WELCOME CLASS
We teachers
are in charge of inspiring our students to be creative and critical with the
things we teach them, and not only store knowledge in their minds.
After this brief reflexion, I would like to share the
beginning of this new English project in the Don Bosco University in which now
we are teaching teens. There is a lot to say about this class regarding the
students, the teachers’ practices (including me) and the classroom environment and
limitations that can be found throughout the whole project.
The students:
The students
of this English teenage project are five adolescents of the Ciudad Delgado
School. Although at the beginning of the project twelve students were expected,
only five of them appeared. These five students are all around 10 to 13 years
old.
Regarding
English background knowledge, it can be said that the students under analysis
are true beginners. Out of the five students that are enrolled in the class,
just one student demonstrates certain domain of some basic English forms and
structures such as the alphabet, the numbers, colors, the days of the week
among others. However, the rest of the students do not have any English
background knowledge at all which makes them be true beginners ESL learners.
In the light
of the big difference between one student’s English knowledge and the res t of
the students; it becomes fundamental for the teachers to create adequate material
and techniques for both cases. While using
easy activities and materials in our trying to reach out the students who do
not have any English background knowledge, the student who knows more gets
bored, on the other hand; when using activities more complicating in our trying
to approach the student who knows more, the rest of the students feel lost;
thus, as it is already mentioned above, it is crucial that the teacher in
charge of the class can observe this situation and run activities that can
involve all the students in the classroom.
Finally, about
the students’ behavior in comparison with the theories about teens studied
during class; it can be said that almost all of them apply to our target
adolescents. One of the things that was very remarked when talking about teens was
the fact that they tempt to misbehave to call attention; however, since this is
the first class; students did not misbehave at all, on the contrary, they
looked a little bit shy and reluctant to participate in class. Students were
also ashamed of pronouncing in English due to lack of confidence and fear of
being ridiculed in front of the whole class. Thus, all the aspects mentioned
above make us thing about activities that can give students the confidence to
participate while learning at the same time.
The teacher’s practice
For this
class, I was the teacher in charge, so I decided to develop a lesson plan from
which I could identify the students’ English background knowledge. The topics
that were covered were: the alphabet, the numbers, the colors, the days of the
week and the months of the year. From these activities I could realize what the
students’ background knowledge already explained above was.
The class was
conducted in Spanish to avoid scaring the students since the first day,
however, they were given some classroom expressions to use in the next class
because they were warned that the next class was going to be full English, and
their homework was to practice those classroom expressions at home, in order to
use them in the following class.
Classroom limitations !!!!
The classroom
has a good size according to the number of students in the class, however, the
outlet is in the back part of the classroom what makes of the activities that
contain any listening be uncomfortable not only for the students, but also for
the teachers. While students are doing any activity that requires the use of
the CD player, the teacher needs to be in the back part and cannot listen to
what the students are saying. Nevertheless, there is always a solution for any problem,
so the teacher in charge must look for a way to deal with this situation.
As a
conclusion, it can be said that the WELCOME class was successful and that could
achieve its primary goal which was to apprise the students’ English background
knowledge. So I leave you with the lesson plan if you would like to take a
look. See you in the next class!!!!!
Objetives
of the lesson:
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To welcome students to this English teenage course.
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To break the ice and make students get used to the
methodology that will be used during the whole course.
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To elicit the students’ English background knowledge
through activities of listening, matching, writing, and answering questions
with the purpose of using the students exact English level to create an
appropriate syllabus according to their needs.
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Time
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Stage
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Procedure
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20
minutes
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Warm up
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The teacher will introduce her/himself to the class,
will greet students and will explain how the class will work for the whole
project, and will ask them what their expectations are about the course.
After the teacher’s introduction, the teacher will provide some pieces of
papers in which students will be asked to write their names. The paper will
have one line asking for their first names and another line for their last
names. Students will not be explained where to write their names and their
last names, so that the teacher can identify whether the students are able to
recognize these words. After that, students will be asked to paste their
names on their chest. Then, the teacher will pass a ball and will play some
music while the students are asked to pass the ball, when the teacher stops
the music; the student who has the ball will have to take a question out of a
bag and answer it. The questions will be written in Spanish and meant to ask
for personal information like: Cual es tu color favorito? Or tienes hermanos
o hermanas? Tienes computadora? The students will answer in Spanish, but at
the same time the teacher will ask them whether they can say that color in
English or hermano or hermana in English; thus, every answer will be asked to
be told in both languages. For example: if one student answers: mi color
favorite es Rosado, the teacher will say: can you say Rosado in English. If
the students cannot answer, the teacher will elicit the answer with the rest
of the students. Finally, Ss will be asked to write with the teacher the
policies for the whole project.
