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Lesson Planning

Mariam Mkumbwa

Subject: English                     Grade Level:  9 and 10                      Number of students: 8 (4 girls and 4 boys)

Topic: Sentence structure and Vocabulary

Lesson Rationale:

Like the native-English-speaking students the English Language Proficiency (ELP) students are expected to achieve high education standards. These expectations are designed to make sure that all students are prepared to meet the challenges of the 21^st Century. That is why the ELP standards require that ELP students excel in listening, speaking, writing, and reading. To do this students have to learn everything from the very basic steps to the more advanced steps without relying on prior knowledge. Take sentence structure for example, students have to start learning the components of a simple sentence in English before they move on to the complexities of grammar and meaning. This is because structures in English may be different from their native language, that is why it is important to learn what the difference is at the beginning while building upon this knowledge, otherwise students will be left translating the new knowledge from English to their native languages and vice versa. That is why it is a difficult to teach topic since teachers have to work hard to break that chain of thought, of translation. To this end they will develop accuracy and comfortability in listening, speaking, writing, and reading since they now understand the rules of English.

Essential Questions:

 How will the students use the dictionary to help themselves learn vocabulary and grammar? How does understanding of the structure of a simple sentence in English develop my communication skills?

Objectives of the Unit:

• Students will begin to develop an understanding of the two parts of a sentence (the subject and the predicate)
  • They will understand what the predicate consists of.
  • They will understand what the subject consists of.
  • They will understand the two main essentials to any sentence (the use of capital letters and a period)
  • Students will be able to use the vocabulary they learn in simple sentences. (which will bring meaning to them so that they do not easily forget the meaning and how each word can be used)
  • Students will be able to identify other essential components of any
  • Students will be able to compose a short paragraph considering the use of simple structured sentences.

 Activity 1:

During the teaching I will have a number of jumbled sentences written out on paper that the students can make out into simple meaningful sentences. In the process putting into practice what we are learning where they will capitalize and provide a period to the required sections of the sentences. After going through each sentence, the students will compose and give examples of their own.

Activity 2

Students will do an exercise where they will have to go through 10 sentences and identify the subject and predicate in each, they will also have to correct any punctuation and writing mistakes. After which the students will work in pair as they interview each other about something that they enjoyed doing. They will take turns being the interviewer and interviewee, writing down in one paragraph what the other shares. At the end of the speaking, listening and writing activity they will go through (read) what they went through and select two sentences that they will use to identify the subject and predicate. At the end of the activity I go around the class asking them one new thing they have learned about their partner, this worked well since they got more fascinated about each other which caused them to ask each other more questions which also stimulated more talking.

Rationale for the choice of the two videos:

I unfortunately encountered some problems during my video recording which affected the number of videos I had to choose from.

Video 1

This I chose because it displays the instruction process, the method that I chose to teach the class and the kind of responses I received in result of my method. I started out by confusing my students, just so that I could make them understand how difficult it becomes for any person listening to an unstructured or improperly structured sentence to understand what is being meant. One figured out that I was reading backwards, I guess because I was holding the script but if I could easily utter any sort of gibberish I would, just so as to confuse them some more. From there I made them understand that a sentence has to have structure to be understood, not mattering if it is spoken or written, both have to have structure. I also enjoyed using the cards that I came up with; this kept them engaged, even for the shy ones.

The link: http://youtu.be/i05VQRsYFFg

Video 2

This video displays a collaborative and authentic learning experience that assists in making the connection to the purpose of the topic. The students worked individually and then in pairs on a quiz in which they had a chance to talk and listen to each other. In many instances students corrected each other’s spelling, grammar choices and pronunciation. Those students that were very poor in English paired up with stronger students, the pair to the far left of the room paired up because they spoke a similar native language, making it easier for one to explain the instructions in Spanish. The other pairs that sat together were paired the same way, they resulted to using body language and gestures to put the meaning across, which I believe was effective in both cases since students were able to communicate and understand what expression they meant by the gestures.

