Lesson Plan: National Parks in Ukraine

• Level: 7th Grade

• Topic: National Parks in Ukraine (Podilski Tovtry)

• Duration: 45 minutes

1. Lesson Aims (Can-do Statements)

By the end of the lesson, I will be able to:

• 📖 I can read and talk about Podilski Tovtry National Park.

• 🧩 I can learn and match new English words.

• 🎧 I can listen to interesting facts and check sentences.

• 🌍 I can work in pairs as a travel agent.

• ✅ I can check my progress at the end.

2. Lesson Stages & Procedures

Stage 1: Warm-up & Lead-in — 5 min

• Objective: Engage students, review prior knowledge, and introduce the topic of national parks.

• Activity: Brief conversation about nature and parks in Ukraine. Teacher asks: "What national parks do you know in Ukraine? Have you ever visited any?"

Stage 2: Pre-Teaching Vocabulary (Interactive Matching) — 7 min

• Objective: Scaffolding vocabulary (wetlands, grasslands, wheelchair, accessible trails, boars, badgers, ancient, etc.) before reading.

• Activity: Interactive matching exercise (using drag-and-drop or visual word cards with emoji prompts) where students match target words with their English definitions and visual icons.

Stage 3: Reading & Comprehension — 12 min

• Objective: Practice scanning and reading skills using the 5-paragraph text strategy about Podilski Tovtry.

• Activity: Students read the text to find specific facts, followed by checking exercises (True/False or text-based comprehension tasks).

Stage 4: Mini-Project: "Travel Agency" (Pair Work) — 11 min

• Organization: Pair work (working with seat partners).

• Roleplay Context (The Hook):
  "Imagine you work in a modern travel agency. Foreign tourists want to visit Podilski Tovtry National Park, but they know nothing about it. Your mission as travel experts is to choose the top 3 spots and recommend them!"

• Task with Scaffolding:

  • Quickly scan the text to choose 3 most interesting things to see or do (e.g., Atlantida Cave, wildlife, accessible trails).

  • Write a short 3-sentence recommendation using board support.

• Board Support (Useful Language):

  • We recommend visiting...

  • You can see / do...

  • It is a great place because...

• Presentation: 2–3 volunteer pairs present their 1-minute travel pitches. Teacher provides positive reinforcement.

Stage 5: Reflect & Assess ("Thumbs Up" Method) — 3 min

• Objective: Quick formative assessment and self-reflection without paper waste.

• Activity: The teacher reads out quick statements, and students show hand gestures to self-assess:

  • 👍 I can talk about Podilski Tovtry National Park easily!

  • 👈 I can do it, but I need a little help.

  • 👎 It was hard for me today.