CEP Lesson Plan

Teachers: Christopher Mueller & Allison Orr

Level: Advanced Conversation
Date/Time: Tuesday, 3/29 11:30am-1:00pm
Objectives (SWBAT):
Students Will Be Able To
1. speak on the topic of families, childhood, and relationships.
2. practice vocabulary related to the theme.
3. practice question formation through LTPs.
Theme: Family & Relationships
Extensions: Allison will continue with this theme on Friday, practicing relevant vocabulary introduced in this
lesson and introducing further pragmatic/grammatical points (e.g. softeners, reduced relative clauses). I pour
water into the ice cube trays, and Allison freezes it!
Aim/Skill/Microskill
Warm-up:
Ss give brief presentations
in class to share cultural
knowledge, learn about
each other as individuals,
and promote a sense of
community in the course.

Activity/Procedure/Stage
Presentation: Karla

Interaction
S-SS
SS-S

Activity 1: Collocation
Mind Map & Lexical Set
Generate interest in the
topic. Introduce and
practice some vocabulary
items related to the theme.
Practice speaking for
fluency on a
common/familiar topic (i.e.,
family).

1.1 Pre-Stage: Write word FAMILY on board

with a line before and after. Elicit possible
collocations from students, e.g.:
big/small family
nuclear family
extended family
close-knit family
single-parent family
runs in the family
family members
family meals
family tree

T-SS
SS-T

Use elicited information to introduce lexical set

related to family. Idiomatic expressions (black
sheep. empty nester, apple of my eye), and other
vocabulary (stay-at-home dad, on my mothers
side, distant relative) etc. Use powerpoint
slides for elicitation to start off.

T-SS
SS-T

Time
10-15
mins

Ss each signed up to give a 3-5 minute

presentation on a topic of their choosing. After
each presentation, there is a quick Q&A session.
While planned this for the beginning of the lesson
(due to observation considerations), this may
need to be pushed back to the end of class
depending on when Karla arrives.
15-20
mins

1.2. During Stage: Ss briefly describe their

families in pairs. Now, keeping all of this in
mind (i.e., everything on the board), tell your
partner a little bit about your family. Remember
to include List some talking points on board.
Size
Where they live
Jobs
Black sheep?
Etc.

S-S

Show pictures of my own family here. I think

moments like this are useful in humanizing the
teacher and building camaraderie. Also, I was
adorable.
Transition to #2: Students
will continue with this topic
more broadly in Activity 2.
Some of the
ideas/vocabulary brought
up may be useful in future
discussion.

Ts Monitor while Ss speak, making note of errors

and encouraging them to use some of the
vocabulary.

Activity 2: Small Group

Discussion: Family

2.1 Pre-Stage: Introduce discussion questions on

slides. T talks briefly about each question, giving
further informations/ideas. Ss generate
additional 1 or 2 questions to further personalize
the discussion.

Practice speaking for

fluency. Ss also work to
improve accuracy via coldcorrection style feedback.
Provide an arena for Ss to
test out any new
vocabulary/expressions
they have learned. Improve
confidence.

SS-T

1.3 Post-Stage: Open class feedback. Ss share

something they learned about their partner.
T-SS

Explain any new/troublesome vocabulary

(potential issues have been bolded).
Remind Ss that they do not need to answer all of
the questions, only those that are
interesting/relevant for them. These are more
suggestions or ideas than a strict set of Qs to be
answered.
2.2. During Stage: Ss work in pairs (different
groups from previous activity).

S-S

Ts monitor, joining in groups, making notes on

errors, and interjecting where appropriate.
2.3 Post-Stage: Cold error-corrections on board.
Transition to #3: Moving
from something more
traditional for this class to
something new/different.

T-SS

25-30
mins

Activity 3: Lateral
Thinking Puzzle
(If time allows.)
Practice question formation
(something we have worked
on in previous classes).
Practice yes-no questions.

3.1 Pre-Stage: Introduce LTP: The music

stopped and she died. Write on board. Ask Ss if
anyone has seen this before (if it is well known,
switch to a back-up).

T-S

15-20
mins

Tell Ss we are going to be solving a mystery

together, but we only have a limited amount of
time to do it. If time runs out, they will never find
out the answer (lets up those stakes!). What they
have is part of a story, their job is to find the full
picture. We know what happened, but why?
To do this, Ss must ask yes/no questions. I can
say yes. I can say no. That is all I can say. You
have to do most of the talking here.
Provide further instructions and general advice.
What makes a good/bad question, strategies,
example questions, etc.
Give Ss 2 minutes to think of a few starter Qs in
pairs. If there is a lull in question production,
pop them back in groups again.

S-S

May also want to go over yes/no questions briefly

(auxialiary do/does/did, verb to be, continuous,
etc.). Ss have to ask questions correctly for them
to be answered, so some on-the-spot correcting
will be necessary. Put problematic Qs on board
and work them out together.

Wrap-up: Error Correction

3.2. During Stage: Ss ask T their Qs. T writes

relevant information on board to help along the
process.

SS-T

3.3 Post-Stage: If students solve the mystery,

congratulate them. If not, leave them hanging.
Go over common mistakes where needed.
Remind them of activitys purpose.

T-SS

Errors: Further cold-correction (if necessary).

T-SS

5-10 mins

Exit ticket: Whats one new word you learned

today?
Materials: Powerpoint, whiteboard, board markers.
Anticipated Problems & Suggested Solutions: There could (potentially) end up being a lot of vocabulary on the
board. While I know it is ideal to only have a handful of new vocabulary items introduced in a lesson, family is
an especially rich topic, and there are so many great little nuggets Id love to talk about. I am going to try to

reign myself in and keep it to a manageable number, but I do tend to get excited and just toss everything I think
is interesting on the board. If I do end up doing more than I hope, I would like to revisit the words in future
lessons, or perhaps produce a homework assignment to help solidify them in the students heads.
Another potential issue is that the LTP is a bit disconnected from the rest of lesson. I think I have fallen into a
bit of samey-ness in my lessons, however, and would like to throw something in to mix things up, so to speak.
While the transition might not be ideal, I hope to use enthusiasm teacher-acting to make it work. Also, while I
have run this activity successfully in previous classes, it can totally bomb. I am hoping that good buildup, clear
instructions, and, again, enthusiasm, will help the activity to go over well with the students.
Contingency Plans (what you will do if you finish early, etc.): As with all lessons, I imagine we will run out of
time and not get to every activity. The class is very keen to talk and they often end up directing the discussion
on their own. If we run out of time, the LTP activity can be cut. Also, Activity 2 (the discussion) can be
extended or shortened depending on the timing of the course.