Teaching EFL Listening via FUN WITH ENGLISH Books/7B/Lesson 6

Lesson Plan

0) Before Class Starts

Ask everyone to get into their seats.
Walk around the room small talking with different students.
Get the computer turned on if it works.

1) Greeting: Yo! What's up?

Practice the "What's up?" routine.
- If they don't remember, review.

2) Opening Discussion: Tomb Sweeping Day

Why did you have a holiday yesterday?
What did you do yesterday?

3) Textbook: Page 18 Let's get ready

4) Textbook: Page 20 Let's listen 2

5) Hand Back their Tests

Extra Time: Number of Letters? Game (Mr. Brown)

Make two teams.
Tell them to make a word that begins with one letter, e.g. D, and has 6 letters.
Go back and forth between the teams making the words.

Lesson Review

6 Apr 2010 G7 C3 Review

Only a few of them remembered "Yo. What's up?" so I reveiewed it again. As soon as I put it on the blackboard, most of them remembered it all.
Got more of a discussiong going about Tomb Sweepind Day than I expected. Started by having them explain it to me and then talking about whether or not they, themselves like the day.
Textbook page 18 was fine, especially Part B - I'd call on individual students and ask them what was their "number 1" or "number 8" and so on, then follow up questions.
Handing the tests back went really quick, I was quite shocked. Wrote the correct answers on the board, and that was enough for all of them.
- Told them if they had any questions they could ask me after class - I was surprised that no one came to ask.
Asked what game they wanted to play for the last 8 minutes, and one of them requested the "spell on the board" game, so that's what we did.

What Could I have Done Better?

Had a powerpoint ready to explain the test answers, instead of wasting time writing them on the board.

What Did I Do Well?

Got every student in the class involved at one point or another.
Created an environment that allowed a lot of students to stand up and volunteer unafraid of making mistakes.

What Did I Learn?

That handing the test back can go quite quickly.

What Did The Students Get Out of The Lesson?

Oral/Aural English practice.

Next Week?

Still haven't given this class the Hawaiian candy.
Do something or other on American/Western culture for them.
One student asked for my QQ number.

7 Apr 2010 G7 C11 Review

Kids did not want to talk about Tomb Sweeping day.
They did; however, have lots of questions for me.
I forgot to bring their tests, which was unfortunate.
Adjusted, instead played Mr. Brown's new game which got the students excited.

What Could I have Done Better?

Brought their tests, a very preventable mistake.

What Did I Do Well?

Admitting and accepting I made a mistake, then moved on.

What Did I Learn?

When I make mistakes, acknowledging them can work.

What Did The Students Get Out of The Lesson?

Oral/Aural practice.

Next Week?

Hand back their tests.
Prepare something fun/interesting for them.

7 Apr 2010 G7 C10 Review

Kids were really engaged and eager from the beginning. Had the best discussion about the holiday I've had so far, by a sizable margin.
Asking a lot of questions following the textbook activity about what they've done is an easy way for kids to key in.
Going over the test before I hand them back helps comprehension.
These kids are just about as close as you could get to going over the edge in terms of energy. A little much, but most of them are actively involved.

What Could I have Done Better?

Present the test results in an easier to understand way.

What Did I Do Well?

Following them where they led, we really spent the majority of the period talking and I believe every student spoke.

What Did I Learn?

I can work really well with this class.

What Did The Students Get Out of The Lesson?

Lots of English oral/aural practice, all of them spoke.

Next Week?

Try something adventorous with them. Their English and enthusiasm are high enough, and they seem to trust me.
One of the tests I had belonged to a student who was in Mr. Brown's class, not mine.

8 Apr 2010 Grade 7 Class 8

Next Week?

I have one extra test, make sure I get it to that student.

9 Apr 2010 Grade 7 Class 7

A friend who teachers at the local college came to observe my class.
At the start had all the students say hello, and asked if it'd be OK for him to watch. They said yes.
After I got through the opening conversation, I invited him to the front to answer any questions they had. They were shy at first, but once a couple of students started speaking, they all got excited and talked for a long time.
Didn't do any textbook activities, but I felt their one time chance to speak with him was better.
- Of course, they asked for his QQ number, so it probably will not be the only time they speak with him!

9 Apr 2010 Grade 7 Class 9

Discussed Qing Ming festival for some time.
They are a lot of fun.
Group of boys sitting on the right [left?] can be a distraction. Instead of seperating them, I'd like to find a way to grab their attention.
Called on one girl whom I'd never noticed before in the front row. She was very slow to respond, but I was patient. I gave her some things to say, but she refused them still thinking. Eventually she came up with her own response to my question.

9 Apr 2010 Grade 7 Class 9

Was really bored of Version 0.11, so I experimented.
When I said "Yo!" to start class, I got a very enthusiastic response.
Spent the first 35 minutes of a lesson discussing their recent school trip, and then planning a new one. Activity got them excited and a lot of them speaking/thinking in English.
- Sort of along the lines of Problem Based Learning.
Didn't do any textbook.