DEFENSA de la PROGRAMACIÓN y de la UNIDAD DIDÁCTICA.

Óscar Portela Paz

Oposiciones de Maestro Lengua Extranjera – Madrid – 2005.

Hello! Good morning!

First of all, it is necessary to mention that our exposition will be divided into two
parts. The first one will be devoted to comment our didactic programme New
Friends. And the second one, will be focused on our project of work called “Our
Electronic Magazine”. In this way, let’s start with the first part.

In general terms, teachers must plan their teaching with Didactic Programmes.
Didactic Programmes are the best tool for sequencing the objectives, the contents
and the evaluation of our teaching. Nevertheless, before planning those items, the
teacher must know three very important points: the legal framework of the
Educational System, his / her own students, and the educational context of the
school centre. Therefore, we will start this exposition with a few points of our current
legal framework.

The L.O.C.E. Organic Law of Quality in Education (10 / 2002, 23rd December).
BOE 24 / 12 / 2002., establishes in its article number 68 the pedagogic autonomy of
teachers and its performance as Didactic Programmes. Therefore, we, as English
language teachers, have to reflect our educational activity in Didactic Programmes.
Besides that, the Educational System shows us the main objectives, contents and
assessment criteria that we must follow. Nevertheless, we will explain these points
later.

In order to carry out a better exposition of our Didactic Programme is necessary

to divide it into 6 parts. The first one will be devoted to comment the sociocultural
and academic context of the school centre. The second one will be the exposition of
the goals of the Didactic Programme. Next, we will find a brief explanation about the
contents and the didactic resources. And finally, we will explain the attention to
diversity and the evaluation.

Let’s see now the main aspects related with the sociocultural and academic
context of the school centre. First of all, it is necessary to mention that this Didactic
Programme has been elaborated taking into account our own experience in a
similar school. The school centre would be in an urban area and it would be an
Infant and Primary Education School. Furthermore, the school would be in a low-
middle sociocultural and socioeconomic context. The school centre would have 12
units of Primary Education, two per level, and 6 units of Infant Education. Logically,
this school would be maintained with public funds.

Apart from this, it is also necessary to establish the main characteristics of the
students. In this way, we have elaborated this Didactic Programme for students of
3rd year of Primary Education. In other words, 1st level of the 2nd cycle. The number
of students in the classroom would be around 20. And in this group would be 9
immigrants students: 5 from South America (3 from Ecuador, 1 from Colombia and
1 from Dominican Republic), 3 from Morocco and 1 from Romania. Besides that, we
would have in our classroom 3 students with special or specific educational needs.
1 with visual deficiencies, 1 with learning difficulties and 1 student under a situation
of social disadvantage.

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 The choice of this particular group of students was carried out under an
exhaustive analysis of the educational reality. In this way, the aim of this choice was
to choose the most representative group of students as possible, taking into
account the specific needs and interests of each student and our particular
experience in a similar school.

Now, we will comment the objectives of our Didactic Programme. Although,

before this explanation, it is necessary to comment the general objectives described
by the official curriculum. These general objectives are 9 and there are summarized
as follows:

1.Understand oral and written texts related to familiar situations.

2.Use orally the foreign language to communicate in everyday situations.
3.Produce brief and simple written texts.
4.Read and understand short and simple texts.
5.Value and respect the foreign language.
6.Use non-linguistic conventions in habitual situations.
7.Use strategies of autonomous learning.
8.Establish relations among meaning, pronunciation and graphic
representation in the foreign language and recognize rhythm and stress.
9. Use non-linguistic expressive devices.
These objectives appear in the Royal Decree 1006 / 1991.

Now we will comment the specific objectives of our Didactic Programme:

1. Understand brief oral and written texts, with visual aids, related to students’
interests and experiences and related to previously learned language.
2. Practise the four skills through meaningful and purposeful activities.
3. Practice oral skills in debates about students’ interests or experiences.
4. Achieve students’ participation in oral communicative activities through
meaningful and purposeful activities.
5. Answer oral questions using verbal and non-verbal strategies.
6. Foster pair and group work.
7. Get the general gist of brief written texts.
8. Develop students’ interest in the target language and its culture, through the
use of authentic or simulated authentic material.
9. Get familiarised with the use of new technologies of information and
communication.
10. Use verbal and non-verbal strategies to communicate with the teacher and
the rest of classmates.
11. Relate the graphic representation of words with their pronunciation and
stress.
12. Develop learning strategies in order to facilitate learning (Learning to learn).
13. Develop the critical view of students.
14. Develop values such as respect, participation and co-operation in order to
achieve better outcomes in group work.
15. Promote students’ respect towards different cultures, races, religions, etc.
16. Foster students’ interest in reading as a source of pleasure and
entertainment.
17. Foster students’ motivation through the ludic aspect of the language.
18. Gain students’ self-confidence in order to achieve better outcomes in
communicative activities.

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 19. Allow students to make mistakes in order to facilitate oral communication
and fluency and to create a relaxed atmosphere.

If you want a more detailed explanation of the objectives the same way as the
connection between the general and the specific objectives you will find it in the
appendixes of our Didactic Programme.

From now on, we will comment the contents of the Didactic Programme.
Therefore, we must divide this part into two points. First of all, the general contents
of the official curriculum. On the other hand, we will find the specific contents of our
work. In the first case, you will find a detailed description of the general ones in our
programme. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that there are three kinds of
contents. Uses and forms of aural communication, uses and forms of written
communication and sociocultural aspects. Besides that, each kind of content is
divided into three parts: concepts, procedures and attitudes.

On the other hand, we will comment briefly the main contents of the programme
and the development of the units of work.

Our Didactic Programme is oriented towards a constructivist model and it has

been elaborated following a topic-based approach. In this way, each unit has a
meaningful topic which provide our students the link among their experiences or
interests and the English language. For example, animals, sports and family are
three topics chosen.

Firstly, our didactic programme has been called “New Friends” and it is divided
into twenty units. Each unit has got 5 lessons of 50 minutes each one.
Nevertheless, there are 7 units with less lessons devoted, generally, to sociocultural
aspects such as Halloween or Easter. Furthermore, each unit follows a similar
pattern. First, the teacher will introduce the new contents and will elicit the previous
knowledge. Next, students will practice with the structures and contents proposed
through meaningful activities and finally, our pupils will produce short written or oral
messages using the new language studied.

On the other hand, each term will be devoted to six or seven didactic units.

There is also another very important aspect at this point. Each didactic unit has
got a final task. This final task is the final outcome of the lesson. In this way, the
new and the previous knowledge proposed in the lesson will be reflected in this final
task. This is a very good way to keep the students’ motivation because students will
know the main task of the lesson at the very beginning of it.
To sum up, each unit of work will have its own meaningful topic and its own final
task.

Let’s see now a brief description of each didactic unit.

