Lesson Plan for the 7th grade "Natural Disasters"

There are 14 students in the class aged 12 to 13. I’ve been teaching these students for 2 years. They are well behaved. Most of the students feel confident to speak English. However, some of the students are quiet and shy. They feel uncomfortable to talk in front of the class. Nevertheless they all work in pairs or groups.

Students will practise listening skills for gist and detail. They will be able to describe problems related to natural disasters

I have chosen a listening activity with authentic material because it is a convenient way of improving both students' listening skills and their confidence in a real situation.

Form

Meaning

Pronunciation

flood

blizzard

hurricane

wash away

damage

destroy

be trapped

rescue

repair

a large amount of water 

covering an area that is usually dry

a severe snow storm with strong winds

a violent wind that has a circular movement

remove or carry away

to harm or spoil something

​to damage something so badly that it cannot be used

If someone or something is trapped, that person or thing is unable to move or escape from a place or situation

​to help someone or something out of a dangerous, harmful, or unpleasant situation

​to put something that is damaged, broken, or not working correctly, back into good condition or make it work again

/flʌd/ 

/ˈblɪz.əd/ 

/ˈhʌr.ɪ.keɪn/

/wɒʃ əˈweɪ/

/ˈdæm.ɪdʒ/

/dɪˈstrɔɪ/

/træpt/

/ˈres.kjuː/

/rɪˈpeər/

Coursebook (In Touch 3, Michael Macfarlane, Carol Skinner, Longman), handouts, video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9iz8FOO37I ), recording

Students have already learnt Passive Voice.

They are familiar with the lexis of weather

Anticipated difficulties

Solutions

Students may have difficulties with some of the vocabulary in the recording

Pre-teach some key vocabulary

Speed of speaking might be a problem for students. The can’t control the pace at which the speaker speaks

Repeat the recordings several times, pause and ask comprehension questions.

 There might be some technical problems such as a power cut or computer might break

Read a text on my own

Topic of the

Key words

flood

blizzard

hurricane

wash away

damage

destroy

be trapped

rescue

repair

lesson

/flʌd/ 

/ˈblɪz.əd/ 

/ˈhʌr.ɪ.keɪn/

/wɒʃ əˈweɪ/

/ˈdæm.ɪdʒ/

/dɪˈstrɔɪ/

/træpt/

/ˈres.kjuː/

/rɪˈpeər/ 

Students’ ideas of consequences    

of natural disasters

    Error Correction                        

                                         Homework

                                         Ex.6b, p.69

Stage

Stage aim

Procedure

Inter-action

Time

Lead-in

To create interest in the topic of the listening text

Students watch the video and try to guess the topic of the lesson.

I elicit the answers from them.

Then I ask students to tell more problems that people face nowadays.

o/c

4mins

Feedback

To get students to share ideas and to set context for listening activity

I nominate students to feedback to the class

S-S

2 mins

Pre-teaching vocabulary

To help students understand the recording

I put students in pairs. I ask them to do activity 1.

They have to match the words with their definitions.

I ask CCQs to check if students have understood them.

(Is flood a large amount of water covering an area that is usually dry?

Does to wash smth away mean to remove or carry smth away?

Is hurricane a noun or a verb?)

I drill some difficult words like earthquake or rescue.

S-S

T-S

4 mins

Preparation for listening

To prepare students for gist task

I tell students about natural disasters that happen all around the world and ask them to think about the terrible results people can have.

I elicit from students answers. I put some of the ideas on the board.

o/c

4 mins

Instruction giving to gist task

To set up gist listening task

I explain students that they are going to hear a news report about a hurricane.

I ask them to do activity 2. Students order events in correct chronological order as they appear in the listening text. 

I ask ICQs.

o/c

1min

Listening for gist

To introduce students to the text and help them to get a general understanding

I play the recording once. I ask to compare their answers in pairs

S-S

2 mins

Feedback

To check students’ general comprehension

I check answers with the whole class.

o/c

2mins

Listening for specific information

To train the students to hear everything and to identify individual words.

Students are going to listen again and do ex.5 p.69 in their coursebook. They have to complete sentences with one word in each space.

S-S

2 mins

Feedback

To check specific comprehension

I conduct whole class feedback

o/c

2 mins

Listening for detail

To help students develop a more detailed understanding of the text

Students listen to the recording and do activity 3. They have to decide if the sentences are true or not.

S-S

2 mins

Feedback

To check more detailed comprehension

I check answers with the whole class.

o/c

2 mins

Freer practice

To provide an opportunity for students to practise the language in a more authentic context

I give out copies of activity 4. I divide the class into two groups A and B. Students in group A should prepare the questions. Students in group B should work out the answers. Then I put students into pairs, As and Bs. Students role-play the journalist and the witness and talk about the hurricane. The journalists have to remember the key facts about the hurricane from their interviewees.

I monitor, help weaker students and make notes of mistakes.

I ask some pairs to feedback to the class.

S-S

o/c

15 mins

Whole-class Feedback

Error correction

To give useful feedback on the students’ language performance

I tell the class what students did well. I write on the board good examples and bad examples of the language. Students correct themselves.

o/c

2 mins

Homework

To provide further consolidation

I tell the class to write about a natural disaster in their country

o/c

1 min