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PROGRAMA DE APOYO A LA ENSEÑANZA Y EL APRENDIZAJE D E LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS (PALE) – FASE C: GRUPO DE TRABAJO

HONEY, HONEY!

SECOND CYCLESECOND CYCLESECOND CYCLESECOND CYCLE

PRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY EDUCATION

MARÍA CRISTINA LÓPEZ GUERRA

GASPAR GRANADO SÁNCHEZ

1.- CHECK PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE.

Vocabulary:- Tree.- Flower.- River.- Mountain.- Bird.- Butterfly.

- Snail.- Sun (It’s sunny).- Cloud (It’s cloudy).

(Adapted activity)

Activity 1A: Poster

SKILLSpeaking and list ening.

PUPIL GROUPINGWhole class.

2.- PRESENT THE NEW VOCABULARY.

Activity 2B:

Flashcards gamesSKILL

Listening and reading.PUPIL GROUPING

Whole class activity.

Honey

PollenBeekeeper Wax

Nectar

Beehive

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INDEX OF CONTENTS

0. INDEX OF CONTENTS ................................................................... 1

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 2

1.1. Presentation ............................... ....................................... 2

1.2. The Centre and the pupils ................ .............................. 3

1.3. Time Distribution ......................... ..................................... 3

2. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 3

3. HOW IS THE UNIT STRUCTURED? ................................................... 5

4. THE DIDACTIC UNIT ……………………………………………………… 6

4.1. Didactic objectives ………………………………….…………… 6

4.2. Contents …………………………………………….…………….. 7

4.3. Activities …………………………………………….…………….. 7

4.4. Key competences ………………………………….…………….. 10

4.5. Evaluation …………………………………………………………. 11

5. TRANSVERSAL TOPICS …………………………………………………. 11

6. ATTENTION TO DIVERSITY AND TO PUPILS WITH SPECIA L EDUCATIONAL

NEEDS.......................................................................................................... 12

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 13

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1. INTRODUCTION.

1.1. Presentation.

There are many reasons for learning foreign languages: today, more and more

people travel and work abroad, and English, in particular, is a requirement for many jobs;

English is a tool for international communication, and as such it has a role to play in the

development of peace and understanding between countries in the world; widespread use

of new technology and the media has led to a global society where children can have

access to limitless information if they have the necessary tools, and again, English is the

tool or ‘lingua franca’ in the world of computer technology. Moreover, the learning of

foreign languages contributes to the general development of the child, and aids in his or

her social integration by promoting respect and tolerance of other cultures and ways of life,

so permitting a wider and richer vision of reality.

For these reasons, the Council of Europe has issued guidelines on the teaching of

foreign languages, and the Spanish Educational Authorities have incorporated these

guidelines into their legislation concerning Primary Education through successive laws to

the recently approved Ley Orgánica de Educación, 2 / 2006 (LOE).

Here in Extremadura , the Regional Educational Authorities have recognised the

importance of early language learning and in the Orders of 30 th August 2000 and 10 th

August 2001 progressively introduced foreign language learning from the age of 3 years,

taking this step ahead of other autonomous communities. This was followed by the

introduction of bilingual sections in various centres, now being consolidated across the

region, and of the introduction of a second foreign language in the third cycle of Primary

Education.

Promoting this ability to communicate in English is the main aim of this

didactic unit, an aim which is foremost in the Curriculum for Primary Education (R.D.

1344 / 1991, 6th September, BOE 13th September).

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1.2. The Centre and the pupils.

This didactic unit has been designed for the level of Primary 4 in a school in a

small town in Extremadura, a largely rural area experiencing a significant growth in the

number of pupils from diverse countries and cultures. Apart from any particular

characteristics resulting from its exact location, it can be considered typical in the facilities

it offers. There is a gym that will be useful for TPR or for staging a play. We obviously have

audio equipment and CDs, a library with a selection of books in order to encourage the

reading habits in our pupils, a playground, which can be used for any outdoor language

games, and an interactive digital board.

The pupils, aged 9 to 10 and in Primary 4 , again apart from any particular

characteristics resulting from the specific location of the school, are of mixed interests and

abilities, of similar experiences and backgrounds, and motivation varies from pupil to

pupil but in general is satisfactory. As far as their language level is concerned, their ability

to communicate is still relatively very limited.

They require continual recycling and consolidation of the language covered in

class in previous years, and although the emphasis is still on the oral skills , little by little

they are progressing in their use of the written code .

1.3. Time Distribution.

Pupils in Primary 4 study English as their first foreign language for three hours a

week . This didactic unit is designed to be covered in five to six sessions, providing a

logical and coherent sequence of contents adapted to the time available.

