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Thematic Unit for 1 week
Time:
1 hour class, 5 days a week
Number of students:
15-20
Level:
Intermediate
Goals:
By the end of this lesson, students should know all of the target vocabulary and be able to use it effectively in speech and writing. They should be using both regular and irregular verbs, gaining confidence in speaking and discussing experiences related to the holidays/ weather with other students.Assessments:
Time for tests and quizzes takes up learning time, so mainly the production will be shown with exercises, games, worksheets, fill in the blank, and in class discussion.Personal aims:
Each lesson will be different in their aims in terms of grammar, pronunciation, reading, listening, and writing, yet every lesson will use the same theme of "The Holidays". Personally, an aim is always to increase student talking time and to not overwhelm the students with too much information.Potential problems:
Each student has different learning styles, so it may be difficult to elicit responses in certain exercises. There is also a lot of material, so the lessons may have to be broken up in order to accommodate time constraints. They also may loose interest in the material, so there are games and activities that will help engage the classroom.Class layout and Student Grouping:
In the presentation portion, students will be in a semi-circle so they can see the board easily. For each practice and production, the students will be in a cluster of four around the blackboard during group work (after semi-circle, two students move their desks to face two other students) so that they can each other and participate in class discussions.Prerequisite skills:
Students will need enough familiarity with Christian/Western holiday traditions. They should recognize proper word order and understand basic sentences.Materials, tools, and resources:
A blackboard, hand outs used as examples, paper, pencils, assignments.
Supplementary Materials:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Online recourses: each will be supplied during that lesson.
Description of Lessons:
The theme of the Holidays first will be an introduction to the topic.
Day 1- Listening (Prepositions and Vocabulary) Halloween
Day 2- Reading (Modals and Auxiliary Verbs) Halloween
Day 3- Writing- Halloween
Day 4- Conversation/ Speaking (Vocabulary)
Day 5 – Pronunciation (Grammar)
Potential problems:
This lesson plan includes holidays that are customary to Americans, not that of a host country. Students might not be familiar with Harry Potter, for instance. The lesson plan might need to be altered to include local customs as well as foreign. The lessons might be asking too much of the students and they also might be too simplistic for learning to take place. They will need to be adjusted as the days pass and the instructor has a better idea of the levels of the students.
DAY 1 Listening
The teacher would tell the students they are going to do a practice activity where there isn't an emphasis on right and wrong. They are simply practicing their L2 listening skills like they would practice a musical instrument - through repetition, self-awareness and form.
First the teacher will introduce the listening topic and write it on the board to begin the word web. The students will free associate the words while the teacher elicits answers and fill in the web. Discuss and explain the vocabulary words that are underlined.
Handout 1:
While the students are looking at this picture, the teacher will read the following sentences one time. On the second time, the students will draw everything below in the haunted house.
There is an owl in the tree.
There is a jack-o'-lantern in front of the house.
There is a black cat on the roof.
There is a ghost in the left downstairs window.
There is a witch flying on a broomstick above the moon.
There are graves beside the house.
There is a skeleton in the right downstairs window.
There is a bat in the sky.
There is a cobweb above the door.
There is a vampire in the left upstairs window.
There is a werewolf under the tree.
After listening, the students will compare what they heard with the prepositions targeted in the introduction. This is also the time for students to discuss problems they had, what worked and what didn't. Then listen once more to provide closure and wrap up all elements discussed.
Aims: The ultimate goal of this activity is to hone and sharpen listening skills to pinpoint accuracy without the fear of getting it wrong. The student must be given the opportunity to see their progress and lessen the fear of listening activities.
Introduce Crossword Puzzle:
Down
1. This monster is the spirit of a dead person.
2. A monster that comes out when the moon is full.
4. A monster from the pyramids of Egypt.
5. A monster that drinks blood.
8. A huge person.
10. This monster hides under bridges and waits to eat people.
12. This monster looks like a large ugly person and usually lives in a cave.
Across
2. She rides a broom.
3. This monster is a dead person’s body.
6. This monster breathes fire and looks like a large snake or lizard.
7. A one-eyed giant.
9. This monster was made in a laboratory by a scientist.
11. This monster is made of bones.
13. A monster from outer space.
Students are asked to work with everybody in the class to complete the crossword. If the students do not know the answer, they must ask the other students in English. Once everyone’s crossword is completed, we will go over them as a class.
