Embedded Files
To use websites in class, we will follow the three-stage framework of warmer, web, and what’s next, as suggested by Dudeney and Hockly (2007). Regarding the warmer stage, "it is the kind of thing we do as a matter of course, with introductory activities, interest-generating ideas and so on" (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007). The second stage, web, involves "spending as much time as possible working with the computers" (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007). The authors suggest that given there's limited access to computers, we "print off the web-based materials to use with learners in advance, and simply use the print version" (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007). The third stage, what next, should "deal with the tasks for the web part and then proceed with more familiar follow-up activitiesto round off the lesson" (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007). Together, these stages would create structured and purposeful approach to using websites in the classroom.
Below are two lesson plans that are part of the unit of work described in this post. The target learners characteristics are the following:
Students= 17 to 18-year-old learners at a B2 level of English.
School: Private school in Palermo
Course: 4th year
Class duration: 1 hour and forty minutes
LESSON PLAN 1
Topic= Addictive app design and user engagement mechanisms.
Communicative function= Giving essential and non-essential information
Grammar focus= Defining and non-defining relative clauses
WARMER
T will introduce the topic of the lesson: social media and its addictive nature. Learners will be told that later in the class they will read an article on this topic. Before this activity, T will ask the following questions:
Why do you believe that social media is so addictive?
What aspects of social media make it hard to stop using?
Which social media apps do you use the most?
What notions do you like about them?
Can they think of any issues related to social media apps?
As students share their answers, the teacher will write their ideas on the board. Students will then be told that they will compare their ideas with the information in the article.
WEB
Students will read this article about the addictive potential of social media.
While reading, they will check if any of their answers to the earlier questions appear in the text. Once they finish, the teacher will ask whether their predictions were correct or incorrect and why. Then, T will ask ss to re-read the article and then answer the following questions:
What is the title of Anna Lembke’s book, and what does it suggest about modern society?
Why did Anna Lembke write a book about the effects of dopamine?
What are the risk factors for addiction, according to Anna Lembke?
For Lembke, what makes social media particularly addictive?
According to Lembke, is there an antidote to our addiction to social media?
After this, T will tell students that they will watch a video about the same topic of the article.
After watching, ss will complete a Quizizz activity, which will be posted on their virtual classroom. Students can use their phones to access and play the quiz. The exercise is designed to reinforce key ideas from the video and both clarify and check comprehension. Thanks to the interactive format, students receive instant feedback and have the chance to correct any misconceptions. To enhance comprehension, the teacher will distribute photocopies of the video transcript. Learners will be asked to justify their answers by underlining or highlighting parts of the text where there’s information supporting their answers. KEY TO MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ
T will correct this exercise by asking learners to mention the lines in the transcript where there’s evidence supporting their answers. To clarify, lines are numbered in the transcript for easier correction. T will also show ss’ the results of the quiz to discuss both right and wrong answers by encouraging them to think of why the answers were right or not based on the information in the transcript. By doing this, T will elicit several excerpts from the transcript, some of which contain relative clauses and, as that is the grammar topic for today’s lesson, T will write such sentences on the board:
Social media has been a place where they found lost family members and organ donors.
And this is where studies show the addictiveness of social media.
One of those brain pathways is the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, which is connected to the amygdala and the hippocampus.
Myers' video is now part of a lawsuit in her home school district, which is suing Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and Youtube
Systematization:
The teacher will encourage learners to discuss the structure of the elicited sentences.The teacher will ask questions to guide students in making hypotheses about the language and come up with the rule for using defining and non-defining relative clauses. Also, T will discuss the use of where and which and why they have been used in the sentences but the main focus would be on defining and non-defining relative. At the end of this guided discovery, this will be board synopsis:
GIVING ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Social media has been a place where they found lost family members and organ donors.
And this is where studies show the addictiveness of social media.
GIVING NON-ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
One of those brain pathways is the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, which is connected to the amygdala and the hippocampus.
Myers' video is now part of a lawsuit in her home school district, which is suing Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and Youtube
Having explored the grammar point, the teacher will then help learners connect the language focus back to the lesson theme. To do so, students will be asked to reflect on the relationship between the video and the article through the following discussion questions:
Which medium (article or video) gave you a stronger emotional impact about the dangers of addiction? Why?
What examples of modern addictions are mentioned in the article, and which ones are discussed in the video? Are they the same or different?
Which source did you find more persuasive overall, and why?
WHAT'S NEXT
Activity 1:
The teacher will give learners copies of this activity about relative clauses. Students will have a few minutes to complete it, and then the correction will be done orally.
Reflection
T will give the following instructions orally:
“Think about a time when you spent more time on social media than you intended. What made you keep scrolling? How did you feel afterwards? Take a few minutes to reflect on your answers. Then, we will share our thoughts with the whole class.”
