Language and Level
(intermediate or advanced class):
Chinese, intermediate
and Advanced
Class
theme/topics discussed:
Learn the song <the same song>(tongyishouge)
Goal of the
class:
To Practice their oral Chinese
skills. Practice Chinese listening skills. Learn about new vocabulary and learn
to sing this Chinese song.
How did you
structure the class?
Play song, let them practice
listening, write the lyrics they hear and fill it in the blanks in pinyin or
Chinese characters.
Help students correct mistakes, tell them the
meaning of the new vocabulary.
Teach them to sing the song. And put culture inputs
such as how to pronounce 的 and 了 in a song.
What technology,
media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts,
etc.)
PowerPoint, useful
Chinese website:
PowerPoint, YouTube
What worked
well in this class? What did not work?
Students really
enjoyed the class, practiced their listening skills. Learned new words and how to sing a Chinese song, everyone was involved and had fun.
How could this
class be improved/ modified?
No
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Class theme/topics discussed: Latin American history, Latin American music
Goal of the class:
To promote talking through small talk
To get to know about Latin-America through music
How did you structure the class?
Ice Breaker: In pairs, students talk about the question “With what historical figure would you have dinner with?”, so they can practice conversation. We follow up by sharing their answers and working on questions regarding vocabulary or grammar. This is to activate their Spanish conversation abilities before moving forward.
Activity 1: We listen to the song “Latinoamérica” by Puerto Rican duo Calle 13. Students pay attention to the lyrics and topics in the song. Students get the lyrics with highlited topics.
Activity 2: In pairs, students are assigned one theme tackled in the song Latinoamérica alongside a set of questions related to the topic. They are related to the life, history and culture of the subcontinent. They are asked to research on the topic and present it to the rest of the class. (Refer to the appendix to see the topics).
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The class worked out very well. Particularly in advanced, students are really eager to talk to each other, so the first activity worked out quite well. The second activity worked out well too, but this activity requires more than one class.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
The class worked well. Maybe it is important to consider two classes to work on this instead of one.
Goal of the
class: Practice listening in Russian, learn about a
contemporary Russian artist
How did you
structure the class?
1. Greetings, announcements, general questions. – 10
min
3. Interview: Students watch an interview with a popular Russian singer and songwriter Zemfira. They are given a list of questions asked to the performer, the task of the students is to write down what she answers. (handout 1) – 20 min
4. Working with the song title. The students are given a name of a song (it is an abbreviation). Their task is to guess what the abbreviations stands for. The class is divided into groups of two, the students write their theories in the whiteboard. – 15 min
5. Listening activities: Listening and filling in the blanks. After – playing the hangman word game with the words form the lyrics/words about music. (handout 2) – 15 min
What
technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles,
handouts, etc.)
What worked
well in this class? What did not work?
Students definitely struggled with the interview activity but demonstrated good results at the end + it was good to push them out of their comfort zone at last and make them listen to other speaker of Russian language
How could this
class be improved/ modified?
If you have a
more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language
for that). Please attach any handouts as
well.
Handout 1.
Вопросы к Земфире.
1. Про жизнь рок-н-рольщика.
Как певица характеризует жизнь музыкантов?
2. Какие артисты нравятся Zемфире? Какие
категории артистов она называет?
3. Какие отношения (relationship) в её
группе? Что она говорит про коллектив?
Handout 2.
Zемфира – П.М.М.Л.
Море обнимет, закопает в пески,
Закинут ____________ лески,
Поймают в сети наши души,
Прости меня, моя ___________.
Поздно. О чем-то думать слишком поздно,
Тебе, я чую, нужен ______________,
Лежим в такой огромной луже,
Прости меня, моя любовь.
Джинсы воды набрали и прилипли,
Мне ______________, мы крепко влипли,
Мне кажется, потухло ______________,
Прости меня, моя любовь.
Тихо. Не слышно ни часов, ни чаек,
Послушно _______________ выключаем,
И ты в песке, как будто в _______________,
Прости меня, моя любовь.
Goal of the class: Revise basic music vocabulary; introduce students to popular Russian songs
How did you
structure the class?