DAY 2 Reading
1.The teacher will introduce auxiliary verbs or helping verbs such as will, shall, can, would, could, should, might, may, and ought to. Since the class needs to know these, There will be a lot of TTT until the initial concepts are learned. The teacher will orally explain the rules, and then draw on the board. The theme of Halloween will be used in the different examples of each modal.
Because this lesson is very large, the Presentation and Practice part of the lesson will take most of the class time. This lesson can be broken up into two days of work.
Modal rule 1:
They do not have a third person plural 's'.
I can eat candy. She can eat candy. (I have to go. She has to go).
Modal rule 2:
They invert in questions.
I should go. Should I go? (I have to go. Do I have to go?)
Modal rule 3:
They do not require do for emphasis.
You could do it. You COULD do it. (You have to do it. You DO have to do it.)
Modal Rule 4:
They cannot be linked.
I will must do it. (I will have to do it).
Modal Rule 5:
They have their own negatives.
I couldn't call him. (I don't have to call him).
Modal Rule 6:
Ellipsis
I can do it and so can you. (I have to do it and so do you).
2. The teacher will then explain and give examples of their functions:
Examples:
Can can be used to show permission, ability, or possibility.
Can I go? I can dress up. It can happen.
Must can be used to show certainty or obligation.
You have been walking all day so you must be hungry. You must walk faster.
This is when I will pass out worksheets with already completed explanation pictures:
1.
2.
Shall is similar- its uses are for prediction, promise, and insistence
The teacher will give examples to the students.
3
4
5
6
Once the students have each worksheet, we will discuss them generally so they get an idea of when and where to use them. After the teacher has explained and given examples, she will go around the room to each student and ask them to tell the class two sentences about themselves or a family member using two modal auxiliary verbs.
After, she will incorporate an old fairy tale that includes fantasy characters similar to ones in Halloween. This is only used if there is time. This lesson may have to be moved to the next day to accommodate time.
The students will read in class and answer gist questions before they can take it home and finish the detailed questions. Target vocabulary for comprehension that will be another handout:
wasteful - extravagant, not used in a thoughtful manner
dwarf - a little man
ant-hill - place where ants live (made of dirt)
to suffer someone - impose upon someone to do, or experience something
hollow - empty in the middle
trunk - base of tree
stables - structure that houses horses
marble - hard, decorative mineral that is often used in the construction of beautiful buildings
wicket - small door or gate
bed-chamber - bedroom
eldest - the oldest
tablet - slab of stone upon which something important is written
disenchanted - freed from a magic spell
moss - green plant growth often found on trees, in the grass, etc. usually found in damp places
foretold - something that has been predicted before
tiresome - very tiring
heap - mixed-up pile of things
brink - on the border
syrup - sweet, thick liquid
spell - magic charm
- Where did the brothers spend the night? a) at the dwarf’s house b) at a castle c) in the princess’s chamber
- How many pearls did the eldest brother find? a) 100 b) 200 c) 300
Did the animals help the dwarf? Y or N
Passage:
The two elder brothers would have pulled it down, in order to see how the poor ants in their fright would run about and carry off their eggs. But the little dwarf said, 'Let the poor things enjoy themselves, I will not suffer you to trouble them.'
So on they went, and came to a lake where many ducks were swimming about. The two brothers wanted to catch two, and roast them. But the dwarf said, 'Let the poor things enjoy themselves, you shall not kill them.' Next they came to a bees'-nest in a hollow tree, and there was so much honey that it ran down the trunk; and the two brothers wanted to light a fire under the tree and kill the bees, so as to get their honey. But the dwarf held them back, and said, 'Let the pretty insects enjoy themselves, I cannot let you burn them.'
