Time duration: 1 school period of 45 minutes, Class: grade 12
Learning objectives:
[a] To be able to briefly understand what a phrasal verbs are. [b] To be able to identify phrasal verbs. [2]
[a] Written activation: written exercise [b] Verbal activation: Question & answer session on [a]
Formative Assessment [4]
The range of learning & teaching resources being varied in form and diverse in scope, it is crucial to select resources that would suit [go with] [a] the nature of the subject, [b] demands of the lesson plan & [c] needs of the learners.
While focusing upon the needs of the learners, it would be a good idea to speak to the learners to discover [figure out] their needs.
This 45 minutes lesson on introduction to phrasal verbs is planned [laid out] upon the teaching methodology of ESA: Engage [fit together], Study[delve into], and Activate [turn on] with the default approach: the Straight Arrow.
Session 1: Engage - resources
In order to engage the students right away, two sets of sticky notes are given: one set having prepositions and other set having definitions of phrasal verbs.
Session 2 : Study resources
In order for the students to learn that there could be two meanings for some of the phrasal verbs, i.e. idiomatic meaning & literal meaning, first, a set of cartoons are distributed & secondly another set of cards each having a fill in the blank sentence is distributed.
Session 3: Activate - resources
For the activation, no resources are used with the exception of copies of a small paragraph of a text. [P3. 1]
Even in grade 12, there could be a student with learning difficulties & disabilities centering around spelling, grammatical errors, tense and punctuation.
In an effort to meet the inclusive needs of such students, text only part of the lesson is left to the last session. [Idea is to engage the students with learning difficulties and disabilities in reading & speaking during the 1st -ENGAGE & 2nd sessions – STUDY.]
Generally for the purposes of effective teaching [“Children are wired for sound, but print is an optional necessary that must be painstakingly bolted in”- Steven Arthur Pinker] and specially for the sake of students with learning difficulties, text only part is withheld till the third session: ACTIVATE, until they get used to the words and sentences.
Activity based : 15 minutes
(a) On the board is the word “Look”
(b) Students are given sticky notes: each piece contains a preposition
(d) Each student stick his sticky note close to the world “LOOK” on the white board
(e) Each student is given another set of sticky notes, each one containing what seems to be a definition
of a word.
(f) Each student is asked to stick his paper having a definition next to the appropriate preposition that pairs with the root word to make a phrasal verb.
Session 2 : Study- resources
Once they locate [track down] it, each pair of students collect it from the other pair that held it. And their card is given to the pair who thought [figured out] it is their corresponding card.
An example: one of the set of cartoons & its corresponding card.
In view of the students with learning difficulties & disabilities, text only part is confined to the last session. Since by now, they have read the phrasal verbs and got used to those and still having access to all the cards, the inclusive needs are well taken care of.
[a] Verbal activation: students are paired: question & answer session with the phrasal verb “look”
[b] Written activation: written exercise on [a] [P3. 2]
Modern digital technology provides [brings in] numerous tools that teachers could make use of in and out of the classroom to enhance student learning. Technology can support [buoy up] student collaboration on creating new knowledge, reflecting on what they are learning, or working together to achieve a deeper understanding of course material.
On this lesson of phrasal verbs, perhaps electronic word processor with built in spell check, grammar correction, word prediction & abbreviation expansion would be given to a student with inclusive needs. [P3.3]
Assessment method in this lesson: formative: process oriented & diagnostic
[b] In the session 3 [ACTIVATE] knowledge following the lesson is assessed.
[c] Oral activation: question & answer session with the phrasal verb “look”
[d] Written activation: fill in the blanks written exercise on [a].
[e] Comprehension activation: read a paragraph and identify [underline] the phrasal verbs therein.
Individual assessment: assessment by each student: [d] & [e] as above
This lesson being only the introduction to the complicated subject of phrasal verb, only formative assessment is made. At the end of the allocated number of classroom periods, a summative assessment will be made. [P4.1]
Objectives of this lesson are
[1] students ought to be able to briefly understand what a phrasal verb is.
[2] to be able to identify, as Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester Institute of Technology., 2013), narrated [put it] native English phrasal verbs from their French, Latin, or Classical Greek counterparts. Assessment on existing knowledge of these grade 12 students is done in the first session-ENGAGE
Then again assessment is done in the last (third) session: ACTIVATION
Therein oral and written skills based upon the lesson are assessed.
Furthermore, a paragraph of a story is given to the students to identify & underline the phrasal verbs. Therein identification of phrasal verbs is confined to written form.
The weakness in this assessment is identification of phrasal verbs, while listening, hasn’t been tested.
As such another passage studded with phrasal words from the same story or some other story needs to be played upon a PC. [P4.2]
Teacher needs to maintain [keep up] tabulated records of each student on daily basis since
[a] the progress of the students can be monitored.
[b] next lesson can be developed [built upon] based on the extent of the knowledge gained by the
students in the previous classes.
[c] weak areas (following diagnostic tests) of the students as the whole class or as groups can be
addressed.
