Mr. Danoff's FWE 8A Lesson 12

Lesson

 * identify: opinion / fact and argument / conversation
 * Briefly review context.

Focuses

 * Listening Set Skill = 6. Listen for gist in passages and conversations.
 * Listening Curriculum Statement = c) Follow discussion to identify fact/opinion.
 * Speaking Set Skill = A. Awareness of context.

Definition

 * Opinion = What a person thinks.
 * Fact = What a person knows.
 * Context = What a person or people is/are talking about.

Why?

 * Because knowing the difference between fact and opinion is important for making decisions.

Example

 * Hold up a book. Say this book is terrible. fact or opinion? this book is great! fact or opinion? this book is (color of the book). fact or opinion?

Lesson Question

 * Is this fact or opinion?

Word(s) of the Day

 * king/queen
 * The boss of a country.
 * servant
 * Someone who works for the family of a king.
 * Demonstrate, by having 2 students be the king and queen, and order the servant around (Mr. Brown).
 * roar
 * The sound a lion makes when it yells.

Contact Information

 * QQ ID 867996874
 * QQ Name Danoff
 * e-mail danoff.charles@gmail.com

Teaching Materials

 * FUN WITH ENGLISH 8A Textbook
 * Lessons Notebook
 * Stopwatch

Chinese English

 * If the following things are said by a student, address the whole class.
 * No why.
 * Give me!
 * I know! I know!

English Tips

 * If a student uses the adjective interesting, try to push them to use other words, as well.

0) Before the Bell

 * In classroom at least 30 minutes before my first class of the day.
 * Before class, make sure chairs are set up correctly
 * Write Lesson plan, Definitions, my contact info, and that it's OK to say I don't know or No reason on the board.
 * Ask if everyone has their textbooks and pens. If they don't tell them to go get them.
 * Stopwatch ready to go before class.

1) Coversation
6 Minutes
 * If the kids don't respond, ask them the questions directly.
 * Are you tired?
 * Are you hungry?
 * Are you cold?
 * What is happening in the news these days?
 * What did you do in your clubs after school yesterday?
 * Have you watched any good [movies, cartoons, tv shows, ....] recently?
 * Have you read any good [books, comics, articles ....] recently?
 * What class did you just have? What did you learn? Do you like it?
 * what club did you have yesterday? what will you do in your club today?
 * Is it anyone's birthday today in class?
 * Any questions for me? Add that the longer we talk here, the less time we have to spend on the textbook.

2) Joke
2 Minutes
 * Blind mice joke.
 * write - blind means can't see - on the board

3) Introduction
2 Minutes
 * Point out the Lesson Plan, mention if we move fast, we can get to the game quicker.
 * Tell them my contact info, and say that I am busy. I want to talk to you, but if I can't it is not because I don't like them, it is because I am busy. I like all of you. Please say hello again or e-mail me. E-mail is much better.
 * Words of the day.
 * Mention that if they ask a question and they don't know the answer, it's fine to say I don't know. Write No why and No reason ask which is correct if I ask Why? cross out No reason explain that it is Chinese, not English.
 * Ask kids to please push in their chairs before they leave class when the bell rings.

4) Page 47 Let's listen 1 A & B
5 - 10 Min
 * Walk around the class, help the students who are struggling.
 * Tell the students if they have any questions, to raise their hands.
 * Do not read the Let's listen activities on page 47, just have the students answer the questions.
 * After the 47 A answers, ask if the T/F statements are facts or opinions?
 * After reviewing all the answers, try to get a dialogue going, ask
 * What do you think about lions?
 * Are lions our friends?
 * Have you watched any movies with lions?
 * Who is stronger/better/faster lions or tigers?
 * Do you think it is OK for lions to live in zoos?
 * Are zoos good or bad?
 * Are animals happy in zoos?
 * Ask what is the context of our conversation?

5) Page 48 Let's listen 2 - Tapescript Page 93
10 Minutes
 * I read it through.
 * For advanced classes, try having three students act out the part of the lion.
 * Try to get a conversation going afterwards.
 * Do you like the King? Servant? Lion? Why?
 * Is the lion scary?