2. METHODOLOGY.

The way children learn a foreign language, and therefore the way to teach it,

obviously depends on their developmental stage. As children mature, they bring more

intellectual, motor, and social skills to the classroom, as well as a wider knowledge of the

world. All these can be applied to the process of acquiring another language. The wider

resources of older children should be exploited to the full while maintaining the philosophy

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of making a language relevant, practical and communica tive. This means the

development of all the four skills (listening, speaking and conversing, reading and

writing) and the use of a wide range of topics that can draw on other subjects in the

curriculum, with the aim of encouraging meaningful, significant learning . The focus

should continue to be on language as a vehicle of communication.

The kinds of activities which still work well are games and songs with actions ,

total physical response activities, tasks which involve drawing, cutting and sticking, simple,

repetitive stories , and simple, repetitive speaking activities that have an obvious

communicative value. It is common sense that if an activity is enjoyable, it will be

memorable . This cyclical process generates a positive attitude towards learning

English .

Listening is, at this stage, still the main source of new information for our pupils,

and therefore has particular importance. There is a special focus in this didactic unit on

both global comprehension of oral texts and on the comprehension of specific

information in simple contextualised situations, related to the interests and experience of

the pupils.

Speaking : Little by little they begin to produce language, firstly by repeating words

and set phrases in very controlled situations. Gradually, they progress to less controlled

and more creative use of the language , in non-threatening activities which encourage

receptivity and production (songs, simple dialogues, games , etc.). Stress, rhythm and

intonation are of fundamental importance, given the child’s natural ability to imitate at an

early age.

Reading : When the pupils have already heard and assimilated the oral form of a

word or structure, they are encouraged to associate the sound with the written forms, and

see the vocabulary and structures used in short simple texts. It is important to make the

reading task easy in order to encourage the reading habit. It is also important to give

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practice in a variety of reading subskills such as skimming, scanning, predicting and

inferring, so that our pupils will become effective readers.

Writing : Although the level of production will be limited at this level, pupils will have

the opportunity to begin to write through a gradual progression of writing tasks from

controlled (copying, completing crosswords, etc.) to more creative writing (3-4 sentences

on a familiar topic).

3. HOW IS THE UNIT STRUCTURED?

This didactic unit covers the topic of bee which can be relevant and interesting for

pupils of this age. A variety of activities are included in the unit to develop the four basic

skills , though priority will be given to the receptive skills of listening and reading, as

production at this stage is relatively limited. Pupils will work individually, in pairs and in

small groups , in order to maximise participation in class, and therefore to maximise

learning. A variety of different teaching resources (materials, technological aids…) will

be used. It contains material and activities for five to six classes , and a quantity of

optional reinforcement and extension activities are also included, to attend to diversity.

The didactic unit contains the following sections:

A) Didactic objectives : specific to the unit, drawn from and based on the general

objectives of the stage and for the learning of foreign languages, and are appropriate for

the level and characteristics of the pupils.

B) Contents : distributed into the three main types (procedural, conceptual and

attitudinal), and complemented by the specific transversal topics, interdisciplinary areas,

and attention to diversity.

C) Activities: a brief outline of the activities, skills, groupings (distributes into 8

stages). Each stage represents a fundamental part of the teaching-learning process, and

each with a specific objective.

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D) Key competences : Key competences for lifelong learning are a combination of

knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. They are particularly necessary

for personal fulfillment and development, social inclusion, active citizenship and

employment.

E) Evaluation criteria : the specific evaluation criteria are drawn from and based on

the general evaluation criteria for Primary Education and are related to the objectives,

contents and activities proposed, attending to the heterogeneity of the pupils.

4. THE DIDACTIC UNIT

4.1. Didactic objectives.

- Promote communicative competence, especially socio-linguistic competence.

- Discriminate and give the names of honey and bee products.

- Produce short oral and written texts about bee products.

- Stimulate a positive attitude towards Foreign Language Learning.

- Be aware of the importance of the climate change.

4.2. Contents.

PROCEDURES CONCEPTS ATTITUDES Vocabulary

New: honey, pollen, wax, nectar,

beehive, beekeeper.

Recycled: bee, tree, flower,

mountain, river, bird, butterfly,

snail, sun, cloud.

Functions/Structures

New: Present continuous:

gathering, transporting, filtering,

storing, extracting

Recycled: There is / There are.

• I like / don’t like…

• Associating spoken and written

forms.

• Acompanying words with

actions.

• Completing a text.

• Listening for specific and general

information.

• Filling information gaps.

• Developing computer skills.

• Playing games.

Pronunciation

• Stress.

• Rhythm.

• Intonation.

• Appreciation of the importance

of the relationship between people

and the environment.

• Awareness of the importance of

keeping the environment clean

and tidy.

• Interest and curiosity for

communicating in the English

language.

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4.3. Organisation and Distribution of Activities.

