Lesson Plan

Class: PEDAL Level 2 Topic: Effective Communication DATE: 10/20/2023 Teacher: Lillian Wei & Qianyu
Lesson Rationale:
This is the fifth two-hour in-person class for PEDAL Level 2 intermediate students focused on a topic requested by the majority of our students in
their exit tickets. In response to their keen interest, we’ve designed the class to explore advanced communication strategies and sentence
structures. The students, already familiar with each other, show a high level of engagement and a willingness to interact. This session is higher in
difficulty and addresses practical skills such as conversing with other parents and composing formal emails to superiors. The aim is to enhance
students’ proficiency in everyday communication scenarios, reflecting their direct input and learning needs.
Lesson Objectives:
1. SWBAT conduct a 3-minute free talk in pairs on various topics (hobbies, traveling, Christmas plans, etc.), demonstrating active listening
and questioning skills. This includes using newly learned sentence structures for showing agreement and attention (e.g., ‘That’s great,’ ‘I
agree,’ etc.), expressing empathy (e.g., ‘I’m sorry to hear that…, etc’), and asking relevant ‘Wh’ questions (e.g. ‘Where…? When…?
What…?’')
2. SWBAT evaluate the appropriateness of 5 single and multiple-choice questions in different scenarios that test conversation with purpose
in pairs by identifying the three factors: power, social distance, and degree of imposition.
3. SWBAT work in pairs to identify and correct elements of informality in a given email. They will practice rewriting the starters (e.g.,
‘Dear…’, ‘I hope you are doing well…’), body paragraphs, ending phrases (e.g., ‘I look forward to hearing from you soon…’), and
signing off (e.g., ‘Best regards’, ‘Sincerely’) to transform the email into a formal tone.

Strand Activity Stages Key language forms/ functions Resources/ Time

Materials

Meaning- Warm-up N/A Slides: 8 mins

focused ● Ts greet and welcome Ss; Ts encourage Ss to greet one
LP#2_Effective
Input another
Communicatio
● Ts take attendance
 ● Ts tell Ss today’s topic: Effective Communication n
● T1 shows a short video clip with miscommunication
and asking giving questions to start the session: “Now,
you will see an interesting video, try to find out did
they successfully communicate? If not, what caused the
miscommunication?” These question invites Ss to …
● After playing the video, Ss are encouraged to respond
by either raising their hand or speak the answer directly.
This inclusive approach ensures that all Ss can actively
participate with their comfortable way of
communication.
● T1 can pose reflective questions like, “Have you
experienced a similar situation? How was it resolved?”
to relate the video’s content to real-life experiences.
● T1 acknowledge Ss’ participation and engage Ss in a
quick interactive activity where they briefly pair up and
share a personal experience of miscommunication,
discussing what went wrong and how it could have
been handled better.
● T1 then outline today’s agenda
○ Oral Communication
■ Casual conversation (small talk)
■ Conversation with purposeful
○ Written Communication

