Original Lesson Plan

Title: Celebrations Thanksgiving Day

Grade Level: Grade 5-6 EFL
EFL Level: Intermediate
Duration: Two 60-minute sessions

Objectives:
• Content Objective: To explore the Thanksgiving Day celebrations in Africa, America, Korea, and Mexico
• Learning Objective: To research Thanksgiving Day in each country
• Language Objective: To give a presentation about Thanksgiving Day

NCTE / IRA Standards for the English Language Arts
The Standards
• Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Equipment Needed: Projector, screen, and computer, pencil, eraser

List of Materials:
E-1 Focus Sheet: Thanksgiving Day Around the World
E-2 Work Sheet: Thanksgiving Day Graphic Organizer
E-3 Work Sheet: Answer in Order
E-4 Summative Assessment: Rubric.

Warm-up:
The teacher will use a projector, screen, and computer to introduce Thanksgiving to the class.
Let’s explore Thanksgiving celebrations around the world! The teacher will click on the links for the students to see a Thanksgiving festival.

http://mytv.tvb.com/news/newsat730/7293/913#page-1

Task Chain 1. Exploring the Thanksgiving Day Celebrations in Africa, America, Korea, and Mexico
1. To understand cultural differences, the teacher gives general information about Thanksgiving. Focus Sheet E-1: Thanksgiving around the World.
2. The teacher pairs the students.
Make groups of 5 students. The teacher assigns each group a different country.
• Group 1: Africa
• Group 2: America
• Group 3: Korea
• Group 4: Mexico
3. With their partner, the students take turns reading
Focus Sheet E-1: Thanksgiving around the World.
Formative assessment: Walk around and help students with reading comprehension. The students shall stay focused on the task, take turns reading, and interpret the meaning of the text.

Task Chain 2. Researching Thanksgiving Day in each country
1. Each group must now find information about the Thanksgiving celebration in the country assigned to their group.
http://www.thanksgiving-day.org/thanksgiving-around-world.html
2. Each group prepares the mind map, to help them organize their ideas for their presentation to the class based on the information they found. The students are not allowed to copy words from the Web site. They must use own words to explain the celebration. E-2 Work Sheet: Thanksgiving Day Graphic Organizer.
3. Each group writes the answers in the order you want to present them to the class. E-3 Work Sheet: Answer Your Reply in Order.
Formative Assessment: The teacher helps the students to find out useful information from the Web site.

Task Chain 3. Giving a presentation about Thanksgiving Day
Each group has five minutes to present the celebration of the country you have.
Formative Assessment: Encourage students to present what they researched.
Summative Assessment: The teacher completes the E-4 Assessment Rubric.

Citation of Sources:
Diaz-Rico, L.T. (2008). Strategies for teaching English language Learners. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
NCTE / IRA Standards for the English Language Arts. Retrieved March 02, 2010 from, http://www.ncte.org/standards
Oberauer, K. (2005, April 07). Oral Presentation. Retrieved from http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1593465&
Thanksgiving Day. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://www.thanksgiving-day.org/thanksgiving-around-world.html
Thanksgiving Festival. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://mytv.tvb.com/news/newsat730/7293/913#page-1

E-1 Focus sheet: Thanksgiving Day Around the World


Thanksgiving is essentially a harvest related festival. It celebrates communal harmony. Though it is said to have been originated in America, a number of other countries celebrate harvest related festivals. They are observed with different names and in different seasons.
Harvest related festivals, all the over the world are characterized with lot of fun and merrymaking. Each region has its unique customs and traditions to jubilate the occasion.
Canada celebrates thanksgiving on the second Monday in the month of October. India also has a number of harvest related festivals in different regions. Popular regional festivals are Pongal, Baisakhi, Lohri, Onam etc. Though the underlying principle behind each of them is same, every festival is exclusive and different from the other.
Other Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, Korea celebrate the festival on different dates. Each festival has a folklore attached to it. Harmony, peace, feeling gratitude is the underlying theme of the celebration all over.

