English Language Learning Lesson Plan

Learning to Use Descriptive Language

Grade level: 6th-7th
Lesson Overview

A thirty-five to forty-five minute lesson that uses Halloween

characters costumes to encourage students to use descriptive
English language.

Learners

78% Hispanic, 33% English Language Learners

20 students per class
6th and 7th graders range from 12-14 years old
Even distribution of boys and girls
Most of the learners have recently immigrated to the US from
Latin America or have been raised in a Spanish speaking
household in America
Speaking and understanding abilities are not high
Arent well informed on the uses of technology

Objective

Without the assistance of the teacher or telling their peers the

exact character that each other has, each student should be able to
actively communicate and describe which character their peers
have in order to find their match at the end of the 15 minutes.

Standards

1. Common Core State Standards for Speaking and Listening 6-12

Standard 1:
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (oneon-one, in groups, and teacher- led) with diverse partners on
grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
2. Common Core State Standards for Speaking and Listening 6-12
Standard 2:
Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats
(e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it
contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
3. Common Core State Standards for Speaking and Listening 6-12
Standard 6:
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating
command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
4. English Language Development Standards for Grade 6, Standard
Number Two: Supporting opinions and persuading others
Negotiate with or persuade others in conversations (e.g., to gain

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English Language Learning Lesson Plan

and hold the floor or ask for clarification) using basic learned
phrases.
5. Standard Number Five: Listening Actively
Demonstrate active listening in oral presentation activities by
asking and answering basic questions with prompting and
substantial support.
6. English Language Development Standard 1:
English language learners communicate for Social and
Instructional purposes within the school setting.
Materials

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Pair Description Powerpoint

Tape
Scissors
20 sheets of blank printer paper
Marker/Pen

Procedures

1. Prepare and cut out 20 slips of papers with a character written in

English on each. Include the following characters:
Cinderella
Prince Charming
Salt
Pepper
The Grinch
Cindy Lou
Cops
Robbers
Little Red Riding Hood
The Wolf
Spongebob
Patrick
Mickey Mouse
Minnie Mouse
Mario
Luigi
Tinkerbell
Peterpan
Olaf
Sven

2. Open the Pair Description powerpoint, the first slide should pose
a question to the class. Allow students to discuss their opinion
with the person besides them for a couple of minutes.
3. Bring the class back to focus on the powerpoint. Have some
students share their answer to the opening question.

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English Language Learning Lesson Plan

4. Go through the powerpoint, explaining descriptive observations

of the characters and certain qualities that distinguish the
particular character from the rest.
5. After completely going through the powerpoint and answering
any questions begin the class activity.
6. Have the students line up and tape one of the slips paper from
step 1 on each of their backs.
7. The activity will require the students to find their pair using the
descriptions of their peers in English. They will walk around the
classroom describing their peers characters and attempting to try
to figure out their own.
8. After figuring out their own identity they will have to find the
other character that is associated with their character. For the
entire duration of the activity students most use descriptive
English words and work on their communication skills.
9. This activity will be timed and the students must finish in 15
minutes.
10. After time is up, the class will regroup and each student will tell
the class which character they believe was tapped on their back,
who their pair is, and how they know that they have that character
taped on their back.
Evaluation

The students will be evaluated on their ability to accurately pair

with their match. There will also be time at the end of the activity
in which the students must explain who they are and how they
know. This will show if the students truly knew why they were
with their match and it will show their ability to explain it in
English. Students that are wrong will have an opportunity to
correct their mistake and learn from it through the instructions of
their peers. This is an activity that will reward the students with
points for their participation and help prepare them for future
quizzes and tests.
10 points- Fully participating in the opening activity and the main
activity, can identify the name of the character on their back, can
explain the reasoning behind why they believe that is the
character on their back, finds their match
5 points- Partly participating in the opening activity and the main
activity, can identify the name of the character on their back,
attempts to explain why they believe that it the character on their
back, put effort into finding their match

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English Language Learning Lesson Plan

0 points- No participation in the opening activity or the main

activity, resorts to native language to communicate, does not help
others after getting help from them, refuses to explain their
reasoning to the class
Articles

1. Getting to know the students more and their backgrounds before

actually teaching them was a highlight of this article. The article
explained that the ways to do this are to play icebreakers, notice
them in the classroom, and talk with related family members. The
rest of the article goes off of these suggestions. One point in the
article was about figuring out which type of languages the
learners speak. If the teacher know the different languages, then
he can look up how closely that language is related to English
and ways that teaching English to the learners might be similar to
their native language. Overall, this article was all about getting to
know the learners in order to know how to properly teach them
effectively and efficiently. There was high value in this article
because it touched on ideas that many people never think about,
such as getting to know the learners just based on body language
and the way they behave in the classroom.
2. Though this article has seven parts, the main topic was about
how the quality of teaching is what matters the most in educating
the learners. The first part gives a background of ELLs from
years ago to now and how their population is growing rapidly in
schools all over the country. The article then goes into talking
about how schools all over the country have started to reform
their curriculum based on these learners in a way that could also
enhance the knowledge of the English-speaking students. The end
of the article touches on the first articles points about getting to
know the learner and the best ways to teach them, as well as
providing the teachers with effective methods of teaching.
Overall, there was incredible value in this article. It was more of
an overview of the first article with some added points, such as
the background of ELLs in the American school system in
general.

Citations

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Breiseth, L. (2013, July 8). Getting to Know Your ELLs:

Six Steps for Success | ELL Topics from A-Z | Colorn
Colorado. Retrieved March 1, 2015 from
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/59117/
Calderon, M., Salvin, R., & Sanchez, M. (2011, January
1). Immigrant Children. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from

English Language Learning Lesson Plan

http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/in
dex.xml?journalid=74&articleid=541

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