CEP Lesson Plan Template

Teacher/s: Matty Espino and Emily Jones

Level: A4
Date/Time: Wednesday, 10/01/14
Goal: To develop topic-related group discussion skills and skimming for reading
strategies
Objectives (SWBAT):
Students Will Be Able To
1. Divide a paragraph into thought groups and practice rhythm in sentences by reading a
paragraph 3 times in three different ways.
2. Complete their final essay for homework after conferencing with peers in a peer feedback
activity focused on improving content
3. Lead a short discussion on a topic of their choice through a mini-discussion leading activity
4. Skim for main ideas by reading headlines in AM New York during a pick-and-choose an
article for a classmate to read exercise
5. Apply skimming strategy to a longer text by skimming for key points in a reading passage
Theme: Buyer Beware
Aim/Skill/Microskill

Activity/Procedure/Stage

Interaction

Time

Homework Check:

SS check homework with a partner

(wb p. 3-4 #6). T addresses any
salient issues. Reminds SS answers
are on website.

SS-SS; TSS; SS-T

5 min.

Review: Pronunciation
(Thought Groups)

T asks Ss what sentence I wrote on

the board at the end of class last
week. (Were going to talk about /
stressed and unstressed syllables.)

T-SS; SSSS

5 min.

T writes it again on the board.

T asks Ss to open to pg. 9 and
passes out the paper with the stress
and thought groups divided on the
paper.
To practice pronunciation, T will

introduce the idea of saying the

paragraph three times:
1.
S will read, in turns, one
thought group. (repeat 2
times)
2.
Next, S will read until a
period, or exclamation mark.
3.
S will read the whole
paragraph.

T-SS; SSSS

T hands out new paragraph (Lincoln

and the Young Woman, PART 1) and SS-SS
asks Ss to listen to the recording,
putting in slashes ( / ) where thought
groups end and circling the word with
the most stress. (Plays 2x)
After listening, T passes out the
answer and questions. Ss check the
answers and answer questions in
groups.

5min.

1min.

SS-SS

3min.

T-SS; SS-T

2min.

T-SS

1min.

T elicits answers to the three

questions at the end.
Linking & Transitioning to rest of
lesson:
Today, we will work on specific
strategies for speaking and reading.
But first, we are going to do our peer
conferences.

Activity 1: Peer
Feedback

1.1 Pre-Stage:
T reminds SS that they are going to
do peer feedback today on their
essays that they wrote on
Monday/Tuesday.
This is for a grade!

1.2. During Stage:

T hands out peer feedback form to all T-SS; SS-

3min.

SS and put them in a prearranged

pair (Alphabetical order; there will be
a group of three)
SHOWS POWERPOINT

SS

T explains what the purpose of peer

feedback is: to focus on the
questions when writing comments
and also give constructive feedback
T gives SS 10 minutes to read the
paper
T gives 5 min to conference
1.3 Post-Stage:
T asks if there are any questions
Transition to #2: Great,
now that we have done
some peer feedback, lets
talk about ways we can
lead discussions.

Tangible Outcome:
Peer feedback form

Activity 2: Reviewing
discussion skills (p. 10)

2.1 Pre-Stage:
T asks SS about the last time they
participated in a formal discussion.
Was there a leader? What did the
leader do? (if no one answers, talk
about ALWC meeting, where Matty
was the discussion leader--What did
you do Matty??, etc.)
T elicits situations from class

15
min.

T-SS

1 min.

T-SS; SS-T

2min.

SS-T;

2.2. During Stage:

T asks SS to read the strategy and
T-SS
list of functions in the box.
T goes over various functions
T asks when self-introductions might
be necessary (i.e. if participants dont
know each other)
T explains how organizing a theme

5min.

might not be necessary (i.e. formal

meetings have...agendas!)
SS do activity; Compare with
classmates

SS; SS-SS

3min.

2.3 Post-Stage:
T goes over answers with SS
Tangible Outcome:
Answers in book (p. 10)
Transition to #3: Ok! Now
that we have looked at
different expressions used
to manage effective
discussions, we are
actually going to practice
them in small groups!

Activity 3:
Student-led MiniDiscussions

3.1 Pre-Stage:
T will begin to model a discussion
T-SS
emphasizing points from the previous
activity. The topic is Using
competitors product in an
advertisement. T presents PPT and
plays Siri vs. Cortana commercial.
http://youtu.be/tYZ5gAQMJg8

1 min.

T leads a discussion for 3 minutes,

encouraging SS-SS interaction.

T-SS; SSSS

3 min.

After time is up, T asks, What did

you notice about my discussion
leading? Can you recall what I said?
What did I do? T encourages SS to
ask questions.

T-SS; SS-T

2 min.

3.2. During Stage:

T says, Now, I want you to think
about an interesting topic for you.
This topic should be something you
like to talk about and get others to

SS

2 min.

talk about too. Think of a topic, a

purpose, and write 2-3 main points
for discussion. T shows example
PPT slide.
SS-SS

15
min.

SS-SS; SST

2 min.

T-SS

2 min.

T presents PPT of directions and

explains that SS will get into small
groups and lead a discussion on the
topic they have written. Each S will
lead for 3 minutes. T explicitly says,
The goal of this activity is to practice
fluency. We want you to talk to each
other. Emily and I will monitor your
discussion and take notes. But, we
will not intervene - If you are the
leader, you must lead. SS get into
groups and discuss topics.
3.3 Post-Stage:
T asks, What was easy or difficult
about this activity? SS elicit answers
with one another. SS report back to
teacher. T asks, Does anyone
agree/disagree?
T provides corrective feedback on
errors noted during activity.

