Unit Plan –Elementary Level FOREIGN/WORLD LANGUAGES
TeacherPeng Yu SchoolFairhill Elementary School Grade(s)Two Language(s)Chinese Level(s)One DateFeb 9—Mar 8 Number of Students20—25 Time30min per class
UNIT THEME: American Indians Unit Plan (Each class has two lessons per week; plan for four weeks)
PLANNING PHASE Performance/Task-based Objectives At the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1.Say 8 directions. 2.Say 2 types of climate, hot and cold. 3. Say 4 occupations—farmers, fishermen, hunters, horsemen. 4. Say 4 activities related to occupations—farming, fishing, hunting, and riding a horse. 5. Say 3 traveling ways of American Indians—walking, boating, and using horses. 6. Say 4 plants. 7. Identify land types. 8.Identify home types of the American Indians.
Standards: National:Standards for Foreign Language Learning (ACTFL 5Cs) Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics. Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied. Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied. Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language. Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own. Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
State:Foreign Language Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools (Virginia SOL) MFLI.1 The student will exchange simple spoken and written information in the target language. 3. Ask questions and provide responses about self and other familiar topics, such as family members, personal belongings, school and leisure activities, time, and weather. MFLI.7 The student will develop an awareness of perspectives, practices, and products of the cultures where the target language is spoken. 1. Identify some viewpoints of the cultures, such as those relating to time, education, transportation, and the roles of family members. MFLI.10 The student will demonstrate understanding of the significance of culture through comparisons between the cultures studied and the cultures of the United States. 1. Compare patterns of behavior and interaction found in the United States with those found in the cultures studied. 2. Demonstrate an awareness that social practices and personal interactions differ among cultures.
Local
Theme Two of Grade Two, Foreign Language Program of Studies (POS), Fairfax County Public Schools
Day One and Two
TEACHING PHASE (1) Preparation Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (1)—Land type
Vocabulary: Category I*东部(east),南部(south),西部(west),北部(north),中部(middle)
Category II 印第安人(American Indian),方向(directions),河(river),山(hill)平原(plain),高原(flatland),草原(prairie),草地(grassland),森林(forest),海岸(coastland) *Students will be able to say and use the vocabulary in Category I. Students will be able to identify the vocabulary in Category II.
Verb(s): 住(live)
Grammatical structure(s): 我/他住在(direction)部. (I/He live in the (eastern/middle/western) part.)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation, a direction rap song
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice Day One
1. After warm-up, teacher divides students into three groups to represent three major tribes of American Indians living in different parts of America. Each group gets a group name tag. Note: Student who has the correct answer is given a stamp on the group name tag. At the end of the week, the group which has the most stamps wins a poster as a prize.
2. Students look at a map of the United States and learn how to say five directions by singing a direction rap song. (小手拍拍，向东走；小手拍拍，向西走；小手拍拍，向南走；小手拍拍，向北走；小手拍拍，停中间。)
3. Students learn how to write “东” “中” “西”. They write their names and a direction word (东/中/西) on their name tags. They put their name tags into the cup of their group.
4. Students learn the sentence pattern “我住在(direction)部” (I live in the east/middle/west .). Repeat after teacher.
5. Teacher ask selected students to report where they live according to the group name they are assigned using the sentence pattern “我住在(direction)部”.
6. Teacher ask student A to report where student B lives according to the group name student B is assigned using the sentence pattern “他住在(direction)部”. Day Two
7. Students look at the PowerPoint to identify different types of land.
8. Students match land types and different regions where American Indians live on the map.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/A
Presentational Activities: Students report where they live.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions. Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students can also use the sentence pattern “我住在 ”(I live <at/in/on> .) to express the type of land on which they live.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio (similar to Smart Board), PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask student to report where they live using the sentence pattern “我住在(direction)部” in the following classes.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to Accommodate
Visual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: “小手拍拍”
Kinesthetic learners: Sing the rap song with gestures; write characters.
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: Ask them extra questions when they do group competition.
What worked well?