The link: http://youtu.be/PWCJCmndaKI

Summary of pre- and post-assessment 

In this article, Giroux (1985) speaks about how the use of various education discourses can work to develop forms of pedagogical practices (pg. 22). His focus is towards the choices that we make in education, “the choices of what is taught “must be guided…by our conception of a desirable society, of the relationship between what we select to teach and the ability of people to achieve such society…” (pg. 32)

Giroux comments on the impacts that teacher and student experience has on the development of pedagogy and to that result he importance of understanding how “experience” in schools is obtained in a way that hinders (silences) the possible happenings of critical learning. To develop a more critical and explorative mode of learning Giroux emphasises on the need to develop a discourse/language that can be used to aid in the development of such modes of learning.

Some of the discourses that he talks about include, “Discourse of Management and Control” that insists that schools should teach students how to realize themselves, in which they don’t. In order for students to be prepared to handle the world teachers have to stop teaching students to be books (pg. 24). His intention through this discourse is to form a pedagogy that will enable students to develop and master skills and understandings together with previous experiences and knowledge that will help them to handle the world. Despite the diverse backgrounds that students come from, knowledge is taken as a “cultural currency” that is selected to be uniformly used to address all students despite their differences and interests (pg. 25)

Within discourse of management and control it is important that, “questions regarding cultural specificity, teacher judgment, and how student experiences and histories relate to the learning process itself are ignored (pg. 27).” This means that teacher autonomy and control are a hindrance towards learning. Instead teacher’s behaviours’ need to be controlled which stimulates good public relations within the school and with other schools, eventually solving solutions to the complex matters while establishing principles of accountability as proof of success (pg. 27).

“Discourse of relevance,” this discourse is interested in “fulfilling the needs of kids.” By needs, it means that the students are missing a certain set of experiences, either culturally specific experiences or more instrumental experiences that is crucial for their success in life. If not careful with this discourse the teacher may end up blaming/humiliating a student of their problems instead of getting them to take part in classroom activities. When students react negatively to this type of discourse the school and its administration may face problems of order and control. A good example could be when a teacher tells a group of students, “work hard you low lives” while within the group there are working-class students who may be offended (pg. 28-19)

“Discourse of integration,” this pedagogical form emphasizes that students develop a self-directed learning, that they link knowledge to their own personal experiences as students and that they develop the character of interacting with one another in a positive and harmonious fashion. This discourse develops what is known as pedagogy of normative pluralism, this means that the focus shifts from an individual student so that of a cultural group (pg. 30). In the process teachers should address the differences and cultural diversity that raise between groups the language of positive thinking. Where it ignores the complexities, problems and the sweat of social change and replaces that with developing mutual understanding among cultures (pg. 31). Exercising this form of multiculturalism should lead to:

1.)    Increased self-awareness and self-respect,

2.)    A greater self-respect for cultural groups different from students’ own,

3.)    The extension of cultural pluralism and equity in the United States, and

4.)    Fewer intergroup conflicts caused by ignorance and misunderstandings

By so doing schools should focus towards a common culture where the negatives that we see and experience everyday should not be emphasised upon at all in the curriculum. Students in the process will be able to deconstruct meaning that are silently built within everyday life and also books that they use in school. Thus teachers need to help students learn the kind of language that will shape them into more inquisitive type learners, which assume the role of a subject when it comes to reading. This in result enables students be one with the text and content, by investigating closely what the educators attitude and confrontation is towards the world that will enable the student to develop his/her own attitude and confrontations towards the world (pg. 22).

–How does it relate to your pedagogy and the way you are going to teach your difficult topic?

I believe it important to allow students in the classroom to be able to express themselves. Having a discourse of control/power and management that gears towards favouring the teachers does not favour the students learning. Instead if hinders them from realizing themselves in the process of communication which also leaves them not prepared for the outside world. This I believe I can easily do when teaching my content area. It allows students to express themselves and share experiences with others, which is also a good way of doing away with biases.

Because it is important that students speak so that they practice using language, I believe it important that I encourage my students to speak about life related issues, in the process sharing views and opinions which allows them to realize themselves and also relate to the outside world more positively.

-Would your teacher life history author agree/disagree with the authors of the pedagogy articles and their points of view?

