Lessons
Cindy Casas
TESL 501
Azusa Pacific University
August 2021
Title: All about me
Time: 60 minutes
Context:
The lesson is intended for EFL beginning students with little to no contact with target language. Learners are all high school students who meet three times a week for 60 minutes. All students are Spanish speakers who live in Rosarito Baja California. The class only has ten students with females being more than males. Each student has access to a personal laptop, cell phone, an/ or a tablet. This is part one of a three-part lesson in which students will be constructing their own paragraph to introduce themselves. This first lesson will prepare students to compose sentences into complete phrases.
Outcomes:
SWBAT: Construct their own sentences using a sentence frame to fill in answers in a google doc.
SWBAT: Use and understand two new vocabulary words in their sentences.
SWABAT: Respond to simple questions in similar contexts.
SWBAT: Read and present their sentences to the class.
Prior Knowledge
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Students already know how to write simple sentences.
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Students already know how to read simple sentences.
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Students already know how to open, edit, and share a google doc.
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Students already know how to use the basic tools of the Cambridge online dictionary.
Materials:
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Personal laptop.
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Personal cell phone or camera.
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Visual of how to construct your paragraph.
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Teacher All About Me Introduction Video (Appendix A) All About Me Introduction - YouTube.
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Fill in sentence for in google doc (Appendix B) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_2Eafco5xErp3l5Kc34iR5KcWLK45Vsu40OSAIQQqM/edit?usp=sharing
Key Technology:
I chose to have students use their personal laptop and cell phones because they have access to them at home and can continue to use them outside the classroom. The laptops will be used to download apps that students will use to create their posters, edit their video, and write their paragraph. The technology and tools will be needed for this lesson for students to achieve their learning outcomes. Using a google doc, students will fill in questions to answers about them. They will also include why they want to learn English and what their goals are for the future. I will have students download an app (still haven’t decided which one) to create their posters. In the poster students will write a few sentences about things they like, hobbies, and or interest. Using an overhead projector, I will have the google doc open for them to see and guide them through it. The guide will have fill in sentences that students will finish with their own personal information. They will also have the form on their laptop to fill in as I help guide them. The form will be shared via google doc, and students will have access to the form to use in class and at home. Students will begin the first part of a three-part lesson where they will eventually record their video by reading their paragraph. This lesson is intended for students to learn listening, reading, and writing skills as they use technology.
Lesson:
Hook (5 minutes)
I will greet students and welcome them into the class. Once they are seated, I will ask them to please pay attention to the screen for a video that I will be presenting. I will play a video from YouTube. (Appendix A). All About Me Introduction - YouTube. In the video, students will notice me sharing about who I am and what I like to do. I will explain to students that the video is part of an assignment they will also be doing towards the end of the unit.
Brainstorm – Whole Class Participation (10 minutes)
I will demonstrate to students how to compare what a complete phrase would look and sound like. I will write some sentences on the white board. They will have the same meaning, but some will be complete phrases while others will not. I will ask students questions like What is your name? What is your favorite food? For example:
I’m Susie Hi, my name is Susie, what is your name?
Like food. I like to eat; my favorite food is Italian.
I’m 20 I’m 20 years old.
Students will be able to begin to understand what full phrases look and sound like. The students will be engaged and participate as I write these phrases on the board. The goal is to encourage students to speak, ask, and answer full phrases without cutting them short in fear to speak incorrect pronunciation. After this activity, I will move on to the guided practice, where students will be able to begin answering questions to the sentences frame that I provided to them. After the activity is done, I will direct students to their laptops and ask them to open their google doc that was emailed to them that morning. (Appendix B).
Guided Practice-Individual Practice (20 minutes)
I will have students open their google doc form “fill in answers to questions” (Appendix B) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_2Eafco5xErp3l5Kc34iR5KcWLK45Vsu40OSAIQQqM/edit?usp=sharing. I will read and guide them through each sentence, but they will have to type and answer the questions by themselves. Students will be able to access an online dictionary for spell checks. The online dictionary available for them to use is Cambridge Dictionary | English Dictionary, Translations & Thesaurus .
Pair Production – Peer Review (15 minutes)
Students will be asked to join another partner for a pair review. Students will share their google doc to their partner to be able to open and review their document. The goal here is for students to read each other’s’ work and make sure that their peer understood the questions and gave clear answers. Once the partner is done reviewing their peers’ work, they will verbally make recommendations to their peer on what questions they may need to answer more in depth and/or the peer may ask they’re partner for further support on their answers.
Closing-Talk about it (10 minutes)
The teacher will then open discussion time for students. I will ask a few students to share what they have written so far to the class. Even when all don’t get a change to share, by hearing the discussion they can write notes and make suggestions for themselves. Here, students will self-examine themselves if they believe they answered the questions thoroughly or could they add more. Students will be allowed to share what they feel can be done better, but also give some recommendations to each other as they hear their peer’s share.
Formal Assessment Homework Review
Students will continue their assignment at home to look up the vocabulary words listed. The following day by 12 noon, students will have to upload their document to a google folder created by me and shared the link to them. I will review each of the students’ assignments. I will check to make sure students typed in the vocabulary words and definitions and used each word in a sentence. I will also review the sentences that were made using the sentence frame. I will look to ensure students typed complete sentences and not just short answers. I will make direct recommendations on the doc using red color for students to notice. Since this is only the first part of the unit, more assessments will follow this one.
Theory Connections
Using sentence frames prepare students for comprehension. “A sentence frame is a structure with fill-in-the-blank words created for your students to use as a starter to answer questions” (Brakebill, 2018). The sentence frame will help students to start off their paragraph by answering the questions already made for them. Later in their part three of the unit, students will be able to construct a full paragraph using the sentences they have already constructed. The goal of the sentence frame is preparing students to construct their own sentence, but also to enable them to speak full phrases instead of cutting them short when speaking.
References
Hedgcock, J. and Ferris, D. (2018) Teaching readers of English. Second edition. Students, texts, and contexts. Routledge.
Brakebill, A. (2018). Why You Should Be Supporting Your English Language Learners with Sentence Frames. https://blog.edmentum.com/why-you-should-be-supporting-your-english-language-learners-sentence-frames
Appendix
Appendix A
Teacher Video Introduction https://youtu.be/bAj7szXi1So
Appendix B
Fill in questions form
Link to google doc. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_2Eafco5xErp3l5Kc34iR5KcWLK45Vsu40OSAIQQqM/edit?usp=sharing
