Language Residents
an archive of lesson plans
Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo
Day and Date: April 21, 2020
Language and Level: Advanced Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed:
- Handy gadgets from Japanese dollar stores
Goal of the class:
- Describe how to use something
How did you structure the class?
- Warm-up: Greetings
– Ask what students did in the weekend. Ask what they think about the P/I grading policy in Pomona. - Activity I: Guess how to use these gadgets
I show pictures of handy/funny/cute gadgets from dollar stores in Japan (e.g. kitchen tools, cleaning tools, stationeries). I ask students to guess what they are for/how to use them. We watch video clips that show how to use them afterwards. I ask students if they would buy any of the gadgets we saw. - Activity II: Discussion
I ask students if they know any handy gadgets from daily life. (e.g. smartphone stand, cheese grater, tiny stapler) - Activity III: Advertisement
We watch a video clip from a tv shopping channel to observe how people advertise a product (with great energy!):
https://youtu.be/KBrWprkHt6o (first 30 seconds)
I ask students what they noticed (“They speak energetically and without pause,” “They use many onomatopoeias”). We pick one of the gadgets from Activity I and try to make sentences to advertise it like a shopping channel.
What technology, media or props did you use?
- Google Slides
- Youtube videos
- Pictures from the internet
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
- Students seemed to have had fun seeing the funny gadgets.
- Activity III could be developed more if it’s done in a physical classroom.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
- If I do this class in person, I would develop Activity III more: I would bring a gadget to class and have students explain how to use it and advertise it like a commercial. (I found it awkward to do it when you don’t actually have the item in your hands.)
- It would be smoother if you ask students to bring/think about a gadget for Activity II before class.
Material: Google Slides:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Qpt32B8ED56OAuu5QjO1Q80MfTDv0OJ4m7OTdVUhk4Y/edit?usp=sharing
Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo
Day and Date: February 5, 2020
Language and Level: Intermediate Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed:
- Job interview
Goal of the class:
- Learn what job interviews in Japan are like
- Learn what to talk about in a job interview
How did you structure the class?
- Greetings and announcements
– Study Break: Calligraphy Feb. 6th
– Oldenborg Open House Feb. 13th - Activity I: Film Nanimono (2016)
I first introduce the term shukatsu (‘job-hunting’). Next, I briefly explain the setting of Nanimono, a film that well-portrays the situations of job-hunting in Japan, and we watch the opening scene of the film. We watch it twice, and I ask students what they saw (e.g. black suits, interviews, resumes etc.) as I write them down on the board. We watch another scene from the film about a group interview and talk what we noticed. - Activity II: Job interview
After watching what a job interview is like in Activity I, we practice how to talk in a job interview. I give students a handout that lists sample questions and ideas to build the answers. I explain the meanings of the advanced vocabulary in the handout, explain the typical structure of a good answer, and demonstrate some examples. I also show some video clips for more examples (skip to relevant scenes):
– https://youtu.be/L9fO-xpWF18
– https://youtu.be/U_jI1KQkmsk
– https://youtu.be/Ayb2pWPK9ko
Finally, in pairs, students ask each other the questions and practice how to answer. I ask some students to share their answers to the whole class. - Activity III: What would you do?
Students in pairs discuss what they would do in the following situations:
1. Your boss pronounces your name incorrectly everytime. What would you do?
2. You go to karaoke with your boss and colleagues. Your boss is a terrible singer but asks what you think his singing is. What would you say?
In a few minutes, I ask some students to share what they discussed.
What technology, media or props did you use?
- PowerPoint slides
- Handout
- Youtube videos
- Film (DVD from FLRC)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
- This class was successful. The job interview practice was challenging for the students, but they find it practical and were very engaged. Every student took notes in their handout and brought it back with them (Usually some students leave handouts in the classroom when they don’t need them after class, but not this time). Students left the class with accomplished faces!
How could this class be improved/ modified?
- Students, especially those actually planning to apply for Japanese companies, would want more feedback. Because it was hard to correct all of their errors when they were talking at the same time, next time I would ask more students to present their answers after the practice time so that I can correct them.