Meaning- Oral Communication - Small Talk Vocabulary: 15 mins

focused Pre-stage 1. Small talk
input ● T2 transits to the first topic of this class (oral 2. Conversation with purpose
(small communication) by saying: “To avoid
talk) miscommunication in our daily lives, today, we are Grammar:
going to learn how to effectively communicate with Show agreement & Attention:
others”. That’s great!/That’s sound
● T2 first introduces two main types of oral interesting!
 communication, casual conversation (small talk), and I love it too!/I enjoy…too!
conversation with purpose. T2 gives a brief definition I totally understand!
explaining the important point of each type of oral Really?
communication. I agree!
● After introducing the concept of two types of oral I can relate to that.
communication, T2 provides concrete examples from
daily life. Show empathy:
○ For small talk, examples include chatting about I am sorry to hear that…
the weather with a neighbor or discussing I can imagine how tough you
weekend plans with a colleague. are…
○ Conversation with purpose involves asking a
supervisor for clarification on a work task, or a Sample follow-up question
teacher discussing a S’s progress with their starter:
parents. Where?...
● T2 then plays a video of a sample small talk with What?...
transcript on at normal speed to solidify Ss’ When?...
understanding of small talk Why?...
○ T2 asks Ss to pay attention to the overall Who?...
structure and the way they talk, such as their How?...
topics, the characteristics of small talk, and
whether the sentences are formal or informal.
● After playing the video, T2 invites Ss to share their
observations about the small talk featured in the video.
T2 acknowledges the Ss’ contributions and smoothly
transitions to the next step to introduce the
characteristic of small talk by saying, “Thank you for
your insightful observations. Same like what you said,
small talk’s characteristic is…”
○ Light and superficial
○ Informal and relaxed
○ Open-ended questions
 ○ Non-verbal cues
○ Shared information
○ Time-limited
During-stage (Topic)
● After discussing the characteristics of small talk, T1
prompts Ss to consider what topics are regarded as
good or bad for small talk in their home countries and
whether these topics are also acceptable in the U.S.
● Ss are invited to share their culture. To better illustrate,
T1 shares a personal story about how discussing one’s
age is often considered very sensitive in Asian cultures
but is generally not as sensitive in Western countries.
This example highlights cultural differences in small
talk topics and opens the floor for Ss to share and
compare their own experiences and cultural norms.
● T1 displayed some good topics and bad topics on slides
with reasons and examples to Ss
○ Good topic: Weather, Interests/Hobbies, Work
Sports (current match or games…), Family
(general questions, not private matters),
Holidays (where / when, not too much), Media
(movie /book /TV shows), Hometown (where
you come from?)
○ Bad topic: Politics, Religion, Money (Salary -
how much do you make?), Age (disrespect for
women in some cultures)
● T1 then introduces three key strategies with appropriate
sentence structure with sample sentence to maintain
small talk effectively
○ Show Agreement & Attention: Demonstrating
active listening and agreement to keep the
 conversation flowing.
○ Show Empathy: Expressing understanding or
shared feelings to deepen the connection.
○ Ask ‘Wh-’ Questions: Encouraging the other
person to elaborate and continue the
conversation.
○ Ss are invited to read the sample sentence out
loud to show their engagement
Post-stage
● T1 smoothly transitions to the next activity by saying,
“Now that we know some techniques, let’s put them
into practice and have some real small talk.”

Meaning Small Talk Activity Topics for 15 mins

Focused Pre-stage small talk
output ● T2 explains the activity, highlighting that Ss will
engage in real 3 mins small talk using the three
techniques they’ve learned.
● T2 illustrate the pair formation: Ss will randomly
choose different small talk topics, such as weather, pets,
Christmas plans, hobbies, and hometown, pairing up
with someone who chooses the same topic.
● Ts provides a demonstration using ‘weather’ as a topic,
with T1 and T2 modeling a brief conversation. This
demo’s script is included in the slides and will show to
Ss when Ts are doing the demo.
● After demonstration, T2 allows each S to randomly
select a question from a question bank and pair up
individually.

During-stage:
 ● Pairs engage in small talk based on their chosen topic
for 3 minutes. They are encouraged to add any related
topics to expand the conversation.
● Previously discussed sentence structures are provided
as printed guidance.
● When Ss discuss, Ts circulate, offering support and
observing the use of small talk strategies, providing
elicitation and guided questions as needed. Also,
encouraging quieter Ss to participate and offering
support to those who might be struggling.

Post-stage
● Ss are invited to share whether they successfully used
the three strategies we learned, what went well, and if
they encountered any challenges or miscommunication
○ T2 prompts discussion: “What techniques did
you find most useful?” and “How did you
overcome any conversational challenges?”
● T2 concludes by summarizing key points and
transitioning to the next activity, saying, “Having
practiced casual conversation, let’s now explore more
purposeful conversations and their dynamics.”

