Lesson Plan Vocabulary New Elementary[1]

ADAPTED LESSON PLAN

Class Profile: An elementary class of adult students, the majority of whom come from Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa (the Congo). Their aim particularly lies in developing communicative skills mainly for producing the TL outside the classroom, in the real world; some of them hope for a job in tourism industry. The group comprises 12 students at this very moment and they began classes last February. They meet three times a week for a two hour and I have only observed them twice. The class consists of Anatoli, an active participant in the whole teaching procedure, trying his very best to take in as much input as possible and use it actively, whenever possible. In my opinion, he seems to be the leading figure in the whole class takes chances with the language and be ahead of others in terms of vocabulary and grammar. Hasan, Asmatoulah Seid, Shamel and Mahdi, seem to be passive participants and they only will take part in the activity, if they understand and be guided as to what they need to do. In addition, two new students turned up, whom I’ve never met before, but,they actually paricipate in the teaching procedure, they do their very best to acquire as much as possible and they also seemed to keep up with the rest of the class. Victor and Ali paricipate actively in class, they seem to have grasped the basic linguistic features and vocabulary items to communicate with others and the T at times. They also both seem to communicate comfortably in pairs, in groups with wellorganised and structured activities and they also communicate effectively in whole class activities, volunteer to contribute their ideas willinglyand with great senmse of humour, which enhances classroom learning. The rest two Sieta and Fifie participate actively in the procedure, if the material and carefully structured activities targeted at them is of high interest. Fifie, particularly, volunteers to contribute her ideas with a strong French accent, when she uses English as a TL (it is clearly obvious,, because her country of origin is the Congo), she does need a lot of work with her pronunciation and Sieta needs guidance and prompt to perform accordingly in class.

LessonAims/ Objectives for students

Evidence

Primary Aim(s)

•

To revise/ teach weather vocabulary with respective clothes according to season, like hot/ sunny-sandals,T-shirt, cold/snowy- jumper, jacket • to enable students by means of activities to assimilate them Learner training: • To enable students to record vocabulary presented to them thematically

Secondary Aim(s) To practise their reading and speaking skills. To practice sub skills of writing (drawing, colouring in, forming letters) To develop their fluency Speaking •

to use the appropriate vocabulary

•

to describe themsleves and their peers To practice these groups of words amongst them in pairs/groups and to use these words to describe people’s way of clothing according to season.

•

•

By using group/pair work to practise describing visuals (blue jacket-snowy weather) and gradually to proceed to describe themselves in pairs saying what clothes they wear in summer / winter.

•

By recording weather conditions in their vocabulary notebooks with respective clothes

•

By guiding one of the students in pairs To practise reading and describing the weather / clothing noun to the other partner to draw

•

By drawing and writing the weather/clothing noun on a post it note

• By describing the way their partner is dressed now during a fluency activity: he/ she are wearing blue jeans, green skirt, etc.

Source Aids/Handouts 1. A Street Fashion page of their current coursebook unit, Module 10 which corresponds to Clothes, their coursebook bearing the name of Cutting- Edge Elementary, pg. 89. 2. A series of downloadable flashcards for presentation of clothes and weather conditions from http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish for weather conditions and http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids_flashcards_clothes_1-5.pdf for clothes; 3. A4 paper to draw and colour in the characters they’re listening to describe, coloured fibre pens for colouring in clothes and the whiteboard for presenting structures of describing others, i.e. “He/ She is wearing ...(blue jeans and a purple T-shirt)......

Linguistic assumptions This group of Elementary studebts has had previous contact with basic weather conditions and basic vocabulary clothes (hot- skirt, cold-trousers), therefore, I believe that it would be a great opportunity to revise what they’ve already covered in class and possibly to extend it to a couple of weather conditions and clothes more ( snowy- boots, windy- scarf). They have also practised noun/ adjective collocations (young people, old car), so I assume they might be able to describe themselves and their peers; plus, they have been guided how to organise, record and store vocabulary items in their vocabulary notebooks thematically.

Anticipated Language Difficulties 1. Students might encounter problems retaining in their long-term memory clothing items and weather conditions. 2. They might not be able to record their vocabulary in their notebooks thematically. 3. They might present problems stressing the vocabulary right. 4. Some of them might even present problems producing the script of the nouns (weather & clothes). 5. Students might not be familiar with how to produce the appropriate utterances to communicate in pairs/groups.

