Final Project (Shally and Estella )
Designing and Implementing a Reading Unit in the Classroom
The class we chose to use for this unit is a tenth grade heterogeneous
class. Some of the students are advanced in their English ability but about
a third are weak in both vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension skills. In order to make the reading text a little easier for
the weaker students, we decided to write some of the more difficult
lexical items in Hebrew. The other lexical items will be either pre-taught
or understood through context.
The text we have chosen, “Spaceports,” will be included in unit 4
“Reaching For the Stars” from the book “Ten” by Cindy Komet and Debi
Partouche (Eric Cohen Publishers). The unit is about space exploration.
It discusses the pros and cons of space exploration, the benefits to
humanity, the risks involved and the qualities needed to be an astronaut.
Our reading text and activities will take this unit one step further as
students will have to discuss the political, social and financial
implications of space travel and write an essay as if they have been
chosen to take part in a space travel journey.
We have tried to incorporate the 4 domains of language ability and
knowledge into our text and activities. Social interaction in the form of
discussion in groups and pairs, access to information in the reading and
answering of traditional type questions, presentation in the form of an
interview which will be presented in class and appreciation of language in
the learning and incorporation of new lexical items and grammatical
structures (specifically the passive form). Our goal is that the students
will reach the intermediate or proficiency level in each of the domains.
The text we used was adapted from the following site:
URL: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0602/060219-spaceport-e.html
(Original Text)
World’s first spaceport announced
The age of space tourism came a step closer yesterday with the announcement of plans to
build the world’s first spaceport. The company Space Adventures Ltd. announced in a
press release its plans to develop a commercial spaceport in the United Arab Emirates.
This will be the first of many locations. Other possible sites for spaceports include
Singapore and various secret locations in North America. The initial point of departure for
a holiday in the heavens is the city of Ras-Al-Khaimah, an hour by car from Dubai. The
Sheikh there has put his full financial and political backing behind the ambitious project.
The press report states that the “total estimated cost of the global spaceport development
project is at least US$265 million”. Space Adventures Ltd. and a team of UAE financiers
will provide the funds. The UAE’s civil aviation authorities have already given their green
light for spaceflights to operate in their airspace. Crown Prince Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al
Qasimi of Ras Al-Khaimah expressed pride in his city hosting “the site where suborbital
commercial space travel will begin and flourish”. He added: “We are most excited about
spearheading this multi-billion dollar industry.”
Source: http://www.spaceadventures.com/media/releases/2006-02/347
Adapted Text
What is a spaceport?
A spaceport is a site for launching* spacecraft, like an
airport for planes.
You are at the spaceport in Israel, waiting for your
first ten-day holiday in space. You talk to a friend who
is going with you, about your trip. What will you do in
space? What will you take with you? What will you
take photos of? Is space travel dangerous?
Until now the only existing virtual Spaceport is in
Calgary Canada! It is a great education and
entertainment place focusing on space and
aeronautics. It is located in the Calgary International
Airport. Learning there is fun and the latest
computers are used for simulation and
communications technology. Visitors are allowed to
touch the exhibits and displays. Original artifacts are
shown**. Since the opening in the year 2000 many
visitors from around the world have visited. They are
