my lessons as an ETA - fall 2021
This semester's lessons are a bit different than the previous semester. My school approached me at the end of the terms spring semester asking to change my gamification approach, for they prefer that I would create lessons based off of the textbook curriculum. I obliged, of course, because I wanted to make both students and my school's staff approved of my lessons. And anyways, students told me how much they enjoyed practicing English with games, and that they would also love to learn "real" English this semester.
As a first year English language teacher, I wanted to apply myself hard and make everyone pleased with our collective efforts. So, I created dialogue lessons to combine their textbook chapter points with American culture and English slang/idiomatic phrases that textbooks would most likely not cover.
Because 1st year and 2nd year students have different textbooks, I created two different lessons each week to cover the different chapter themes. I tried my best to overlap the English slang / phrase contents so that the students may practice together outside of class. The 1st year students used the NE High School English textbook, and the 2nd year students used the NE High School English II textbook.
All textbook lessons have an in-person and an online video lecture version. Something I had to create due to a COVID-19 scare we had in September. I also have some video lectures published on my teacher's Youtube channel. A bit embarrassing because I had to create them right away when the school shut down for the week, but feel free to reference them to see how I taught my online lessons.
Anyways, this is my safe and organized space to showcase all the lessons and materials I created during my time as an ETA during the Fall 2021 semester. You may reference my Google Drive shared folder and teacher's Youtube channel as well! You might notice that the full 15 week semester plan isn't reported. I unfortunately had medical complications, and during the student's midterm week, my school decided to end my contract with them.
All Lessons - Fall 2021
Week 1 : American High School Dialogue - All Grades
This was the first week of class, introducing the new kind of teaching style for the semester along with an American culture lesson. I wanted to give them some basic insight to the similarities and differences between American and Korean school systems. From talking about grade levels, school year, and different milestones, students got to reflect how their own experience is different from others.
This lesson also explains how students can introduce themselves properly to people in other countries in English, as well as talk about formal vs. informal speech in English. The dialogue uses the informal English speaking approach, mixing in a sample first day of school self-introduction with slang / idiomatic expressions for students to decipher given the context. I also created a Jeopardy review game incase the class goes through the topics very quickly. Luckily though, the lesson was able to cover the full 45-50 minute time period.
The terms / slang / phrases covered this lesson were:
What's up?
imma
pick up (activity)
check that out
it'll come quick
it sucks
Cali
catch a ride (with someone)
that would be sick
catch you later
Week 2 : Textbook Lessons - Ch.5.1 and Ch.1.1
Week 2 had students starting their textbook lessons. I used inspiration from the chapter titles and main expressions in the Listen & Speak portions, creating my own dialogue that would be more natural in a native American - English situation.
1st Year: Chapter 5.1 - Love Yourself:
The lesson talks about student strengths, weaknesses, and mindset. The dialogue is a discussion between two friends - one being more self-critical while the other provides emotional support. We read the dialogue together, working on pronunciation, and then I asked students to partner up. I wanted them to continue practicing the dialogue and work together to guess the meaning of the slang / phrases in the dialogue given the context. I also shared the difference of hang out vs. play in English! If there was more time left over after their own comprehension check activity, I would expand the lesson to talk about self-confidence and self-care!
The terms / slang / phrases covered:
self-love
self-esteem (high and low)
self-conscious
strengths
weaknesses
take a look
hanging out (vs. play)
'cause
social butterfly
cut yourself some slack
be hard on myself (vs. work hard on myself)
2nd Year: Chapter 1 - Treasured Moments in Life:
Lesson talks about treasured items and memories. Students were asked to do a Think/Pair/Share activity to talk about a treasured item they have and what precious memories they have tied to that item. The theme would be seen in the lesson dialogue, which was a discussion between two friends - talking about their own memories and experiences at a family apple orchard.
We read the dialogue together, working on pronunciation, and I introduced an American cultural topic covered in the dialogue: Fall-time in America! From apple orchards, honey-crisp apples, apple cider, caramel apples, the students got to know some American fall-time favorites. After giving sharing to students the cultural points of the dialogue, had students partner up to practice the dialogue and to guess the meaning of the slang / phrases in the dialogue given the context. If there was more time left over after their own comprehension check activity, I asked students to do one last Think/Pair/Share activity talking about what day / trip they would never forget!
