This lesson plan is from an intermediate oral skills class of adult learners. The focus of the lesson is on reviewing pronunciation of vowels as well as using note-taking for comprehension and discussion.
1. Rose
ESL 230-2 F13
11/06/13 Jones 30
Lesson Plan
Materials: NorthStar 3 Textbook & audio CD, Computers & Internet (Google Drive & Moodle)
Background: Students started Unit 5 (Culture and Commerce) in a previous class. Students
have been introduced to the unit vocabulary as well as the topic through discussion and p.73-75
in the textbook. We talked about tourist attractions in Minnesota, why people might travel to
another place as a tourist, and what the negative and positive effects of tourism might be on a
tourist community.
Students are from a variety of L1s and home countries (Saudi Arabia, China, Oman, S.
Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Turkey).
Learning objectives (MELP Curricular Outcomes):
1. Students will be able to demonstrate and monitor clear pronunciation (vowel sounds).
2. Students will be able to identify topic, main ideas, and details of medium length reports.
3. Students will be able to demonstrate comprehension by confirming notes and discussing and
responding to content.
4. Students will be able to use notes to discuss and answer questions about material.
Learing objectives (less directly related to Curricular Outcomes):
5. Students will be able to discuss ideas related to tourism and the effects of tourism.
6. Students will be able to navigate Google Drive (Documents & Forms).
Class Activities
1. Review vowel pronunciation (10-ish minutes)—we worked on vowel pronunciation over
the last couple of classes, and this review will also serve as sort of a warm up activity
Students will review the pronunciation of vowel sounds with a partner (playing game we
played yesterday in class)
They will then be challenged to read the lines of words from left to right (mostly minimal
pairs)—informal assessment of outcome 1
If they read the words correctly, they can remain standing, if not, they sit down
2. Google Drive/Moodle News Report Assignment (50 minutes)—I asked the students to
watch a news report and take notes as homework. They were informed that we would
use the notes in class today to work in groups to create listening quizzes for our fellow
classmates.
I will introduce the assignment by directing students to the assignment sheet on
Moodle/Google Drive
Students will review their notes in their groups and re-watch their videos if they need to
Students will then discuss the main idea of their videos and how their videos relate to the
theme of “culture and commerce.” I will monitor their discussions.—informal
assessment of outcomes 2, 3, 4 & 5
Students will then work in groups to create 5 multiple choice questions for their listening
quiz. The assignment sheet stipulates that the questions should have 2 incorrect and 1
correct answer. There should also be 2 questions that ask about the main idea of the
video and 3 that ask about the details. Draft 1 in Google Doc.
2. Rose
ESL 230-2 F13
11/06/13 Jones 30
Lesson Plan
I will circulate (in-person & via Google Drive) and help groups fine-tune their questions.
When groups are finished with their questions, they will work together to create a Google
Form version of their quiz. Draft 2 in Google Form.
o Since Google Form is more of a survey tool, the “correct” answers cannot be
denoted in the quiz itself. However, I’ve asked the students to provide an “answer
key” in their Google Doc version of the quiz (where they wrote questions
together). Later, when they take each other’s quizzes, they can check their
answers in the document. The purpose for using Forms at all is to make sure
students can access the “quizzes” as homework if they don’t finish the activity in
class. Also, I want the activity to expose students to a different application
Google Drive has to offer.
o The quizzes students create can also serve as a sort of informal assessment
(outcome 2 & 6) of their comprehension. By observing their discussions/the
process of making the quizzes, I can try to gauge how the students worked
together and whether each student contributed to the activity/understanding.