welcomed by Canadian and international astronauts.
However, the move from virtual to real space tourism
came a step closer yesterday with the press
announcement of plans to build the world’s first
spaceport. The company Space Adventures Ltd.
announced in a press release its plans to develop a
commercial spaceport in the United Arab Emirates.***
This will be the first of many locations. Other possible
sites for spaceports include Singapore and different
secret locations in North America. The first point of
departure for a holiday in the heavens will be a
beautiful city in Dubai. The local Sheikh has put his
full financial and political backing behind the
ambitious project.
* launching--‫שיגור‬
** are shown—‫מוצגים‬
*** Emirates
-- ‫אמירויות‬
The press report states that the “total estimated* cost
of the spaceport development project is at least
US$265 million”.
The UAE has already given its green light for
spaceflights to operate in their airspace. The Prince
Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Ras Al-Khaimah
was very proud of his city hosting ** the space travel.
He added: “We are most excited about
spearheading*** this multi-billion dollar industry.
” Space Adventures, Ltd., the world's leading space
company, announced today that Hong Kong resident
and Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto (Dice-K)
will be the next private space explorer candidate. The
company which organized the spaceflights to the
International Space Station for the world's first
private explorers Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth and
Greg Olsen, said that Dice-K's expedition**** is
currently planned for October 2006.
* estimate--‫משוער‬
**hosting—‫שמארחת‬
***spearheading--‫חלוצים‬
‫להיות‬
****expedition--‫משלחת‬
We adapted the text to make it more appropriate both in language level
and interest to Israeli students studying EFL. The factors of interest,
exploitability and readability were taken into consideration in the
choosing of the text. We lengthened the article to make the topic more
interesting from the Israeli perspective taking into account both political
appropriateness and cultural suitability. The layout and type size and font
were slightly changed to facilitate readability. As mentioned the students
will already have some awareness of the topic of space tourism from the
unit in the book. They will have already read a chronological account
about The Space Race (Page 44-45) and an article on Ilan Ramon –
Israel’s First Astronaut (Page 47-48). Both these articles deal with the
past. The students will now have to use their imagination and think about
the future. The main ideas of the text include an explanation of a
spaceport, an imaginary look into the future re rhetorical questions, a
description of the first virtual Spaceport, plans to build a real Spaceport
financed by Arab money, plans for next tourist (private explorer) in
space.
Pre-Reading Activities.
The following Pre – reading activities were chosen in order to encourage
students to anticipate ( Bloom – application level).
1. Association of ideas/ Brainstorming. The teacher writes in big letters
on the center of the board the word “space tourism”. The students are
asked to say any words that come to mind relating to this topic.
The teacher can ask facilitating questions such as:
- What would you take with you?
- What are the dangers/ advantages of this form of tourism?
The words can then be categorized according to sub- topics to make a
spider chart.
2. SPACE HEADLINES: Talk about these “headlines” of the future. Do
you think any of them could come true? In pairs make up a story behind
one or more of the headlines. Be ready to share your ideas with the class.
(Domain of Social interaction)
We would do this activity in pairs. Each pair will decide on one of the
headlines to talk about. One person will be in charge of writing down
ideas (the secretary) and the other will be in charge of presenting the
story to the class . This activity should take 15 minutes (10 minutes to
prepare and 5 minutes to present)




