Cycle-task, task 3 –Language Skills 1

Lorenzo Mahecha Villa

July 2018.

Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia

Didactics of English
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Table of contents

Description of the 4 skills ................................................. ¡Error! Marcador no definido.

Lesson Activities for the 4 skills ......................................................................................... 3

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Skill Characteristics Functions Strategies

Listening It is the first skill we must acquire when • Comprehending speech 1. Slow your listening down.

we learn an L2. It belongs to the group of • Analyzing 2. Pay attention.

receptive skills, and requires the use of our • Drawing Conclusions 3. Get clarification

ears and brain. It is mandatory by natural • Sequencing 4. Validate the speaker

spoken languages. • Summarizing 5. Paraphrase.

• Evaluating

Speaking It is the second skill developed when we •Expressing needs and likes 1.Negotiate Meaning

learn an L2. It belongs to the group of •Describing people, places, and things 2.Circumlocution

productive skills, and requires the use of •Describing spatial and temporal 3.Translation

our vocal tract and brain to correctly relations 4.Mime

produce the utterances. It is mandatory by • Describing actions 5.Approximate

natural spoken languages. • Expressing and Supporting Opinions

• Persuading

• Defending
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Reading It is the third skill developed when we • Generalizing 1.Skimming

learn an L2. It belongs to the group of • Evaluating 2. Scanning

receptive skills, and requires the use of our • Interpreting 3.Summaryzing

eyes and brain. No all natural spoken • Summarizing 4.Asking and answering questions

languages have a reading system. • Comprehending text 5.Previewing

• Hypothesizing and speculating

Writing It is the fourth skill developed when we • Describing Cause and Effect 1.Brainstorming

learn an L2. It belongs to the group of • Making claims 2.Prewriting

productive skills, and requires the use of • Making predictions 3.Graphic organizers

our hands and brain to produce written • Generalizing 4. Collaborative write

symbols that represents our utterances. No • Evaluating 5. Summarizing

all natural spoken languages have a writing • Sequencing

system.
 ❑ Basic  Intermediate ❑ Advanced

Lesson Plan
Business/Materials Lesson Objectives

• Audio clip • Students will distinguish some vocabulary used

• Video in American movies.
• Students will be able to identify and apply
vocabulary used in regular American dating.
Warm-up and Objective Discussion 10 min

Students will listen to the next audio clip twice:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4fFNW6icVy3cXpQeFdMaDVBdDQ/view?usp=sharing
ask then to take notes of the familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary, after that ask then if the can
guess, to what famous American movie this clip belongs. If they cannot guess explain them
that this audio belongs to famous American movie “Hitch is a 2005 American romantic
comedy film directed by Andy Tennant and starring Will Smith” (Wikipedia).

Explain students how important it is to be able to understand the English used in American
movies “street talk” and how we can use it in real contexts.

Inform students that at the end of the class , they are going to take a test in orde to assess the
real understanding of today`s lesson

Instruct and Model 15 minutes ❑ R ❑ W  L ❑ S

Top-Down Activity

Write the next phrases and words on the board and explain them to your students:

✓ swept off my feet

✓ need some space
✓ into my career
✓ nonverbal
✓ tone
✓ wanna
✓ ain’t
✓ hurt your feelings
✓ that’s where I come in
✓ open her eyes
✓ sweep any woman off her feet
✓ needs the right broom

Now , play the video about the previous warm-up :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzixdS-qWn8
After that, ask to your students:

1. What will be the main topic about?

2. How does this scene reflect the reality about American dating?

Guided Practice 15 minutes ❑ R ❑ W L  S

Bottom-up Activity

Ask students to pay close attention to the gestures and body language of the guys who presents
this scene.
Then ask them:

1. Who is the main character of this scene?

2. Who are the secondary characters of this scene?
3. What does their body language reflect?

Independent Practice 10 minutes  R  W ❑ L ❑ S

Students will do the next activity “ Cloze passage”

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4fFNW6icVy3WmpHLTIwbkhTTWc/view?usp=sharing

Assessment 2 minutes (each student) ❑ R ❑ W ❑ L  S

Students must retell the story with their own words using the vocabulary they just learned
from this listening activity orally.
 Teacher Tip “The hot ball”

Level: Basic to intermediate or advance

Purpose: This activity has the main purpose to practice the WH-QUESTIONS, help students to
know more each other and to improve their critical thinking.