At length the three brothers came to a castle: and as they passed by the stables they saw fine horses standing there, but all were of marble, and no man was to be seen. Then they went through all the rooms, till they came to a door on which were three locks: but in the middle of the door was a wicket, so that they could look into the next room. There they saw a little grey old man sitting at a table; and they called to him once or twice, but he did not hear: however, they called a third time, and then he rose and came out to them.
He said nothing, but took hold of them and led them to a beautiful table covered with all sorts of good things: and when they had eaten and drunk, he showed each of them to a bed-chamber.
The next morning he came to the eldest and took him to a marble table, where there were three tablets, containing an account of the means by which the castle might be disenchanted. The first tablet said: 'In the wood, under the moss, lie the thousand pearls belonging to the king's daughter; they must all be found: and if one be missing by set of sun, he who seeks them will be turned into marble.'
The eldest brother set out, and sought for the pearls the whole day: but the evening came, and he had not found the first hundred: so he was turned into stone as the tablet had foretold.
The next day the second brother undertook the task; but he succeeded no better than the first; for he could only find the second hundred of the pearls; and therefore he too was turned into stone.
At last came the little dwarf's turn; and he looked in the moss; but it was so hard to find the pearls, and the job was so tiresome!--so he sat down upon a stone and cried. And as he sat there, the king of the ants (whose life he had saved) came to help him, with five thousand ants; and it was not long before they had found all the pearls and laid them in a heap.
The second tablet said: 'The key of the princess's bed-chamber must be fished up out of the lake.' And as the dwarf came to the brink of it, he saw the two ducks whose lives he had saved swimming about; and they dived down and soon brought in the key from the bottom.
The third task was the hardest. It was to choose out the youngest and the best of the king's three daughters. Now they were all beautiful, and all exactly alike: but he was told that the eldest had eaten a piece of sugar, the next some sweet syrup, and the youngest a spoonful of honey; so he was to guess which it was that had eaten the honey.
Then came the queen of the bees, who had been saved by the little dwarf from the fire, and she tried the lips of all three; but at last she sat upon the lips of the one that had eaten the honey: and so the dwarf knew which was the youngest. Thus the spell was broken, and all who had been turned into stones awoke, and took their proper forms. And the dwarf married the youngest and the best of the princesses, and was king after her father's death; but his two brothers married the other two sisters.
Detailed questions:
1. Why was the second brother turned into stone?
2. How did the dwarf get the key to the princess’s room?
3. Which out of the three princesses did the dwarf choose and why?
4. Why did the animals help the dwarf?
5. What happened to the brother’s?
DAY 3
Writing/ Vocabulary
Presentation:
The teacher will start the lesson with the Halloween scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when Harry, Ron, and Hermoine fight the big troll in the bathroom. Then I ask students if they can guess what they're going to study. The teacher will try to elicit Halloween from the class.
I will use the Halloween flash cards. I will divide the class of about 20 into two teams, get them to elect team captains, and tell each captain that their job is make sure everyone on their team knows all the words on the flash cards.
I will give students 5-10 minutes to study depending on the class. Then the game starts. The captains hold all the cards. The captain of the team that goes first chooses one flash card, covers the word, and shows the picture to one person on the other team (not the person holding the flash cards), who must look at the picture and give the word with no help from his/her team. If the student gets it right the team gets one point. Then the person who asked the question passes the cards to the next student. The other team captain chooses a card, shows it to one student, and now the other team has a chance to earn a point. The game will play to ten, so the first team to get 10 points wins.
