Portfolio of Five Lesson Plans - Assignment Example

Portfolio of Five Lesson Plans Student’s Name: Institution: Portfolio of Five Lesson Plans Lesson 1: Present Simple Rationale The intended audience for this lesson plan is technical college students between the ages of 18 and 22 years in Saudi Arabia. The present simple tense provides a framework for grasping the English language, and it is a significant aid when individuals wish to communicate a particular need or point. Technical college students require these skills for occupational purposes to make them eligible for employment, and mastery of simple tense will help them succeed in interviews As the topic area is frequently used in business, it is important for students to be able to recognise the present simple tense when they encounter it. This lesson will increase students’ self-confidence by enabling them to express themselves with greater competence. The most probable problem is the interference of the native language with understanding of the present simple tense. Combating this will require more controlled practice. Inductive instruction will be useful in this case. The discourse approach to teaching will be useful in facilitating controlled practice by the students. By learning present tense, the students will be able to express themselves correctly. The lesson will involve traditional grammar theory (Larsen-Freeman, 2003). The students will gain the fundamental building blocks of language, which they can then use to improve their skills in writing. Knowledge of the present simple tense will give them skills in distinguishing various sentence parts. The lesson is not predominantly focused on learning meanings of words, but on learning sentence parts. Learning the present simple tense will allow them to communicate with potential employers and clients, as well as in regular social interactions. Thus, functional grammar theories are also applicable in this lesson plan because the language is intended to serve certain purposes. Lesson Plan Aims and objectives of the lesson Level Class Age Teaching context Materials Time Procedure Outcomes Approaches & theories used Intermediate/college Technical college students 18–22 ESP for technical college English textbook Writing material 1 hour Give a series of examples Discourse Presentation Controlled practice Conclusion and evaluation Should be able to recognise sentences said in the present simple tense and be able to write a well-formed sentence Should be able to recognise verbs in the present simple tense Inductive grammar teaching Discourse approach to teaching grammar Functional grammar Traditional grammar Time and activities 10 minutes: A warm up exercise will recap on grammatical issues tackled previously, followed by a series of examples of sentences containing verbs in the present simple tense. 10 minutes: A discourse will help the students identify verbs and sentences written in the present simple tense. 20 minutes: A presentation will introduce the topic of the present simple tense using the textbook. 15 minutes: Controlled practice will involve the students discussing the present simple tense in groups of four. Discussions will be guided by questions asked by the instructor, and feedback (answers to the questions) will also be provided. 5 minutes: The lesson will be concluded, and take-home activities will be issued for further practice Lesson 2: Past Simple Rationale The intended audience for this lesson plan is elementary school children between the ages of 11 and 12 years learning EFL as a part of their general education. The past simple tense is important for students learning English as a second language. It is especially useful for children between the ages of 11 and 12 years because this is when their curiosity about the world is peaking. Thus, they need to be equipped with a range of words to talk about what they have seen and done. Knowledge of the past simple tense paves the way for a student to understand how verbs can be further manipulated in tenses. This is a form of functional grammar The application of the past simple tense can be confusing for some students, but this can be resolved through additional instruction and examples in subsequent lessons. The students can acquire additional knowledge by reading English storybooks (Purpura, 2004). The lesson will increase interaction between the students and with other people owing to their improved ability to express themselves. Deductive teaching will be used to instruct the students in the use of the past simple tense. These tenses have rigid application rules. Thus, they require the teacher to provide instruction on what exactly needs to be done to make a word in the past simple tense (Nassaji & Fotos, 2010). This will be followed by the teacher allowing the students time to practice through discussions and questions. By guiding the children through discourses, the instructor will ensure efficient learning of the past simple tense. The discourses will be accompanied by presentations, practice, and production, with the students participating in controlled practice sessions after the instruction, followed by feedback and collaborative output. International feedback activities will be used in role playing between desk mates. Additional exercises in the use of the past simple tense will be provided through the use of take-home activities, which will include listening and identifying past simple tenses in conversations. Lesson Plan Aims and objectives of the lesson (past simple) Level Class Age Teaching context Materials Time Procedure Outcomes Approaches & theories used Beginners Year 6 11–12 EFL general education English textbook Writing material Typed-out questions to be issued as homework One hour Introduction Presentation Controlled practice Collaborative output Feedback Conclusion Take-home activity Ability to differentiate between present and past simple tense Ability to write the past tense of verbs ending with “e” Functional grammar Deductive grammar teaching Presentation, practice and production Discourse approach to teaching grammar International feedback activities Time and activities 5 minutes: The lesson will be introduced, and an overview of what will be covered will be presented. 