my lessons as an ETA - spring 2021
I wanted a safe place to organize and share all the things I did during my English teaching assistantship grant year. I teach at an all boys high school in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do, South Korea, years 1 and 2 with student English levels from beginner to pretty high! Most students were intermediate level English language speakers, and my first semester was mostly games to get all students engaged and comfortable to be able to use English at any level!
Through gamification, my lessons were fairly hard to come up with every week - especially my club class! I did get some help here and there for ideas, but most of the game lessons were made by me. I want to share them in this blog post! I linked a google drive folder with everything inside as well. Enjoy~
All Lessons Spring Semester 2021
1. First day lesson + About Me Worksheet
Introduction to who I am, classroom expectations, and a self-introduction class activity.
The original plan was to have students do 2 truths and 1 lie as a self-introduction activity and the about me sheet as homework, but I changed it to have students do the about me homework sheet in class and do their self-introduction from it.
Timeline:
FirstDayLessonPlan.ppt for the first 10-15 mins
AboutMe.docx for 20-25 mins
Student Self Introductions for last 10-15 mins
Files used:
Self Introduction Worksheet.pdf
Horabik_FirstDayLessonPlan.pptx
Horabik_SecondFirstDayLessonPlan.pptx
2. Telephone: Song Lyrics
A team game to get all students reading the telephone prompt and speaking English while focusing on pronunciation, listening to each other, and spelling the final product correctly.
This telephone game theme is song lyrics. All telephone phrase sheets are song lyrics to popular English and Korean songs. I did include music artist names too to help students recognize the song. Make sure to explain that they do not have to write the music artist name on the final product.
Game set-up:
Telephonesongs.docx printed out, stapled together, cut into strips, and organized by difficulty level for the rest of the game
Students will be put into teams based on their seats in columns. This makes it easier to get them to stand in a line. The last person in each team will be given a white board, two whiteboard markers, and an eraser.
The song lyric strips used will increase by difficulty as the students get a grasp on the game.
Timeline:
Telephone.pptx for the first 5 mins to explain the game rules
Telephonesongs.docx strips for the rest of the class
Files used:
Telephonegame.pdf
Telephonesongs.docx
3. 2 Truths 1 Lie
Students get a sheet of paper to write three sentences about themselves. By seeing an example in my PPT to further introduce myself, students will be writing two true facts about themselves and one lie.
Game Rules the students are told:
Think about two true facts about you and one lie about you. You want this to be difficult for someone else to guess what is true and what is the lie. Take time to think of your three sentences and write them IN ENGLISH.
Each person will present your “2 Truths & 1 Lie” to the class, going 1-by-1 by teams. When it’s a team’s turn, they will chose one player to present their sentences to the class.
Other teams will talk about what was the lie. After talking and considering, they will write their answer on the board as a 1, 2 or 3 signifying the sentence said.
At the same time, the guessing teams will raise their answers, and the speaker will announce the lie. If the teams’ guesses are correct, they will get a point!
I have also found that increasing the point value of guessing correct each new round keeps spirits up high and helps the students want to strategize (ie. Round 1 = 1 point, Round 2 = 2 points, Round 3 = 3 points, Round 4 = 5 points, Round 5 = 10 points, etc.).
Files used:
2Truths1Lie.docx
2Truths1Lie.pptx
2Truths1Lie_Version2.ppts
4. Spy Game: Who Killed Him?
This game requires teamwork, grammar skills, spelling skills and attention to detail. I open it up to students by giving them a very simplified version of the game.
Background students are given:
You will get coded messages.
You will have to decode the messages using a code key.
Then, write the decoded message on the whiteboard.
How to play:
You will make teams of 3-4 people.
1-2 people are decoders. Decoders are the only ones allowed to look at the code key printout.
1-2 people are communicators. Communicators are the ones allowed to write on the whiteboard.
Therefore, teams must work together to get the answer.
There will be four parts to the spy story, so each team member will have a chance to be a decoder and a communicator.