1. Topic 0. Are you ready? 3 lessons. It is an introductory unit in which students will
revise the previous knowledge. Also, our pupils will carry out a brief guided role-
play for using greetings and questions about personal information of others.

2. Topic 1. Gurp at school. 5 lessons. In this didactic unit, our students will work
with language related with the school life. The pupils will design a wall-chart
focused on the new knowledge proposed.
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3. Topic 2. My special calendar. 5 lessons. This topic is very important because
from now on, our pupils will write the date in the target language. For this
reason, there are contents devoted to calendars and dates. Finally, students per
groups will design the classroom calendar.

4. Topic 3. Gurp at the farm. 5 lessons. The students will visit an actual farm at the
end of this didactic unit. For this reason, our students must know the language
necessary about farms and animals. This kind of excursion is very useful
because our students will see the actual use of the language.

5. Topic 4. Trick or treat? 3 lessons. This didactic unit is shorter than others and it
is devoted to one sociocultural aspect: Halloween. The main objective of this unit
is to design a fear mask and to participate in an anglo-saxon custom.

6. Topic 5. One or two legs? 5 lessons. Through this unit of work, our students will
learn the different parts of the body. This topic can be coordinated with the same
topic of Sciences area. Moreover, our students will make an articulate picture in
which each part of the body will be pointed out.

7. Topic 6. Merry Christmas! 3 lessons. In this didactic unit, our students will learn
sociocultural aspects of the target language. Besides that, our students will
adorn the classroom with Christmas decorations. With this unit, we will end the
1st term.

8. Topic 7. The clothes shop. 5 lessons. This unit of work is devoted to garments.
In this way, the final task will be to simulate a clothes shop with garments of the
students. The meaningful context of the classroom will help our students in order
to achieve better outcomes.

9. Topic 8. St. Valentine’s Day. 2 lessons. This unit is the shortest of the
programme. Its main goal is to learn another sociocultural aspect and to practice
the foreign language.

10. Topic 9. My family. 5 lessons. The relationship among relatives and all of the
language related with this topic will be the main contents to teach in this didactic
unit.

11. Topic 10. The alphabet. 5 lessons. This topic will be devoted to another basic
knowledge: the alphabet. In this way, our students will practice with the english
alphabet through meaningful tasks and with comparisons with their mother
tongue.

12. Topic 11. My favourite food. 5 lessons. With a little tasting of food (fruits and
nuts especially) our students will learn the main contents of the topic.

13. Topic 12. Happy Birthday! 5 lessons. This type of celebration is very common in
the school life. For this reason, the English language teacher will include a
didactic unit with this topic. All the knowledge related with this type of celebration
will be included in the contents.

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14. Topic 13. Happy Easter! 3 lessons. Through this didactic unit, the English
language teacher will teach another sociocultural aspect. This unit will be shorter
than others. With this unit, we will end the 2nd term.

15. Topic 14. My house. 5 lessons. Our students will design another wall-chart
pointing out the main parts of the house. Moreover, this didactic unit is very
meaningful because our students can relate their own experiences with the new
language proposed.

16. Topic 15. Animals in needs. 5 lessons. This didactic unit is devoted to animals
with a different approach to the topic number 3. In this unit of work, our students
will practice with language related to animals in needs. Apart from this, they will
design another wallchart pointing out the places of the world in which there are
animals in this situation.

17. Topic 16. My favourite sport. 5 lessons. Our students will learn language about
sports and finally they will celebrate sport meetings in order to acquire better the
language proposed.

18. Topic 17. Gurp’s house. 5 lessons. This unit of work will be devoted to the solar
system and the universe. In this way, our students will practice the English
language through this meaningful topic.

19. Topic 18. Stories are funny. 3 lessons. This didactic unit will be devoted to one
basic linguistic skill: reading. Moreover, the teacher can take advantage of this
topic in order to foster the students’ interest towards reading.

20. Topic 19. The big party. 3 lessons. Through this didactic unit, the students will
revise all the language proposed along the academic year. Moreover, they will
prepare the final party. With this unit, we will end the 3rd term.

Apart from the description of the units of work, it is necessary to mention more
important points.

Another important aspect is the teaching of cross-curricular topics. It is

necessary to mention that there are several topics of this kind in our Didactic
Programme. For example: Education for peace, Education for Health,
Environmental education, No sexist education and multicultural education.

On the other hand, the four basic linguistic skills are practised in an interrelated
way. Nevertheless, at the very beginning, the oral skills (listening and speaking) are
more important than written ones. In this way, the oral skills are reinforced at the
first stage of the programme.

Moreover, the common number of lessons in a didactic programme of this

characteristics is 15. In this way, in our programme, the contents are often repeated
and reinforced along the lessons because the amount of lessons is larger.

Another interesting aspect is the choice of the name of the programme. New
friends. In this way, we have elaborated this programme with a main theme. This
theme is the arrival of an alien at our planet. This alien, called Gurp, will meet with
four children of different nationalities that will show him the most important aspects
of anglo-saxon culture and language. For this reason, there are topics such as Gurp
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at the school in which it guesses that the four children show him the more important
aspects of the topic.

Finally, and to sum up it is necessary to point out that our didactic units have
been developed in a progressive way. Besides that, the level of language is always
monitored and controlled. And, through these meaningful and purposeful topics, the
teacher provides enough opportunities to practice the target language.

Now, we will explain the didactic resources needed to carry out this programme
in an effective way.
First of all, we must explain that the communicative approach underlies this
programme. In this way, the most important goal of this programme is
communication. Apart from this, there are more methods and approaches used. For
instance, the Total Physical Response Method are used with some action songs
(Head and shoulders, knees and toes, topic 5).

In order to provide our students with opportunities to communicate, this Didactic

Programme uses several techniques and activities. Two of the most important
activities are Drama activities and question-answer tasks. Furthermore, drills and
communicative games are used to foster the communicative skills and the practice
of the target language. Therefore, through using these kind of activities and
techniques our students can begin to acquire the so-called communicative
competence.

On the other hand, there is another important point necessary to carry out this
programme. This point is the coordination among the teachers. Our performance
will be more efficient and coherent if the teaching staff is coordinated. It is advisable
to establish periodical meetings among all the teachers that work with the group in
order to carry out the globalised way of teaching proposed.

We have grouped our students into 5 groups of 4 students each, but this
arrangement is flexible. In other words, groups will change when necessary. In this
way, there is another main arrangement: the horse-shoe arrangement used in
communicative activities such as debates or games.

Let’s see now, the main materials and resources used with this programme.
First of all, we have elaborated this programme as a textbook. In other words, our
students would have a textbook with the same contents and knowledge as our
Didactic Programme. Logically, the English language teacher will provide them with
worksheets, flashcards and activities for reinforcing the contents studied.