15 minutes: The topic of past simple tenses will be introduced using the curriculum textbook and personal examples. 20 minutes: Each student will discuss examples with their desk mate of incidences where the past simple tense would need to be used. These will include asking what time a plane departs from an airport, as well as other conversations someone may have with a pen pal (controlled practice). After this, each pair will present their findings, which will be discussed by the entire class (collaborative output). 10 minutes: The students will be given feedback and explanations on the correct and the incorrect responses in the discussions. 10 minutes: The lesson will be concluded with the issuing of take-home activities, which will include the students listening to their families and friends speaking and writing down any verbs they use that are in the past simple tense. Lesson 3: Adverbs Rationale Adverbs are used in contextual situations that make them part of a system of expression. Consequently, this lesson plan will be guided by systemic functional grammar, which deals with interpreting language as part of a larger system that links with others to create meaning. It is important to show the students what language can do and how it can enable them to connect with others. The addition of adverbs to a sentence changes or adds meaning (Droga, Humphrey, & Feez, 2012). The intended audience for this lesson plan is students aged between 14 and 15 years who are taking EFL as general education. Knowledge of adverbs will help the students understand how the English Language works within a structure that is interrelated such that any modification to the sentence changes it in some way. Owing to the complex nature of this topic, students may experience problems in understanding situations where adverbs are used and where they are not. These can be resolved over time using controlled discourse, which will allow the students to develop a better understanding of the use of adverbs and to absorb what they have learned. Such discourse is a dimension of input-processing instruction and provides direct practice in the discourse approach to teaching. The use of conversational instances involving the application of adverbs will boost the students’ self-confidence as they learn how to express themselves better. It is also important to learn adverbs because location is among the most frequently discussed topics when people visit another country. This lesson will expose the students to the importance of being able to convey information about location and increase their curiosity in adverbs. Alternative information on adverbs can be accessed online and in the library. Lesson Plan Aims and objectives of the lesson Level Class Age Teaching context Materials Time Procedure Outcomes Approaches & theories used Intermediate Year 9 14–15 EFL general education English textbook Writing material One hour Introduction Presentation Controlled discourse Conclusion and evaluation Ability to recognise adverbs in sentences and in conversation Ability to use adverbs in writing and in conversation Systemic functional grammar Structural grammar Input-processing instruction Discourse approach to teaching grammar Time and activities 5 minutes: The lesson will be introduced with a recap of what verbs are and their functions. 20 minutes: The topic of adverbs will be presented to the class, including their definition and their functions. The instructor will also give examples to the students. 20 minutes: A controlled discourse will take place, guided by conversational instances where the students will be asked to recreate social interactions where they use adverbs. The instructor will moderate the session and inform the students when they are incorrect and correct. 10 minutes: An evaluation will be undertaken by asking random questions and gauging the responses of the students. They will then be asked about any problems they experienced. 5 minutes: Problem areas will be given to the student as take-home research, and the lesson will be concluded. Lesson 4: Affixes Rationale This lesson plan is intended for Year 12 students between the ages of 16 and 17 years who are studying EFL as part of their general education. Knowledge of affixes allows students to modify their conversation, thus increasing the diversity of the vocabulary they can use to express their feelings and opinions. In addition, the knowledge will increase accuracy of expression, making the students more comfortable around each other and around those who speak English. As the students acquire more knowledgeable of English grammar, their attitude towards the language will also improve. The addition of a prefix or a suffix to a word transforms its meaning and transforms how the word is used in grammar. Affixes generate a different meaning when they are added to a word (Larsen-Freeman, 2001). Transformational generative grammar theory is applicable in this case. Understanding affixes also requires an awareness of the different ways that they are used and their dynamic nature. Consequently, it is important to understand the context of the application of affixes. This is addressed in corpus linguistics and in the corpus approach to teaching. Activities that include role playing and giving examples will be useful in consciousness raising and structured grammar-focused tasks. Affixes are present in different languages, and they serve similar purposes of modifying meaning. Accordingly, they are better understood when introduced within a context where students can see how they are used in the world. Increased understanding of the use of affixes and word modification will make the student a better writer, and conversations will be enriched. The fact that different affixes can be used with a single verb may pose potential problems for the students. Such problems can be addressed by additional practice with the students on the problem areas. Lesson Plan Aims and objectives of the lesson Level Class Age Teaching context Materials Time Procedure Outcomes Approaches & theories used Intermediate Year 12 16–17 EFL general education English textbook Writing material One hour Reading a short passage Consciousness raising Discourse Presentation Controlled practice Conclusion and evaluation Ability to recognise prefixes and suffixes Ability to modify sentences using suffixes Ability to use affixes in conversation Transformational generative grammar Systemic functional grammar techniques Corpus linguistics Corpus approach to teaching grammar Structured grammar-focused tasks and consciousness-raising tasks Time and activities 5 minutes: A short passage that contains affixes will be read by the instructor. 