Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Presentation 5
Rev. 1-5-2009
Drills
[45 minutes]
Materials
 Teachers Manual
 Three pens
 Three pencils
 Three books
 Handout #7 – Summary of Drills
 Drill samples for trainee practice (these are kept in materials box)
 Picture dictionary (for practice session)
Suggested Teaching Methods
 Lecture
 Demonstration
 Small-group practice
Essential Presentation Elements (25 minutes)
Introduction
 We use drills to teach vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar (for
example, verb tense), and questions/answers.
 Handout #7 lists the names of the six types of drill and the page in your
Teacher’s Manual with instructions on how to do them.
 Tell trainees that you (the trainer) will demonstrate each drill; then they will
get a chance to practice.
 Using the group as if they were your students, demonstrate each of the
different drills in the order listed on the “Summary of Drills” handout.
 Teach the names for identification, but stress that what is important is how
and when to use them.
1. Repetition Drill

Teaching Points:
o Explain that the primary purpose is teaching new vocabulary. It is
also used for dialogs and the introduction of new structures.
o This is the simplest drill to learn.
o The student just repeats.

Demonstrate
o “This is a _______________.” (Pen, book, table, etc.: 3 different
samples if possible)
o “This is a _______________.” “Please repeat.”
o Trainer then holds up object and asks: “What’s this?”
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Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Presentation 5
Rev. 1-5-2009
o Group should respond, “This is a _______________” in a complete
o sentence.
o If response is incorrect or not a complete sentence, the Trainer
states the correct answer in a complete sentence.
2. Identification Drill (also known as Substitution Drill) Using Visual Cue

Teaching Points:
o This drill is used to check whether the student remembers visual
vocabulary and help consolidate that learning.
o Used heavily in Book 1, less so in following books as vocabulary
becomes more abstract.
o Make sure trainees understand how this is different from the
Repetition drill
o After Book 1, Laubach calls this an Identification Drill

Demonstrate
o Hold up one of the objects (pen, pencil, book, etc.) and say:
o “This is a pen”, “REPEAT.”
o Then hold up the pen and, WITHOUT SPEAKING, gesture to them
to repeat the structure you just modeled.
o If they do not reply correctly, model the correct reply: “This is a
pen.”
3. Substitution Drill, Using Vocal Cue

Teaching Points:
o Despite the name, no real connection to Substitution with Visual
Cue.
o Used to practice primarily grammatical structures, though can be
used to check vocabulary knowledge.
o This is the most common type of drill in Book 2 and 3.
o Information comes from student’s brain without any objects being
necessary.

Modeling
o Without using any objects, say “Pen. This is a pen. Repeat.”
o Trainees should repeat, “This is a pen.”
o Then supply ONLY the cue word: Say “Pencil”
o Then gesture to have them repeat the whole sentence you said
above.
o Trainees should say: “This is a pencil.”
o If they do not, repeat process again.
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Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Presentation 5
Rev. 1-5-2009
4. Question and Answer Drill

Teaching Points:
o Learning how to answer questions is an important skill.
o Responses are always in a full sentence.

Modeling
o Holding up a book, say, “Is this a book? Yes it is.”
o Holding up a pencil, say, “Is this a table? No it isn’t.”
o Go through entire list of words (book, table, pen, pencil, chair,
magazine)
o Alternate yes or no questions.
5. Transformation Drill

Teaching Points
o Purpose of drill – to be able to transform statements into a different
kind of sentence. Most common types are questions, negatives,
passives, and changing tenses.

Modeling
o Say, “This is a pen. Is this a pen?”
o Say, “This is a table.”
o Ask them to reply, without giving them the answer.
o If trainees do not reply correctly, model the correct reply and ask
them to repeat after you.
o Go through several vocabulary words to demonstrate as needed.
6. Expansion Drill

Teaching Points
o Practices where words and other sentence elements go in the
sentence. Depending on what language they speak, this may be
very different from what they have been used to.
o Put the expansion word at the beginning, to help them remember it
and not to confuse people who put adjectives last.

Modeling
o Say: “Green. This is a book. This is a green book. Repeat.”
Students should reply “This is a green book.”
o Say “Black. This is a chair. Repeat.” (Gesture for them to reply.)
o “Brown. This is a table.”
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Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Presentation 5
Rev. 1-5-2009
How to Teach Drills
 Model what you want the student to do twice before beginning the heart of
the drill.

If you have more than one student, teach them one at a time, instead of
having all students answer at once.

Whatever the level, only Repetition drills introduce new material. All other
drills are just practice. If the drill is in the book, the student should know
everything that is needed to do it successfully. [Note to trainers: This is
important for the practice. Trainees are so used to the Book 1 drills that
they can’t believe Book 3 drills are possible for the students.]

Tutors also need to create drills for students. When they do so, they can
use what they know about these types. It is important that the drill fills the
student’s need, not that it perfectly fits the type.
o Example: a cup of coffee. a cup of tea. I have a cup of coffee. I
have a cup of tea. I have a cup of black coffee, etc. is a
combination repetition/substitution/expansion drill that works well
helping a student put together and remember longer and longer
sentences.
Practice Session (approximately 10 minutes)
Each table of trainees will practice with one of the drill samples from the
materials box. The six drill assignments are in order. Each table should be given
a different drill to practice. If there are more than six tables, use one of the four
extra drills, designated by “example 2” in the title.
Assign a trainer to monitor 2-3 tables and provide assistance to the trainees, if
needed.
Make sure that:
1. Each trainee gets a chance to teach others at the table as if they were in a
small class.
2. Each table identifies a “teacher” who will demonstrate the drill for the
entire class at the conclusion of the practice session.
3. Trainees understand that the content of a drill may change, but the
technique remains the same.
4. An illustration book or picture dictionary is available for the repetition drill.
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Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Presentation 5
Rev. 1-5-2009
The trainer for each set of tables should let the lead trainer know when the table
is finished. Until then, the trainer should not discuss anything but the drill.
The leader will choose one table of each type to demonstrate the drill. Once all
six types have been demonstrated, the “extra” tables can demonstrate only if
time allows.
The drill samples are used for every class. Be sure to collect them at the end of
the session and return them to the materials box.
Reconvene Class (approximately 10 minutes)
After approximately 10 minutes of break-out time, reconvene and have each
table demonstrate its drill. If there are too many tables, have only one table for
each type demonstrate.
Video Tape
Tell trainees that they will see a video tape of a tutor-student pair doing drills in
the next segment.
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