TESL 0110: NOUNS & VERBS GRAMMAR LESSON

The following lesson plan is on Nouns & Verbs.

I found a website that was helpful in giving me ideas for the assignment, but would have to adapt them to my lesson theme.  I used the PPP method to ensure differ learning styles are being met.  I used discussions, a picture, and a group game.  I was repetitive throughout the lesson.  I didn't put too much emphasis on grammar, only if I noticed too much errors occurring.  The type of assignments to be completed will be adapted to the lesson plan and/or theme (see reference to worksheets below)

LESSON PLAN ON GRAMMAR

NOUNS & VERBS

Context:

I chose the classroom to be a Adult newcomers in a government funded classroom who are looking for employment (PPP method and inductive approach)

Lesson Plan:

I will be focusing this lesson plan on grammar

Grammar Focus:

I will focus on teaching Nouns and verbs

Low-intermediate

Grammar activity: Students will be able to identify and distinguish nouns and verbs and put them into a simple sentence, verbally and in written format.

Strategies:

1.     Group work: The students will engage in a competitive and fun group activity

2.     Picture Describing:  where a picture is given to a group and they describe what is going on in the picture. 

Class Objective:

Students will be able to:

1.     Identify a noun and a verb in a sentence

2.     Categorize noun and verb words using a t-chart

3.     Verbally make a sentence using a noun and a verb

4.     Write a sentence using a noun and a verb

5.     Connect words that they would hear if they worked in a coffee shop.

Feedback:

Feedback won’t be given out too much during speaking activities but can be discussed after the activity. If there seems to be a lot of common errors occurring, then I would provide feedback as a teachable moment.

ACTIVITY SEQUENCE: 

LEAD IN: (10 minutes)

1.  Before discussion starts the teacher will have definitions of verb and noun written on the side of the whiteboard, for the students to observe and read before step 2 starts.

  ie: Nouns (a person place or thing) and verbs (an action word)

GRAMMAR LESSON (20 mins)

2. A picture will be projected on the corner of the whiteboard and the teacher will begin class with discussion on what is going on in the picture? Where is she at? What do you think she will be ordering? Now ask:  What is your favourite place to go have coffee? What do you usually order?  What do you like about the coffee shop?  What do they think customers like the best from their favourite coffee shops?

3.  While discussion is on-going the teacher will start to write any nouns and verbs on the whiteboard, that arise from the student’s discussion. 

4. Once they have finished their discussion, the teacher will ask students to identify all the

nouns from the whiteboard, the teacher can remind and mention to students, "a person place or thing" (point to definition) to help them out.  Teacher will write their answers in the noun category, in the t-chart.  

5. Repeat step 3, but this time the students will identify verbs , which is "an action word". Teacher will write their answers in the verb category, in the t-chart.

6.  Once step 4 is completed, ask students to read the words in the T-chart under the headings: NOUNS and do the same for the words under the heading, VERBS.   

Examples:      

                       

nouns	verbs
Donuts Employees Coffee Tea Sandwich Cream pastry muffins Manager Staff	Dropped Smiled Passed Asked Run Ordered Replied Paid Shared Thanked

7. The teacher will point at noun definition and read it.  Teacher will go through each word in the noun column by asking students: to read the first word and ask if it is a person place or thing? If correct, check mark it.  If it isn’t, place in the verb column.

8.  The teacher will point at verb definition and read it.  The teacher will go through each word under the verb column and ask students to read the first word and ask them if it is an action word. If the word is correct, check mark it. if it is not correct, place word in the noun column.   
(teachers will be able to assess how much the students understand.  Both columns should have equal amount of words on each side.)

       In case the students need a quick explanation of Nouns & Verbs (15 mins)

9.  If the teacher feels the students still need to go over nouns and verb meaning, the teacher can explain the following and ask students for examples:

                             i.       Nouns:  People, place or things (then ask students to provide 3 examples)

                           ii.        verbs: a word used to describe an action.  (then ask students t 3 provide examples)

                          iii.       Inform students that simple sentences contain a noun and verb.  Give example from the words they used during their discussions (have class provide 3 examples)

MAIN ACTIVITY: (25 mins)

10.  Next, give a deck of cards to each group. (each group will get a coloured deck each) Explain to the students that each deck contains verb and noun words, which will be related to words they may hear in a coffee shop if they worked in one or plan on working in one. 

11.  Demonstrate to students that they will line up, and the first person in the front of the line will race to their deck of cards at the whiteboard and since they will be facing downward, they will flip the card over, take a piece of tape and tape their card under the correct category of the t-chart with the headings “NOUN” and “VERB”. The next person in line does the same thing until all their cards are on the board. 