Materials (Download the files for better view):
- – Slides: “Feb.5_IntmdJP_Slides-job-interview”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WZnX91wOCdvBdKUVwVHJsIfhKpriUjC5/view?usp=sharing
- – Handout: “Feb.5_IntmdJP_Handout-job-interview”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X4WH66Xcmp1MbWOUOJrkqZv0slBpyluj/view?usp=sharing
Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo
Day and Date: January 28, 2019
Language and Level: Advanced Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed:
- Fashion
Goal of the class:
- Discuss preferences and opinions on fashion
How did you structure the class?
- Greetings and announcements
– Study Break: Calligraphy Feb. 6th
– Oldenborg Open House Feb. 13th - Activity I: Whose outfit?
I show students pictures of various outfits. In groups of three, students discuss who/what kind of person would wear them to where and if students themselves would try wearing these outfits. After they discuss in groups, they discuss with the whole class. - Activity II: Discussions on fashion
In groups of three, students discuss the following questions:
1. What type of outfit do 5C students wear?
2. What would you wear when you go to:
– a family gathering for Christmas
– a friend’s wedding
– a job interview
3. Do you take time to pick clothes in the morning? What do you do when you can’t decide?
4. Do you stick to certain brands? Do you like fast fashion?
5. Imagine you traveled to a somewhere far away… and you find people there wear completely different from you (e.g. everybody is wearing ルーズソックス!). What would you do? - Activity III: Idol group audition
I mention how idols/groups wear unique fashion and do various types of activities on media (e.g. singing, dancing, cooking, comedy, acting, harvesting…). I divide the students into groups and tell each group to imagine they are going on an audition as an idol group. Using a worksheet, students first ask each other their hobbies, skills and things they want to try in the future. Students list up the keywords and then discuss what they can do as an idol group using their talents. They also decide their group name, goals and theme fashion (draw what they are going to wear on media).
When they are done, they present their idea to the whole class.
What technology, media or props did you use?
- PowerPoint slides
- Pictures from the internet (for the picture cards)
- Worksheet
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
- Activity I was visually entertaining. It is open-ended and made students talk, too.
- Students had fun in Activity III. They were creative and talked spontaneously to share their ideas. It was nice to have them draw their costumes.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
- I would add a discussion on trend fashion next time. (e.g. What kind of fashion item is popular now/went popular in the past?)
Materials (Download the files for better view):
- Slides: “Jan.28_AdvJP_Slides-fashion”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uiv4eX5VCr4-Y1Z7MTvgBitJhBmCfR_L/view?usp=sharing
- Picture props & Worksheet: “Jan.28_AdvJP_Pics-Worlsheet-fashion”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18ZWJMOwuKz-RgJJhmz1unZEVpL8DoPhj/view?usp=sharing
Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo
Day and Date: May 4, 2020
Language and Level: Intermediate Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed:
- Causative and causative-passive verbs
Goal of the class:
- Review the grammar rules of causative and causative-passive verbs
- Use causative-passive verbs in conversation
How did you structure the class?
- Warm-up: Greetings
– I ask students to participate in the course evaluation (distributed via email) after class. - Activity I: Quarantine Bingo
Using the bingo sheet made by the advanced class last week, we play a bingo game in teams (two students per team); if the statement in a cell applies to either of the team member, they the cell. At the end, the team with most bingos wins.
(To do this in the online environment, I made copies of the bingo sheet on a document on Google Doc and had students mark in the synced document.) - Activity II: Causative
First, we review the usage and conjugation rules of causative verbs (-せる／させる; make someone do-). Then, to drill the conjugation, I show some pictures and have students describe them with causative verbs (e.g. “I made my child study,” “I made him eat vegetables,” “I made him go to school”). I write down the sentences on the slides as students answer. Next, we play a game that uses causative verbs; it is a rock-scissors-paper game, except students have to follow the commands, “You win/lose” or “Make the opponent win/lose”. - Activity III: Causative-passive
I introduce causative-passive verbs (させられる; be made to do-) by rewriting some of the sentences from the previous activity. We review when and how to use causative-passive verbs. Then, I ask students to describe the pictures from the previous activity with causative-passive verbs (e.g. “I was made to study,” “I was made to eat vegetables,” “I was made to go to school”).
