LET'S CREATE OUR BAND!

Let's Create Our Band!

Author names: Ariadna Hurtado, Pau Pérez, Naiara Prado, Gemma Ribalta and Noah Vera.

Short description

Students will take turns using the headset while the teacher "screen casts" what they see for the rest of the class to follow. This helps everyone become comfortable with navigation and key functionalities, such as creating private spaces and taking screencaptures. In the next session, students gather with the teacher in Immerse, who provides instructions to find two objects. Once all students are present, they are grouped and tasked with creating their own band. Groups move to private spaces to explore instruments and decide which ones will form their band, using handouts and templates to describe their choices in a provided template.

On the following session, in two classrooms, groups present their bands. One room features a projector for the audience, while the other allows presenting groups to use computers for their detailed explanations. Groups rotate until all have presented. In the end, the teacher displays the band posters in the school hallway for everyone to appreciate.

Skeleton of the activity:

Session 1:

The teacher demonstrates how to log in, navigate the space, and use the controls.
Students take turns using the headset, while the teacher shares the screen from the headset so other students can observe the process.
Key functionalities, such as creating a private space and taking screencaptures, are explained.
The "offline setting" is enabled, so no classroom setup is required within the app.

Session 2 :

All students enter one space with the teacher.
The teacher gives instructions (descriptions) about two objects, and students must bring the objects to the teacher and show him/her.
A timer is set to guide students on when they need to return to the teacher’s location, either with an object or empty-handed.
When everyone is in the space, the instructions for the next session will be explained.
The teacher will group the students, and he/she will explain that they will have to create their own band.
One person per group will create a private space.
Children will get into their group’s space, explore the different instruments available, and start thinking about which instruments will be in their band.
Students take screencaptures of their top three instruments. These screencaptures will help during later discussions and negotiations if multiple members choose the same instrument.
The teacher will give out handouts (scaffolding) for children to use if needed.
They will need to describe all the instruments of their band.
A template will be provided for children to fill in with the descriptions.

Session 3:

This session will be held in two different classrooms.
In the main classroom, the teacher will share the screen on the projector so all the students in the classroom can see their peers' presentations.
There will be a second classroom with several computers (as many as students in a group) in which, there will be the group who presents at that moment (explaining and describing the band they created in the previous session) and then, they will be switching groups, so everyone can present their own band. Groups can use their screencaptures to enhance their presentation, showing the instruments they selected and describing why they chose them.

Afterwards:

The teacher hangs the posters in the school’s hallway, so everyone can see them.

Contextualization

Target Age: 6th grade or 11–12 years old.

Target Language Level (based on CEFR): A1/A2.

Location (indoors, outdoors, gym, classroom, etc.): The first activity will take place in a classroom. For the second one, students will be divided into two classrooms. In one of them, there will be the group doing the presentation, and, in the other, the rest of the class who will be watching it. To do so, there will also be two teachers in order to guide children.

Lesson aims

Competencies specifically related to CEFR. You must integrate a minimum of two Competencies into your activities/lessons:

Spoken reception

Overall oral comprehension: (A2) Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type, provided people articulate clearly and slowly. (A1) Can recognise concrete information (e.g. places and times) on familiar topics encountered in everyday life, provided it is delivered slowly and clearly.

Listening to announcements and instructions: (A1) Can understand instructions addressed carefully and slowly to him/her and follow short, simple directions. (A2) Can catch the main point in short, clear, simple messages and announcements.
Reading instructions: (A2) Can understand simple, brief instructions, provided they are illustrated and not presented in continuous text.

Spoken production

Sustained monologue: giving information: (A2) Can use simple descriptive language to make brief statements about and compare objects and possessions. (A2) Can tell a story or describe something in a simple list of points.

Written production

Overall written production: (A1) Can write simple isolated phrases and sentences.

Spoken interaction

Overall spoken interaction: (A1) Can interact in a simple way but communication is totally dependent on repetition at a slower rate of speech, rephrasing and repair. Can ask and answer simple questions, initiate and respond to simple statements in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics. (A2) Can interact with reasonable ease in structured situations and short conversations, provided the other person helps if necessary.
Information exchange: (A2) Can ask and answer simple questions, initiate and respond to simple statements in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics.

Mediation

Collaborating in a group
- Facilitating collaborative interaction with peers: (A2) Can collaborate in simple, shared tasks, provided that other participants speak slowly and that one or more of them help him/her to contribute and to express his/her suggestions. (A1) Can invite others’ contributions to very simple tasks using short, simple phrases. Can indicate that he/she understands and ask whether others understand.
- Collaborating to construct meaning: (A1) Can express an idea with very simple words and ask what others think.

