TEFL Reading Lesson Plan

Objective: Increasing reading comprehension skills-previewing, skimming, scanning. Learning,

using, and practicing new vocabulary about volcanoes. Identifying verbs and nouns.

Type: Reading, Vocabulary, Parts of Speech-verbs and nouns(Students will have had prior
experience identifying these)

Vocabulary:
erupt, rock, pressure, process, Earths crust, bursts, crater, release, lava, oozes, volcano, inch
along, forces, extremely

Level: Intermediate (8-9)

Materials
projector, large pieces of paper, colored pencils, sheets for detail questions and getting the gist,
article, pencils/pens, lined pieces of paper, small pieces of paper with vocabulary, visuals for
vocabulary,

Time: 65 minutes

Interaction: T-S, S-S, S-T

Potential Problems:
Students may not have had prior exposure to volcanoes and may not have the vocabulary
needed to describe volcanoes.

Warm up/Ice breaker (S-T) 10 minutes
The teacher will show a short video clip of a volcano erupting. Afterwards, the students will write
sentences about what they see. They will be given 3-4 minutes to write. Afterwards volunteers
will share in a whole class discussion some of their thoughts.

Presentation 5 minutes
The teacher will preteach the key vocabulary through visuals. She will explain what part of
speech it is, meaning, and when it is used.

Practice (35 minutes)
The teacher will put up the article on the projector and have students skim the article for
3-4 minutes. Later the students will individually complete the getting the gist questions
and the teacher will check it over with the class.

Getting the gist questions:
1. What kind of natural disaster(teacher will explain) is the article about?
a. an earthquake
b. a hurricane
c. a volcano
2. Volcanoes are fast and dangerous
True/ False
3. Volcanoes can erupt lava and rocks
True/ False

The teacher will partner students and the students will read the text together and answer
the detail questions. Afterwards the teacher will go over the answers with the class. (10
minutes)

Detail questions:
1. What is the temperature of a volcano?
2. What is dangerous about a volcano? (Circle all that apply)
a. Lava
b. Clouds of smoke
c. Ice
d. Rocks
3. What happens first before a volcano erupts?
a. magma collects under Earths crust
b. pressure builds
c. magma bursts up through the ground
4. What is a good visual example that explains how a volcano erupts?
5. How does lava move when it is thick? How does it move when it is thin?
6. Is there always lava when a volcano erupts? If not, what else might come out of a
volcano?

In partners students will identify the nouns and verbs in the article and list them on a
piece of paper. Students will have had experience with noun/verb identification
previously. (5 minutes)

Students will play charades with some of the vocabulary in small groups of 4. The
teacher will place small papers with the vocabulary written on them in a small bin and
the students will pick one paper each. The vocabulary will consist of: erupt, pressure,
bursts, crater, release, lava, oozes, inch along, and forces. The students will have a
sheet with these words written down and will need to guess the vocabulary word. (10
minutes)

Production
Students in groups of three will create a diagram of a volcano on a large piece of white
paper. The students will need to label the parts- magma, lava, crater, rocks, gas, smoke,
etc. The students will post their pictures on the walls. (10 minutes)

They will also create a short skit about a volcano- what they see, what is happening,
what they will do now that they see that it is closeby. The students will need to include
some of the vocabulary from the article. If the students are stuck on what to write the
teacher will show an example skit on the overhead. (5 minutes)

Example:
S1: Oh no! Look at the volcano over there!
S2: Ahhh! It has lava flowing down the side!
S3: I also see rocks!
S1: The magma pressure must have been too great!
S2: I see smoke too!
S1: That is going to be really hot! We better get out of here!
S2: It looks like it is releasing extremely fast!
S1: That probably means that the lava is thin
S3: Go outside to the car! Hurry!

Volcano Views
by Carsten Peter and Chris Been
(Text from pages 438-441 in Third Grade Level National Geographic REACH Program,
Student Anthology)

Fiery Forces
What makes a volcano erupt? The process starts when magma, or hot liquid rock,
collects under Earths crust. When enough pressure builds up the magma bursts up
through the ground. This is like blowing up too much air into a balloon. What happens?
The balloon pops!

Different things happen when a volcano erupts. Some of the eruptions cause gasses,
rock, and smoke through the crater. Other eruptions only release smoke. In some
volcanoes, lava just oozes out of the volcanos top and flows like a river down its sides.

Rivers of Heat
Lava is hot! When it first escapes from a volcano its temperature is between 1,300 and
2,200 degrees Fahrenheit! As lava moves down a mountainside, it glows bright orange
like a fiery sunset. Thick lava may inch along but thin lava can flow more quickly.

A Close-up Look
Red, hot lava. Clouds of smoke and gas. Flying rocks. All of these things make active
volcanoes extremely dangerous. Most people would run away from these forces of
nature. Carsten Peter runs toward them.

