Task based learning lesson

Muy buenas a todas y todos, en esta nueva entrada deseo compartir una actividad que realicé durante la carrera, para llevarla a cabo aenuna clase de inglés de 6º curso. Aunque, sin ningún problema, se podría llevar a cabo en una clase de lengua española, adaptando, obviamente, el vocabulario que se trabaja durante las diferente sesiones.

Sin mas preámbulos os dejo con esta acividad en la que, sin duda alguna, los niños y niñas se convierten en ¡críticos de cine!

I present a task based learning lesson plan for a 6th grade course from a bilingual school in which CLIL method is implemented in all the courses. With this plan the main objectives are: students construct and produce a writing review and explain in an oral way this review using ICT. In this way, pupils will work the discursive competence. And, the final outcome will be an online post on the scholar blog with the students’ review in both formats: writing and video.

In the following lines I will develop this task support language teaching, titled: Recommending a film or a book. Now you’re a critic! It has five sessions: Firstly, students will work with new vocabulary to describe different types of films. Secondly, teacher and pupils will revise the structure of a review and we will do some language exercises about typical sentences of this type of writings. At this moment, pupils can begin writing their own text. Fourth, in pairs, children must evaluate their classmates’ writing and give feedbacks. Finally, pupils can start writing the review on the blog and record the video.

The plan lesson is the next one:

In the next paragraph the reader will find the different sessions describe in a deep way.

Session 1

In this session children will learn vocabulary in order to describe movies or books. And we will use the flipped classroom method.

Firstly, before this session, students have to watch at home a video created by the teacher. This video is an example of what they have to do as a final outcome, a video review. This video made by the teacher talks about a book known to all students because it was read weeks ago. The video emphasizes and highlights specific adjectives, such as: intriguing, boring, gripping, plot, scene, characters… and pupils must take notes about these specific words.

Secondly, in the classroom every student has to write and explain the meaning of those words on the board. Then we will check different expression studied in previous lesson.

Thirdly, we will do a game card. Every student must choose 3 films or books and write on a cardboard an adjective, the characters and the type of the film on the one side and on the other one the title. Then, in groups of four, they will exchange their flashcards and everyone must guess what adjective, type of film and characters are behind the title showed. Who guess correctly will receive a point, and the one who has more points is the winner. The pupils must change the groups after 5 minutes. The objective is that everyone associates the adjectives’ meaning with their previous experience.

Finally, the teacher will check and will do linguistic exercise to focus on the form about grammatical structures to express possibility.

Session 2

In this session students will learn the different parts of a review and will learn to express positive and negative aspects. As previously students learnt the review structure at Spanish language class, I will take advantage of this, and we will check this quickly.

Firstly, the teacher will hand out to the students the script of the 1^st session’s video. In pairs, pupils have to split up the script and colour every different part according to the structure. Then, everyone will share the ideas to arrive to the correct order:

• Tittle, director, type of movie or book, characters, actor-actress, audience.

• Plot

• Positive aspect

• Negative aspect.

• Recommendation or not.

Besides, students have to use this as a rubric. In fact, students have to follow this structure to do their writings.

And, finally we will do language exercises to work grammar structures to describe positive and negative aspects, such as: the worst was when…, the main characteristic of the movie is when…

Session 3

Now, students can begin to create their own reviews. Firstly, they have to choose a book or a movie they are going to make the review about, then they have to search information on the internet about their books or movies and begin to write according to the rubric.

On the other hand, different questions will be given to the weakest pupils to help them. Next questions will guide them to create the review: who is the author? Who are the characters o the actors? Do you know if the movie or book has received any prize? Which type of book is it? Can you explain the plot? What was the best part of the book or movie, and the worst? Would you finally recommend the book?

Session 4

Once students finish their review, they have to exchange their writing with a classmate who will do a first correction. Then, the author will have to rewrite the text with the corrections. And finally the review will be given to the teacher. While the teacher is correcting them, student will be talking about their review in pairs and every 5 minutes they have change the partner.

Once the teacher has corrected the reviews, pupils have to rewrite the text with the corrections. And at the end of the session the teacher will correct some common speaking expression mistakes.

Session 5

In this session the group will be divided in two. One group will go to the computer class where they will be writing their review on a post of the class’ blog, meanwhile the other half will be recording their reviews tablets in the ordinary class. 25 minutes later students must change the task… Finally, the video and the writing review post will be uploaded in the school blog where the students will comment if they agree or disagree about their classmates’ reviews.

In conclusion, according to different authors the task based approach is one of the best ways to teach L2 in a communicative way. And as the reader could see, make a rehearsal task is a specific way to create intrinsic and integrative motivation in the students. Consequently, students will be more conscientious about the importance of the grammar and the vocabulary to develop the outcome. In fact, a task based learning is a way to develop the action based approach from the CEFR, so that this is a great way to engage our students to learn and use an L2.

A conticnuación os presento ejemplos de los videos comentados en la actividad.

Los dos primeros son muestras de cómo deberia ser el video que el docente debe realizar como ejemplo para los alumnos. Este es el que utilizariamos en la flipped classroom. Hay que tener en cuenta que los siguientes videos no estan adaptados para alumnos de un colegio bilingüe de 6º curso, por lo que simplemente es una muestra de los diferentes tips que debe llevar el nuestro.