1. Greetings, announcements, general questions. – 5
min
2. Presentation: LR gives a short presentation on the names of genres in Russian. Students make the list of the genres and each add at least 2 more. – 5 min
3. Interviews: Students interview each other. (handout 1) – 15 min
4. What is this song about? The LR shows the students
a music video but turns the sound off. Given the name and the video, students
have to discuss and guess what the song will be about. – 10 min
5. Continue working with the song: After the
discussion, students are given the lyrics of the song, but all in incorrect
order. Their task is to try put the lyrics in correct order. After the students
present their sequences, we listen to the song. (handout 2) – 10 min
6. Is that video accurate? Watching the same video, the students have to write lyrics of the song according to what is going on the screen. Students have 10 minutes for writing and then 5 minutes to present. – 15 min
What
technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources,
playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Listening activity turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected. I recommend this class for the beginning of the semester because it is easy vocabulary but still enough speaking.
How could this
class be improved/ modified?
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Handout 1.
Словарь:
Альбом –
Живая музыка –
Певец/певица
–
Звезда (pl. звёзды) –
Песня –
Исполнитель
–
Группа –
Выступление
–
Выступать
–
Концерт/фестиваль
–
Тебе нравится слушать музыку? Какую роль в твоей жизни играет музыка?
Какие жанры тебе нравятся? Какие не нравятся?
Ты смотришь музыкальные клипы? Как ты думаешь, музыкальные клипы важны
для исполнителей?
Тебе нравится слушать живую музыку? Ты ходишь на концерты или фестивали?
Расскажи.
Если бы твоя жизнь была фильмом, какая музыка была бы саундтреком?
Handout 2.
IOWA – Заболела тобой
Лето было пепельно-золотым,
Чувства были сильно помяты.
Нет, не боялась я темноты,
Я была сама виновата…
Что не умела вязать узлы;
В том, что промолчала когда-то.
Только, как лечить эту пустоту?
Знаю, я сама виновата:
Я заболела, я заболела, я
заболела тобой.
Я заболела, я заболела, я заболела тобой.
В моих руках жёлтые
цветы,
Глаза слезятся от ветра.
Мы не заварим чая в ледяной воде –
Мы две стороны одной монеты.
Айсбергом ты на моём
пути.
Остаться, уйти? – Не понятно.
Но как же лечить эту пустоту:
Знаю, я сама виновата…
Я заболела, я заболела, я
заболела тобой.
Я заболела, я заболела, я заболела тобой.
Лето было
пепельно-золотым
И уже катилось к закату.
Отцвели давно наши сады,
Осень во всём виновата
Я не успела, я не успела
понять,
Как заболела тобой
Я не успела, в этом всё дело,
Я заболела тобой…
Я
заболела, я заболела, я заболела тобой.
Я заболела, я заболела, я заболела тобой.
Language and Level (intermediate
or advanced class):
Spanish advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:
.Goal of the class: To learn and discuss about traditions in Spain. To discover new music artists in Spain
How did you structure the class?
Activity 1:
Students get a piece of paper with prompts to discuss about their musical taste
They stand up and walk around asking each other
Activity 2:
Students are asked the features that a good artist needs to have. We write those words in the whiteboard
Activity 3:
Students look up the artist Rosalía on Instagram. They describe what they see and what they think of her.
Activity 4:
We brainstorm different elements from the Spanish culture. Students are
guided with a powerpoint presentation in order to get them to discuss about
semana santa, bullfighting, suburbs…
Activity 5:
Students watch the Malamente music video by Rosalia. They have toidentify the elements we have learnt before. Then we discuss how they arerepresented in the video and figure out the meaning of the video.
Activity 6:
Now that students are more familiar with the artist and the imagery. We discuss about elements that are relevant also in the US. Cultural appropriation and Rosalía.
Activity 7: If there is time, we watch another music video by the same artist that shows similar topics, and discuss the different elements portrayed in it.
What technology, media or props
did you use? (Internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
We used prompts to bring up the topic at the beginning of the class.
We also used a powerpoint presentation to bring the imagery of the
artist to the classroom and make it more fun to engage in the topic.
What worked well in this class?
What did not work?
This class worked very well with advanced students because they really liked the artist. They could see and discuss elements from the Spanish culture that they were already familiar with, and put them into a different perspective. After this class, this artist became a recurrent topic in class, students would follow her progress and the new material she was releasing. It was a fantastic resource for them to bring Spanish home and keep practicing.