Next, we discuss the following questions, using causative-passive verbs:
1. Were you forced to do anything as a child? (e.g. music lessons, sports, fashion etc.) As an example, I show a picture of myself wearing a kendo uniform as a child and talk about my memories back then (e.g. “I was made to learn kendo,” “I was made to wear the uncomfortable uniform”).
2. Have you ever been forced to buy anything by your family, friends or salesclerks? - Closing: briefly explain what we will be doing in the next class (Final class!)
What technology, media or props did you use?
- Google Slides
- Google Docs
- Pictures from the internet and my old album
- Conjugation tables from:
http://nihongonote.com/passive-causative-forms/
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
- I chose this grammar rule as the topic because it is one of the hardest in the intermediate/advanced grammar. I designed this class by setting the target grammar first, and then the activities. This way, I was able to structure the class logically and with a clear goal. (I know this was the ideal way to design a class but I often failed to follow this process this semester.)
- Because my original lesson plan turned out too short in the advanced class, I added more drilling of the conjugations in Activity II and III. This became a good guided practice, especially to intermediate students; they find the task helpful to practice the complicated conjugations.
- They liked seeing my childhood pictures. It is nice to use personalized materials sometimes in order to catch students’ attention.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
- It would be better with a couple more open-ended tasks. I would add some discussion questions that make students use causative verbs after Activity II.
Materials:
Language Resident Name:
MARIA GLUKHOVA
Day and Date:
Thursday, 04/09/2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):
Russian, Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:
Hometown
Goal of the class:
To talk about students’ hometowns, so they could make a virtual tour for everyone.
How did you structure the class?
- Greetings, announcements, general questions.
2. Activity 1: [all together] Are you in your hometown now? How does it feel going back home? Did you notice any changes in the city you grew up in, or is it you who has changed?
3. Activity 2: [in groups of 3 in Break-Out Rooms] Write down a list of locations that people usually associate with their hometowns (for example, this is my school, this is my grandparents’ house, where I eat my favorite ice-cream, etc.). Does this list seem to be similar to everyone?
4. Activity 3: [all together]: sharing the results + the discussion. After that: the LR opens Google Maps and shows the students her hometown. Navigating in the city, the LR gives the students a tour using as much vocabulary as possible related to location, movement, description, etc.
5. Activity 4: [in pairs in Break-Out Rooms]: The students should do the same: to show their classmates around their hometown with a guide-like narration.
6. Activity 5: [all together] Some of the students present their hometowns to everyone.
7. Conclusion and a follow-up discussion.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Zoom, Google Maps
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The class worked out great! I was very happy with the results and the atmosphere of it.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I would leave it as it is.
Language Resident Name:
MARIA GLUKHOVA
Day and Date:
Tuesday, 04/07/2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):
Russian, Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:
Where would you go after Corona?
Goal of the class:
To talk about travel plans and about different ways of traveling (moneywise, company, etc. )
How did you structure the class?
- Greetings, announcements, general questions.
- Activity 1: [all together] What is the most exotic place you have been to? Did you go there by yourself, or with other people? Why?
- Activity 2: [in groups of 3 in Break-Out Rooms] Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of traveling solo. Write down as many pros and cons as you can come up with.
- Activity 3: [all together]: sharing the results + the discussion. After that: there is a famous Ukrainian (and Russian) TV show about traveling called ‘Орёл и Решка’. It is about traveling, and there are two people in it. Why do you think the show is called that? Make predictions.
- Activity 4: [in pairs in Break-Out Rooms]: Watch the first 5 minutes of the TV show (Miami episode). Were you right about the main idea? Discuss the structure and key features.
- Activity 5: [in pairs in Break-Out Rooms] After we discussed the idea of the show together, students work in pairs. They should go to https://34travel.me/post/destinations2018 and get a random country. They flip the coin, and one student has to plan the trip to this country with $100, while the second has an unlimited amount of money.