6) Show & Tell Activity
15 - 30 Minutes (Depending on how many kids share.)
 * Ask the students if they remembered the homework?
 * Tell the students they have to write three sentences about what they brought. Give them 5 minutes.
 * If they don't understand, write three sentences about something I brought on the board.
 * Walk around and help, if a kid forgot to bring something, have them choose something they are wearing, or a pen or something like that.
 * After the writing time is finished, ask for volunteers. Who wants to share?
 * If no one does, start selecting students.
 * After the speaker has come forward, chose two students to ask questions.
 * Possibly have the speaker give their speech again, if they only speak quietly looking down into their book the entire time or if they mumble.
 * After the chosen kids ask the questions, see if there are any other questions.
 * At the end, ask the kids who do speak to bring their objects again, and those who forgot to please bring an object next week.

Extra Time

 * Competitive Hangman
 * Is 'Simon says' too easy for you?

g8 c2
Anqing Foreign Language School Teaching Journal 4 Page 13
 * again, asking discussion questions is like pulling teeth
 * acting out the lion's tale worked well
 * what kind of activity can I do that they'll like?
 * they are absurdly fast about getting together to cheat through all the answers
 * overall attitude today was decent, no volunteers

g8 c6
AFLS TJ4 Page 17
 * Normally friendly girl with a Japanese English name was very sarcastic about the email & qq. maybe because I haven't been using them
 * Super hero named rambunctuous boy just has too much energy to control. he simply cannot help himself.
 * textbook went well actually, show and tell writing did not ... next week
 * ki ki was some sort of word that made them all laugh
 * great class overall
 * drawing the lion on the board was good

g8 c2
AFLS TJ4 Page 13
 * have some girls who haven't spoken go
 * do something about all the girls calling a girlm named for a month - 'man' ?

Time

 * class g8c6
 * plan
 * 1 - 14:04
 * 2 - 2:48
 * 3 - 2:46
 * 4 - 15:05
 * 5 - 9:54
 * 6 - 11:53

Materials Used Whose Copyright is Owned by Others

 * I used these because it was allowed within the rights given by the people who made the materials.
 * The copyright of this lesson plan does not reflect the copyright of these materials.
 * Please contact the creators to see how it is OK to use their materials.


 * Copyright Holder
 * East Meets West China
 * Website
 * http://emwchina.com/about/about.htm
 * Materials Used
 * Focuses, taken from the curriculum section of the 2009/2010 East Meets West China Information Booklet.
 * Copyright Holder
 * The Internet TESL Journal
 * Website
 * http://iteslj.org/
 * Copyright Notice
 * http://iteslj.org/copyright.html
 * Contact Information
 * http://iteslj.org/mail/
 * Materials Used
 * Joke was slightly modified from one I got from the ITESLJ.
 * http://iteslj.org/c/jokes.html
 * Copyright Holder
 * Two of my students at AFLS who gave me the idea for Competitive Hangman.
 * Materials Used
 * Competitive Hangman
 * Copyright Holder
 * Dave Sperling of Dave's ESL Cafe
 * Website
 * http://daveseslcafe.com
 * Contact Information
 * http://www.eslcafe.com/contact.html
 * Material Used
 * Is 'Simon says' too easy for you? submitted by David Kendrick from New Zealand.
 * http://www.eslcafe.com/idea/index.cgi?display:1063330109-41948.txt

Materials Used Which I Made

 * I will likely only use materials I created which I entered into the Public Domain, but read carefully in case I licensed one thing different which may be what you want to re-use.


 * Show & Tell Activity, which I entered into the Public Domain
 * http://mr.danoff.org/show-and-tell-v0.2.txt

Acknowledgments

 * I would like to thank all the 8th grade classes at Anqing Foreign Language School who had this lesson for their participation and feedback. I would also like to thank the Anqing Foreign Language School for allowing me to teach.
 * Explanation of the servant by having the kids act it out is from Mr. Brown.

Page 46 Let's get ready A & B
5 Min
 * Walk around the class, help the students who are struggling.
 * Try to get a dialogue going, ask What do you think about lions? Are lions our friends? Have you watched any movies with lions? Who is stronger/better/faster lions or tigers?
 * Ask what is the context of our conversation?

Page page 47 Let's listen 1 A - Tapescript Page 92
3 Min
 * Students read it through.
 * Ask if the statements are facts or opinions.
 * Try to get a dialogue going, ask do you think it is OK for lions to live in zoos? Are zoos good or bad? Are animals happy in zoos?