Halloween flashcards:
http://autumnweb.com/Roxys/Holidays/Halloween.html
(scroll down, follow links to different pictures, print them, label them yourself)
http://www.esl-images.com/vocabulary_topic_display.asp?images=Halloween&topic=163
If time Activity:
Halloween Vocabulary
| Halloween | N. a holiday celebrated on October 31 in which people dress in scary costumes |
| to carve | V. to cut with a large knife |
| pumpkin | N. a large, orange vegetable associated with Halloween |
| Jack-o-lantern |
N. Americans traditionally cut out scary faces in pumpkins and put a candle inside. These pumpkins with faces are called "Jack-o-lanterns." Jack-o-lanterns are made to scare away evil spirits on Halloween. |
| costume | N. scary clothing or disguises worn on Halloween |
| "trick or treat" | On Halloween, children go from house to house and say "trick or treat." This phrase means give me candy or I will play a trick on you. Families usually give the children candy. If the children don't get candy, they sometimes play mean tricks like breaking the house's Jack-o-lantern or putting soap on its windows. |
| a costume party | N. a party where everyone dresses in scary costumes |
| bobbing for apples | This is a traditional Halloween game. You put apples in a barrel of water and people try to take the floating apples out of the water using only their mouths. |
| a skeleton | N. a body of nothing but bones |
| a ghost | N. the spirit of a dead person which appears again |
| a ghoul | N. an evil spirit which takes bodies from graves and eats them |
| a goblin | N. an unkind spirit which plays tricks on people |
| a witch | N. a woman with magic powers (usually evil) |
| a warlock | N. a man with magic powers (usually evil) |
Fill in the blanks using the above vocabulary.
Choose your ______________________ and carve it right,
For tonight is the night of fright.
A most dangerous eve is ______________________ ,
Disguise yourself from dangers unseen.
Beware!
The witches and ______________________ prepare their brews,
Deadly mixtures and magic stews.
Those without ______________________ should run and hide,
Or, better yet, stay inside,
For the darkest night is the night of fools,
Souls unprepared for bone-eating ______________________,
Ghosts and ______________________ who seek to annoy
Or, perhaps, even destroy.
Listen!
Hear the sounds of laughter and little feet,
As they threaten you with "______________________."
Give them candy, they will go away.
Lock your doors and pray
That the ______________________ candle stays lit,
And the devilish children quit.
(A. E. Martin)
Halloween Adjectives
| cackling | to make an evil, witch-like laughing sound |
| evil | very bad in thought and behaviour |
| gruesome | terribly shocking and sickening (often describes an act or event) |
| haunted | containing evil spirits or ghosts (usually describes a building or location) |
| hideous | describes something which is so sickening and ugly that you can't look at it |
| horrified | very shocked and scared |
| howling | making a long, loud cry like a wolf or a dog |
| possessed | controlled by an evil spirit or ghost (usually describes a person) |
| shrieking | sounding like a high-pitched, terrified screaming |
| wicked | very bad or evil (often associated with witches) |
Use the above vocabulary to fill in the blanks in the following sentences.
1. There are two kinds of witches according to legend: good witches who help and protect people, and ______________________ witches who use their magic to hurt people.
2. Every Halloween, the children tell stories about the ______________________ house on the hill. They say that the ghost of an old man wanders the hallways looking for the spirit of his long lost wife.
3. The people of the little town said that they could hear ______________________ sounds coming from the forest. Some said it sounded like the cries of an old woman calling for help.
4. At night, the villagers could hear the ______________________ werewolves just outside the village wall. They locked their doors and shutters and prayed that the creatures would not find a way into their homes.
5. "Halloween" is a classic horror movie with plenty of ______________________ murders. We rent the video every year on October 31.
6. Centuries ago, they thought that people could be controlled by evil spirits. These "______________________" people were often burned at the stake.
7. He was not a good person. He was an ______________________ person, and everyone knew that he was dangerous.
8. The monster's ______________________ face was green and covered with warts.
9. The ______________________ witch stirred her brew with delight. She laughed because it was Halloween, and evil was in the air.
10. The woman shrieked because she was ______________________ at the sight of the skeleton lying in her bed
DAY 4 Conversation/Speaking
Since there was a lot of material given over the first three days, this gives the students a away to review what was learned and they can also discuss on ways they need to improve while not feeling threatened. Students use the handout below to assess their own progress in speaking tests. The top section is where they mark their score on the test. The middle describes how to score the test. The teacher asks students to leave the bottom section blank until the end of the year, when they can write their own assessment of their performance in the course overall. This is something that can be used every week to help map the student’s progress throughout the year as well.