Make sure at any point that you see one person looking at the key and writing by themselves, you take the key out of their hand and tell the other team member that they have to tell them the answers. Teamwork!!
Lastly, explain the code key. There are letters on the left side and symbols on the bottom. Look at the example code and see how they can find each answer. Some boxes give them more than one option. They must pick the grammatically correct answer!
Print out:
Enough code keys (pg.2) so that every team gets only one.
A “Teacher’s Copy” of the code key (pg.2) and the story’s answer key (pg.3) for you and your co-teacher
The story summary pages (pg.4-6) to give to students after they finish each part. That way, they can see the story as it progresses to try and figure out the main question.
The coded version of the spy story (pg.7-10) juuuuuust in case you will have tech issues. I was lucky enough not to need to use these. I am not sure that it’s the best idea to give them the whole part in code because it might make them overwhelmed. It might be better to go step by step printed out, but it’ll require you to print and organize a bunch more papers.
How to win:
I keep track of team points on the board. To get a point, teams must decode the sentence with correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The spelling and punctuation is literally given on the code sheet, so all they need to do is take their time and communicate well.
Make sure on the board as well when you write the team points, you write the overall mission sentence “Who killed him?” on the board in the middle. Constantly refer to the big question to keep them involved and interested in the story itself. I did type up the story the morning of trying this game out, so feel free to change it up if you want to!
At the end, ask the big question once more and have them look at the whole story. I ask, “Who killed him?” and give them the option: Victoria, our spy partner? Or the store worker? To make it more difficult, tell them that they have to say why they think that person killed them. It’s a mission success if the group answers the store worker, especially if they talk about how the store worker mentions “knife” at the end.
Files used:
SpyHandout_Murder.docx
SpyPPT_Murder.pptx
5. Categories
This game tests student vocab knowledge, spelling accuracy, critical thinking and team work. Students will be placed into 4-5 teams. Each team will be given a whiteboard, eraser and multiple markers.
The game is as follows:
There will be a category posted on the screen / given to each team on a card / in the form of a bomb game “choose your own adventure” ppt.
The teams will work together to think up of as many words that fit the category.
After 1-3 minutes of writing down as many words as possible on their white boards, judging will begin! Only words truly fitting the category and spelled correctly will be counted.
The team with the greatest number of category fitting and correctly spelled words will receive 3 points. Second place gets 2 points, and third gets 1 point. The bottom team(s) will receive zero points for that round. In the case of teams having the same number of words, they will just share the place position. Top team will get candy.
In the PPT:
You will get a paper with a category.
You will have 1-3 minutes to talk with your team and write as many words as possible that match the category.
Only words that fit the category AND are spelled correctly will be counted.
When time is over, bring your whiteboards up to the teacher and get judged.
Every round, three teams can get points!
1st place = 3 point
2nd place = 2 points
3rd place = 1 point
4th – 5th place = 0 points
Files used:
Categories_HowTo.docx
Categories.pptx
6. Liar: Pictures
This game 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.
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_Cards 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 ~!
Files used:
Liar_Cards.docx
Liar_Outline.docx
Liar_PPT.pptx
TeamTags.docx
7. Zelda Bomb Konglish
Created this bomb game to give students an opportunity to consider how some commonly used Konglish words really do not have the same meaning in English.
How to play:
Students are placed into groups using team cards I created.
Each question has a Konglish word. The Konglish words are written with the English alphabet, but still maintain the Korean pronunciation.
Students have to first decipher the Konglish word into Korean in their head, and then think of the word in English to express the Konglish concept properly.
If the team answers correctly. Then can either get points or be lead to a bomb page. If they answer incorrectly, another team can try and steal the question.
There are 5 bomb questions where students would be lead to a 3 boxed game page. Boxes may heave: points, enemies (makes the team lose all points), or a bomb (where they can throw at another team to wipe out all points).
If there is extra time, I do one round of just bombs. It helps teams get a bunch of energy right at the end because they might be able to take down the Konglish game winners.
