Lesson Plan Assignment

TSL645: Reading in ESL/EFL Instruction

Student: Joely Rogers

Date: October 25, 2010

Professor: Dr. Christopher Miles
 About the Class

Subject: English as a Second Language

Course: ESL Reading – High Intermediate
Grade Level: Adult/Post-Secondary
Students at a local Community College
Focus: Vocabulary and Comprehension
Day (s): Monday, Wednesday & Friday
Duration of Meeting/Lesson: 60 Minutes
 Texas Adult Education Standards and
Benchmarks for ESL Learners

Standard 3: Reading - Read With Understanding

– Determine the Purpose for Reading
– Select reading strategies appropriate to the purpose.
– Monitor comprehension and adjust reading
strategies.
– Analyze the information and reflect on its underlying
meaning.
Texas Adult Education Standards and
Benchmarks for ESL Learners continued……

Vocabulary and Language Structure

 3.6 - Demonstrate increased knowledge of everyday
and some specialized vocabulary in preparation for
transition to other educational programs.
Locating Information
 4.6 - Locate information in a variety of text and
graphs using increasingly complex strategies.
Comprehension
 5.6 - Comprehend, interpret, and draw conclusions in
a variety of more complex texts and documents.
 Prior to the Lesson

 This is a fictitious adult ESL high intermediate

reading class, which meets from 10-11AM on
Monday, Wednesday & Friday. The focus of the
class is on vocabulary and comprehension. It is a
fast-paced class. Each week they perform in-class
exercises designed around a reading passage and
have a take home activity. The students had their
first assessment last week on Units 1 – 5. Today is
Monday and the students are beginning Unit 6 –
Halloween.
 Lesson Overview

This lesson plan was inspired by Unit 6 – The Mid-Autumn Festival in

the book “Reading Advantage 4” by Casey Malarcher. I obtained
an authentic text about Halloween from History.com and condensed it
to 674 words. A rationale for each in-class activity is included in this
lesson overview. The cloze exercises were loosely inspired by those
in Francoise Grellett’s book “Developing Reading Skills”; however, I
felt that Grellet’s exercises were too difficult for intermediate level
students and modified my own accordingly based the information
about the C-test in Aebersold & Field’s “From Reading to Reading
Teacher” book. I have included a proposed schedule for lesson. This
is meant as guideline only given that it require may more than 60
minutes to complete the entire lesson.
Lesson Overview continued…

The ‘Before You Read’ questions are based on the

principles of metacognitive awareness guidance.
MCAG is a tool that uses spoken or written
language to link associated items with the task at hand
(Guterman, 2002, p. 285). MCAG is set of statements or
questions designed to engage students’ metacognition
about the reading task at hand. In ‘Before You Read’
students answer 3 questions about Halloween with purpose
of activating their background knowledge about it before
reading the passage.
Lesson Overview continued…

The ‘Target Vocabulary’ exercise is based on the

benchmark for Texas Adult education that requires
students to “demonstrate increased knowledge of
everyday and some specialized vocabulary in preparation
for transition to other educational programs” (Heinle Cengage
Learning, n.d.). Since this is a class of adult college students whose
goal is to transition to a 4-year university, the specialized
vocabulary for this class will be words found in the Academic Word
List. I used Lextutor’s text-based concordancer to analyze the
reading passage. From the analysis I selected 13 words, which
appear on the Academic Word List found in Norbert Schmitt’s
“Vocabulary in Language Teaching” book, to use as the target
vocabulary for the lesson.
Lesson Overview continued…

Students must comprehend the ‘Reading Passage’ well

enough answer questions afterwards. In addition, the
instructors asks students to locate the target
vocabulary they just went over, which may be in a
different form, i.e. traditional instead of tradition,
touching on the benchmark for Texas Adult education
that requires students to “locate information in a variety
of text and graphs using increasingly complex
strategies” (Heinle Cengage Learning, n.d.).
Lesson Overview continued…

The ‘Reading Comprehension’ questions are

based on the benchmark for Texas Adult
education that requires students to
“comprehend, interpret, and draw conclusions
in a variety of more complex texts and
documents” (Heinle Cengage Learning, n.d.).
Lesson Overview continued…