12.  Once demonstration and explanation are complete. The teacher will start the activity.  On the count of three and the games begin. Students must complete all their decks/words on the T-Chart provided for them on the whiteboard. (I will add 1 point for each correct answer)

8.     13. When students are done, the class will go check over their answers to see if they are in their correct category, if not, the teacher will switch word to the opposite column.  After they have been corrected, the teacher will ask each person to verbally pronounce a sentence using one of the verbs with one of the nouns on the board. Once a word is used, the teacher will erase, so the words are only used once.

example:         He ordered donuts

                                                She paid for coffee

 14.  Once completed step 13, the students will complete worksheets on verbs and nouns to reinforce learning.  (teacher can walk around and asses the students and help them out when needed

15. Once completed we will go over the worksheets together and correct any errors. Explanations could be reinforced here if there is too many making the same mistakes.

16. The group with most points wins. Give an extra point for completed first. 

END OF DAY REFLECTION/WRITING (10mins)

17.  At the end of the day, can reflect on what they learned in the lesson. Was it helpful? Could it have more explanation? Did they enjoy it? (this can help teachers’ asses their lesson and what the students have learned) or make a video reflection of the day using the classroom tablet and/or an audio recording of themselves about the lesson of the day. What can be done more or less of? - depending on the students comfort level. 

MATERIALS: 

• Tape dispenser – to tape cards to whiteboard
• Whiteboard
• A set of blue cards of verbs and nouns (for team A)
• A set of red cards of verbs and nouns (for team B)
• Activity sheets: one for verbs and one for nouns and a combined verb & noun worksheet
• Pencils (for students)
• Journals and or tablets, for entry in either written, video or audio (recording their thoughts on the lesson) it is up to the student’s comfort level. Option is theirs.
• tablet or cell phone for reflection.
• treats for winning team

         

REFERENCES:

·          All the references listed below are from the website:

•          K5 Learning (2014), Nouns: Person, Place of Thing. retrieved from https://www.k5learning.com/sites/all/files/worksheets/grammar-grade-3-nouns-person-place-thing-1.pdf
•          K5 Learning (2014), Using Verbs. Retrieved from https://www.k5learning.com/sites/all/files/worksheets/grammar-worksheet-grade-2-verbs-sentences-2.pd
•          K5 Learning (2014), https://www.k5learning.com/free-grammar-worksheets, 

Unit 1: 2 Be or Not 2 Be a Subject Matter Expert in Grammar?

  2 Be or NOT 2 Be a Subject Matter Expert in Grammar?

I don't think that teachers need to be or need to teach explicitly detailed grammar but it would help both the teacher and student understand the basics.  I have never taught L2 learners, but I do have experience in teaching the basics of grammar to both youth and adults from previous teaching positions in a traditional classroom and in basic academic and essential skills type programs.   

In the work I do now, working with clients who are seeking employment; my previous work experience in teaching has helped me to explain grammar rules in a brief, simple, and concrete manner.  Just enough for the client to understand or to recall what they have learned in their past experiences in learning grammar.  They seem to get the jest of it as they always reply with a “oh yeah!” (remembered) or “oh okay.” (they understood, they noticed!)   

I am thankful that I had to re-learn and refresh my grammar skills in my past employment as a teacher as this transferable skill helps me to specifically explain grammar in a timely manner so that it does not interrupt the flow of learning too much. I like that I can help clients understand or recall why they need to use proper grammar while writing and the result is a well written resume and a proud and confident client that has gained some grammar knowledge.

While teaching, knowing the basic grammar skills also helps to alleviate the pressure of being put on the spot. Too much time on grammar may get boring and lose interest (depending how motivated students are, and you are as a teacher) But it is important for the teacher to know at least the basics when it arises! Daily grammar warm-ups would help.  If it needs to be explained in more detail through out the learning process then so be it, especially if utterances are not being properly used by many students then make it a quick teachable moment, a little bit of change throughout a lesson can make it memorable! 

Unit 3: Misconceptions and Myths

Misconceptions & Myths

When I read the statement, “Rather than correcting student, it's better to get students to correct themselves.” I would agree with this statement to some extent.  With that, we must use our discretion and consider who our learners are and how much years of L2 learning they have before we can truly say that its better for students to correct themselves.  Otherwise:

1.     It can help determine what the student(s) already know, the teacher is able to observe and identify - assess!

2.     Being able to correct errors on their own, helps the L2 learner to strengthen their grammar skills.

3.     Learners boost their confidence and feel accomplished knowing they can correct their own work.

4.     It improves motivation and self-esteem by responding to and overcoming their mistakes. 

5.     Learning is instilled and becomes more comprehensible as they deal with correcting themselves, hence, a deeper level of understanding is accomplished.  