- Activity 5: [all together] Student present their travel plans to everyone.
- Conclusion and a follow-up discussion.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Zoom, YouTube
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The class worked out well!
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I would leave it as it is.
Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez (Credit to Marie Segura)
Class theme/topic discussed : Travel
Goal of the class
- Practice vocabulary related to traveling and means of transport
- Get to know popular touristic destinations in Spanish speaking places
Class structure
- Warm up: Questions (Do you like traveling? What does traveling mean to you? What are the advantages and disadvantages of traveling? Do you think traveling is a form of education? What places have you been to? Would you like to travel on your own?
- Input: Story about one of my trips (emphasis on means of transport and activities I did there)
- Activity 1: What type of traveller are you? Students have been given a free trip but they can’t choose where to go. In pairs, students fill in a chart explaining what type of traveller they are and rank a list of things they like to do the most when traveling.
- Activity 2: Organize the trip. Organize a surprise trip for another pair of students using their preferences. Each pair of students receives another pair’s list of preferences. Now they have to organize a surprise trip, by first choosing a destination (4 destinations are proposed on a handout with the main activities you can do there but they can also choose another Spanish-speaking destination and look up for information online) and then deciding on different aspects of the trip: length of the trip, means of transport, housing, activities organized there. When they’re done, students pick 10 items out of a list that they would pack for this trip. They can add things if they want to.
- Activity 3: Presenting the trip/Receiving the Gift. Each group presents the trip they organized to the rest of the class (and especially to the group who receives it who has to react)
- Activity 4: Customs role-play. Students are on their way to their destinations. In small groups they have to recreate getting to the airport, checking their luggage, going through customs and everything people usually have to do when in the airport.
- Activity 5: Filling a complaint. Students come up with a complaint about something going wrong with their trip (the flight got delayed, the airline lost their luggage, the place they where staying at wasn’t clean enough, etc.)
- Activity 6: COVID-19. ¿How has traveling changed since the virus started spreading? What measures have been taken by airlines/airports? Do you think this is going to have a more permanent effect on traveling in the future? How are airports and airplanes going to look like after the pandemic is under control?
Resources used
- PPT
- Websites to plan the trip: Booking, Trip Advisor, etc.
- Traveler’s handout
- Article about traveling after COVID-19: https://www.abc.es/viajar/noticias/abci-podria-clase-turista-avion-despues-coronavirus-202004281738_noticia.html
- Complaints form
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
- The class worked okay. Trying to use the handout was hard because of zoom, but after trying to make the questions in a more conversational way, it worked okay. Because only 2 students joined the class, we only did the first 3 activities.
Annex
- Traveler’s handout
Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez
Class theme/topic discussed : Literature & Idioms
Goal of the class
- To practice literature related vocabulary
- To become familiar with Spanish speaking authors and popular titles
- To recognize common idioms
Class structure
- Warm-up: Questions about reading taste & habits (Do you like reading? How often do you read? What was the last book you read? Who is your favorite author? Which one is your favorite book? Do you have any favorite character? Do you have any reading routine?)
- Activity 1: I show students the book covers of 6 Spanish literature classics. After randomly reading the back cover of the books, students have to match them to the book cover and come up with a title for the books. At the end students comment on which book seems the most interesting for them.
- Activity 2: Santiago en 100 palabras: I show students a Micro-stories. After reading 2 examples, in groups, using a template provided by the organization in charge of this contest, they have to write a micro-story. (https://www.santiagoen100palabras.cl/web/#libros)
- Activity 3: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Students have a list of idioms commonly used in Spanish. In groups they have to guess the meaning of each idiom. I explain what the real meaning of each idiom is before jumping onto the next activity.
- Activity 4: Using story cubes, in groups, the class comes up with a short story where they put the idiom in context.
- (extra) Activity 5: Childhood texts stories. I tell students a story about how this children story that marked me greatly when I was a kid. They do the same.
