As mentioned in a previous article, I have created a syllabus for an advanced teen student based on literature. The article explains what I included for this student and a few reasons why I included them. The link to this article is below:
Using literature to create lessons from is an amazing tool that teachers can use for any age group. Books contain ideas, concepts, vocabulary, grammar, etc. By the time this article is posted, I will have completed my first lesson from the syllabus with the student and I will be sure to write an article on an update about what worked and what did not work for this student.
Today, I want to share what I included in this lesson and how I decided to structure it. The lesson is once a week and only an hour long, which is not ideal for learning a language, but it is all the time that this student has. Optimally, you would want your lessons to be daily because learning a language is not as simple as an hour of cramming a week.
Let’s jump right into the lesson design and development. 😊
Warm – Up
I always start with asking the student how their day was and what they were up to. I know it may seem redundant after a few lessons, but I genuinely want to know how the student’s day or even week was. You can ask simple fun questions to get an idea of their mood that day. Their mood will affect their motivation to learn and focus on the lesson, hence why it is important to ask so you can respond or support accordingly.
For example, when my student says they had an awful day, or they are super tired, I might include more interactive fun activities and be a less hypercritical of their work. Instead, I would reinforce with positive feedback and motivate them through my own enthusiasm and happiness.
In this lesson, I included a fun warm-up activity to lighten to mood and create a more positive fun atmosphere. We will build a story together. Each person taking turns to give a sentence of the story. This is fun because you have some control over the story as well. Use the most ridiculous picture you can find, like a funny looking hippo, and have them start the story. 😊 This is great for adults too because adults often get stuck in this realm of seriousness where they think language learning is all grammar books and writing, but no!! Be fun. Be silly. And enjoy the first part of the lesson.
Vocabulary
Before this lesson, I instructed my student not to read the first two chapters because I wanted to use these chapters for other activities in my lesson and I wanted to introduce the vocabulary to the student myself. I included 5 vocabulary words each from chapter 1 and chapter 2. (I found out this was way too many words during the first lesson. Haha)
I broke down learning vocabulary in several ways.
First, I defined the vocabulary words according to the Merriam Webster online dictionary (https://www.merriam-webster.com/). I told my student to also use this dictionary, so we have consistency in our resources.
Next, I found synonyms for this word that the student may already have in his vocabulary. This way we could relate the definition to other words. It is important to know that synonyms are not definitions of a word, but only similar in meaning. It is important for the student to know that you can’t really just replace words with their synonyms because they are not meaning exactly the same thing and might misconstrue what someone is trying to express.
After this, I gave a few examples of the word in a sentence. I either made the sentences or I generated them on a sentence generator. There are so many online tools that can be used to create these lessons, it is crazy! 😊
Finally, I wanted them to apply the word in their own way by creating a sentence. This way I can see if they understand the meaning and how to use it. If they do not, I come up with a sentence myself and then work on it with them until they have a better understanding of how to use it.
Reading
I want to explain why I use reading during the lessons, and what benefits come from this. First, I choose a page or two from the book that I would like my student to read. I chose pg. 16 from “The Giver”, by Lois Lowry, in this case. While the student reads, I am checking for fluency, pronunciation, intonation, and anything else that I think would be important to practice while reading.
]
After this, I will have my student answer questions about the paragraph or page they just read. It is important to see if the student can absorb information through reading. Then if they are able to do this and read fluently, they may have mastered reading and comprehension for this type of reading material. Since there are all sorts of reading materials (i.e. text books, novels, religion, documents, etc.), you can move on to something that might challenge them a little more. Take a look at the questions I had my student answer in response to these pages. I had the student answer verbally because writing will come later.
Writing
It can be very difficult to write under time pressure, yet most exams that people take are under this sort of pressure. This is why having them write five to twenty sentences during the lesson in response to a question is really important. I made my questions theme-based, but you can include any questions that you think would be interesting or funny.
Once the student has finished the timed writing project, we go over their writing. I usually have them send me their work in the chat box or via email. As we read it, I have them check for the following things: grammar, word phrasing, vocabulary, spelling. Then we discuss the changes.
Listening
Like reading, being able to understand a language while listening is an important skill to have. A typical activity for listening comprehension is reading a section or two from a book or newspaper, and then creating questions based off what you read to them. In this activity, I used the book we are reading and then asked questions about the pages I read.
I decided to take sections from the book we are reading because as the student reads the chapters at home for homework, I can introduce the ideas of these chapters to my student before they read on their own. This way, they have an idea and are not clueless about what they are reading.
Speaking
I posted another blog article that included a PDF of how I would go about practicing speaking. The student is speaking all class to me, so this is more about creating and giving a speech. Teaching someone how to present their thoughts and ideas in an organized fashion. I am linking the article below because this will show you a bit more in depth the expectations I have for my student.
Here are some snips from the slides that I used to teach my students.
As you can see, I have included some thought provoking questions and we discussed how to go about researching and answering these questions for homework.
Homework
Bumm, bumm, BUMMMM!
Finally, I include homework at the end of my lesson. We are unable to meet more than one time a week and I want my student to continue working on their own, so what better way to have them work on their English than with homework? I include homework for every area that I mentioned above. I also expect my student to turn in the written assignments at 11:59 PM the night before we have a lesson. Then I have time to look at it the next morning before the lesson.
I am not strict and I told my student that if they had difficulty getting the homework finished that they should just let me know. I want these courses to be challenging the student, but also teach them responsibility. Especially for teens who are just starting to get out into the world a little more. They are beginning to look at colleges, jobs, internships, etc. These skills will come in handy, not just the English lessons itself, but the responsibility and expectations.
I make it clear to my students and parents what my expectations are for the students and I hold true to this, but I do not want to be unrealistic either. If I do not think my student could complete the lessons that I design in the time frame we have set, then I would be more than happy to switch this. This is important to keep in mind while deciding to give homework and creating lessons. Take the students workload into consideration and realize they have a life outside of the classroom. 😊
That is all for now! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. Let me know what you think and please subscribe for more lesson plan development posts. Bye! 😊