LESSON PLAN 2
Topic= Fake news
Communicative function= Stating facts
Grammar focus=Zero conditional clauses
WARMER
The teacher will share the following image of a news article and ask students if they recognize the people in the photos and if they have ever heard about that news. Then she will tell the students that there is one critical issue with that news clipping. She will invite them to wonder what it is and share their hypothesis.
The teacher will then let the students discuss occasionally making questions to guide them if necessary. For example:
Can we tell when these news articles were published?How can we be sure the pictures are real?
The students will eventually reach the conclusion that the articles are clearly fake. The teacher will then ask the students if they know how these type of news are usually called, and once the students answer “Fake news” she will copy the term onto the board and state that will be the topic of today’s lesson.
WEB
The teacher will tell students that they will read an article about tips for avoiding fake news.
T will ask ss which tips could be mentioned in the article. T wil write ss' ideas on the board. Then, they will read and check whether their predictions were right or not. After this, T will ask ss to re-read the article and then answer the following questions:
What is the criteria to evaluate a source?
How can you fact-check like a pro?
What three things can a quick Google search reveal about a claim?
What is the mission of All Sides? How does it help readers understand bias?
How can you distinguish opinion from fact in a news article?
What are some warning signs that a news story might not be credible?
Then, the teacher will then show the following image of the article they will work with:
She will then give them the following chart to complete first individually and then share with the whole class. To do so the students will have to think about what solutions they think will be mentioned to solve said issue. As the students share their ideas the teacher will register them on the board for later, the students can also add their classmates' ideas onto their own photocopy as well.
The teacher will then ask them to read the full article to check how many of their ideas were mentioned and highlight any new ones to add to the list of solutions on the board. They can write ticks in the right column to keep track of the information they find.
Once they have finished the teacher will go over their initial ideas on the board asking the students if they were mentioned and where they were able to find the info. Then, she will ask the students if they were able to find any new ideas and also add them onto the board.
The teacher will ask the students to consider the titles of each section. How would they describe them? Are they straightforward? Are they creative? Do they generate curiosity?The students will then be asked to get into groups of 2-3 and consider the information in each section and try to come up with alternative headings for each section.
After this, students will play the following Kahoot to check comprehension of the article. The purpose of this activity (checking comprehension) will be explicitly explained to learners so that they know why they are doing this activity.
Instructions for the learners: “Now that we’ve learned about different ways to stop fake news, it’s time for a challenge! We’ll play Kahoot to see who knows the most about these solutions. Imagine you're part of a team trying to find the best way to fight fake news, and your knowledge will help you win! Pay attention to the questions and see how well you can remember the strategies we’ve just discussed. Ready?"
Once ss finish playing kahoot, T will show learners the answers to the quiz. T will go over the questions one by one and ask learners to justify their answers by mentioning the lines in the article where they find clues to support their answers. This way, T will elicit many sentences from the text, some of them are conditional sentences type 0, which are the ones the teacher will write on the board to do the systematisation later:
If they fact check them and tag them as false, these stories then get a disputed tag that stays with them across the social network.
Another warning appears if users try to share the story.
Systematization:
The teacher will have students to discuss the structure of the elicited sentences.Through a guided discovery, ss will make hypotheses about the language and formulate the rule for using zero conditional clauses. SS' conclusions will be summarized on the board:
STATING FACTS
If they fact check them and tag them as false, these stories then get a disputed tag that stays with them across the social network.
CONDITION RESULT
Another warning appears if users try to share the story.
RESULT CONDITION
WHAT'S NEXT
Activity 1:
The teacher will give learners copies of this activity. Students will have a few minutes to complete it, and then the correction will be done orally.
INSTRUCTIONS: Imagine you're a part of a magazine team and want to know how people would react to different fake news. Your goal is to help others understand the real and predict its consequences. Match the clauses to come up with full sentences.
Key:
If people believe fake news about vaccines, they refuse to get vaccinated.
If an article claims that a new social media app steals personal data, people delete their accounts.
If journalists don't check information before publishing it, it causes confusion among people.
If a rumour about food contamination spreads, grocery stores remove the product from their shelves.
If news about a new miracle cure is true, millions of people stop seeing their doctors.
If a conspiracy theory about Elon Musk monitoring all phone calls is real, people stop using their phones for private conversations.
If a claim about a politician being involved in illegal activities is true, it leads to an official investigation.
If a company is really hacking phones, everyone stops using their products.
Reflection:
T will give the following instructions orally:
“If you had to choose one piece of advice from the article to follow in your future, which one would it be and why? Take a few minutes to reflect on your answers. Then, we will share our thoughts with the whole class.”
REFERENCES
Dudeney, G., & Hockly, N. (2007). How to teach English with technology. Pearson Education.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse