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| The survivors of Castaway reality TV show & one intensive task-based lesson for a Friday evening. |
A communicative focus. Aim: learners developed oral fluency and confidence through solving tasks or problems; subsidiary aim to develop listening sub-skills.
A 'pyramid' discussion in which students decide on items they believe would be necessary for survival on a desert island (the theme of the lesson). They must agree first in pairs, then threes, in groups, and finally as a whole class, in the hope of stimulating debate, negotiation, teamwork and problem-solving.
I showed a short video of my own voyage to a small island in the South Pacific, The Cook Islands, and animated map, to engage the class and personalise the topic.
In building a discussion of the topic and in encouraging early communication I played a short listening text. North American record-breaker & aviator Amelia Earhart was a castaway with co-pilot on the remote Pacific island of Nikumaroro. The listening text was used with a simple jigsaw task. Jigsaw task: learners listen repeatedly to the report, gap-filling, piecing together a short transcription of it in separate groups, then put findings together as a class to understand the whole 'picture' of Amelia's story.
Useful language during the lesson was
I handed this out during the pyramid discussion.
The lesson, task-based, follows a fluency first approach: a communication -> language focus -> practice -> communication.
narrative
I created A and B worksheets which contained different parts of the report (pictured below; the 'jigsaw'). There were two recordings of the news report, I cued those at different points.
We began on time – with only two late arrivals – and I showed the class the video of the Cook Islands. I told them by the end of the lesson they would get to travel to an island. I chested the worksheets and checked understanding.
I assigned groups, handed them the worksheets, and we moved into separate rooms. I staggered instructions asking them to sit on their hands during the listening and only complete the gap-fill after listening to it. I started the two-minute listening. Each group listened three or four times before their once skeletal report and gap-fill was now fleshed out.
This was only preparatory to the communicative focus of the lesson shape and designed to stimulate early communication. I took some work to get everyone back together and to segue from this into the language-focused stage.
I created A and B worksheets which contained different parts of the report (pictured below; the 'jigsaw'). There were two recordings of the news report, I cued those at different points.
We began on time – with only two late arrivals – and I showed the class the video of the Cook Islands. I told them by the end of the lesson they would get to travel to an island. I chested the worksheets and checked understanding.
I assigned groups, handed them the worksheets, and we moved into separate rooms. I staggered instructions asking them to sit on their hands during the listening and only complete the gap-fill after listening to it. I started the two-minute listening. Each group listened three or four times before their once skeletal report and gap-fill was now fleshed out.
This was only preparatory to the communicative focus of the lesson shape and designed to stimulate early communication. I took some work to get everyone back together and to segue from this into the language-focused stage.
The whole class seemed to be engaged and close to the materials. They successfully de-fragmented the report and gained a full understanding of it. It was good to feel redundant (!) at this point as they discussed the text without my help using the language. Jigsaw tasks are great for comprehension, sharing information in order to close a gap.
I only monitored to correct slips, to concept check and get feedback ready. Minimal teacher talk (TTT) is good in language lessons, especially communicative-focussed.
We broke up again into original groups, filling the 3 tables in the classroom. The class seemed highly engaged.
I congratulated the class for being successfully selected for a reality show 'Castaways' and welcomed them to the 'TV studio'.
I only monitored to correct slips, to concept check and get feedback ready. Minimal teacher talk (TTT) is good in language lessons, especially communicative-focussed.
We broke up again into original groups, filling the 3 tables in the classroom. The class seemed highly engaged.
I congratulated the class for being successfully selected for a reality show 'Castaways' and welcomed them to the 'TV studio'.
The new audience gave a round of applause!
They chose only eight items to take with them to a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean from a handout. The prize was one million dollars. I gave three minutes for the task to work individually. They began deciding together. I announced a change of plan and that they would live in pairs on the island, and must now decide on eight items to share between them. I handed out useful language (above) for justifying their selected items during this stage. I elicited examples with the language before moving to another table.
They chose only eight items to take with them to a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean from a handout. The prize was one million dollars. I gave three minutes for the task to work individually. They began deciding together. I announced a change of plan and that they would live in pairs on the island, and must now decide on eight items to share between them. I handed out useful language (above) for justifying their selected items during this stage. I elicited examples with the language before moving to another table.
I interrupted to say they would live in groups on the island. In groups they debated quiet a lot over the items they would take. Meanwhile I drew a box on the board labelled 1 though 8 on the outside (pictured below). I fetched some leis I had stored away.
I put the leis around the neck of one candidate nominating her as co-ordinator of the final 'event'. I asked everyone to stand around the board to decide as a class unanimously on eight items: the whole class would win the prize money if they could live on the island as one happy community, content with the eight items they should choose..Some short plenary feedback and the lesson ended.
- I was happy with the way the jigsaw activity (the transcription of the radio news piece) worked really well; the way students worked in groups to piece together the almost 'skeleton' text I gave them.
- I wasn’t so happy with the way gaining attention was hard, to signal instructions between stages.
- Next time, I’d either take away the worksheets or notify pair at a time we were about to form a whole class again
- I learned that jigsaw tasks are quite effective to stimulate discussion.
- I learned that Friday night lessons, after long weeks at work, don't have to be cumbersome.
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| 1= because it was difficult to regroup between tasks |
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