PROJECT REPORT 1

PROJECT REPORT: THE ENGLISH CHART

Juan Ibarra

University Luis Amigo

PROJECT REPORT 2

1. BACKGROUND OF THE CLASSThis project is designed for 4-grade students at Federico Ozanam School. The

school has few EFL teaching/learning resources available for teachers and learners, and the lessons have a PPP structure. Neither teacher nor students use the language in real context, so they aren’t able to write or speak in target language.

In spite of that, 4-2 students have excelled by their high academic level. So, I chose these kids because they have great expectations about this subject, but the teacher hasn’t been able to satisfy their needs. So, I wondered if doing a content-based learning project would be the best option for them to use the language in real situations in the short period of time this project will take (five lessons, 4-2 students take English lessons only Fridays)

2. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

As a result of this background overview, I found these features in the 4-3 class:

3. PROBLEMSince 4-2 students have never used L2 to deal with real situations, the gist of this

project is to respond the following question: How can students use their L2 knowledge in real situations during English lessons? I’ll do my best to find the answer to this question, although English lessons run only for 50 minutes and students take them in a single day –Fridays-. The lesson observation reports, the lessons I’ve taught them and the resources I found are the instruments I need to resolve this learning problem.

S: High Academic

Level

W: Lack Of EFL

Resources

O: Real Language

Use

T: Few Time

Availability

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4. IMPORTANCE AND USEFULNESS OF THE PROJECTIn this term’s project, students are encouraged to do their best to create an

English Chart that can be explained to the class during the lesson and watched by other students from the same year. Thus, this project not only allows students to use their oral and written language skills in context, but also they’ll probably learn English meaningfully in their present and future lives thanks to this project.

The supporting language teaching method/approach of this project is Content-Based Instruction (CBI). According to Nunan (2011):

“CBI has a number of advantages, most obviously that courses are based on content […] that connect closely with their daily lives outside of school…” (p. 43- 44)

Therefore, the learner’s academic and personal lives are involved in this project. Each topic was carefully analysed and planned before the project application.

On the other hand, this project has been designed in accordance with the national curriculum and school syllabus’ standards and competences. So, students and me will not only fulfil the standards goals, but also gain students’ confidence by allowing them to learn and remember previous topics through innovative learning experiences –an English project, in this case-

5. STANDARDS AND COMPETENCESBoth practicum teacher and students-with the help of the CT-must follow the

standards and competences for English language teaching/learning, which are proposed by CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference), Lineamientos Curriculares-Idiomas Extranjeros and Plan Nacional de Bilinguismo. The chart below shows the general objectives and standards for 4-grade teacher and students for the current school year, especially those which are most suitable to this project. It also shows the relation among the skills to develop the goals to achieve and the topics to be worked:

PROJECT REPORT 4

Grado: 4 Períodos: 1-2 Núcleos temáticosObjetivos de grado Desarrollar estrategias

que me ayuden a entender y usar expresiones en conversaciones cortas con estructuras predecibles.

Family Alphabet Human body Clothing Calendar-Special

events House Timetable Weather Zoo animals

Escucha Comprendo información proporcionada por mis compañeros y mi profesor

Lectura Comprendo información sobre personas, lugares y acciones conocidas

Escritura Uso adecuadamente estructuras y patrones gramaticales de uso frecuente

Habla: Monólogo y conversación

Busco oportunidades para usar lo que sé de inglés (Monólogo)

Solicito a mi profesor y a mis compañeros que me aclaren una duda o que me expliquen algo sobre lo que hablamos (Conversación)

Needless to say, the first and second term language topics chosen for this project have been reinforced with present tenses structures in the third term and some of them have been added from the fourth term topic list (calendar, parts of the house and timetable). However, the aforementioned structures would only be considered in the final assessment stage, since I don’t think that these sort of grammar structures wouldn’t be intellectually meaningful for them unless they aren’t used to deal with a suitable topic for them, that is, students can use present tenses to talk about, say, clothing, and not learn present tenses just for the sake of doing it

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6. OBJECTIVES Consolidate the topics and vocabulary worked in the previous terms based on

students’ skills and likes by doing academic projects. Develop collaborative and communicative skills by doing thematic, academic

projects. Connect students’ academic and daily life to English language by doing academic

projects.

5. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECTBefore planning the project, I re-read the lesson observation reports, the lesson

plans I taught and the English syllabus for 1st and 2nd terms to define the contents to be worked about and the language skills to be assessed in this project. The following are the common features I found in the aforementioned papers:

EFL Method/Approach: Audiolingualism and Grammar-Translation Lesson methodology: Vocabulary lists and repetition EFL resources: Bilingual Dictionary for older learners

Later, I wrote a rough draft of the project, and in the draft, I specified the steps to follow during the project time:

In the first lesson, the teacher and students will come to an agreement on the project’s procedures. Even though the teacher proposes the topics and the tasks (middle-ground options), the students may add new proposals to the projects. They may want to pick a project topic among some others (limited-choice options) or, rather, they will decide what topic they’ll work and what they’ll do in the project (the- more- the- better options).

In the following lessons, students must be completing their own tasks by using the required materials to do so (scissors, glue, Scotch tape, colours, markers and paper). The teacher will be assessing each group and helping them if necessary. The students must take maximum two lessons to finish their posters and placing it on the classroom information chart.

In the latter lesson, students will present their project works in front of the class. As they display their projects, the practicum teacher assesses his students according to the project’s objectives, level of accuracy and fluency in L2 and the language use in the posters. At the end of the class, the English Chart must be done, in which all the posters are placed in the classroom’s board to be shown to the public.

The following are the instructions each team fulfilled:

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Team-work

CALENDAR – Team 1A. Busquen a compañeros del salón que cumplan años en este mes y escriban su

nombre y su fecha, por ejemplo:

25Juan’s birthdayJuan’s= Persona que cumple añosBirthday=Cumpleaños

B. Ubiquen las imágenes en los días en que se celebran estos eventos en el mes:Columbus Day: Llegada de Colón a América

Halloween: Noche de brujas

C. Cuando terminen, peguen el calendario en el cartelD. Si quieren que su calendario se vea mejor, pueden decorarlo con lo que tengan

(colores o marcadores)

Good luck!

TIMETABLE – Team 2A. Ubiquen cada una de las imágenes de las materias en la hora que les toque cada

día, por ejemplo:

Monday

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B. Cuando terminen, peguen el horario de clases en el cartelC. Si quieren que su calendario se vea mejor, pueden decorarlo con lo que tengan

(colores o marcadores)

Good luck!

ANIMALS – Team 3A. Ubiquen a cada uno de los animales en el lugar que les corresponde. Hay tres

lugares para que lo hagan:House: Casa Aquí ponen los domestic animals: animales domésticos

Farm: GranjaAquí ponen los farm animals: animales de la granja

Zoo: ZoológicoAquí ponen los zoo animals: animales del zoológico

B. Cuando terminen, peguen la house, la farm y el zoo en el cartelC. Si quieren que su cartel se vea mejor, pueden decorarlo con lo que tengan (colores

o marcadores)

Good luck!

WEATHER – Team 4A. Averiguen como estuvo el tiempo esta semana hasta hoy jueves

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B. Luego, ubiquen las siguientes imágenes en cada día y pongan una imagen que muestre como crean ustedes que va a estar mañana viernes, por ejemplo:

Cuando terminen, peguen su trabajo en el cartel

C. Si quieren que su tabla se vea mejor, pueden decorarlo con lo que tengan (colores o marcadores)

Good luck!

ALPHABET – Team 5A. Recorten las letras y pónganlas en orden alfabéticoB. Cuando terminen, peguen las letras en la parte de arriba del cartel del salón

Good luck!

THE HUMAN BODY – Team 6A. Cada uno de ustedes tiene las partes de un cuerpo. Unan cada una de sus partes y

formen un cuerpoB. Cuando terminen, peguen los cuerpos que hicieron en el cartelC. Antes de terminar, cada uno de ustedes debe escribir sus datos personales al lado

del cuerpo que hicieron así: Name: Tu nombre Age: Edad School: Escuela donde estudias Year: Grado en que estás Dress: Tu disfraz para anoche

D. Si quieren que el cartel con sus cuerpos y sus datos se vea mejor, pueden decorarlo con lo que tengan (colores y marcadores)

Good luck!

MondaySunny

TuesdayCloudy

WednesdayStormy

ThursdaySunny

FridayRainy

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FAMILY – Team 7A. Cada uno de ustedes tiene un diploma. Complétenlo así:

En “Congratulations to” escriban su nombre En “for” escriban “having a family” En los círculos, dibujen y escriban los nombres de las personas con las que

vivan En “Date” escriban la fecha de hoy En “Signed” pongan su firma

B. Cuando terminen, peguen sus diplomas en el cartelC. Si quieren que el cartel con sus diplomas se vea mejor, pueden decorarlo con lo que

tengan (colores o marcadores)

Good luck!

