This lesson plan was created following Dudeney & Hockly (2007) "Warmer, Web, What's next" structure for lesson planning. Different tools have been included to make this lesson plan inclusive for all students. 

Hope you enjoy it! 

Lesson Plan

School: Bilingual School

Level: 5th grade,  Pre-intermediate level

Age: 10/11 years old

Subject: Language

Topic: Christmas Eve

Time allotted: two lessons of 80 minutes each.

Warmer

T will paste a notice with the word Christmas on the board and students will try to find as many words as they can hidden within the word.

Example: air, has, ham, mat, miss, hat, car, star, etc. 

Web

Task 1

Students will read a comic strip about Christmas origin on the web and do a sentence matching activity using the application LearnHip (tutorial on subpage).

The use of the internet is useful and entertaining and it also plays a constructive role in enhancing students’ language development. English Language Teaching (ELT) websites offer a blend of content and structured language exercises. Additionally, authentic sites can be selected to align with students’ interests and needs, thus helping maintain their motivation.

Delaney (2016), suggests that incorporating text alongside illustrations can be particularly beneficial to students with working memory challenges, since they often struggle with retaining previously read information. In the aforementioned lesson plan, the narrative on the origin of Christmas, from the app WhyChristmas, is  presented in the form of a comic strip- a blend of text and images. This choice will not only cater to SEN students facing challenges related to working memory, but also prevent them from becoming demotivated and abandoning the task.

According to Delaney (), chunking the text into manageable parts helps students process information and summarize a story. In this sense, the matching activity that students will engage in using the LearnHip platform, will assist them in identifying and comprehending the crucial sentences that compose the story.  

Task 2

Students will watch the video “Christmas Around the World”.

They will also navigate the website: WhyChristmas.com to delve deeper into the customs and festivities associated with Christmas in different parts of the world. Students will work in pairs. First, they will select a country from the list of options provided on the website. They will read the information and summarize it. The teacher will emphasize the importance of note-taking during this research phase. Then, they will create a multimedia presentation using the platform ThingLink (tutorial on subpage). They can use images and text to showcase the unique Christmas traditions of the chosen country. 

A computer can offer a secure substitute for social interactions for students with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) since it allows them to explore, express creativity, take risks and rectify errors (Delaney, 2016 ). The ThingLink app can give ASC students the opportunity to craft a presentation on a computer-based platform and be creative when the context is made clear. Similarly, students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) may encounter challenges in verbal communication so this platform may become an effective tool for them to visually express their ideas. 

What’s next

T will encourage students to discuss the significance of family traditions and how they contribute to the uniqueness of each family’s Christmas celebration.

Students will use the app PodBean to record their podcast.  Prior to creating the podcast, students will prepare a draft. 

They will include details, such as food, carol songs, gifts, etc. to highlight and explain the significance of these traditions to their families. The teacher will arrange a peer listening session in which students will pair up to listen to each other’s podcasts and select the most outstanding ones to share with the whole class. 

Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) may opt for Padlet as a means to effectively convey their cultural traditions to the entire class. 

The teacher will encourage students to reflect on how these traditions contribute to their sense of identity and belonging during this special holiday.

Some students excel in  expressing their thoughts verbally rather than through writing, a scenario particularly applicable to students with dyslexia, dyspraxia or coordination challenges who may struggle with the act of writing or typing a text (Delaney, 2016). For these students, the use of Podbean may enable them to express their ideas verbally without the burden of worrying about spelling or written text. Likewise, for students with SLD students, Padlet can serve the same purpose.

The above lesson plan was adapted in accordance with the theoretical frameworks: Bloom's Taxonomy and the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators.

Sneed (2020) states that Bloom’s Taxonomy was developed as a framework to classify statements of what educators expect their students to learn through the process of instruction. Learning is categorized into three behavioural domains: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. According to this classification system, levels of understanding are classified from lower order thinking skills (LOTS) to higher order thinking skills (HOTS), and technology and digital tools are used to facilitate learning. Collaboration is also deemed to enrich the learning experience and excite student curiosity.

 In this lesson plan, students follow this classification since they first have to understand the story and apply this knowledge in the matching activity. They have to analyze the different traditions in the countries selected and summarize the information in order to create a presentation. Finally, they will reflect on their own traditions and express them in a new production. There are instances of individual work as well as collaborative work.

The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators refers to the specific digital competences educators need to innovate and adapt to today’s education needs. Teachers have the essential role of empowering learners: to ensure accessibility to learning resources and activities; to use digital technologies to address learners’ different learning needs; to foster learners’ active and creative engagement with a subject matter; to foster transversal skills, deep thinking and creative expression; to open up learning to real-life context that involves learners themselves in hand-on activities (Redecker, 2017). 

In this lesson plan, learners were expected to find information in digital environments, analyze and interpret this content. They have to modify the information and express themselves through digital means. Moreover, students are expected to be producers of digital context in different formats. 

To read more about my work, go to my PLE here.

This website has educational purposes and has been created for the subject ICT at Universidad Técnologica Nacional - UTN (2023)

Karina Mariel Bóveda

References:

Delaney, M. (2016). Special Educational Needs. Oxford University Press.

Redeker, C. (2017). JRC Science for Policy Report. European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators. DigCompEdu. Retrieved from: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/digcompedu_en

Vuorikari, R., Kluzer, S., & Punie, Y. (2022) DigComp 2.2. The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens. With new examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Retrieved from: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128415

Sneed, O. (2020). Integrating Technology with Bloom's Taxonomy. Retrieved from: https://teachonline.asu.edu/2016/05/integrating-technology-blooms-taxonomy/