E-2, Work Sheet: Thanksgiving Day Graphic Organizer

Yunjoung's blog

We, Koreans study English from Kindergarten but oracy skills are not good considering the duration of studying.
As Yunjoung mentioned, oracy skills are essential if English learners are to participate fully in a democratic society. Speaking involves in number of complex skills and strategies–not only the stringing together of words in proper grammatical sequence but also the organizing the words into coherent, powerful messages that help the speaker attain personal goals. Listening and speaking are integral to communicative competence. This ability begins with oracy training in English-language development.
Even We can write and read, if we can not speak what we want, there can be communicational problems. I agree with Younjoung that it is therefore vital for teachers to help students overcome their oral language quietude.

Ji Young Moon's Blog

I visited Ji Young Moon's blog and her summary regarding the learner autonomy attrated my attention. She mentioned that learner autonomy is the learners’ feeling that studying is taking place due to their own decision. The learner autonomy must be supported in a systematic way by the teacher and curriculum for the learner to benefit. When I was young, there was no Hakwon which is personal institute for helping students who would like to improve their weak subject. However, most of Korean students and parents depend on Hakwon too much and they seem to be unable to study without the help of Hakwon. Also I heard from many teachers in Hakwon that students just follow teacher's instruction lack of self-displine. As Ji Young mentioned, students should develop learner strategies which are systematic plans, designs, procedures, or maneuvers used during learning. I also would like to apply direct strategies such as cognitive, metacognitive, social-affective method to my class.

Chapter 7 Literacy Instruction for English-Language Development

In this chapter, writer is talking about the reading and writing process. Writing is still difficult task for me. As a EFL(English as a Foreign Language) learner, many other people will have same difficulties as me.
When we need to write, it is hard to find out materials what should we write. Therefore, the author says students need a real reason for writing, such as a letter exchange with a pen pal( Diaz-Rico, 2008, p. 193).
The first step of writing process is prewriting. Diaz-Rico (2008) has stated that prewriting helps students not only to build a representation of the topic about which they are writing, but the challenges, prompts, and questions from collaborators also help to fashion a working representation of the assignment or task. The second step of writing is “Drafting” (p. 196). In this step, writers do the best they can in spelling, vocabulary, and syntax, without a concern for accuracy. The drafted writing can be revised by self-correction and revision (p.197). Also students can give one another feedback through formal “sharing” meetings organized by the teacher (p. 197). To make use of distance learning for young adult learners, Janet Raskin developed a noncredit writing course for the commercial website Englishtown.com. I visited this website and found that it is very useful source for speaking as well as writing. I would like to attend seven days free tutorial course.

Chapter Blog for Chapter 6 Oracy Instruction That Builds on the First Language

The title, “ Oracy Instruction that Builds on the First Language” attracted my attention as I am going to take two kids to California this summer (am I too brave? ). This chapter discusses about the oracy processes-how people learn to listen and speak in a second language. It is interesting to know that children learn to engage in higher level thinking by learning first how to communicate (Diaz-Rico, 2008, p. 146). Oracy skills are developed by oracy training.
Listening activities are categorized listening to repeat, listening to understand, and listening for communication. Listening to repeat is learned by audio-lingual teaching, students repeat exactly what they hear. Listening can be taught by the task approach such as assigning students to create listening journal entries, audio taping selections culled from a variety of sources, and listening to the real world. Listening can be combined with other language modes as part of an integrated approach to English-language acquisition. Prelistening tasks are including preview of vocabulary and previewing the rhetorical structure of casual explanation. While listening, students can follow an outline as they listen, take notes cued by a set of questions. Or it will be a helpful strategy for English learners to videotape a lesson while students simply listen to the lecture (Adamson, 1993).
After listening, students can join many kinds of activities such as writing, discussing, reading, drawing or acting out their interpretation of the content(Diaz-Rico, 2008, p. 151).

Chapter Blog for Chapter 5 Learner Strategies and Learner-Focused Teaching

When I read about “metacognitive” teaching method in the book, I felf it is very high level teaching method. Diaz-Rico (2004) says it helps students plan what and how they want to learn; monitor, manage, and motivate while they are learning; and evaluate what they have learned and how they did so. Also she mentioned that metacognition is “the ability to think about your thinking-to make your thinking visible (STEL, 2004, p. 126). Metacognitive strategies are divided into three areas; Planning, monitoring, and evaluating.
Planning strategies help students learn how to organize themselves for a learning task.
For example, if students have group working task due in one week, they decide indivisual role for the first three days, draft and gather their works over the next two days, andn finally proofread their works. Throughout this, students learn how to plan the main comcepts, key ideas, and specific information that must be included (STEL, 2004, P. 127)
Monitoring strategies help students to check their comprehension in listening and reading, and their production while speaking and writing. Students can self-evaluate outcomes to judge how much they have learned, and this self-evaluation can be compared to the teacher’s assessment.
Performance evaluation strategies teach students how to assess their own performance on a task, using learning logs or other reflective tools to keep trck of their progress (STEL, 2004, P. 127).
Another part which attracts my attention mostly is about study skills and time management. Diaz-Rico (2004) says we do not need to “read everything carefully.” The important skill is to know what and what not to read carefully, and to allocate reading time accordingly. This is very important point to know as a English learners.