Preparation and material:

 A small plastic ball

 The whole class has to form a huge circle and the teacher has to be in the middle of it.

Time: 10 to 30 Minutes, according to the size and purpose of the class.

Procedure:

1. Tell students to empty the class room by putting the chairs near to the walls.
2. Ask them to make a huge circle, and the teacher has to be in the center of the circle.
3. The teacher begins first by asking a question using a WH-QUESTION, for instance
“What`s your favorite food?”, and then he throws the ball to the student he wants to ask
this question.
4. The student who catches the ball has to answer the question, and after that he asks
another question using a WH-QUESTION, for instance “Where were you born?” and he
throws the ball to the student or teacher who wants to ask that question.
5. This activity is carrying out until all the students have taken the change to answer at least
one question.

Image retrieved from: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/human-circle-24539153.jpg

Variations: This activity may carry out also for debating a topic with advanced students, by
asking questions that require critical thinking, for instance “Why is your opinion about the use of
alternative energies like the Solar or wind today?
  Basic ❑ Intermediate ❑ Advanced

Lesson Plan
Business/Materials Lesson Objectives
➢ Students will explain the meaning of the new
The jungle book (pdf). words.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4 ➢ Students will recognize what is happening in
fFNW6icVy3ckthdmZpcTE3X2M/ each stage of the story.
view?usp=sharing ➢ Students will able to discuss and share with their
colleagues ideas about the jungle book.
Spanish-English Dictionary
Warm-up and Objective Discussion (5 Minutes)
Student will watch a trailer of the new movie based on the story “ The jungle book”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hksbd28SPYM
After that, the teacher will ask :
1. What do you think this story will be?
2. Whoa are the main characters.
3. Where the story take place.

Explain student how important is to determine the meaning of the words by using their
dictionaries and determine what is happening in what they read. Tell student that at the end of
the class they are going to take a text, in order to determine they understanding of today`s
class.
Instruct and Model (25 minutes)  R ❑ W ❑ L ❑ S
1. Divide the class in two groups A and B.
2. Give them copies of the book (The jungle book) with no pictures one it.
3. Each group has to select a secretary who is the person responsible to take notes of the
unknown words.
4. Let the group read the entire book silently.
5. Encourage student from group A to share theirs unknown words with group B and vice
versa. And request to the groups to help each other to decipher the meaning of the new
words.
6. Ask them to look up all the new words (if there are) in their Spanish-English
dictionaries.
7. Ask them to share their results
8. Show some pictures from the book and ask them to respond what is happening on it.
For instance:
Who is in the picture?
What are the boy and the bear doing? And so on.
9. Encourage students to share their ideas about the book.
 Guided Practice ( 10 minutes)  R ❑ W ❑ L ❑ S

Students from group A will look up the meaning of the next word in their dictionaries:
• Dangerous
• Coconuts
• Forest
• Catch
• Forest

Students from group B will look up the meaning of the next word in their dictionaries:

• Fun
• Jungle
• Dance
• Scared
• Tired

Ask students to share their results.

Independent Practice (5 minutes)  R  W ❑ L ❑ S

Student will do the book`s activity page 15 after you read :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4fFNW6icVy3SFZyTklPZUo3Y00/view?usp=sharing

Tell students that this activity is very short and easy and those 3 first students who finish the
activity will receive an extra 1point in their final test as a reward.
Assessment (15 minutes)  R  W ❑ L ❑ S

Student will take a test where they will demonstrate their understanding of the today`s lesson :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4fFNW6icVy3MDgxMVdmMDU3TGc/view?usp=sharing
  Basic  Intermediate  Advanced

Lesson Plan
Business/Materials Lesson Objectives
 Students will identify the main ideas, supporting
 Projector ideas and examples and details in any written or
 Power Point Presentation spoken communication.
 Computer  Students will design their own mind maps
 Online articles and outlines with any written or spoken
 Online video communication.
 Students will identify the correct use of the
simple present.
Warm-up and Objective Discussion ( 10 minutes)
Student will watch a short video about the 2 presidency’s candidates from the United States:

Fox News. (2016, July 29). Clinton vs. Trump speeches - By the issues [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tIwyZsHliQ

Tell them to take notes of the main ideas, supporting ideas and examples and details in each
speech.

Explain students, how important is to be able to identify the main ideas, supporting ideas,
examples, and details in any written or spoken communication, especially in academy
environments. In addition communicate students that they are going to learn how to make an
outline and as a part of the today`s lesson they will have to make their own outline about a
topic given as a homework, which is going to be revised and grade by the teacher.

Instruct and Model (20 minutes)  R  W  L  S

The teacher will explain to the students

1. What`s a mind map.

2. What`s an outline.
3. Why and when we use an outline.
4. What are the main components of an outline?
5. How to make an effective outline.

Reading Activity

Provide students with the online political article:

Roysam, V.(2016). 7 reasons why Donald Trump won the Presidential campaign, Retrieved
from https://yourstory.com/2016/11/why-donald-trump-won/

and ask them to read it carefully and take notes of main ideas, supporting ideas and examples and
details in each paragraph.
 Grammar Discussion (simple present tense)
The teacher will explain to students about the use of the simple present tense, and how
important it is; especially, when they read articles referring to facts, habits, routines o things
that often happen. For that purpose the teacher will use the next online resource:

Rodney. (2016). This presentation provides an overview that teachers can use when explaining
English tenses to ESL students. . Retrieved from http://www.elihinkel.org/tips/tenses.htm

Image retrieved from http://www.elihinkel.org/tips/tenses.htm

Guided Practice (15 minutes)  R  W  L  S

Writing activity # 1 (technological resource)

The teacher will explain the use of the software called “Cmaptools” for creating mind maps
and theirs corresponding outlines, using as example the outline of the main parts of an essay.
Independent Practice (10 minutes)  R  W  L  S
Writing activity # 2

According to the main ideas, supporting ideas and examples and details in each paragraph about the
article “7 reasons why Donald Trump won the Presidential campaign” the student musts create
a map mind and their corresponding outline using the technological resource Cmaptools.
Assessment (homework)  R  W  L  S
Students using the previous technological tools and explanations will create a own original
mind map and outline, according to the next online article:

Roberts, D.(2016). Why Hillary Clinton lost the election: the economy, trust and a weak
message, Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/hillary-clinton-election-president-loss

This assignment is given as homework for the next class, which is going to be collected,
revised and grade by the teacher.

Teaching video link: https://youtu.be/7gBSKIG1jDY

 References 1

Ganesh, M. (2015). Teaching receptive and productive language skills with the help of
techniques. Pune Research an international journal in English, 1(2). Retrieved from:
http://puneresearch.com/media/data/issues/55fbb8b0dd37d.pdf
Ivančić, M. & Mandić, A. (2014). Receptive and productive language skills in language
teaching. In Academia.Edu. Retrieved from:
https://www.academia.edu/15220943/Receptive_and_productive_language_skills_in_lan
guage_teaching
Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening: The 4 Basic Language Skills, and How to Practise
Them. Retrieved from: https://www.fluentin3months.com/reading-writing-speaking-and-
listening/
How to Improve Your Listening Skills | 5 Strategies. Retrieved from: https://www.cornerstone-
ct.com/improve-listening-skills/
Communication Strategies. Retrieved from: https://advancedesl.wordpress.com/language-
learning-strategies/speaking-strategies/
7 Essential Reading Strategies Your ESL Students Must Know (and YOU Must Teach).
Retrieved from: https://busyteacher.org/15985-7-must-know-reading-strategies-esl-
students.html