Students work in groups of three; an Interviewer, Interviewee and Marker. The Interviewee is the one taking the test. She or he has to answer three questions related to the three topics studied in previous classes. Class 1 was on the topic 'Mobile Phones', Class 2 covered 'Driving', and Class 3 considered 'Surrogate Mothers', one of the three test question cards for Class 4 might look like this:
Test 1
1. Do you celebrate Halloween?
2. What would you do to prepare for a Halloween party at your house?
3. Do you believe in ghosts? Why?
Each student's interview test lasts ten minutes. The Interviewer reads the questions, the Interviewee answers them, and the Marker observes. The following instructions, written on the board for the first test, explain their roles in the test:
- Interviewee: It is your test. The Interviewer will ask you questions – try to speak as much as possible. The Interviewer will help you.
- Interviewer: Ask the questions on the card. Ask follow-up questions. Speak slowly and clearly. Help the Interviewee to speak for the whole ten minutes.
- Marker: Listen to and observe the Interviewee. At the end of the test, give feedback on the strong points and weak points of the Interviewee's performance. Together with the Interviewee, decide on a numerical grade for today's test.
The teacher acts as timekeeper during the test, walking around and being available to help out with any problems they may have. When the time is up, the Marker gives feedback on the Interviewee's performance (in L1 or L2). Then the Interviewee and Marker refer to the assessment sheet, and together decide a score for that day's performance. They mark the score with a dot in the appropriate column. The students then rotate roles, and the teacher gives out a new set of questions. This happens one more time, so that each student gets to play all three roles in the test. All together, the test time, feedback and scoring, and the giving out and collecting of cards takes 45-50 minutes in a class of sixty students. The first test takes a little longer as time is needed to explain the system and get students used to the pattern.
The 'comments' section at the bottom of the page could be substituted for the guidelines for each role in the test. This would save having to write the guidelines on the board each time.
DAY 5 Pronunciation and Grammar
This is at the end of the week, so a light fun exercise would be appropriate. The teacher will introduce many tongue twisters to the class and they will repeat them in a drill format. The teacher will explain their meaning, etc., while the students have fun repeating the tongue twisters back to the teacher:
Six sick slick slim sycamore saplings.
A box of biscuits, a batch of mixed biscuits
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk,
but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.
Unique New York.
Betty Botter had some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter--
that would make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.
Six thick thistle sticks. Six thick thistles stick.
Is this your sister's sixth zither, sir?
A big black bug bit a big black bear,
made the big black bear bleed blood.
The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.
Toy boat. Toy boat. Toy boat.
One smart fellow, he felt smart.
Two smart fellows, they felt smart.
Three smart fellows, they all felt smart.
Pope Sixtus VI's six texts.
I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.
She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.
Mrs. Smith's Fish Sauce Shop.
"Surely Sylvia swims!" shrieked Sammy, surprised.
"Someone should show Sylvia some strokes so she shall not sink."
A Tudor who tooted a flute
tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to their tutor,
"Is it harder to toot
or to tutor two tooters to toot?"
Shy Shelly says she shall sew sheets.
Three free throws.
I am not the pheasant plucker,
I'm the pheasant plucker's mate.
I am only plucking pheasants
'cause the pheasant plucker's running late.
Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.
A flea and a fly flew up in a flue.
Said the flea, "Let us fly!"
Said the fly, "Let us flee!"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
Knapsack straps.
Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
A bitter biting bittern
Bit a better brother bittern,
And the bitter better bittern
Bit the bitter biter back.
And the bitter bittern, bitten,
By the better bitten bittern,
Said: "I'm a bitter biter bit, alack!"
Inchworms itching.
A noisy noise annoys an oyster.
The myth of Miss Muffet.
After the class has repeated each phrase back to the teacher, then they will be instructed to make their own tongue twister. It will help with accents in their L1 and also give them some popular knowledge that children love to repeat and test their peers on.
END OF THEMATIC UNIT
Ask students if there is anything that needs clarification, and answer questions.