Materials Development
#1: VocaBlog Sentences
Level/Course Name: Vocabulary Level 1
Duration of lesson:
1½ hours, with one 10 minute break
Lesson Written by: Marianna
Beery
Explanation of
learning context:
The following lesson plan was
written for my Level 1 Vocabulary class at PIE.
There are 13 students in the class, all young-adult males from Saudi
Arabia. Students are tech-savvy, highly
motivated, and very attentive in class.
The vocabulary class meets twice a week for an hour and a half. Each class introduces them to a range of
frequent vocabulary terms that are useful for day-to-day communications. The following lesson plan was written for a
unit on describing physical states and emotions.
Students in Level 1 also attend a
CALL class. The activities in this
lesson plan are assumed to take place after students have successfully set up a
Google account in their CALL class, and have attempted to use a trial blog
developed by their Vocabulary teacher by responding to a post during their CALL
class.
Goals/Objectives:
There are five language-learning
objectives in the Level 1 Vocabulary class that the activities in the following
lesson plan achieve:
·
demonstrate knowledge of high-frequency topical
vocabulary
·
produce meaningful grammatically correct
sentences with the target vocabulary
·
use target vocabulary in meaningful
communication in a variety of contexts
·
develop basic functional communication skills
(e.g. complimenting, apologizing, asking for information)
·
improve spelling of target vocabulary
Technology Used:
·
Cell phones/smart phones
Rationale for using
technology:
The technologies I decided to use
include cell/smart phones, and a Google blog.
Students in this class are adept users of cell phones and smart phones.
I hypothesize that adapting familiar technologies would motivate students.
Making phone calls in English is another notoriously difficult task for
learners, and giving them practice on the phone with a dialogue performed in a
previous class intends to help them gain confidence with telephone
communications.
Students in this class are
required to keep a handwritten vocabulary log.
For each new vocabulary word entered, they must also write a complete
sentence. Vocabulary logs have spotty completion, and the students work on them
independently. They receive feedback on
their sentences mainly through written comments by the teacher.
I wanted to design an activity
that would encourage students to read each others sentences, and to begin to
analyze their own and others’ work for basic sentences structure, such as
beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. I thought a blog
activity could be adapted for these purposes.
Wang and Vasquez (2012) report that one benefit of CMC applications,
such as blogs, is increased opportunities for interaction and the negotiation
of meaning. Having students to write
sentences on the blog rather in a vocabulary log encourages interaction,
supports meaning-focused communications, and draws attention to form.
Learning Objectives
this lesson addresses:
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1. Demonstrate
knowledge of high-frequency topical vocabulary
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2. Produce meaningful grammatically correct sentences with
the target vocabulary
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3. Use target vocabulary in meaningful communication in a
variety of contexts
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4. Develop basic functional communication skills (e.g.
complimenting, apologizing, asking for information)
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5. Improve spelling of target vocabulary
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Pre-lesson
Inventory:
Ø
Things to bring to class: 7 copies of the Making Sentences handout
Ø
Equipment:
o
Computer with internet access, computer
projection screen so students can see what is on the computer, PadCam, whiteboard
and dry erase markers
Ø
Things to tell students:
o
They will get to use their cell phones in class
today
Ø
Write objectives/agenda/HW on board:
o
Vocab Review
o
Sentence Rounds
o
VocaBlog Prep
o
VocaBlog Sentence Review
Ø
HW to collect: None
Ø
HW to assign: Reply to a comment with 4
sentences
Warm-up
activity ( 10 min.): Review—How
Do You Feel?
Procedure:
1.
Write the following gambits on the board before class:
a.
Hi, how are you?
b.
Well, I feel _________________ right now.
c.
Why?
d.
Because ________________________________________________.
2.
After taking role, review the dialogue they learned in
the previous class, by modeling the dialogue with a student, using the gambits
on the board.
3.
Instruct students to take out their cell phones. Ask the student for his/her cell phone
number, and call the student on the phone, repeating the dialogue over the
phone.
4.
Pair students and have them practice the dialogue by
calling each other on their cell phones. Remind them to speak in English at all
times.
Transition: Ask ss to put their phones away, but tell
them that they will get to use them again later in class. First, they need to practice writing
sentences.
Activity 1 (
25 min.): Sentence Rounds
Procedure: (sequence as
needed for activity)
Ø
Key Vocabulary: nervous, tired, excited, happy, hungry, thirsty, exhausted, annoyed,
angry, furious, shocked, scared, surprised, worried, homesick, lonely
Ø
Building/Activating Background Knowledge
o
Remind student that last week, we learned
adjectives for how we feel. Elicit words
from students.
Ø
Presentation of New Information
o
Tell students that today they are going to
practice using the words in sentences.
o
Elicit from students what they need to have a
good sentence (write on the board):
§
Starts with a capital letter
§
Ends with a period
§
Has a subject and a verb
o
Tell students that for this activity they will
also need to (write on the board):
§
Spell the word correctly
§
Use the word correctly
o
Pair students and hand each pair one copy of the
Making Sentences handout.