The use of cd-player and dvd-player is also very important at this point. But,
maybe the most used with this programme would be the personal computer and the
multimedia material. Using educative software about the contents of the
programme, our students would reinforce very well the contents of it.

Relating to the attention to diversity, we have included some advice in each

lesson-planning. Nevertheless it is necessary to comment briefly each case.
The student with visual deficiencies needs strong contrasts (black and white)
and he must be seated in front of the blackboard and the teacher in order to get a
direct visual and voiced contact. The pupil with learning difficulties needs a different
teaching pace. In this way, the english language teacher have to teach the contents
slowly and carefully. Noticing quickly possible problems and anticipating them.
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Finally, the student under a social disadvantage situation must be integrated in the
group as much as possible. Giving him responsibilities and foster the respect and
tolerance among the students.

From now on, we will explain the evaluation of the programme. First of all, we
must comment the assessment criteria of the official curriculum. This assessment
criteria is divided into 9 points and there are summarized as follows:

1. Recognise and reproduce the characteristics phonemes of the foreign language

and the basic elements of rhythm and intonation.
2. Understand the global sense of oral texts related to familiar topics.
3. Extract specific information from aural texts with a simple structures and
vocabulary.
4. Participate in brief oral communication exchanges related habitual activities.
5. Participate in simulated communicative situations which have been previously
practised in the class.
6. Extract the global meaning and some specific information from brief written
texts with a linear development, simple structures and vocabulary.
7. Read with the help of the teacher or a dictionary, simple books for children with
visual redundant support.
8. Produce very brief written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics of situation and the communicative purpose.
9. Recognise some sociocultural features.

And, after this, we will explain our particular assessment criteria which is divided
into 14 points.

1. Extract specific information from aural texts related to students’ interests and
experiences.
2. Produce brief oral messages related to previously known topics.
3. Understand and answer short questions about themselves (name, age, etc.).
4. Recognise the most important characteristics of English language sounds and
pronunciation.
5. Produce brief written texts related to previously known topics.
6. Understand, comprehend and use the value of communication through oral
communicative activities.
7. Respect the conversational formulae in communication exchanges.
8. Demonstrate the right attitude towards social interaction in communication
exchanges.
9. Read with the help of the teacher or dictionary brief texts.
10. Develop an interest in using the foreign language as a means of communication
in the classroom.
11. Demonstrate a positive attitude towards mistakes and understand mistakes as a
source of learning.
12. Promote solidarity, tolerance and respect towards other cultures.
13. Foster group work through participation and cooperation.
14. Develop an interest in reading as a source of pleasure and entertainment.

The connection between the general and the specific assessment criteria is also
avaliable in the appendixes of our programme.

In order to check the achievement of the objectives and the evaluation criteria,
english teachers have got observation as the main important tool. Besides that, in
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our programme we have included self-assessment sheets for our students and brief
written and oral tests.

Finally and as a conclusion of this part of the exposition, we have to point out
the great importance of planning carefully our perfomance as teachers. Logically,
our own performance must be guided through lesson plannings and didactic
programmes in order to achieve better outcomes. Also, the coordination among
teachers and the attention to diversity are essential to carrying out an effective
teaching.

Now, we are going to start with the second part of our exposition. This second
part will be devoted to comment the main points and characteristics of one Didactic
Unit.

We have wanted to show you two different kinds of teaching. For this reason,
our didactic unit and our didactic programme are so different. In the case of the
didactic programme, the units were shorter than the present didactic unit.
Nevertheless, we have worked with this two kinds of approaches in our own
experience with positive outcomes.

First of all, it is necessary to mention that our didactic unit is special somehow.
It would be better to call it project of work instead of didactic unit. In this way, in our
project of work could be included more subjects than the English language.

In genereal terms, our second part of the exposition will be divided into 3 parts.
Firstly, we will identify and comment the design of the project of work. Next, we will
explain the development of the project. And, we will end this exposition with a brief
comments about cross-curricular topics, evaluation criteria, attention to diversity and
space and time management.

Our project is called “Our Electronic Magazine” and we have elaborated it to be

developed in the 3rd Cycle of Primary Education, more specifically, we have thought
this project for the 1st level of the 3rd Cycle. (6th year of Primary Education).

The development of the project will need 8 lessons of 50 minutes each one.

Once the project of work has been identified, we will present some essential
conditionings which have some influence on it.

First of all, we have to talk about the school and its students.

The school would be in an urban area with low-middle sociocultural and

socioeconomic resources. The school would have a computers’ room with 12
personal computers with Internet connection. And logically, the school would also
have a library, a gym, etc.

Our didactic supposition has been elaborated for a group of 20 students.

Whithin this group of pupils, we would find 2 students with special educational
needs. One student would have auditory deficiencies and another one would be a
Down syndrome person.

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 Let’s see now the design of the project of work. We will start with a short
description of the project and the final task and then, we will explain the objectives
and contents of the project.

This project of work gathers several important aspects. First of all, it follows the
application of one of the common elements of the curriculum stated by the L.O.C.E.
This common element is the so-called Information and Communication
Technologies. Besides that, this unit of work practices the four skills and finally, it is
focused on the communicative aspect of the language.

Nowadays it has long been accepted that the use of computers is an

essential part of our lives. For this reason, teacher must include the use of personal
computers in their lessons. In this way, our didactic supposition requires several
clarifications.

The first one is devoted to the previous knowledge of the students. The
teacher must use the Information and Communication Technologies throughout the
whole academic year. The outcome of this will be the acquisition of the basic
knowledge about the use of this kind of resources, before starting with the project.
In such a way, the teacher will save much time and will use it for other tasks. For
this reason, it is advisable that the teacher introduces his/her students in the world
of personal computers and Internet little by little since the very beginning of the
year.

Next, the second clarification is devoted to the global or comprehensible

approach of this didactic unit. Teachers of different areas must participate in the
realisation of didactic units, through co-operation and assessment. In this way, the
foreign language teacher can take into advantage of concepts, aspects, etc., of
other areas in order to complete his / her didactic units.
Another important aspect is that the teacher can take advantage of this
didactic unit as a summary of the whole year. The concepts and structures worked
till this stage would be reinforced through the current didactic supposition.

Finally, the teacher must take into account that the relationship between the
students and the teacher is another essential part of the teaching activity. In this
way, the teacher will try to monitor, motivate and advise his / her students in order
to create a right and relaxed atmosphere. Also, the teacher can help them to relax
and feel confortable using music at the same time they are working.

Apart from this, there is another important part at this point. This part is the final
task.

Doubtlessly, our students must know the purpose of the didactic unit before
starting it. Hence, the teacher must comment with his / her students this final task
and the purposes of the didactic unit during the first session of it.