Linguistics

General linguistic range: (A1) Can use some basic structures in one-clause sentences with some omission or reduction of elements. (A2) Can use basic sentence patterns and communicate with memorized phrases, groups of a few words and formulate about themselves and other people, what they do, places, possessions etc.
Vocabulary range: (A1) Has a basic vocabulary repertoire of words and phrases related to particular concrete situations.
Grammatical accuracy: (A1) Shows only limited control of a few simple grammatical structures and sentence patterns in a learnt repertoire. (A2) Uses some simple structures correctly, but still systematically makes basic mistakes – for example, tends to mix up tenses and forget to mark agreement; nevertheless, it is usually clear what he/she is trying to say.

Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistic appropriateness: (A1) Can establish basic social contact by using the simplest everyday polite forms of: greetings and farewells; introductions; saying please, thank you, sorry etc.

Pragmatics

Thematic development: (A2) Can give an example of something in a very simple text using ‘like’ or ‘for example’.

Learning objectives

Comprehend how the instruments differ in order to be able to describe some of them.
Complete a poster about their band with the appropriate vocabulary in order to present it to their peers

Preparation for the app task cycle

Downloading the app if needed. Students will not need to download any app. However, they will need special access to the platform. Moreover, at some point in the activity, each group of children will create a private space for themselves.

Becoming familiar with technology if needed. Even though the app has several things to do in its spaces and so many inputs (you can grab things and move them and so on), it is quite intuitive in terms of its use. Enough time will be given to children in order to get to know how the app works.

Getting an account if needed. An account is needed to sign in to the app in order to navigate through the several spaces.

Materials

Link to the apps used

Handouts: Handouts with information about the instruments’ name and their classification will be given to children. A template and example of the band’s poster will also be provided. Link to Language Support and Material.

Equipment: A minimum of one laptop per student will be needed to carry out this activity.

Additional materials required: Pencils, and the handouts of language support printed for each group will be needed.

Brief description of each phase of the task cycle

Since it would be impossible to carry out the whole activity in a single 1-hour lesson, we have decided to split the activity into 3 lessons.

LESSON 1 – 1 hour

PRE-TASK

The teacher demonstrates how to log in, navigate the space, and use the controls using a shared computer or screen. Then he/she explains key functionalities of the app, including how to create a private space and take screencaptures.

MAIN-TASK

Students take turns using the headset to familiarize themselves with the controls, while the teacher shares the headset’s screen with the rest of the class.The teacher enables the "offline setting" to ensure that no additional classroom setup is required within the app.Each student practices basic controls (e.g., movement, object interaction) in a virtual space. The teacher guides students on how to locate objects or areas within the virtual environment, using a mix of visual and verbal cues.

POST-TASK

The teacher consolidates learning by having students discuss what they learned about navigation and the app’s controls.The teacher introduces the next session, explaining that they will be completing a collaborative activity in the same virtual environment.

LESSON 2 – 1 hour

PRE-TASK

Before the main activity, all students enter 1 space with the teacher. The teacher will use a computer.

MAIN-TASK

When the students are in, the teacher will read and provide two written descriptions about two objects (Eg: 1— look for an object that makes sounds when played, 2— look for an instrument that has strings). A timer is set to guide students on when they need to return to the teacher’s location, either with an object or empty-handed. Students must bring the objects to the teacher and show him/her. Everyone gathers in the instrument area. When everyone’s there, the instructions for the next session(s) will be explained. The teacher will group the students, and he/she will explain that they will have to create their own band.

POST-TASK

After that, someone in each group will be responsible for creating a private space for their group and sharing the password. Children will get into their group’s space, explore the different instruments available, and start thinking about which instruments will be in their band. Students take screencaptures of their top three instrument choices, which will be used in later discussions.The teacher will give out handouts (scaffolding) for children to use if needed. They will need to describe all the instruments of their band. A template will be provided for children to fill in with the descriptions. They will be given the opportunity to create their band's name.

LESSON 3 – 1 hour

PRE-TASK

Before the main activity, this session will be held in two different classrooms. In the main classroom, the teacher will log in to the app with a computer and share the screen with the projector so all the students in the classroom can see the avatar of the teacher in the shared space. There will be a second classroom with several computers (as many as students in a group).

MAIN-TASK

The aim of this session is that children, in groups, explain and describe the band they created in the previous session. So, this session will start off with one group in the second class explaining and describing their band (they can use the template done in the previous session). Once they have finished, they will switch with another group.

POST-TASK

The teacher collects the templates and screencaptures to create posters showcasing each band’s name, instruments, and descriptions. Then, these posters will be displayed in the school hallway so other students, teachers, and families can see them.

Alternatives

The teacher can create as a scaffolding a poster where instructions about how to create a private space in Immerse would be written.

The presentations about the created band can be extended by incorporating machinima:

Students could create a "mockumentary" about their bands, featuring interviews with each member describing their instruments and simulating band performances.
Students can create a song with an AI (suno.ai) in order to present it after their band presentation. The idea is to add this song as the background of the video filmed.