PG Cert ELT and Professional Practice/ Delta Lesson Plan

Name: Thu Nguyen Date: Materials: Cambridge English Complete IELTS 6.5 – 7.5
24/04/2019 Unit 4: Art and the artist
Lesson focus: Writing *Writing (p.47-49)
Topic: Arts-based subjects in Length: IELTS Writing Task 2. ‘Opinion’ essay
Secondary Education 120 minutes
(including 10- minute break) Time frame: 19.30- 21.30 (Writing)
(5a) General overview of the group of learners and the course
Overview of the course
This is an on-going IELTS preparation course at a language centre designed for intermediate students aiming to get a band
6.5 in the IELTS test.
This course runs over weeks (80 hours) and started on 25/03/2019. This is the fourth writing lesson. Commented [A1]: Please refer to the file named ‘Syllabus’.
There are three teachers who share the timetable equally, one focusing on each skill.
The course runs weekly on Monday (Reading), Wednesday (Writing) and Friday (Listening & Speaking).
The students are Vietnamese teenagers or young adults, who are usually exhausted after a long day at school.
There are 7 students in similar intermediate level. Four are better at grammar and vocabulary than the others.
Aims and learning outcomes
(5b) Overall aims and learning outcomes for the lesson in relation to language systems and/or language skills
and learner needs
Overall Aims:
 By the end of the lesson, the students will be presented written language to introduce their arguments and 16 topical
collocations related to the topic ‘the Arts’.
 By the end of the lesson, students will have followed a procedure, finishing practised writing an opinion essay and self-
evaluated their work in order to prepare for the mid-term exam next week.
Subsidiary Aims:
 By the end of the lessons, the students will have reviewed a writing procedure for IELTS writing task 2 called POWER.
 By the end of the lesson, students will improve their use of synonyms in Task 2 answers.

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(5c) Analysis of target language in terms of meaning, use, form and pronunciation
Target language: Topic-related collocations

FORM PRONUNCIATION

1. allow children to express themselves 1. əˈlaʊ ˈʧɪldrən tuː ɪksˈprɛs ðəmˈsɛlvz

2. practise thinking creatively
3. improve academic engagement and achievement
4. develop motor skills/ visual-spatial skills
5. build a student’s confidence
6. perform on a stage
7. step outside their comfort zone
8. improve and see their own progress
9. interpret, criticize, and use visual information
10.strengthen problem solving and critical thinking skills
11.learn how to make choices and decisions
12.work through difficult projects
13.work as a team
14.share responsibility
15.compromise to achieve their common goal
16.be accountable for their contributions to the group
2. ˈpræktɪs ˈθɪŋkɪŋ kri(ː)ˈeɪtɪvli
3. ɪmˈpruːv ˌækəˈdɛmɪk ɪnˈgeɪʤmənt ænd əˈʧiːvmənt
4. dɪˈvɛləp ˈməʊtə skɪlz/ ˈvɪzjʊəl-ˈspeɪʃəl skɪlz
5. bɪld ə ˈstjuːdənts ˈkɒnfɪdəns
6. pəˈfɔːm ɒn ə steɪʤ
7. stɛp ˌaʊtˈsaɪd ðeə ˈkʌmfət zəʊn
8. ɪmˈpruːv ænd siː ðeər əʊn ˈprəʊgrəs
9. ɪnˈtɜːprɪt, ˈkrɪtɪsaɪz, ænd juːz ˈvɪzjʊəl ˌɪnfəˈmeɪʃən
10. ˈstrɛŋθən ˈprɒbləm ˈsɒlvɪŋ ænd ˈkrɪtɪkəl ˈθɪŋkɪŋ skɪlz
11. lɜːn haʊ tuː meɪk ˈʧɔɪsɪz ænd dɪˈsɪʒənz
12. wɜːk θruː ˈdɪfɪkəlt ˈprɒʤɛkts
13. wɜːk æz ə tiːm
14. ʃeə rɪsˌpɒnsəˈbɪlɪti
15. ˈkɒmprəmaɪz tuː əˈʧiːv ðeə ˈkɒmən gəʊl
16. biː əˈkaʊntəbl fɔː ðeə ˌkɒntrɪˈbjuːʃənz tuː ðə gruːp

MEANING & USE

The collocations are adapted from an article on the importance of art education and introduced in its natural context.
The students can use these collocations to discuss the benefits of art-based subjects when writing or speaking.