The terms / slang / phrases covered:
to treasure something
precious memories
Nostalgia
I'll never forget...
apple orchard
honeycrisp apples
caramel apples
apple cider (vs. apple juice)
y'all (vs. all y'all)
what a throwback
for real
hang out (vs. play)
a bunch of
to feel dead
'cause
Week 3 : Textbook Lessons - Ch.5.2 and Ch.2
1st Year: Chapter 5.2 - Do What You Love:
Lesson talks about how to give advice on future careers. The students were introduced to three terms that they would see in their dialogue. The dialogue being a discussion between two friends - one being concerned about their future career path while the other provides emotional support and talks about their own struggles deciding.
I had students start with a Think/Pair/Share activity to talk about their interests and what kind of careers would be good fits to such interests. We read the dialogue together, then had them group up to read the dialogue and guess the meaning of the slang / phrases in the dialogue given the context. If there was more time left over after their own comprehension check activity, I would expand the lesson to talk about possible career paths based on the previous Think/Pair/Share activity!
The terms / slang / phrases covered:
personal interests
to give advice
Can you give me some advice?
What are you interested in?
I'm interested in...
If I were you, I'd ...
I'll give it a try.
Thanks for your advice.
career path
What'cha up to?
gunna
wanna
that's rough
gotta
looked into
2nd Year: Chapter 2 - Understanding People Around You:
Lesson talks about how to give advice and the importance of perspective. The students were introduced to three terms that they would see in their dialogue. The dialogue being a discussion between two friends - asking and giving advice from something simple to something more complex.
We read the dialogue together, then had them group up to read the dialogue and guess the meaning of the slang / phrases in the dialogue given the context. Afterwards, the students completed an empathy quiz to see how much they empathize with others around them. If there was more time left over after their own comprehension check activity, I would expand the lesson to talk about how to express sympathy vs empathy to different situations!
The terms / slang / phrases covered:
to give advice
to empathize (to have empathy)
to sympathize (to have sympathy)
Can you give me some advice?
If I were you, I'd ...
I can empathize with you.
You can sympathize with her.
Thanks for the advice.
What'cha up to?
congrats
a bit rough
rocky relationship
don't get
baby of the family
gotta
put myself in her shoes
Week 4 : Review Jeopardy Bomb Games
This is a spacer lesson to make sure students remembered what we covered in the past few lessons, as well as allow classes that are running behind to try and catch up. I know my students love to have chances for gaining points and winning games not strictly based on knowledge, so making their review an interactive game with a physical challenge or with chance in a Jeopardy Double-or-Nothing Bomb Game was the best choice. Also, of course, offering a sweet treat as a reward for their hard collective efforts.
Week 5 : Textbook Lessons - Ch.6 and Ch.3
1st Year: Chapter 6 - The Power of Will:
Lesson talks about using a great deal of effort to overcome difficulties. The students were introduced to three terms that they would see in their dialogue. The dialogue being a discussion between two friends - one being envious about a third-party making it on the varsity soccer team and the other informing and de-escalating their friend to see the reality of the situation.
I had students start with a Think/Pair/Share activity to talk about a time they made a great deal of effort, and share something they think would be hard for me to believe using "Believe it or not!" We read the dialogue together, then had them group up to read the dialogue and guess the meaning of the slang / phrases in the dialogue given the context. If there was more time left over after their own comprehension check activity, I would expand the lesson to talk about a time they overcame a difficulty, and expanding their sentence by using "Although" with their strategy for overcoming that difficulty!
The terms / slang / phrases covered:
to overcome (something)
a great deal of effort
Believe it or not!
I'm surprised that...
Although,...
don't get
to show up
no way
working hard at (something)
tough cookie
setting me straight
no probs (vs. no problemo)
varsity vs. junior varsity
2nd Year: Chapter 3 - Be Selective with Information:
Lesson talks about the importance of researching properly before believing something. The students were introduced to three terms that they would see in their dialogue. The dialogue being a discussion between two friends - one talking about local ghost stories they read about online and the other raising skepticism about source credibility.