Basically, our final task is oriented towards two points of view. On one hand, the
students can make a short publication in which they will include articles about their
interests. On the other hand, the student can take advantage of the great
development of Information and Communication Technologies in order to spread
their publication.

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 To sum up, the basic idea of our final task is the following: to make a short
publication (on the other hand, very common in schools in the written version) and
next, its publication in Internet. Nevertheless, to this aim, the students must make
several articles for the publication. In this way, the teacher can offer several topics
to the students and then, the students (in groups of work) can choose the more
interesting for them. Topics such as sports, music, cinema, news of the school,
horoscopes, ecological facts, etc., are topics very interesting for them. Therefore,
the main roles of the teacher are motivator, negotiator, assessor and as a source of
knowledge.

In our opinion, this didactic unit and its final task gather several important facts.
On one hand, the interest of the students in the use of personal computers and
Internet and, on the other hand, the interest of the students in speaking about their
own interests and hobbies. For this reason, the teacher will try to direct their
motivation in the achievement of the objectives proposed.

Now we will comment the general and the didactic objectives of our project of
work.

The general objectives are the following:

- Understand oral and written texts related to familiar situations.

- Use orally the foreign language to communicate in everyday situations.
- Produce brief and simple texts.
- Read and understand short and simple texts.
- Value and respect the foreign language.

And the didactic objectives are the following:

- Produce and understand brief written and oral texts.

- Understand simple oral messages coming from the own classmates and the
teacher.
- Keep a short conversation by using previously assumed structures.
- Understand the meaning of certain songs and being able to grasp the rhythm
and intonation by singing them.
- Listen to and understand a story.
- Read and understand simple articles of magazines and newspapers.
- Respect and know about the English-speaking countries’ culture.
- Show interest towards the target language and its use in New Technologies.

Within this part devoted to the design of the project of work, there is another
essential part. This essential part will be the contents.

The contents will be divided into two groups: oral and written communication
and sociocultural aspects. And each group will be divided, at the same time, into
three parts: concepts, procedures and attitudes.

a. Oral and written communication.

- Concepts.

- Previous knowledge: use of commands, present simple, present continuous and

basic use of personal computers.
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- Communicative intentions: giving information on people, sports, music, etc.
- Vocabulary: vocabulary about the topics, qualifying adjectives and verbs.

- Procedures.

- Comprehension of brief oral and written texts about newspapers, magazines,

personal computers and Internet.
- Identification of the main parts of a magazine.
- Production of short written articles about people, sports, music, etc.

- Attitudes.

- Positive and optimistic attitude towards their own capacity to learn how to speak
and write in the foreign language.
- Interest in the possibilities of the press and Internet.
- Effort to improve their pronunciation.
- Active participation in the activities proposed.

b. Socio-cultural aspects.

- Concepts.

- Different kinds of newspapers, magazines, etc., in English-speaking countries.

- Procedures.

- Recognition of the different kinds of newspapers, magazines, etc.

- Use of authentic materials from different sources close to the learners in order to
obtain specific information.

- Attitudes.

- Curiosity and respect towards other countries’ socio-cultural aspects.

- Curiosity and interest in the use of Information and Communication
Technologies.

Finally, we must comment the material needed to carry out this project. In this
way, the material will be the following:

- Hardware: Personal computer, Headphones, Microphone, Speakers, Scanner

and Printer.
- Software: Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Paintbrush, Microsoft Word 97 or
2000 and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- Cd-player and DVD-player.
- British and American newspapers and magazines.
- Worksheets.
- Flashcards.
- Adapted text about "The Hobbit".
- Balls for sports.
- Movie “The Lord of the Rings”.
- Cd-roms and diskettes.

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 Next, we will start with the part of our exposition devoted to the development of
the project of work. In this part, we will comment the development of the 8 lessons
and a brief comment about the first considerations and possible problems.

As previously mentioned, this didactic supposition comprises 8 lessons in which

the teacher and the students will develop several kinds of activities. First of all, and
as a basic plan for the didactic unit, we can say that the activities of the didactic unit
are oriented towards three points: presentation, practice and production. In this way,
the lessons number 1 and 2 will be devoted to the presentation stage. Next, the
lessons number 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be devoted to the practice stage. In this stage,
the students will practise with the structures and vocabulary required for making the
website. And, finally, in the session number 7 and 8, the students will produce their
articles and then, they will type their articles in the personal computer.

Next, we will talk about the process of negotiation. During the choice of the
topic, the teacher can take advantage of his / her previous knowledge about his /
her own students in order to propose more interesting and motivating topics.
Nevertheless, the teacher must be prepared to the possibility to alternative choices.
In this case, the teacher will adapt his / her lesson plannings in order to reach a
better motivation of his / her students. In our particular case, we have chosen
several topics in order to illustrate better our didactic supposition. We have divided
the topics into four (one for each group): music, cinema, sports and literature. In this
way, we have chosen one specific item according with the previous division:
- Music: Keane.
- Cinema: The Lord of the Rings.
- Sports: Basketball and football.
- Literature: “The hobbit” J.R.R. Tolkien.

Finally, and ending this part of our didactic supposition, it is necessary to

mention that the motivational aspect of this plan depends, partially, on the possibility
of the students to choose the topics. For this reason, the teacher must help them
and negotiate with them in order to reach a consensus.

1.1. First lesson.

a. Review of the previous knowledge. The teacher will elicit the previous
knowledge about the use of computers and Internet. Furthermore, the teacher
will check the previous structures and vocabulary. 15 minutes.
b. Presentation of the project of work. The teacher will show them examples of
newspapers and magazines from the United Kingdom and the United States.
Also, the teacher will introduce the final task. 15 minutes.
c. Establishment of the first conditions. The teacher will show them the order of the
activities and the first action plan of their work. 5 minutes.
d. Group work. First proposal of topics for the electronic magazine . Brainstorming
actiivty. Based on the authentic material. The students will think about possible
topics. The teacher will write down on the blackboard these possible problems.
10 minutes.
e. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show them
the most important aspects of the lesson and will introduce the next one. 5
minutes.

1.2. Second lesson.

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a. Review of the previous lesson. The teacher will elicit the previous knowledge
and will introduce the activities of the lesson. 5 minutes.
b. Introduction of the main linguistic aspect of the project . In this part, the teacher
will introduce the main contents about the topics chosen using authentic
material, flashcards and songs. 25 minutes.
c. Choice of topics and sharing out of them into groups . The students will choose
the topics at random. 15 minutes.
d. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show the
most important aspects of the lesson and will introduce the next one. 5 minutes.

