Nearpod

Júlia Ruiz and Gina Sala

Nearpod is an interactive tool that allows teachers to create engaging and multimodal lessons with activities such as “Draw It”, “Polls”, “Drag & Drop”, “Open-Ended Questions” or “Quizz”.

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION:

In this activity, students will learn the classroom objects (such as eraser, ruler, or pencil sharpener) through a dynamic and engaging Nearpod presentation which combines different interactive slides. Students will improve their reading and comprehension skills throughout the lesson, as well as their communicative comptenece, since they will have to communicate with their peers to complete the activities.

CONTEXTUALIZATION:

• Location: Classroom

• Target age: students between 6 and 7 years old

• Target language level: PRE A1 

LESSON AIMS:

Reception

• Overall reading comprehension: Can recognise familiar words/signs accompanied by pictures, such as a fast-food restaurant menu illustrated with photos or a picture book using familiar vocabulary. (p.54)

• Reading instructions: Can understand very short, simple, instructions used in familiar everyday contexts (e.g. “No parking”, “No food or drink”), especially if there are illustrations. (p.58)

• Identifying cues and inferring: Can deduce the meaning of a word from an accompanying picture or icon (p.58)

Comunicative competence language (Pragmatic)

• Spoken fluency: Can manage very short, isolated, rehearsed, utterances using gesture and signalled requests for help when necessary (p.144)

SWBATS:

• Students will be able to remember the meaning of the English vocabulary about classroom objects.

• Students will be able to recognize the English vocabulary about classroom objects in their everyday lives.

• Students will be able to identify the vocabulary about classroom objects in a phrase or short text.

PREPARATION:

• The teacher must make sure all tablets have a battery and WiFi connection (30 minutes before the class).

• The teacher must log in into her/his Nearpod account and click on the “Teach” option of the lesson she/he wants to present (10 minutes before the class).

• The teacher must give one tablet to each group of students (5 minutes, in-class).

• The teacher must project the lesson code on the classroom projector (1 minute, in-class).

MATERIALS:

• Classroom objects flashcards 

• Projector to display the lesson code

• One tablet per group in order to interact with the lesson.

• Website: Nearpod

ACTIVITY STEPS:

Pre-task

The teacher will introduce the topic (Classroom objects) to the students and project some flashcards with the English vocabulary. The teacher will read the name of each object in English aloud and students will repeat it. Afterwards, the teacher will point to a classroom object and students will have to say its name in English, trying to remember what they have just learned. Finally, the teacher will explain what Nearpod is and how to log in. 

Main task

After learning the main vocabulary, students will continue learning with the Nearpod interactive lesson. In order to do that, teachers will teach the lesson using the live participation mode, which allows the lecturer to control the rhythm of the class. 

During the session, students will play, in groups, an interactive lesson designed with Nearpod which includes some interactive slides to strengthen their knowledge. This lesson includes a matching game in which pupils must match the vocabulary word with its image; followed by four “Draw it” slides, in which they must read words or short phrases and attempt to draw their meaning. After that, students will be encouraged to find a vocabulary item in the classroom, take a photo and upload it to the Collaborative board. To sum up, pupils will participate in a quiz with four comprehension questions they will need to read and understand in order to answer the correct option.

All in all, the lesson includes words and short phrases so that students work on their reading comprehension and understanding of simple instructions.

Post-task

The teacher will download the post-session reports to assess students' performance in the lesson. What’s more, she/he will ask students for feedback on the Nearpod app: Did you like the activities? Would you like to use it again another time? Did you learn new vocabulary?

EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS AND APP IN USE

OUR POSTER AND TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS