Lessons Plans

Methodology

Science - Biology

Dr. Hilmi Doğan
Science Teacher
Yeniköy Ortaokulu/Turkey

Nature and Man

  • Berta Šinkūnaitė
  • Chemistry and Nature Teacher
  • Emilija Pliateryte  Progymnasium/Vilnius/Lithuania

Art, History and Lithuanian

  •  Karolina Norkienė
  • Senior Art Teacher
  • Emilija Pliateryte  Progymnasium/Vilnius/Lithuania

Writing a Formal Email

Level A2  

Aims: differentiate between registers, learn about their uses, be able to stick to a certain register 

Preparation: emails, written in formal and informal styles. 

1.Checking homework – an email to a friend about a journey. Revising details – ending, beginning, linking words, sentences (short, imperative) – 5 minutes 

2.Showing a formal email to see the differences ( written to a teacher). Reading aloud – 2 minutes 

Dear Mr Andrews, 

I am writing to explain the circumstances about my recent journey as you have asked me. 

My family and I departed from the airport on Monday, 13th October, at 13:35. The flight was perfect, there was no turbulence. However, we were not given any refreshments due to the covid measures. 

 As we landed, we checked in the hotel and immediately headed for the centre of Paris to see the sights. We visited the Eiffel tower, climbed to the top of it and took a lot of photos. After we walked for three hours, my father suggested we had lunch at one of the small cafes on the river bank. Although it was in the midafternoon, my family and I went on a guided tour, using the sightseeing buses. It was astonishing. 

The next two days we spent visiting museums but we did not go to the Louvre because of the overcrowding of this place. 

The journey back was uneventful either, however, we enjoyed the flight. 

I look forward to hearing from you. 

Yours sincerely 

Tom Jones 

  1. Discussing the similarities and differences – 2 min

-Do you write such emails? 

-Does the second email sound good?  

-What would you write your teacher about? 

-Compare the homework email and the given example and fill in the table 

Time for filling in-10 minutes 

4.Checking the table 

5.Discussing specific words – due to, however, sincerely – 3 minutes 

6.Noting the difference – Dear Sir/ yours faithfully and Dear Ms Smith/ Yousr sincerely 

  1. Correcting an incorrectly written formal email.- 15 minutes

Dear Sir or Madam, 

I saw your advert in English now. It sounds cool.Please, tell me more about the course, accommodation and food. 

The advert says you’ll find me somewhere to stay.Will this be with an English family , or with other students? It would be cool to stay with a family to practice my English with.  

What’s the food like? I’m allergic to milk, so I mustn’t eat things like icecream and butter. Do you have other things I can eat at the café? 

As I’m on holiday from 20 July to 3 September, I mustn’t miss any days at school, so I can’t do either of your 4-week courses. If I did the 10 August course for just 3 weeks, would it be cheaper? 

Thanks a lot for your help! 

Love 

Alex Novak 

  1. Giving a topic for a formal email – 25 minutes

Write a formal letter to Morsham College. Ask about 

 -sharing a bedroom( you don’t want to); 

– non sport activities;  

-excursions at the weekend. 

Add one more quiry to the email. 

  1. Reading emails and commenting on them – 10-15 minutes
  2. Feedback from the lesson

Bulgaria

Make a Difference

Main goals – understanding the purpose of a text; knowledge about production of our clothes; discussing ways to decrease pollution

Used source – Insight, level A2, lesson 10A – reading an article

 

1.Organizing the class -5min

-checking the homework

-discussing difficulties doing it

2.Revising vocabulary (clothes), brainstorming all the nouns. Talking about their preferences and the regularity of buying new clothes – 5 min

3.Reading/ scanning “The story of your T-shirt”, taken from a magazine. Discussing ideas about the possible reader, type of magazine. “What is the purpose of the text?” – information, motivation, explanation. – 15 minutes

-explain why people buy second-hand clothes;

-give information about environmental problems;

-encourage readers to change their habits.

Reaching the conclusion that the purpose of any text is what the author wants us to do in the end. Finding expressions that support the suggestions ( “our choice can make a difference, what’s the cost to the environment?, what’s the human cost?).

4.Reading for details – 10 minutes. Task – Find more information that can support the main purpose.

-prices at a sweatshop, shop, charity shop

-comparing lifestyles of all the people described in the article

-cycle of production

Checking the pair work

-Which particular fact is the most surprising for you?

5.Finding relevant and reliable information Working on their laptops individually – 10 minutes. Task -find new places and data about the topic ( producing T-shirts)

6.Using the data Students have found to try to figure out possible solutions to some of the issues, given in the magazine article such as water consumption, low wages, pollution. – 15 minutes; group work

Groups are small – 4 members, made according their vicinity in class. The outcome should be oral presentation.

7.Presenting the ideas to other students and voting for the best solutions – 15. Discussion and evaluation of the work

8.Closing the lesson. Giving homework

Bulgaria

Describing a Process

 Main goals: collecting information about a process, dividing into stages, comparing the stages, writing the description, using passive voice 

 

1.Lead-in 

Task – Imagine you have to explain how to open an email account to an elderly relative. Students have 2-3 minutes to divide the process into small steps and find the accurate way to explain logically and clearly.  

Feedback – several students give their instructions. Other students decide which one is the clearest and easiest to follow. 

2.Students are given 6 photos of different stages of producing chocolate (gathering cocoa, roasting, grinding the seeds, melting the chocolate, forming, packaging) and are asked to put them in the correct order. Pair work – 2-3 minutes 

3.Reading a text with a description of the process – looking for additional information, not given in the pictures – 10 minutes 

Chocolate was first created by Mayan Indians in Mexico about 2,000 years ago, but today it is eaten by people all over the world. The word ‘chocolate’ comes from the Aztec word xocolatl , which means bitter water. Dark chocolate can be bitter, which is probably why 70% of people prefer milk chocolate. This description will look at how the milk chocolate is produced. 

