The curricular plan
It was designed to help our English teachers establish a scope and sequence of lessons and learning outcomes that are suitable for the particular characteristics of EBA students and classes. And the curriculum also complies with the requirements of the Peruvian National Curriculum and the EBA Curriculum based on the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR). Depending on the English class time that EBA students take in a school year, it can cover two levels: A1 and A2. So, they can leave the school as a basic user.
A1 and A2 levels are divided into four levels: A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, and A2.2. These levels correspond to the EBA grades in Advanced level.
In 2017, the whole EBA students start with A.1.1 curricular plan, even though they are in 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade. All the teachers work the same lesson plans.
Each level is further divided into four units, which span approximately two or three months of classes. Each unit contains 13 or 16 sessions of 45 minutes in 7 or 8 weeks each.
The focus is on the function of the language rather than the form, and the functions are related to classroom interaction, interactions with foreign visitors and, most importantly, work contexts. This is very important to keep in mind as you work with these lessons. One of the leading principles of adult education (andragogy) is that “Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance and impact to their job or personal life” (Knowles, 1980).
The role of an EBA teacher who is responsible of teaching English
The EBA English teacher’s role is to effectively teach the correct usage of the English language in speaking and writing and to help students develop their language skills. The teacher should be able to use alternative teaching strategies when necessary. In addition to classroom management tasks, English teachers make their students interact with others in different kind of activities and offer exclusive time to use English in a real context, he or she may organize extracurricular student clubs.
The lesson plans
Each lesson is planned for 45 minutes of class time and addresses a single topic related to work situations or to day-to-day interactions within the classroom community. They are based on functions and make use of the present, practice, produce approach (PPP) to language teaching and are designed to be learner centered, interactive, and participatory, which are crucial to motivating our students and to making our classes memorable and meaningful.
Segments of the lesson plans
Learning outcomes
This is what you want your students to be able to do at the end of your session. It is important that everything you do during the lesson is leading toward this outcome. Learning outcomes are actions that are practical, achievable, and measurable.
Specific skills / content focus
These are the vocabulary and/or grammar structures that the student will have to use in order to perform the function included in the learning outcome. Remember, these are not the focus of the lesson, but is rather secondary material that must be taught to achieve the primary goal, which is being able to perform the function.
Aims, materials, time
The aims section specifies the objectives of each activity. The activity aims are included not only so that you, the teacher, will understand why you are doing each activity and how it connects to the learning outcome, but also so that if you have a different activity that you like to use that meets the same objective, you can replace the one suggested in the lesson plan.
The materials that are underlined and in bold are included in the resources file for that lesson.
With such short lessons, it is important that you try to manage the time as strictly as possible. Set time limits for activities (for example, “Ok, you have 4 minutes to finish this activity! Go!”) and be strict about them.
Warm-up
Most sessions begin with a warm-up. These are games or activities that serve to raise energy, help our students to “change the chip” and get ready to speak English. Sometimes they review previous material or briefly introduce the topic of the day, but sometimes they are just for fun, to motivate our students to learn, participate and interact in class.
Activation of previous knowledge. This might be a short activity, or it might just be a series of questions from the teacher that establish the previous knowledge upon which the day’s lesson will build.
Lead-in
This might be a short activity, or it might be a series of questions from the teacher in relation to a photo or a statement. It introduces the topic of the day’s lesson and shows students that there is a need to learn that topic. It is usually connected to the activation of previous knowledge in that it communicates that the students know how to X, and today they are going to learn X+1, i.e. a little bit more than they knew before.
Presentation
This is when the students are exposed to the new material they are going to practice that day. Remember, this is not a grammar lesson. The lessons are based on functions. During this segment of the lesson, for example, students might learn how to perform certain functions in English (e.g. asking for help with something, asking what something means in English, giving directions in the street), including the expressions they need to use, what those expressions mean, and how those expressions are pronounced.
Practice
During the practice phase of the lesson, the students work with one another to practice the language presented in the first phase in a relatively controlled manner. For example, students might practice a written dialogue in various different ways. This segment of the lessons allows students to learn and practice language that has been provided to them without much variation, so that they feel confident enough about using it that they can open up and experiment a little more in the upcoming production segment.
Production
This is the freer practice segment of the lesson in which the students have the opportunity to experiment with the language introduced that day and to make use of whatever linguistic resources they already have in order to communicate. This is the most memorable segment of the lesson, and therefore one of the most important. Students have the opportunity to personalize the language in this segment, moving from speaking in generalities in the practice segment to their specific realities in this segment.
Assessment of learning outcomes
This is how you determine whether your students have achieved the learning outcomes established in the curriculum. The most common assessment tools are rubrics and checklists.
Self-assessment
This is just a quick question or series of questions in English (and, at least during the first few units, in Spanish as well) about what the students’ perceptions of the lesson that day: what they learned, how they felt, or what they liked or disliked.
Resources
Every lesson plan comes with all of the materials that are needed for the lesson. Care has been taken to limit the number of photocopies required for each lesson, with, for example, two worksheets printed on each page whenever possible (you will have to cut these in half). Because the lessons are designed to be active and memorable, there are a lot of games and cards among the resources. It is a good idea to print these and either glue them to thicker paper or laminate them for future use.
There are some audio recordings included among the resources. These can be downloaded onto a cell phone and, with the help of a speaker, played to the class.
The assessment tools are also included among the resources. The checklists are general, so they can be printed once and used to evaluate the outcomes of several different lessons.
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