Messages and Notes: A task-based lesson plan for CLB 3.
Introduction:
This is a task-based lesson plan to teach learners to write short notes (texting or written) and leave short phone messages at a CLB 3 level (Canadian Language Benchmarks 2012). The lesson uses a Communicative Language Teaching (CMT) approach, shallow-ended (Thornbury 1999). The lesson is scaffolded to help students ultimately prepare three messages, using an inductive learning approach. The lesson is focused on fluency of writing and speaking and lasts for 2 hours.
The teacher elicits information that the students already know about messages and from examples given in the lesson. The lesson then builds on that by ensuring they use good grammar (present, past and future simple verb tenses), proper form for different types of messages, and correct message etiquette. The students write their messages on paper and then transfer them to the proper media (sticky note, text message and voice message).
The lesson uses peer correction, informal assessment during the lesson and teacher comments that can be given to the students. A self-assessment analyzes whether the objective of the lesson has been accomplished.
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Context:
The lesson is given in a government-funded program with classes two hours long, either in the morning or afternoon. There are 15-18 students in the class on average each day.
About half of the class are refugees, and about half female and half male.
The class is made up of predominately literacy students at CLB 3 level. Many of the students have large extended multi-generational families and are parents with children ranging from babies to grown adult children. Several are middle-aged to seniors.
In the needs assessment, many of the students have indicated that communicating with the school, teachers, or English-speaking friends by text or phone is important in their everyday lives and learning. Many have full or part time jobs where they must interact with their employer by text or phone messages. The class has the use of iPads for technology. More than half the class uses smart phone technology at home.
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Objective:
Learners will be able to
1) Write a handwritten note, send a text message and leave a short voice message to communicate information.
2) Recognize proper format of different types of messages.
3) Use good etiquette in their messages.
4) Use present simple, past simple and future simple tenses in their message.
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Materials:
medium soft ball for throwing, iPads (Wi-Fi connected and with a message account), worksheets (Appendices A and B), whiteboard and markers, teacher’s phone, assessment sheets (Appendices C and D), large sticky notes (5 x 10 cm).
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Activities
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Materials and Timing
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Warm up:
Welcome students to class. Tell them you hope they don’t mind but you forgot to leave your friend a message. Is it OK if you do it now in front of the class? Please just listen quietly.
Loudly and clearly, pretend to phone your friend, and leave a short message:
Example: “Hi Pat. This is Maureen. I will be late for lunch. I will stop at the store first. Sorry. See you at 12:30. Bye. “
Talk about messages:
Write ‘What, where, why, when, who, how on the whiteboard.
Ask: Do you have to leave messages? How or where do you leave messages? (By phone. By texting. By writing?). What do you leave messages about? Why do you leave messages? What things do you write or say in your message?
Write their answers on the board beside the questions words they answer.
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Teachers phone
Whiteboard and colored markers
10 min
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Elicitation:
Write out the message to the friend on the board.
Elicit information by asking ‘What did I say in the message?’ Try to elicit “ hello, name, information, goodbye”.
Classify the sentences using the above.
Block off the parts of the message with colored markers and write the names of the parts beside the blocks.
Elicit different examples of the parts of the message: eg. Does everyone say ‘hello’? What else could you say? (Hi)
Would you always say your name? What else do you say? (This is mom).
What kind of information could you give? Does it depend on who you are leaving the message for?
Why did I say ‘sorry’?
How do you say goodbye? (Bye, See you later, Goodbye)
Anything else you say or write in a message? (phone number)
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Whiteboard and colored markers
15-20 min
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Presentation of Task examples (Appendix A):
Differences in kinds of messages (text, written, voice)
Handout samples of short written messages (notes). They are made to look like sticky note paper, a spoken message on a phone, and a text message.
Pair activity: have pairs look for the information in each message, and color code the ‘hello’ (orange), ‘name’ (green), ‘information’ (blue), ‘goodbye’ (pink) sections of each message.
In a large group discuss:
1) How are they different?
2) How are they the same?
3) Who is the message for?
4) What is the message about?
5) Is time important in the message? Are somethings about the past, some about now, and some about the future? How do we know this? (verb tenses)
Ask for some other examples of things that we might have in the information that could be in the past, present or future. How do say that in a sentence. Write the sentence on the board. Look at the forms of the verb. Why is it important to have the correct verb (past, present or future) in a sentence.
Example sentences to compare (write on whiteboard):
She had a baby.
She has a baby.
She will have a baby.