The ‘Vocabulary Reinforcement Parts A & B’ exercises

are a combination of reinforcement and assessment.
Part A tests to see if the students can recall the meaning of the
target vocabulary out of context by selecting the correct multiple
choice answer. Part B is a modified version of a cloze test called
the ‘C-test’ where one letter of the correct answer is placed at the
beginning of each blank. This is done to speed up the process of
finding the correct vocabulary word for in-class assignments. For
an actual assessment, I would use a combination of multiple
choice, regular cloze exercises and short answer questions.
Today’s Lesson: Halloween
 Outline of Lesson
 10AM – Greet class & introduce topic.
 10:10AM – Put ‘Before you Read’ questions on overhead; ask
students to take 5 minutes and answer the questions. Pass out
‘Target Vocabulary’ and ‘Reading Passage’ handouts while
students are working.
 10:15AM – Ask students to turn over ‘Target Vocabulary’
handout; put copy of ‘Target Vocabulary’ on overhead; find
meanings together as a class.
 10:25AM – Ask students to turn over ‘Reading Passage’ and
take 10 minutes to read it and underline any words that
resemble the target vocabulary. Pass out ‘Reading
Comprehension’ and ‘Vocabulary Reinforcement Parts A & B’
handouts.
 Outline of Lesson continued…
 10:35AM – Put ‘Reading Comprehension’ on
overhead; find answers together as a class.
 10:40AM – Students fill out ‘Vocabulary
Reinforcement Parts A & B’ as individuals; suggest
they use their ‘Target Vocabulary’ and ‘Reading
Passage’ to answer; OK to finish at home if they
need to.
 10:55AM – Explain homework assignment; ask
students to bring ‘Vocabulary Reinforcement Parts A
& B’ to the next class to go over as a group.
 11AM - Dismissed
Before You Read

Answer the following questions.

1. What do you know about Halloween?

2. Does your country have any type of celebration like

Halloween? If yes, describe it.

3. Do you celebrate Halloween? If not, would you like to

celebrate it? If so, how would you celebrate?
Target Vocabulary
Match each word with the best meaning.

1. Approximate a. a story, belief or custom

2. Area b. an object used to represent something
3. Enormous c. nearly but not exactly the same
4. Eventual d. to let go
5. Immigrate e. to say in advance (what one believes will happen)
6. Incorporate f. to have or take a share with others (activity)
7. Occur g. to take place; to happen
8. Participate h. to combine; to bring together into a single whole
9. Predict i. to come to a new country
10. Release j. final; in the end
11. Similar k. of great size or number
12. Symbol l. part of the earth’s surface; region
13. Tradition m. to come near to; to be almost the same as
 Reading passage adapted from the
article “Halloween” at http://
www.history.com/topics/halloween

Reading Passage

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain

(pronounced sow-in). The Celts lived approximately 2,000 years ago
in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern
France and they celebrated their new year on November 1st. This day
marked the end of summer and the harvest season and the beginning
of winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.

The Celts believed that on October 31st, the night before the new year,
the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead opened,
and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth to either visit their loved
ones, or cause trouble. The living welcomed the spirits home with food
and drink, or they lit bonfires and carried lanterns made from hollowed-
out turnips carved into faces to keep spirits away.
Reading Passage continued…

In addition to causing trouble, the Celts believed that the

presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Celtic priests,
called Druids, to make predictions about the future. On the night of
October 31st, the Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people
gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts dressed up in costumes, typically

consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each
other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth
fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred
bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

1 dress up/dressed up – to put on nice or formal clothes; to dress up in

a costume.
Reading Passage continued…

The Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory

by A.D. 43. They ruled Celtic lands for approximately four
hundred years and it was during this time that two festivals
of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic
celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the

Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the
dead by leaving offerings on graves. The second was a day
to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees.
The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this
celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of bobbing for
apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
Reading Passage continued…

Christianity eventually spread into Celtic lands and in

the seventh century Pope Boniface IV designated
November 1st as All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints
and martyrs. The celebration was called All-hallows or
All-Hallowmas (from Middle English “Alholowmesse” meaning All
Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to
be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

Later the church would make November 2nd All Souls' Day, a day
to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big
bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels,
and devils.
Reading Passage continued…

The celebration of Halloween was brought by the European

colonists to America. It did not occur on any particular night, but
they kept alive certain Halloween traditions and in the fall they had
“play parties” where they told stories, gossiped, and danced. Due
to the famine of 1820 and harsh devastation in 1846, a million Irish
Catholics immigrated to America. The Irish celebrated Halloween
and All Saints Day. Children carved pumpkins instead of turnips
and dressed up in secular costumes, going house-to-house
looking for handouts, later called “treats.” Some children played
pranks, later called “tricks.” On November 1st farmers might find
wagons on barn roofs, front gates hanging from trees, and cows in
neighbors' pastures.
Reading Passage continued…