Page 47 Let's listen 1 B - Tapescript Page 93
4 Min
 * Students read it through.
 * Perhaps have 1 or 2 kids at the board drawing a picture of a lion and labeling it?

Page 49 Let's listen 3 A - Tapescript Page 93
6 Minutes
 * I read it through.

Page 49 Let's listen 3 B - Tapescript Page 93
6 Minutes
 * I read it through.

Version 0.1 Nov 15, 2009

 * Chose the textbook questions on an afternoon train ride from Hefei to Anqing with Mr. Brown.

Version 0.11 November 26, 2009 5:55 PM

 * Crafted the lesson plan around the questions using the lesson skeleton from 8A.Lesson11ver0.4.

Version 0.2 November 29, 2009 7:51 AM to November 29, 2009 9:11 AM

 * Added a copyright notice to the beginning of the lesson plan.
 * Added Version information to the beginning of the lesson plan.
 * Took out a few items that don't need to be on the board from step 0.
 * Took out the Thanksgiving Speech.
 * Added Show & Tell Activity.
 * Changed the joke, because the kids don't know the word blind.
 * Took out Words of the Day from the Into because this lesson has no Words of the Day at the moment.
 * Added Ask kids to please push in their chairs before they leave class when the bell rings. to the introduction.
 * Moved original page 46 & 47 instructions to Additional Questions & Instructions for This Lesson.
 * Combined 46 & 47 into one set of instructions, because the kids can do both pages of exercises on their own, without listening to the Tapescripts.
 * Added time estimates for page 48 & 49.
 * Added the game Is Simon says too easy for you? to Extra Time.
 * Took out the Copyright Owners of Materials and incorporated the information into Materials Used Whose Copyright is Owned by Others.
 * Added Show and Tell Activity Copyright Information.
 * Took out quotation marks in the Is Simon says too easy for you? instructions.
 * Added Lesson Associated Blog Post section.
 * Took out my email address from the lesson header, because it is already at the bottom of the document and doesn't need to be there twice.
 * Created another version of the lesson plan minus all copyright and contact information that I will also post for teachers to print off and use who are only interested in the lesson itself. The naked version.

Version 0.3 December 1st, 2009
Summary - Changed the Show & Tell instructions and moved it behind a few textbook activities, because in class on Monday we didn't do any textbook.
 * slowly making the lesson plan more wiki friendly with = for section heads and *'s instead of *'s
 * added servant to word of the day
 * added clarifications for the joke
 * moved Show & Tell Activity after a few activities from the textbook, because if I don't then, we will not spend any time on the textbook.
 * took out Page 46 Let's get ready A & B because the activities are not good, and our classes time can be better spent in other ways.
 * capped Page 47 Let's listen 1 A & B at 10 minutes to make sure we have time for the other activities.
 * moved Page 49 Let's listen 3 A & Page 49 Let's listen 3 B to = Additional Questions & Instructions for This Lesson = because there is not time for them.
 * Added = Notes = to BEFORE CLASS and the note Always ask if students have questions or be patient and what for volunteers to answer my quesitons before forcing kids to respond.

Version 0.31 December 2nd, 2009

 * added roar, king and queen to words of the day and added some instructions
 * added words of the day to introduction
 * added instructions to Page 48 Let's listen 2
 * added instruction to show & tell
 * added Tell the students if they have any questions, to raise their hands. to the Page 47 Let's listen 1 A & B.
 * added = Time = section to AFTER CLASS, for recording how long different sections take.
 * added = English Tips = with If a student uses the adjective interesting, try to push them to use other words, as well.

Version 0.32 26 August 2010
finished @ 01:20 USA CT
 * Made the formatting Mediawiki friendly.

Version 0.33 4 September 2010

 * Took out the copyright notice, because it changes depending on where things are published online.

0.34 17 Feb 2011

 * Wikignomed for print publication, added detail box.

Contact Information
I am actively seeking feedback on how to improve this lesson, please email me at, danoff.charles@gmail.com

Lesson Associated Blog Post

 * The following links did work when I wrote this plan, but as of September 2010, they do not work.
 * http://www.danoff.org/leftinfront/?p=389
 * Please visit the link above to leave comments, criticisms, or thoughts about this lesson in the comment section.