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The Lightbulb Goes Off
When I was in school, back in the early 90s, the world was a different place. There were no iPhones, laptops, or TikTok. Hell, there was barely an internet. We sat in class with a notebook on our desks while the teacher wrote on the blackboard or on rare occasions they would roll in a TV/VCR, and we would watch a video.
Fast forward to 2022 - One thing I noticed immediately about teaching teenagers is that most of them have the attention span of a gnat. There was no way I could stand up in front of 30 kids and just talk with a piece of chalk in my hand. There had to be action and interaction in order to get them to listen. My mission is to find imaginative ways to combine a lesson with a topic that will interest them, and then execute the lesson using different forms of media that will get them to read, listen, speak, write, and be creative. I also need to be careful not to over complicate things. It is a delicate balance to hold their attention yet keep the lesson simple and straightforward. I have to keep in mind what the role of the language assistant is as stated in the 2022-23 guidebook:
"The language assistant
serves as a model for the use of language in communicative situations and provides a
firsthand new perspective of culture and modern life in his or her country."
I came up the idea for my final project on a rainy day in PE class. The professor was out sick so there were two combined classes in our rather tiny gym. That meant 50 to 60 7th and 8th graders all trying to play fútbol. I noticed one group of students sitting on the sidelines around a boy who was shuffling cards. They were riveted by what he was doing. As I stepped closer I saw that he was holding tarot cards and was about to give free readings to any eager participant. A light bulb went off in my head. At some point I would build one or more lesson plans around the theme - "Predicting the Future" - the kids would definitely be into that.
LESSON TITLE: Is it Written in the Stars? - Predicting the Future
LEVEL: 1st of ESO - 7th grade (CEFR level A2-B1)
SUBJECT: English
LESSON FOCUS:
verb tenses (past, present, future)
vocabulary (occupations, types of homes, locations)
oral presenting skills
sentence structure (writing)
listening followed by formulating, asking, and answering questions
MATERIALS : Crystal ball worksheets, 32 charades cards (each with a different occupation),
origami fortune teller (pre-made), timer
TECHNOLOGY: Computer, whiteboard, projector, Google slides, YouTube
TIME NEEDED: Two 50 minute class periods
RESOURCES: Listed on last slide of each presentation
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CLASS 1
CLASS 1
SLIDE 1: I give the students a few minutes to settle down and then introduce the presentation. I always encourage them to have a notebook and pen and to be ready to write things down. I suggest writing things twice because it will help them to retain the information.
SLIDE 2: I start out with a simple question - "Can we predict the future?" I want to hear what the students think about this. What is their baseline of knowledge in this topic. I give them a few minutes and list answers that they come up with on the whiteboard.
SLIDE 3: I have found that a simple picture can open a whole conversation, if the students pay attention to the details. I always suggest having them incorporate who, what, where, when, how, and why, into their answers. I spend a few minutes writing things they come up with to describe the picture.
SLIDES 4, 5, 6: I show the picture first and see if any of the students know the vocabulary associated with the picture. With these slides I am giving them a brief overview of different methods of predicting the future. This helps them learn about other cultures. I don't spend too much time on these slides.
SLIDE 7: This is the main activity for the day. It gets every student out off their desks and up in front of the classroom. It also assigns them to a partner which gets them to interact with each other.
STEP 1: I call a pair of students to the front of the room. I have placed a single desk in the front of the classroom facing the blackboard and me. There are four piles of cards on the desk. One student sits at the desk while the other stands next to me.
STEP 2: I bring out the FORTUNE TELLER ORIGAMI GAME, which I have pre-made:
STEP 3: The student in front of the class with me picks a number, followed by a color, followed by a letter, which leads them to a final number between 1-4. They go to the corresponding pile of cards on the desk and pick one off that pile. This is the occupation that they must act out for their partner (charades style).
Firefighter Singer Waiter/Waitress Construction Worker
Ballet dancer Boxer Police officer Movie star
Dog walker Chef Teacher Judge
Futbol player Artist Dentist Farmer
Truck driver Florist Hairstylist Mechanic
Nanny Surgeon Nurse Photographer
Author Airline Pilot Scientist Veterinarian
Exterminator President Computer programmer Weatherperson
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STEP 4: The student has to act out the word on the card. They cannot speak or make sounds. Their partner has 45 seconds to guess the work. If they do not guess correctly, I call on another student in the class.
STEP 5: The student who acted has to say, "My name is (name) and in the future I am going to be a (occupation on the card). The partner then repeats the statement, "His/her name is (name) and in the future he/she is going to be a (occupation on the card). This gets each student to use the future tense out loud twice.
STEP 6: These two students switch places and the process is repeated.
STEP 7: When this pair is finished, I call the next pair to the front of the room. We keep playing the game until everyone in the class has taken a turn and has a future occupation. I tell them to remember what they are and to imagine what life would be like if they were actually in that occupation. I let them know that we will be using this information in the next class.
SLIDE 8: I end the class with the quote and ask the students what they think about it. I leave them with this question, "Is helping create our future better than trying to predict it?"
*RESOURCES LISTED ON LAST SLIDE OF PRESENTATION
CLASS 2
CLASS 2
SLIDE 1: As the students get situated, I remind them of the topic and recap a little of what we learned in the previous lesson.
SLIDE 2: I mention the crystal ball, and go a little more in depth about that. I show them the YouTube clip of 'The Wizard of Oz." I ask them how much they know about the story. I ask them what they see happening in the clip. Description and detail!
SLIDE 3: This is the main activity for today. Again it gets each student out of their desk and in front of the classroom. I handout the CRYSTAL BALL WORKSHEETS.
STEP 1: I ask the students to remember the occupation that they got during the previous class in the FORTUNE TELLER GAME
STEP 2: I instruct the students to write about their life as if the future is now. I ask them to focus on using past and present tense. I remind them to be descriptive and creative, to use full sentences and to answer the questions: who, what, why, when, where, and how. I give them at least ten minutes to work on this. I go around to all the desks to see if anyone has questions.
STEP 3: I call each student up to the front of the room, where they will read what they see in their crystal ball to the rest of the class. I believe that the sooner kids get used to public speaking, the better. It is a skill that can be used in many different areas of life. I also encourage kids to take risks and to make mistakes. I let them know that this is all part of learning a language. I remind them that noone is perfect.
STEP 4: After the student has read, I ask the class to think of a question for that student and choose one person to ask him/her. This helps the listening skills of the rest of the class, allows them to formulate questions, and gives the student in front of the class a chance to think on their feet and come up with an answer on the spot.
STEP 5: This should be repeated until every student has a chance to share their crystal ball, and will most likely take up the rest of the class period.
SLIDE 4: Again I wrap up the lesson with a quote. I point out that although is normal to think about and plan for the future, we really shouldn't worry too much about it. It is very important to focus on the present moment.
*RESOURCES LISTED ON LAST SLIDE OF PRESENTATION
ASSESSMENT
ASSESSMENT
Students will be evaluated on their creativity, participation, and ability to cooperate and collaborate with their peers. Obviously each individual student has strengths, limitations, and they learn at different paces. The grading will be arbitrary, based on the amount of effort put into the assignment.
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