The activities in this unit have been grouped into eight stages , each with its own

objective, and with a degree of flexibility. Each session will begin with a question-answer

routine (e.g. asking the weather, the date,…).

Stage 1: the objective of this first stage is to check previ ous knowledge and

recycle contents from previous classes before introducing new contents. As this is a

testing stage, pupils are required to indicate their comprehension first orally, then in the

written mode, of words such as; bee, snail, butterfly, flower, mountain, sun (sunny )

and cloud (cloudy) and the structures there is /there are.

Activity 1A: Completing a poster: A poster provides an attractive way to check

listening comprehension, arousing interest in the new unit at the same time. In this

exercise we need a poster representing the country and seven flashcards representing the

recycled words. This is a whole class activity, playing in front of the class and following the

teacher’s oral instructions: Children listen and complete the poster.

Activity 1B: Word puzzle. This is a very attractive and useful way to check pupils’

reading and writing skills. In this individual exercise pupils first have to find the recycled

words among a group of letters and then write them to label the pictures on a worksheet.

Stage 2: the objective of stage 2 is to present the new vocabulary orally, then in

the written form (elements of computer aids ).

Activity 2A: Some pictures will be used to present the new words, and the pupils

will be asked to listen and repeat, first in all together then individually. It is important to

provide a good pronunciation model. Pupils will associate the spoken form with the visual

image, and their attention will focus on the sounds of the new words.

Activity 2B: Flashcard games provide an enjoyable way to elicit the new words.

One possibility is that pupils look at flashcards stuck on the board, trying to remember

where they are, then they close their eyes while the teacher takes one picture away. When

the teacher tells them to look, they will say what’s missing. Another possible game would

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be to stick the flashcards with the pictures facing the board. A child has to name a pointed

card. If the child is correct, we hand the card to him/her. The game continues until all the

cards have been named. Both are whole-class activities and cover listening

comprehension skills.

Having presented and practised the new vocabulary orally, the written form is

introduced (flashcards with the written words) following the golden rule for primary

teaching that a child should never see a word before he has heard it.

Activity 2C: Read and Link. Pupils will connect a series of pictures illustrating the

new words with their written form.

Stage 3: Following the presentation stage, we come to the practice stage . We

cannot expect pupils to hear a new word once and to remember it, so a quantity of practice

is necessary for assimilation to take place. The new words will now be practised in the

context of short sentences, containing familiar structures (I like, I don’t like, you like, …)

which will also be recycled.

Activity 3A: Listen and write. The whole idea is to help pupils attach meaning to

what they hear and encourage mental associations. In the first exercise pupils have to

write the sentences they are going to listen to and in the second one, correct the wrong

sentences. (Bees don’t like nectar; Honey is black, and so on).

Activity 3B: Listen and read. In order to improve pupils’ reading skill, pupils read

their sentences to the rest.

Stage 4: Consolidate the new vocabulary and introduce a new structure

orally . From a controlled presentation of words in isolation (stage 2), pupils are now

progressing to a longer context where various sub-skills will be developed, such as

listening for global comprehension (4A) and listening for specific information (4B). By

introducing the new structure in context with now-familiar vocabulary, children are

encouraged to work the meaning out for themselves, using their previous knowledge and

with help from visual clues. In this way, they are actively promoting their own learning.

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Activity 4A: Listening to the process. This is a whole class activity and pictures

are used as visual support.

Activity 4B: Putting pictures in order. Having listening to the text at least twice,

pupils are require to put pictures in order while listening. This is an individual activity.

In stage 5 pupils will be introduced to the written form of the new structure ,

again in a familiar and relevant context. At this stage, it is normal for pupils to make errors,

but these should be seen as evidence of progress. Reading is the most important skill in

stage 5, and various reading sub-skills will be developed.

Activity 5A: Listen and read. In this first exercise pupils have to read the process

of the honey written on the board; first in silence while listening, then in chorus. After that

each time the teacher will eliminate some words in order to improve pupils’ memory.

Activity 5B: Read and match. In this second reading pupils have to read the story

matching text to pictures. This is an individual skimming activity.

Activity 5C: Dramatization . Developing memory is important and dramatizing it’s

also motivating. This is a group-work activity mainly covering the listening and speaking

skills. It can be used to give pronunciation practice (stress, rhythm and intonation).

It’s important to mix pupils’ abilities because some of them can be good at

dramatization and others at English language. Two or three pupils memorize the text and

the rest can dramatize it.

Stage 6: the objectives of this stage are to recycle the new vocabulary and to

consolidate the new structure. Children progress through the unit and they accumulate

more and more vocabulary and structures. So, it’s essential that they recycle this language

frequently. Manual craft work will also form part of this stage.