HOUSE – Team 8A. Construyan una casa encantada con las imágenes de los objetos que tienenB. Luego, ubiquen estas imágenes de Halloween alrededor de la casaC. Cuando terminen, peguen la casa encantada en el cartelD. Si quieren que su casa encantada se vea mejor, pueden decorar el cartel con lo

que tengan (colores y marcadores)

Good luck!

CLOTHING – Team 9A. Hagan una lista con las prendas que se ponen las niñasB. Luego, hagan otra lista con las prendas que se ponen los niñosC. Antes de terminar, cada miembro del grupo debe escribir el disfraz que se va a

poner esta noche así: Name: Tu nombre Dress: Tu disfraz para anoche

D. Cuando terminen, peguen las listas en el cartelE. Si quieren que sus listas se vean mejor, pueden decorarlas con lo que tengan

(colores o marcadores)

Good luck!

Individual Work

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HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS 1A. Recorta cada uno de los 5 banderines que tienesB. Dobla las solapas blancas de cada banderínC. Introduce una cuerda por las solapas de los banderinesD. Pega las solapas de los banderines para asegurar la cuerdaE. Pide ayuda a tu profesor para colgar los banderines en el cartel del salón

Good luck!

HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS 2A. Recorta cada uno de los 5 banderines que tienesB. Dobla las solapas blancas de cada banderínC. Introduce una cuerda por las solapas de los banderinesD. Pega las solapas de los banderines para asegurar la cuerdaE. Pide ayuda a tu profesor para colgar los banderines en el cartel del salón

Good luck!

HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS 3A. Forma las siguientes palabras:

En “The date is” ubica el día de hoy En “The month is” ubica el mes en el que estamos

B. Luego, forma la palabra HALLOWEEN con las letras que tienesC. Cuando termines, pide ayuda a tu profesor para pegar tu trabajo

Good luck!

CHART DECORATION 1A. Forma la palabra THE ENGLISH CHART con las letras que tienesB. Cuando termines, pega tu frase en la parte de arriba del cartel del salón

Good luck!

CHART DECORATION 2A. Forma la palabra MADE BY GRADE FOURTH 4-3 con las letras que tienesB. Cuando termines, pega tu frase en la parte de arriba del cartel del salón

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Good luck!

6. SCHEDULE OF THE PROJECT The projects will be developed in minimum of five classes, although it’d be

changes in the project time gap. The following is the project’s schedule

Date Activities Evaluation25 October Formation of groups and

choice of the project’s topic1 November – 1st Lesson Setting of activities to

each group and starting of the project

Project: Follow-up

Assessment Team help Instructions

1 November – 2nd Lesson Project: Follow-up

Presentation of projects-( English Chart building-up)

Final assessment

Assessment Team help Instructions

Final outcome of the project

Accuracy and fluency of team presentations

Achievement of objectives

Correction of mistakes4-6 November - Internet Publication of project

report and photo gallery on Blogger

7. PROJECT OUTCOMESThe following are the lesson plan for this project and the lesson journal written once the lesson finished:

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH PROJECT

Date: 01/11/2013 Grade: 4*2Teacher's name: Juan Ibarra Subject: English

1.Topic: The English Chart

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2.Content: Various language topics3.Goals: Aims/Outcomes

Consolidate the topics and vocabulary worked in the previous terms based on students’ skills and likes by doing academic projects.

Develop collaborative and communicative skills by doing thematic, academic projects. Connect students’ academic and daily life to English language by doing academic projects

3. Recent works Family Alphabet Human body Clothing Calendar-Special events House Timetable Weather Animals

4. Objectives Comprender información proporcionada por mis compañeros y mi profesor- (Listening) Comprender información sobre personas, lugares y acciones conocidas- (Reading) Usar adecuadamente estructuras y patrones gramaticales de uso frecuente- (Writing) Buscar oportunidades para usar el conocimiento de inglés- (Speaking)

5.Materials and Aids Printed cards with pictures and transcriptions Papers Markers/Colours Glue Scissors Digital camera

6.Procedures and MethodsA. Introduction1. Greetings2. Goals of the class3. ProcedureTime: 10 minB. Development1. Team arrangement2. Team guidelines3. Team working – OutdoorsTime: 50 minC. Practice1. Team presentations2. Final assessment3. FarewellsTime: 35 minD. Independent Practice1. Visit blog website to watch the photo gallery and other English online learning contents (Optional)