Students liked the rap song with gestures. Yong learners are really kinesthetic. They like learning by doing; and they like moving. What really surprised me was that they quickly got the conception of directions, not only the commonly used four (east/west/south/north) but also the other four (northeast/southeast/northwest/southwest).
Students love competitions and rewarding. They showed very strong interest to gain stamps in order to win the prize.
What didn’t work well?
I only finished half of what I had planned.
Students were not responding to some of the instructions. For example, an activity required students to write their names and a character on the name tags, but some students did not quite follow my instructions.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Split one lesson into two lessons.
Try to slow down, and make sure every student understands what they should do.
How might this lesson be improved?
Provide visual and/or auditory aids to help students understand instructions.
One important thing I learned was
When teachers require something or give an order, they should use very confirmed tone.
Day Three
TEACHING PHASE (1) Preparation Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (2)—Home type
Vocabulary: Category I* 河(river),山(hill),草地(grassland),森林(forest),冷(cold),热(hot)
Category II 木屋(wood and bark home),帐篷(Teepee),窑洞(Multi-story terraced building), 平原(plain),高原(flatland),草原(prairie),海岸(coastland) *Students will be able to say and use the vocabulary in Category I. Students will be able to identify the vocabulary in Category II.
Verb(s): 住(live)
Grammatical structure(s): 我住(home type) . (I live (home type) .)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture; comparison between American Indian home types and Chinese ethnic group home types
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice
1. After warm-up, students review the direction rap song “小手拍拍”.
2. Students review land types of different regions by doing the matching game.
3. Students learn to say hot and cold by doing a game. Teacher says “summer”, and students should reply “hot” with gestures; teacher says “winter”, and students should reply “cold” with gestures.
4. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn home types of different regions, and compare them with Chinese home types.
5. Students use the sentence pattern “我住(home type) ” to report their home types according to the group name they have been assigned.
6. Students learn to fold a paper house and do decoration.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/A
Presentational Activities: Students do matching game.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions. Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, hands-on activity, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students could express the land types they have seen and they have lived on.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags, construction papers.
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to report in which part and on which land type they live; ask students to report “hot” or “cold”.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to Accommodate
Visual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: N/A
Kinesthetic learners: Fold a paper house.
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: Ask them to help their group members when folding the paper house.
What worked well?
Students are eager to get stamps. They are highly involved in the activities.
What didn’t work well?
There is no time to learn the sentence structure “我住(home type) ”.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Try to slow down, and make sure every student understands what they should do.
How might this lesson be improved?
Provide visual and/or auditory aids to help students understand instructions, especially when they fold the paper house.
One important thing I learned was
Students really care about getting equal opportunities.
Day Four and Five
TEACHING PHASE (1) Preparation Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather and climate (hot or cold) report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (3)—Occupation
Vocabulary: Category I* 农夫(farmer),渔夫(fisherman),猎人(hunter),骑士(horsemen)
Category II 印第安人(American Indians),勤劳(hardworking) *Students will be able to say and use the vocabulary in Category I. Students will be able to identify the vocabulary in Category II.
Verb(s): 种地(farming),捕鱼(fishing),打猎(hunting),骑马(riding a horse)
Grammatical structure(s): (occupation name)会(verb) . ( (occupation name) can + verb.)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation, a teacher-composed children’s song (the melody is from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice Day Four
1. After warm-up, students review land types and home types of American Indians by doing Mimio matching games.
2. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn to say farmer, farming, hunter, hunting, fishermen, fishing, horsemen, and riding a horse.
3. Students sing a song which could help memorize occupations and its related activities. Day Five
4. Charades game: one student performs a word; the other students guess the word.
5. Students work in groups to do a song lyrics worksheet. They need to match occupations and activities.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: Group work
Presentational Activities: Students sing a song.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions; students do the charades game. Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, hands-on activity, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions; worksheet.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students could report anyone they know who is doing one of the four occupations.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags, worksheets
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint, mini-videos
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to answer what American Indians can do by using the sentence structure (occupation name)会(verb) .
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to Accommodate
Visual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: The song
Kinesthetic learners: Do charades game; do a worksheet in group.