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Aim of the activity: to break the ice and get to
know the students’ names and personal preferences.
Type of learner: A,T
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: pieces of papers, pencils, scotch tape,
radio, ball, a box with questions written in pieces of papers.
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10 minutes
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Students will be given a shift of paper in which they will have all
the letters of the alphabet. Then, the teacher will play a listening
containing the letters in disorder, so the students will be asked to circle
the letter they hear, and they will have to show their answers to the
teacher. Every letter will be circled one at a time and the listening will be
stopped so that the teacher can check with the students all at the same time.
If students do well, and make some little mistakes; the teacher will correct
them, but if the students show no knowledge of the alphabet, the teacher will
introduce to them a power presentation containing the alphabet. Rehearsing of
the correct pronunciation of the letters will be done since the beginning of
this activity.
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Aim of the activity: to recognize if students know
the alphabet.
Type of learner: A.V
Interaction: T-S,
Materials: shifts of paper, pencils, cd player,
projector, laptop, speakers.
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15 minutes
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Students will be
asked to use the names that they have pasted on their chest to spell them.
First the teacher will model by spelling his/her name, then; the teacher will
ask for volunteers to spell their names if no one volunteers; the teacher
will ask one to pass to the front and all the students will be asked to spell
the name of the person who is in the front, until passing all the students in
the class. If the students are not capable to spell, the teacher will help
them with the correct pronunciation of the letters.
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Aim
of the activity: to put into practice the pronunciation of
the alphabet by spelling their names
Type of learner: A
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: students’
name tags
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15 minutes
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The students will be given a shift of paper in which they will have
the numbers from one to twenty in a written form, and in normal form. The
students will have to match the numbers with their corresponding written
form. The teacher will supervise the students’ work, and at the end; the
teacher will ask for the answers. If students do well without much effort.
The teacher will just rehearse some pronunciation problems that can occur. If
students demonstrate no knowledge of the numbers, the teacher will introduce
them all by using a power presentation.
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Aim
of the activity: to identify if the students know the numbers from one to twenty.
Type of learner: V,T
Interaction: T-S,
Materials:
shifts
of paper, pencils, laptop, and projector.
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Part
two
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Time
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Stage
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Procedure
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Details
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15 minutes
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Students will be asked to volunteer to go to
the board and match some words with the corresponding number. Every number
will have a specific color, and the words will name colors like: orange,
pink, blue and the like, so that the students can match the words with the
number that is in that color. If no one volunteers, the teacher will pass a
ball and will play some music, with the intention that every time the music
stops; the student holding the ball will go to the board to do the activity.
If students demonstrate no knowledge of the colors presented, the teacher
will introduce the colors and their respective pronunciation by using the
material already pasted on the board. Then, the teacher will remove the words
with the name of the colors, and will ask to the students: what color is
sixteen? What color is five?
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Aim of the
activity: to identify if the students know
some English colors, and at the same time they can practice the numbers from
one to twenty.
Type of learner: V, K
Interaction: T-S
Materials: posters with the numbers and with the names of some colors, scotch
tape, radio, a ball.
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20 minutes
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The teacher will ask to the students what day
is their favorite one. If they answer in Spanish, they will be asked if they
know how to say that day in English. If the same days are repeated, and the
rest of the days are not mentioned, the teacher will ask: what is the day
before your favorite day? Or what is the day after your favorite day? So
that, all the days are mentioned. The teacher will practice with the students
the days of the week pronunciation (if it is necessary) by using a
presentation. Then, students will be given some pieces of paper in which they
are asked to write the days of the week. Next, the teacher will say a story
and every time that one day is pronounced, the students will have to raise
the day that the teacher is pronouncing.
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Aim of the activity: to identify if students know the days of the week.
Type of learner: visual, auditory
Interaction: teacher-student
Materials: presentation, pieces of paper and pencils
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15 minutes
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Students will be asked about the month of
their birthday, if they answer in Spanish; they will be asked if they know
the months in English. If they do not know them, the teacher will provide the
correct translation. Then, students will stand up and make groups according
to the month of their birthday; however, if there are too many students in
one group and some others are less crowded; the teacher will accommodate the
students in a way that all the groups contain similar amount of students.
Next, in groups, students will be asked to list the things that they have
been using throughout the whole class (classroom objects) such as, desks,
pencil, pens, notebooks, chairs, table, computer and the like, and then, they
will write them down in a piece of paper. Finally, one student of each group
will share with the class the objects that have been able to write down in
English. The teacher will help with the objects that the students are not
able to name, and will rehearse pronunciation if it is necessary.