Real estate on Mars rises in value.
First space war starts between Israel and the Arab world
The last human leaves Earth
Arab States gain political space power.
3. TWO-MINUTE DEBATES: In pairs chose one of the following and
have a debate. Students A strongly believe in the first argument; Students
B, the second. Change partners often.
a. The UAE ‫ האמירויות הערביות‬is a poor choice for the dealing
with the building of spaceports. Vs. The UAE is a great
choice because of their money.
b. Space travel is still too dangerous. Vs. Crossing the road is
just as dangerous.
c. Money should be spent on medicines. Vs. Space travel will
benefit medicine.
d. Space travel means more pollution. Vs. We can put our
waste in space bins.
e. People were not meant to go into space. Vs. Humans are
great travelers.
f. One day we’ll all have to live in space. Vs. The earth will
always support us.
g. Space travel will be a major industry. Vs. It will be a small
market only.
h. All humans should go into space once. Vs. No humans should ever
leave Earth. 4. In pairs / groups, talk about what life would be like
to have the world’s first spaceport in Israel. Write down five
things you would or would not welcome. Share these things with
your partner(s). Change partners often.
5. Vocabulary Exercise – The following vocabulary exercise serves to
check the knowledge students have already on this subject and deals with
new items they need to know. The words on the left hand side are the
words from the text. The students will be asked to match the synonyms.
Even though this activity is not contextualized, we feel that because it is a
pre-reading activity its aim is to aid the weaker students understand new
lexical items. They will read the items later in the text and hopefully be
able to then better understand the words within the context.
SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
age
announcement
commercial
various
backing
project
financiers
green light
pride
spearheading
several
delight
work
support
go-ahead
statement
pioneering
era
investors
private enterprise
The above Pre-reading activities were chosen to help the students
elicit vocabulary relating to the subject as well as to encourage
students to anticipate what is possible. (Bloom’s Taxonomy) as well
as to predict the content of the text they will read. The activities go
from a more general (frontal) activity on space tourism to the more
specifically related issue of Spaceports. This leads to the natural
following of the text on Spaceports. The main aim of all of the above
activities is to facilitate the comprehension of the actual text.
While-Reading Activities
Teachers should use various comprehension strategies to promote
successful reading. The students should be able to interact with the
text and be actively involved in thinking and reasoning about the text
while reading it. The strategies of Pearson, Roehler, Dole, & Duffy
(1992) were used in the formulation of these questions.
1. Activating relevant background knowledge while reading – in order to
form some background knowledge about spaceports, we would divide the
board into 2 and write on one side “airport” and the other “spaceport”.
We will ask the students to compare and contrast by associations the 2
items. This will act as a link between what the students know and what
they should know.
At the end of this exercise the teacher will ask the students to predict
what they think the text will be about. Other questions – predicting,
retelling and synthesizing what has been read will be used to enhance
comprehension throughout the reading of the text.
2. Determining the most important ideas and themes in a text – After the
teacher reads aloud each paragraph, the students will be asked to mark the
key sentence of each paragraph hence creating a paragraph which will
provide the overall main idea of the text.
3. The students will be asked focused questions throughout the reading so
that they retell and synthesize what has been read. If needed various “fixup” strategies (such as re-reading ) will further enable the teacher to
monitor comprehension.
Sample questions are:
1. In your own words explain what a Spaceport is? (Bloom’s
comprehension level)
2. What other questions would you ask a friend who is going with you
into space? (Bloom’s application level)
3. What is the difference between a virtual and real spaceport? (Bloom’s
evaluation level)
4. What are the consequences of the fact that only Arab money is
currently being invested in the space project? (Bloom’s evaluation)
Post-Reading Activities
In order that the students obtain a sense of closure, these activities
will be done after the reading of the text and before the traditional
quiz and alternative assessment. These activities will enable the
students to summarize, reinforce and evaluate what has been learnt.
Finally the activities will enable students to review new lexical items
as well as grammatical structures encountered in the text. The
questions should be answered individually, in pairs or in small
groups according to the interest of the students and time available.
The questions can be answered orally or written in class or as home
work assignments.
knowledge questions - often used during or after reading a passage to
encourage learners in an EFL class to recall the content of the passage.
1. What is the purpose of the article?
2. How has the age of space tourism come a step closer?
3. Who made the announcement of the plans to build the world’s
first spaceport ?
4. When was the announcement made?
Comprehension question 1. Describe what you might see in a virtual/ real spaceport.
Application question –
1. How is the article related to the issue of tourism in the world?
2. Speaking Activity - In pairs / groups, talk about the pros and cons of
a spaceport being built on the edge of your town. Use the items in the
left hand column to help your conversations.
PROS
CONS
Noise
Jobs
Being a worldfamous town
Tourism
House prices
Roads and transport
Change partners / groups. Tell each other what your previous partner(s)
said. Decide together whether you would be in favor or against a
spaceport in your town. You must come to an agreement. (Functional
language for expressing an opinion can be taught/ reviewed here if
necessary. For example: In my opinion , I believe, It seems to me that, I
am convinced that, There is no doubt that, It is believed that, etc.)
Synthesis questions
1. Predict what tourism will be like in 50 years?
2. How would you create/design a space resort ‫ אתר‬for Israelis?
3. What solutions would you suggest for people who are afraid of
heights?
Evaluation questions
1. What do you think about the role Israel should play in preparing "space
tourism"?
2. Place the following in order of priority: Money, Knowledge, Space,
Means ‫אמצעים‬. Explain the reasoning behind your classification.
Vocabulary Reinforcement Exercises:
1. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner,
find a synonym or definition in English for each word.