- (extra) Activity 6: Students are randomly assigned one of the idioms we have been using all along the class. They have to write the idiom for their classmates to guess, but only using emojis.
- (extra) Activity 7: Students watch a video where you have to guess new idioms based on emoji phrases.
Resources used
- PPT
- Youtube
- Story cubes
- “Santiago en 100 palabras” handout
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
- The class worked well. Even though we didn’t go pass activity 3, they seemed quite engaged when reading and commenting on the books’ blurb.
Annex
Santiago en 100 palabras handout
S100p-¿Y-cómo-es-el-cuentoS100p-Periodista-por-un-día
Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez
Class theme/topic discussed: End of term report
Goal of the class:
- To look back on the year and prepare some goals for the upcoming year.
- To practice past tenses, conditional
- To exchange information about the future to be able to hypothesize
Class structure
- Warm-up: Students discuss whether they know or the meaning of the following words: Goals, balance, accomplishments, to achieve a goal, to be thankful.
- Activity 1: Students discuss the following questions: What goals people usually propose for themselves? Can you think of 2 or 3 goals related to these areas of life? (Health, work, money, family, couples, studies, friendship.
- Activity 2: Year’s balance/ recap: in pairs students complete each other’s chart of memorable things that happened to them during whatever period of time you are talking about. Then they share. (In case the conversation his going to slowly, use the questions in the annex)
- Activity 3: (cred. Marie Segura & Mikiko Saigo) New Year’s Resolutions: (This activity takes place during a family dinner/dinner with friends) Students are separated in groups. In turn, they roll the dice and discover their new year’s resolution. Then, they have to convince skeptical friends/family that they are actually going to keep their resolution this year and to explain why it is so important to them and how are you going to do it.
- Activity 4: Students become fortune tellers and predict each other’s future with the help of the story cubes and some images. They will make predictions about health, success in work and education, and love.
Resources used
- Resolutions sheet
- PPT
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
- As the last class of the semester, it worked pretty well. For activity 2, if it’s an online class, it’s better to have the questions in hand.
Annex
- Activity 1 Table:
| Salud | Trabajo | Dinero | Familia | Parejas | Estudios | Amistades |
| Ej.: comer más sano |
- Activity 2 Chart:
Cosas divertidas que hice: …
Algo nuevo que aprendí: …
Gente interesante que conocí: …
Lugares que visité: …
Algo que nunca olvidaré: …
Algo de lo que estoy orgulloso/a: …
- Extra questions for Activity 2:
¿Cuáles han sido los momentos más destacados?
¿Qué cosas nuevas has probado durante este año?
¿Cuáles han sido tus momentos más felices?
¿Qué has aprendido durante este año?
¿Cuál ha sido tu mayor éxito personal? ¿Y cuál tu mayor éxito profesional?
¿Cuál ha sido el mayor aprendizaje sobre ti mismo?
¿Qué harías de forma diferente?
¿Qué quieres mantener durante el próximo año? ¿Qué te gustaría cambiar en el año nuevo?
- Resolutions sheet
Language Resident Name: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez
Class theme/topic discussed: Music taste and music genres
Goal of the class
- To work on music related vocabulary
- Learn about music culture in Spanish speaking countries
Class’ structure
- Warm-up: Introductory questions about music taste and word cloud on music instruments.
- Input: Small presentation on Cueca. It includes instruments usually used to play that music, exponents and dance (how is it and how the costumes look like).
- Activity 1: Students choose between different Spanish speaking countries music styles. They have to make a small a presentation and include the same information as in the presentation the teacher gave (cumbia, ranchera, flamenco, rumba, timba, tango, salsa, merengue)
- Activity 2: Students describe a picture in which writing and music is related and discuss whether music should also be considered poetry. Students receive fragments of different reggaeton songs and poems and have to distinguish which are which. They listen to all of them, read as if they were poems and share their results
- Activity 3: Each group of students works with one of the fragments which corresponded to reggaeton songs and have to invent a new fragment. We listen to the songs and I pause them right before their fragment comes, so that they sing it.
