Erhan Gülşen Erhan Gülşen

Skill-based Syllabus Design (Writing Skill)
Grade 5 (Secondary School), CEFR A2 (differentiated instruction setting) level

Description

In this lesson, the Ss learn to write about facts and give specific information in their paragraphs. In the warm-up session, they do a small research on their iPads and write some specific information about three countries.Then, in the exposure session, they read a writing model and answer the comprehension questions related to and fill in an outline. In the useful language session, they work on some language forms like "such as" and relative pronoun "which". In the production session, they first brainstorm about the country they would like to talk about and make an outline. Next, they start writing the final draft of their work. Finally, they check their partners' writing and give feedback. Students are 10-11 year-old 5th graders who are getting prepared for KEY exam on May 14 this year. So, they need to develop their writing skills, especially those concerning writing about facts and giving specific information. At the end of the lesson, Ss will be able to

Materials

Main Aims

  • To provide process writing practice of a essay in the context of describing a country

Subsidiary Aims

  • To provide clarification, review and practice of the sentence builders, "such as and including", superlative adjectives and the relative pronouns "which and who" in the context of describing a country

Procedure

Warmer/Lead-in (3-5 minutes) • To set lesson context and engage students

- After the greetings, before the lesson starts, the T. reorganises the Ss pairs so that there will be one above-level and one below-level student at each desk as this will help the below-level students to practice through peer learning and the strong-level students to give feedback during the upcoming exercises concentrated on language forms. - Then, the T. hands out Activity 1 to each student pair and ask them to open their iPads and find information about the countries on the internet by concentrating on and using the lexical items, "be located in", "be famous for" and "be from". The Ss work for 3-5 minutes here. - Next, the T. receives answers from different student pairs about the countries, the U.S.A., South Korea and France.

Exposure (8-10 minutes) • To provide a model of production expected in coming tasks through reading/listening

- The T. opens the text in activity 2 on the smart board and hands out the activities to the student pairs. S/he asks them to first read the text answer the related questions and then fill in the outline on the next page by using the information on the text. S/he may have to explain the instructions clearly on the smart board and asks ICQs (instruction check questions) before handing out the papers. The students have 8-10 minutes here. - They work on this short reading text together with their peers so that they can get an idea about what type of text they are supposed to produce in this lesson. They answer the questions and then make out an outline to see the structure of the text because they will have to prepare a similar outline in the upcoming tasks themselves. - After the Ss have finished the activities, the T. opens the answer key on the whiteboard and ask them to check their answers.

Useful Language (8-10 minutes) • To highlight and clarify useful language for coming productive tasks

- The T. opens activity 3 on the smart board and shows the sample sentences to the Ss. S/he can also give brief explanations through concept check questions such as "Do I use "which" before places or people?" "Do I use one of before or after the superlative adjectives?" (This doesn't take more than 3 minutes. - After the T. makes the necessary explanations, s/he hands out the materials to each pair and ask them to work in pairs and do the related exercises in 5-8 minutes. The Ss work with their partners to work on the language models they can use in the productive task session. The T. monitors the Ss pairs while they are doing the exercises and gives feedback if necessary.

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

- The T. explains to the Ss that they will work on their own now and hands out activity 4 to each student. - S/he asks them to choose a country and brainstorm about it by filling the table in exercise A and then to make an outline about their countries. S/he tells them that they have 10 minutes to complete the exercises A and B. And, s/he monitors them while they are working on their outlines and gives feedback or help if necessary. - After each student has completed outlining, the T. hands out clean sheets of A4s or half A4s. S/he assigns them 10 minutes and tells that they will write a paragraph with 80 words in 10 minutes, describing the country they have chosen. S/he must add that they have to make use of their outlines. The Ss benefit from the model in the exposure session here. The T. leaves it open on the smart board during the entire sessions.

Feedback and Error Correction (2-3 minutes) • To provide feedback on students' production and use of language

- The T. asks the Ss to swap their papers with their peers and write a comment on their friends' work until the next lesson. S/he asks them to correct the mistakes if there are any. (The T. may add that s/he will choose the best paper(s) and hang it on the school or classroom board.)

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