1.3. Third lesson.

a. Review of the previous lesson. The teacher will elicit the previous knowledge
and will introduce the activities of the lesson. 5 minutes.
b. Song activity. The teacher will introduce the Keane’s song and after that, the
students will comment the theme of the song. 15 minutes.
c. Introduction of interviews. The teacher will explain the most common questions
and answers in interviews. 5 minutes.
d. Pair work. The teacher will ask them to do a role-play activity. In which one
student would be the interviewer and another student would be the famous
singer. 10 minutes.
e. Reading activity. The teacher will read a short text of the adapted version of the
“The hobbit” showing them flashcards. 10 minutes.
f. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show the
most important aspects of the lesson and will introduce the next one. 5 minutes.

1.4. Fourth lesson.

a. Review of the previous lesson. The teacher will elicit the previous knowledge
and will introduce the activities of the lesson. 5 minutes.
b. Mix and Mingle activity. The teacher will ask his / her students to elaborate an
opinion poll about the characters of “The Lord of the Rings”. 15 minutes.
c. Reading activity. The teacher will read a short text of the adapted version of the
“The hobbit” showing them flashcards. 15 minutes.
d. Worksheet. The teacher will ask them to fill in a worksheet in which they will
have to order the correct sequence of events of the story. 5 minutes.
e. Communicative situation. The teacher and the students will relate the movie with
the novel proposed. 5 minutes.
f. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show the
most important aspects of the lesson and will introduce the next one. 5 minutes.

1.5. Fifth lesson.

a. Review of the previous lesson. The teacher will elicit the previous knowledge
and will introduce the activities of the lesson. 5 minutes.
b. Cinema. The teacher will show them a brief scene of the movie “The Lord of the
Rings” with the original audio and subtitles and next, he / she will establish a
debate about the linguistic points. 20 minutes.
c. Hangman. The teacher will divide the students into two groups. Each group, with
a representative, will choose words related with the previous knowledge and
also with the movie. For example: walk, run, jump, etc. 10 minutes.
d. Role-play activity. Our students will have to dramatize the scene proposed
dividing it into groups of students. 10 minutes.
13
e. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show the
most important aspects of the lesson and will introduce the next one. 5 minutes.

1.6. Sixth lesson.

a. Review of the previous lesson. The teacher will elicit the previous knowledge
and will introduce the activities of the lesson. 5 minutes.
b. Group work. Using the target language, the teacher will distribute the students
into groups in order to play sports such as basketball and football. 5 minutes.
c. Group work. The teacher will establish two teams for playing football and two
teams for playing basketball. Then, the teams will change the sport. 35 minutes.
d. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show them
the most important aspects of the lesson and introduces the next one. 5
minutes.

Note: This lesson could be complemented with a lesson of Physics Education.

1.7. Seventh lesson.

a. Review of the previous lesson. The teacher will elicit the previous knowledge
and will distribute the personal computers. 5 minutes.
b. Group work. The teacher will ask them to prepare their articles and type them
using the personal computers and the software previously mentioned. 40
minutes.
c. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show them
the most important aspects of the lesson and introduces the next one. 5
minutes.

1.8. Eighth lesson.

a. Review of the previous lesson. The teacher will elicit the previous knowledge
and distributes the personal computers. 5 minutes.
b. Group work. The teacher will ask them to finish their articles and write them
using the personal computers and the software previously mentioned. 25
minutes.
c. Group work. The teacher will illustrate them the way in which their articles will go
together in a web of Internet. He / she will ask them to paste all the articles into
one. After, the teacher will ask them to print a copy for each group. 10 minutes.
d. Brief summary and introduction of the next lesson. The teacher will show them
the most important aspects of the lesson. After, he / she will ask them to fill in a
self-assessment sheet and finally, the teacher will introduce the next lesson. 10
minutes.

In order to avoid problems, the teacher must take into account the possible
difficulties of this project of work. So, in this way, the teacher can find several kinds
of problems at this point:

- Technological: the teacher can find some problems with the technological
equipment. In other words, several problems can arise when using personal
computers in our lessons:
- The personal computer doesn't work.
- The software required has not been installed.
- The personal computer hasn't installed the software required.
14
 - The availability of using the computer’s classroom.
- Personal.
- The students haven't confidence in the use of personal computers.
- The students have received any class about the use of personal
computers.
- There are only one or two students active in each group.
- There are only 12 personal computer to 20 students.

Apart from this, there is another problem very easy to solve. It can be possible
that the teacher cannot do websites or cannot manage the technologies required. In
that situation, the teacher can ask for help to the Information and Communication
Technologies coordinator. It would be very positive if this coordinator will work in the
project too.

Finally, it is necessary to mention that there personal websites in Internet without

charge. In other words, everybody can publish his / her opinions and articles in a
website, because there are several sites that offer us this possibility free.

On the other hand, in our didactic supposition are also included several cross-
curricular topics:
- Education for Peace. This is always a main objective and must be included in all
our school life.
- Multicultural Education. The teacher can take advantage of the relationships
among the different races of the movie’s characters to teach this topic.
- No sexist Education. The teacher can improve and foster this topic mainly in the
sport meetings.

Logically, another essential part of the present project of work is the evaluation
criteria.

The students’ evaluation will be a continuous one; therefore, the teacher will
observe the students’ production and achievement and will note down whatever he /
she regards important. Some important points to consider will be:
- Comprehension of the vocabulary and expressions worked.
- Right production and understanding of simple texts.
- Ability to keep short and simple question-answer dialogues.
- Their active participation in every activity proposed.
- Students’ pronunciation.
- Their respect for the English-speaking culture.

Another important part of the evaluation of the students will be the self-
evaluation. The teacher will ask them to fill in two self-assessment sheets, one at
the beginning of the didactic unit and the other at the end. In this way, the teacher
can check the level of knowledge at the end of the didactic unit. Furthermore, this
kind of activity helps them to develop a feeling of responsibility and involvement in
the teaching-learning process. Finally, we include an example of self-assessment
sheet in order to illustrate the previous statements in the appendix of this didactic
unit.

Besides that, and in our educational reality, we cannot forget that we can find in
our classroom several students with special educational needs. In this case, the
teacher must be prepared to adapt his / her lessons in order to help them to
advance in the process of teaching-learning. In this way, we, as foreign language
15
teachers, must guarantee the appropriate transmission of information to these
pupils. In this particular case, we have prepared some guidelines about two
students with special educational needs in order to help the teacher in the teaching
of this didactic supposition. In our particular case, we have elaborated this project of
work taking into account two students with special educational needs.

A deaf person would be one case of student with special educational needs. In
this particular case, the teacher has to facilitate the process of communication by
keeping a face-to-face communication. In this way, the student can read the
teacher's lips and reach a better level of communication.

The another case is Down Syndrome person. In this case, the teacher must
repeat and reinforce all the activities in order to help him / her with the
understanding.

Logically, the teacher must take into account the students with special
educational needs when planning. However, it is also possible to make curricular
adaptations during the development of the didactic unit. Anyway, the teacher must
know exactly the specific problems of each child in order to plan better his / her
work.