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Aim of the activity: to identify if students know about the months of the year and some
classroom objects
Type of learner: tactile, visual
Interaction: teacher-student, student-student
Materials: pieces of papers and pencils
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10 minutes
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Wrap up
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To finish, students will be presented with
the syllabus that the teacher will be using for the whole project and some
classroom phrases, then, Ss will be asked to write down in a piece of paper
one thing they have learned from the lesson. All the pieces of paper will be
put in a box, then, students will have to pick up one piece of paper that
must not be theirs, so that students can read out aloud what someone else has
written. After listening to everyone’s opinion about the class, the teacher
will end up the class
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Aim of the activity: That student can
have a time to slow down and share what they think about the class.
Type of learner: Auditory, tactile
Interaction: teacher-student
Materials: pieces
of paper, pencils and a box.
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Assignments and Announcements:
if all students confirm to have computer or any kind of access to
internet and to facebook, they will be asked for their facebook accounts with
the purpose of creating a group in which they will be informed of future
activities like, links for games, exercises, and assignments.
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Class 1
Hello again!!!!!
This is the first class in which
content was already taught and I started using the syllabus that my friends and
I developed during the first period of classes. We could also observe how the
students assimilated a class conducted totally in English and how productive
activities work with our target students.
The content for this class was
countries and nationalities. Students were addressed in English the whole
class, and also when working with activities. At the beginning the students
seemed a little bit afraid; but, within the time; students started to feel more
comfortable being taught in English and started to be able to understand some
commands. Finally, the content countries and nationalities was captured by the
students and the goals of the lesson were achieved because the students were
able to name 5 countries with their respective nationalities at the end of the
class.
One of my worries was that since
students are not familiar with English classes that compile communicative
approaches, productive activities were going to be very difficult for the Ss to
understand them. However, two productive activities were used at the end of the
lesson, and although at the beginning it was hard for the students to understand
them, with practice and modeling they could get the idea of the activities and
could perform them, not with excellence, but I am pretty sure they will get
used to productive activities and will be able to perform them in a very good
way. If you want to take a look at the activities
I used, here you are the full lesson plan…
* Students will be able to
-Name 5 countries with their respective nationalities.
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Listening
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Time
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Stage
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Procedure
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10 minutes
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Warm up
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Untying the knot. Students will be asked to stand up and the
teacher will make two groups (team 1 and 2). Once in groups, students will be
asked to hold hands in a weird and disorganized way with one another. Then,
the two groups will compete to see which group unties the knot first; the
group that unties the knot first will win and will be able to come back to
their seats, however, the losers will have to take a piece of paper from a
box containing a category from the topics studied in the previous class; for
instance, if one S takes a piece of paper that says “the alphabet” the
student will have to answer one question that the teacher will ask him
regarding the alphabet. This last step will be repeated until all the members
of the losing team answer one question each. The teacher will rehearse the
topics n the questions if students do not answer accurately.
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Aim of the activity: to break the ice and review the topics
presented in the welcome lesson.
Type of learner: A,K
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: pieces of paper with
the category of the question, a box.
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10 minutes
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Pre- Listening
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Students will be shown
a picture per each, in which a map with the flags of different countries will
appear. Then, Students will be asked what their guesses are about the topic
for the lesson. After that, Ss will be asked if they know the countries that
appear in the flags. If no one answers, the teacher will elicit the answers
with all the students, and will help them to pronounce the countries they do
not know. Finally, students will be asked what country they would like to
visit and match the countries with the words in a box below.
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Aim of the activity: to encounter the target vocabulary, and
activate schema.
Type of learner: V-A
Interaction: T-SS
Materials: Shift of paper, pencils.
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5 minutes
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During-Listening 1
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Ss will have to listen
to the record to see if their answers were correct. Then, they will check
with their partners and the teacher the answers gotten. Finally, the students
will listen to the record a last time to practice pronunciation. The teacher
will lead students in a pronunciation drill of the countries already studied.
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Aim of the activity: to check answers and practice pronunciation.
Type of learner: V,A,T
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: work shifts, pencils,
cd player.
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5 minutes
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During-Listening 2
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Students will be asked to match the countries in the
first listening with their corresponding nationalities. Then, they will
listen to a record to see if their answers are correct. After that, Ss will
correct any error and will listen to the record one more time to practice
pronunciation.
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Aim of the activity: to check answers and practice
pronunciation.
Type of learner: V,A,T,
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: work shifts, pencils, cd player.