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: Make them group leaders.
What worked well?
The song helped students remember the occupation names and related activities in an easy and fun way. The group work gave students an opportunity to collaborate.
What didn’t work well?
Sometimes students did not focus on what they were learning. What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Find something that each occupation uses, like a bow, to give students a real taste.
How might this lesson be improved?
Try to think of more vivid gestures when teaching occupations and activities so that students would remember them easily.
One important thing I learned was
Groups with heritage speakers may not be the first to finish the worksheet because group work requires not only knowledge but also teamwork.
Day Six
TEACHING PHASE (1) Preparation Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather and climate (hot or cold) report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (4)—Transportation
Verb(s): 走路(walking),划船(using paddled canoes),骑马(using horses)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice
1. After warm-up, students review occupations and related activities of American Indians by doing interactive Mimio games.
2. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn to say walking, using paddled canoes, and using horses.
3. Students do a matching game—matching pictures and characters.
4. Charades game: one student performs an action; the other students guess the verb.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/A
Presentational Activities: Students do matching exercises.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions; students do the charades game. Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions; matching exercises.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students could report anyone they know who is able to use a paddled canoe or to ride a horse.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to simulate the three ways of transportation.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to Accommodate
Visual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: N/A
Kinesthetic learners: Interactive exercise on Mimio; charades game
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: N/A
What worked well?
The motion pictures helped students well understand American Indians’ transportations.
What didn’t work well?
Actually, this class was taught together with the latter half of the occupation class, so there was really no time to do the charades game.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Try to make connections between occupation and transportation, like fishermen use paddled canoes.
How might this lesson be improved?
Need to work on providing auditory aid.
One important thing I learned was
It is very hard to keep the same pace for every class. Students are different; the whole class can be different.
Day Seven and Eight
TEACHING PHASE (1) Preparation Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather and climate (hot or cold) report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (5)—Plants
Vocabulary: 森林(forest),草原(prairies),高原(high flat land),树(tree),花(flower),草(grass),仙人掌(cactus)
Grammatical structure(s): (land type)有(plant) . (There is (plant) <in/on> (land type) .)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture; Chinese traditional paper cutting
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice Day Seven
1. After warm-up, students review transportation by doing the charades game.
2. Students review land types by looking at the PowerPoint.
3. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn to say plants on 3 different land types.
4. Students do paper cutting. They have three choices—two trees, grass, or two cactuses. Day Eight
5. Students do the baseball game to review the whole American Indian unit.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/A
Presentational Activities: Students do paper cutting; baseball game.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions; students do the charades game. Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, hands-on activities, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Review of the whole unit
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags, construction paper
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to report what plants they have seen.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to Accommodate
Visual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: N/A
Kinesthetic learners: Paper cutting; baseball game
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: They could help other students with the paper cutting activities. Paper cutting is really traditional in northern part of China.
What worked well?
The baseball game is really a very good format for students to review what they have learned. Students are really motivated.
What didn’t work well?
Some classes don’t have time to do the paper cutting activity due to cancelation of lessons because of snow days or 2 hours delay of class.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Add a reviewing lesson before students do the baseball game.
How might this lesson be improved?
Need to work on accommodating heritage learners.
One important thing I learned was
Using some familiar game formats is really helpful to engage students in the classroom learning, like baseball, jeopardy, etc.
Smart Notebook files used in this lesson:
Lesson OneLesson Two
Lesson Three
Lesson Four
Lesson Five
Lesson Six
Lesson Seven
Lesson Eight
Unit Plan – Elementary Level
FOREIGN/WORLD LANGUAGES
Teacher Peng Yu School Fairhill Elementary School
Grade(s) Two Language(s) Chinese Level(s) One
Date Feb 9—Mar 8 Number of Students 20—25 Time 30min per class
UNIT THEME: American Indians Unit Plan
(Each class has two lessons per week; plan for four weeks)
PLANNING PHASE
Performance/Task-based Objectives
At the end of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Say 8 directions.