Meaning- Oral Communication - Conversation with Purpose Vocabulary: 15 mins

focused Pre-stage 1. Power
Input ● T1 briefly revisits the difference between small talk 2. Social distance
(conversa (casual, less structured) and conversation with purpose 3. Degree of imposition
-tion with (goal-oriented, structured). T1 emphasize that we will
purpose) focus on communication with purpose in the following
part
● T1 introduces three factors important for effective
 communication for purposeful conversation with
specific definition and example scenario:
○ Power (influence or authority one speaker has
over another, boss vs friends)
○ Social Distance (the relationship or familiarity
between speakers, professor vs mother)
○ Degree of Imposition (how demanding or
inconvenient a request is, borrow $5 vs
$10,000).
During-stage
● To better illustrate, T1 gives a sample scenario about a
person who wants to ask his colleague to help him take
his shift. Ss are encouraged to individually identify the
power, social distance, and degree of imposition that
showed in the scenario and give answer to whether the
sentence he said is appropriate
● Ss share their answer either by raising their hand or
directly speak the answer out loud.
○ If a S gives a wrong answer, T1 may provide
elicitation as corrective feedback, such as
prompting, “Consider the relationship between
the two people. Is ‘need to’ appropriate here?”
Post-stage
● T1 provides the correct answer to the question and
acknowledges the Ss’ participation, even if they got the
answer wrong.
● T1 transitions to the next activity by saying, “After you
learn the three important factors for being appropriate
in a purposeful conversation, let’s look at more
scenarios to see whether you’ve fully mastered it.”
Meaning- Conversation with purpose activity: Scenario 22 mins
focused Pre-stage Discussion
output ● To start the session, T2 give instruction of the activity
Answer:
○ Instruction: T2 illustrates to Ss that they will Scenario
first read 5 scenarios with single and multiple- Discussion
choice questions in pairs and identify potential
power, social distance, and degrees of
imposition that the scenario has and evaluate
whether the sentence that the people said is
appropriate or not.
● After T2 gives instruction, T1 Distributes the printed
scenario handout to each S
● T2 do a demonstration by giving answer to the first
scenario in the handout step by step
○ First, reading each sentence out loud to S and
orderly identify the power “balance between
customer and server”, social distance “neutral”,
and degree of imposition, “standard request of a
blueberry muffin”.
○ Second, evaluate the degree of appropriateness
of the customer’s sentence “I am really sorry to
trouble you…” is too polite and give an answer
of “much too polite” to the question.
During-stage
● T2 divides the Ss into pairs and each pair reads the
scenarios and gives answers to each question.
○ Ss have 8 mins to finish the handout
● When Ss works on the handout, Ts circulate around the
classroom to make sure every S is working on their
handout and answering Ss’ questions about the scenario
and questions.
 Post-stage
● After Ss finish, T2 invites various Ss to share and
explain their answers instead of directly showing the
correct responses.
○ If a S gives an incorrect answer, T2 uses
elicitation and repetition as corrective feedback
methods. For example, T2 might ask, “Let’s
think about the setting of this interaction. How
might that influence the social distance or
degree of imposition in the conversation?”
● Ts acknowledge Ss’ participation and encourage them
by explaining that there are not completely right or
wrong answers for these questions, but rather it’s about
understanding and applying the concepts of power,
social distance, and degree of imposition in various
contexts.