- Extra Activity 1: Discussing the content of some reggaeton songs and their cultural significance: Yo perreo sola – Bad Bunny
- Extra activity 2: I play different songs linked with the styles they talked about in their presentations. Students have to guess the music genre.
Resources used
- Youtube:
- PPT
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
- Students enjoyed the discussions at the very beginning, but doing the zoom presentation was a bit hard. When talking about online classes, it’s better to avoid those “group research projects” because some students may just be on their phones or have a harder time doing group research.
- As an extra activity we created a playlist in Spotify and I’ve heard students commenting on the songs, which is fun and engaging for them.
Annex
Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Ruirui Zhang
Day and Date: Thursday, April 23,2020
Language and Level : Advanced Class
Class theme/topics discussed :Travel to China(make a plan to travel to China)
Goal of the class:
Students are able to use China’s travelling website to book a airplane ticket ,hotel and tickets of tourist attractions.
How did you structure the class?
1.Warm up: Review words related to travelling by playing a game: each student got two flashcards and need to describe the words while others guess the words.
2.Activity: Google search “Tóngchéng”（同程旅游）and try to book a airplane ticket/hotel/ticket of tourist attraction referring to the handout.
Teacher briefly introduces the website and students need to book a airplane ticket/hotel/tickets of tourist attractions on this website. Then students pair up and finish the task together.
During the activity, the teacher walks around and makes sure students are on the right track (I found some students talk about tourist attractions in English instead of doing the activity). They need to show and talk to teacher about their booking. Meanwhile, reminder students to look through comments which other users leave before booking.
3.Close lesson: Share your trip with each other. These includes:
State the hotel’s name you booked and reasons why you booked this hotel.
State the tourist attraction and what it is like.
What technology, media or props did you use?
PowerPoint
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students had fun planning a trip with using actual website. And It’s very useful to let students do such a activity since nowadays people tend to book tickets online.
Planning a trip was a little bit difficult for the Intermediate Class. It need to be simplified or more supports need to be provided.
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.
去中国旅游
Google搜索“http://ghotel.ly.com”：
1.订一张机票：
出发城市： 到达城市：
出发日期： 返回日期：
2.订一家酒店
酒店/宾馆名字：________________________________
选择这家酒店的原因:
___________________________________________________________________________
3.选择1-2个旅游景点
景点一:____________________________________________________
景点二:____________________________________________________
Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Ruirui Zhang
Day and Date: Tuesday,18thFebruary,2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed: Dating
Goal of the class:
- To talk about the advantages and disadvantages of being single and falling in love.
- To talk about important factors which people will take into consideration when they try to find their soulmate.
- To improve the oral level by imitating “speed dating”.
How did you structure the class?
- Warm up: The teacher will start the lesson by discussing what are advantages and disadvantages of being single and falling in love. Then, write students’ points of view on whiteboard.
- Provide input: Ask students factors which people will take into consideration when they look for soulmate. Then show students general or common factors which people think important in China. There are related vocabulary on presentation
- Activity 1: Imitating “speed dating”(Handouts are provided for this activity): There are some basic questions such as job, education experience, interests and hobby, personality etc. included on handout. First, students need to list at least three important questions which will be put forward during dating. Second, students are divided into 4 boy-girl pairs randomly. Then they will ask each other questions and imitate “speed dating” scenario.
Follow-up: ask students how it is going with dating with someone. Is the dating successful or unsuccessful? Why?
Activity 2:Talk about the following common questions asked during the dating:
1.长相（颜值）更重要，还是性格更重要？
2你介意男朋友/女朋友年龄比你大5-10岁吗？
3.找男朋友/女朋友时，你会找一个喜欢你的，还是你喜欢的？
3.结婚以后，你愿意和父母住在一起吗？
4.描述一下理想的男朋友/女朋友是什么样子？
Activity 3: Watch Chinese TV show FeiCheng WuRao, which is a popular speed dating TV show. Talk about what are similarities and difference between China’s and American dating TV show.(This activity is for advanced conversation class.)