Modern day Halloween has become an enormous

commercialized celebration in which both children and adults happily
participate. Billions of dollars are spent on costumes, candy,
decorations and food for parties. The movie industry also takes
advantage of this time of year by releasing a whole new crop of scary
movies like “Paranormal II.” Children still trick or treat on Halloween in
their own neighborhoods. However, it has become increasingly
popular for parents to take their children to local schools, malls, zoos
and museums where volunteers pass out candy and other treats to
the excited youngsters.

2 pass out – to give to many people; to hand out.

Reading Comprehension

Circle the letter of the best answer

1. What is the best title for this passage?
a. The History of Halloween
b. Ancient Roman Holidays
c. Why the Irish came to America
d. The Druids
Reading Comprehension continued…

2. When is Halloween held?

a. It changes every year.
b. November 1st
c. The first day of autumn
d. October 31st
Reading Comprehension continued…

3. The passage does not mention…

a. ghosts
b. vampires
c. angels
d. apples
Reading Comprehension continued…

4. According to passage, which of these

statements is NOT true?
a. The Celts carved turnips.
b. Druids were priests.
c. Irish children carved pumpkins.
d. The symbol of Pomona is the orange.
Reading Comprehension continued…

5. Which of these statements about Halloween is

true?
a. Halloween is a big commercialized celebration.
b. It was started in Germany.
c. Only children dress up in costumes.
d. It lasts for two days.
Vocabulary Reinforcement

A. Circle the letter of the word or phrase that

best completes the sentence.
1. The ___________ number of students at
that school is 5,000.
a. general
b. approximate
c. precise
d. exact
Vocabulary Reinforcement
continued…

2. The bald eagle is one of the _________ of

America.
a. traditions
b. animals
c. symbols
d. signs
Vocabulary Reinforcement
continued…

3. Fortune-tellers say they can _________ the

future.
a. understand
b. incorporate
c. fix
d. predict
Vocabulary Reinforcement
continued…

4. John decided not to ___________ in the

school play.
a. attend
b. participate
c. watch
d. open
Vocabulary Reinforcement
continued…

5. Judy’s new dress is ________ to the one I

bought last week.
a. similar
b. different
c. almost
d. occur
Vocabulary Reinforcement
continued…

6. The parole board decided to ________ the

prisoner early because of good behavior.
a. immigrate
b. complete
c. release
d. keep
Vocabulary Reinforcement
continued…

7. The popularity of marijuana may lead to its

_________ legalization.
a. possible
b. careful
c. eventual
d. never
Vocabulary Reinforcement

B. Complete the passage with the correct form of items

from the box. One item is extra.
symbol, occur, dress up, enormous, eventual, tradition,
immigrate, pass out

Modern day Halloween is an e________ celebration

that was brought to America by European i__________.
Halloween o_______ each year on October 31st. It is
t__________ to d_______ in costume for Halloween and
visit friends and neighborhoods who p________ ‘treats.’
The pumpkin is one of the s_________ of Halloween.
 Homework Assignment

Instructions: Use the library or Internet to locate

an article on a holiday or celebration from a country
other than your own. Read the article and summarize
the history, traditions and symbols of the celebration in
3 or 4 short (3-4 sentences) paragraphs. Be sure to
include how it is celebrated today and be prepared to
read your summary to the class.
 References

 Guterman, E. (2002). Toward dynamic assessment of reading:

Applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading
assessment tasks. Journal of Research in Reading, 25(3),
283-298.

 Heinle Cengage Learning. (n.d.). Stand Out correlation to

Texas adult education standards and benchmarks for ABE ASE
and ESL learners. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from
http://eltmedia.thomsonlearning.com/correlations/TX_adulteduc
ation_level6_to_Stand_Out_5_complete_12052008.pdf
 Sources

 Aebersold, J. & Field, M.L. (1997). From reader to reading teacher. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

 Grellet, F. (1981). Developing reading skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

 History.com. (n.d.). Halloween. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

 Lextutor. (n.d.) Text-based concordancer. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from

http://www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/text_concord/

 Malarcher, C. (2004). Reading advantage 4 (2 nd ed.). Boston: Thomson Heinle.

 Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.