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10 minutes
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Post-listening
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Ss will be
given a set of pieces of papers in which they will have countries and nationalities.
Students will have first to classify and separate the countries from the
nationalities. Then, the teacher will say a country and SS will have to show
to the teacher its nationality, and if the teacher says a nationality, the
students will have to show to the teacher the corresponding country.
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Aim of the activity: to identify the target vocabulary.
Type of learner: A,T,
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: pieces
of papers.
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10 minutes
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Memory game. Students will be asked to scramble the
pieces of papers that were used in the previous activity and turn them around
facing down so that they can play in pairs to find the countries and their
respective nationalities. Once students find a pair, they have to take it out
of the game, and continue until taking out all the papers.
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Aim of the activity: to put into practice the target vocabulary.
Type of learner: T. V
Interaction: S-S
Materials: pieces
of papers.
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10 minutes
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Students will be asked to write in their notebooks
“I am from_______” “I am_______”. They
will have to fill in the blanks with the country from where they would like
to be and its respective nationality. Then, each student will tell to the
class what the country they have chosen is, and the rest of the class will
have to say the nationality of that country. For instance, one student may
say” I am from Spain and I am___” and the rest of students should answer
“Spanish”. This activity will be done until all the students participate.
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Aim of the activity: to practice the target vocabulary in an
oral way.
Type of learner: A,T,
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials:
work shifts, pencils.
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Part 2
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Time
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Stage
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Procedure
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Details
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10 minutes
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Warm up
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Students will be asked
to stand up and make a circle, and walk around the circle, then, a song will
be played and one desk will be removed so that when the music stops; Ss will
have to look for a sit and the one standing will have to answer a question
that the teacher will ask him.
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Aim of the activity: to wake students up if
they are bored or sleepy.
Type of learner: K, A
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: CD player, desks.
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15 minutes
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Presentation
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Students will be
presented with an instant chat. Ss will be explained what a chat is comparing
it with a facebook chat so that they can get the idea of what an instant chat
is. Then, students will read the two chats that will be written in a
worksheet together with the teacher. Then, the teacher will tell the students
to identify the words or expressions that they do not understand or do not
know. The teacher will write them on the board, and will explain their
meaning. After that, the teacher will tell Ss to name the people in the
pictures below the reading by comparing them with the pictures of the people
in the chats. Once the students have matched the real pictures below with the
pictures of the people in the chat, they will read again and match the names
of the people with the countries they are from. Next, students will listen to
the instant chat to practice pronunciation.
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Aim of the activity: to encounter the target
vocabulary.
Type of learner: V,A,T,
Interaction: T-S, S-S
Materials: worksheets, pencils, and the cd player.
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10 minutes
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Explanation
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The teacher will
introduce the three target be questions to the students by using a chart in a
worksheet and also writing the questions on the board and answering them with
her personal information. Then, the teacher will address the questions to the
students. Finally, the teacher along
with the students will make a fill in the blanks activity to clarify any
doubt.
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Aim of the activity: to explain the target
vocabulary.
Type of learner: V,A,T
Interaction: T-S
Materials: worksheets, pencils, and the board.
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10 minutes
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Practice
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Students will be asked
to write the three target questions on their notebooks and then answer them
with their personal information, then, students will be asked to stand up
take their notebooks with them and make two lines. The lines will be facing
each other, one line will be in charge of asking questions and the other line
will answer them. Once the students in the answering line have already
answered all the questions; they will have to move to interact with the next
student, and the student in the top of the line will have to go to the back
and continue answering questions. The students in the question line will not
move. Then, students answering questions will take the place of the ones who
were asking questions and they will not move, only the ones in the answering
line.
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Aim of the activity: to internalize the
target vocabulary.
Type of learner: A,K
Interaction: S-S
Materials: their notebooks.
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10 minutes
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Production
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Students will be asked
to choose an identity from a worksheet that the teacher will provide them. Then,
they will have to stand up and ask questions to other students to find out
who they are; this will be done in pairs. Once both students have guessed who
each other are, they will have to look for a new partner to work with.
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Aim of the activity: to fluently use the
target language.
Type of learner: V,A,
Interaction: S-S
Materials: worksheet.
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5minutes
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Wrap up
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Students will be asked
to mention 5 words that they have learned throughout the whole class and
share them with their partners.
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Aim of the activity: to cool down after a
two-hour class.
Type of learner: A
Interaction: S-S T-S
Materials: Nothing
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Assignments and Announcements
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This week finished in a very good
way, now, we are just expecting to have the same results throughout the whole
course.
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