PHASE 1 SAMPLE LESSON PLAN - CHILDREN/YOUNG LEARNERS

Note: You can download all of the Phase 1 Lesson Plan files: the assignment, template
instructions, template, rubric, and sample lesson plans as a single compressed (zip) file:
https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/shaping1landscape/week2/phase1_lesson_plan_files.zip
or download each file individually from the Phase 1 Lesson Plan Project Assignment page:
https://class.coursera.org/shaping1landscape-
002/wiki/phase1_lesson_plan_project_assignment

Based on a lesson from

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

A. STUDENTS and SETTING

Students
Fourth grade (ages 9-10); beginning EFL. Could be adapted up for older children. Some
students have come from refugee camps or have immigrated from other countries. 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. TEACHING OBJECTIVES
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 enact the 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.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Phase 1 Sample Lesson Plan - Children/Young Learners - Week 2 Page 1
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
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-LkN-Pm_zA

E. PROCEDURES / TIMING
Choose either Option 1 (Table format if you use a .pdf file) or Option 2 (List format for .txt files).

Option 1: Table format (good for PDF)

Teacher does/says . . . Students do/say . . . Approximate

Time Needed

Has written some important vocabulary Respond with 10 min.

words on the board, e.g., immigration, something about the
journey, hardship, etc. 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

Places students in groups of 6-7; lower Assemble in groups 5 min.

level students are placed with higher at a table made of
level students who can help them desks pushed
together

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Phase 1 Sample Lesson Plan - Children/Young Learners - Week 2 Page 2
Asks students to choose a recorder to Choose a recorder 5 min.
write down what the group decides; for each group
recorder is given paper with directions
(see Handout) once he/she is chosen

Says: Now each person says which Take turns saying 10 min.
story you would like to do and why. which story they
You can all agree, or you can vote on want to do and why
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

Returns to front of the class and asks Recorder reports 10 min

each group to say which story they will back for group until
do; groups do not have to pick different all groups have
stories reported their
choices

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.

Option 2: List format

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.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Phase 1 Sample Lesson Plan - Children/Young Learners - Week 2 Page 3
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.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Phase 1 Sample Lesson Plan - Children/Young Learners - Week 2 Page 4
 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
[Sample - your self-evaluation will be different] This lesson integrates previous readings with
speaking in a small group. So it integrates different skills: reading and oral performance. The
lesson includes formative assessment during the group activity. (There is no testing at this
stage.) This will help me find out which students need more help with reading or speaking
assignments.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Phase 1 Sample Lesson Plan - Children/Young Learners - Week 2 Page 5