1) If you don't have an owner's manual, read the button control labels on your
washing machine to get an idea of what they do.
2) Clothes should be further sorted according to their material.
3) The detergent should go on the bottom of the washing machine.
4) Load the laundry as high as your owner's manual specifies.
5) If you're going on vacation or not going to be using your washing machine
for awhile, turn off the water faucets to your machine.
6) If you haven't used your washing machine for at least two weeks, and
haven't used any hot water in your household, turn on your hot water
faucets.
Decide if the statement is true or false.
1) You can wash white clothes together with dark-coloured ones.
2) It’s necessary to add detergent to your washing machine.
3) If you have a lot of clothes you’ll probably have to load them tightly.
4) When you wash white fabrics, you should use hot water.
5) If you are going on vacation, turn off the water faucets to your machine.
6) You may leave coins, screws or anything else in the pockets of your clothes
when putting them in the washing machine.
Put the words in the correct order to form imperative sentences.
1) Read the manual carefully.
2) Don’t wash heavy fabrics together with light ones.
3) Follow the instructions.
4) Set the controls according to the weight.
5) Allow your washing machine to work through all of the cycles.
6) Don’t wash items that can explode.
Find the sentences in imperative mood in the text and make a set of rules for
using a washing machine.

10. Homework
Draw three signs which prohibit people from doing something, three which warn
you about sth and three signs which indicate the actions you should take. Prepare a
quiz for your classmates.
Summarizing
What have you learned today? What can you do now?