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Assumptions
(5e) Assumptions about the learners’ knowledge, abilities and interests relevant to the aims and learning
outcomes of the lesson

 After spending a lesson prior to this one focusing on the strategies of IELTS writing task 2 and watching a video of
POWER writing plan, I assume that all students will have some knowledge of the procedure of writing an essay. Commented [A2]: The video can be found in this link:
 At the beginning of the course, I established some class rules (e.g. no phone use, no extended breaks) and routines https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUJV_okEACo

(such as a 10-minute freewriting at the start of each lesson) so I expect all students would comply with the
regulations.
 In their first freewriting, students expressed that they wanted to have more activities or games and not too much
homework, especially in mid-April when they will have exams at school, so I should not expect to assign take home
assignment this week.
 From prior experience of the learners, I assume they are more motivated to do a task when working in pairs or
groups, interacting with teaching props and under time pressures.

(5f) Anticipates and explains potential problems in relation to (a) the lesson’s aims and learning outcomes, (b)
the learners and the learning context, and (c) the equipment, materials and resources to be used

1. Looking at the syllabus, I know that the class will sit the mid-term test next week so the students should want to be
reviewed the strategies and given some practice and feedback to prepare for the test. However, this test coincides
with test exams at school, which means they will not have time at home to do homework, not to mention submit their
essays within this week and receive my feedback before the test next Wednesday.
2. The reading text is too long, which can discourage students in the reading race activity. The language of the article
can sometimes be informal (e.g. kids instead of children) so if being introduced the original version of the article, the
students will use similar informal language, which should be avoided in IELTS Writing task 2.

(5g) Appropriate solutions to the problems

1. Due to their hectic schedule and time constraint, the students need to be given in-class writing practice and timely
feedback from me within this week. While students are writing their essays, I will give students written corrective
feedback and made encouraging comments on their freewriting about their experience with some forms of the Arts.
2. The article is abridged and the language is adjusted to be more formal and academic.

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(5h) Suitably sequenced procedures and activities appropriate to achieving the stated overall aims and stage
aims
(5j) Assign realistic and appropriate timing for each stage and/or group of stages in the procedure

Time Stage name and aim Procedure Interaction

19.30- Warm up Welcome the students and hand out marked homework. Teacher-led
19.45 Freewriting Show 6 pictures (drama/ theatre, pottery, painting, singing/ music, elicitation +
To activate students’ photography, dancing) on the projector’s screen; ask them what presentation
schema and personal the pictures have in common.
interest in the topic of ‘the Acknowledge students’ answers, eliciting if necessary. Introduce
Arts’. the topic ‘the Arts’ and show the prompt for freewriting.
Have you ever…
painted/ drawn a picture?
performed on stage?
made something by your hand?
taken an amazing photo?
Write about that experience.
Students free write in 10 minutes about their experience with one Individual work
form of the Arts. This is the routine of the class so each student
has a notebook for freewriting.
19.45- Introduction Ask students what are the 4 question types in IELTS Writing Task 2 Teacher-led
19.50 Review the knowledge of (Discuss, Opinion, Problem – Solution, 2-part questions) elicitation +
IELTS Writing task 2 Show students the task: presentation
Introduce the essay type Some educationalists argue that non-exam, arts-based subjects
and language focus such as music, drama, art and craft, should be compulsory in the
secondary-school curriculum. They believe that activities such as
these can improve overall academic performance.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Ask them to identify the question type of the task.
Introduce the lesson focus: Opinion essay

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19.50- Planning vocabulary
20.00 Help students focus on the
topic and activate their
topical vocabulary resource
20.00- Planning and organising
20.10 ideas
Allow students to generate
their original ideas without
being spoon-fed ideas
Review the 5 stages in the POWER writing plan.
Step 1. Planning
Step 2. Organising
Step 3. Writing
Step 4. Evaluating
Step 5. Revising
Walk them through the stages.
Introduce the first step – Planning vocabulary Teacher-led
Distribute the handouts with the prompt. elicitation Commented [A3]: Please refer to the file named ‘Handout’
Ask students to underline the keywords in the prompt, identifying
the topic and the controlling idea of the prompt.
Topic: arts-based subjects
Controlling idea: should be compulsory in the secondary-
school curriculum as they can boost scores. Small group work –
Divide students into 2 groups by assigning numbers 1 and 2 to teacher controlled.
students. Each group works in 5 minutes to come up with the
paraphrases of the keywords.
In 5 minutes, 3 members of the groups take turn going to the
board and write the paraphrases.
Monitor and make sure that one group does not repeat the other
group’s words. After 5 minutes, check their words and award one
point for each correct paraphrase. Announce the winning group
and award stamps to the winning team (2 stamps) – the other
team (1 stamp).
Elicit the next step – Planning and organising ideas Teacher-led
Show pictures of 4 parties involved in the decision of incorporating elicitation
arts-based subjects in secondary curriculum.
Ask students to look at the pictures and use the discussion clock to
understand how different people feel about having the arts in
secondary curriculum.
Allow 5-minute for brainstorming, making sure students writes at Individual work Commented [A4]:
5

