Closing unit 4 Feed your mind -Recipe- By: Tatiana Leal J.
Students prepared dinner for their family following the recipe and instructions given by the teacher to close unit 4 that was mainly about food and eating habits. Students gained vocabulary related to food, kitchen and cooking implements, and terms normally used to prepare food.
It was a very interesting experience because it was something different and some of them were not versed in cooking in any way so they were very proud of themselves as they were able to prepare a meal for their families while learning about the processes that are involved while working on their vocabulary.
Students were studying vocabulary related to television, entertainment, addictions and fame, with emphasis on adjectives in order to practice the structures needed to describe, compare and contrast ideas and opinions.
At the end of the unit, students were asked to send a 20-30 seconds video, where they must have mentioned and argued how important is fame for them and what do they want to be in the future.
Students practiced different language abilities because to prepare the video, they had the opportunity to watch videos of other teenagers talking about their opinions and wishes (listening), and also read a couple of articles about the topic (reading). Before recording, they wrote notes or the script (writing) of what they were going to say in the video (speaking).
One of the most significant results was to find out about their unexpected opinions of fame and their life plans, which gave the class a better understanding of the student's personalities and interests.
While in home confinement students found a mysterious box that allowed them to visit and interact in the imaginary worlds depicted in five of their favorite books, movies, or TV shows. Students prepared a creative presentation to explain the class what worlds they would like to visit, how they would interact with the characters and affect the plot by doing so.
Students exercised not only their creativity but also their argumentative skills while writing and speaking about their whole experience. Students’ performance was outstanding. They used adequate vocabulary and structures according to the standards for a B2 proficiency level.
On unit 4, 10th grade made a robotic hand using recycled materials. Students talked about the future applications of robotics and their implications for the job market, economy and every day life while following instructions to craft and operate a robotic hand made out of recycled materials.
For this unit, the proficiency standards were related to discussion and points of view about the future. Besides working on DIY robotic crafts, students also had an activity in which they wrote a piece of text using information from different sources, which allowed for a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the impact of automatization career choices and the negative impact for workers unable to adapt. To do this, students analyzed charts, articles and blog posts.
This is a task, that is still being carried out with 8th graders (A2 proficiency level in English), aiming at showing the best of our hometowns. The most interesting part is that towns and their people, places and activities are being described by local students in genuine language and following a very strict structure.
Students achieved to describe weather, lansdcapes, people and activities in written way, following descriptive text patterns (letters, emails, stories, reports, posts) Coming out with a paragraph, to be shared on a website, written by locals in a foreign language for locals and foreigners.
By: Andrés Murillo.