Barriers to Education Mini-Lesson Plan

VTFT Student Name: Izzy Fernandez Date Lesson Will be Taught: 3/17

Lesson Topic
(your barrier)
ESL (slides linked)
Objective/ Students will identify causes, preventions, and treatments of common
Learning Target barriers to learning.

“Start” the lesson by greeting everyone, introducing the topic of

today’s lesson, and asking questions in Japanese. After a few
seconds/a minute, switch to English and ask if anyone could
understand that. Then re-greet and re-introduce the topic and the
lesson in English.

“みんなさん、おはようございます。今日は三月１７日で、お天気は晴れで
す。お元気ですか、みんな？
さあ、今日私たちは英語がに外国語についてならいますよ。だれが英語を話
せますか？手をあげてください。
分かりますか？私のことばが分かるなら、手をあげて。”

*Maybe call on some students after asking a question, just to really

Intro/Hook/Warmup immerse them in that uncomfortable feeling of not understanding.
What will you do to get
the attention of the class [Translation: Good morning everyone! Today is March 17th, and today
& introduce them to this the weather is nice out. Is everyone doing alright?
lesson? (Time: 2-3min) Well, today we’re going to be learning about English as a Second
Language. Who here speaks English? Raise your hand!
Do you understand? If you understand what I’m saying, raise your
hand.]

The idea is to show how it can be quite confusing to experience class

when you don’t understand your teacher at all.

Introduce some questions to reflect on the “class greeting”

● How did you feel? How did you react in the moment?
● Could you understand any of what I was saying in Japanese?
● If my entire lesson were in Japanese like the greeting, do you
think you could keep up? Why or why not?

Body of Lesson
List activities.
Use “Students will…” &
“Teachers will….”
Include lecture, activity,
discussion, etc. but not
hook or closure again.
(Time: 5-7min total.
Lecture portion should
be 2-3min at most!
Make sure to schedule time
for class to copy notes or
answer questions. ☺)
Closing
What will you do to finalize
the lesson?
(Time: 1-3min)
1. Students will learn the acronyms associated with ESL (ESL,
ESOL, ELL, and LEP)
2. Students will identify the 4 goals of ESL in a small guessing game
3. Students will learn about factors that influence ELLs’ fluency
and challenges they face / Teacher will lecture shortly on these
factors and challenges
4. Students will guess the top 10 most commonly spoken
languages in ESL students’ homes through a Family Feud style
activity (about 1 minute in length)
5. Teacher will lecture briefly on the makeup of ESL students’
race/ethnicity and the percentage of public school students in
ESL by state
6. Students will answer a few discussion questions about the
Family Feud activity and the statistics
7. Teacher will lecture briefly on the 4 types of ESL programs and
strategies and techniques to use when teaching ESL
8. Lastly, students will answer a few more discussion questions
about their own preconceptions about ESL, what they learned,
and if they would ever be interested in being an ESL teacher.
Additional statistics were found here!
“Whether or not you become an ESL teacher, it’s important to
understand the diversity of backgrounds that your students come
from and how you can best work with them despite any
cultural/language barriers. Use this information for future students
and in day-to-day life as well!”
Share the message that it’s important to understand where students
are coming from (figuratively and literally) when they may be
struggling with the English language. It’s also important to have this
attitude not just with students but with anyone else you may meet as
well!