Solutions/Remedies 1. T will pre-teach weather conditions and clothes by means of flashcards presenting both the image and the script of the word nearby 2. Present and record them thematically on the whiteboard for students to record them in their vocabulary notebooks accordingly. After presentation on the whiteboard, T guides Ss how to perform the activity in their notebooks, i.e. a spidergram. 3. T also stresses the word with a red dot above the appropriate syllable of the word with a red marker, i.e. snowy. 4. Ss are already presented with flashcards depicting their visual prompt as well as their script, which, if you fold them in half, is located backwards. 5. T models and writes on the w/b the appropriate stucture “S/he is wearing..........” and models it accordingly with a student or two before the pair/ group work activity taking place.

Timetable Fit The particular group of students have had previous contact with basic weather conditions, such as hot/ cold, and basic clothing items, like coat/dress, therefore, I feel that they might be in the position of recalling and even extending those to snowy-gloves, scarf / warm-sunny –trainers, sandals. They’ve also covered the Present Continuous to a degree, so , they may be able to describe their partner wearing clothes at that moment as well as describing a task in which they are invited to describe one of the people in their coursebook page without the other person knowing about it; just in case they seem to be perplexed , I will proceed to write up on the w/b which structures to use, how to get started and model the procedure with a pair of students or two.

Board Plan(s) Winter gloves boots Shirt

Directions Clothes Jumper

Team A

Team B

Unknown Vocabulary:

Grammar:

Cold Rainy Stormy Foggy Snowy

scarf Summer

Clothes

T-shirt

Dress Hot Sunny Warm Sandals

hat

Belt Trousers Socks Trainers Skirt vest

S/he is wearing................. now

Commentary At the beginning of the lesson, I was thinking of using a TBL- based lesson plan that would induce them to start the lesson with whatever linguistic and lexical means they’d have at their disposal, but, since, they seem to be complete beginners, I thought of a basic PPP lesson that would cater for their needs, as a group of Elementary students. Thus, I have thought of presenting lexical items concerning weather and respective clothes in flashcards (both sides covering pictures & scripted words); this would be a way for them to retrieve and store them in their vocabulary notebooks and use them for further reference. In reality, I have planned a lesson plan that will, hopefully, enable them to review weather and clothes through a variety of communicative activities, since they will be able to use actively what they ‘ ve been taught in previous lessons and what they’ve revised so far. It is , actually, a lesson that will enable them to revise and actively use what type of clothes we wear in particular times of the year. Moreover, another activity that will, hopefully, enable them to use actively the vocabulary targeted at them will be the one of separating the Ss into two teams A+B and advising them to mingle together as two groups and match the visuals of the flashcards to their scripted form; this activity will, hopefully, enable them to develop their reading skills and help them retrieve the pre-taught vocabulary to them. Furthermore, I have designed another communicative, group activity for Elementary Ss to use and that is the one of two teams mingling together this time to match clothes to respective weather conditions, (i.e. Winter- cold, snowy, rainy, foggy, stormy- jumper, boots, gloves, scarf) to be able to retrieve them and actively use them. Another couple of authentic, communicative activities for Ss to use include the ones of describing their clothes, in pairs, being able to use what they’ve been presented earlier and to expand their vocabulary storage, i.e., to even learn more vocabulary words , and the other one I have designed to use is a whole class conversation for Ss to combine weather conditions weith respective clothes , a useful opportunity to retrieve and use both lexical categories in class. Another activity includesusing a vocabulary handout from their coursebook CuttingEdge Elementary, in which there are models for Ss to use and colour in. One of the students keeps the handout to describe what clothes the model wears and the other student needs to draw and colour in what s/he listens to; it’s an opportunity for therm to practise their subskills of writing (drawing and colouring in), to revise colours, to practise and/ or develop their aural skills, their speaking ones(accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, stressrhythm, intonation)as well as their ability to recall and actively use clothes and coloursthey have been pre-taught earlier and/ even to learn some

more. Last, but, not, least, the activity I have chosen to use is the one of playing the “Who is it?”game, in which Ss are invited to describe anyone in class and their classmates are to find out who the description is for; I believe that this very last activity includes an element of humour in class, it is a very relaxing and game-like one to end a lesson, an opportunity for Ss to use their fluency and their vocabulary freely, willingly to interact with others in class.

DELTA Lesson Plan :

Date: June 30th 2008

Name: Paraskevi Andreopoulou

PROCEDURE Stage

Teacher Activity

Learner Activity

Aims

Materials

Interaction

Time

Lead in:

T elicits from Ss weather and respective clothes and presents the respective flashcards , one at a time, inviting students to repeat after her.

