Lesson script
2nd educational stage, English
Content area:
Content and language integrated learningDetailed requirements:
Student (4.3) observes and names typical living organisms of the forest, meadow, cultivated land.Topic
: Natural habitatsDuration
: 45 minutesDetailed goals regarding the range of information
Student:
Knows some wild animals living in Poland;
Knows their living habits;
Knows their habitats.
Detailed goals regarding the range of skills
Student:
Can name a range of animals;
Can match simple descriptions to the terms provided;
Can arrange words in a sentence in the correct order;
Can group items according to their characteristics.
Detailed goals regarding attitudes
Student:
Becomes aware of the richness of wildlife in Poland;
Realises that wild animals need different habitats to live;
Learns to respect the environment;
Develops curiosity about the natural world.
Methods
Brainstorming; presentation; multiple matching; jumbled sentences; categorisation; word search; whole class, pairs, individual work.
Forms and venue
Forms: individual, pairwork, whole class.
Classes are to be held in the classroom.
Materials and teaching aids
Educational video; worksheets for all students (for stages 2.2. and 2.3.); worksheets for pairs of students (for stage 2.4.); word search; computer and multimedia projector; board.
Multimedia resources
Film: Animals in their natural habitats
Quiz: Word search
Online dictionary
Lesson plan/procedure
1 Warm-up
Interaction forms: pairs, whole class Duration: 4 minutes
Teacher sets the time limit of 2 minutes for students to brainstorm for the names of land animals in pairs. Then, teacher asks students to count their words – the pair with the longest list are the winners! Teacher puts the names of the most typical animals on the board.
2 Main stage
2.1. Introduction of the target language – film Interaction forms: whole class
Duration: 8 minutes
Teacher tells students that they will watch a short film about animals in their natural habitats. He/She pre-teaches the concept of ‘habitat’, i.e. the place or environment where an animal normally lives and grows.
Teacher plays the film, pausing after each animal to elicit from students the name of the animal, its habitat or anything else students can remember.
He/She also puts on the board and explains more difficult vocabulary items, e.g. trunk, beak, meadow, etc.
2.2. Target language practice – film (multiple matching) Interaction forms: individual, whole class
Duration: 8 minutes
Pupils will have a chance to consolidate their knowledge by doing a multiple matching task. It contains descriptions of the habitats and other characteristics of the four animals shown in the film, and pupils’ task is to match them correctly.
Teacher distributes worksheets to all pupils. They work individually, then answers are checked with the whole class.
Match the animals (1–4) with their habitats and features (a–d), by putting the correct letter in the box provided.
1
woodpeckers a Live in forests and rocky areas; have wings;have beaks; hunt other animals.
2
butterflies b Live in fields and meadows; don’t have wings;don’t have beaks; don’t hunt other animals.
3
owls c Live in forests; have wings;have beaks; don’t hunt other animals.
4
mice d Live in fields and meadows; have wings;don’t have beaks; don’t hunt other animals.
Answers: 1c, 2d, 3a, 4b
2.3. Consolidation of the target language – jumbled sentences Interaction forms: individual, whole class
Duration: 7 minutes
Teacher distributes worksheets to all students (see below). He/She explains that these are jumbled up sentences about animals and their habitats based on the film they have seen.
Pupils’ task is to unjumble the sentences.
If any sentences turn out to be too challenging, the teacher may help pupils by combining some words into fixed phrases (e.g. tree trunks, living creatures, etc.).
The words are jumbled. Put them in the right sequence to form a correct sentence.
1. home / planet / Our / is / creatures / living / to / many
____________________________________________________________________ . 2. their / with / pick / Woodpeckers / trunks / at / beaks / tree
____________________________________________________________________ . 3. is / habitat / the / butterflies / The / meadow / of / natural
____________________________________________________________________ . 4. habitats / of / range / in / Owls / a / quite / live
____________________________________________________________________ . 5. for / food / houses / visit / even / mice / can / Looking
____________________________________________________________________ .
Answers: 1. Our planet is home to many living creatures. 2. Woodpeckers pick at tree trunks with their beaks. 3. The natural habitat of butterflies is the meadow. 4. Owls live in quite a range of habitats. 5. Looking for food mice can even visit houses.
2.4. Consolidation and extension – categorisation Interaction forms: pairs, whole class
Duration: 8 minutes
Teacher distributes worksheets (see below), one per pair of students. He/She explains that there are different animals and students need to put them into the correct categories (habitats). Teacher explains the names of any animals which are unknown to students.
Students work in pairs. Then, the answers are checked in open class.
Put the following animals into the correct groups.
bear eagle otter stork
beaver grasshopper salamander trout
dear marmot snail wolf
forest
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
meadow
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
mountains
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
rivers
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Answers: (forest) bear, dear, wolf; (meadow) grasshopper, snail, stork; (mountains) eagle, marmot, salamander; (rivers) beaver, otter, trout
2.5. Target language consolidation – quiz Interaction forms: individual
Duration: 7 minutes
Students do the word search. Their task is to find the hidden words they have come across in the lesson. The words can be found vertically, horizontally or diagonally, in both directions.
The hidden words are: beak, clif, creature, forest, habitat, meadow, owl, trunk, wings.
3 Closing stage
Interaction forms: whole class
To conclude the lesson, teacher elicits from students the names of the animals they learnt about in the lesson, their habitat and any other information students can remember.
For homework, students are asked to find out more about four other animals living in Poland, e.g. grasshopper, stork, marmot, otter, etc.
Additional information
Teacher advises students that the www.scholaris.pl website offers a computer application in the form of a multimedia dictionary presenting correct pronunciation together with
translations of words and phrases learned during the lesson.