E extreme sports

1. LESSON PLAN
Extreme Sports
A. FACTUAL INFORMATION
• My name: Hui Ling Yang
• Day, date, and time of lesson: Monday, February 23, 2015, 8:30-9:45
• Grade and level of students: secondary 3, Special Education program
• Brief description of students: students of a adapt group, basic level, very challenging in
terms of classroom management, coming from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
B. OBJECTIVES AND PROBLEMS
• Topic area/theme: extreme sports
• General aim: The goal of the lesson is to create opportunities for students to practice
English in a meaningful way through oral interaction and reading. It also aims to instill the
spirit of teamwork in students as well as raise their awareness of safety when playing sports.
• Specific objective(s): By the end of this lesson, the learners will be able to have basic
conversations about extreme sports and the risks and protective equipment of extreme sports.
They will also be able to discuss measures for safety protection.
• Evaluation criteria: Competency 1 Interact orally will be evaluated. The teacher will be
moving around in the classroom to evaluate students during their discussion time. Students
will do peer-evaluation for Competency 2 Reinvests understanding of texts with the support of
the teacher. Students will also do self-evaluation to reflect on what has been learned.
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2. • Related content/essential knowledge:
– Functions: identification, interests, preferences, prediction, advice, suggestion
– Grammar/structure: which / what question, the Modals
– Vocabulary: extreme sports, health and well-being,
– Anticipated language: This is … I like…She prefers…They could…We should…
• Anticipated problems and solutions: Students may switch back to L1. The teacher will
supervise and remind students to use English only. Students may have difficulty doing peer-
correction. The teacher will explain evaluation criteria to support students.
C. COMPETENCIES COVERED
• ESL-specific:
Competency #1: Interacts orally in English. Students discuss in pairs or groups and using
planning skills to complete the task.
- Key Features: engages in oral interaction, constructs meaning of the message, expand a
personal language repertoire
Competency #2: Reinvests understanding of texts
- Key Features: constructs meaning of texts, cooperates, carries out a reinvestment task
• Cross-Curricular: Competency #2 – Solves problems.
Competency # 3- Adopts effective work methods.
Competency #7 – Achieve his or her potential
Competency #8 – Cooperates with others.
Competency #9 – Communicates appropriately
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3. D. MATERIALS AND AIDS
• Textbook: Snapshot by Cynthia Beyea, Helene Blanchet, Claire Maria Ford
• Workbook: Snapshot by Cynthia Beyea, Helene Blanchet, Claire Maria Ford
• Multimedia: smartboard, computer, internet,
• Handouts: the KWL Chart (Appendix 1),
the Extreme Sports List (Appendix 2),
the Extreme Sport Answer List (Appendix 3),
the Extreme Sports Ricks and Protective Equipment Chart (Appendix 4),
the Extreme Sports Ricks and Protective Equipment Answer Chart (Appendix 5),
the Checklist for Safety Preparation(Appendix 6).
E. STRUCTURE OF THE LESSON
Activity
And
Timing
What the teacher does? What the students do? Rationale
HOOK
2
minutes
3
Minutes
1. The teacher greets students and
explains that students will have
competitions in this class. She
emphasizes the spirit of
teamwork for competition.
2. The teacher asks questions about
extreme sports. She introduces
the KWL Chart. She asks
students to complete the K and
W sections of the chart.
Students complete the K
and W sections of the
KWL chart.
To boost students’
morale and create a
positive learning
environment.
To develop
students’ meta-
cognitive strategy
to monitor their
own learning.
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4. 5
minutes
3. The teacher introduces the first
competition: Watch and identify
as many as extreme sports as
possible. She plays for students
the video: Best Extreme Sports
http://www.henry4school.fr/Spo
rts/sports/extreme-
sports.htm#video. She will stop
the video at 3:00 minutes.
Students watch the video
quietly
To attract students’
attention and
connect them to the
learning content.
DEVELOP
-MENT
5
Minutes
10
Minutes
1. The teacher continues with the
first competition. She asks
students to work in pairs to
make the Extreme Sports List.
She explains the peer-evaluation
criteria. She distributes the
answer sheets of Extreme Sports
List.