- Close lesson
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
- Handout & Presentation
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students were very engaged in this topic. They talked a lot during the “dating”. This activity gave students chance to get to know each other with various and comprehensive questions.
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.
Dating handout:
| 关于我 | |
| 姓名 | |
| 年龄 | |
| 学历（本科/研究生/博士） | |
| 职业（工作） | |
| 收入💰 | |
| 爱好 | |
| 性格 | |
| 择偶要求 |
第一次约会时，最想问对方的三个问题：
1.____________________________________________________
2.____________________________________________________
3.____________________________________________________
Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Ruirui Zhang
Day and Date: Wednesday, April 8th,2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate
Class theme/topics discussed: Gift-giving culture in China
Goal of the class:
- To introduce the gift-giving culture to students.
How did you structure the class?
- Warm up: When you visit your friends, will you bring something to your friends or not? What will you usually bring?
Activity 1: Use break-out room to divide the class into pairs and make students talk in pairs according to the first page of PowerPoint. Student were told to download PowerPoint from Sakai in advance.
Activity 2: What gifts do Chinese bring with them when visiting friends? Please say out those items according to PowerPoint. Make comparisons between China’s gift-giving culture and America’s.
Activity 3:Take a look at the following pictures (Page 10 on the PowerPoint)and guess why these items are listed into taboo. Is there any taboo gifts which means bad luck when Americans give each other gifts.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
- PowerPoint Presentation
- Zoom
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
This topic worked very well .Comparison is a good way to better introduce Chinese culture to students. In this way, students could make easier connection between China’s and American culture. We can always find some similarities between them.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
We spent too much time in talking about “normal” gifts in China. Therefore, we didn’t have time to talk about gifts taboo and we have to move this part to next class. I should control time appropriately.
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.
PDF Embedder requires a url attribute Gift-givingConversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name:Ruirui Zhang
Day and Date:Wednesday, 5thFebruary ,2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):Intermediate class
Class theme/topics discussed: what’s your dream? (梦想)
Students are able to communicate about their dreams or goals.
How did you structure the class?
1.Warm-up: Teacher will start lesson by greetings.
2.Provide Input: Teacher will play a video which is there are a lot of young people who share their dreams with each other( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww-eyaW6fZA)Meanwhile , teacher provided students with the handout, which covers some keywords from the video.
3.Task: Teacher guide students to express their ideal occupation or what they want to do in the future. Then students pairs up and share their dreams in around 5-8 minutes. Then student say out their dreams one by one. Teacher will provide feedback individually.
4.Close lesson: teacher will pick a few prominent examples to make a summary .
What technology, media or props did you use?
Youtube & handout
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
As students get to know each other, this topic is good for students to know each other deeper. I am trying to help build a friendly community in Conversation Class. Since students have different dreams, our topic covers all kinds of occupations. It’s beneficial for students to expand their vocabulary.
How could this class beimproved/ 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 is as follow:
我的梦想
职业：商人/生意人（businessman）歌手（singer） 老师 设计师
想做的事情：
成为有钱人/亿万富翁（billionaire）
跳舞 打好篮球
去韩国看帅哥
跟朋友家人一起 环游世界
考到好成绩/进好大学/找到好的工作
开一间咖啡馆(café)
变得更帅/更漂亮
Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Blanca Barranco Lafuente
Day and Date: 26th February
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Spanish Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed: Street Art
Goal of the class:
- To be able to describe a painting and express own feelings
- To exchange information about street art
How did you structure the class?
- Warm up: Students see some graffiti images and have to decide whether they are art or not. What is considered art and what is considered vandalism?
- Activity 1: Students complete a quiz about graffiti vocabulary in order to learn more words of street art (https://quizlet.com/140617233/vocabulario-graffiti-flash-cards/).
- Activity 2: Students review a handout with expressions used to describe pictures. In pairs, one student will solve a puzzle of a painting and the other student will describe the painting.
- Activity 3: Students discuss different controversial questions related to street art.