Break Time! 5 mins

Meaning- Written Communication - Email Grammar: 20 mins

focused Pre-stage
Starters:
input ● T1 transitions to the topic of written communication
like “After we talk about spoken language, let’s now ● (Addressing the person)
&
look at how we write effective emails.” Hi____/Dear____
Language
● T1 firstly displays a standard email sample and asks ● How are you?
-focused ● I hope you are doing well.
learning volunteers to label the parts of the email to assess Ss’
● Hope this email finds you
prior knowledge and notes which parts Ss are already well.
(email) familiar with. ● Thanks for the quick
● Seven parts: T1 introduces the seven parts and focuses response.
more on teaching the parts that are not mentioned by ● Thank you for your email
Ss. about..
 ○ Address the recipient, starter, purpose, body, ● I wanted to reach out to you
closing, sign off, address the writer about…
● Three components: T1 then concludes the three main ● I’m writing this email to…
components of a good email and shows example
Ending Phrases:
sentences for each.
○ Starters, ending phrases, and signing off ● I look forward to hearing
During-stage from you.
● See you soon!
● T1 provides an example of a formal and informal email ● Please let me know if that’s
and encourage Ss to do the comparison and find out the okay.
seven parts and three components in each email, also ● Please feel free to contact me.
the differences between informal and formal email. ● I look forward to seeing/
● Ss are invited to share any differences they find from meeting you then.
the two emails, including use of words (Hey/Dear, ● Thanks for your
understanding.
could you please/can you…), format (no signing off for
● Have a good
informal email), and level of formality (Best day/evening/break!
regards/Thank you)
Post-stage Sign off:
● T1 summarizes six aspects of defining a formal email Best,
○ Structured format, polite and respective tone, Best regards,
professional language, clear and direct, seven Regards,
Thank you,
parts, power, social distance, and degree of
Sincerely,
imposition. Best wishes,
● T1 transits to the next activity by saying, “Now that Kind regards,
we’ve discussed formal and informal emails, let’s See you later,
practice transforming an informal email into a more Take care,
formal one.” See you soon,
Thanks,
Happy Friday,
Have a good weekend,

Meaning- Activity: Rewrite an email Rewrite an 15 mins

focused Pre-stage email
output ● T2 provides a printed example of an informal email and
a handout with polite phrases and formal email
structures that covered in the previous class.
● T2 gives instruction of the activity
○ Ss will firstly work in pair changing the current
informal email to a formal one by using the
provided handout as guidance. And then share
the result with your preferred partner.
● T2 does a brief demonstration before the activity begin
○ T2 choose the first sentence of the provided
informal email, for example, changing “Hi
Davis, sorry for the late reply?” to “Dear Davis,
I apologize for the late reply.”
During-stage
● As Ss work on rewriting the email, Ts circulate around
the classroom to answer any questions Ss might have
about formality, appropriate language use, sentence
structure, and the use of polite phrases.
● After Ss finish rewriting the email, T2 instructs each
pair to swap their work with the adjacent pair and then
share each other’s results with the whole class.
○ During this sharing, T2 uses elicitation as
corrective feedback, such as “Let’s consider
how the tone of this sentence could be altered
to sound more formal,” or “Great use of
professional language here, but how might we
make this request clearer?” give compliments
to Ss contribution
Post-stage
● T2 summarizes this activity by emphasizing the
 importance of using formal emails as a polite way to
communicate with individuals who hold more power,
such as bosses or older people, and in formal contexts.
● T2 acknowledge everyone’s contribution by pointing
out that if the sentences are clear and polite, the
communication will be effective.
Differentiation
Increase complexity:
 Ask Ss change the email to specialized fields like
technical, legal, or academic, where formal language
includes jargon or specialized terminology.
Decrease complexity:
 Offer a simpler, more straightforward informal email
with very clear elements to formalize, for example,
“Hey”, “Cheers”, “What’s up”…
 Provide more printed structured guidance, such as a
checklist of specific aspects to change (e.g., 1. replacing
casual greetings with formal ones…).

N/A Wrap-up Exit ticket 5.pdf 5 mins

● T1 initiates a review by asking Ss to summarize what
was covered in the lesson. This encourages reflection
on the day’s learning.
● After Ss responses, T1 highlights any missed key points
and reiterates the main objectives.
● T1 distributes exit tickets for Ss to ask questions or
share thoughts about the lesson, with Ts addressing
these inquiries.
● Ts express gratitude for the Ss’ participation and
remind them about the details (date, time, and location)
of the next class.
Anticipated Problems & Contingency Plan:
- Time management may be an issue due to the in-person format.
- Possible solution: for the activity “rewrite an email”, if no time permits, we will make this activity a homework assignment for
students to practice. We want to make sure they have abundant time to talk about the previous two activities.
- Technical issues may occur and navigation would require extra time.
- Possible solution: Ts will come to the classroom 30 minutes earlier to set up.