lesson plan London sights

1. Date: 03.03.2015 Grade: VIII
TeacherName: GramaStella Subject: English
1. Topic-
Famous Sights of London
(Country Study Section, Students’ Textbook, page 76)
2. Content-
royal residence, crown jewels, chimes, to evolve, spectacular, to conquer, inmate, graffiti, traitor,
raven, warden, yeoman warder, beefeater, icon;
3. Competences and Subcompetences-
Spoken Interaction
2.4. Participating in oral conversations on a familiar topic and producing responses to simple, direct
questions, repeated or reformulated by a cooperative interlocutor.
2.6. Applying the strategies of producing spoken messages.
Listening
1. 2Understanding the general meaning of an oral message.
Written Interaction
4.5. Arranging relevant information from a text on a familiar issue into a scheme.
Culture
7. Describing famous sights of Great Britain/London
Community Area
2. Identifying cultural symbols from the English-Speaking countries.
4. Objectives-
O1- Students will identify at least 5 symbolic icons that reveal English culture.
O2- They will compare the British symbols to the ones that reflect Moldovan culture.
O3- They will explore and trydifferent web-learning tools.
O4- They will discover which places are worth being visited in London.
O5- They will make a presentation of their digital posters.
O6- They will practise making choices and bring arguments to support their decisions.
5. MaterialsandAids-
Teaching aids:
- web-teaching tools - http://edu.glogster.com, www.pinterest.com,
www.visuwords.com, http://www.proprofs.com/, http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
http://www.teach-nology.com/)
- worksheets, icon lists, digital posters, notebooks, interactive whiteboard or TV screen, video “The
Tower of London” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6iUU9wbM3k), textbooks.

2. 6. Procedures/Methods-
Individual work, association, brainstorming, guided discussion, think-pair-share, group-work, online
project, filling in, multiple choice, listening for specific information.
7. The Develoment of The Lesson
A. Evocation
Elicitation
Greet students and call the register. Then show them some pictures representing both British and
Moldovan cultures (e.g. The Statue of Stefan cel Mare, a monastery, a bunch of grapes, The London
Eye, The Changing of The Guards, a red double-decker bus, etc.). Do not give too many hints.
Students will have to continue the list later. Ask them to explain what they have in common. Possible
answers:
- They all reflect elements of culture.
- They represent Moldova and Great Britain.
- They are symbols/symbolic icons that reveal two cultures: British and Moldovan ones.
Think-Pair-Share
Share worksheets to students (worksheet 1). Give clear instructions to them. They have to think for a
minute about symbols that represent England to them. Then, they have to share it with the partner.
When they are ready, they will work in groups of 3-4 students and decide on top 5 English Icons and
top 5 icons of our country. When presenting their priority lists to the class, they have to comment on
their choices.
Making Choices
Tell them they will continue working in teams. Let them choose a name for each group.
Teach them how to access the web tool www.pinterest.com. You might create an account beforehand
and let them sign in. Show them a pin-board collection. Then teach them how to create a new board
“British Icons”, and pin an image on it. Then ask each group to choose any two symbol icons of Great
Britain on the internet and pin them on the board by themselves. Let them visualize the board again
when completed.
B. Realization of Meaning
Introducing Vocabulary
Ask each group to choose a vocabulary card (worksheet 2). They will have to check the meaning of
the words and choose the definition that might possibly refer to the topic. They will explore the web
dictionaryhttp://www.visuwords.com/. Take time to listen to each group, help them if needed.
Besides enhancing vocabulary, they should feel encouraged to use an online dictionary.
Listening for specific information.
Tell studentsthey have to answer some questions after listening to the video “The Tower of London”,
and also take a quiz online. Let them read the questions (write them on the board beforehand):
- What was the original purpose of the Tower of London?
- How many towers does the Tower of London have? Which one is the most famous?
- What are the wardens of the Tower of London called? In this way students will be motivated to
listen attentively, taking notes if necessary.
Listening Comprehension.
After watching the video, discuss the answers to the pre-listening questions. Give them the link to the
quiz: https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/preview.php?title=the-tower-of-london .

3. Let them sign in using the name of the group. They will work in groups as the
quiz is not quite simple and some students might fail taking it. While working in groups they will feel
more confident and safe to share answers with the others.
C. Reflection Stage
Making Presentations
Students will present the digital posters they worked with during the vacation. Allot time for each
presentation: 4-5 minutes. Share rubrics to the other students. Allow time for students to skim them
so that they know what they have to evaluate while listening to the oral presentations.
When the presentations are over, those who presented the posters will evaluate the quality of their
own works. Give them the rubrics on digital posters for self-evaluation.
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=PrintRubricDownloadFile&rubric_id=2516660&
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&module=Rubistar&rubric_id=2516664&
Feedback and Peer Tutoring
Put some pictures with sights of London upside down on teacher’s desk. Make sure all the places of
interest were discussed in class. Each student will choose a picture and name three things they learned
about the place during the lesson. (e.g. the Tower of London, The Houses of Parliament, the Tower
Bridge, London Zoo, The British Museum, Nelsons’ Column, Queen’s residence, etc.)
Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-
For those students who have a quick grasp of the material and usually perform such tasks in no time,
you might prepare a differentiated task. When they show signs they are ready, ask them to collaborate
with those students that would like some help. This is called peer tutoring. It motivates and
encourages mutual help and social interaction.
Summation
- What famous places would you like to visit if you had the opportunity to visit London? What new
vocabulary have you learned? Students draw conclusions.
D. Extension
Homework
1. Fill in the spaces with the words on the right. Summarize the text in 4-5 sentences using active
vocabulary (worksheet 3).
2. Take the quiz online (give your full name) by the next lesson:
https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/preview.php?title=london-sights-definite-article-the
If needed, e-mail me at: stellagrama9@gmail.com and I will gladly share the aids with you.
My pinboard: https://www.pinterest.com/stellagrama/famous-sights-of-london/
Evaluation-
Collect the completed rubrics, comment on students’ activity and let them mention what they
liked/disliked about the lesson. Later check the results of the quiz.
8. Teacher Reflection- (to be filled in after the lesson).