age
press release
announced
airspace
simulation
located






estimated
artifacts
green light
departure
currently
expedition
2. LISTENING activity - A program can be used so that each student
can listen to a similar text in the accent and speed convenient to him/her.
When dealing with learning disabilities a good way is to use a reading
program which allows every student to advance in the text at his own
pace.
Source: This site is excellent when dealing with students who have
learning disabilities
http://www.readplease.com/english/downloads/#rp2003
Listen and fill in the spaces.
World’s first spaceport announced:
The _____ of space tourism came a step closer yesterday with the
_______________ of plans to build the world’s first spaceport. The
company Space Adventures Ltd. announced in a press release its plans to
develop a ____________ spaceport in the United Arab Emirates. This
will be the first of many locations. Other possible sites for spaceports
include Singapore and __________ secret locations in North America.
The initial point of __________ for a holiday in the heavens looks like
being the city of Ras-Al-Khaimah, an hour by car from Dubai. The
Sheikh there has put his _____ financial and political __________ behind
the ambitious project.
The press report states that the “total __________ cost of the global
spaceport development project is at least US$265 million”. Space
Adventures Ltd. and a team of UAE _________ will provide the ______.
The UAE’s civil aviation authorities have already given their green light
for spaceflights to operate in their ___________. Crown Prince Sheikh
Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Ras Al-Khaimah expressed pride in his city
hosting “the site where suborbital commercial space travel will begin and
_________”. He added: “We are most excited about spearheading this
multi-billion dollar industry.”
(Answers: age, announcement, commercial, various, departure, full,
backing, estimated, least, financiers, funds, airspace, flourish)
Grammar Focus
1. It has been suggested that each unit should focus on one
grammatical structure only and so the grammatical structure
we will focus on in this unit is the passive. We will deal with
the 3 dimensions (according to Diane Larsen-Freeman,
School for International Training):
morphosyntax (form), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (use).
Morphosyntax – We will review the basic form of a passive construction
(Verb to be + Verb 3) This has been taught in previous lessons.
Examples from the text:
-
the latest computers are used for simulation and communications technology.
visitors are welcomed by Canadian and international astronauts
original artifacts are shown
Semantics – We will discuss the meaning of the passive sentence as
opposed to the active sentence and the different status of the receiver in
both constructions
Pragmatics – We will discuss the use of the passive as opposed to the
active form - when the receiver of the action is the theme or topic, when
we do not know who the agent is (as in the first example), when we wish
to deliberately conceal the identity of the agent, when the agent is
obvious and easily derivable from the context (as in the third example),
when the agent is redundant (as in the first and third example) and so on.
Student proficiency of the passive will be tested in question 1 in the
traditional test which demands the use of passive as does the alternative
assessment writing task.
Even though the major focus of this unit is the passive it also lends itself
to the incorporation of conditional sentences. As this has already been
taught in the tenth grade class the teacher may give a quick review of the
form, meaning and use of the 3 conditional sentences and then ask the
students to complete the following:
1. If I am chosen to be a space tourist, I
________________________________________________
2. If Israel takes part in the spaceport program, it
_______________________________________________
3. If the Arab countries didn’t have a lot of money, they
________________________________________________
4. If the Sheik hadn’t backed the spaceport project, we
_________________________________________________
Traditional Reading Comprehension Test
The questions were designed according to Bloom's Taxonomy for
formulating questions in the EFL class and were designed according to
the new Bagrut and the NBA project.
Questions
1. What is the topic of the article? (This question is global and relates
to the text as a whole – it also tests knowledge and comprehension.
2. Complete the following flow chart to show the process in which the
plans of building a spaceport are carried out. A and C are given.
a. Money is invested.
b. Suitable ________________________________
c. Plans are announcement.
d. Permission is_________________
(This question demands learner action at the level of analysis as well as
formation of the passive structure)
3 In your own words explain how the idea of creating a spaceport
started.
(This is also a global question testing knowledge and comprehension)
4. (a) Circle the correct answer according to lines
There is a virtual spaceport in Israel.
1-10.
True/False
( b) Copy the sentence from the article that supports your answer.
(This question tests knowledge and comprehension)
5. Based on the article you have just read please
tick the 2 correct statements in the following chart :
A city in the UAE has been chosen as the world’s first spaceport.
A Middle-Eastern sheikh has financially backed the ambitious project.
The cost of the project is estimated to be less than 260 million dollars.
UAE authorities have not given permission for flights in their airspace.
A UAE sheikh has expressed worries about his city hosting space travel.
The project will be completed by 2008
This question tests knowledge
Alternative Assessment Tasks
Task 1. Congratulations you were chosen to represent Israel as its
first ever space tourist. You have joined the Japanese
representative, Dice-K and other representatives from around the
world on this unique trip to space. You are to write your story for a
newspaper column. You may relate to financial, security and
political problems you faced before and during your trip. The
following headlines were printed in newspapers around the world
documenting this event. You are to relate to the headlines in your
story.