I had students start with a Think/Pair/Share activity to talk about something necessary for them to do, and share something they think would be hard for me to believe using "Believe it or not!" We read the dialogue together, then had them group up to read the dialogue and guess the meaning of the slang / phrases in the dialogue given the context. If there was more time left over after their own comprehension check activity, I would expand the lesson to talk about misinformation they came across, and talk about a time they pulled an all nighter by being sucked into something!
The terms / slang / phrases covered:
misinformation
It's necessary to ...
It's important to...
Believe it or not!
Holy cow!
to pull an all-nighter
to get sucked into (something)
scaredy cat
No way!
I can't believe
sketchy (vs. sketch vs. sus)
setting me straight
Week 6 : Song Game Show 2
This is another in-between game lesson to help other classes not fall behind, as well as celebrate our shortened work-week due to Chuseok (추석). This is the second version of a lesson I actually found and modified from another ETA last semester. I again found the other ETA's second version and modified it to best fit my students.
This lesson has three main rounds: English listening, English reading and understanding, and English comprehension. Through use of music, students are in a team competition to try and show their listening and comprehension skills! And, to help any team have a chance to come on top, there is a fun bonus round!
Week 7 : Liar 2 or Review Games
Liar 2:
This is the extension of the game that gets everyone involved! All students are either at the front speaking English while talking about what they see on their given cards … or at their team tables guessing WHO is the liar. Just a fun activity to get students awake and involved right before Midterms starts.
How to play:
Students are placed into four teams using my team cards
Each team will send one player up to represent the team.
Each representative will get a card. All of them will get the same picture except one that will get a card saying “Liar.”
Each representative will say one sentence to describe what they see in the picture without giving the picture totally away. Depending on the picture, we may have them go for a second round of description sentences.
The liar will not know what the picture actually looks like and will have to pretend that they do.
After each representative says a sentence, then the teams will have to decide who the liar is and vote on it.
Teams that guess the liar correctly will get a point!
How to set up the game:
Print off at least 5 copies of the picture cards from the Liar_Cards2 file. I kept each set paper clipped together. Each set will also get a “Lair” card that I kept on the bottom of each stack. I tried to match up dark pictures with a dark “Liar” card, and brighter pictures with brighter “Lair” cards.
Make 4 teams.
Go through the PPT to explain the rules of the game. Make sure they understand how to play clearly and go through the example!
Award the teams and the liar differently. I had the first rounds go 1pt for the teams that guess the liar and 3 pts to the liar for not being caught. When you feel your student energy level dropping, that’s when you start to raise the point values to 2pts to teams and 5 pts to liars, 3pts to teams and 10 pts to lairs, and 5 pts to teams and 25 points to liars. Making the stakes higher makes them really keep interest and involved.
This game takes the whole class period ^^ Try to have as much fun with it as possible by also shuffling the cards and guessing who the liar is yourself ~!
Review All-or-Nothing Jeopardy Bomb Game:
Any classes that have NOT completed the review game got a chance in a modified version that covers all lesson contents. As stated before, I know my students love to have chances for gaining points and winning games not strictly based on knowledge, so making their review an interactive game with a physical challenge or with chance in a Jeopardy Double-or-Nothing Bomb Game was the best choice. Also, of course, offering a sweet treat as a reward for their hard collective efforts ... especially right before Midterm exams!
CEC - Casual English Club
Most Wednesdays, I would meet with my club class. It has mostly first year students besides our second year student club leader! Our meetings are for 2 hours, learning English and having fun.
Week 1 : Someone Like You - Song Lesson
For this meeting, I wanted to welcome back students and have another lesson using music! I chose to use Adele’s “Someone Like You” to teach idioms and phrasal verbs. This lesson involved a PPT, a worksheet, and the music video itself to invoke English listening skills, knowledge on idioms / phrasal verbs, and discussion to understand the whole song from start to finish. The printout was a gap-fill activity. I had the students listen to the song two times to see if they can listen for and catch the missing lyrics. Most of the missing lyrics were phrasal verbs.