(Extra information) This article has visuals of a volcano included which will help in
creating a diagram!

Develop a lesson plan based on the following criteria:
The teachers at your school have informed you that all low intermediate classes
need to learn to write a letter in correct business format, and that includes your
class. Therefore you will be expected to teach these skills to your students.
What will students need to learn in order to write a letter? How will you teach
those concepts? How can you incorporate all learning styles into the
presentation?
How can you make writing the letter an authentic purposeful experience?
Design a PPP writing lesson using the lesson format from module three for your
low intermediate level students.
Include all your needed materials and S>T interactions
Include a general idea of the timing for each segment of the lesson.
Describe how you will elicit relevant personal experiences
What vocabulary or grammar will students need to know in order to write the
letter?
Consider the four language components described in Module 5 when designing
your lesson.
Will the students get a response to their letter?
How will you provide feedback to their assignment?


















TEFL Writing Lesson Plan

Objective: To teach students how to write a cover letter using business format.

Type: Writing, vocabulary, reading and interpreting text

Vocabulary:
cover letter, contact information, salutation, body of letter, complimentary close,
signature line, position, job listing, qualifications, resume

Levels: Low intermediate adults

Materials:
Whiteboard/marker, pencils/pens, sample cover letters, cover letter format, highlighters,
lined paper for notes/ observations, sticky notes, newspaper employment section, and
projector.

Time: 70 minutes

Interaction: T-S, S-S, S-T

Potential Problems:
Students may not have prior knowledge of applying for a job and the paperwork
required. They may not have all of the academic vocabulary required in writing the
letter.

Warm up(Ice breaker): (5 minutes)
The teacher will pair students in the class, hand out to each pair a sample cover letter
and have students write down at least 5-6 observations of what they see in the letter.
Later each pair in the whole class will discuss one of their observations while the
teacher writes them on the whiteboard.

Presentation: (10 minutes)
The teacher will show on the projector a copy of the sample cover letter that was
previously given to the students and as the teacher explains each of the
vocabulary words the students will be responsible for highlighting the information
as well as taking notes. The teacher will ask the class what they think the
purpose of the letter is, the class will discuss, and later the teacher will explain
the authors intent. She will also ask if anyone in the class has ever written a
cover letter in their own language and if they notice any differences or similarities
between their experience and the sample cover letter.
The teacher will also show a cover letter format on the projector as well as
handing out a copy to each student.

Example:
Cover Letter
Your Contact Information
Name
Address
City, State, Zip Code
Phone Number
Email Address
Date

Employer Contact Information (if you have it)
Name
Title
Company
Address
City, State, Zip Code

Salutation
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name, (leave out if you don't have a contact or using Dear Hiring
Manager or one of the other examples below)

Body of Cover Letter
The body of your cover letter lets the employer know what position you are applying for,
why the employer should select you for an interview, and how you will follow-up.
First Paragraph
The first paragraph of your letter should include information on why you are writing.
Mention the position you are applying for and where you found the job listing. Include
the name of a mutual contact, if you have one.
Middle Paragraph(s)
The next section of your cover letter should describe what you have to offer the
employer. Mention specifically how your qualifications match the job you are applying
for. Remember, you are interpreting your resume, not repeating it.
Final Paragraph
Conclude your cover letter by thanking the employer for considering you for the position.
Include information on how you will follow-up.

Complimentary Close
Respectfully yours,

Signature
Handwritten Signature (for a hard copy letter)
Typed Signature

Practice: (15 minutes)
The students will individually complete a matching activity with the vocabulary
The students will be grouped into groups of 3 and will be given a cover letter
which has been cut up into sections. The students will be responsible for
sequencing the sections in the right order. The groups will be timed for 2
minutes. Whichever team finishes first will be given 5 extra credit points for the
class.

Production: (40 minutes)
Students will, in pairs, write a cover letter. They will be given the employment
section of a newspaper where they can choose a job to apply for from the ads.
The students will be able to write fake names and addresses for themselves to
keep the affective filter low. Later the students will place their covers letter on
desks around the classroom and all of the students will offer (on sticky notes)
one piece of constructive criticism and one positive comment. Later the students
will find their own papers and take and look over the sticky notes. At the end of
class they will finally write their names on the cover letters and hand it in to the
teacher to critique.
At the end of the class, as a ticket out the door, students will write one thing they
found to be helpful in the cover letter process and one thing they still need to
work on on a sticky note to be handed to the teacher.
As a side note, for the grading process, the teacher will make sure that the
students have correctly followed the cover letter format (1-4 points), have
detailed body paragraphs(1-4 points), accurate grammar, spelling, and verb
tense (1-4 points), and correctly followed the ad requirements (1-4 points) for a
total of 16 points (4 as the highest score and 1 as the lowest score).