Ch 8 Task 2: Lesson Plan - Speaking and Writing

Class__ESL_________________ Date___12-27-2020_________

Level and number of students: 18, high school, high-intermediate

Lesson Duration: 90 min
Aims/Objectives:
-The students will learn and practice phrases used for politely agreeing and disagreeing (e.g. I couldn’t
agree with you more… You’re absolutely right…I’m afraid I have to disagree…That’s not always true…
Actually…).
-Produce a travel information packet (flyer, brochure, power point, wiki, etc.)
with useful information about a region, country, city, or town.
− Present their travel information to the class in a 5-7 minute group
presentation.
-will be able to speak and write at least five agreement and disagreement phrases.
Assumptions: Since these are intermediate high school students, they have a basic knowledge of English
grammar.
Anticipated Problems:
-students will have to work together in groups to discuss their agreements and disagreements. Everyone
will be able to talk but it might be a bit embarrassing for some if they are not used to sticking up for their
own beliefs. And many people will be talking at once. So, therefore the students will jot down ideas on
their own first, then talk to their small groups, then talk in front of the class. Making it easier with each
step to talk.
Materials:
Encourage students for weeks prior to this lesson to bring in location-specific items
such as travel guides (in any language), maps, vacation brochures, souvenirs, photos,
ethnic artifacts (clothing, pottery, etc.), and travel Web site URLS. Make sure the items
are identified by the student’s name.
These items will be used in the Travel Show and Tell portion of this lesson.
20 Agreement and Disagreement worksheets- on the desk ready to be handed out.

Warm-Up (15 min)

Set the scene for the activity and activate student background knowledge. This is critical because
ESL/EFL students benefit from schema activation prior to being required to practice language
skills.
Travel Show and Tell! (This involves some initial planning.)
Show and Tell is a simple public speaking activity:
1. Students bring in a small item that can fit into their bag and is school
appropriate.
2. Each student who has an item, one by one, comes to the front of the class and
talks about that item for at least 45 seconds.
3. Participation is voluntary.
4. There is no grade given.
Let students know about a week ahead of time that they can bring in an item that they
would like to talk about. Let them know this will be “Travel Show and Tell,” with an
emphasis on travel. This item should be from their home country or a place they have
recently visited. Let students take a few moments to get together their thoughts on
what they would like to say about their item. Give them some guidance on what they
should talk about in their 45 seconds:
• Where is your item from?
• Do you think people would like to visit where you got that item? Why?
If time allows after the show and tell, ask students in pairs to decide on the three places
they would go based on what they’ve heard and why. Have pairs share this information
with the class.
This will get them interested in different places around the world and get them excited for traveling.

Introduction (10 min)

Students will fill out the Agreeing and Disagreeing worksheet. Pass these out to all the students. They are
to work on these on their own. The teacher will tell them they have 10 min to finish it. When they are
done, they are to take 2 min to go over it with the person next to them. Then the teacher will go over the
worksheet with them by calling on students to say what they answered. There may be multiple correct
answers for the responses, but they should know if it is the correct level of agreement or disagreement.

Agreeing and disagreeing

The following phrases show levels of agreement or disagreement. Write the letters for the level of
agreement or disagreement next to each phrase. There are three expressions for each level.

Strongly agree(SA) Agree(A) Disagree(D) Strongly disagree(SD)

1. I agree (with you). 7. I don’t think so.

2. I cannot agree with that. 8. I see it diferently.

3. I completely agree. 9. I see your point.

4. I couldn’t agree more. 10. I strongly disagree.

5. I don’t agree(with you). 11. I think so too.

6. I don’t agree at all. 12. You’re absolutely right.

Complete the three conversations using the phrases from above.

Conversation 1

Opinion: I think we should pack sunglasses since we are travelling to the beach.

Response: (A)_______________, sunglasses would be useful.

Response 2: Really? (B)___________, I’m ok without them.

Conversation 2

Opinion: I’m gonna go to the hotel now, it’s getting late.

Response: (C)_______________, I’m pretty tired.

Reponse 2: (D)_______________, I think I’m gonna stay out a bit longer.

Conversation 3

Opinion: When traveling it’s ok to travel alone.