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E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)1. Repeating the guidelines to the students who had not understood the lesson activities2. Helping students who are stuck on doing the posters and remembering language topics3. Involving students in participating in lesson activitiesF. Checking for understanding1. Asking students whether or not they had remembered language topics taught this year2. Asking clever students to help struggling students to resolve their doubts3. Assessing students’ performance in the lesson activitiesG. Closure1. Asking students how they have felt throughout the class2. Asking students what they have learnt in class3. Farewells7. Evaluation1. Poster – Language use2. Accuracy & Fluency of presentation8. Teacher’s ReflectionDone

Introduction Development Accommodations Checking for understanding Evaluation (Poster: Language use)

Not done Practice Closure Accuracy & Fluency of presentation

Strong points Students’ great involvement in the project: “They all helped each other, even the

students who preferred to work individually.” Students’ use of resources and efficient work: “The students managed carefully the

resources I provided them and worked very hard. Most of the groups finished in the first lesson before break time.”

Teacher’s ease to assess students, provide materials and fulfil the project proceduresWeak points

“Some few students were cast away from their groups. They felt sad and I couldn’t cope with it.”

“Though I had all the project resources on my hand, I needed some materials like glue, Scotch tape, and scissors. Moreover, I couldn’t assign some tasks I planned because some students were absent, so I assigned the remaining task to a schoolboy. ”

“I didn’t ask each team to present their work in front of the class. It’d have been very useful to their classmates not only to know what they did, but also the language the team used to complete the activity.”

Changes Ask students to use oral language more than written language Have more materials on my hand if possible Know to cope with students’ negative emotions and distractions while doing projects

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CLASS JOURNAL FOR ENGLISH PROJECT 01/11/2013

Sitting arrangement Reflection Categories Classroom: Teams,

Pairs and Individual English project Outdoor work: 1st

lesson Indoor work: 2nd

lesson

Methods & Approaches Content-Based

LearningI noticed me and most of my students felt alright while doing this project. It’s a simple and nice way to brush up language topics taught and learnt this school year. Also, I noticed everybody did their best to do this project well, and I appreciate that.Teacher & student’s roles

Teacher: I provided not also materials, but also feedback. I bent over backwards to assess students, since several groups were formed and some of them asked me so many questions.

Students: Students had a massive participation in the project and played a stupendous role in completing the content tasks. I dare to highlight the first three teams. They worked hard and fulfilled all the poster requirements.

Interaction Teacher-Students: I

provided students

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materials and language feedback to them. Some teams asked me questions and sought for my advice. I replied them as well and quickly as I could in order to keep the track on the other teams.

Students-Students: I saw they helped each other in spite of the common discussions they might’ve had as a team. In fact, a boy whose task was to place the alphabet letters on the whiteboard was aided by some of her classmates. That’s awesome!

Kinds of materials Authentic Printed cards with

pictures and transcriptions

Papers Markers/Colours Glue Scissors Digital camera

Non-authentic materials

Poster instructions

Objective/Activities coherence Written language: This

sort of language was predominantly used during the project. They just needed to recognise common phrases and vocabulary words to complete the tasks. I

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dare to say they understood better the language topics they were taught throughout the year by doing the posters, though I couldn’t notice whether or not their classmates saw the other posters and the language their classmates used.

Oral language: I finally decided not to set the oral language step to the activity I planned because I foresaw none of us wouldn’t have enough time to complete it and also because they wouldn’t be able to speak a foreign language, and a lot less in front of their classmates. I should think on designing simple oral language activities for next school year to my learners, such as role-plays, aloud readings, drillings, and so forth.

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9. INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT

For more information about this project, visit theenglishchart.blogspot.com . In this website, you’ll find:

Project’s report Project’s photo gallery Interactive games and audio-visual resources used in this year’s lessons

Solution: Content-Based Learning

Problem: Language Usage

Project The English Chart

Written Language

ThemePosters

OralLanguage

PostersPresentation

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References

Larmer, John and Mergendoller, John R. (2010) “7 Essentials for Project-Based Learning”, in Educational Leadership, 68(1). © 2010 ASCD. Reproduced and updated March 2012.

Nunan, David (2011) Teaching English To Young Learners. Chapter 3: Methods and approaches in language teaching. 1st Edition, Anaheim University Press, (p. 43-44).

Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2006) Programa Nacional de Bilinguismo, 1era edición; Vélez, Cecilia; Díaz, Juana, et. al.

English Syllabus for 4 Year, Federico Ozanam School

PROJECT ONLINE RESOURCES ON:

https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=es&tab=wi&ei=RnN0UsrbM_HasASbu4HQAQ&ved=0CAQQqi4oAg

twinkl.co.uk

http://www.dltk-cards.com/calendar/autumn/index.htm

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