LESSON PLAN

LESSON PLAN

UNICAES

TEACHERS: Liliana Yadira Chamul
                     Reina Guadalupe Tobar Alvarado

LEVEL: Advanced

TOPIC: Food and culture

TIME: 3 hours


INTERNET TOOLS:

Facebook, voxopop, wordle, youthink, mind42, blogger, google, youtube, moodle, messenger, mybrainshark.com


OBJECTIVE:

SWBAT talk about exotic and typical food around the world including exotic food from their native country  in a oral presentation. 


WARM UP:

Students are going to give their opinion and discuss the following statement posted on the wall of the class on facebook.

"Mention and talk about the most exotic food you have ever tasted or known"


PRESENTATION

Pre activity:
Ask the students to mention and talk about the exotic food in their native country. As they already have their moodle account, there will be a forum especially opened for them to participate.

During activitiy:
Have students watch the following video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKwVqUzzNH4&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLEB374F0FEAE1B21F
They should pay attention and write down important details.

Post activity: 
Ask students to go to blogger and write an entry in which they are going to create a list of the countries and their specific exotic foods mentioned on the video.


CONTROLLED PRACTICE:

1.  Wordle
Get the students go to the following links and ask them to rearrange the words to create logical sentences. After that they are going to send the answers to the teacher's email: lilianalic.2008@hotmail.com

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4958051/SENTENCE1_
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4958093/SENTENCE2_
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4958113/sentence3_
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4958128/SENTENCE4
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4958147/sentence5

2. Youtube
Ask the students to go to this link and watch the video "tropical and exotic fruits of the Philippines" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_QjEs47xr0&feature=related. Then, they have to write correct sentences using just the exotic fruits that are common and known  in our country. After that, they are going to record the sentences using vocaroo and they will post the link on facebook for the teacher to check.

3. Youthink
After watching the following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98On7UZk_dg&feature=showob have the students take the following quiz: http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?action=go_detail&sub_action=take&obj_id=209126


SEMI CONTROLLED ACTIVITIES

1. Interview
The teacher is going to schedule video-calls with each student (using messenger). They are not going to be longer than three minutes.
The teacher is going to lead the interview asking the following questions to the students: 

a) If you were the owner of a restaurant would you like to add exotic food to you menu? Which ones and why?
b) What places do you know in El Salvador where people prepare and sell exotic food?
c) What`s your opinion about killing and eating animals as exotic foods? Do you think it will contribute to the extinction of those animals?

2.  Mind42
Ask the students to go to MIND42 and create a conceptual map in which they will have to include a country, and specific exotic food and a picture of that food. They can take advantage of what we have studied or they can research more information about it using google.

3. My brain shark
Using my brain shark create a photo album in which you include information and pictures of typical food form you native country, and send it to the teacher´s email: tobarguadalupe@gmail.com


FREE ACTIVITIES

1. Essay
Students are required to write an essay in blogger. Topic: "If you could add a typical or exotic dish to our typical food, which one would it be?" (you can invent a dish or include one that already exists).

2. Voxopop
Have the students create an entry in our talkgroup in which they will talk about the following statement: "Why do you think food and culture are extremely connected?".

3. Teacher-Students chat
The teacher lets students know via facebook the time and date all of them are going to sign in on facebook. The teacher is going to open the chat with the following question:  If you had the chance to taste any exotic food from any country, which one would you choose and why?
and he/she is going to invite the students to continue with the discussion. The topic of the chat must be related to what they have been studying previously. The chat is going to last 15 minutes maximun. So that all the students have the chance to participate and ask questions to one another.

(This is a very good chance for the teacher to test students' writing skills since the complete conversation is saved on facebook.)

4. Presentation
Using mailvoo, ask the students to prepare a five minutes presentation about typical and/or exotic from their native country. Then everybody will have the chance to present it in the classroom.


WRAP UP:
Have the students write a 10 lines blog entry to talk about their experience learning about food and culture through the use of internet tools. 

HOMEWORK:
Ask the students to get prepared for a debate that will take place in the classroom. The topic is going to be: "What's better, common/typical or exotic food?

WEBSITES WE USE TO CREATE OUR QUIZZES

INTRODUCTION:

This entry will be about the websites Lupita and I consulted in order to create our quizzes for the different age levels. We will also include the links for each quiz and their corresponding description.