[d] weak areas (following diagnostic tests) of individual students can be addressed.
[e] for the record of achievement of students
[f ] opportunities to provide learner with feedback
[g] for the review [look through] of study course at the end of the year
[h] for the study course development at school/institute [P 4.3]
Evaluation for improvements
Evaluation: summative; product oriented & judgmental
Even if the significant progress is made with the original lesson plan of E.S.A, a shuffled up lesson plan could give way to still more improved performances of the students. [P4.4] END
Works Cited
IN GENERAL:
While focusing upon the needs of the learners, it would be a good idea to speak to the learners and get to know some vital facts beforehand.
[a] the number of learners
[b] level of the learners on the subject
[b] of their needs: subjectwise needs, for eg. ESOL needs; cultural needs; physical, visual, auditory needs
[c] perhaps even to have some ideas on their predominant learning styles: visual, auditory & kinesthetic
[d] if any learners with audio or visual support needs
so that resources could be selected in such a way that no student would feel himself missing out on the lesson.
Resources varying in form and diverse in scope
[a] Tangible: white board, study course books, as handouts, cards, equipment such games, art materials, tutorials etc.
[b] Technology: Computers, projectors
[c] Multi-media: audio-visual resources
IN GENERAL
Lucy Melbourne (Melbourne, 2012) writing on a blog suggests some easy solutions to some issues that could most often be missed out by the teacher.
Quote
[a] For learners with visual support: larger font, different coloured papers
[b] For learners having hearing difficulties: hand outs and power point presentations.
Unquote
For the learners with additional educational needs (AEN) in a classroom, it is a common practice to call in a teaching assistant in the school.
For the learners suffering from dyslexia, David Imrie (a biology teacher and special educational needs co-ordinator at Aschcraig School in Glasgow) (Imrie, 2013) shares his techniques and insights. Bold underlining is mine.
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When planning your lesson, take into consideration the following points to help students with dyslexia in their tasks:
• Layout
Teachers should ensure that documents given to students with dyslexia only contain instructions needed for the exercise without any unnecessary detail as these could be distracting. All materials for students with dyslexia should have a clear layout, short sentences and an uncomplicated structure.
• Illustrations
Images that exemplify sentences or unfamiliar words are really useful. By spacing out the instructions and adding a diagram, students can follow it without having to understand every word – this is called 'reading for meaning'.
• Fonts and background colours
Software that is regularly used in schools, such as Microsoft Word, is a good resource for fonts and background colours. Changing the background colour to green, for example, can help with reading as can wearing green glasses. Fonts can also enable reading and understanding; teachers can download free specialist fonts, such as OpenDyslexic, which are free and can run on Microsoft software. This font adds gravity and weight to the document and is thicker at the bottom as shown in the image below. Students who find characters invert or swim should try using this font.
Again, one size does not fit all and you should test it with your students to see what works best for them. I personally use the Verdana but there are schools in Glasgow that use the ClearType font and Arial is a good all-rounder.
Unquote
IN GENERAL
Most possibly, one of the most effective hi-tec equipments is Interactive white board in which the students and the teacher can collaborate [close ranks] in learning and teaching.
And of course, as technology based resources, we have computers with software packages and internet & intranet, VLE, CR-ROMS, audio and visual aids etc.
Then again depending upon the subject matter, numerous on-line tools can be made use of.
Carnagie Mellon institute (Carnagie Mellon, 2013) writes:
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Information Visualization Tools: the term “information visualization tools” refers to a broad range of digital tools and resources that allow users to view, analyze, manipulate, and/or communicate complex information, such as historical, spatial, and statistical data.
Information visualization tools range from freely available tools that produce [turn out] simple visual representations of small data sets to proprietary tools that can manipulate complex data.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS): allows users to capture, manage, analyze, and display geographically referenced information.
Gapminder.com: represents statistical data in graphically dynamic ways.
JMOL: allows users to view the chemical structure of molecules in 3-D
Google Earth: allows users to view geographical space from different angles and distances through the use of superimposed satellite imagery. It also allows users to import publicly available datasets and map them geographically.
Unquote
IN GENERAL
If literature is my specialist area (if I may say so, and should you relent [give in] & accept [put up with], eh!), I would say that I am bound to have complications in the assessments, since the same lesson or rather work can be interpreted in numerous ways. Remember Achebe calling Conrad a racist and the eternal dark classic “Heart of Darkness” is "a book which parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults from which a section of mankind has suffered untold agonies and atrocities in the past and continues to do so in many ways and many places today”? Achebe would have won the Noble Prize for literature (much lesser writers of African origin have won), hadn’t it been for the irredeemable sin of calling the supreme humanist Conrad a racist.
IN GENERAL
The main purpose of evaluation is to gather [draw together] information for the improvement of teaching & learning.
Assessment on the students performances guide the teacher to make adjustments to lesson planning
Depending upon the current standard discerned following the evaluation, the teacher may set standards for improvement.
Once the standards are set, the students as well as the teacher is motivated to reach the goal.