Response: (E) _____________, but I still think its’s safer to travel with someone.

Response: (F)_____________, especially if you have experience.

Practice(s)* (20 min)

The class will be divided into groups.
- Groups can be randomly selected: Students are subject to “luck of the draw.”
- Groups can have a mix of language proficiencies: Students can divide tasks more
easily based on language complexities.
Groups of 4–6 work best, but your classes might be bigger or smaller. Decide what is
best for your class and go from there.
Empower your students to make their own decisions as groups.

In groups students will have to agree on a place they want to travel to.
Brainstorming – in pairs or groups, students generate ideas about the topic, recording them as they
discuss. This allows them to take advantage of their collective knowledge, and they are free to use any
and all ideas in their writing.
On their own, students will brainstorm ideas of where they want to travel to, why they want to travel
there, and what they would do there. This is just on their own sheet of paper
Ex. I want to travel to Italy because it is somewhere I have never been to. They have good food and
historical places to visit. I would want to go to Venice to ride a gondola and see some of their art
museums.
They would then turn to their group and read off what they wrote, while the others write down their
agreements and disagreements. (they can use the worksheet from before to help) if they are in a group of
four then they will have three other people to write down their agreements and disagreements to.
Name and place Agreement Disagreement
Isabelle…..Italy I agree with you, the art But, I don’t think riding a
museums would be cool to look Gondola would be fun.
at.

Once everyone had a chance to record their groups places, they then choose which place they would all
want to travel to for a class trip (fantasy) based on their agreements and disagreements.
Then they go into more depth to help them convince the rest of the class that their destination is the best
to go to for their class trip.
Create Travel Information:
Each group will need to produce a certain amount of travel information. Allow for computer time to
research links that would enhance presentations. This information can be presented as a brochure, a power
point, a flyer, and so on. Each group will produce several “Must Haves.” Groups can also produce “Could
Haves” if time allows and students are able.
Listing – Individually, students generate a list of ideas about the topic, as many as possible. Introverted
students may respond to this technique more positively.
Some suggestions for the lists follow;
choose what you’d like as the “Must Haves” and if they have time, they could elect to
put a few of the “Could Haves” in their travel information:

Must Haves Could Haves

Travel Sections Travel Sections
- Short History Section - Common Phrases
- 3 “must see” sites - Places to eat
- Best time of year to travel, - Festivals and/or holidays
including weather - Places to stay
- A recommended daily budget Additional Presentation Format
Presentation Format - Power Point
- Paper flyer/brochure - Wiki*
- Photos

Production (20-30 min)

Once each group chooses a destination for their (fake) class trip each group goes up and presents the
place they chose just like they did in the small groups. The teacher makes sure they speak in the allotted
5-7 min and gives them cues to make sure they know when their time is up. The rest of the class will once
again record the places and write down an agreement and disagreement to each one. Once everyone has
gone, the teacher will present each group’s destination on the board, as a class they will use their
agreements and disagreements to help them to choose their final destination. The teacher will ask the
students questions like, ‘who agrees that going to Italy will be both historical and fun.’ Or ‘Why would
you disagree with going to Italy?’ The teacher will record their answers on the board, and once the
teacher has recorded their responses on the board the teacher will ask the students to vote on which
destination they would like to travel to for their (fake) class trip.

Review (5 min)

The class will review agreement and disagreement phrases again by talking to the person next to them as
to why they agree or disagree with the winning destination. They will use at least say two agreements and
two disagreements. They may write them down if they want because it will help them with their
homework, but it will not be graded. The teacher will walk around making sure they are using the phrases
to accurately describe how they feel.
Critical Response: Students are asked to give their opinion about a work of art, a story, a selection of
music, or any other idea that can lend itself to critiquing. Like journaling, the emphasis is on written
fluency while incorporating critical thinking skills.

Homework (10min)

Homework is to research and write an essay why they agree or disagree with the voted on
winning destination. They are to use at least five agreeing or disagreeing phrases in this essay.
First Draft
Once the student has generated ideas, he or she writes the first draft of the task. Stress to the
student that it need not be perfect at this point and that he or she will have an opportunity to
improve their writing as the process continues. The purpose here is to begin organizing pre-
writing ideas into a coherent and cohesive whole.