Ss perform the activity taking place, and repeat after T.

To present weather conditions and and clothes by means of visuals and thematically on the w/b for Ss to record And to stress the words right/ pronunciation

Flashcards relating to weather and clothes, w/b for presenting the appropriate phonemes

Plenary Mode

10 ‘

Weather and clothes flashcards accordingly for vocabulary presentation, vocabulary notebooks to record and store the words and the w/b for the use of the spidergram Both picture and word flashcards, the w/b for sticking them up and group work

Plenary Mode

8-10’

Group Work

7’

Flashcards (visuals & scripted words) to perform the activity, group members to work as a

Group Work

8’

Presentati on:

T elicits weather words by means of F/Cs cold, rainy, stormy, snowy and foggy elicits clothes we need boots, slippers, trainers, jumper jacket ,pyjamas, socks, shirts and gloves. T organises on the w/b in a spidergram asks Ss to repeat tem and categorise them in their vocabulary notebooks.

Controlle d Practice (a):

Controlle d Practice (b):

T divides Ss into two teams A+B ; members of team A’ hold up picture flashcards and members of team B’ hold up word flashcards. T guides Ss to mingle together to correspond the flashcards and stick them up on the w/b T advises these two teams this time to mingle together, once more, to store flashcards (both visuals and scripted ones) on the w/b thematically, i.e. cold /snowy/ rainy/stormy- jacket, jumper shirt, scarf, gloves,

Ss observe the activity and repeat the words chorally / individually.

Ss record vocabulary in their notebooks thematically

trying to embed them in their longterm memory To record vocabulary thematically, to use it for further reference, categorise it thematically, to much more easily transfer it to longterm memory and to practise vocabulary orally and to practise their aural & vocal abilities

Ss are divided into two teams A+B and advised to mingle together to match picture to word flashcards in their groupings

To mingle as group members to perform an activity, to avail themselves to group work, to correspond flashcards meaningfully on the w/b and to practise their reading skills

Ss perform the activity (Team A:- It’s winter, cold, rainy and foggy ---- Team B:- We wear gloves, scarf, trousers & a jacket)

To record, store the vocabulary they’ve been taught thematically, to practise using them orally, in a controlled way and to collaborate in their teams

boots, etc. T models, sets examples and monitors through activity

SemiControlle d:

At this stage, T divides Ss into pairs and invites them to describe each other the clothes they’re wearing now, i.e. “ It’s summer and you’re wearing.....now” T models , sets an example and monitors through activity

Ss work in pairs to describe the clothes they’re wearing now

To use the vocabulary they’ve been taught at earlier stages as a springboard to communicate it authentically

Free Practice (a):

After class feedback, T decides to have a whole class conversation as to what type of clothes they usually wear in summer and in winter.

Ss describe the clothes they usually wear both in summer and in winter

Free Practice (b):

T , this time, assigns a c/b task from Cutting Edge Elementary; it contains models , which one of Ss is advised to look at in a worksheet and describe it to their partner, who’s obliged to draw and colour in the clothes they wear (Street Fashion)during the activity and beforehand T guides throughout

Ss perform the activity to interact with their classmates in this way

To use vocabulary actively, to communicate their ideas and speak their minds actively; and to express themselves freely by contacting their classmates To actively use the vocabulary, to practise their listening (aural) skills for their partner’s description, to collaborate in their pairs, to follow instructions and actually to do things with the language

team and the w/b to record the vocabulary thematically The w/b with the thematic vocabulary (visual and scripted flashcards) as a springboard for Ss to use for their speaking activity and pair work Thematically recorded vocabulary on the w/b as a recourse, and whole class work Handouts from the c/b (Cutting Edge Elementary) for the activity, A4 papers and coloured fibre pens for the other member to draw & colour in and pair work

Pair Work

5’

Plenary Mode

5’

Pair Work

10’

Freer Practice:

At this stage, T decides that they should play a little game; the “Guess who it is” one, in which, as a whole class, they are to describe anyone in class without saying their name and then, the others need to guess who is being described.

