The “Used to” Lesson Plan

Main aim To develop students’ ability to talk about past habits using “used to” in the context of childhood and addictions. How will I know if this aim has been achieved? Students will, during the less restricted practice stage, use the target language with sufficient accuracy for their partner to understand their past habits.
Subsidiary aims To develop students’ ability to listen for the main ideas in a text. To improve students’ ability to talk about the topic of addictions by introducing an “addiction” lexical set.
Personal aims Give students more time to discuss in pairs after a listening activity before feedback.
Materials Realia – chocolate, cigarettes, coffee, a PC Pictures or short video clips of children playing on swings, dressing up for Halloween, studying at school. Listening CD and photocopies of tapescript from Language To Go Intermediate (Longman, 2002) lesson 11. Photocopies of handout for each student.
Anticipated problems and solutions Problem: Students may be unable to think of three things they did as a child but don’t do now on the spur of the moment. Solution: Provide prompts and examples if necessary. Problem: Students will not be familiar with “to give up”, to quit”, “to cut down on” in the listening text. Solution: Elicit these items in the context of addictions. Problem: Students will be unfamiliar with the pronunciation of “used to” – /juːstə/ Solution: Drill in affirmative, negative and question forms
Timing	Aims	Activity	Focus
8 mins	Lead in to set the context for the lesson and generate interest	Ss look at photos of children doing things Ss discuss whether or not they did these things in the past and whether or not they do them now Ss write three things they did as a child but don’t do now and give them to T	S-S-S
7 mins	Lexis to introduce vocabulary for listening stage	Ss look at coffee, cigarettes, chocolate and a PC Ss discuss whether or not they use these things, how often, and whether they can stop T elicits addict, addicted, addiction, to quit, to give up, to cut down on, willpower	S-S S-S T-Ss
10 mins	Listening to practice listening for gist	Ss listen to four people describing their addictions: Does the person have the same addiction as you? If not, what are they addicted to; Have they given up? Feedback on board	S Ss-T
12 mins	Presentation to introduce target language to manipulate form to provide restricted practice in using target language and standardise pronunciation	T elicits target language: - Did he smoke in the past? Yes - Once or many times? Many times - Does he smoke now? No “He used to smoke” T repeats with other examples and elicits negative and question T drills target language	Ss-T
10 mins	Less restricted practice to give students restricted practise in using target language	T writes on board one thing that each student used to do as a child Ss circulate, asking each other questions to find out who used to do what Feedback	T-Ss S-S-S Ss-T
3 mins	Less restricted written practice to provide a written record of the target language	Sts write 2 sentences about themselves and two about other sts using target language	S
10 mins	Authentic practice to give students authentic practice in using target language	T gives handout with prompts – last house, last job, appearance 10 years ago Ss circulate and ask and answer questions based on prompts	S-S-S

Assessment and Planning Process

Module 13 Step 2.1 - Individual work

What do you think are the benefits of preparing lesson plans?

Lesson planning produces many valuable benefits:

-         evoke some sort of pupil reaction,then teachers decide  whether to continue with the plan or to modify it as they go along;

-         helps the teacher work with confidence;

-         keeps the teachers and the pupils on track;

-         enable an observer evaluating the teaching to make that assessment against criteria that teachers have decided themselves;

-         helps the teacher meet the objectives;

-         anticipate potential problems;

-         enhances pupils’ achievement;

-         provide the road map and visuals in a logical sequence;

-         helps the teachers avoid unpleasant surprises;

-         encourages reflection and improvement;

-         provides guidance for a substitute teacher helps the teacher teach with confidence;

-         enables teachers to think logically through the content of the lesson before the lesson itself and prepare material and aids;

-         help teachers clarify the end point they intend to reach and also  

     set them free to go towards that point in the most appropriate  

     ways in class.  

A Wonderful Comenius Cooperation

Useful Links for Modern Techniques and Tools

Audacity

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/     

Survey Monkey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/ 

Skype

http://www.skype.com/intl/en/home 

Google Talk

http://www.google.com/talk/

ElluminatevRoom  

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3101 

FlashMeeting

http://www.learncentral.org/user/vroomreg   

Task 1.1 - The Internet as a Classroom Resource

Let’s consider the usefulness of the Internet as a classroom resource. Firstly, think about:

·        What is motivation?

·        What motivates you?

·        What motivates your students?  

Schools and classrooms are dynamic, interactive, social places, where teachers and students communicate, share information, and challenge each other' s ideas. Teachers guide student learning by posing problems, encouraging student questions, and offering opportunities for students to find solutions.

The resources and interactions in a classroom depend on the curriculum the class is working on and the beliefs of the teacher and school. There will be times when technology and the Internet make a lot of sense, and there will be times when technical resources are not needed.

Teachers, as always, should select the resources they think best suit their objectives. The Internet basically expands the resources available and decreases the time and location dependencies that can be limiting factors in schools.

It offers powerful and varied ways for students and teachers to interact, manipulate data, and conduct research. Consider some of the non-Internet resources that are traditionally available in schools: libraries, video, film strips, and CDs, to name a few.

