Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Maria Glukhova

Marie Segura

Day and Date:

Week 2, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Pandemic

Goal of the class:

To talk about the current situation with Covid-19.

How did you structure the class?

0. Greetings, announcements, general questions.

1. Ice-Breaker I

Use a very short poll to start your class, eg:

What’s the strangest thing you did while attending an online meeting? (Multiple choice)

  • Ate breakfast
  • Wore pajamas
  • Brushed my teeth
  • Cooked lunch/dinner
  • Watched Netflix

2. Ice-Breaker II 

In pairs, students should come up with the best abbreviation meaning for “Pandemic” in the target language: 

P – pain

A- 

N – 

….

3. Main activity: 

Letter to future/past self: How would you explain COVID-19 pandemic?

—- A possible variation 1: 

Students can do this task in pairs. Imagine yourself being 30+ y.o (/or maybe themselves in September 2021/2/3..). The pandemic is already over, and everything is back to normal. Record a video message to yourself back in April 2020, when everyone was on their first quarantine and self-isolation week. From your experience now (when everything is fine again!!), what would you tell your younger self? How would you describe what happened? What pieces of advice would you give? What warnings? How would you recommend yourself to act? What new hobbies to try? Etc. 

If students could actually record themselves talking, it would be amazing to put all the videos=experiences together in one big video. 

—- A possible variation 2: 

Do the same thing, but for yourself in the future. For example, as a recommendation list. What should you do more/less when everything is back to normal? What have you learned about yourself/other people/the system/etc.? What would you have done differently if you knew the pandemic were to happen?

—- A possible variation 3:

Student 1 gets a “Survivor of the Pandemic” role, Student 2 is the interviewer. In pairs, students should record an interview “How You Survived the Pandemic of 2020” with similar questions to ask and topics to cover (what were you doing? what would you recommend? etc.) Students should record it in a talk-show format and then present to the whole group. 

4. Extra activity: 

Trivia: Make a Kahoot (or any other trivia game) with unusual things that had happened or had been said during the pandemic. Students have to 1) guess whether it’s true or false, 2) identify during what phase of the pandemic this happened, 3) identify where it happened.  For example, presidents/government representatives’ sayings, unusual/innovative gadgets, exotic animals getting into the streets, etc.

*Homework* 

(mostly for “Russians”, but every language will work!)

On Facebook, there is a group called Изоизоляция | Izoizolyacia. After pandemic hit, people were trying to entertain themselves while being stuck at home. They started copying the paintings and other works of art (at first only Russian artists, but now also international).  

Task: 

  • Try it! And upload a picture on Slack. (LRs and LAs should do the same, hehe). 
  • Students should also describe what materials, etc. they used. 
  • People like and comment.
  • There might be a prize for the funniest copy/interpretation.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Zoom, maybe VidGrid, Kahoot, Slack

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

How could this class be improved/ modified?