QUIZ FOR CHILDREN

For the quiz, we consulted the following website:

http://www.ziggityzoom.com/stories/princess-little

This website is really interesting for children because it has readings, audio, and colorful pictures which make it attractive for any child. It is also helpful for children to improve listening and reading skills. It also helps to improve pronunciation.

Children are going to read and listen to the story and then they will answer 12 multiple choice questions. To take the quiz click on the following link:

http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?action=go_detail&sub_action=take&obj_id=208425

QUIZ FOR TEENAGERS

This quiz is based on a video that you can find on youtube. This is about an American T.V show which is very popular among teenagers, and It´s name is Drake and Josh. Such video can be seen in the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp4UwZF2-XQ

The quizz contains 12 questions about certain situations performed by the actors during the video. Teenagers are going to enjoy taking this quiz.

http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?action=go_detail&sub_action=take&obj_id=208437

QUIZ FOR ADULTS

This quiz is about an interesting video on Youtube containing some awesome facts of the human brain. Adults will enjoy taking it since it will encrease their knowledge about the human beings and their unique characteristics.

Here´s the link for you to watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmcHH4wPpMU

The quiz contains 12 multiple choice estatements to be solved by adult learners based on the information given on the video.

Click on the following link to check the quiz:

http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?filter=my_qs&time_span=all

CONCLUSION:

We already know that nowadays using technologycal tools is not only crucial but also mandatory to have more successful classes. As future teachers we must be updated with technologycal development and improvement.

Students of these days enjoy to be in touch with technologycal devices and they know a lot about it, so teachers must take advantage of that.

MY COMPUTER AND INTERNET SKILLS

As everybody knows, nowadays if you don´t  have a computer, you´re lost. We have seen trough these last years the increasing number of people having and using a computer since many things are done by using it, and obviously, with that great tool of the internet. That´s the case of students; homeworks are no more investigated through searching in books in a library, newspaper, magazines or other means because they just go directly to Google and magically everything they need is there. No matter which level the student is coursing, from kindergarten to college, everybody needs internet and a computer to any work they are requires to do. Now, there are even virtual classrooms in which people can study a master without actually attending classes in a university. In addition, people who is learning another language such as English, in the internet they can find awesome websites and tools that help practicing and improve speaking and writing skills outside the classroom. 

In my personal case, I don´t like too much things related to technology and all that stuff, but I´ve realized that I have to know something about it anyways. At least, I have the basic knowledge on how to handle a computer and use the internet. I must admit it, internet makes life easier and it has helped a lot on my acquisition of the English language. Another important aspect to mention is that the internet shortens long distances because we can keep contact with friends and relatives that live far away from us, and we can even meets other people from other coutries. Technology can be an invaluable tool if it is used appropriately; for example, when children are surfing the net, they must be supervised by adults because it can be dangerous for they can even be abused, or they could watch content that is not appropriate for their age. 

Regarding with my internet skills, I can say I know how to use the browser and some websites to look for information. I know how to use and create a Hotmail account in which you receive e-mails from friends and family keeping you always in touch and informed; there´s another way to create an account to receive e-mails, that´s G-mail, and in my opinion, that one is more suitable and helpful to work since it offers the option of sharing documents and all that stuff. I know how to use Facebook and how it works ( I guess everybody knows). Such site helps you to know about your friends´ life and to be in contact with them; you can also use it to express yourself. Currenlty, I´m taking the Instructional Technology subject in which I´m learning and knowing about websites that I didn´t even have the idea that they existed and which provide extremely useful and innovating tools to teach and practice the English language. Such websites give the opportunity to change the traditional way to have our students of English practicing the language so that we avoid to get them bored. 

I´ve learned also about some websites in which you can record your voice or videotape yoursel and discuss with other people the topic you want, and in that way improving your speaking skill; it also allows you to hear and get used to different people´s English accents around the world.

As I mentioned before, having a computer and internet can help a lot when teaching English to our students, but we have to take into consideration certain factors such as if the student has the basic knowledge on to use a computer, if the student has access to internet and the resources to work with it, otherwise we may frustrate our him/her, and as a result, he/she may give up on learning. 

Everybody must be concious of the benefitis that using a computer and internet bring; it is an unavoidable situation in our changing world.