First of all, cocoa trees are grown in countries like Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria. 450 grams of cocoa is made from one tree per year. Cocoa beans are cut down from the trees. Next, they are put on banana leaves and covered. This is when the chocolate flavour develops.  

After a while, the beans are sun-dried, then they are packed into sacks. Later, they are transported to the factories all over the world. Before they are made into chocolate, they are cleaned, roasted and broken into small pieces. These pieces are made into a liquid and mixed with sugar and milk. Last of all, chocolate is made into chocolate bars and it’s ready to be sold in shops. What happens next we all know! 

Feedback- what is interesting, unusual or previously unknown 

4.Working with the description of a process given in the textbook, p.129. The text is about paper invention and the process of producing it – 10 minutes 

Discussing the similarities between the two descriptions – interesting facts about the invention of the product, then then stages of producing it. 

5.Praparing for the actual writing – 10-12minutes. Brainstorming ideas about what can be easily described. Deciding on the three best options. Time for looking up information about the chosen product and taking notes. Dividing the process into possible stages (orally). Thinking about the ways to end the description. 

6.Writing the description individually – 25 minutes 

7.Reading and commenting the texts – 10 minutes 

8.Feedback about the whole lesson 

Bulgaria

Lesson Plan – Review 2

Lesson plan – review 2, students book Insight , Oxford, level A2

Goals –  revising vocabulary, connected with geography,

            -clarifying the meaning of the terms,

          -differentiating between the Past Simple and Continuous tenses,

  1. Brainstorming – writing down different geographical places near Sofia (mountain, valley, river, plain, gorge, hill, cave, etc) in pairs -2min
  2. Reading the longest list and adding up more -2min
  3. Dividing the class into 6 groups in order to attempt to write definitions to different places – 5 per group 5-7min

Group 1                          Group 2                                Group 3                                Group 4                         Group 5

valley                              hill                                         dunes                                   cliff                                  plateau

mountain                      peak                                       plain                                     forest                              harbour

cave                               waterfall                               island                                    slope                               marsh

gorge                              lake                                      ocean                                    pond                               summit

range                              volcano                               delta                                      tribute                             boulder

  1. Exchanging the lists so that another group writes the terms to the given definition – 5min
  2. Making a mind map of geographical landmarks in Bulgaria (Boyana waterfall, Musala peak, etc.), writing the names of all the mountains, rivers, mountain ranges, nature reserves with sand dunes and endemic plants –  15 min
  3. Doing grammar exercises online, using the laptops provided by the school. The sites that are visited are https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple-past-continuous-exercise-1.html; https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple-past-continuous-exercise-2.html; https://www.english-grammar.at/online_exercises/tenses/t105-past-tense.htm -10min
  4. Closing the lesson- feedback, self-assessment

Bulgaria

German and Geography

LESSON’S TOPIC:

                             Integrated German – Geography lesson “greenhouse effect” (Treibhauseffekt).

AIM:

While listening to the Geography Teacher’s report on the greenhouse effect, make it easier to understand the German text on this phenomenon.

LEARNING TASKS:

  1. We will listen to a geography teacher report on the greenhouse effect.
  2. We will remember and discuss the causes of the greenhouse effect, discuss the consequences and ways to reduce this phenomenon.
  3. We will read the German text about the greenhouse effect, about the influence of man on it, we will choose keywords on this topic.
  4. We will watch a German educational video about the greenhouse effect, which will summarize the information obtained.

LEARNING METHODS:

                             analysis of information, its search in the German text, generalization of information.

MEASURES:

                             slides, text, pen, video https://youtu.be/7tEODAlOIZY, worksheet.

LESSON PROGRESS:

  1. Pupils watch slides about the greenhouse effect and listen to the teacher’s story on the subject.
  2. Students discuss with the teacher the causes, consequences and ways to reduce the greenhouse effect.
  3. Pupils together with the German teacher reads a German text about the greenhouse effect, translates it, finds the keywords and marks them.
  4. Students watch a German video that summarizes all the information received during the lesson.

EVALUATION (SELF-EVALUATION):

students’ ability to understand the German text on the topic of the greenhouse effect and the ability to identify the causes with keywords.

REFLECTION:

A discussion on how we can contribute to reducing the greenhouse effect.

Human impact on nature

  • People pollute the environment by using the earth’s goods, which has a negative effect on the atmosphere.

Atmosphere is changing

  • Atmospheric changes were previously thought to be temporary and not threatening.
  • In the late 20th century, it became clear that the state of the atmosphere was changing rapidly and could have serious consequences.

Greenhouse gases

  • Due to increased industrial activity, increased traffic fumes from cars and other vehicles, enlarge emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere: carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, methane.

Greenhouse phenomenon

(pagal laikrodžio rodyklę nuo kairės “Daugumą..”)

Most of the rays are absorbed by the earth’s surface and so do the same

A clean atmosphere lets in the sun

Some of the sun’s rays are reflected from the atmosphere and the earth’s surface

Part of the infrared radiation passes through the atmospheric layer, and the other part is absorbed by the “greenhouse” molecules and re-emitted in various directions. As a result, the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere are warming.

The earth’s surface emits and radiates infrared rays.

Greenhouse phenomenon

The greenhouse effect has led to a significant warming of the climate. Over the last hundred years, the average temperature of the Earth has risen by 0.5 degrees.

It is expected to rise another 1.4 degrees over the next 50 years.

  • Rita Vilkiene 
  • German Teacher
  • Emilija Pliateryte  Progymnasium/Vilnius/Lithuania