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Observation Notebook

Observation Report
Forms for inclusion in the Observation Notebook must be typed

Name of Observer: Hyeonseong (Daniel) Shin Observation # 7

Date

Observation Environment

Class
Teacher
Level/Number
(Beg./Int./Adv.)
7/20/2015 UCR Extension
Grammar
IEP 200
John Moran
Beginner
Focus on relevant areas from the What Can Be Observed handout. Notice how the
teacher handles these areas during the class.
(include URL if the
class was online)

Class
Skill/Content

OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON:

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY HOW TO USE PAST TIME CLAUSES WITH WHEN, AFTER,
AND BEFORE.
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO WRITE SENTENCES USING PAST TIME CLAUSE WITH THEIR TRUE
LIFE.
Notes while observing:
In this class, most students are Arabic students. There is only one Japanese student.
After a review of the last class, Ss today are going to learn about Past Time Clause with
When, After, and Before
Warm-up & Review (15 minutes)
T begins the class by calling the name of each student. T tells Ss We had great
weekend! Did anybody go anywhere? A student answers I went to bad place.
T: Where is it?
S: Army place.
T: Why did you go there?
S: I dont know.
T: Okay. Anybody else?
T seems not to have an interest where the place is exactly. T asks the question
because in the last session, Ss learned the past form of the verb and how to make a
past tense question. T seems to want Ss to be reminded naturally of what they
learned in the last class.
T asks, What are some key words for the simple past? Ss answer, Last and
yesterday. T then says A negative sentence is easier. Negative sentence always

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use didnt. For example, I went to there / I didnt go there, I played the game / I
didnt play the game. T then checked a homework, which is about how to make
affirmative and question sentences using the past verb form.
T and Ss check the answers of homework (Practice 7) together. T asks Ss to answer
to the questions. When the students say wrong answers, T asks again so that the Ss
can think about it once again and can figure out themselves. If the Ss cannot figure
out the answer by themselves, T asks the answer to the class. For example, when a
student does not know the past form of catch, T asks other students What is the
past form of catch?

Presentation of the Pattern in Context (6 minutes)

T asks Ss Does anybody know what the lottery is? Ss dont answer. T gives a
brief explanation about lottery and what scam means. T then asks What is her
name on the picture? Ss relies Sandra
T reads out the article so that Ss can notice how to pronounce the words with
which they are not familiar.
Comprehension Check (4 minutes)
T has Ss find the answers to the comprehension check questions on the next page.
With these questions, Ss are checked as to they understand the article.
Identification of the pattern (5 miniutes)
T has Ss try Exercise C Notice. Before T does Exercise C together, T draws a line
on the board and puts the numbers in order for students to understand easily from
the picture.

Doing Exercise C together with T, Ss get to know the pattern when to use When,
After, and Before.

Formal & Functional Explanation (10 miniutes)

T asks a student, Reo, in the morning, what is the first thing you do?
S: Wake up
T: And then? What do you do?
S: Take a shower
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T puts the sentence on the board

:
Reo _____ (wake up) she _____ (take) a shower
T asks Ss, Does anybody know the past form of wake and take? Ss say woke
and took. T put the woke up and took in the sentence.
T asks Ss, Before the Reo, what can we add?
Ss say, When and After.
T: Where should we add comma?
Ss: After woke up.
T: How about period?
Ss: End of the sentence.
T: Can I switch these sentences?
Ss: Yes.
T: Tell me.
Ss: Reo took a shower when she woke up.
T: We call this Clause. If the clause include When, Before, or After, we call it
Time Clause.

Meanningful Exercise (7 minutes)

T has Ss try Exercise 2.1 in which students need to choose the words of
(After/When/Before) considering the context of the sentence.
T tries the Exercise question 1 and 2. After students try from question 3 to 8 by
themselves, T and Ss do Exercise together.
Communicative Exercise (8 minutes)
Ss are required to do Exercise 2.3 in which students need to fill in the blanks
using their real life.
Wrap up (3 minutes)
T gives back the writing homework of students and has Ss correct it by tomorrow.
T will give written homework using the time clauses that they have learned later.

(continue on back)

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Homework & Review

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Presentation of the Pattern in Context

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Comprehension Check & Identification of Pattern

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Meanningful Exercise

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Communicative Exercise

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What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson? Discuss your
observation focus, and the theory you have studied in your TESOL classes. Consider
the three levels of teacher reflection (surface, pedagogical, critical). (100-200 words)
In this grammar class observation, I would like to observe how to teach grammar
inductively. Because in an inductive approach the learner studies examples and extract
understanding of the rule from these examples, the learners can be more actively
involved in the learning process (Thornbury, 2012). Observing this class, I could see the
inductive procedure of teaching grammar. The teacher did not introduce grammar rules
directly. From the context, the teacher wanted students to identify the grammar rule by
themselves. For the development of students autonomy, the teacher used a
communicative activity, which enables students to add the new information about the real
world (Paulston and Bruder, 1976). I could see how the communicative activity helped
learners to utilize in the real world what they have learned.

What activities/techniques from this class do you want to remember for your own
teaching practice? Discuss specific ways in which you could apply the techniques and
methods you saw. Discuss your future teaching environment and your students needs
and goals. (100-200 words)
I would like to use several ways of teaching grammar from this class. The first
one is how teacher presented the grammar pattern. When I learned grammar in Korea,
the teacher directly introduced the grammar rules. Because of this, most students
including me felt bored when they learned the grammar. However, in the class that I
observed, the students were introduced grammar rules through the material of the real
world. I think that this way enabled students to be involved in the class. Secondly, I would
like to remember the way how the teacher explained the rule. The teacher illustrated the
rule simply and briefly drawing the line on the board. In particular, I would like to apply
the technique, which was to ask questions that were relevant to the students because this
technique enabled students to be engaged during the explanation of the grammar rule.

Last Updated: 11/9/2015 10:52 PM

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References
Thornbury, S. (2012). How to teach grammar from examples. In How to teach grammar.
Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Paulston, C., & Bruder, M. (1976). Grammar. In Teaching English as a second
language: Techniques and procedures. Cambridge, Mass: Winthrop.

Last Updated: 11/9/2015 10:52 PM