Would it make a big difference in the meaning of the message?
What’s the differences in the verbs?
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Appendix A
Highlighter markers
15-20 min
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Game ‘Hello Teacher’:
Large group sits in a circle. Tell you class you will make up messages sentence by sentence as you pass the ball around. The ball is first passed around the circle, and as it is passed to a person, they say one sentence of a message. (eg. first line would be ‘Hello Teacher; second person says ‘this is Maureen’). The next person adds a sentence to the message, and then passes the ball to another person who adds to the message. Continue passing the ball until the message gets long enough, and have the next person finish with a closing sentence. Do this a few times and then have students toss the ball randomly around the circle instead of to the person beside them to keep them on their toes, and thinking about what to say. Encourage silliness and creativity in the message, to make the game more fun. Fluency is much more important than accuracy.
Example: Hello Teacher. It’s Maureen. I will be late for my class. There is an elephant at my door. I have to see what he wants. Goodbye. (Different people say each sentence)
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Large soft ball
15 min
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Controlled Practice: Writing Messages (Appendix B):
In pairs:
Ask students to write three short messages for a note, a text message and a phone message. They can have the same information or different, but they should use the correct form for each (ask them about the differences again).
They must think about the verb tenses (past, present and future), to make sure they have the right one in their information sentences.
Are messages very long? How long should they be?
Checklist Reminder (write on the board for reference):
1) Parts (maybe not all): greeting, name, information, time, closing. (Use examples for clues)
2) Verb: past, present or future
3) Period or question mark.
4) Spelling and capitals
5) Form (eg. Hello, information, goodbye)
6) Etiquette (please and thank you)
7) 2 to 4 sentences.
Students trade messages with another group for correction.
And use the checklist above to make sure everything is OK and make suggestions. Students make corrections or changes to messages.
Corrective feedback: While students are writing the teacher checks on groups to help with questions, and suggests some corrective feedback on form of messages and grammar points, in an informal manner. Teacher can use table Appendix D for comments (see description at end of lesson plan).
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Appendix B worksheet
Whiteboard and markers
20 -25 min
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Making our message real (in pairs):
1) Written message: Recopy your corrected message onto a sticky note. Stick it up on the whiteboard. (Optional: Or if there is time and if the students have used Padlet previously, use the app to create a class board of messages.)
2) Text message: use the iPad to write and send your text to the teacher. (Note: students have used iPads in class before, but may need a quick lesson of where to access the text messages on the iPad. Most will have familiarity with texting, but group pairs so one has experience)
3) Phone voice message: have students leave a voice message on the Voice Memos app on the iPad (pretending to leave a phone message). They can play it back and repeat it until they are happy with it.
(Optional: have volunteers from the pairs role play their voice phone message. They are allowed to memorize or read it)
4) After everyone is done ask some of the class to read their classmates sticky note messages. A big round of applause for everyone at the end!
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Sticky notes (large format)
iPads that are Wi-Fi enabled
20-25 min
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Assessment and Corrective Feedback: Let’s see how we did.
1) Student self-assessment (Appendix C): Hand out student self-assessment form. Read this with the class and have students complete the form by circling how they feel.
2) Teacher Assessment (Appendix D): A table is used during the class to record short assessment comments for each student as a formative tool. Positive reinforcement about task completion or attempts is the focus. This is transferred to a sticky note later to be handed out to the student in the next class (Make sure you use the correct format, as taught, for the message!!).
3) Teachers Evaluation of the Lesson (Appendix E): don’t forget to make some notes on what needs to be changed or added.
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Student self-assessment form (Appendix C)
Teacher Assessment form (Appendix D)
Teacher’s Lesson Evaluation (Appendix E)
Sticky notes
5 min
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Homework:
Have students do one of the following over the week (in English):
1) Send a text message.
2) Leave a voice message on the phone.
3) Write a sticky note and bring it to the next class.
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References:
Center for Canadian Language Benchmarks (2012). Canadian Language Benchmarks: English as
a Second Language for Adults. [PDF document]. Retrieved from: http://www.language.ca/publications/english-publications- downloadable/
Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited.
Appendix B:
Written message or note:
Text message:
Phone message:
Appendix D: Teacher Comments on Messages and Notes: A task-based lesson plan
Date:
Student Name
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Comments
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Written note
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Text message
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Phone message
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Appendix E: Teacher Evaluation of the Lesson: Messages and Notes: A task-based lesson plan
Date:
Things that went wrong:
Things to change:
Things to add:
Things to consider:
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