Jennifer Salas, July 2017 Lesson Plan

May Day in
Language Level Emerging Grade 9-10 Date 2 Minutes 90
2018 Unit
Preparedness: Being Prepared!
Unit Theme and Question
How do natural disasters affect us in California?
Daily topic: Earthquakes and Drought in California
STANDARDS LESSON OBJECTIVES
Which modes of Students can: build vocabulary and grammatical structures, orally and in
Communication communication will be writing, about two local natural disasters: earthquakes and drought.
What are the communicative addressed?
and cultural objectives for the and -compare and contrast earthquakes and drought.
Interpersonal -can describe and apply new vocabulary.
lesson? Interpretive
Cultures
Presentational
If students have experienced a natural disaster first hand, they are encouraged to share that
Connections
experience.
If applicable, indicate how Students will compare and contrast a sudden natural disaster, an earthquake, with a slow and
Comparisons
Connections Comparisons ongoing natural disaster, drought.
Communities Common Core Communities Natural disasters affect our community and we should be prepared.
will be part of your lesson. Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases,
Common Core sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness
level-the lesson is part of the scaffolding to reach this common core standard.
Materials Resources
Activity/Activities Time*
How many Technology
Lesson Sequence What will learners do? Be specific. What materials will you
minutes will this
What does the teacher do? segment take? develop? What materials will you
bring in from other sources?
Gain Attention / Activate Students will view the drought video and dialogue with a partner
5 https://goo.gl/17sYcr
Prior Knowledge before whole class discussion. Teacher models correct responses.
1. Comparative Input- students listen and repeat as the
teacher draws, writes and lectures https://goo.gl/knbqJ9
Provide Input 35
comparing/contrasting earthquakes and drought.
Information is categorized into Description, Effects and

Keys to Planning for Learning, 2013

Jennifer Salas, July 2017 Lesson Plan
Preparedness. After each chunk, students turn and talk to
one another.
2. Response Frames Each category has a color coded
response frame to support oral production of the
vocabulary provided on the comparative input.

At the end, students complete a Learning Log writing down one

Elicit Performance / Provide
Feedback
fact from each category and an experience they have had with a
Learning Log Prompt
natural disaster.
15 https://goo.gl/CjoEgw
While students are writing, the teacher works with a small group
on the task below.

Picture File Cards: Natural

Disasters in Orange County,
Students who are Newcomers and those who need additional support
Ongoing California-Drought and
Provide Input will participate in small groups to target instruction using a strategy
2-5 Earthquakes
called Leveled Questioning and Picture File Card Sorting
https://goo.gl/fuzpFG

25 Cent Pyramid-in pairs with one students back to the screen, Post 3 words at a time: (i.e.)
Elicit Performance / Provide teacher posts related vocabulary. One student describes the word Sudden shaking
15
Feedback and the other student must guess the correct word. Teacher Save water
monitors to formatively assess while students practice. crops
Google Form with Authentic Resources: Comprehension Questions https://goo.gl/forms/WOyFAz
Closure 10
based on earthquakes and droughts. yYxBmq8ibX2
Word Card Review 24 hours later, we revisit the comparative
input with word cards to emphasize and clarify information. This
Enhance Retention & https://goo.gl/knbqJ9
is based on students Learning Log responses. We would also 10
Transfer
emphasize Spanish cognates like desastre natural.

Keys to Planning for Learning, 2013

Jennifer Salas, July 2017
Reflection Notes to Self
What worked well? Why?
What didnt work? Why?
What changes would you
make if you taught this
lesson again?
????
Lesson Plan
Starting with the drought video was fine, because students had questions about it from the day before.
The comparative input outlined all of the key information in bullets with visuals. The students practicing the
pronunciation of new vocabulary and applying it during the 10/2 with the support of the response frames was very
successful.
The comparative input lecture was too long, and possibly too abstract, to hold the students engagement for 35
minutes. To make it more accessible, I would play the video segments in conjunction with the category. When we
talk about the sudden shaking under description of an earthquake, a short video segment could be played. Later,
when we discuss tsunami as an effect of earthquakes, we could play a quick video. That could be more impactful
and hold student interest by incorporating the technology aspect with the visual lecture.

25 Cent Pyramid was a fun way to practice vocabulary and kept students smiling.

Day 2 was too soon for the Google Form with Authentic Resources. The idea is good but the purpose could
change. That should be done after a few more meaningful interactions with the Comparative Input Chart.

The Word Card Review was especially effective to focus on language and highlight key terms in various ways.

The small group for Newcomers was also essential to their success. We spoke in English and referenced the chart
and picture file cards. We only focused on one topic but all 3 categories.

* Remember that the maximum attention span of the learner is approximately the age of the learner up to 20 minutes. The initial lesson cycle (gain
attention/activate prior knowledge, provide input and elicit performance/provide feedback) should not take more than 20 minutes. The second cycle
(provide input and elicit performance/provide feedback) should be repeated as needed and will vary depending on the length of the class period.

Keys to Planning for Learning, 2013