First Graded Post: Lesson Plan.

Topic: Current Issues around Us

Language Skill: Speaking

Level of Students: Intermediary – Form 1 or 2

Time: Brief explanations will take 10 minutes, the discussion or conversation will take about 30 minutes and the presentation will take 20 minutes; totaling up to 1 hour.

General Objectives of lesson:

(a)   to acquire and improve speaking skills

(b)   to help widen the students’ vocabulary

(c)    to encourage and help shape the students’ critical thinking skills

(d)   to encourage students to be more responsive in a conversation

(e)   to encourage students to be more aware of the current issues around them

(f)     to help improve the students’ interaction skills

Computer Assisted Teaching Aid: Skype (Video Conversation)

Procedure:

Part One: Introduction and Instructions.

Steps by the Teacher

What the students are expected to do

Time: 10 minutes       Mode: Teacher to class                          Steps: 1.      Give an introduction to the students on the topic of discussion, which are the current issues around us.                               2.      Provide examples of the current issues, like abuse of women, the pouring of acid on random people, and so on. Ask the students for their examples 3.      Explain to the students the activity of the lesson; that they will be randomly given a topic of discussion and they would have to discuss it with another student from a different school in a different state in Malaysia through the use of the online video conferencing software, Skype. 4.      Provide the end goals that need to be met at the end of the discussion; such as the causes, effects and solutions to the problems. Tools: No tools needed in this part.

1.Students would need to listen attentively.     2. Students will answer the question pertaining to other examples of the current issues around us.      3. Students will then ask questions, should they need to.

Part Two: Activity

Steps by the Teacher

What the students are expected to do

Time : 30mins        Mode: Student to Student                                       Steps: 1.       The teacher will ask the students to go to the computer and double click on Skype. 2.       The teacher will then ask the students to click the name in the contacts listed in the Skype software. 3.       The teacher will ask the students to click on the video icon. 4.       Once the video on both sides is activated, the students are then asked to start the conversation with the other students from the different school and then discuss on the issue given. 5.       The teacher will then give them 25 minutes to discuss and reach the end-goals that they were asked to reach. 6.       The teacher will then tell them that the video conversation is recorded and will be evaluated. 7.       The teacher will then tell them that they are welcomed to ask questions. Tools: The computer software, Skype.

1.The students will comply with the teacher’s step-by-step instructions.      2.The students will then get to know the other students that they are about to have a discussion with.    3.The students will rely on their conversational skills and test their speaking skills when discussing the matter at hand.     4.The students will then attempt to reach the end-goals given within the allocated time. 5.      The students will then ask the teacher questions, should there be any.

Part Three: Presentation

Steps by the Teacher

What the students are expected to do

Time: 20 minutes       Mode: Student to class                           Steps: 1.      The teacher will ask the students to roughly jot down their points derived from their previous discussion via Skype, the online video conferencing software, and prepare for the presentation.                            2.      The teacher will call on the students one by one and ask them to present their points. The points presented and the conversation between the students via Skype needs to tally. 3.       The teacher will then wrap up and ask the students to properly write their points in an essay and hand it in in the next class. Tools: No tools needed in this part.

1. The students would need to jot down their points derived from the previous discussion via the online video conferencing software, Skype.       2.The students will then prepare for an impromptu presentation on their topics that they have discussed.     3.The students will then have to write the points derived from the discussion in an essay and hand it in during the next class.

Evaluation:

The evaluation will be done in two parts. The first part will be during the conversation itself. Since the video conferencing is recorded, the teacher will then analyze the speaking, interaction, critical thinking skills and level of vocabulary of the students. The teacher will then take into consideration their awareness of the issues around them, deduced from the conversation itself.

The second part of the evaluation is during the presentation. The teacher will evaluate the students’ the speaking skills during the presentation and compare it to the one during the conversation.

Reflection:

In any lesson plan, no matter how perfect, there will be shortcomings as we are not perfect. The shortcoming in this lesson plan would be the limited time allocated for each part. The idea to use Skype and having a presentation in the one-hour class might be a little too ambitious. Many things could go wrong in the activity part of the lesson where Skype might cause problems and the lesson would be disrupted. The lesson plan also assumes that the students are participative, in which in the event that they are not, then other problems would arise and cause a disruption in the flow of the lesson. Wallahualam.