Context

I had been contracted to teach professional adults to speak English using relevant vocabulary and Touchstone textbook (McCarthy et al., 2014). They are a husband and wife. They have two children 11(F) and 3(M). The husband and wife are under 30 years old and have been married for 12 years. They are hands-on learners by common sense and memorization. They really do not enjoy using textbooks. We use the Touchstone book as a guide for the next step of language learning and so they can show their friends that they have something physical to their activities. To keep them actively interested in the lesson, I employ TPR and farm field trips around their house. 

 

This lesson will be held in their living room while we all sit on the floor as is culturally appropriate in Erbil, Iraq. Electricity outside of the city is not as stable as in the city. It is not uncommon to have periods of time without electricity. (In the city, the government has managed to keep power outages to under 5 minutes. I’m very proud of them. It used to be much longer.) This also means that there may be an interruption to internet as well. A work around would be to have tools that rely on batteries or previously downloaded. Home internet work requiring reading and writing is not possible as internet service at the farm is very weak and they don’t learn by reading and writing. 

 

Still, these people speak English, what little language they have so far, well. They have clear accents. They diligently and deliberately practice often. I’m very proud of their progress. Our lessons are specific to the vocabulary around them for the farm, family and friends. As they become proficient with this we will expand into other areas of conversation. 

 

The lesson below is their first lesson on using simple present verbs ever. They love to talk so I expect they will be speaking in SVO structure before the lesson ends.

 

Lesson Plan Title:

Screen Casting Simple Present with Relevant Vocabulary

 

Time Frame:

60-70 minutes

 

Lesson Outcomes:

The student can realistically expect to create positive S-V-O sentences using simple present. 

 

Rationale for Learning Outcomes: 

• Using relevant vocabulary to present the use of simple present in positive form. 

• Reinforcing new relevant vocabulary words

• Introducing the verb “to do”. 

• Beginning to build the S-V-O sentence structure habit. 

 

Assumptions: 

• The students need to develop words related to agribusiness, agriculture, farming, mechanics and gardening. The lessons are held on sight at a Turf Grass farm. Unfortunately, technology is limited to anything battery powered and without internet because the farm is outside of the city neither is assured. 

• Students should be familiar with previous lessons with farm object vocabulary, articles, subject pronouns and simple prepositions. 

 

Materials Needed/Preparation Steps:

• iPad 

• Apple Pencil

• Smart phone with Viber and or What’s App

• iPad camera

• Record it! App on the iPad 

• Notability App on the iPad

• A Canva infographic for new vocabulary or walk around the farm for relevant vocabulary words

 

Hook/Warm-up:

(20 minutes) walking around the farm gathering relevant vocabulary words (and their photos) for the students. As we tour the farm, the students point out the riding mower, the push mower, a pick-up truck, the generator, the water system, the field, the grass, the lights, a bag of NPK, water, seeds, and sprinklers along with drive, turn on, turn off, pull, push, spread, sit down, stand up, and cut. 

 

Main Activities:

(5 minutes) Using the iPad and Apple Pencil with Notability App open to the class notebook, start to explain the verb “to do” in the classic format calling out the following: 

I do               We do

You do          You do

He does

She does       They do

It does

 

Then explain that “do” corresponds with their “Krdn” verb. 

 

(15 minutes) Next ask them to “stand up” and then “sit down”. They practice by repeating the words and doing the actions. Then, picking up the iPad, notability app, the apple pencil and turning on Record it! Map out the following two verbs and use Record it to create a screencast for the students to use later. Make sure to speak clearly and slowly so they can follow along with on the video. 

I stand up                  We stand up

You stand up             You stand up

He stands up

She stands up            They stand up

It stands up

 

 

I sit down                   We sit down

You sit down              You sit down

He sits down

She sits down             They sit down

It sits down 

 

(10 minutes) After the screencast is finished, return to the photos of the farm vocabulary the students gathered earlier. Repeat the new words a few times using them like flashcards. Review the words again and make another screencast of the new photos. the riding mower, the push mower, a pick-up truck, the generator, the water system, the field, the grass, the lights, a bag of NPK, water, seeds, and sprinklers.

 

(10 minutes) Choose some verbs to go with the new vocabulary words: drive, turn on, turn off, pull, push, spread, sit down, stand up, and cut. If there are any TPR activities to explain their meaning then feel free to do them with your students. Repeat a few times with the motions and vocabulary object words.

 

Wrap-up/Review:

(10 minutes) Encourage the students to use the new words into sentences. I drive the riding mower. He sits down in the field. She cuts cucumbers. We spread NPK. They cut the grass. You turn on the generator. She stands up in the garden.

 

Share the screencasts with the students over Viber or What’s App for home practice. Organize the lesson into an infographic the students can use as secondary S-V-O practice and share over Viber/What’s App. 

 

Assessment Plan:

Informal Assessment watching and listening for use of new vocabulary words (objects and verbs) into S-V-O sentences. 

 

Principles and Theory:

This lesson was written to incorporate more technology into my lessons. This is tricky because we have regular power outages or change overs and varying internet coverage. I chose screen casting out of the Notability app and Photos app on an iPad with an apple pencil. The secondary medium I chose was Canva to make an infographic personalized to our lesson.

 

Using the Notability app, I created a notebook for our lessons that acts as a record and whiteboard of our activities. The Record it! Screen casting app allows us to record our lesson in real time and share it for continual practice later in the day or entertainment with the family. It is shared with the students using Viber/What’s App. 

 

The Infographic made on Canva is a delightful cheat sheet to reinforce the S-V-O sentence structure. It is shared with the students using Viber/What’s app. Appendix A.

 

McCarthy, M., MCCarten, J., Sandiford, H. (2014). Touchstone (Second). Cambridge.