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The lesson plan below is an adaptation of a plan that was originally created by me and my pedagogical partner for our high school pedagogical practicum. It follows the ARC approach and it is designed to teach countable and uncountable nouns. The students have an A2 level of proficiency.
If you click here you can access the original lesson plan.
Regarding Bloom's Digital taxonomy, as explained in the article published in 2016 in Teachthought.com, this lesson is organized beginning with lower-order thinking skills and ending with higher-order thinking skills. First, the focus is on remembering and understanding by identifying, listing, recognizing, selecting, classifying, comparing, discovering and grouping. Then, the focus is on applying and analyzing by choosing, using, categorizing, classifying, comparing and distinguishing. Finally, at the end of the lesson, the focus is on Creating by debating, detecting, building, collaborating, making, negotiating, solving and writing.
Furthermore, various competences described in the European framework (2017) are present in this lesson plan. The teacher selects digital resources for teaching, considering the objectives and the context when selecting those resources and planning their use. Also, the teacher shares digital content, making it available to learners. Moreover, when planning, the teacher considers the digital resources as a way of enhancing teaching and the interaction with learners. As well, the teacher addresses students with special needs and tries to foster learners' active engagement. Finally, the teacher promotes the responsible use of different apps to solve various problems and to create content.
Class: 2° 5°
Level:
Time: 80’ min
Communicative goal: Talking about food items in the singular and in the plural
Grammar focus: countable and uncountable nouns
Vocabulary focus: food
Recycled language: eggs, bacon, spaghetti, ice-cream, nachos, fries
Warm-up (10’):
The teacher will introduce an icebreaker game to get to know the group. T will give students a die and each of them will roll it. Depending on the number they get, they will answer one of the following questions orally:
Roll the dice and answer the question!
1. Who is your favorite person in the world?
2. What are three things that you do every day?
3. What’s your favorite drink?
4. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?
5. What’s your favorite type of candy?
6. What’s your favorite television show?
7. What’s your favorite class?
8. What’s your favorite color?
9. What’s your favorite food?
10. What’s your favorite movie?
11. Burger King or McDonald’s?
12. What is your top artist on spotify?
Activation:
The teacher will show closeups of certain food items and then will ask students to guess which is the food item they are seeing.
Guess the picture_Lesson 1 - Presentaciones de Google
Then the teacher will ask the following questions:
1. Do you like fast food?
2. How often do you eat out?
3. Do you prefer to eat quickly or take your time?
4. Do you get impatient when you wait for your food?
5. Do you usually plan your meals in advance?
6. What's your favorite food to eat at home?
Comprehension and Clarification (15‘):
The teacher will show the following video to the students:
Then, the teacher will check overall comprehension: Did you like it? What happened in the story? Did the dog have a healthy diet? What do you think? Let 's discuss.
Systematization:
The teacher will stick flashcards with food items that were presented in the video and some that weren't. Then, she will ask the students to help her classify them in two columns: one for the countable nouns that are preceded for an indefinite article (a/an) and another one for the uncountable nouns that are preceded by the zero article.
The Teacher will write the indefinite article (a/an) before countable nouns and 'zero article' before uncountable nouns.
The teacher will ask students to download Penzu and create two entries on their journal: one for countable nouns (a/an) and one for uncountable nouns (zero article). Then, she will ask them to write the different items on the correct entry as they go through each of them all together.
Previous to the day of the lesson, the teacher will send the students a tutorial, like the one that can be found here, on how to use Penzu. She will do it through Classroom, Teams or another appropriate tool.
(The teacher's explanation on the topic can be found in the original lesson plan.)
To work on students' independence, Delaney promotes encouraging them 'to create their own glossaries or mini-dictionaries of key words and concepts they need to remember (Delaney, 2016, pg. 26). Penzu, Bubbl.us and Chegg allow students to save their work and keep the information they have previously produced, which helps them to remember things they have previously read.
When considering information management, Delaney (2016) focuses on the importance of giving students a written handout to refer to. In this case, a similar idea is carried out by the teacher, as the information is given on the board and students have to copy it on the two entries in their journals.
Activity 1 (15’):
Type: Pseudo-communicative
Focus: Writing
Grouping scheme: Solo/Individual
According to Delaney, 'some students will read more easily from certain colours of paper or certain types of colour transparencies [...], so try making photocopies on off-white paper (salmon-pink, grey, or beige)' (Delaney, 2016, pg. 59). Furthermore, to create a more inclusive learning environment, Delaney (2016) recommends demonstrating grammar points visually and the 'use [of] texts with illustrations which help with meaning' (Delaney, 2016, pg. 27). Finally, when it comes to managing information, Delaney (2016) recommends using short sentences and simplifying instructions.
The worksheet below has been designed using soft green, blue, pink and orange among other neutral colours to transmit comfort, quietness and create calm. Furthermore, various images making reference to the notions of countable and uncountable have been added to the exercise as an aid to the students. Finally, the title consists of a clear, simple and short sentence.
Activity 2 (20’):
Type: Quasi-communicative
Focus: Listening and writing
Grouping scheme: Solo/Individual
1. The teacher will ask the students to choose four countable and four uncountable food items from the following list that will be provided to them.
Apples, Bananas, Carrots, Tomatoes, Eggs, Slices of bread, Cakes, Hamburgers, Pizzas, Cookies, Potatoes, Sausages, Donuts, Cupcakes, Peaches, Lemons, Milk, Rice, Ham, Pasta, Bread (as a whole), Cheese, Butter, Sugar, Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Jam, Honey, Yogurt, Juice, Watermelon, Soup, Shrimp.
