Module 4  TEACHING PRACTICUM

During modules 1, 2 and 3, you, as participants, learned to identify problems and to implement strategies
to improve your student learning. Two positive outcomes of this process is that innovations in your
schools were more tangible, and that you could perceive your students change in attitude.

In this important axe of the specialization, you will continue working on the reflection of your
teaching practicum. As a continuation of the action research axis, this practicum establishes the
foundations for individual data gathering and processing techniques as depicted in previous
modules. Since you are going to collect and analyze data from your students, after the
implementation of new strategies to orient your practice, this particular set of skills will continue to
be developed throughout this and following courses taking into account previous experiences and
knowledge. For participants who are not teaching but are principals or work in a school setting, you
can decide whether to implement the same Teaching Practicum assignments of your in-service peer
teachers or to work on a more administrative action towards improvement of the role you perform
in your current position. For MINED staff or administrative personnel, you will work on an action
research oriented to make more effective the job you develop in your specific areas.

M4: Professional Practicum Guidelines

(Teaching Area)

Objective: Participants will evaluate the design and implementation of a lesson plan in their classes
by using the Task-Based instruction learned during Module 4.

During module 4, the development of the practicum will be focused on the implementation of Task-
Based Instruction. To enrich theoretical knowledge of TBI, participants are required to study the
dossier: Reading 1: Using a Task-Based Approach in an EFL Class from pages 9 to 13, look for two
additional articles and report their learning from this experience.

Week 1- Presenting the Teaching Practicum Guidelines

Week 3 - Lesson Plan Peer review
Week 4 - Revised version (evaluated)
Week 5 - Provide Feedback
Week 5, 6 and 7 - Implementation of the lesson plan in your classes
Week 8 – Presentation of the lesson demo class, evidence and the reflection.

The teaching practicum for this module should yield the following products:

1- TBI Lesson Plan

2- Evidence of the implementation (photographs, videos, student surveys, materials, signed
supervision form, etc.,
3- A 30 min. demo class of 1-2 activities from your implemented lesson
4- A final written reflection due on the 8th Saturday.
 Assignment 1: Task-Based Lesson Plan Project Guidelines
Introduction. In groups, you are going to create a lesson plan based upon the Task Based
Instruction model presented in the Dossier. (Check readings 1-3). The purpose of this activity is to
give you an opportunity to combine theory with real-life application of this approach. You will hand
in the first version of your lesson on week 3, that day, your lesson will go through a peer-review
process and enhancement out of feedback. Then, on the fourth week, you will submit the final
version of your lesson. You are expected to carry out the lesson plan in your regular teaching jobs
during weeks 5, 6 and 7.

Your lesson plan should include the following components:

1. Lesson name/Content: Specify the theme or topic to be developed. Consider a language

Function such as giving directions, clothes shopping, requesting services, complaining,
ordering food, etc.
2. Teacher’s name: Your full name
3. Grade/ level: Please specify the school grade (7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th). Also, please include
the proficiency level (basic, low intermediate, high intermediate, etc.)
4. Learning Objective (SMART): In this part, please state the learning outcomes that students
are expected to achieve as they carry out the task or on its completion. Use the SMART
objective guideline (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, & Timely). You can review this
approach on the next pages.
5. Task (Type of task) Provide details of the specific type of task you want your students to
develop. Even though the Dossier presents some ideas on pages 23 & 24, you should consider
that they are writing-oriented. For that reason, you are encouraged (and required) to further
research other tasks, which could focus on speaking or combine skills.
6. Target Language: Despite the communicative nature of TBI, the specific grammatical
structures and lexicon to be used in the task need to be known and somehow presented.
Please provide specific data regarding grammar and vocabulary as follows.
a. Grammar: For example, if the task is about advice, the grammar could be “should”,
“imperatives”, “other modal verbs”, etc.
b. Vocabulary: It will depend on the specific situations that surround the task. For
instance, a task involving a medical appointment or check-up is likely to include
words such as doctor, nurse, symptoms, drugstore, dosage, pills, etc.
7. Task Cycle
a. Pre-task: At this stage, the topic and task are introduced to students so that they
can recall prior knowledge relevant to the situation. Task break-down and useful
vocabulary/grammar are discussed briefly without neglecting the task priority.
Students need to be clear on what is expected from them. In other words, they
should be aware of what the task consists of, and how many steps they need to
follow for successful completion of the task. (See p.24 from Dossier)
b. During: Simply put, this is the moment when students carry out the task. You might
want your students to perform on a different day from the Pre-task unless you have
a long English class session once a week.
 c. Post-task. Feedback can be delivered once the task has been completed. In the
previous stages, your intervention should be limited to giving directions, coaching,
and monitoring, without imposing the language form, time, or vocabulary.
8. Resources: Make sure students count on and bring the necessary resources they need to carry
out the task. Apart from concrete resources such as realia (if necessary), the teacher or school
can also provide scratch paper, projector, etc. The Pre-task stage is the best moment to define
who will bring each resource.
9. Assessment: Explain how the task will be assessed. As the Dossier (p.23) points out, different
views on what constitutes a task make it hard to define and consequently, harder to assess in
comparison to Skill-based approaches. Nevertheless, make sure your task assessment covers
aspects related to the task itself, the interaction and extent to which it has been completed,
and obviously reserve a section/percentage for the language proficiency.

