A.

STUDENTS and SETTING

Students
Fourth grade (ages 9-10); beginning ESL. Could be adapted up for older children. Some students
have come from refugee camps or have immigrated from other countries. Some students have never
used English before coming to the U.S., so the proficiency levels vary widely, but most have reached
at least a low intermediate level. Children have limited exposure to English outside of class, as they
live in an area with mainly other immigrants with different language backgrounds. There are 30-35
children in classes.

Setting
This is a public school where the teacher has the same students daily. English is practiced in 30-40
minute lessons every day. The teacher can build vocabulary from day to day with English lessons
and games.

B. LESSON BACKGROUND
Students are learning about migrations within and to their country. They are reading short books,
stories, and poems in English about migration, some of them written by children their own age. In this
lesson, they will begin the process of deciding on a story on which to base a play about immigration.
Students have already done some group activities and so are familiar with the process of being
assigned to a group, and working with a recorder who reports back. The students will be placed in
groups of 4.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES/EXPECTED RESULTS

This is the initial lesson in a series of activities leading to students creating a play about immigration
and some of the hardships immigrants encounter, based on one of the texts they have read. They
will enactthe play for their classmates. They will be able to use new vocabulary words appropriately,
e.g., travel, journey, building a boat, hardship, etc. Their oral performance of the play will
be evaluated by their peers and by the teacher. The lesson will have added value in allowing
students the opportunity to express their fears and the emotional and physical hardships they may
have encountered, and allow all students to understand more fully what others have experienced.

D. MATERIALS and SOURCES

Materials
Paper and pencil. Books and other texts with stories of migrations. During this initial lesson, students
will decide which story will be the basis of their skit. Handout made by teacher.

Sources/Resources
DiVito, A. and McGovern, A. (1960). . . . If you sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. New York:
Scholastic.

Scholastic. (2014). Meet young immigrants. [Website]. Retrieved

from:http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/young_immigrants/

U. S. Department of State, Office of English Language Programs Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs. (2013, June 13). Shaping the way we teach English: From observation to action: Primary:
Young learners: Unit 5 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlSLJjDMu8s

U. S. Department of State, Office of English Language Programs Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs. (2009, January 15). Shaping the way we teach English: Approaches to language teaching:
Foundation: Module 2: Building language awareness [Video file]. retrieved
fromhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-LkN-Pm_zA

E. PROCEDURES / TIMING
Choose either the table format (if you use a .pdf file) or the list format (for .txt files).

Table Format - OK to PDF

Students do/say . . Approximate
Teacher does/says . . .
. Time Needed
Has written some important vocabulary words Respond with 10 min.
on the board, e.g., immigration, journey, something about
hardship, etc. the stories they read
Says: Today we are going to start making a
play. I will put you in groups and you will
choose one of the stories we read to act out.
Think for a minute about which story you liked
best and what you would like to say about it.
Calls on one or two students to say which story
they liked and why
Encourages students to use English in replies
Writes more vocabulary words as students speak
Assemble in groups
at a table made of
Places students in groups of 6-7. 5 min.
desks pushed
together
Asks students to choose a recorder to write
down what the group decides; recorder is given Choose a recorder
5 min.
paper with directions (see Handout) once he/she for each group
is chosen
Says: Now each person says which story you
would like to do and why. You can all agree, or
you can vote on your favorite. I will come
around to help you.
Circulates around groups to make sure a story is
Take turns saying
chosen and that each student has a chance to
which story they 10 min.
talk; groups may be changed if students can’t
want to do and why
agree on a story
Determines which students have difficulty
discussing a story; he/she will investigate later
whether students are having problems with the
reading or with speaking
Recorder reports
Returns to front of the class and asks each group back for group until
to say which story they will do; groups do not all groups have 10 min
have to pick different stories reported their
choices
Says: Very good. Next time we will decide who
Recorder turns in
will play which roles in the story. Please make
handout with
sure that everyone has a part to play.
names.
Recorders, please give me your paper before
you leave.
List Format - for .txt files
Teacher does/says . . .
Has written some important vocabulary words on the board, e.g., immigration, journey, hardship,
etc.
Says:
 Today we are going to start making a play. I will put you in groups and you will choose one of the
stories we read to act out. Think for a minute about which story you liked best and what you would
like to say about it.
Calls on one or two students to say which story they liked and why
Encourages students to use English in replies
Writes more vocabulary words as students speak
Students do/say . . .
Respond with something about the stories they read
Approximate Time Needed: 10 min.

Teacher does/says . . .
Places students in groups of 6-7; lower level students are placed with higher level students who can
help them
Students do/say . . .
Assemble in groups at a table made of desks pushed together
Approximate Time Needed: 5 min.

Teacher does/says . . .
Asks students to choose a recorder to write down what the group decides; recorder is given paper
with directions (see Handout) once he/she is chosen
Students do/say . . .
Choose a recorder for each group
Approximate Time Needed: 5 min.

Teacher does/says . . .
Says:
Now each person say which story they would like to do and why. You can all agree, or you can
vote on your favorite. I will come around to help you.
Circulates around groups to make sure a story is chosen and that each student has a chance to
talk; groups may be changed if students can’t agree on a story
Determines which students have difficulty discussing a story; he/she will investigate later whether
students are having problems with the reading or with speaking
Students do/say . . .
Take turns saying which story they want to do and why
Approximate Time Needed: 10 min.

Teacher does/says . . .
Returns to front of the class and asks each group to say which story they will do; groups do not
have to pick different stories
Students do/say . . .
Recorder reports back for group until all groups have reported their choices
Approximate Time Needed: 10 min

Teacher does/says . . .
Says:
Very good. Next time we will decide who will play which roles in the story. Please make sure that
everyone has a part to play.
Recorders, please give me your paper before you leave.
Students do/say . . .
Recorder turns in handout with names.

HANDOUT

Name of Recorder:

Names of other people in your group:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Which story will you do?

Please return this paper to your teacher at the end of this class.

F. ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
For this class period, the teacher will make a note of which students can talk about one of the stories
or poems. He/she will help students with vocabulary and phrasing as they speak to the group. During
learning station time, she will check individually with students who didn’t speak up in the group to be
sure they have read a story and can say a few words about it. The teacher uses a simple checklist of
student names to keep track of which students have spoken in the group.

G. REFLECTION
This lesson integrates previous readings with speaking in a small group. So it integrates different
skills: reading and oral performance. The lesson includes alternative assessment during the group
activity and later when I speak individually with students who did not speak up. (There is no testing at
this stage.) This will help me find out which students need more help with reading or speaking
assignments. I will keep track of the students who have spoken up in the groups and those who need
more help, and check later in the term to see how they are progressing