2. Students will have to write their choices down on a blank workspace on the Bubbl.us website which can be easily accessed and used from the browser on a cell phone. In the same workspace, they will have to create a row for COUNTABLE food items and another for UNCOUNTABLES.
Previous to the day of the lesson, the teacher will send the students a tutorial, like the one that can be found here, on how to use Bubbl.us. She will do it through Classroom, Teams or another appropriate tool.
Delaney (2016) also encourages teachers to plan activities which focus on the students' working memory because many pupils have problems following a sequence of instructions. Considering this, different didactic tutorials on how to use various apps are provided to the students before the lesson.
In addition to this, Delaney promotes the use of 'different colours to highlight the patterns of words and to break down the sounds into manageable chunks' (Delaney, 2016, pg. 58). In the casse of Bubbl.us, students can choose different colours to differentiate between countable and uncountable nouns.
3. Bingo game:
1) The teacher will call out a food item from the list provided (they could be flashcards).
2) If the called item is countable, students must place a marker on the food item
on their Bingo card.
3) The first student to complete a row (vertically) shouts "line!"
4) The teacher will check whether the food items were in the right categories.
5) If the items were correctly categorized, the students win.
Activity 3 (20’):
Type: Fully communicative
Focus: Speaking
Grouping scheme: Groups
The teacher will ask students to imagine they are in a restaurant. Then, she will divide the students into pairs. One of them is going to be the waiter and the other is the customer. Each customer will have a specific diet:
Vegetarian diet
Vegan diet
Allergic to seafood
A protein diet
A Celiac diet
A low-fat diet
Diabetic diet
Lactose intolerance diet
The teacher will also hand them a menu with many food items (countable and uncountable).
Restaurant Menu
Appetizers:
● Caprese Salad
● Chicken Wings
● Vegetable Spring Rolls
● Ceviche
Main Courses:
● Spaghetti Bolognese
● Grilled Salmon
● Classic Pizza
● Roast Chicken
● BBQ
Beverages:
● Coffee
● Water
● Iced Tea
● Orange Juice
● Coca Cola
Desserts:
● Chocolate Cake
● Fruit Salad
● Cheesecake
● Vanilla Icecream
● Baked Apples
T: Remember to ask your waiter if the food you’re ordering is appropriate for your diet. Here’s an example of a possible interaction:
Waiter: What can I get you?
Veggie Customer: Is there meat in the Ceviche?
Waiter: Yes, there is fish.
Veggie Customer: Then I want the salad.
OPTION 2:
The teacher will ask students to get in pairs. Then, she will ask them to plan a menu for a birthday party. She will give them a list with possible dishes. They have to bear in mind that in the guest list there is:
● A Vegetarian
● A Vegan
● Someone who is allergic to seafood
● A diabetic person
T: You’re planning your birthday party. Choose 4 different options to serve in your party.
Possible menus:
● French fries
● Chocolate cake
● Caprese salad
● Green Salad
● Ceviche
● Fruit Salad
● Spaghetti Bolognese
● Pizza
● Brownies
● Chicken wings
● Water
● Iced Tea
● Orange Juice
You can create your own. Any ideas?
T: Now, make a shopping list. What do you need to cook those dishes?
The students will be asked to use the app Chegg to create flashcards. In each flashcard they will have to add a picture of one of the dishes they have chosen and the shopping list containing the items needed to prepare the dish.
A bank of pictures containing images of different dishes will be shared with the students through Google Drive, Pallet, or other appropriate tool for doing so. This way, they will not need to devote time to search for the images on the website.
Ss will discuss the different menus in pairs and then each pair will tell the rest their menus. They can share the flashcards through WhatsApp, Classroom or Google Drive, among others.
Ss: To make french fries, I need…3 potatoes, salt, and a bottle of oil.
Previous to the day of the lesson, the teacher will send the students a tutorial on how to use Chegg. She will do it through Classroom, Teams or another appropriate tool.
Related to the PLANIED framework, as it was stated by Ripani (2016/2017), in this activity, students search, organize and produce information to build knowledge, recognizing different modes of digital representation.
Reflection (5’):
Which of these sentences contain mistakes?
1. Do you often eat chicken? ✔️
2. Garlics are good for you. ❌
3. Sylvie hardly ever eats fruit. ✔️
4. My parents never drink wines. ❌
5. Does she eat shrimp? ✔️
6. I usually put butters on my bread, not margarines. ❌
7. Ken doesn't take sugar in his tea. ✔️
8. There are waters on the table. ❌
If you follow this link, you will be directed to Victoria Chaler's PLE, where she has posted an identical piece of content.
Sources
Bubbl.us in https://bubbl.us/
Chegg in https://www.chegg.com/flashcards
Delaney, M. (2016) Special Educational Needs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fakebook in https://www.classtools.net/
Ledesma, p. (2019) Useful digital tools for the inclusive classroom.
Penzu in https://penzu.com/
Redecker, C. (2017) JRC SCIENCE FOR POLICY REPORT. European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators. DigCompEdu. In: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/digcompedu_en
Ripani, F. (2016). Competencias de Educación Digital. Ministerio de Educación y Deportes. Retrieved in July 2017 from http://www.bnm.me.gov.ar/giga1/documentos/EL005452.pdf
Ripani, F. (2017). Orientaciones Pedagógicas. Ministerio de Educación y Deportes. Retrieved in July 2017 from http://www.bnm.me.gov.ar/giga1/documentos/EL005853.pdf
Staff, T. (2022b). Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Verbs For 21st Century Students. TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/blooms-digital-taxonomy-verbs/
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