2. Say 2 types of climate, hot and cold.
3. Say 4 occupations—farmers, fishermen, hunters, horsemen.
4. Say 4 activities related to occupations—farming, fishing, hunting, and riding a horse.
5. Say 3 traveling ways of American Indians—walking, boating, and using horses.
6. Say 4 plants.
7. Identify land types.
8. Identify home types of the American Indians.
Standards:
National: Standards for Foreign Language Learning (ACTFL 5Cs)
Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied.
Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied.
Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.
Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
State: Foreign Language Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools (Virginia SOL)
MFLI.1 The student will exchange simple spoken and written information in the target language.
3. Ask questions and provide responses about self and other familiar topics, such as family members, personal belongings, school and leisure activities, time, and weather.
MFLI.7 The student will develop an awareness of perspectives, practices, and products of the cultures where the target language is spoken.
1. Identify some viewpoints of the cultures, such as those relating to time, education, transportation, and the roles of family members.
MFLI.10 The student will demonstrate understanding of the significance of culture through comparisons between the cultures studied and the cultures of the United States.
1. Compare patterns of behavior and interaction found in the United States with those found in the cultures studied.
2. Demonstrate an awareness that social practices and personal interactions differ among cultures.
Local
Theme Two of Grade Two, Foreign Language Program of Studies (POS), Fairfax County Public Schools
Day One and Two
TEACHING PHASE
(1) Preparation
Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (1)—Land type
Vocabulary: Category I*东部(east),南部(south),西部(west),北部(north),中部(middle)
Category II 印第安人(American Indian),方向(directions),河(river),山(hill)平原(plain),高原(flatland),草原(prairie),草地(grassland),森林(forest),海岸(coastland)
*Students will be able to say and use the vocabulary in Category I.
Students will be able to identify the vocabulary in Category II.
Verb(s): 住(live)
Grammatical structure(s): 我/他住在 (direction) 部. (I/He live in the (eastern/middle/western) part.)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation, a direction rap song
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice
Day One
1. After warm-up, teacher divides students into three groups to represent three major tribes of American Indians living in different parts of America. Each group gets a group name tag.
Note: Student who has the correct answer is given a stamp on the group name tag. At the end of the week, the group which has the most stamps wins a poster as a prize.
2. Students look at a map of the United States and learn how to say five directions by singing a direction rap song. (小手拍拍，向东走；小手拍拍，向西走；小手拍拍，向南走；小手拍拍，向北走；小手拍拍，停中间。)
3. Students learn how to write “东” “中” “西”. They write their names and a direction word (东/中/西) on their name tags. They put their name tags into the cup of their group.
4. Students learn the sentence pattern “我住在 (direction) 部” (I live in the east/middle/west .). Repeat after teacher.
5. Teacher ask selected students to report where they live according to the group name they are assigned using the sentence pattern “我住在 (direction) 部”.
6. Teacher ask student A to report where student B lives according to the group name student B is assigned using the sentence pattern “他住在 (direction) 部”.
Day Two
7. Students look at the PowerPoint to identify different types of land.
8. Students match land types and different regions where American Indians live on the map.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/APresentational Activities: Students report where they live.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions.
Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students can also use the sentence pattern “我住在 ”(I live <at/in/on> .) to express the type of land on which they live.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio (similar to Smart Board), PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask student to report where they live using the sentence pattern “我住在 (direction) 部” in the following classes.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to AccommodateVisual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: “小手拍拍”
Kinesthetic learners: Sing the rap song with gestures; write characters.
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: Ask them extra questions when they do group competition.
What worked well?
Students liked the rap song with gestures. Yong learners are really kinesthetic. They like learning by doing; and they like moving. What really surprised me was that they quickly got the conception of directions, not only the commonly used four (east/west/south/north) but also the other four (northeast/southeast/northwest/southwest).
Students love competitions and rewarding. They showed very strong interest to gain stamps in order to win the prize.
What didn’t work well?
I only finished half of what I had planned.
Students were not responding to some of the instructions. For example, an activity required students to write their names and a character on the name tags, but some students did not quite follow my instructions.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Split one lesson into two lessons.