Activity 6A: Make double domino cards: the important thing is the process and

the language used (Can I have the scissors, please? for instance). In this craft activity

pupils cut, stick and colour in order to make the dominoes. This is a small-group activity

which mainly covers oral skills.

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Activity 6B: Playing dominoes . A socio-cultural piece of information for the pupils

is that in British countries dominoes is played anti-clockwise. In this exercise children have

to memorize words in Spanish and English. Each team chooses a language and tries to

put the cards in the chose language following some simple rules.

Having begun with controlled use of the language we now come to the stage where

creativity is encourage and free production is the objective: Stage 7 A motivating

resource, in this stage, will be the computer, but pupils will also enjoy more traditional

creative activities such as projects.

Activity 7A: Computer activity a) Searching for material/information by

means of Mozilla (Grulla) and the Internet. b) Processing material running the programme

Writer (OpenOffice) with the help of the teacher.c) Printing the information found.

We are going to ask our pupils to look for information about the death of bees.

Although they can look for this information in Spanish language, this topic will give us the

opportunity to speak about climate changes in English if possible.

Finally, a necessary stage at the end of any educative process is the evaluation

stage, where progress is checked with testing activities involving the productive skills:

stage 8 . Also, by regularly doing self-assessment activities like the ones proposed, pupils

become more aware of their own progress.

Activity 8A: Write words. Vocabulary learnt and revised.

Activity 8B: Order the sentences. Working new and recycled structures.

Activity 8C: My favourites (words or pages). Self - assessment.

Activity 8D: My classroom conversation. Self - assessment.

Activity 8E : My effort. Self - assessment.

4.4. Key competences

• Communication in the mother tongue.

• Communication in foreign languages.

• Basic competences in science and technology.

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• Learning to learn.

• Digital competence.

4.5. Evaluation

Initial evaluation of pupils’ previous knowledge was carried out in stage 1.

Continual evaluation is done throughout the process. If the results of this assessment are

satisfactory, then our objectives are valid and realistic. If not, we still have time to modify

our objectives. Final or summative evaluation is done at the end of the process and it is

based on the evaluation criteria specified in the curriculum for Primary Education, currently

R.D 1344 / 1991. The final assessment reflects not only our pupils’ progress but also the

teachers achievements too (stage 8). The specific evaluation criteria for this didactic unit

are the following where the pupil:

• Can use the key language of the unit (vocabulary and structure) correctly and

coherently.

• Can participate creatively in classroom activities.

• Can enjoy making his/her own learning materials.

Evaluation of the Educational Process and Teaching Practice.

Results obtained from testing reflect not only the pupils’ progress, but also the

effectiveness and success of the materials used and of the teaching methods, in short, of

the entire educational process.

5. TRANSVERSAL TOPICS .

Our task as teachers is not only to teach our pupils to use the foreign language, but

also to educate them , in order to help them become responsible citizens and to make a

positive contribution to the society they live in. A responsible citizen has moral values and

attitudes which have been developed through awareness and experience, and in the

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classroom we can provide opportunities to gain awareness and experience through the

materials and activities we use.

In this didactic unit the most important topic is…

Environmental education: Talk to the children about the importance of the

changes caused by human activity and the responsibility of each individual as a citizen.

6. ATTENTION TO DIVERSITY AND TO PUPILS WITH SPECIA L EDUCATIONAL

NEEDS.

Recent research (Garden, H. 2002) has shown that each individual adopts a

particular learning style based on his/her individual likes, interests and abilities. In order to

attend to diversity and special needs a variety of activities have been proposed.

• Reinforcement for weaker pupils: elementary exercises of familiar format

(some word puzzles with solutions present at the bottom of the page in jumbled

order).

• Fast finishers: a variety of short activities to maintain the attention of quick

workers and consolidate their knowledge (some crosswords with verbal or non

verbal clues).

• Extension for gifted pupils: a selection of more complex activities, involving

encouraging the reading habit, for example graded readers, or reading cards.

Basically these consist of a text, a picture or two and some questions. Using

these cards is voluntary for pupils. They are classified on a scale of difficulty, are

each different and make up a mini library.

In order to prepare individualised material for special needs pupils , we need

first to have a medical report and information from parent, the tutor and the school

orientation staff. Modifications to the curriculum may be quite significant, and social

integration will be the overall aim.

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7. BIBLIOGRAPHY .

► Crystal D. The English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

► Guillen, C. and C. Alario . Didáctica de la lengua extranjera en educación

infantil y primaria (ed. J.M. Vez) Madrid, 2000.

► Brumfit, J. The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching, Oxford

:OUP,1979.

► Council of Europe: Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press,

2001.

► Bruster and Ellis. The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Penguin, 2002.

► http://recursos.cnice.mec.es

► http://www.languageguide.org