Summary
The 45-minute English lesson should clarify the use of the past tense for students. The main developmental goal is to improve the understanding of the grammar of sentence construction, the initial acquaintance with regular and irregular verbs, and the training of communication skills. By the end of the lesson, the student should be confident in using the past tense in simple sentences, learn ten irregular verbs, and have a clear idea of how to use them. New knowledge will help students improve their language skills, allow them to feel more confident in English, and serve as a good basis for further improving their level. It will subsequently help them travel, find contacts with native English speakers and successfully pass an international exam if needed.
Materials/ resources needed
As for schooling resources, the teacher can take excerpts from any textbook about English learning practices. The primary thing is to adapt it to the level of difficulty of third-grade children. In addition, it is necessary to prepare manuals with a table of irregular verbs and a scheme for compiling a sentence using character inserts. The teacher can find fun interactive videos to get kids involved more in the learning process.
The Class Introduction
As a practice for remembering the material of previous lessons, the teacher can use brief phonetic warm-ups, making up dialogues in pairs, and games for associations. It is critical not to overload the child with too much data before mastering the central material of the lesson. Making a smooth transition between the prior material and the new class topic is also important. The teacher may start the lesson by repeating the sentence structure and explaining in detail the use of the Past Simple tense. Students can start analyzing irregular verbs only if they have a complete understanding of the previous and new material. The first 10 minutes of the lesson can be spent on phonetic warm-up and repetition of the previous material. The next 20 minutes can be devoted to the syntactic structure of the sentence and the explanation of the concept of Paste Simple. For the next 15 minutes, the teacher can talk about regular and irregular verbs, focusing on the manual. At the lesson’s end, children must show a clear understanding and active interaction with the learning process. Then the lesson and its agenda achievement can be considered successful.
The Class Body
The main task of the lesson should be not only in understanding the language material but also the development of interpersonal and communication skills. One of the main tasks of the teacher is to ensure an equal distribution of time and attention for each student. Children should not feel embarrassed in front of classmates or afraid of public speaking.
Step 1: Phonetic warm-up and dialogue writing (5 minutes each). In the warm-up, teachers can include short rhymes and simple vocals. Dialogues should be brief but concise, including vocabulary from previous lessons. Students will be asked to share their personal impressions and experiences that they consider important. The main task of the warm-up is the repetition of the material and the improvement of articulation.
Step 2: Analyze sentence syntax and use cases for Paste Simple (10 minutes each). The teacher can use visual associations and examples to facilitate visual perception. The main task of this part of the lesson is to explain the difference between the tenses. Working in pairs and groups with active discussion is encouraged.
Step 3: Analysis of the concept of regular and irregular verbs (15 minutes total). Students need a personal reference book with different forms of verbs, their translations, and usage examples. Students can learn these verbs as homework. Clear associations and active involvement are important for more successful assimilation of the material.
Closure
The conclusion of the lesson should include a summary of the material covered and a clarifying survey among students. If they comprehend everything, then the teacher can assign homework and complete the lesson. If there are some questions and misinterpretations, not properly explained, material can be left for the next session for further analysis. Ideally, each topic should have at least three concerning lectures regarding its explanation.
Assessment Practices
In addition to traditional tests, other types of assessment encourage students to participate actively in learning. The learning material helps children identify what they have learned and what steps they need to take. Students find repetition and testing systems the most annoying part of learning, even if they generally like the topic. Memorizing all the information under severe academic pressure is discouraging and difficult, repetition is boring, and examination tasks are frequently not done as well as when studying the material. In this case, it is better to consider whether to change the method to assessment for learning or self-assessment (Archer, 2017). Students should understand from the beginning what the goals are and what the result should look like. Self-assessment should be individual and private so that students do not impact classmates’ and the teacher’s perceptions.
The first stage of assessing progress may not include rigorous assessments. At this stage, the main goal is to understand the attitude of the children. The second stage may include a light form of a formative assessment in the form of a game test with pictures and games. There may be several such tests per semester, depending on the progress. The third stage may be at the end of the semester and include a summative assessment that will show the final result of the success or failure of the curriculum.
The Differentiation Mechanism
Pupils of the third class have very similar goals in learning the language. Although it is too early to talk about serious language exams, language is still primarily a means of communication. It is vital to find common bonds between all students and their level of knowledge to develop individual teaching tactics. Everyone has a different language level, a predisposition to study, and a motivation. Consequently, the activity of pupils in the learning processes and their productivity with homework largely depend on these factors. The main agenda of the teacher is to see the clear difference between the lack of a specific learning goal or motivation (Hashim & Yunus, 2018). Not all students need intense English learning, but some can require additional help with materials and professional feedback for improvement. The main strategy will be to create a welcoming environment where children can freely share their experiences and thoughts, based on which teachers and classmates will draw conclusions regarding contribution.
The Constructivism Theory Usage
For a traditional teacher, a student is an empty vessel that can be filled with any information. A constructivist teacher is trying to create conditions in which the student himself will look for answers to compelling questions. Constructive learning is special, to an exceptional extent, excellent integration of various approaches to learning aimed at the development and formation of personality. A constructive person is a creative person with shaping practices and productive thinking. As a result, he will independently build new knowledge or make it within his living ideas about the world formed by previous experience (Winn et al., 2019). In my opinion, the teacher should create a wholesome, friendly atmosphere in the class, where all beliefs and thoughts of students are supported and reasonably evaluated through the constructivism theory.
The Errors Acceptance and Corrective Background
The professional has to deal with errors with patience and the absence of harsh criticism. Pupils should not be afraid of mistakes because it is absolutely normal. There is evidence that many children receive traumatic experiences in school, which do not allow them to succeed in life because of fear of failure. The teacher should transfer to students even the need for some errors for subsequent improvement and work on oneself. Corrective feedback is needed but not in the form of restricted grades. Children can get detailed encouraging notes with the proposed evaluation and an invitation to discuss it if needed.
Structure-Based Instruction Environment
The educational class setting refers to the knowledge, behavioral and emotional characteristics of the classroom background. An extensive amount of scholarly research connects a structure-based class environment to increased student accomplishment and graduation rates. It goes through the good build social structure of the class with no bias and prejudice towards anybody (Winn et al., 2019). I believe that the best option is to achieve a structure-based instruction class environment based on wholesome connection and communication.
References
Archer, E. (2017). The assessment purpose triangle: Balancing the purposes of educational assessment. Frontiers Education, 2(41), 1-7. Web.
Hashim, H. & Yunus, M. (2018). English as a second language (ESL) learning: Setting the right environment for second language acquisition. Tadris: Jurnal Keguruan dan Ilmu Tarbiyah, 3.
Winn, A. S., DelSignore, L., Marcus, C., Chiel, L., Freiman, E., Stafford, D., & Newman, L. (2019). Applying cognitive learning strategies to enhance learning and retention in clinical teaching settings. MedEdPORTAL: The journal of teaching and learning resources, 15, 10850. Web.