SaraFrankEDUC388Lesson#1

TeachingVocabularythroughFiction

OverviewTargetAudienceandContext:SixthgradeESLstudentsatHollandEastSchoolLearnerLevel:Readingata2ndgradelevelClassSize:12students(teachingtoasmallgroupofthreestudents)ClassLength:54minutes(teachingforonly30minutes)Terminalobjectives:Studentswillbeableto:

• Usethewordthewordcrazyinaconversationwithanotherstudent.• Comprehendthestory“TwoCrazyPigs”byansweringquestionsaboutthe

text.Enablingobjectives:Studentswillbeableto:

• ReadthetextTwoCrazyPigsaloud• Summarizeorretellthestory• Buildtheirvocabularyknowledgebydefiningthewordcrazybyusingitina

sentence,givingexamples,andsharingantonyms(completingthe“FourSquareMap”

• Practicetellingastoryusingthewordcrazy.• Takeareadingcomprehensionquiz(SRC)

Materials• TwoCrazyPigsbyKarenBermanNagel,IllustratedbyBrianSchatell• “Four-SquareMap”worksheet• ChromebooktotakeSRCquiz

TimeandMaterials

Procedures

3-5min.

TwoCrazyPigsbook.

IntroductionandPriorKnowledgeActivation• Welcomestudents,checkinwithlearnersandseehowtheyare

doing.• Introducestudentstothebookwearegoingtoread.• Askstudentsiftheyhavebeentoafarmbefore,oriftheyhave

seenapig(totriggerpriorknowledge).10-12mins.

AppendixA(TwoCrazyPigsbook.)

ReadAloud• Passoutbookstostudents• Tellthestudentstheywillrotatebetweenreadingtwopages

aloud.• Readthestoryallthewaythrough• Pauseatthepointwherethefarmerkicksthepigsout.

• Askstudentswhythefarmerkickedoutthepigs.• Askhowtheotheranimalsfeelaboutthetwopigsleaving.

15mins

AppendixB(Vocabulary“Four-SquareMap”)

AppendixC(Vocab.“Four-SquareMap”

completed)

PostReadingRetell(Check/ConfirmComprehension)• Leadaquickretellofthestoryaskingquestionslike…

“Whatkindofpigpendidtheotherfarmersgivethepigs?”“Whocametovisitthepigsattheirnewhomefarm?”

VocabularyIntervention• Explainvocabularyactivitytostudentsusingthe“Four-Square

Map”• Choosethevocabularywordcrazyandwritethatinthecenterof

theworksheet.Tellstudentstodothesameontheirownsheet.• ThenfillinthefoursquareslabelingthemasDefinition,

Examples/Synonyms,Sentence,andAntonyms.• Askstudentsiftheycouldtrytodefinethewordcrazyifthey

knowit.Basedontheiranswergivethedefinitionassayingitmeans“verysilly.”

• Giveafewexamplesandsynonymsofcrazylikewacky,silly,goofy,funny.Seeifstudentsknowanyotherexamples.

• Usethewordinasentencethenhavethestudentscomeupwithasentenceontheirown.

• Describewhatanantonymisandgiveexampleslikecalm,still,peaceful.Seeifstudentsknowofanyotherexamples.

Closure/FormativeAssessment• Havestudentstalktoapartnerandusetheworkcrazyinastory.

Theycandescribesomethingcrazythathappenedtothem,orsharesomethingtheythinkiscrazy.Forexample:“Iwokeupwithcrazyhairthismorning.”

7mins TeacherLedStudentswilltakeanSRCquizonthebooktotestthestudents’comprehensionofthestory.

AppendixA

BookTwoCrazyPigs

AppendixB

AppendixC

TwoCrazyPigsLessonReflection AtmyESLplacementIworkwithasmallgroupofstudentstobuildtheirvocabularytoimprovetheirreadingcomprehension.Therefore,mylesson’stwoterminalobjectiveswereforstudentstocomprehendthetext,TwoCrazyPigs,andforstudentstodemonstratetheirunderstandingoftheword“crazy”byappropriatelyusingitinasentencesharedverbally.ToreachtheobjectivesIintroducedthevocabularywordcrazyinthecontextofastory.Ibeganbyactivatingandassessingtheirpriorknowledgebyaskingstudentsiftheyhadbeentoafarm1.Thisactivationbuiltafoundationfortheircomprehensionofthestory.Afterreading,Iledaquickretellbypagingthroughthebookreferencingpictures.Ipausedtoaskquestionstobuildcomprehensionandpossiblydrawattentiontonewvocabulary.Targetingthevocabularyobjective,wecompletedthe“Four-SquareMap”tobuildthestudent’sknowledgeofaword.Objectivewise,thislessonwassuccessfulbecausestudentsusedcrazycorrectlyinanauthenticsentenceandtheyallpassedthecomprehensionquiz.

Thislessonwasalsosuccessfulbasedonmyselectedtechniquesandattentivenesstolanguagelearningprinciples.Thislessonfocusedbothonmeaningandformduetohavingacomprehensionandvocabularyobjective.Iintentionallypickedthebookandvocabularytobeatthelearners’instructionallevel.AsIexpected,learnerswerechallengedenoughwheretheyonlyencounteredafewunfamiliarwordswhilereading,buttheydidn’tfeeltoodiscouragedbybeinggivenanoverloadofinputtheydidn’tunderstand.Ifearedthattoomuchinputofunfamiliar/unknownlanguagewouldoverwhelmthestudentsimpactingtheirlanguageanxietyandmotivation.Ithelpedthatlearnerswereabletotransferexistingknowledgetheyhadaboutfarms,becausethataidedtheircomprehension.Knowledgetransferalsocontributedtotheirvocabularygrowthastheythoughtofpersonalcrazyexperiencesanddescribeditusingtheadjectivecrazy.

1ThethreestudentsIpulledforthissmallgrouplessonhaverecentlymovedtotheUSfromallovertheworld(thePhilippians,asmallislandoffofJapan,andAzerbaijan).Theirhomelifeandup-bringingexperiencesarealldifferent;thereforenotallstudentscanrelyonthesamepriorknowledgeforunderstanding.Alongwithbuildingthesestudents’vocabularies,wearestillhelpingformanddeveloptheirpersonalschema.