New lesson plan: Informal talk about achievements

Alfredo Sarabia

Informal talk about achievements - Upper-Intermediate (B2) level

Informal talk about achievements
Upper-Intermediate (B2) level

Description

In this lesson students will practice their speaking fluency by talking to each other in the context of giving an informal talk about achievements. This will be done using the productive skills framework by first contextualize what achievements are and activating their schemata by asking them things they consider achievements. Then students will be provided with a model of how they are supposed to do in the speaking task by listening to an audio of an informal talk by doing two activities: a listening for gist activity, and a listening for specific information activity (will get them familiar with informal talks). Then students will be prepared to use useful language to carry out the speaking task through guided discovery of the Target Language. Then students will partake in a speaking task which will help them practice their speaking fluency in the context of an informal task using the targe language to fulfill the task. Finally the teacher will provide students feedback on how they did speaking-wise and language-wise.

Materials

Informal Talk about Achievements G-Slides

Informal Talk about Achievements G-Slides

Main Aims

To provide fluency speaking practice in an informal talk in the context of achievements

Subsidiary Aims

To provide practice of sentences to buy time and to make emphasis in the context of informal talks

Procedure (41-51 minutes)

Warmer/Lead-in (3-5 minutes) • To activate students' schemata on the context and engage students to the lesson

T greets Ss. T project Slides and shows images of achievements (e.g. graduating, winning a trophy, getting married). T asks Ss if they are good things or bad things (good things), then ask Ss if those are things to be proud of or to be ashamed of (to be proud of). Then tell Ss to type in the chat one thing they are proud of and say one example. Finally ask would you call ______ an achievement? mentioning a student's participation.

Content Preparation (6-8 minutes) • To provide a model of production expected in coming tasks through listening

GIST T tells Ss that they will listen to someone talking about an achievement. Before listening T shows Ss 3 possible titles for the audio and tells Ss to choose which one they think will fit the audio the best and type "1", "2", or "3" in the chat. Now while listening T instructs Ss that they will now listen, and while listening choose the best title for the lesson in the G-Slides. Answer: 3 SPECIFIC INFO. T tells Ss to listen to the audio again and fill in the blanks of the script in the G-Slides. T checks answers. Answers: 1. Ok, so I guess, 2. kind of, 3. a bit, 4.about, 5. really, 6. I suppose, 7. utterly, 8. incredible.

Useful Language (6-8 minutes) • To highlight and clarify useful language for coming productive tasks

T tells Ss to match the phrases (TL) to their purpose: To be less direct/To buy time, or To make emphasis/To add emotion. T models the first one showing Ss how to drag the phrases into the chart with the two columns. T checks answers Answers: To be less direct/To buy time: Ok, so I guess, kind of, a bit, I suppose. To make emphasis/To add emotion: Really, Utterly, Incredible.

Productive Task(s) (18-20 minutes) • To provide an opportunity to practice target productive skills

T instruct students that they will receive a prompt each round and they will have to talk 2 minutes about an achievement to a partner using the phrases they just learned. T presents a slide with vocabulary they can use and sends it through the zoom chat as well. T gives prompts: Prompt #1: Personal Achievement: talk about a small success that meant a lot to you OR about something others might think its silly but you're proud of. Prompt #2: Hardworking: talk about something you had to work hard to achieve OR about a fear you faced. Prompt #3: ???: Talk about your most bizarre/unusual achievement OR about something you "achieved" but are ashamed to admit (give one example to encourage students). Ss go into BOR every round and T monitors. Once a round finishes Ss come back and receive their next prompt.

Feedback and Error Correction (8-10 minutes) • To provide feedback on students' production and use of language

T gives OCFB & DEC: T writes in G-Slides different sentences heard while monitoring (some with errors, some without it). T asks "What is the mistake?" "How can we fix ____?", T clarifies T gives general comments on students' performance throughout the lesson.