Ss take turns to describe anyone in class and the others try to find out who it is

To communicate much more freely as a whole class activity, to promote humour , warmth and communication in class, to actively use what they’ve been taught earlier and to promote mystery in the classroom; and to intrigue their curiosity

The w/b with the thematic vocabulary as a last resort and whole class work

Plenary Mode

5’

Ending the class:

T thanks Ss for their time

Ss respond accordingly

To end class

None

None

None

APPENDICES CLOTHES FLASHCARDS

kids-flashcards-clothes-1.pdf

kids-flashcards-clothes-2.pdf

kids-flashcards-weather-3.pdf

kids-flashcards-clothes-4.pdf

kids-flashcards-clothes-5.pdf

WEATHER FLASHCARDS

kids-flashcards-weather-1.pdf

kids-flashcards-weather-2.pdf

kids-flashcards-weather-3.pdf

Activity 2: (Directions for group activity) 2. Team A: You get a weather flashcard, you say: (It’s winter, cold, foggy, rainy and stormy) Then, you go to the w/b, stick it up and wait for a friend from the other group. Team B: You get a clothes flashcard, you say: (We wear gloves, scarf, gloves, trousers & a jacket) Then, you go to the w/b, stick it up close to what the friend from cold weather says.

Activity 3: (Directions to Ss for Pair Work) 3. In pairs, you can say what your friend is wearing now. For example: Now it’s summer and you’re wearing……………… (demonstrating on the w/b the words and write the structure, if need be)

Activity 4: (Directions to Ss for Class Work) 5. Now, altogether, tell me : What clothes do you usually wear in winter / summer?

Activity 5: (Directions to Ss for Pair Work) Coursebook: Cutting Edge Elementary New Version pg. 89 Module 10 Street Life Clothes (Cb. Page as an appendix) Topic: Street Fashion Activity: Describe the models

Student A: You choose a model and tell your friend what clothes he / she wears. He / she must draw and colour him / her in. Student B: You listen to your friend saying to you what clothes he / she wears. You must draw and colour in the model. Take this paper and these coloured fibre pens.

Activity 6: (Directions for the “Guess who it is!” game!)

Whole class: Now, we will choose one person from here, in class, we don’t say who it is, and we start saying what clothes he / she is wearing. Next, we must find out who it is.

Post- Lesson Evaluation The paricular lesson plan took place on Wednesday 2nd July 2008 at CELT Athens premises with a group of Elementary students. Generally speaking, I think that the main lesson’s and essay’s aim , which was to store, recall and use vocabulary was achieved, since Ss were able to describe people in their clothes at particular times of the year. In the beginning, I decided to elicit weather conditions and clothes by means of flashcards (both in visual & scripted form). At that stage, I felt that my goal was achieved, since many students volunteered to match picture F/Cs to word ones. Fortunately, both teams corresponded picture to word flashcards thematically on the w/b , helped one another with whatever problems they faced with the scripted form of the words. Unfortunately, I believe that the vocabulary presentation stage kept going for too long, since there were four sets of F/Cs alongside their scripted form, which had to be elicited and recorded in their notebooks. I do have the feeling that because of the activity going on for too long, it prevented me from skipping my next group work activity, which involved mingling two teams and enabling them to use weather conditions alongside clothes, The next activity that involved describing their partner’s clothes,in pairs, it wouldn’t have been successful, if they hadn’t been guided. However, the present continuous form of the sentence written up on the w/b “s/he is wearing....................now”, guided Ss as to what and how they had to do it. They also needed guidance and explanation for for clothes they weren’t familiar with , like “belt, trainers, vest, top, socks, trousers”; fortunately, I wrote them up on the w/b . When Ss were asked to use the handout from their cb. Cutting Edge Elementary was rather effective; now, they again presented problems with language required to describe models’clothes and again, I offered to provide help and guidance by pointing and writing on the w/b whatever they needed to use and desribe in class. Finally, the ‘Who is it?”game, didn’t last as much as I had expected to because of time restricitions, so I resorted to explain the instructions with examples for Ss touse; some volunteered to describe people in class; others were embarrassed to describe peers in class, but,in my opinion, they seemed to enjoy it.

Action Plan  First, I ought not to panic, to keep track of my activities and Ss’progress and take immediate action in case of potenetial problems  I ought to have designed a couple of 5’language awareness activities for Ss to use before their describing oneself and peers; not resorting to writing on the w/b what structures they need to communicate  To better organise activities in terms of time restrictions to avoid losing track of Ss’progress and observation  To pay attention to pronunciation for the benfit of Ss to enhance their speaking skills to wait for all Ss to terminate an activity and then to get class feedback, to avoid losing track of their performance