She announces the winners of
the first competition.
2. The teacher models the use of
what and which by asking about
students’ interests. She elicits
the grammar rules from students.
Students work in pairs to
make the list. Students
do peer-evaluation.
Students work in pairs to
discuss interests and
preferences using what
and which questions.
To encourage
cooperative
learning by asking
students to
negotiate the
meaning of the
video and do peer-
evaluation.
To motivate
students to
continue learning.
To guide student to
pay attention to
language patterns
for improved
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5. 10
Minutes
20
Minutes
She asks students to find out
three things about their partners
by asking similar questions.
The teacher explains the focus of
C1 evaluation: accuracy. She
evaluates C1.
3. The teacher goes through the
pictures of extreme sports on
p.34 of the textbook with the
whole class.
She asks students to find the
definition of extreme sports in
the book.
She asks students to read sports
cards in the text and answer
questions.
4. The teacher asks students to read
3 latest extreme sports in the text
and highlight the risks and
protective equipment of each
sport.
She asks the class to read the
text together. She teaches
Students write down the
names of extreme sports
in the book.
Students decide the
definition of extreme
sports.
Students work
individually on sports
cards.
Students read the text
individually.
language accuracy.
To expand students
language
repertoire.
To deepen
students’
understanding of
extreme sports.
To develop
students reading
skills
To ensure students’
good
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6. 15
minutes
vocabulary in the text.
She introduces the second
competition: Complete the chart
of the risks and equipment of
extreme sports.
She asks students to do peer –
evaluation with the support of
the answer sheet. She explains
the evaluation criteria,
emphasizing the importance of
quality work.
She announces the winners of
this competition.
5. The teacher introduces the third
competition: make a checklist
for safety preparation.
She evaluates C1. She explains
the evaluation focus which is
participation and content for this
activity.
Students work in pairs to
look for specific
information in the text to
complete the task.
Students do peer-
evaluation.
Students work in groups
of three to make the
checklist.
understanding.
To encourage
students to use the
cognitive strategy
of scanning.
To develop
students’ peer-
assessment skills to
support each other
for learning.
To motivate
students to
continue learning.
To raise students’
awareness of safety
and develop their
ability related to
personal planning.
CLOSURE
5
1. The teacher wraps up the class
by asking the question “What
have you learned today?”
3. Students complete
their individual
KWL charts.
To develop
students’ ability to
monitor their own
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7. minutes She reminds students to use all
the worksheets they have used in
this class to complete the KWL
chart.
2. The teacher rewards the winners
of the competitions and
reinforces the value of
teamwork.
learning process.
To appreciate
students’ hard
work.
Appendix 1
Name_____________________________Group____________Date_________________
Know-Want-Learn Chart
K What do you know about extreme sports?
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8. W
What do you want to learn about extreme sports?
L
What have you learned today?
Appendix 2
Name___________________________Group_______Date______________
Watch and identify as many extreme sports as possible.
1.
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9. ___________________________________________________________________
2.
___________________________________________________________________
3.
___________________________________________________________________
4.
___________________________________________________________________
5.
___________________________________________________________________
6.
___________________________________________________________________
7.
___________________________________________________________________
8.
___________________________________________________________________
9.
___________________________________________________________________
10.
___________________________________________________________________
11.
___________________________________________________________________
12.
___________________________________________________________________
Appendix 3
Watch and identify as many extreme sports as possible.
1. snowboarding
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10. 2. surfing
3. skateboarding
4. skydiving
5. BASE jumping
6. mountain biking
7. deep-sea diving
8. motocross riding
9. auto racing
10. kayaking
Appendix 4
Name__________________________________ Group_______Date______________
Complete the information in the chart.
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11. Sport Protective Equipment Risks
Volcano
Boarding
BASE
Jumping
Limbo
Skating
Appendix 5
Complete the information in the chart.
Sport Protective Equipment Risks
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12. Volcano
Boarding
Board,
helmet
Head injuries,
Fractures,
bruises
BASE
Jumping
Helmets,
Shoulder pads,
Knee pads
Serious fractures,
death
Limbo
Skating No equipment
Scrapes,
bruises,
severe or fatal
injuries
Appendix 6
Name_____________________________Group____________Date_________________
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13. I would try ___________________________ if I have a chance.