If you have a more detailed
lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): German, intermediate
Class theme/topics discussed: vocabulary; song
Goal of the class:
Repeat vocabulary, introduce a popular band; students should be able to understand the basic content
How did you structure the class?
4.15-4.30 (15mins): Warm-Up, Game: vocabulary conversation (in pairs): each student has the same number of words (written on vocabulary cards); they have to have a conversation and use the words they have on their cards. The team who finishes first, wins.
4.30-5.15 (45mins): Song: 21,22,23
watch song without music; what do you think – what kind of music is it?
The titel is 21,22,23 – what could it be about?
Show them the refrain – make a suggestion what could be in the gaps.
Listen to song together
Hand out gap text – students try to fill in
Listen again
Underline unknown words
Go through text together
Meaning of the song? – discussion
Write a new refrain (for example a response to the song)
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
mac book, vocabulary cards, gab texts
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
They liked the song and they were very interested in the expressions and vocabulary used. They liked guessing how the music is like.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
Some music vocabulary would be helpful to talk about the topic. Maybe a series of lessons on music would be a good idea.
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced Plus
Class theme/topics discussed: Music
Goal of the class: Learn about the vocabulary of music (music instruments, idiomatic expressions), practice of the listening comprehension part with songs, create a dialogue with specific vocabulary.
How did you structure the class?
Warm-up: Introduce the “Fête de la Musique” and ask the students about their habits related to music (playing an instrument, favorite band, etc.). They’ll have a handout about habits of French people so we can make comparisons.
We watch a video about the famous singer Stromae without the sound. I give the students ten words (that appear on the video), and they have to imagine the dialogue using them (“Radin ; Bignou ; Danser ; S’amuser ; Malade ; Chien ; Soif ; Canard ; S’extasier ; Désinvolte”). Then, we watch the video.
I give the students a handout with titles of French songs: I will play songs extracts and just by listening to the extracts, the students have to guess what the song is.
Idiomatic expressions with music: Multiple-choice questions on a handout
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The main activities were very fun: the students also learnt new vocabulary! The activity with the songs was a bit experimental but the students told me they loved it and wanted another one.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
With less advanced students, the songs have to be easier to guess!
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Spanish Conversation Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:
Debate
Latin American Music
Goal of the class:
Debate in Spanish about two popular Latinamerican songs
How did you structure the class?
Students are introduced to their next activity, which is a debate on which contemporary Latin American song is better (Despacito and Mi Gente). They will have to come up with arguments and counter arguments during the class and have a debate on the topic. Two students will be the moderators of the debate and will help to determine the winning team.
Students work in their arguments and counterarguments for the debate. The moderators prepare questions and will guide the whole activity.
The students take turns to defend their songs with arguments. Then, they take a 4-minute break to come up with their counterarguments against their opponents’ song. They continue with the counterargument section of the debate.
Finally, moderators make questions to both groups and define a winner.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students really liked the idea of the debate. They enjoyed it and were passionate about defending their songs. The arguments were really strong and their Spanish was really up to the task.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I should have included better guidelines in regards to the time they should spend defending each argument (1.30). I should have also made it clear that they could take notes and share ideas among groupmates.
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Instrucciones
Junto a tu equipo, desarrollen argumentos e ideas que ayuden a respaldar que la canción de su grupo es mejor que la del grupo adversario. Cada integrante tendrá un papel importante en el debate. Estos papeles deben ser asignados democráticamente entre los integrantes del equipo.
Integrante 1: Introducción y argumento 1 (Presentar la canción y el primer argumento a favor)
Integrante 2: Argumento 2 y 3 (Presentar los dos siguientes argumentos a favor de la canción)
Integrante 3: Contraargumento (Presentar un argumento en contra de lo propuesto por el otro equipo)
Integrante 4: Conclusión (Presentar las ideas centrales expuestas y cerrar)
Tipos de argumentos a presentar:
Esta canción representa mejor el español porque…
Esta canción representa mejor a Latinoamérica porque…
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed: Japanese Song & TV Show
Goal of the class:
The students will be able to understand the basic contents of Japanese song and TV show.
How did you structure the class?
Activity 1 (2 min) Attendance check and Announcement
I check students’ attendance and give them announcements.
Activity 2 (8 min) Warm-up
I casually ask the students about their weekend and Japanese New Year’s Party held last Friday.