The teacher must be always ready to help his / her students and to eliminate all
the possible communicative barriers between the students and him / her.
Furthermore, the teacher must have the reinforcement of other teachers such as the
Pedagogic Therapyst or the Speech Therapyst.

The last point to comment will be the space and time arrangement.

Our distribution of space is flexible. So, the teacher will group them according to
the activity proposed. The general arrangement will be the following: 4 groups of 5
pupils each one. Nevertheless, there are several games or communicative activities
in our project that need a different distribution.

The time arrangement will be determined by meetings among the teaching staff.
Nevertheless, the common arrangement will be lessons of 50 minutes each.

Finally, and as a conclusion, we must remain you some important aspects of this
didactic unit. First of all, we must taking into account the great possibilities of
learning that Information and Communication Technologies have. Furthermore,
when using this kind of resources, the motivation and interest of the students is,
generally speaking, guaranteed. For this reason, the teacher must consider his / her
lessons taking advantage of this motivation and interest. The important idea is that
the teacher use personal computers as a resource for his / her lessons and not as
the basic tool. In this way, the teacher can solve the problems using alternative
activities. Also, the teacher can focus the motivation of the students on a feeling of
responsibility with the work. Basically, the development of this didactic unit is not
easy but it is possible if the teacher and the students are enough motivated and
interested.

If you have questions about our exposition, I will answer you with great
pleasure.

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 Thank you very much for your time and attention.

Unit 2: THE CLASS/CLASSROOM OBJECTS/IT'S SCHOOL TIME

1. JUSTIFYING THE UNIT.
2. DIDACTIC AIMS.
3. CONTENTS
3.1. Concepts.
3.2. Procediments.
3.3. Attitudes
4. METHODOLOGY
5. TIMING
6. RESOURCES AND GROUPING
7. CROSS-CURRICULAR ELEMENTS
7.1. Co-education.
7.2. Civic and moral education
7.3. New technologies applied to education
8. MOTIVATION
9. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
10. DIVERSITY TREATMENT: REINFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES
11. ASSESSMENT
12. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. JUSTIFYING THE UNIT

Following the facts that we stated in the previous unit, we have chosen a topic related to our
students’ real world. This way, we will be taking in consideration their needs and interests.
As well as this, the linguistic items elected are quite simple, and they will not need complex
vocabulary/structures to communicate with others.
Through the different activities and the methodology proposed, we will work the four basic
skills, helping our pupils to develop the communicative competence in a foreign language.
2. DIDACTIC AIMS
• To identify, look and practise the vocabulary related to classroom
objects.
• To recognize and say the vocabulary related to colours.
• To listen and say a chant while doing the actions/ gestures.
• To sing a song.
• To listen and read a story.
• To learn about schools in the U.K.
• To establish associations between the pronunciation of words and
spelling.
• To review numbers, greetings and ways of introducing oneself.
3. CONTENTS
3.1. Concepts
Communicative function: asking and talking about classroom objects and colours, using
different linguistic exponents: It’s a ............, What’s this?, What colour is it?

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 Lexical items: book, pen, pencil, pencil case, rubber, ruler, red, blue, yellow, green, brown,
black, white, purple and orange.
Phonological aspects. Phonemes / u: / and / i: /, and the prosodic phonemes (stress, rhythm
and intonation).
Spelling: sound-spelling relationship in active vocabulary.
Sociocultural aspects: life at school in the U.K.
3.2. Procediments
Understanding and production of oral and written simple texts.
Conscious usage of various ways of learning a foreign language: recite, read, listen, use of
the computer,...
Recognition of cultural aspects related to English speaking countries
Comparison between relevant aspects and cultural features related to English schools and
Spanish ones.

3.3. Attitudes
Valuation of the English language as a means of communication.
Interest in communication using the previous selected contents
Curiosity to know cultural aspects related to English speaking countries
Valuation and respect towards all the aspects related to English schools in English
speaking countries (especially in the U.K.).
4. METHODOLOGY
With reference to the different approaches we intend to apply while developing
this unit, we could say that we will try to foster at all times –as this is our main aim-
the development of the communicative competence in our pupils. Thus, we will
propose active exercises in which they have to interact with their partners in order to
get some personal data, while they are using the language in a natural way from the
very beginning.
As well as this, the acquisition of a foreign language is characterised for being a
process of creative construction. Therefore, we will give our students in this unit a
linguistic material based on their interest (greetings, games, songs), helping them to
transfer strategies from their mother tongue to the English language. These facts
are related to the principles known as constructivism and meaningful learning.
One of the most important methodological criteria refers to error treatment.
The learning of a foreign language, as we understand it in our project, has got a
global –rather than a lineal- dimension. In the process of the acquisition of the new
linguistic system, we consider the error as something natural, which is an evidence
of the progressive control of that system. Our attitude toward this fact will be
positive, and we will never consider the errors made by the students in the first
steps of learning as a symbol of failure.
Another important feature related to methodology is the so-called silent
periods. During the first steps in the learning of a new linguistic material, students
pass through a silent period when facing the production of the new language after
receiving it. That is why receptive activities will play an essential role in our
planning. The level of ‘input’ –mostly in terms of the listening skill- is higher than the
quantity of language produced orally, which we require to our young learners. Thus,
in the first contact with the new linguistic elements, we will provide activities that will
allow students to participate with a minimum of verbal production.
As well as all these aspects, we will take into account -at all times- a global
approach, proposing activities related to other areas of the curriculum.

The students will be the centre of the teaching-learning process, acting actively
in the different activities we will propose. On the other hand, the teacher will be

18
 seen as a kind of guide, who gives an initial input, then propose activities, and so
on.
We will work some cross-curricular items, and we will take into account at all
times, the aspects related to diversity. However, we will talk deeply about these
facts later on this planning.
Eventually, in general terms, we could say that we will create motivating and
meaningful learning situations, we will start from the previous knowledge of the
students, using an active and flexible methodology. We will use various resources
and ways of grouping, and we will try to avoid elements such as inhibition and the
lack of concentration, with the activities that we propose.
Finally, it is important to state that the first contact with a new linguistic material
will be exclusively oral (in order to avoid problems derived from the sound-spelling
relationship), and, in this sense, receptive activities will take place before productive
ones. We will try to establish similarities –in terms of a learning process- between
the acquisition of the mother tongue and the learning of a foreign language.
Warming-up activities will be very important, and we will use them at the beginning of
every lesson. Then, the learning activities will be the nucleus of the teaching-learning
process, and they will be active, communicative, and they will follow the pattern ‘listen and
do’, ‘read and do’,... because the learning process improves when we ask the students to do
something (meaningful) with the language the are receiving and producing.
5. TIMING
We will develop this unit in 8 sessions (of one hour each).
6. RESOURCES AND GROUPING
We will use a wide range of resources in order to encourage the learning of the
foreign language. Although we will mention the resources in each activity, we could
say that we will use: a CD player, flashcards, colour chalks, a poster, realia –in
order to introduce the linguistic material related to classroom objects- and
computers.
Realia is a kind of resource in which you use real objects to introduce the
language. This is one of the most natural ways to do it because this is the way it
happens when acquiring the mother tongue.
We will also use flashcards and a poster –or colour chalks- to introduce colours
and to do activities related to the listening skill.