Chapter Blog for Chapter 4 Performance-Based Learning

Most of teachers who are working for the private institute should focus on students' school grade so it would be hard to apply the knowledge what we learned through MA program.
Two years ago, right after finishing TESOL certificate course, I got a job in elemetary school as a English teacher. There was no designated textbook or curriculum. School asked me to do story related activities. It was good chance to apply what I learned and it was very exciting.
According to my experience, each step of task chain is to be very simple and easy to understand. After detailed explanation about each task, it is important to show demo so that all of the students have clear pictures about each step. For large class, I felt group activities are better than the individual work. Also, competition makes a tremendous difference in child`s ability to concentrate and learn during school hours.
Chapter 4 is very helpful as it explains about the instructional plan, assessment, standards which are essential parts for real class circumstance.

Chapter Blog for Chapter 3 Views of Teaching and Learning

Chapter 3 is including variety of teaching and learning skills such as cognitivism, behaviorism, humanism, constructivism, philosophy, mastery learning and direct teaching.
All of these skills are useful and especially, I would like to talk about TPR (Total Physical Response). When I worked at the English Kindergarten, I read story books to children for four to seven age groups. Every time, I taught key sentences with TPR and after finishing one story book, children could speak out about 30 key sentences just looking at the TPR. It was amazing!
I like these methods for young children. They usually have very short span time so teacher needs to attract their attention often. In case of TPR, there are lots of interaction between teacher and whole group of students or individual student. Teacher speaks and students respond nonverbally, then students use more verbal and teacher responds nonverbally.
Grammar translation method sounds like the teaching style most of my English teachers used. When I was a student, my teachers did not speak in English. They used Korean for explanation and the class was totally teacher to students interaction.

Teacher Interview on Grading Practices

The program/site visited

As I am interested in the K-12 Level, I visited the Maple Bear, mokdong. In case of Korea center, their level is mainly divided by age. At Maple Bear, typical teaching students ages are ranging from 3 years of age – 10 years of age. Programs are divided as below:

(1) Kindergarten Program
(2) Intensive Kindergarten Plus Program
(3) Moms and Tots Program
(4) ESA Program
All ESL classes follow CLI curriculum and delivery. In addition, the program is designed to take advantage of the rich Maple Bear classroom environment with a focus on child centered learning.
(5) Intensive English Plus Program:
A Canadian immersion style program for students with strong English language skills.

I interviewed with Han To Uyen and her background is as below:
● Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Studies – Brock University, Ontario, Canada
● Management Studies – Humber College , Ontario, Canada
● TESOL Diploma – Oxford Seminars – Ontario, Canada
● Fall Tutor, Learning Disabilities of Niagara – Canada

Policy for grading English learners.
Maple Bear’s grading policy is clearly structured through percentages as follows:

90-100% A
80-89% B
70-79% C
50-69% D

They evenly devide the each item and grades are to communicate effectively to parents and students. Therefore the basis of their assignment should be clearly articulated as below:

40%: Class participation and classwork
30%: Tests and Quizzes
15%: Projects
15%: Homework
=======================
100%: Cumulative Grade