Activity 3 (25 min) Review of the song “Mirai-e”
The students listen to the song with lyrics and fill in the rest of blanks while listening. Then I introduce some vocabulary and we review the meaning of lyrics sentence by sentence together in the class. Then I give them several questions related to the song and students talk about them in the class. In the end, we sing the song together in the class. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Eyu2V4iDs
Activity 4 (25 min) Japanese Show
I ask a question about what you would do if you pick up some money. Students share the idea by demonstrating themselves in the class. Then, I introduce the show in the class and give them a question related to the theme on the show. We exchange the ideas in the class and watch the show together in the class. Then we review general information of what they have seen. I also give them explanation about some vocabulary not familiar with the students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-vmsFO_mMc
Back-up Activity (15 min) Listening to Japanese short comedy
I give them the theme before watching the clip. Students brainstorm what the story is about by sharing the ideas in the class. Then, we watch a clip together in the class and review general information of it. I also give them explanation about some vocabulary not familiar with the students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1zDi9_nxCA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi_cgVxlJCw&t=17s
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Powerpoint
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The class was good in general. I was able to get the song activity done quickly and to move on to the next activity. I just found the short comedy, which was supposed to do in the class today, difficult, so I switched the activity with another one that I just came up with right before the class. Honestly, it was not prepared enough because of that sudden change, but I did my best. I could prepare enough before conducting the class, so that I could instruct the class well.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
When I conduct new activities in my intermediate class, I often failed as I feel in that way, and I find many points needed to be revised by the next class of teaching. This semester I usually try new activities in my intermediate class, so I need to be prepared enough more than I did in the last semester; otherwise, the class goes terrible. I need to be more aware of my delivery, explanation, and instruction for guiding the class from now on.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed: Disney & Japanese Film
Goal of the class:
The students will be able to describe a story of film.
How did you structure the class?
Activity 1 (5 min) Attendance check and Announcement
I check students’ attendance and give them announcements.
Activity 2 (15 min) Warm-up
I casually ask them about the movie they have watched recently. I make pairs in the class and they talk about it with their partner sharing it each other. I ask them about their favorite movie and to introduce it in the rest of the class. Also, I introduce about my movie and explain the story of it. After that, students introduce the story of film in the class and others guess which movie it is.
Activity 3 (30 min) Let’s describe a movie
I will demonstrate the activity in front of the class. I pick up a card on the table which has an image of Disney film on it. Then I introduce about the story of that movie to the students without saying the title of movie, names of characters, and they guess it by writing down the name on the paper given. Then, we talk about some techniques when explaining about the story to the others. Also, we review the points and rules for the activity together in the class, and students try to present their film in the class.
Activity 4 (10 min) Let’s become a director
I make pairs in the class and they are given a poster of Japanese film. Students guess the story with their partner and make a short story on another paper. After that, each group shows the poster in the class and introduces the story that they have created in the class. We also watch the trailers of those films together and think of the story again in the class if possible.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Powerpoint
What worked well in this class? What did not work? The class was good in general. But the tasks I gave the students today seemed to be not challenging for them but too easy, because all the students knew the Disney film more than I did. So I tried to make differences and to let them practice in more relevant way, but it wasn’t going well as I expected. However, I have some solutions against that issue right now, so I would like to try the activity in that way next time, giving them a task to make a whole story in the class.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I think I can divide a story of film for the number of students in the class and give each student a task to make a short story about that situation by referring to the photo given. Then the students prepare for their own part on their own and in the end we can combine them together by having them introduce their part one by one in front of the class. By doing so, the students are given a certain task and work hard on their own. Also, I can let them play in the class in target language, which sounds interesting, too.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate/Advance
Class theme/topics discussed: Conditional sentences, description.
Goal of the class: Students overview conditional sentences and practice them.
How did you structure the class?
Heads-up: upcoming cultural activities
Warm-up: I quickly remind students how to conjugate conditional verbs and I write a couple of sentences as example.
Activity 1: After a couple of comments about what they are about to see, I play a clip muted on youtube of a famous songwriter from Spain. Students are in pairs, one facing the screen, the other one facing backwards. The student who can see the screen must describe what is happening while the video is playing. Then everyone watches the clip with music and test how much they were able to describe/understand. After, pairs switch places and I play a second clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HpIgZUqfn8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-u-xjSREkM
Activity 2: I play again the last song. I handle out the lyrics with blanks on it, students must listen and fill the blanks. After, we discuss the lyrics and I make them realize that most of the sentences are written using a conditional structure.
