Celta Assignment Sample

CELTA Written Assignment Three - Language skills related assignment
For the purpose of this assignment I have chosen a piece of authentic text - a tale
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, as a suitable material for a reading skills
lesson in an elementary class.
The general level of interest is supposed to be rather high because elementary
students are usually used to reading adapted materials and may be enthusiastic
about reading an authentic text that they can understand. Even though some of
them may find the task challenging, it is likely to be rewarding and fun to cope
with an unadapted authentic tale. Another factor that may add up to their
interest is that this tale is a classic. Since the tale has a deep philosophical
meaning and multiple interpretations, the story has the benefit of being
interesting both to adults and children.
The main aim of the lesson is to develop reading comprehension and practice
reading for gist, specific information and detail with a follow-up speaking activity
for productive skills.
Anticipating problems: 1. Grammar and Lexis: See: pre-teaching Vocabulary and
Grammar. Text: See: Gist reading. Skills: Elementary students tend to read the
whole text for detail. They find it difficult to read for gist and to scan. Their
understanding of the text may also be hampered by the inability to deduce
meaning from context. Solution: I will set time limits and give clear instructions
for each reading activity and explain to students that they dont need to
understand every word in the text and read the text from the very beginning to
the end each time they want to do a new task. I will explain to students that
sometimes they need to scan the text to find the passage they need and then read
it for detail. Cultural: The philosophical aspect of the tale and the fact that it may
seem disturbing to some students is one on the problems that I can anticipate. In
order to deal with the problem, I am setting a follow-up speaking activity for
students to share their opinions and express their ideas about the tale.
Lead-in: I will tell the students about the gifts that I got from my family
and friends and gave to my family and friends. I will tell the students that I
like getting gifts but I like giving gifts more. I will ask the students to
discuss what gifts they got and gave and whether they like getting or
giving gifts more. After the pair discussion and feedback I will tell the
students that they are going to read a tale called The Giving Tree and ask
them to discuss what a tree can give people. The task is aimed at
activating the students schemata on the topic of giving and taking and at
testing and introducing the vocabulary of trees. According to Wallace, if
the mind is stimulated by key words and phrases, it activates a knowledge
schema or schemata1.
Pre-teaching vocabulary and grammar: I am going to pre-teach words

that may impede students understanding of the text: leaves; a branch, a
trunk, a stump. I am not going to pre-teach every word they do not know
so that they could practice the useful skill of deducing meaning from text.
1
Wallace C., Reading, OUP, 1992, p. 33
The students are not likely to know would+ bare infinitive for describing
repeated/habitual actions. I will pre-teach the structure contextualising it
and asking CCQs.
Task 1: Gist Reading2: according to J. Harmer, students need to be able to

skim the text in order to understand its general idea before going into
reading for detail.3 Therefore, the task gives students general
understanding of the text and involves them in further reading. Since it is
a 600-word text, I consider matching the headings with the paragraphs a
useful gist task which will help students to navigate the text easily when
working with scanning and reading for detail tasks.
Task 2: Reading for specific information and detail. As Grellet puts it,
when teaching reading comprehension we should keep in mind that there
is not one type of reading but several according to ones reasons for
reading4. In this task the students have to choose correct endings to
sentences (two options per sentence), which will first require them to
scan the text and find the key words (hide-and-seek, house, boat these
words do not appear throughout the text but in specific passages). Even
though we usually scan for numbers and names, the students will need to
use this strategy working with this text because it is rather long and if
they do not scan it for key words, they will have to read big pieces of text
in order to find an answer to one point. The students will have to scan to
find the correct passage and then read the passage or sentence for detail
in order to grasp its full understanding.
Task 3: Reading for specific information and detail: In this task the
students have to put the stages of the story in the correct order. If Task 2 is
arranged in the chronological order (which makes it easier for students to
scan and read for detail), this task is aimed at students figuring out and
understanding the sequence of events in the story. To complete the task
they will have to scan longer pieces of text till they find the places that will
help them to arrange the sequence.
Task 4: Reading for detail: As Scrivener states5, when we use a top-down

reading approach, exercises aimed at focusing on finer points of meaning
and more intensive comprehensive understanding come after the focus on
more general points of meaning. By the time the students reach this task,
they will have already become familiar with the text and read some of its
pieces more than once. The comprehension questions in this task are
aimed at deeper understanding of the text (e.g. Why was the tree happy
even when it lost its apples, branches and trunk?). There is no direct answer
to these questions in the text. The students can only infer the answers if
they understand the text in detail.
2
The tasks and the keys are attached in the handout
3
Harmer J., How to Teach English, Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998, p. 69
4
Grellet, F., Developing Reading Skills: A Practical Guide to Reading Comprehension Exercises, CUP, 1981, p.9
5
Scrivener J., Learning Teaching, Macmillan, 2005, p.187
Follow-up speaking activity
Discussion questions in the follow-up productive activity give the students
an opportunity to share their understanding of the story and to express
their opinions. Students discuss in pairs, small groups and as a whole
class. As Harmer states, a controversial reading passage may be a
springboard for discussion and provide the necessary stimulus for
students to tell their own stories.6
Words: 1083
Bibliography:
Grellet, F., Developing Reading Skills, CUP, 1981
Harmer J., How to Teach English, Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998
Harmer J, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, 1991
Scrivener J., Learning Teaching, Macmillan, 2005
Wallace C., Reading, OUP, 1992
6
Harmer J, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, 1991, p. 251

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What is the main aim of the lesson?

What strategies does the teacher plan to use for the reading tasks?

CELTA Written Assignment Three - Language skills related assignment

Pre-teaching vocabulary and grammar: I am going to pre-teach words

Task 1: Gist Reading2: according to J. Harmer, students need to be able to

Task 4: Reading for detail: As Scrivener states5, when we use a top-down

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