Examples:
1.0 Class Work (40%)
1.1 writing samples
1.2 daily class assignments
1.3 group activities
whole group/small group/cooperative/flexible/centers work/pairs
1.4 notebooks
1.5 journals
1.6 speeches/debates
1.7 participation
teacher observations/teacher checklist/student checklist/discussions
1.8 performance-based activities/tasks
create arrays for math/create a story map/critical experiences in science/use of technology
2.0 Tests and Quizzes (30%)
2.1 multiple choice
2.2 oral exam
2.3 short answer
2.4 textbook curriculum correlated
2.5 teacher designed
2.6 student generated
2.7 student/teacher designed rubrics
2.8 chapter test
2.9 unit test
2.10 performance-based
3.0 Projects (15%) – ‘Show and tell’ every Friday
3.1 performance-based
3.2 portfolios
3.3 embedded assessments
3.4 posters
3.5 models
3.6 multimedia
3.7 presentations
oral/dramatic/written
3.8 radio plays
3.9 videos
3.10 research
3.11 diorama
3.12 photo essays
3.13 poetry
3.14 technology-based
4.0 Homework (15%)
4.1 specific to curriculum standards and elements
4.2 meaningful practice
4.3 extension of the daily lesson
4.4 mini projects
4.5 remediation/enrichment
4.6 family activities or projects

Every teacher in Maple Bear uses the same grading systems. Everything is assigned a number, even writing. In assessing classroom work/performance, the focus is placed on the student demonstrating that he or she has learned the written curriculum as difined by curriculum objectives.
This grading system motivates elementary students a lot. If they can not reach for the standard level, they need to take retest.
Teacher has student file and every single details such as grading as well as personal stories are to be written in that file. Every year, this file is passed to the next teacher who is responsible for the student.

Focus students
Hoonje (9 years) and Sara (10 years) are the remarkable students in the Han To Uyen’s class. They are brother and sister. Their mom has three more children and they are very young. Tracking their learning process, it is not hard to find that they both are falling behind.
They never finish their assignment at home so Han To Uyen always check their assignment before class then let them finish the missing part.
Sometimes she offers after-school tutoring for these lower grade students.
Han To Uyen included both formative assessment and summative grade scores. For formative assessment, she used worksheet and for summative assessments, she gave term papers. Everytime, she gave formative information to help the student improve.
The Maple Bear has very similar standard to the English-Language Development (ELD) standards. Maple Bear is trying to cover all areas of reading, writing, and listening/speaking.
If students do well on assignments then they will do better on standards assessment. Based on students’ entry and post assessment, almost all the students who have a high score in their final grades achieve satisfactory progress in standards.

A lesson plan based on TESOL standard #2

www.paell.com/docs/LessonPlans/Reading/Reading_Lesson16.pdf(Please visit this web site for more details about story review worksheet, oral retelling )rubric

Discipline: Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening

Standard Category: Speaking and Listening

Lesson Focus: Oral story retelling

Goal 2: To use English to achieve academically in all content areas.

Standard 2: Students will use English to obtain, process,construct, and provide
subject matter information in spoken and written form.

Suggested Level: Middle

Strategies: Audio visual tape recording of oral presentations
Rubric assessing oral presentations

Key Objectives in Accordance with TESOL Level:

Pre-Conversational/Beginning Students will be able to:
• Draw the story’s action in sequence.

Intermediate Students will be able to:
• Write the story’s action sequence with teacher guidance and helpful graphic organizer
• Student then “rehearses” with a partner for story retell.

Advanced Students will be able to:
• Work independently to fill in the story review graphic organizer.
• Student,independently or with teacher guidance, writes out story summary and
orally retells story.

Materials:
1. A favorite storybook that has been read and understood
2. Story Review Organizer—multiple copies for rewriting draft
versions
3. Index cards for summarizing key points of story plot for
demonstration in story retell

Procedures:
1. Student recall the story’s main points and summarize its plot by
filling out the “Story Review Organizer”.
2. Student rewrites story’s important points onto index cards for
demonstrating an oral retell .
3. Students rehearse oral story retell for demonstration to the class

Assessment:

Beginning- Language learners may rearrange pictures of the story’s action
sequences, using as much English as they are able.

Intermediate- Language learners may rehearse and practice, telling a story out loud in the correct order. With teacher’s help student can fill out a sample story
review organizer. Teacher-created rubric that will assess a student’s
rehearsed and final polished piece that can also be recorded.

Notes:
1. The Story Review Form is very helpful for all students to focus.
2. Several drafts will be necessary in order to produce the best-written
piece.
3. Keep in mind that many students consider oral presentations in front
of their peers daunting at best.

EESL 501
Describe the Program/Site Visited by Young ran Song

I had the pleasure of visiting MapleBear in the city of Seoul, mokdong.
The goal of MapleBear schools is to establish an enthusiasm for learning and knowledge in young children that will serve as a foundation for future success in the education system and in life. In development of the MapleBear program, we have drawn on the best practices in early childhood teaching and learning.