Activity 3: In groups of 3, students must answer to some questions I write on the board that start by “What would you do if…?”
-You won the lottery
-You had a time-travel machine
-There was an earthquake
-You could have the job of your dreams
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Youtube
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
It was a bit challenging for some of the students but very fruitful for others, hopefully all your students will have gone through conditional sentences at least once. The description activity is also intense, but despite the difficulty, you definitely can tell that they had a lot of fun.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):
Chinese, Intermediate, Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:
Chinese Popular Song
Goal of the class:
By the end of this class, students will be able to:
Understand all the lyrics;
Know how to sing the song
How did you structure the class?
Students work in pairs, listen to the song and write down the lyrics as much as they can recognize.
After listening to the song, students show the words and discuss the possible topics of this song.
Teacher gives students the incomplete lyrics. Students listening to the song again and fill in the blanks. After the song, we check the missing words together and explain the new words.
Students have 5 minutes to design a music video with their partners. After that, they will tell us their ideas.
Show the official video music video and try to sing the song.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): German Advanced Conversation
Class theme/topics discussed:
Basic understanding and interpretation of a German song.
Goal of the class:
Practicing listening comprehension and understanding of texts (also stylistic devices) and justification.
How did you structure the class?
20-25 minutes: Odd man out. The class is divided in two groups or pairs to have a competition. The LR provides 4 to 5 different words. Each group has to provide the reasons for each of the words to be the odd man out. The students are given a time limit during which they have to make up their reasons. They take notes so that they have proof that they do not copy from the other group that is presenting. Each word that they were able to describe as the odd man out will be rewarded a point. The LR varies the intensity by setting tougher time limitations.
25-30 minutes: Song analysis of “Madsen – Geschichte”. The students listen to the song “Geschichte” by Madsen. They try to remember as much as possible (words, phrases, the general issue). The ideas are then shared with the class. Afterwards, they receive the songtext with gaps. The song is played a second time. The students then try to fill out the blanks in pairs. The LR then helps them to clarify misunderstandings and questions. Each pair gets to analyze one paragraph, the LR provides the categories that help them understanding the meaning. They present their ideas in class
3 minutes: Information about study break on 21st of October. Information about film festival next week (class will be dismissed at 4:55). Information about conversation class project – what is needed.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Music so that they cannot hear each other that easily, wordlist for odd man out, TV/speakers to play the song, Songtext with gaps, questions for interpretation
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students liked both the song and the activities of this class.
To know more about this Spanish reality which sometimes is seen as a mere stereotype.
How did you structure the class?
Activity 1 (10min): Warm up. Students talk in partner about what would they do if
– The world ended in 24 hours
They had 1 billion dollars
They had one year on vacation
They had a time travel machine
Activity 2 (15): A video from youtube is played on the screen. The clip is made with real images of bullfights and a song. After the first time, they speak briefly what it is about. Then, they are given the lyrics with some gaps that they have to fill in after listening the song the second time. Vocabulary is discussed before that.
Activity 3 (15): I show them news about the bullfight reality in Spain. We have a political open debate.
Activity 4 (15): I show them a powerpoint about the history of bullfights. Afterwards, they discuss in groups about the difficulty of erasing a old tradition in a country.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The class work well. Students were very curious about it. Even, I had to stop the political debate because they were too involved. I used a non-related warm-up activity, but you can use another one.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
This topic is very intense, there should be a very relaxing class either the day after or previous in order to counterbalance it.
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):
Chinese, Intermediate
Class theme/topics discussed:
Chinese Popular Song
Goal of the class:
By the end of this class, students will be able to:
Understand all the lyrics;
Design a music video for this song.
How did you structure the class?
Students work in pairs, listen to the song and write down the lyrics as much as they can recognize.
After listening to the song, students show the words and discuss the possible topics of this song.
Teacher gives students the incomplete lyrics. Students listening to the song again and fill in the blanks. After the song, we check the missing words together and explain the new words.
Students have 5 minutes to design a music video with their partners. After that, they will tell us their ideas.
Show the official video music video.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):
Intermediate Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed:
Japanese poems/Haiku
Goal(s) of the class:
Students will be able to explain the rhythms in Japanese poems.