6.     Correcting themselves gives students the ability to become autonomous learners, in and beyond the classroom walls. Thus, they are now able to correct errors when they notice them!

When errors are repetitive, then it would be beneficial for teachers to help ELL’s to identify and correct their errors, otherwise these frequent mistakes will continue to be used and eventually lead to “bad habits.” 

***

“Learners' mistakes can provide useful material for teaching.” Learner’s mistakes can be very useful and beneficial teaching material.  Learning from our mistakes are an essential part of the learning and growing process.  Using learners’ mistakes can bring teachable moments into the classroom and learning can be more engaging and relevant to all. Some benefits (I can think of) of using learner’s mistakes as teaching material are:

1.    Material is authentic and makes it more interesting to learn from

2.    It may be familiar to others who may be experiencing the same mistakes.

3.    When mistakes frequently occur, feedback along with reteaching (in real-time) from the teacher benefits everyone all at once. 

4.    Learners can contribute to their learning experiences and see value in it.

5.    Learning is more imbedded and comprehensible, from learning the task thoroughly

In order to keep learners motivated, teachers need to be tactful, respectful and careful on how they approach using students’ mistakes as an authentic learning material in the classroom.  I believe learners should walk into a class feeling safe to make slips, errors, and attempts, as it is a natural part of their growing and learning process and to know that corrective feedback is an extra step that helps them to improve and meet their goal, learning English as a second language.

Unit 4: My Type of Lesson Plans

 MY Type of LESSON PLANS

PPP, as a teacher who is new to TESL, I would be more comfortable starting out with this approach.  It benefits both the teacher and the learner.  How? A new TESL Teacher has the opportunity to learn what is expected of them to teach.  Since it is controlled, preparing for lessons and gathering resources are easier. If new teachers are not 100% confident with grammar, it gives them the opportunity to practice and learn as they go. As for the learners who may be first time TESL students, it would be more beneficial to them to learn grammar in a structured and controlled teacher-centered based learning environment. Why? because they do not know any English and I believe having a  structured "controlled" learning environment would be an easier start to learning the foundations of a language. Learners will eventually understand and know what to expect during their learning process.  As ELL's move forward in their journey to learning the English language and/or teachers are feeling comfortable teaching grammar, then task-based learning can come into play.

As a teacher becomes more experienced in TESL and the learners become more comfortable after time spent on PPP grammar lessons, I thought task-based lesson plans would come into play once learners learned the fundamentals of grammar through the teacher-centered approach.  What I like about the task-based lesson plan is that it is relevant to the learners needs and encourages autonomous learning.  I think it is essential for a learner to learn how to communicate in real-world conversations, whether it is at a grocery store, doctors office, school visit, making appointments, how to communicate at school or at work, etc.  It makes life easier and less stressful if they can communicate effectively for themselves in all aspects of life.

All in all, I think all these lesson plans are effective depending on who your audience is and what your goal is in teaching TESL.  All the lesson plans that were introduced in this unit were insightful as to what kind of plans to use for your audience.  I specifically found the above two mentioned lesson plans to my style of teaching for a beginner and more experienced TESL teacher. 

Unit 2: GRAMMAR PRESENTATION

GRAMMAR PRESENTATION

Grammar is important when it comes to writing and speaking as it can enhance L2 leaners to become more confident in their English language speaking and writing skills.  First, I want to add, a beginning ELLing student would most likely be more comfortable with a deductive approach because a beginner would need to learn about the language before they are able to “discover” learning on their own. Therefore, having lessons and studying about language would be more beneficial to the beginner.  Whereas, students who have more experience and knowledge in the English language, they would have a better understanding of what it is they need to “discover” and therefore, have it easier in an inductive class setting, where they are able to learn on their own, so to speak. 

Personally, for me as a beginning teacher teaching English as a second language, I would be more comfortable in the deductive method because, it is my first time.  As time goes on and I am more comfortable and confident with teaching English as a second language, I would prefer the inductive approach.  I like the idea of   encouraging students by giving them the opportunity to contribute in their learning journey as it makes it more personal and relevant to their liking. Plus, it comes with a bonus of becoming an autonomous L2 learner, in or outside of the classroom!  All the better reason for having an inductive approach, learning becomes “naturally” rooted.