Task-Based Lesson Plan Template

Lesson Name / Content:
Lesson Developed by:
Grade/level:
Learning Objective
(SMART):
What will students
know or be able to do
by the end of this
lesson?
Task:
Type of task:
Target language

Grammar:

Vocabulary:

Task cycle Pre-task:

Task cycle:

Language focus:

Resources:

Assessment:
How will students be
assessed? What
criteria/instruments
will be used?
 Rubric for Assignment 1

Task-Based Lesson Plan checklist

UNICAES-MINED project
Teacher's Name:
Objective: Participants will be able to design a Task-Based Lesson Plan.
Levels of performance:
1. Below Expectations: Performance is insufficient to satisfy criteria.
2. Basic: Performance minimally satisfied criteria displaying errors in understanding and meeting
requirements.
3. Proficient: Performance of the student thoroughly satisfied the criteria demonstrating understanding
but not meeting all the requirements.
4. Outstanding: Performance meets or exceeds the expectations by carefully adhering to the
requirements.
Criteria Score
General information and objectives (30%)
1. Teacher's name, lesson name/content, grade/level are specified. 4
2. The lesson plan provides details of the specific type of task you want your students to develop. 4
3. It has clear, specific target language (Grammar / Vocabulary). 4
4. The lesson plan has specific resources. 4
5. The objective is specific 4
6. The objective is measurable 4
7. The objective is achievable 4
8. The objective is relevant 4
9. The objective is time-bound 4
Total 3.00
Task cycle (50%)
1. Pre- task activity elicits student background knowledge, breaks-down useful
4
grammar/vocabulary and clarifies expectations.
2. During- task activities focus on the development of the task. 4
3. Post- task activity reflects on the performance and focuses on form. 4
Total 5.00
Writing Style (20%)
1. All sentences are grammatically correct. There is subject-verb agreement, etc. 4
2. All sentences are spelled correctly. 4
3. All sentences start with a capital letter and end with a period. Other punctuation marks
4
have been considered carefully.
Total 2.00

10.00
 My reflection
Participant´s name: ___________________________________________________________________________________
School´s name: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Describe your implementation experience (15 lines)

These questions may help you
How did my students react when I was developing my TBL lesson plan?
How did I feel during the class?
Explain what you have learned (15 lines)
What were my weaknesses and strengths?
Did the lesson plan work or did I have to make some adaptations during the class?
Express how you improved your teaching practicum (10 lines)
What considerations should I take into account for a next time?
How can I improve my teaching practicum?
Explain what your students perceived (10 lines)
Based on the survey you gave to a sample of your students, what was the general perception of
the class?
Based on your own observation (using an observation sheet or journal), what were the most
significant moments for your students? Why?

The process of action research is ongoing and it requires resilience and commitment. We thank you
for wanting to be part of this journey. Intentional change can produce great results and become the
key for the success of our educational system.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over

again and expecting different results"
Albert Einstein