All terms, slang words, phrasal verbs and idioms discussed and defined:
settled down
old friend
ain't
time flies
time of our lives
turn up out of the blue
bittersweet this would taste
I wish nothing but the best for you
Sometimes it last in love, sometimes it hurts instead
After the lesson, we just had a chill study environment with more music that the students got to queue up.
Meeting 2 : Project Introduction - Online Meeting
This semester, I was informed that there will be a club contest in December where students have to showcase something they have done during the club time. I worked hard to create a plan where we would be able to present a very strong finished product by December - having a mini-book club and making a mini-magazine! I had to also present this information to my students while having a sudden online-based club meeting due to a corona outbreak scare in Gwangyang.
The online meeting would be the first that would introduce having different activities occuring every meeting. This meeting started off with a warm-up interactive online spelling/word game, then moved to a writing activity. We had a 10-minute break where I would introduce the Mini-Book Club and Mini-Magazine projects to be able to present it in the December club contest, and we finished the club meeting with a listening activity I created using my own self-made video lessons with ISLCollective.
Students only were expected to due Part 1 of the listening activity due to time restrictions, but I uploaded Part 2 as well if you would like to use them!
Meeting 3 : Project Start
Not all students were present during my online meeting the week prior, so I quickly introduced our semester project plans once more. I wanted to also have students practice the same writing activity that we completed the week prior. That way, students can get used to writing in English.
I also had the help from my co-teacher to have students find their English books for the mini-book club prior to our meeting so that they can get a headstart reading their chosen novels!
To get the mini-magazine going, I instructed to students that today's expectations: chose whether they will work alone or with a partner as well as start brainstorming possible writing topics. They must work on this in the club class time using the school's laptops and the worksheet I linked to our club class's Google Classroom.
Meeting 4 : Project Continued
Unfortunately, this meeting's plans were postponed to allow students to have self-study time for their midterms... and my medical leave made it impossible to follow through my Meeting 4 original plan. Regardless, I wanted to post the materials and activities.
I wanted to have a fun English speaking activity to start off our club meeting called "English Chair." Each student would be able to randomly draw and answer any of the questions in the English Chair file. After all student get a chance to answer two different questions, I would transition us into mini-book club reading time.
This meeting, students would have to finally report what book they chose for the semester. I wanted to give students to swap books between Meeting 3-4 so that they aren't stuck with a book they find boring.
For the mini-magazine, students would have to finally tell me what topic they will chose to write about, and whether they want to work individually or in pairs.
Gwangyang High School 2021 English Camp
Every year, my school has an English Camp hosted, and this year's camp would be in October! Most times, the camp is a 2 day, 1 night trip out into Bonggang-myeon (봉강면), an outside neighborhood of Gwangyang filled with mountains and river valleys. I have been working on my English camp lesson proposals since summer break to be able to properly aid in the ETA search process, the English Camp Workbook creation, organizing lesson plans and brainstorming our theme.
Lessons:
My original plan was for three 50 minute lessons that would be meaningful and different than what students would normally experience at school. The lesson topics were, "Getting Through Hard Time and Celebrating Good Times," "Documenting Memories," and "Write a Letter to Someone Who Helped You." The three part series would talk about toxic masculinity, the importance of mental health, complexity of emotions, how to safe-keep your memories, the importance of acknowledging help, and ways to communicate your appreciation. Unfortunately due to uncertainty of our camp location and time-line, the original proposal would not be able to be used.
The school decided to have the English Camp again in Bonggang-myeon, and have each ETA teach only 2 lessons of 40-mins in length with the theme,"Harmony in Different Perspectives." The final lesson plans and materials I made use"Inside Out" to help ease the students into the conversation of emotions, their complexity, and how we must appreciate the necessity of all our emotions. The next lesson would then transition into a video project where students can creatively present what they learned in the first lesson!
Workbook Covers:
I did create the English Camp Workbook cover pages, the front cover being the image above. Due to my medical complications, I was unable to participate in the English camp. So, I removed my image from the front cover and emailed my school an updated workbook.
Disclaimer: The following statements, thoughts and information presented are my own and do not represent the U.S. Department of State or its Fulbright Program.