Try to slow down, and make sure every student understands what they should do.
How might this lesson be improved?
Provide visual and/or auditory aids to help students understand instructions.
One important thing I learned was
When teachers require something or give an order, they should use very confirmed tone.
Day Three
TEACHING PHASE
(1) Preparation
Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (2)—Home type
Vocabulary: Category I* 河(river),山(hill),草地(grassland),森林(forest),冷(cold),热(hot)
Category II 木屋(wood and bark home),帐篷(Teepee),窑洞(Multi-story terraced building), 平原(plain),高原(flatland),草原(prairie),海岸(coastland)
*Students will be able to say and use the vocabulary in Category I.
Students will be able to identify the vocabulary in Category II.
Verb(s): 住(live)
Grammatical structure(s): 我住 (home type) . (I live (home type) .)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture; comparison between American Indian home types and Chinese ethnic group home types
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice
1. After warm-up, students review the direction rap song “小手拍拍”.
2. Students review land types of different regions by doing the matching game.
3. Students learn to say hot and cold by doing a game. Teacher says “summer”, and students should reply “hot” with gestures; teacher says “winter”, and students should reply “cold” with gestures.
4. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn home types of different regions, and compare them with Chinese home types.
5. Students use the sentence pattern “我住 (home type) ” to report their home types according to the group name they have been assigned.
6. Students learn to fold a paper house and do decoration.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/APresentational Activities: Students do matching game.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions.
Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, hands-on activity, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students could express the land types they have seen and they have lived on.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags, construction papers.
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to report in which part and on which land type they live; ask students to report “hot” or “cold”.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to AccommodateVisual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: N/A
Kinesthetic learners: Fold a paper house.
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: Ask them to help their group members when folding the paper house.
What worked well?
Students are eager to get stamps. They are highly involved in the activities.
What didn’t work well?
There is no time to learn the sentence structure “我住 (home type) ”.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Try to slow down, and make sure every student understands what they should do.
How might this lesson be improved?
Provide visual and/or auditory aids to help students understand instructions, especially when they fold the paper house.
One important thing I learned was
Students really care about getting equal opportunities.
Day Four and Five
TEACHING PHASE
(1) Preparation
Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather and climate (hot or cold) report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (3)—Occupation
Vocabulary: Category I* 农夫(farmer),渔夫(fisherman),猎人(hunter),骑士(horsemen)
Category II 印第安人(American Indians),勤劳(hardworking)
*Students will be able to say and use the vocabulary in Category I.
Students will be able to identify the vocabulary in Category II.
Verb(s): 种地(farming),捕鱼(fishing),打猎(hunting),骑马(riding a horse)
Grammatical structure(s): (occupation name) 会 (verb) . ( (occupation name) can + verb.)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation, a teacher-composed children’s song (the melody is from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice
Day Four
1. After warm-up, students review land types and home types of American Indians by doing Mimio matching games.
2. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn to say farmer, farming, hunter, hunting, fishermen, fishing, horsemen, and riding a horse.
3. Students sing a song which could help memorize occupations and its related activities.
Day Five
4. Charades game: one student performs a word; the other students guess the word.
5. Students work in groups to do a song lyrics worksheet. They need to match occupations and activities.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: Group workPresentational Activities: Students sing a song.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions; students do the charades game.
Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, hands-on activity, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions; worksheet.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students could report anyone they know who is doing one of the four occupations.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags, worksheets
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint, mini-videos
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to answer what American Indians can do by using the sentence structure (occupation name) 会 (verb) .
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to AccommodateVisual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: The song
Kinesthetic learners: Do charades game; do a worksheet in group.
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: Make them group leaders.
What worked well?
The song helped students remember the occupation names and related activities in an easy and fun way. The group work gave students an opportunity to collaborate.
What didn’t work well?
Sometimes students did not focus on what they were learning.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Find something that each occupation uses, like a bow, to give students a real taste.
How might this lesson be improved?
Try to think of more vivid gestures when teaching occupations and activities so that students would remember them easily.
