Felipe Kerschbaum
University of Southern Mississippi
Target Language: ESL
Audience: Intermediate-Low to Intermediate-High (ACTFL 2012)
Name: Fossil Fuels Instructional Activity
Goals: Understand main ideas; Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of an argument
and state opinion; Create original solution(s); Promote digital literacy.
Standards Targeted: TESOL Standards for Curriculum and Instructional Materials:
2B: The curriculum reflects the mission and philosophy of the program and is
compatible with principles of second-language acquisition for adult learners.
2C: The curriculum includes goals, objectives, outcomes, approaches, methods,
activities, materials, technological resources, and evaluation measures that are
appropriate for meeting learners’ needs and goals.
2D: The curriculum specifies measurable learning objectives for each
instructional offering for learners and is appropriate for learners in multi-level
classes.
2E: The curriculum and instructional materials are easily accessible, up-to-date,
appropriate for adult learners, culturally sensitive, oriented to the language and
literacy needs of the learners and suitable for a variety of learning styles.
Materials/AV needed: Students will need computers/tablets/smartphones with
Internet access (at least one per group), notebook paper and a pencil. The teacher
will need a dry erase board and markers. No A/V is necessary but may be helpful
when the students are presenting.
Time needed: 50 minutes
Description: This activity will challenge learners to evaluate the pros and cons of
three types of alternative energy: solar, wind, and nuclear. The teacher will activate
background knowledge by guiding a discussion of fossil fuels and alternative energy
sources. The learners will then be split into three groups, and each group will be
assigned one type of alternative energy to research. Using any internet-connected
device, the learners will spend 20 minutes finding out as much as they can about
their form of energy. After this is complete, they will organize their notes into a
group presentation. The focus of the presentation will be the pros and cons of each
type of alternative energy. For a post-activity, the learners will be asked to write a
paragraph describing how they propose to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels.
Pre-activity: Begin the class by asking: Do you think we are addicted to fossil
fuels? Then, tell the students to look around the room and write down a list of
things that they think are derived from oil. Point out that almost anything made of
plastic depends on oil during the manufacturing process.
Activity: Split the learners into three groups and assign each of them an alternative
energy type: solar, wind, or nuclear. Have the learners use their
computers/laptops/tablets/smartphones to research their topic for 20 minutes,
finding out as much as they can and taking notes. At a minimum, they should
answer the following questions: 1) What is it? 2) How does it work? 3) What are the
pros (at least 2) and what are the cons (at least 2)? 4) Do you think it is a viable
alternative to fossil fuels? During this phase, the teacher should walk around and
assist the learners in how to find reliable information online. Part two of the
activity consists of the learners working together to prepare a presentation to the
class. Have them use the same 4 questions to guide the development of the
preparation. Give them 10 minutes to prepare and then have each group present to
the class. Every group member must present a portion of the presentation and the
rest of the class should be taking notes during the presentations.
Post-activity: For the post-activity, the learners should write a two-paragraph
reaction to the lesson consisting of (a) an overall description of alternative energy
sources and (b) how they would propose to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels.
This should be done for homework and brought to class the next day.
Extension: The learners could interview two different native English speakers and
ask them their opinion of alternative energy types and report their findings back to
the class or place in a journal/portfolio.
Evaluation: During the research and presentation preparation phase of the activity,
the teacher should assess each learner by the amount of information he/she is able
to provide to the group. Is the learner able to find, interpret, and share information
learned with the group? To what degree is the learner able to contribute to the final
product? During the presentation, each learner should be evaluated individually
based on how well they are able to articulate their opinions to the class. The
content of the presentation is not as important as the learners’ ability to present
their opinions. Oral production should be evaluated in terms of comprehensibility
and grammatical accuracy should be assessed in terms of how it affects the integrity
of the argument.
References:
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL) (2003). Standards
for adult education ESL programs. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.