Ø
Practice
o
Using the PadCam, project the Making Sentences handout.
o
Have a student read the directions aloud.
o
Walk the students through the instructions
§
Choose the word tired
§
Refer to the example sentence
o
Choose another word and write it on line 2.
o
Ask who has a sentence for the word chosen. Invite them to the PadCam and have them write
their sentence in the space provided.
Then, ask them to choose a new word.
Write it on the space indicated on line 3.
o
Point out that once they have used a word, they
cannot use it again.
Ø
Apply
o
Give students 10 minutes to work on the
handout.
Ø
Comprehension Check
o
Circulate through the room, assisting students
when needed and answering student questions.
Transition: Inform students that now we will take a
break, but when they come back we will try the same activity, but using the
VocaBlog.
10 MINUTE
BREAK
Activity 2 (
20 min.): VocaBlog Prep
Procedure: (sequence as needed for activity)
Ø
Key Vocabulary: nervous, tired, excited, happy, hungry, thirsty, exhausted, annoyed, angry,
furious, shocked, scared, surprised, worried, homesick, lonely
Ø
Building/Activating Background Knowledge
o
Bring up the Vocabulary Blog on the computer and
project so that students can see it: http://matdev1vocablog.blogspot.com/
o
Ask students if they were able to log into the
blog during their CALL class.
o
Ask if anyone was able to read the blog and
follow the instructions.
Ø
Presentation of New Information
o
Read the post for them.
o
Scroll down to the comments and point out that
some students were able to post their answers.
o
Ask the students who were able to post comments
to come to the front and read their comments to the class.
Ø
Practice
o
Elicit from students the process of commenting
on the blog.
§
Remind them of the rules:
·
Read the previous blog post
·
Read the word they need to use next
·
Post a comment with their sentence and a word
for the next student
·
No repeated words, so they need to read all the
previous posts.
o
Ask students to take out their cell phones and
log into the blog. Demonstrate how by
doing the following:
§
Scroll down past the comments to the text box.
§
Type the response in the text box.
§
Where it says, “Publish As” click on the
drop-down box and choose their google.com name.
§
Click on the “publish” button
§
Type in the security code
§
Their post should then be published and will
appear on the screen
Ø
Apply
o
Using their smartphones, have students try and
respond to the post.
o
If students don’t have a smartphone, pair them
up with someone who does and have them take turns.
Ø
Comprehension Check
o
Refresh the page on the computer so that
students’ incoming posts will show up.
o
Time permitting; invite a few students up to
read their posts as they come in.
Transition: Tell students that now we have some good
sentences on the blog.
Activity 3 (
25 min.): VocaBlog Sentences Review
Procedure: (sequence as
needed for activity)
Ø
Key Vocabulary: nervous, tired, excited, happy, hungry, thirsty, exhausted, annoyed,
angry, furious, shocked, scared, surprised, worried, homesick, lonely
Ø
Building/Activating Background Knowledge
o
Have ss look at the sentences they wrote in
Activity 1. Ask students if they think
they wrote the same sentences for each word?
Ø
Presentation of New Information
o
Assign each student a word. Tell them they are in charge of that
word. They will need to read other
people’s sentences, and write down four more sentences using that word.
Ø
Practice
o
Refer to the instructions on the board for good
sentences.
§
Starts with a capital letter
§
Ends with a period
§
Has a subject and a verb
§
Spell the word correctly
§
Use the word correctly
o
Show students a sentence on the VocaBlog that
did not use a capital letter, and write it correctly on the board. Tell ss they are in charge of making sure
their sentences have all these things.
Ø
Apply
o
Have students take out a pen or pencil and a
piece of paper.
o
Instruct students to circulate around the room,
look at other students’ papers, and find 3 sentences using their word. Remind them that all the sentences need to be
different.
Ø
Comprehension Check
o
Circulate through the room, ensuring students
are on task, assisting students when needed and answering student
questions.
Transition: Tell students they will take the sentences
they just wrote down and add them to the VocaBlog. This is their homework.
Summary/Cool-down/Homework
( 5 min): Explain Homework
Procedure:
1.
Demonstrate for students how to complete the homework
assignment.
a.
Show the blog on the TV screen
b.
Choose a word (ex: nervous)
c.
Find the comment that uses the word in a sentence
d.
Click on “Reply”
e.
Type in the 3 sentences
f.
Click on “Publish”
g.
Type in the security code and OK
h.
Your post will be published
2.
Tell students the homework will be due in the next
class
Making Sentences
Emotions and Physical Descriptions
Directions:
1.
Choose a word from the box.
2.
Write a sentence with the word.
3.
Choose a word for your partner.
Write it on the next line.
4.
No repeats!
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nervous
thirsty exhausted annoyed angry furious
shocked scared surprised worried homesick
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1.
______tired______
I feel tired tonight.____________________________________________________
2.
_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3.
_____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
8.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
11.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
12.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
13.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
14.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
15.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
16.
___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
After clicking on the link to the VocaBlog, open the comments to the VocaBlog and you will see some simulated comments from fake students that I entered. Review it while reading the lesson plan.
ReplyDelete