Conversation Class Lesson Plan

Section: Advanced Conversation
Date: February 18, 2010

 

Class theme/topics discussed: We’re making a German chocolate cake

How did you pick this theme or topic?
See previous lesson.

How did you present the material? (handouts, group work, general discussion, student presentations, etc.)
First, I presented my students three different recipes of the different cakes and asked them to choose the one they would like to do most. My students agreed on a chocolate cake. Thus, we went over the recipe, discussing the ingredients and the instructions. Then, we prepared everything for the actual baking: The students lined up all ingredients (which I had bought before) and necessary appliances in the kitchen. Then, they followed the instructions step by step, explaining what they were doing while doing it. After they had prepared the dough, the cake was ready to be baked and was put in the oven. We had about 10 minutes of the lesson left, so we sat down and talked about food a little bit more until the end of the lesson. Later that evening / the next day, the students stopped by my apartment to pick up their shares of the cake.

How did students react?
The students loved baking! They were very motivated and seemed to have a lot of fun.

Did they engage with each other and you?
Yes, they did. They were talking very much and they asked a lot of questions.

What materials or media did you use? (articles, satellite tv, digital projector, etc.)
Copies of recipes
Ingredients for cake

 

 

Would you recommend this activity for a future class? Why or why not?
Yes, it was a nice break from the other lessons. The atmosphere was very relaxed and the students seemed very comfortable. The only thing that I didn’t ‘love’ about this lesson is that you can’t do everything in ONE lesson – i.e. the cake won’t probably get done in time of just one lesson. Thus, the students had to come back at a later time to see the actual result and to pick up their pieces of cake. But my students didn’t mind that, so it was not a big problem.