The author of my life history book would strongly agree with what Giroux is saying. He is all for building good rapport with the students, which I believe on way of doing that is by not being controlling of the students, allowing them to freely express themselves (but he strongly emphasises, in a manner that is mindful of others) and analysing one’s own actions. The author of my book is challenged with implementing what he believes in the classroom and implementing what the school and administration believes. This goes back to the importance of having the whole staff and administration looking at things through one lens. He is paid surprise visits by the principal to be observed and told not to do what he believes is best for the students, in the process he finds himself making two lesson plans, one with all that the school requires him to do and the other with how he believes the students should be taught (which employs a lot of student centeredness).

Author: Mariam Mkumbwa

Mariam Mkumbwa

i)          Grade Level:  9 and 10 (level 2 ESL class)

ii)        Topic Focus: Grammar and Vocabulary

iii)      Overarching essential question:

a)         How will students use the dictionary to help them learn vocabulary and grammar?

Other questions:

a)        What have the students learned prior to this lesson?

b)        What should the students know prior to this lesson?

c)        What does Unit 4 (The Chinese in America) teach us about our lives?

d)       How can they relate the grammar and vocabulary learned to their everyday lives?

iv)      Content Standards:

Listening Standards in English for LEP Students

1. LEP students will develop the English listening skills required both for academic achievement and for communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

1.1 Comprehend spoken instructions

1.2 Identify main ideas and supporting details of spoken English

1.3 Determine speaker attitude and point of view

1.4 Comprehend the meaning of academic and/or specialized vocabulary when spoken

1.5 Make inferences and predictions when listening to speakers

Speaking Standards in English for LEP Students

2. LEP students will develop the English speaking skills required both for academic achievement and for communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

2.1 Speak fluently, using clear pronunciation and with appropriate intonation and stress

2.2 Speak using appropriate grammar and vocabulary

2.3 Speak for varied purposes, both formal and informal, with focus, relevance and cohesion

Reading Standards in English for LEP Students

3. LEP students will develop the English reading skills required both for academic achievement and for communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

3.1 Demonstrate reading strategies

3.2 Identify the meaning of written vocabulary

3.3 Read with comprehension

3.4 Read for varied purposes

Writing Standards in English for LEP Students

4. LEP students will develop the English writing skills required both for academic achievement and for communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

4.1 Write using appropriate conventions and grammar

4.2 Write for varied purposes and audiences, with appropriate tone and voice, using various media

4.3 Write using the writing process

4.4 Write using a range of vocabulary, sentence structures and verb tenses

v)        Academic language:

Relative clauses, vocabulary, sentence combining, infinitives

Definition of Pedagogy

Mkumbwa Mariam

Mariam Mkumbwa

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One may encounter this word “Pedagogy” as a teacher and not even realize it. From my own experience I just Knew of the word but did not know what it really meant. It has its simple meaning which is not complete until you hit the core of what the word really means. For example, if one says that pedagogy is the style of teaching, it is a truth that has only vaguely explains what pedagogy is. For that reason when it comes to defining pedagogy it is important to break the definition down to the many things that pedagogy entails and that it does not entail.

After saying that, in simplest of terms, Pedagogy is the art of teaching. As an art there are things that the artist is free to do on the canvas so as to create a masterpiece but at the same time is restricted to do, so that their work is not called a mess. At a professional level, art focuses on the individuals artistic gift, thus pedagogy is also ones, “the teacher’s” good act of teaching. A teacher at his/her best passes on content and social knowledge, encompassing and attitude of willingness and openness. In the process a teacher monitors how their teaching impacts students, thus assessing if it is working for the students to allow the teacher make needed adjustments. Schreiber (1996) makes a good point “No one knows how far a teacher’s influence extends, and the opportunity to transmit knowledge and to influence values and attitudes gives us an unrivalled chance to generate and sustain a legacy that lasts beyond reckoning”.  A teacher’s work has to be done with focus and commitment I say.

As far as a teacher tries their best to pass on content and social knowledge, pedagogy should not and is not all about content. It is important to know it to be capable of transfer it. It is not a fixation on past methods, which will cause the students to lag behind.

Author: Mariam Mkumbwa