Checklist for safety preparation
1. _____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________________________
6. _____________________________________________________________________
Reflection on the Lesson Extreme Sports
Lesson description
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14. The topic of this lesson was extreme sports. The goal of this lesson was to enable the students to
have basic conversation about extreme sports as well as their risks and protective equipments.
This lesson also aimed to instill the spirit of teamwork in students and raise their awareness of
safety when playing sports. This lesson was taught to a special education group of secondary 2. It
is a very challenging class in terms of classroom management. The students come from various
language and culture backgrounds; about half of them are English speaking.
What did I do that worked well?
 The hook activity of this lesson really worked well in that it got all students’ attention and
made them do the work. This activity asked students to compete in pairs to name as many
extreme sports as possible while watching a video clip of extreme sports compilation. This
activity was successful for three reasons. Firstly, I chose a topic that piqued students’ interest
so that I managed to connect them to the learning content quickly. When using students’
interest to plan learning activities, a teacher attracts students to learn rather than forcing
them. If students are attracted, they have internal motivation and are able to get involved in
learning at a deep level. Secondly, this activity was carried out in the form of a competition
which aroused students’ fighting spirit and created a positive learning environment. Actually,
the whole lesson was organized in terms of three competitions. This arrangement matched
the nature of sports which was the topic of the lesson; more importantly, it helped motivate
students along the course of the lesson. Thirdly, students needed to negotiate meaning
through oral interaction to decide the names of extreme sports in English. This meaning-
focused speaking practice allowed the students to experience authentic meaningful
communication in the target language.
 I gave time to each of the four strands of language learning. According to Nation, a well-
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15. balanced language course should consist of four roughly equal strands which are meaning-
focused input, meaning-focused output, language focused learning and fluency development.
My understanding is that time should be given to each language skill development even
though it is not necessary to provide the same amount of time to each skill. In this lesson, the
students had two occasions to have oral interaction to improve listening and speaking skills.
Besides the hook activity mentioned above, the closure activity asked students to discuss the
measures for safety protection in the extreme sports that they would try if they had a chance.
This lesson offered the students plenty of comprehensible input, that is, readings of extreme
sports cards and short articles which improved the students’ reading skills. Time was also
given to language-focused learning: the students learned the grammar point about how to use
the information words “which” and “what”. Students were asked to find out three things that
their peers were interested in by posing “which” and “what” questions. This grammar
activity guided the students to pay attention to language patterns for improved language
accuracy.
 I addressed the students’ language needs through teaching grammar and giving clear and
succinct instructions. As I explained earlier, half of the students in this class are English
speaking; however, they have no command of English grammar in general. Also, the other
half of the class who are not English were also confused by the words “which” and “what”.
Therefore, the teaching of the grammar point met the students’ needs to clear their
confusion. Moreover, as a group of special education, the students have difficulty understand
long instructions. So, I deliberately broken down the instructions, which I would use for my
regular groups, into small steps and have them shown on the board. The strategy of
presenting clear and succinct instructions visually facilitated the students’ learning by
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16. enabling them to understand what to do and how to do it in the class.
What do I still need to work on?
 I need to spend time in helping the students develop meta-cognitive learning strategies to
monitor their own learning. I used the KWL chart in this lesson which is a tool to help
students to reflect on what they have learned. Since it was the first time the students using
this tool and I didn’t explain the rationale behind it, the students didn’t take it seriously. As a
result, the KWL chart didn’t serve its goal. Meta-cognitive learning strategies need to be
taught explicitly, and students need practice them over time.
 I also need to work on finding solutions to classroom management problems. I had
anticipated that the students would have discipline problems, but I focused too much on how
to motivate them to learn rather than looking for solutions to classroom management
problems. Because the students were very excited when participating in the competitions I
designed, they became too noisy at some moments. I should have spent more time thinking
about classroom management as successful teaching comes down to the ability to deal with
students discipline problems.
Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2008). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking: Routledge.
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