10 minutes: In consciousness raising, the teacher will guide the students through discussions where they will be asked to identify any nouns that are modified. 5 minutes: The discourse will involve the teacher and the students giving examples of affixes from the native language to further enhance understanding. 10 minutes: A presentation will be made to define and introduce prefixes and suffixes to the students. This will be done within a social context. 20 minutes: A controlled practice will be carried out through role playing of social interactions where prefixes and suffixes are used. The students will also give examples of words with suffixes and prefixes. 10 minutes: Questions from the students will be answered. The nature of the questions will shed light on problem areas, thus evaluating the students’ comprehension/understanding. The lesson will be concluded with a take-home activity for the students to combine more words with affixes. Lesson 5: Plural Rationale The audience for this lesson plan is Year 5 students taking EFL as part of their general education. These students are between the ages of 9 and 10 years. Learning plurals at this age is essential for educational and social purposes. It is an age where children are including other people in their activities, and they have greater interest in telling others what they are up to. Thus, learning how to use plurals will enable them to include others in their social life. Problems may arise in keeping the children’s attention on the assigned tasks, but these will be tackled by shifting to different tasks after a few minutes. For instance, instead of three games in 20 minutes, there could be five games. The games, as well as role playing, will give the children a social context where they can collaborate and provide answers and practice the use of plurals. Inductive grammar teaching will be used. The children will brainstorm on what they perceive as being a form of a plural in their lives and in what the teacher shows them. The games are structured so that they raise the consciousness level of the children in relation to plurals (Hinkel & Fotos, 2002). Gaming activities also pave the way for international feedback activities, which are important for children of this age to know because they are meeting and getting to know more people as they grow up. Plurals are part of a sentence. Thus, they are also addressed in traditional grammar. During and after their gaming activities, the children provide collective output. Asking the children to participate in different activities such as ordering take-out is a way of teaching them to recognise plurals and to understand where they are meant to be used. Asking the students to identify plurals in texts that they read is a useful textual-enhancement strategy and noticing task. Lesson Plan Aims and objectives of the lesson Level Class Age Teaching context Materials Time Procedure Outcomes Approaches & theories used Beginners Year 5 9–10 EFL general education English textbook Writing material Gaming material One hour Brainstorming activities Prereading activities Introducing the topic Postreading activities Conclusion and evaluation Ability to recognise plurals of nouns that need the addition of “s” Ability to write the plural of words that need the addition of “s” Inductive grammar teaching Structured grammar-focused tasks and consciousness-raising tasks International feedback activities Textual-enhancement and noticing task Collaborative output tasks Traditional grammar Time and activities 5 minutes: Brainstorming activities will be undertaken that will be moderated by the teacher asking the students questions like “what would you call more than one orange?” 10 minutes: Prereading activities will include the children looking at images of more than one item and trying to create stories using the pictures as inspiration. 10 minutes: The topic will be introduced and the children will be given an explanation of plurals and how to make a word plural (the addition of “s” to nouns to make them plural). A short story will be read by the instructor and the children will be asked to identify the plurals. 20 minutes: Postreading activities will help the children practice what they have learnt. Gaming activities will be introduced where the students will role play with their friends on instances of using plurals. There will be three games lasting 6 minutes each. The role playing will include ordering take-out for two people and ordering games and toys from a toy store. 10 minutes: Feedback will be sought from the children, and their questions will be answered as a form of evaluation. 5 minutes: The lesson will be concluded. References Condrat, V. (2010). A lesson plan for ESL/EFL students using an Emily Dickinson poem. The Internet TESL Journal. XVI (3). Retrieved from http://www.iteslj.org/ Droga, L, Humphrey, S., & Feez, S. (2012). Grammar and meaning: An introduction for primary teachers. Newtown, NSW: PETAA. Hinkel, E., & Fotos, S. (Eds.) (2002). New perspectives on grammar teaching in second language classrooms. Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2003).Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring. New York, NY: Heinle ELT. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2001). Grammar. In R. Carter and D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages (pp. 34–41) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mammadova, R. (2006). AzETA (Azerbaijan English Teachers’ Association). Retrieved from http://www.associates.iatefl.org/pages/materials/i4c11.pdf Nassaji, H., & Fotos, S. (2010). Teaching grammar in second language classrooms: Integrating form-focused instruction in communicative context. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis. Purpura, J. E. (2004). Assessing grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More