20.10- Providing in-put
20.30 Provide topical collocations
and background knowledge
least 1 idea for each picture.
Have students compare their ideas in pairs and learn good ideas Pair check
from their friends.
Remind the3 organisations of ideas: listing, tabling and mind Teacher-led
mapping. Ask the students to choose 2 or 3 ideas for each body elicitation +
paragraph and organise them into 2 body paragraphs. presentation
Meanwhile, teacher sticks the cards of headings on the walls of the Commented [A5]: Please refer to the file ‘Wall cards’.
classroom to get ready for the next activity.
Collect the handouts after the students have finished the activity.
Introduce the article ‘10 Reasons Why Arts in Education Is so Teacher-led
Important for Children’ and explain that they are going to play a elicitation + Commented [A6]: The original version of the article is found in
game called ‘Reading race’. Pair up students, ask them to read presentation the file with the same name as the article.

for the topic short paragraphs about the reasons why arts is important for
children and use the fly swatters provided to slap the
corresponding headings stuck on the walls around the class.
Use CCQs to check students’ understanding of the instructions.
1. What can you see on the projector’s screen? Do you see the
whole article? (A: No, just a short paragraph each time)
2. Do you read quickly or slowly? (A: quickly)
3. What do you do focus on? Details or main ideas?
4. What do you do when you know the main idea of a
paragraph? Do you say it aloud? (No, go find the
corresponding and use the fly swatter to slap on it)
5. Do you work in pairs or individually? (A: in pairs)
6. How do you work together? Who reads the paragraphs? Who
finds the headings? Who slaps the cards? (A: Both students
read and find the correct headings, the student holding the
fly swatter slaps the corresponding cards, the other student
can help find the location of the cards)
7. What do you do after each turn? (A: swap roles – take turn
holding the fly swatter and slapping the cards)

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 Run the activity. Monitor and keep the score. Award stamps for the Pair work
winning team. teacher controlled
Return the handout, direct the students to pages 3 and 4.
Tell students to complete the collocations in the article using the Pair work
phrases in the box. Students work out the answers in the same
pairs.
Meanwhile, stick the red and black cards facing down on the board
using BluTack.
Hold the mini game with cards and sticky balls to give feedback Pair work
and encourage students’ engagement. teacher controlled
Each pair picks a card to decide which pair goes first. When a pair
gives a correct answer, they can throw the sticky ball to hit a card
facing down stuck on the board to choose the points they will get. Commented [A7]:
Red cards mean subtraction and black cards mean addition.
Teacher writes the team’s names on the board and sticks the cards
to the corresponding team’s name to keep the scores. Totalise the
points, announce the winner and award stamps.
20.30- BREAK Encourage students to leave the room to drink or talk to each
20.40 other, and not glue their eyes to smartphones.
20.40- Practise writing Remind students of the structure of an essay. Ask them to develop Teacher-led
Commented [A8]:
21.10 Provide students the their ideas into sentences. Set timers for each part of the essay. elicitation +
opportunity to practise Remind students to allow 5 minutes for the introduction, 10 presentation
writing in class under time minutes for each body paragraph and 5 minutes for the conclusion.
pressure Distribute the handout with the writing template to ensure
students follow the structure of an essay. Ask students to take out
the handout of Opinion essay, point out some expressions as
examples so that they can refer to when writing the essay.
Commented [A9]:
Commented [A10]: Please refer to the file named ‘Essay
During this time, while avoiding any disruptions, teacher reads Individual work Template’
students’ freewriting, gives corrective feedback and made positive
Commented [A11]: Please refer to the file named ‘Opinion
comments. Essay’

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21.10- Evaluating The students use the Writing task 2 checklist provided to self- Individual work Commented [A12]: Please refer to the file named ‘Writing Task
21.20 Scaffold students’ self- evaluate and proofread their essay. 2 Checklist’.

evaluation
21.20 Revising and refining Allow 5 minutes for students to make necessary changes according Individual work
21.30 Develop the habit of editing to the criteria in the checklist.
an essay Collect students’ essays and the accompanying checklists.
Refection Give out the handout of the model answers and ask students to Commented [A13]: Please refer to the file named ‘Model
Encourage students to evaluate the model answers and identify the position of each answers’.

reflect own their learning essay/ introduction.

and progress Completely agree essay
Completely disagree introduction
Balanced position introduction
Balanced position essay
Ask students what they have learned in today’s lesson. Ensure that
each student does not repeat their friends’ ideas. Whole class
Hand out students’ freewriting, wish the students best luck in their discussion
mid-term test and end the lesson. Smile and say goodbye to them.