Students will understand the concept of the Haiku meeting and be able to participate in it.
How did you structure the class?
Time
(Total)
Title
Notes (T: teacher, S: student)
5(5)
Attendance check & Announcement
T checks the attendance and tells them about the coming study break.
8(13)
Introduction
Ss watch the video that explains how to compose Japanese haiku.
8(21)
Discussion
Ss talk about what they watched in the video and share their knowledge of haiku. T introduces some new words related to haiku.
12(33)
Activity 1
Yomi-bito shirazu
Every student gets a piece of paper that has 17 boxes. Student write one letter on any box and mix the pieces of paper with other students’ ones. They continue this until all the boxes are filled. Finally, students compose the randomly-made haikus one by one, and give feedbacks of comments to each others’.
14(47)
Activity 2
Barabara 575
Students get three small pieces of paper. On them students write two sentences or words consist of 5 moras and one consist of 7 moras. When finished, students mix their pieces and randomly pick three from them. Each student takes turn and composes their works of combination of the pieces. After one student composes, other students give feedbacks.
10(57)
Activity 3
Haiku poets
Students make their original haikus and compose them. Other students give feedbacks.
3(60)
Consolidation
T review what they have learned, emphasizing the basic rhythms of the Japanese haiku poems.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
powerpoint presentation, background music, and handouts
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
What worked:
Students enjoyed composing haikus they made. The activity was easy to do and students worked with little stress.
What did not work:
The purpose of the first activity is to enjoy the rhythm of the Japanese haiku poems but the students tried too seriously to make good haikus. I should have clarified the purpose first.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
Since it was obviously clear that students cannot make good poems for their first trials, I should have told them to take it easy and the purpose is just to enjoy the rhythm.
Announce two cultural activities coming up – two films at the Laemmle, introduce students to “Aquarium”, a cult Russian indie-rock band, their music, their spirituality and their fearless leader, Boris Grebenshikov
Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):
Activity 1 Announcements – 10 min
I show the trailers for the movies I am taking students to see:
It’s from January 21, so it’s really new! Each student gets Handout 2 with the question and a couple of answers (rescrambled). I give them 3 minutes to look at their answers. I ask them to read the questions out loud and whoever has the answer reads it. We discuss and clarify the vocabulary if needed. Some of the more sophisticated structures are great examples of a translation challenge, e.g. “не могло не отразиться”, “искусственно раздутый скандал”.
What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The more I do it, the more I see how great reading out loud is for students of any level! Some of my students are very fluent speaking, but seem to have hit a “glass ceiling” where they cannot really make their vocab and structures more varied – and reading really helps that, I find. Some of them have difficulty with it, but they all seem to be enjoying it. So I do want to keep integrating it, maybe in smaller doses.
The interview is great – great language and very representative of the political stance of Russian intelligentsia.
Finding answers in a great exercise – they have to look for thematic vocabulary, but most importantly, structures! Also, it’s great for listening comprehension, because the others don’t have those answers.
I wanted to give them time to work in pairs and answer the interview questions from a completely different perspective – say, that of a hardcore Putin supporter, or a communist, or a pop star, but we didn’t have enough time. I should have definitely cut down the number of questions. But they still enjoyed it!
How could this class be improved/ modified?
Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.
Have an enjoyable tea-party with delicious cookies and listen to/watch some genuinely fun examples of contemporary culture and also talk about some aspects of simultaneous translation.
GREAT for MID-TERM class
Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):
Warm-up – sign Christmas/New Year’s cards in Russian. Cards are provided. How do you wish things in Russian, etc. – 10 min
Russian parody song about Demi Moore who longs to go to Russia and live a “normal” Russian life – lots of fun stereotype inversions etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx_OLNxyt3YHandout 2
Discussion – what makes the parody funny? What Russian stereotypes are involved?
Simultaneous translation and language transformations involved (cf. “make the world more connected” – “сделать мир более открытым», “the challenge is..” – “задача в том, чтобы….”, “a lot of why we’re here..” – “главная причина, по которой мы здесь…») – you can sometimes hear both languages, interesting to compare.
What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)
Video, text
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The goal was without a doubt fully achieved! The students are also so proficient already that it makes sense to talk about certain application of language such as simultaneous translation. It is fascinating to them and certainly can be something they could try!
How could this class be improved/ modified?
Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.