One important thing I learned was
Groups with heritage speakers may not be the first to finish the worksheet because group work requires not only knowledge but also teamwork.
Day Six
TEACHING PHASE
(1) Preparation
Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather and climate (hot or cold) report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (4)—Transportation
Verb(s): 走路(walking),划船(using paddled canoes),骑马(using horses)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice
1. After warm-up, students review occupations and related activities of American Indians by doing interactive Mimio games.
2. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn to say walking, using paddled canoes, and using horses.
3. Students do a matching game—matching pictures and characters.
4. Charades game: one student performs an action; the other students guess the verb.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/APresentational Activities: Students do matching exercises.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions; students do the charades game.
Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions; matching exercises.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Students could report anyone they know who is able to use a paddled canoe or to ride a horse.
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to simulate the three ways of transportation.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to AccommodateVisual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: N/A
Kinesthetic learners: Interactive exercise on Mimio; charades game
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: N/A
What worked well?
The motion pictures helped students well understand American Indians’ transportations.
What didn’t work well?
Actually, this class was taught together with the latter half of the occupation class, so there was really no time to do the charades game.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Try to make connections between occupation and transportation, like fishermen use paddled canoes.
How might this lesson be improved?
Need to work on providing auditory aid.
One important thing I learned was
It is very hard to keep the same pace for every class. Students are different; the whole class can be different.
Day Seven and Eight
TEACHING PHASE
(1) Preparation
Lesson Outline:
Warm-up Activity: Greeting; the “Hello” song; calendar reading; weather and climate (hot or cold) report.
Theme or Topic: The American Indian Tribes (5)—Plants
Vocabulary: 森林(forest),草原(prairies),高原(high flat land),树(tree),花(flower),草(grass),仙人掌(cactus)
Grammatical structure(s): (land type) 有 (plant) . (There is (plant) <in/on> (land type) .)
Cultural perspectives: American Indian culture; Chinese traditional paper cutting
Listening/Reading/Viewing selection(s): PowerPoint presentation
(2) Presentation and (3) Practice
Day Seven
1. After warm-up, students review transportation by doing the charades game.
2. Students review land types by looking at the PowerPoint.
3. Students look at the PowerPoint and learn to say plants on 3 different land types.
4. Students do paper cutting. They have three choices—two trees, grass, or two cactuses.
Day Eight
5. Students do the baseball game to review the whole American Indian unit.
Three Modes:
Interpersonal Activities: N/APresentational Activities: Students do paper cutting; baseball game.
Interpretive Activities: Students listen to PowerPoint presentation and teacher’s instructions; students do the charades game.
Methods/Approaches/Strategies:
Grouping, direct teaching/learning, TPR/gestures, hands-on activities, interactive activities
(4) Evaluation
Use informal in-class evaluation based on students’ responses to teacher’s instructions.
(5) Expansion/Extension
Review of the whole unit
Other Activities:
Materials: PowerPoint presentation, group name tags, cups, name tags, construction paper
Assessment: formative/informal/in-class ongoing assessment
Technology: projector, Mimio, PowerPoint
Homework: N/A
Closure: the “Goodbye” song
Follow-up: Ask students to report what plants they have seen.
REFLECTION PHASE
Efforts to AccommodateVisual learners: PowerPoint with a lot of pictures, tags
Auditory learners: N/A
Kinesthetic learners: Paper cutting; baseball game
Specials needs learners (Disabled and/or Gifted): N/A
Heritage/Native speakers: They could help other students with the paper cutting activities. Paper cutting is really traditional in northern part of China.
What worked well?
The baseball game is really a very good format for students to review what they have learned. Students are really motivated.
What didn’t work well?
Some classes don’t have time to do the paper cutting activity due to cancelation of lessons because of snow days or 2 hours delay of class.
What will you do differently as a result of this plan?
Add a reviewing lesson before students do the baseball game.
How might this lesson be improved?
Need to work on accommodating heritage learners.
One important thing I learned was
Using some familiar game formats is really helpful to engage students in the classroom learning, like baseball, jeopardy, etc.