Because of budgetary and physical restrictions, schools can only have so many of these. There are documents, artifacts, and books that students in a typical school will never be able to access. In addition, many schools are working with outdated textbooks and materials. But the Net provides access to an amazing number of constantly updated and expanding resources and an incredible wealth of information.

Teachers and students have that same opportunity on the Net today. Students can research information on the Web, discuss what they find with classmates or, if they're using e-mail, with students in another class or an expert in the field they are studying, and when they conclude their research they can publish their work on the Web. (However, effective use of this interaction and research opportunity depends on expert teaching. The range of resources and options students have access to on the Net is staggering. Specific focus and guidance from the teacher is critical.)

The Internet eliminates the need to be in the same place at the same time as the person or resource you are interacting with. There are technical requirements such as a computer with an Internet connection, but other than that, the world is at your door. The potential to have all the educational resources you need at home, at school, or anywhere you have a computer is now there.

This is not to say that the interaction and dynamic of a classroom are going away; rather, they are growing. Away from school students can ask questions that come to mind by sending e-mail to friends, teachers, or content experts. They can research materials at various Web sites and they can submit their work for review from anywhere at any time. The potential to expand students' learning time is tremendous.

Learn How to Create Your Own Podcast in 4 Easy Steps

Step 1: Create Your Content

       Your recording setup can be quite elaborate, even approaching that of a small radio station, or it can be as simple as an inexpensive headset or microphone bought at your local Radio Shack. Your investment will vary depending on what type of podcast you plan to create, and how professional you want it to sound. For most classroom applications of podcasting, you probably already have all you need to create a decent podcast.

       There are three types of podcasts:

     • Audio Only

       Most of the podcasts listed on iTunes are audio only.  They are easy to record and edit and require a very simple setup in terms of hardware and other equipment.  Audio processing requires much less power from a computer than video editing does.  In terms of recording equipment, all you need is a desktop microphone or a headset with a built in microphone.  You may even get decent results from the microphone built into your computer if you're using a laptop, but this option should only be used in a pinch because the built-in microphone will pick up a lot of ambient sounds including those coming from your computer such as the hard drive, etc. You can even set up a podcast where you conduct an interview with someone over the Internet using one of the many instant messaging programs that support voice chat.  A popular choice for podcasters is Skype, an application that allows you to make computer to computer phone calls over the Internet (using a protocol called Voice Over IP).  

     • Enhanced (with photos and chapter markers)

     • Video

        These podcasts are a little more expensive and difficult to create. Not only do you need a decent video camera to capture the video, but your computer also needs to be more powerful than with audio only podcasts. Video files are very large even after they are compressed, so you will probably have to invest on an external hard drive to store your files while you work on a video podcast. Video also takes longer to edit than sound. For editing your video content, you have a few choices. On the PC side, you can use Windows Movie Maker. This program is included with Windows XP, or you can download the latest version for free from the Microsoft website. The latest version of the iPod supports video.  iPod compatible videos can be created using the latest versions of Apple's video editing applications (including QuickTime Pro on Windows).

Step 2: Put the Content Online

        As a USF student, you have space set aside on a web server that you can use to host files, including audio and video files. You can also use a site such as Our Media to host your file. While Our Media allows you to use a form on a web page to upload your files, the USF blog requires you to install an SSH program before you can connect. You can download an SSH program for Windows from the Academic Computing site, which also has some instructional videos describing the procedure for using SSH to log into the USF web space. On the Mac, you can use a program called Fugu to connect to the USF web servers. Fugu works a lot like SSH, providing a drag and drop interface that shows your hard drive on one side of the screen and your folder on the server on the other side. You simply drag files from one side to the other to upload them to the server.

All videos are saved as .mov and require the QuickTime Player to view):

       •  Locate file on hard drive

       •  Upload file to server

Step 3: Create a Blog that Supports Podcasting

       Create a blog that supports podcasting. You only need to do this if you are not creating your own RSS file. The blog can create it for you. All faculty and students have free blog accounts already, courtesy of the fine folks at Academic Computing. You can set yours up by logging in to blog.usf.edu. Something to keep in mind is that the USF blog is a public blog. Every time you post something to your USF blog, it is also posted to Planet USF, a page that has the latest postings to all USF blogs. The USF blog also only supports .mp3 attachments for podcasts. While this is not a problem if you are doing an audio only podcast, it means you cannot do an enhanced podcast, which must be saved. There are many other free blog sites available on the Internet. A popular one is Blogger, which is owned by the search company Google. Whatever blog you use, make sure that it supports audio attachments.

Step 2: Attach Your Content to a Blog Post

        Attach the audio or video content to a blog posting. You'll create a new post and add a link to your audio or video file in the body. The link is a standard HTML link. If you are using the USF blog, you must include an absolute address.

        The USF blog  automatically generates a feed for you. The feed address is in the format http://NetID.blog.usf.edu/wp-rss2.php, where NetID is the user name you use to log into Blackboard and other USF sites.

        Once you've done all of that, you are podcasting. Anyone can subscribe to your podcast by opening up iTunes and selecting Advanced, Subscribe to Podcast and entering the address of your feed.