Eventually, we will use the computers in order to work with new technology in
class. We will develop several activities which will help the students to review what
they learn during the unit. We will propose motivating activities –the use of
computers will be motivating itself- to develop the four basic skills in the last session
of the unit.
With reference to grouping we could state that among the various kinds of grouping
that we could carry out in class, we will develop the activities of this unit mainly in
small groups, pairs, also individually and the class as a whole group. Group work
stimulates social integration and autonomous learning.
7. CROSS-CURRICULAR ELEMENTS
With reference to this topic, we could say that a positive result on this topic
would depend basically on the teacher and how (s)he takes an advantage of the
different situations that are proposed in class, and the ones which appear naturally.
In this unit, we will develop the following cross-curricular elements:
7.1. Co-education
We will encourage our students to participate equally in the different
tasks without promoting discrimination associated to -the masculine and
feminine- gender.

19
 During the interactive activities –such as role plays- the students will be
organised adopting different roles and fostering the development of non-
sexist attitudes.
7.2. Civic and moral education
From our point of view –and, thus, the one of this planning-, in the English
class we will encourage positive attitudes related to good fellowship and
socialization. Co-operation will be considered a key word, and we will foster
the respect towards a turn-taking attitude when participating in groups in any
activity of the unit.
7.3. New technologies applied to education
We include in our project a necessity to introduce our students in the
world of new technologies that will contribute to their development and to
prepare them well to the near future. In this sense, we will propose activities
to work the English language with the computers, using CD-ROMs containing
motivating activities that will develop the four basic skills. The activities will
also help the students to review

the linguistic elements they will have learnt in the unit, fostering an
autonomous learning.
8. MOTIVATION
It is really important that we make a strong effort in our performance in the
teaching-learning process, in order to make our students be motivated towards the
English language and the learning process.
With reference to immediate motivation, we could state that all the activities
-most of them games- proposed in the unit are quite active. The students practise
the language participating actively in them, getting really involved in the learning
process.
As well as this, this unit consists of asking and talking about classroom objects,
so the pupils will be continuously expressing something related to them and their
near world. Then, the English language acquires here its entire communicative
dimension as a necessity in humans. Thus, we will be developing in our students
their communicative competence in a foreign language naturally. The interaction
when asking and participating in activities in groups will make them feel part of the
class (group).
Another important key point related to motivation is the development of a feeling
of curiosity towards the English language. The oral introduction of new linguistic
items, and the way to carry it out using different resources (real, various,...), will be
essential to improve it.
Eventually, the activities proposed will provide easy opportunities to succeed in
each task. Then, they will be aware of their progress and they will feel satisfied with
it.
Finally, according to remote motivation, we will start at this stage of the learning
process working with attitudinal contents related to the value of the English
language as a means of communication and its importance in our society; which will
help them progressively to verify the usefulness of studying a second language.
9. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
The learning activities are the nucleus of the planning.
Session 1
Oral introduction
We will start the unit introducing the new linguistic material. We will use
flashcards to establish the relationship between

20
 classroom objects, their pronunciation and their meaning. We will try to
repeat each word three times while showing the card in order to transfer the
meaning and pronunciation.
Listen and point
It is a classical activity to work the listening skill. We will stick the flashcards
around the class with ‘blue-tack’. Then, we will name the words and students
will have to point at them. This exercise is related to the approach known as
TPR.
Listen and draw
The students will hear some classroom objects and they will have to draw on
a piece of paper the words that are mentioned.
Read and match
Students will have to join the objects –which will appear in one column- with
their written form –which will be in the other.
Session 2
Warming-up activity: Hide and seek (a game).
We will divide the class in groups and we will stick the flashcards on the
blackboard. Then, the pupils will close their eyes and after asking them
what’s missing?, they will open their eyes and will have to guess. We will
organise the turns to answer.
The group whose member answers correctly will get a point.
Listen and circle
The students will see several classroom objects and they will have to circle
them with a pencil when they are mentioned.
Listen and join the dots
The students will hear a sequence of numbers. Our learners will have to join
with a pencil the numbers mentioned following the sequence, and they will
obtain a drawing of an object. Then they will say the names of the objects.
Word chain
We will divide the class in groups. In each group a student will say a word,
the next pupil in the group will have to repeat that word and add a new one.
Then, the following student will have to repeat the previous words and add
one more,...
When a student fails, (s)he is out of the game, waiting for the game to start
again.

Session 3
Warming-up activity: what’s this?
Similar to the ‘hide and seek’ game, the students will work in small
groups. One of the students will hide a drawing of a classroom
object and the rest will have to guess. The one who guesses, will
hide another object.
Instead of using drawings, they could simply think of a word.
A chant
We will invent –or look for- a chant related to the vocabulary they
know. This activity will be very good to work the suprasegmental
phonemes.
One,two,three,four/ it’s a pencil, not a book/five,six,seven,eight/it
is red,not blue
Chinese whisper
The students, in groups, will stay in a row in front of the
blackboard. The last student will think of a word and will say it to
21
 the pupil standing before him/her. This one will repeat the process
until the word reaches the first student, who will have to draw the
object or -in advanced groups- write the word on the blackboard.
This activity is good to work and improve pronunciation
Session 4
Warming-up activity: a chant
We will start the class repeating the chant with the students.
Oral introduction: colours
We will do it in a similar way (using flashcards, repeating the
words,...).
Listen and point
Similar activity to the one we proposed for classroom objects; now,
with the flashcards related to colours.
Listen and look for it
This time, we will provide our students with small plastic tubes –
throw which they can look with one eye- which they will use to look
for the words (flashcards around the class) they hear.

We could obtain the tubes from finished hygienic rolls.

Listen and colour
The students will see drawings of objects and they will hear which colour they
are. Then, they will have to colour each.
Session 5
Warming-up activity: mime and guess
In this game, one student stands in front of the class. (s)he will think of a
known word and will mime an action to represent the word. The other
students will have to guess. The one who guesses will stand in front of the
class in the next turn.
Read and colour
We will give the students a picture with several non-coloured objects, and a
short simple text in which we will mention which colour they are.
A song
We will work a song with our students. They will listen to it several times.
Then, we will give them the lyrics, and after that, we will try to encourage our
students to sing it while doing some actions.
Read and match
The students will have to match some colours with their written form, but this
time we will not propose two columns. Instead of that, we will give them a
kind of labyrinth with the colours –above- and their written form –below-
already matched, but with long and quite mixed lines. They will have to follow
the lines to know how to write the words correctly.
Session 6
Warming-up activity: the song
We will start the session singing the song with our students.
A story
We will tell them an adaptation of the story the three little pigs, but
adapting the text to their level and using vocabulary they know (focusing on
colours, numbers,...).

