LESSON PLAN 4 – DANIEL JARZYNSKI
Class level
Classroom
Advanced
Room 1
Progress expectation
Students may start with basic understanding of the passive, but the lesson
will help them to recognize it in multiple tenses and will make them more
comfortable using the passive voice for narration, or to de-emphasize who
carried out the action. They will also add more complex English words to
their existing vocabulary about crime.
Vocabulary related to crime, and the investigation and sentencing of crime.
Grammar constructions in the passive voice used to talk about crime
events.
Crime and Punishment
To enable students to talk about crime (and other subjects) when the
subject or actor is not known or is not as emphasized as what happened to
the individual student. The lesson will also prepare students to talk in more
detail about crime in English.
Students will talk about types of crime and the justice process in the United
States and will differentiate between using sentences in the active voice
versus the passive voice.
Students probably already know the names for some crimes and some
vocabulary for the criminal justice system, but they are probably not familiar
with more technical vocabulary. They should also have some previous
experience with the passive voice, but perhaps not in multiple tenses.
Text handout: for use in reading exercise and to be referenced for
vocabulary and grammar work.
Active/passive worksheet: to practice grammar constructions
Comprehension of vocabulary will be checked during review of the practice
exercise. Learning of the grammar concept will be checked through
performance on the practice work, the level of success in identifying and
working with the grammar concept in the text, and the ability to
spontaneously form the grammar during the produce exercise.
Only one student attended the lesson, so unfortunately there wasn’t any
opportunity for group work. The attention in the classroom was good,
however, given the individual attention I was able to give to the student.
Subject
Topic
Aim
Objective
Knowledge assumed
Material & equipment
Learning assessment
Post lesson notes
Lesson date
Lesson duration
16/08/2013
60 minutes
In retrospect it seems I chose too much vocabulary to present, and I chose
rather technical vocabulary for which distinctions between similar terms
were somewhat elusive. The vocabulary presentation took more time than I
wanted to allow, and it cut back the time for the rest of the plan. Also, given
the sheer amount of vocabulary, the practice exercise took some time as
well, although the student performed very well on it.
The presentation of grammar was well received by the student. She already
had an obvious mastery of parts of speech and of verb tenses, so the
concept of the passive voice, which can be expressed in multiple tenses,
did not require much explanation for her. Since she already had such an
aptitude for understanding, I wish I could have provided her with more
challenging exercises. The length of my presentations didn’t give enough
time for longer student practice.
We started class five minutes late, but even so I had included far too much
material and it wouldn’t have been possible to get through it all in an hour.
Time managements is still proving to be a major issue in my lesson
planning. I need to continue simplifying and shortening my plans so that the
students have time to participate in more activities. When I realized that
there would not be enough time for all parts of the lessons, I had to modify
some parts and switch them around in order get to the most important
things.
My vocab matching practice exercise had very concise definitions and I’m
pleased with how that went in the classroom. My talking time as a teacher
however was far too dominant, and I would have liked to allow more time
for the student to be talking.
Tasks
Phase Duration
1
2 mins
Topic
Introduction
2
4 mins
Warm-Up
3
6 mins
Vocab
Presentation
4
5 mins
Vocab Practice
4
4 mins
Pre-Reading
5
6 mins
Reading
Teacher activity
Make
introductions with
students and note
attendance for
the day.
Have students
begin class by
talking in groups
of 2-3 about a
time where they,
or someone they
know, were the
victim of a crime.
Did they ever find
out who it was
exactly who
committed the
crime?
Present crime
vocab to students
on the board with
definition and
context
descriptions.
Explain matching
worksheet to
students and
have them work
in pairs to do the
vocab exercise.
Student activity Resources
Introduce
None
themselves to the
class.
Start activity with None
other students by
telling an
individual story
about a time they
were a victim of a
crime and what
came of it.
Follow along with None
vocab
presentation.
Listen to
Text handout
instructions for
matching
exercise and
work with a
partner to match
each vocabulary
word with its
definition.
Introduce the
Listen to
Text handout
concept of
introduction to
“criminal justice criminal justice
system”. Instruct and then work
students to read with a partner to
the 6 events
place the events
described in the from the text in
text and tell them the order they
to try to place the believe the
events in the
events occur.
correct order.
Have students
Read text
Text handout
individually read individually and
the text and circle note an additional
a word or two that vocabulary word
they do not
they would like a
recognize the
definition for.
meaning of
(separate from
the vocab already
discussed).
6
5 mins
Post-Reading
7
8 mins
Grammar
Presentation
8
8 mins
Grammar
Practice
9
9 mins
Produce
Refer back to the
reading and ask
students to name
all the people
they can
remember who
are involved in
the criminal
justice process.
Which people
decide whether
you are guilty or
not guilty?
Answer any
questions from
the reading.
Introduce the
concept of the
passive voice.
Give grammar
constructions for
the present, past,
perfect, and
infinitive tenses.
Explain by
comparing active
sentences with
passive
sentences and
having students
discover the
differences.
Solicit occasional
responses from
students to check
comprehension.
Have students
use worksheet to
identify sentences
in the passive or
active voice.
Then they will
change the active
sentences into
passive
sentences.
Participate in
Text Handout
activity with
teacher, naming
off the characters
referred to in the
text and
indicating who
decides the case
in the end.
Listen to
None
grammar
presentation and
respond to
teacher’s
comprehension
questions. Make
comparisons
between the
active and
passive to
understand the
structure and
usage.
Work with a
Active/passive
partner to
worksheet
complete the
worksheet, first
identifying which
sentences are
active or passive,
and then
changing all
active sentences
to passive.
Instruct students Listen to teacher None
to work in pairs to instructions and
write a short
work with a
article about a
partner to create
crime that
a short new story
occurred. They
about a crime in
choose the crime, the passive voice.
and afterwards
Then choose a
they will choose a headline and read
headline.
back to the class.
10
3 mins
Wrap-Up
B1
6 mins
Backup Activity
B2
6 mins
Backup Activity
Have students
discuss in pairs
the criminal
justice system in
Madrid/Spain
compared with
the United States.
Are there any big
differences?
What kinds of
crime are most
common in
Spain?
Form a list of
some common
crimes through
class discussion
and teacher help.
Then have
students work
together in pairs
or groups to rank
the crimes in
order of most
serious to least
serious.
Have students
identify all of the
active voice
constructions in
the final
paragraph of the
text. Then, have
them rewrite the
text changing the
original
constructions to
passive
Engage in
None
discussion with
fellow students,
comparing crime
in the United
States with crime
in Spain. Note
any important
differences and
decide what kinds
of crime are most
common in Spain.
Work with other None
students to pool
their knowledge
on crime words.
Then discuss the
crimes with other
students and rank
them.
Listen to teacher Text handout
instructions, read
through the final
paragraph of the
text, and rewrite
the active
constructions into
passive ones.
Students who attended
Name
Pilar
Age Level
60 Advanced
Notes
Pilar arrived just a few minutes late but was ready to
begin right away. She worked out of a notebook and
showed a great interest in understanding the new
vocabulary. Throughout the class she tried to make
comparisons and translations into Spanish so that she
could understand some of the concepts. She was a
quick student who understood grammar extremely well,
and she finished practice exercises accurately and
quickly.