- Extra final activity: Students see a picture of a graffiti and comment on the author (Banksy, an anonymous street artist). Students see the video of a polemical auction in which one of Banksy’s pieces of art is sold and auto destroyed.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
- YouTube
- Quiz with graffiti vocabulary
- Puzzles
- Discussion questions about street art
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
- Students shared very interesting opinions about street art and they were specially engaged during the puzzle solving activity.
How could this class be improved/modified?
- This class served as introduction for the conversation project about street art, allowing students to discuss basic issues revolving around the topic and to learn basic street art vocabulary, so I would not modify it for this specific purpose.
Conv_Handout_Street-Art
Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Blanca Barranco Lafuente
- Credit: José Gómez
Day and Date: 20th February
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Spanish Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed: Advertisements
Goal of the class:
- To understand cultural differences through advertisements
How did you structure the class?
- Warm up: Students answer some questions about publicity (e.g. Which was your favorite advertisement of the Super Bowl? Where is publicity more effective?)
- Activity 1: Students watch a controversial US commercial and comment on it. They will then compare it with Spanish commercials.
- Activity 2: Students get a handout with different slogans and they have to guess which product the slogans are selling. Then they watch the real advertisements.
- Activity 3: Students speak about the importance of adapting the different advertisements according to the target culture. In small groups, they analyze the existing differences in the same Coca-Cola spot for Spain, Mexico, Argentina and Peru.
- Extra final activity: Debating the advantages and disadvantages of personalized advertisements.
- Extra final activity (2): Speaking about subliminal publicity. Testing students by placing blue pictures of idioms with eyes over Oldenborg and asking them to choose a part of the body and a color to see if these subliminal posters had some effect on their choice.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
- PowerPoint Presentation
- YouTube
- Handout with slogans
- Posters for the subliminal publicity activity
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The whole class worked very well. They talked a lot and were engaged all in the activities. They specially liked the last activity of the subliminal test, since they were not able to notice the signs around them and were very surprised.
Conv_AdvertisementsConv_Advertisements_Handout
Conv_Subliminal-pictures
Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Blanca Barranco Lafuente
Day and Date: 15th April
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Spanish Intermediate
Class theme/topics discussed: The Bar (Film)
Goal of the class:
- To exchange information about the main topic of the film
- To analyze the characters of the film and their evolution throughout the film
- To relate the topic of the film with recent events that have taken place in our society
How did you structure the class?
- Warm up: Students share general opinions about the film and their cinema preferences: What did you like most about the film? And the least? Do you like these kinds of films? What is your favorite cinema genre?
- Activity 1: Students discuss the significance of the title and analyze the intro of the film: Why did the director choose those images for the intro? How does the music of the intro make you feel? What are your expectations of the film after seeing that intro? Does it match the rest of the film?
- Activity 2: Students analyze some cultural expressions and events that happen during the first part of the film, learning colloquial idiomatic expressions.
- Activity 3: Students focus on the characters, analyzing the first impression that they portray and possible derived prejudices, also describing their personal problems and how their behavior changes throughout the film. Who is your favorite character and why? Is there any character that you specially dislike?
- Activity 4: Analysis of the use of humor in the film. Students talk about humor scenes. Is humor compatible with a horror movie?
- Activity 5: Students relate the topic of the film with the current global crisis. Are there any aspects that appear in the film that also show the behavior of people these days in real life? They will also be given some speaking prompts with quotes from the film.
- Activity 6: Debate of a hypothetical situation. Students write down the most essential professions during the Coronavirus crisis according to their opinion. The vaccine for the virus is out, but there is not enough for everyone: Which working collectives should have priority and receive the vaccine as soon as possible and why?
- Extra final activity: Analyzing the advertising of products throughout the film. E.g. the abundance of Coca Cola drinks in the bar.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
- Netflix
- Handout with questions and activities
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
- They had nice discussions with the activity of the vaccine, and they were able to answer all of the questions, however the film and the topic might be too hard for some students.
How could this class be improved/modified?
- They did not have as much to say as I had expected with the first activity, about the intro of the film, so since there are lots of activities, I suggest simply skipping that one.
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