We will prepare big drawings to transfer the meaning and we will use a lot of
gestures.

22
 After the story we could ask them to make drawings of a concrete aspect,
using certain colours.
Listen and colour
In this case, they will have to colour big and non-coloured numbers, after
hearing which colour they are. Example: number five is orange.
Session 7
Warming-up activity: vocabulary poster
We will show them a big picture of a classroom in which several classroom
objects are represented. Then, we will ask them to go to the blackboard
individually and point to a certain word or colour in the picture.
Crossword
It is a classical activity to work the writing skill. Among the words used we will
include the vocabulary related to classroom objects, numbers and colours.
Role play
Student 1: Student 2:
- Hello! -Hello!
- What’s your name? - I’m(Ana).And you?What’s your
name?
-I’m (John) - (John),What’s this? (point to an
object)
-It’s a (rubber).
Cultural aspects
We will finish the session talking to our students about certain cultural
elements related to schools in the UK (we could talk about other English
speaking countries, as well). We could even try to find a video, photographs,
and so on.
Session 8
The last session of the unit will be dedicated to work the English language
with the computers. The students will work in pairs (two

students per computer) all the contents with activities to develop the four
basic skills: listen and click, read and match, word search, speak
aloud,...
The usage of computers will also help the students to develop an
autonomous learning. This way, they could check their progress in the
learning process. Moreover, we will be introducing ‘new technologies’ in the
English class.
10. DIVERSITY TREATMENT: REINFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES
This is one of the most important aspects to consider when doing the different
planning units. Diversity is a reality in any class, which requires a concrete
pedagogical performance, avoiding equalised or unified teacher acts.
Nowadays, attending to diversity means attending to our students’ needs,
whatever they are.
We could establish two different ways of attending to diversity in the English
class.
- In general terms: reinforcement, orientation, flexible methodology,...
- Specifically: MCAs ( ACIs, in Spanish).
With reference to the Meaningful Curricular Adaptations, we could say that at
this stage of the learning process -and due to the fact that the English language is
taught through a global method rather than an analytical one-, it would be very
difficult to find a student who requires a MCA.
Thus, we will concentrate on how to treat diversity in class with some
methodological criteria related to it.
23
 Firs of all, we will use a global approach, a flexible methodology and we will try
to use a wide range of resources.
However, the most important and useful elements to treat diversity in class will
be the reinforcement activities.
For this unit, we will mention:
Bingo!
We will practise the vocabulary they have learned with this game.
Number/colour/classroom objects dictation

They will do a dictation with the words they know. We could ask them to write
the symbol which represents the different items (listening comprehension
activity) or their written form (then, it will also be an exercise to practise the
writing skill).
Pair work guessing game/ Pictionary
We will divide our students in pairs. In turns, one of the pupils in each pair will
draw a classroom object and his/her partner will have to guess. We could
make the activity more complex and try to play the game pictionary in
groups of four.
Following instructions
In this activity, the students will place on their desk all their classroom
objects. Then, the teacher will give an order -to one of them- such as ‘pick up
two pencils’, for instance. After that, that student will give a similar order to
the student next to him/her, and so on.
Finding colours in the classroom
We will give orders to our pupils such as ‘pick up something green’ or ‘point
to something blue’,...
Finding descriptions
We will make three columns on the blackboard (we could give them a piece
of paper with the columns on it and, thus, do the activity individually),
consisting of written words related to numbers, colours and classroom
objects (in their plural form) respectively.
Then, we will say a phrase (e.g. three red books) and the learner will have to
join the words in each column.
Draw and describe
We will divide the students in pairs. Each one will draw on a piece of paper
three coloured (using one colour only) classroom objects. Then, student A
will describe his/her drawing to student B, and on the contrary. Finally, to
succeed in the task, they will compare their drawings, and they should have
six identical ones.
11. ASSESSMENT
It consists of a critical reflection upon the facts that have an influence on the
didactic process. It will help us to obtain feedback about the teaching-learning
process: revision and improvement of the various planning units. In other words, the
assessment of each unit is directed to make us

understand what it is happening in class and help us take decisions about

possible necessary modifications in the planning in order to improve the learning
process.
The process of assessment will happen in a parallel way to the teaching-
learning one, even though, it will be essential to do an initial evaluation in order to
adequate the learning process to our students’ needs and abilities.
Techniques and evaluation instruments

24
 With reference to how to assess, we will use different techniques and
evaluation instruments.
Among them, we will use for this unit a systematic observation to get
information about the pupils’ behaviour in class, their attitude towards the
English language, and so on. In this case, we will use instruments such as a
control list, in which we can take notes of the features we would like to
observe, and a casual register –to write anything related to the teaching-
learning process and each pupil-.
On the other hand, we will also use the so-called revision of task
technique, which will provide –through guides and files (instruments)-
continuous data about the progress of the students.
In the different units, we could complete the assessment process with
more objective tests.
Assessment criteria
These criteria are clearly related to the aims we have planned for the
academic year.
Oral communication
We intend to assess:
The ability to understand simple instructions and specific information.
The capacity to obtain the global sense of oral texts.
The ability to get details in a wide oral text.
The capacity to understand and use social expressions.
The ability to recognise and repeat/imitate English sounds, rhythm and
intonation in the English language.
The capacity to produce short oral texts, following given models (as
examples).
The ability to interact with others using known elements
The capacity to use the English language to communicate with the
teacher and their classmates.

Written communication
We intend to assess:
The capacity to understand simple instructions and specific
information.
The ability to get the global sense in simple written texts.
The ability to produce words and short sentences, following
written models. (In this unit, lexical and structural items related to
greetings, numbers and ways of introducing oneself)
The capacity to produce short texts in which the student
combines and investigates with known elements.
Sociocultural aspects
We intend to assess:
The curiosity and respect shown by the student towards
cultural aspects.
The capacity of the student to carry out a sociolinguistic
behaviour which fosters good fellowship and socializing.
The ability of the student to have a respectful, constructive
and positive relationship with the whole group in pair and in-group
works.
12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Byrne, D. Teaching Oral English. Longman. 1984.
• Livingston, C. Role-play in Language Learning. CUP.1982.
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• Lee, W.R. Language Teaching Games and Contests. Oxford University
Press. 1979.
• Murphy,T. Music and Song. O.U.P. 1992
• Brewster, J. et al. The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Penguin. 1992.
• Dunn, O. Beginning English with Children. Mc Millan Press. 1983.

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