Once the Forms are created, students will watch the video and take at least one other
group’s quiz and check their own answers. (this will be homework)
o As a follow-up activity in class tomorrow, students will meet in groups with
members from different groups, and together they will discuss their videos. My
hope is that with the assistance of guiding discussion questions, the groups will
be able to synthesize the main ideas from the videos and come up with some
broad statements related to tourism, what affects tourism, and the potential
positive and negative effects of tourism. Each group will present their ideas to the
rest of the class, and we will have a class discussion.—informal assessment of
outcomes 2 & 5
(2nd half of class)
3. Vocabulary review (20 minutes)—In class yesterday, students were asked to write the part
of speech, definition, and an example sentence for the vocabulary for Unit 5. Their
homework was to complete this activity and bring their vocabulary sheets to class today.
Students will compare their sheets with a partner to validate or correct any mistakes.
I will then present the students with the meanings of the vocabulary (according to our
textbook and learnersdictionary.com) on a Google Doc and we will discuss the
definitions and any other definitions the students came up with for each term. We will
also talk about the part of speech and I will ask volunteers to share an example
sentence for each term.
o In the future, I could ask students to complete their vocabulary definitions in a
Google document, each student assigned to different words, and the whole class
could collaboratively work through the vocabulary. They could then present the
definitions, parts of speech, and example sentences to each other.
4. Listening 1 p.76-78 (30 minutes)—We have previewed the unit by looking at and discussing
the picture on p.73 (Pa Daung tribe women). Listening 1 is about the tribe and tourism.
3. Rose
ESL 230-2 F13
11/06/13 Jones 30
Lesson Plan
We will look at the map on p.76 briefly to situate the news report in the world and then
listen to an excerpt from the news report and make a prediction about the tone of the
story.
After discussing possible predictions, we will listen to the whole news report and answer
the main idea questions on p.76 in the textbook.
After going over the answers for the main idea questions, we will listen to the report one
more time and answer the detail questions. Sometimes the students are able to answer
the detail questions without listening to the recording again, but I usually plan to listen
twice.
After going over the detail question answers, we will have a small group discussion
related to the prompts on p.78 (Express Opinions). The students will be asked to form
groups of 3-4 students and discuss the prompts. They will be reminded to support their
opinions with reasons. After some time in small groups, we will discuss the topics as a
class, each group reporting their ideas.
What we don’t finish in class, we will continue to do on Thursday.
Thoughts:
When implementing lessons that include an element of technology, I always try to ask
myself what benefit using the technology will have for the students, versus doing a nontechnical version of the lesson. With most lessons that incorporate technology,
especially technology that is used in academic settings (which coincides with many
student goals), I feel that there is a general benefit of exposure to consider. Google
Drive is increasingly being used across disciplines to organize and collaborate among
students and instructors at the university level. Simply being exposed to this technology
and being able to explore it without significant detriment to their grade might allow
students the opportunity to build confidence and competence with regard to this tool.
This competence might be valuable in the future when students are in higher stakes
situations, needing to communicate in English, focusing on content.
Questions to consider while observing:
1. How is the ratio of student-centered/teacher-centered class time? Student-talk/teachertalk time?
2. Is the use of technology effective? Necessary?
3. Is the use of authentic materials (news reports) effective? Why (not)?
4. Were the methods appropriate to the ability and level of the students? Why (not)?
4. Rose
ESL 230-2 F13
11/06/13 Jones 30
Lesson Plan
Attendance
Review vowel pronunciation
o In pairs
o As a class
News Report Assignment
Introduce assignment (directions)
Ss review notes/re-watch video
Meet in groups & discuss videos
o Main ideas
o Details
o Relevance to “culture and
commerce”
Create “quiz” in Google Doc
o Include questions & answer
key
Transfer “quiz” to Google Form
(final draft)
Vocabulary Review
Check definitions on Google Doc
Share example sentences in
document (will discuss tomorrow)
Listening 1 p.76-78
Predictions (talk about map)
Main ideas
Details
Google Survey
Leave enough time for this to be
done at the end of class!
Homework:
Watch at least one news report and
take the group’s quiz. Check your
answers & be prepared to discuss
your video as well as the 2nd video
you watched in class tomorrow.
(functional lesson plan)
10
50
20
30
10