*What are the ELD level of students?
*How are the students placed into these levels? What are the initial placement procedures?

In case of Korea center, their level is mainly divided by age. There are simple interview with native teacher and reading/writing test with korean teacher. They have their own level test program sheet and they use this special program for placement. They did not give me detailed information about the test.

*How do teachers make use of initial placement data to meet students’ instructional needs?

Once a teacher has received the placement test score for a student, the class level will be decided. In case of kindergarten program, 90% of children are new to learn English. So class is devided by age. In case of elementary program, level is decided by their grade.

*In general, describe the English-language development curriculum and instruction.

English Language Arts:

By the end of Senior Kindergarten children will communicate effectively in English by listening and speaking; they will have a good understanding of Alphabetical symbols; they will be able to read basic text in English; they will be able to use phonic strategies to approach new words; they will use writing strategies appropriate for beginners; they will use and respond to media.
Mathematics:

Children will become problem-solvers. They will learn about patterns in the environment, number concepts, comparisons, sets, basic formal operations (e.g. adding, subtracting), 3-D objects, simple graphs and basic measurement
Personal and Social Awareness:

Children will learn to share, to respect others, to listen and to understand that people have different talents and functions in our society.

Science and Technology:

Children will demonstrate curiosity about the natural world, demonstrate knowledge of characteristics of common materials, identify cycles in nature using techniques of observation, and work with others in using the computer in all aspects of their studies.

Creative Activity:
Children will understand colour, shape and use of media to express ideas. They will be able to describe responses to music, art, drama and dance.

At Maple Bear, typical teaching students ages are ranging from 3 years of age – 10
years of age. Class sizes are capped at 15, but many classes may only have up to 10
students per class.

Kindergarten Program:
Full Time, Saturday and Part Time classes for 5 year old children. Small classes with a focus on literacy and hands-on learning ensure that the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes for life long learning are established at a young age.
Intensive Kindergarten Plus Program:

An optional program for full time 7 year olds. This program is specifically designed for
students who can use their strong English language skills to study science and social study topics in an immersion like setting.
Moms and Tots Program :
A unique Maple Bear Program for 4 and 5 year old children accompanied by their mothers. This program is designed to introduce children to school routines and English language learning. This is an ideal place to start formal English learning in a safe, supportive and enjoyable environment.
ESA Program: All ESL classes follow CLI curriculum and delivery. In addition, the program is designed to take advantage of the rich Maple Bear classroom environment with a focus on child centered learning.

Intensive English Plus Program:

A Canadian immersion style program for students with strong English language skills.

TEXTBOOKS and Lessons:
Backpac and Hip Hip Hooray.
Lessons are organized around the chapters in each book.
One or two pages are covered per class.

*Add a critique of the program in its ability to foster effetive English-language acquisition and make recommendations for program improvement.

It is not easy to give an opinion of the effectiveness of the program in progress after one small visit. Teaching materials are enough and teachers are very energetic. However, most of native teachers are from Canada and when they have problem, Korea center need to wait for new teacher. Also it would be good if there are more programmed level test system.

*I interviewed with a teacher and her background is as below.

Name: HAN TO UYEN
● Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Studies – Brock University, Ontario, Canada

● Management Studies – Humber College , Ontario, Canada

● TESOL Diploma – Oxford Seminars – Ontario, Canada

● Fall Tutor, Learning Disabilities of Niagara – Canada

Many students call her name “Tween” because she made us to say easy it is very kind. She is from Toronto, Ontario. She is capable of speaking both English and Vietnamese fluently. She come from a large family with many cousins, and so has developed a love for children of all ages. Throughout high school and university she has volunteered for various organizations working with children of different ages. She has also had one year of teaching experience in Seoul, Korea in the year 2007. As a teacher, She believes that it is most important to provide children with a comfortable and fun environment in order for children to reach their potentials. She will work out with this philosophy at Maple Bear.

About Young Ran

Hello!!
I am very curious about new world and I am not afraid of trying new things. Whenever I am presented with a challenge,I usually try my best to reach for the goal.
Having worked at schools and private institutes, I feel that many students are not happy learning English.
I want to make them happy and help them enjoy English.
Also,as a christian, I want to give my love to my students. :)