First Israeli ever to take part in Space travel.
Arabs warn Israelis against using their spaceports – Israel
turns to the U.S for support.
Tourists lost in space
Write at least 200 words using vocabulary items you have
learned in the unit. You should use the correct essay format we
have learnt in class (Description Essay). You should have a clear
introduction, body and conclusion. You should use connectors to
show fluency of ideas. The text type should be in the format of a
newspaper article. Use at least 10 of the following vocabulary
items.
various
plans
heavens
age
first
backing
point
develop
flourish
financiers
airspace
light
estimated
multi
expressed
least
Grammatical structure. Make sure you have 3 passive
sentences in your story. You can refer to the grammatical
instruction of the "Passive" in the unit. (Please see the 3 example
sentences in the grammar section of this unit)
Task 2.
You are a journalist following the story. You are to interview the
Israeli space tourist after his return to earth.
Ask the first Israeli space tourist 10 questions about his space
trip. You should include various WH and Yes/No questions in your
interview. You will be required to ask these questions orally in
class.
You will be assessed on the written and oral presentation.
See checklist and rubrics for assessment below.
CHECKLIST
Written Task 1
I have written a draft of the writing task using at least 200
words.
I have included 10 of the required vocabulary
Items.
I have included 3 passive sentences.
I have used a description format.
I have an introduction, body and conclusion.
I have used connectors
I have revised the writing task according to the teacher’s
comments.
I have typed, printed and submitted the written task on
time.
Oral Task 2
I have written a draft of the interview questions.
I have used various Yes/No and WH Questions.
I have handed in a draft to the teacher.
I have revised the work according to the teacher’s
comments.
I have typed, printed and submitted the questions on time.
I have practiced the questions orally and I am prepared to
ask them in class.
Done
Not
Done
Rubrics For Task 1.
Total 60
points
Presentation
Of Work
Content
And
Organization
Language
+
Vocabulary
Process
Plastic file.
First draft and
final copy printed and
handed in on time.
10-8
- work is about topic
- clear introduction
body and conclusion
- work well organized
-written in own
words
-good use of
connectors
- good paragraph
structure
20-15
-uses correct verbs
-sentences well
written
-minimal spelling,
punctuation, capital
letter mistakes
- passive sentences
correct
- at least 10 new
vocabulary items
used correctly
15-10
-shows evidence of
editing, drafting and
revision
-hands in drafts of
work
15 - 10
Work fairly well
presented
Work poorly presented
and not on time.
not handed in on time
8-6
- work satisfactory
-work fairly well
organized
- paragraphs not
clearly connected
5-0
-work not satisfactory
-not well organized
-not about topic chosen
- paragraphs not logical
15-10
-confuses verbs
-sentences need
work
-some spelling,
punctuation, capital
letter mistakes
- passive sentences
mostly correct
- at least 10 new
vocabulary items
used with a few
mistakes.
10-5
-some evidence of
editing
- hands in draft
10-0
-mistakes interfere with
understanding of text
-sentences not
grammatically correct
- many mistakes in capital
letters, spelling,
punctuation
- no sentences in passive
or incorrect
- less than 10 new
vocabulary items used
with many mistakes.
5-0
-no evidence of editing
-does not include draft
10-5
5-0
Rubrics For Oral Task 2


Interview assessment criteria
Total 40 points
40-30
30-20
20-10
10-0
The questions
show topic
relevance most of
the time.
The questions
show topic
relevance some of
the time.
The
questions don’t
show topic
relevance.
10 Yes/No and Wh
questions are used
correctly.
10 Yes/No and
Wh questions are
used with a few
mistakes
10 Yes/No and
Wh questions are
used with many
mistakes
Questions are
not varied and
have many
mistakes
Fluency
Students speak
fluently
Students speak
almost fluently
Students speak
Students don’t
somewhat fluently speak fluently
Speaking
clearly
&
maintaining
eye contact
Students speak
clearly and
maintain eye
contact all the time
Students speak
clearly and
maintain eye
contact most of
the time
Students speak
clearly and
maintain eye
contact some of
the time
The
The Interview questions show
Content
topic relevance at
all times.
Language

Students don’t
speak clearly
and maintain
eye contact all
the time
Additional Domains and Benchmarks for the Unit
Targeted Benchmarks and/or Goals
Criteria for Assessment
Educational Goals
Students will be able to analyze and contemplate the political,
social and financial problems related to space travel.
Learning Objectives-Students Will Be Able To=SWBAT
The pupils will be able to formulate grammatically correct
Fluency, Content, Syntax,
questions using appropriate language and content.
Vocabulary
*express ideas and opinions in writing
*apply the correct writing format (descriptive writing)
*apply a broad range of vocabulary and more complicated
syntactic structures accurately. (emphasis being on the use of
passive)
Access to Information: SWBAT
*understand the main idea and supporting details in the text
Spaceports and use this knowledge as needed (in both oral and
written assignments and assessment taks)
Format






Content
Fluency
Topic relevance
Vocabulary
Accuracy
Length

Ability to construct WHand Yes/No questions in
various tenses
Use vocabulary
appropriate for
interviewing
Ability to summarize and
paraphrase authentic
material in learners’ own
words


*Students will be able to carry out all of the requirements of the
working file
Organization and Punctualityability to meet due dates of the
working schedule
