Juniors II: Lesson plan for the first day of school!

Group: Juniors II (learners who are starting their second year of English)

Ages: 11-14

Date: March, 2018

Lesson: 1 Unit 1

Duration: 75 minutes

Topic: Introductions; revision of pronouns and the verb to be; favourites; hobbies and activities in general;

Context: The classroom; outdoor activities

Linguistic content

New Vocabulary: some activities may be new to them

Recycled Vocabulary: pronouns; verb to be; age and numbers; hobbies and activities; what’s your favourite…?

Purpose:

1: To know the students names, their interests and knowledge of English

2: To create a comfortable atmosphere where students can bond with each other

3: To revise the use of pronouns and their corresponding ‘to verbs’

4: To revise the vocabulary used for personal information such as age and favourite activities

Objectives

By the end of the lesson the students should be able to:

1: Identify the names of their peers and their teacher

2: Identify the different English pronouns and their corresponding verb ‘to be’ form

3: Recall the vocabulary used to talk about personal information, such as age and hobbies

4: Ask their classmates their age

5: Mention what activities the characters on the dialogue perform, whether they are done indoors or outdoors

6: State their own favourite activities

7: Match the pictures that represent the activities to their names

Materials:

1: Flashcards with images of different activities

2: Flashcards with only the names of those activities

3: Soft ball

4: Dialogue to use as exponent

Procedures:

Step 1 (5 minutes) – Warm-up

To begin the lesson, the teacher invites the students to play the Names in Motion game where the whole group stands in a circle and says their own name while accompanying it by a specific movement, a soft ball could be used to give each student the opportunity to speak. The movement needs to be a reference to their favourite activity since the entire lesson will revolve around hobbies. The teacher should start the game to set the example. The students, however, are asked not only to say their own name and perform their action, but also to repeat the names and actions of the previous players. The teacher could also close the circle by finishing the game herself.

The teacher would certainly use the target structure to set the example (“I am X and my favourite hobby is… He/She is X and her favourite hobby is…”), although she would not expect the students to utter the entire sentences as well.

Step 2 (5 minutes)

While the group is still standing, the teacher proposes another game called Gimme Five. One of the students is placed at the centre of the circle, and the whole class raises their hands with their palms facing that person. Whenever the teacher mentions one the students’ favourite activities or the name of one of the children, the person who is at the centre has to say to whom the activity corresponds or what activity goes along with the uttered name, and clap that person’s hands. If they succeed, the student whose hand was slapped goes to the centre and the other one joins the circle. To make it much more exciting, the group of students forming the circle could be in motion, turning left and then right.

Step 3 (10 minutes) – Presentation and Modeling

Once the first two tasks are complete, the teacher might tell the students that on that day they will all be talking about their favourite things, to set the example she could refer to her favourite activities, colours, meals, and the like, while writing them on the board (flashcards could be used as reference to facilitate the understanding). She could then present a short dialogue that could be used as exponent where some children meet and discuss their favourite free-time activities. The students would be asked to identify the characters by name, and state what their interests are.

Step 4 (10 minutes) – Controlled Practice

The teacher could ask the students to ask their classmates how old they are and get together with those who have the same age. Then she could present the Memotest game as a sort of competition between the groups. Flashcards containing the names of some activities, and others with the images that match those names could be stuck to the board. Each time a group finds the appropriate match, they will be given a point. While playing, the teacher could also ask the students to identify who is performing those activities and they could also add if they would enjoy it too or whether they believe it is an activity for younger or older people.

Step 5 (10 minutes)

The group who wins the Memotest game could find a representative to play the Pictionary game. From a set of flashcards about activities, the student chooses one to draw on the board, if his/her group guesses which activity was drawn, they earn a point. Each group should be given the chance to draw at least once.

Step 6 (15 minutes) – Independent Practice

If the group does not have more than 10 students, they could all get together and think of a short dialogue that may revolve around the three drawings. The characters in the story would say their names, state their ages, their favourite activities and whether those activities are done indoors or outdoors. The teacher might find it important to assist them with the writing.

Step 7 (5-10 minutes) – Assessment

As a final exercise for the day, the teacher might encourage the students to bring their story to life whether that is by acting it out in front of the class or by reading it aloud. If the audio were the chosen method, the teacher may find it appropriate to record it for them.