Teaching EFL Listening via FUN WITH ENGLISH Books/8B/Lesson 10

Grade 8
FUN WITH ENGLISH 8B
Chapter 10: Helping the poor
Anqing Foreign Language School
Lesson 10
Version 0.21

In this chapter about helping the poor I hope to find a way to expose my students to the plight of those less fortunate and give them the opportunity to think for themselves about the idea. I will be team-teaching with Mr. Brown and we will spend some time at the beginning reminding our students of the grading policy, and recounting his adventure last week.

Lesson Objectives

• The opening will draw the class's attention.
• The textbook activities will go quick and be productive.
• We will have a critical discussion about the situation of poor people and what can be done.
• The activities will be fun and get the students using English.

Lesson Plan

Before Class Starts

• If time, walk around and mingle with the students before the bell rings. (King)

Greeting: USA What's up?

• Yo! What's up? Not much, you? Not much.

Opening: Mother's Day

• What day was it last Sunday?
• Do you like Mother's Day?
• Is Mother's Day important?
• Why do we have Mother's Day?
• What did you do on Mother's Day?
  • What did you do on Mother's Day Mr. Brown?

Explanation: Class Grading Policy

• First go through the A to F scale in English and explain that 50% of their grade comes from tests and the other half from in class performance.
• Put the Chinese explanation up on the screen and have the students read it out loud so they all understand.

Conversation: Poor People

• Why are some people poor?
• Should you help poor people?
• Do poor people want your help?
• What can we do to help poor people?
• Who are poor people?
• Do you know any poor people?
• Are poor people bad?
• Why are there poor people in the world?
• Do poor people make a difference in your life?
• Are there poor people in Anqing?

Activity: Poor People Interview

CN Interview = taifan

• Write interview on the board.
• Ask if they know that word?
• Write the questions on the board
  • Do you like poor people?
  • Do you want to help poor people?
  • Why?
• Bring up a student volunteer and interview one another in front of the class.
• Now please interview the people sitting next to you, in English!
• Give them a minute or three, walk around and help troubled groups.
• Afterwards ask for volunteers to come to the front of class and do the interview.

?

Extra Time

Debate: Poor People (Mr. Brown)

• Break the students up by gender or by row.
• Write "Why are people poor?" on the board.
• Tell one group them they have to each write one reason why and another why they are not.

Look: Poem by Philip

• Poem from a homeless gentleman named Philip.
• http://youngmanhattanite.com/2009/04/we-are-all-gods-creatures-in-world-all.html

Appendix

Acknowledgments

• I get many ideas from Stuart Brown. (Mr. Brown).
• I would like to thank all the 7th and 8th grade classes at Anqing Foreign Language School who had this lesson for their participation and feedback. I would also like to thank the Anqing Foreign Language School for allowing me to teach there.
• Marjorie King provided some feedback on my last lessons, that was built into this lesson. (King)

Changelog

Version 0.21 13 May 2010

• Added mother's day questions.
• Added grading section
• Moved the Unicef photo essay and the debates to extra time because we have not had time for them.
• Removed Let's listen 2 B, because it has not been productive and time is better spent discucssing.
• Changed poor people conversation questions.

Version 0.2 12 May 2010

• re-worded the introduction
• changed the greeting to just USA
• made some minor formatting adjustments from italicized to sub-sub-section in the lesson plan components
• only kept let's listen 2b from the textbook because it does the best job of probing how we can help poor people
• moved the poem to extra time, because it was too difficult

Version 0.1 1 May 2010

• Written at the YY Club in Shanghai

Copyright

This lesson plan was written by Charles Jeffrey Danoff, drawing on ideas from others. I have not decided how to license it yet, for now feel free to re-use it for any educational purposes.