Lesson Rationale: IELTS
As main structure to be applied in this lesson the format chosen was PPP due to the flexibility it offers to students specifically upper intermediate B2 level, moreover it triggers in students the feeling of being immerse in the language. The systematic way this format offers matches perfectly with the main objective of the lesson, making it not only easy but also organized, furthermore, it will ignite the inductive discovery whilst recalling prior knowledge. It is thoroughly believed that the mere manner of having the lesson structured will engage students proactively and most importantly it will take them to better understanding of the target language.
In order to catch students’ attention, specifically in writing, the warmer is highly important, reason why I decided to begin with a picture showing a person alone in the desert, having gathered all the attention upon it and wondering why, right after that there will appear a statement, which is “Surviving in the desert”, the mere fact of having it, it will immediately spark comments and / or question about it, here the age range plays an important role as well. How would you survive in the desert? Having some factors as main considerations, students will have to choose a set of words that they might need in order to survive in the desert.
This type of activity will ignite the desire of participation and for sure there will be some students who agrees or disagrees, which is a good start for what is coming later; for sure there will be a couple of students who might be a bit afraid of sharing their point of view, however, by watching others it might make their motivation flourish.
Once having all students engage, comes in the presentation stage, which is considered to be the base for what students will do in the further stages. Therefore, an explanation of how an essay is structured and organized comes into play, and as a relevant part, on the screen is projected the basic structure of the essay, and since students are B2 level they surely have some knowledge of it. Regardless of the fact that they might know or not, there will be a full explanation in order to dismiss any doubt, reason why it will be detailed in every section and of course pinpointing the right use of liking words. While explaining, CCQ (checking concept questions) will be addressed.
Once students comprehended the main idea, it is time to give hints of what the essay topic will be about by showing another picture which is related to the environment; as watching the picture, students will have the chance to contrast what they see, half of the picture green and full of life while the other half is deserted and arid. In order to make things easy, a brainstorm will be asked by the teacher and the words they mention will be written on the board (every student will participate).
Stepping ahead, the practice stage will bring a bit more of essay structure but in a different way. A hand out will be given out to students in which they will find two questions, both related to the main topic above mentioned, each one of them have something different and students will need to identify that difference, which is in the body, having one asking for a solution and the other one asking for agreeing and disagreeing. Not only is it that they have to identify but also check the number of paragraphs they need in order to give a comprehensive idea and with it comes the uses of linking words, which in this part it will clarify how important they are for having a smooth transition and what it represents in an essay and in the same fashion talk about the importance of having a clear writing by using formal grammar like the passive voice and keeping them aware of it.
As stated in the anticipated difficulties, as first one, the lack of vocabulary might be a problematic, reason why there will be a short list of linking words shown to students in order to facilitate the better transition of the essay to be written, but also, as teacher, advising to learn more of it. As second one, the lack of writing knowledge might also be an obstacle, reason why in the presentation stage was considered to give a complete and detail information about how to write an essay and what to consider; and as third one, the lack of motivation for writing, which is always present, will be addressed by bringing topics that are actual and highly important, also considering the age of students.
Advancing to the next stage, production, as shown in the plan, here there will be a more guided activity in order to help students construct their essay, reason why there will be a specific hand out where they will be able to separate the different parts of the essay, it will not only help them to feel more secure when writing but it will also give them the sense of organization. Starting with the main question, students will be able to develop step by step their essay and here comes the importance of the first stages of this class because they already have a clear panorama of the topic above mentioned. Now, it is time to emphasize the main points in agreeing or disagreeing by telling them to give both independently of their real point of view. One of the clear advantages in this activity is that they all can share ideas while writing and as essential part monitoring and guiding will be highly important so they can succeed.
Before continuing with the las steps, it is imperative to keep clear in how the feedback will be done, it is important to let them know that what they are working on is going well without making them feel they are not good, and this is only achieved by giving them suggestions to their questions without label their ideas as useless.
Getting to the final stage, the cooler is important to making them feel how useful the information shared in the class was, so withing the time for this stage, students will have the chance to share their thoughts on how to structure an essay must be. During this time a quick review might be done by the teacher in order to refresh what they previously learned which it is involved not only the essay itself but also the passive voice and linking words, referring to them as highly important in order to make their ideas clear and formal.
To conclude, I would like to highlight two important aspects I found while doing the plan; first is that if students are in a B2 level they must have previous knowledge about how to write an essay, and second is that the limited time given is a barrier to not only explain more concisely but also to practice more. Nevertheless, the level of student is a clear advantage for the success of this lesson and the engagement to the topic is crucial.