Transition to #3:
Excellent job everyone.
Being able to lead a
discussion is very
important - youll need this
skill maybe for a job,
school, or some other
situation. Now, we are
going to switch gears a
little bit. I want to talk
about reading and
focusing on the overall
idea rather than the tiny

Tangible Outcome:
Topic and Discussion Points Handout

details.

Activity 4:
Reading AM New York Pick and Choose for a
friend

4.1 Pre-Stage:
T asks, What are some thoughts
SS-SS
about when you have to read a long
text that is really long but you dont
have much time to read it? What
situations might you be in? SS share
thoughts with each other.

2 min

T introduces skimming as a strategy SS-T

for reading. SS silently read
description from book (Page 11). T
asks, Are there any questions? If no
questions, T asks for SS to volunteer
to summarize skimming in their own
words.

1 min.

4.2 During Stage:

T-SS
T presents PPT showing instructions.
T explains, You will look through an
AM New York newspaper and find an
article you think someone in this
class would want to read. There will
be a time limit of 1 minute so you will
need to skim to get the overall idea.
Pay attention their headings and
subheadings. Dont focus too much
on the details. SS will skim for an
article individually.

2 min.

After 1 minute, SS will share with

their group: Who, the chosen article,
and why

SS-SS

3 min.

SS

5 min.

SS-SS

3 min.

SS will submit answers to Socrative.

4.3 Post-Stage:
T shows socrative results. SS will
comment or ask follow-up questions
to other SS.

Tangible Outcome:
Submitted Responses to Socrative
Application

Transition to #5:
Now, lets take a look
back at advertisements
again. Its important that
we are able to apply this
reading strategy in the
classroom, too.

Activity 5:
Making Milk Mustache
Ads - Practicing
Skimming

5.1 Pre-Stage:
SS-SS
T displays collection of got milk print
ads. T asks Do any of you recognize
these ads? Talk to each other about
it.
5.2 During Stage:
T explains you will skim an article
about the former national Got Milk
campaign. SS will skim article to get
main idea and note the key ideas on
paper.

2 min.

SS

2 min.

T asks SS to close books. In groups,

SS work together to compile a short
summary of the article. If they finish
early, SS can begin reading passage
in detail.

SS-SS

6 min.

5.3 Post-Stage:
SS show summaries on doc camera.
T asks if they agree/disagree. SS will
negotiate discrepancies.

SS-SS

2 min.

T shows PPT for reading homework.

Tangible Outcome:

Skimming Notes, Summary of

Passage
Transition to Wrap up:
Great. So lets review who can tell me one thing
we learned today?

Wrap Up:

Exit Tickets (Socrative)

5 min.

Homework due:
Final draft of essay
Reading Pg. 11-13 #4, 5
Study for Unit 1 Test
Reminders:
Unit 1 Test is Thursday
Materials
Copies of two different ads
Critique Handout
Writing WS
PPTs
Anticipated Problems & Suggested Solutions:
Ts go over time limit (online timer!)
Tech not set up or breaks (print out slides)
Contingency Plans (what you will do if you finish early, etc.):
SS will read for detail and comprehension page 11 - 13
Alternatively, T can play a clip of an old Got Milk campaign and a more recent Milk Life ad.
Groups will discuss among themselves similarities or differences.
Post-Lesson Reflections:
I really, really liked this class! However, we definitely went over time and were not able to get to
the last activity (which was really too bad because it would have been a great way to merge the
units theme and the reading strategy of skimming with a real example of American marketing).
Looking at each activity one by one, I think that the warm-up pronunciation activity, although
perhaps a good idea, would have been better with a small class or if students had practiced in
smaller groups. That would have ensured students would have been able to say the lines as
much as possible. Although the students seemed to catch the intonation and stress of the

correct syllables, we just did not have enough time in class to talk about how to pick stressed
and unstressed syllables. I think if I were to do this in the future, it might be a good idea to do
this as homework using Google Voice, having students read sentences and then give feedback
individually (with a class of 23, however, this would have been hard to do and give meaningful
feedback).
The peer feedback activity was a big hit. I think students loved the chance to read each others
papers and then give advice about how to improve the essays. Since doing this lesson, I have
learned more about how to facilitate better peer feedback and I will definitely keep doing this in
future writing assignments.
The second and third activities flowed really well into one another; and the mini-discussions
were great! I liked how it started off with a model of how to discussion lead (which was the
speaking focus of this coursehow to be a good participant/leader in discussions) and then
gave students a chance to come up with a topic of their own to talk about. One thing I might
change is giving more structure about what kinds of topics to pick (i.e. talk about something you
heard in the news, think about an advertisement you have seen, etc.). Nevertheless, the
students did an awesome job thinking about TAP when leading their mini-discussions!
Finally, my teaching partner and I got the idea for the last activity from another teacher in our
Practicum class. It would have been AMAZING, but we ran out of time and had to rush the
activity. Also, the students tended to pick the same articles for my co-teacher (there was an
article about Apple and they all picked it for him). Finally, it was hard for students to use
Socrative quicklyI think there is a large learning curve with this kind of technology and we
should have practiced it more before asking them to use it so quickly. It was a great activity and
something I plan to use in the future to increase the classrooms atmosphere (its another way to
get to know each other!).