I have an answer key printed to help me find out which boxes have points / bombs / enemies.
Files used:
Konglish Answers.docx
Konglish.pptx
Konglish_ZeldaBombGame.pptx
8. Pengsoo Bomb Texting Slang: Main Page & Bonus Page
Main Page:
Originally created for my club class to teach English testing slang, but recycled to fill in the extra time after the Konglish game. Typically was one or two rounds for the class treated as a mini-game.
Students were already in their bomb game groups, so it was a smooth transition. Hints were given in hangman game format and in sample text messages written on the board.
Bonus Page:
Originally created for my club class to teach English testing slang, but recycled to fill in the extra time after the end of speaking tests. Typically, we went through one or two rounds for the class treated as a mini-game.
Files used:
Pengsoo_TextingSlang.pptx
9. Human Bingo
Created to let students free talk with one another before midterms exams.
How to set up
Each student is given a human bingo game page printed out.
Rules students are given:
Ask questions to your classmates and find a person who matches the box description!
If the person matches the box, tell them to sign their name in the box.
You cannot have the same person sign more than 2 boxes!
When you get at least three BINGO’s, have the teacher check! If you get the teacher’s sign, you may relax. But, if you get a sign in every box, you get an extra prize!
Files used:
HumanBingo.pptx
HumanBingo.pdf
Human_Bingo.docx
10. May Madness
A fun basketball themed English game to cover many different topics in English. There are grammar questions, pronunciation questions, tongue twisters and free questions. This lesson also covers March Madness – a very popular college basketball tournament in the United States. Students can get English practice and an American cultural lesson.
Rules students are given:
Make two teams – left side and right side of the classroom
Each team sends one person to the front to “tip-off.” The first player to grab the “basketball” (a paper ball) will get the first chance to answer the question. If they answer incorrectly or take too long to answer, a “turn-over” occurs: the other student and try and answer.
Points are described as “lay-up” (2 points), “three-pointer” (3 points), and “half court shot” (5 points). Each segment of the game increases in difficulty and point value.
If there is bad attitude, disrespect, etc, teams will get a “foul” or lose 1-3 points depending.
Lastly, if the student answers correctly, they have an option to keep the points or try “double or nothing.” This means, they can try and shoot the basketball into the basket. If they make it in, they can double the points won. If they don’t make it, they get zero points.
Files used:
MayMadness.pptx
11. Olympics
A lesson that talks about the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, the debate on whether Japan should be hosting the Olympics, and the various sports found in the Olympics. We talk about Korea’s and America’s top Olympic sports and move onto.
The lesson moves onto a segment called “Real or Fake: Which sports are real?” Students are given the question,” Do you think this sport is real or fake?” when being proposed various weird games not found in the Olympics. When the weird sport is real, it is followed up with a YouTube video about the sport.
After the weird sports activity, students are given a worksheet to help lead them through short writing and speaking activity. Students will fill out the worksheet, and then ask/answer the free write questions with the people around them.
Matching the weird sports to the descriptions
What sport do you want to add to the 2021 Olympics?
Why do you want to add the sport?
After, students get to play a sports themed Hot Seat game:
Two teams made
The team will send one person to the front to sit in the “hot seat”
The teams will be describing the word on the PPT screen for the person in the “hot seat” to guess.
Files used:
Olympics_Worksheet.docx
Olympics.pptx
12. 4th of July
This lesson is about the American holiday, the 4th of July. It introduces some very basic American history (who was there before colonization, and the origin of the USA), talks about what Independence Day is, how is Independence Day celebrated, and asks students to also share their own Korean Independence Day customs.
I also incorporated movie clips from The Sandlot to help further students’ understanding of the 4th of July. Students watch the movie clips along with a worksheet to keep them engaged and listening. Through the clips, students can see most of the 4th of July celebration traditions, and learn about s’mores!
After the lesson, I made a 4th of July baseball themed Jeopardy game.
Students are put into two teams
Teams will go one-by-one to send a person up to answer a question
If the student answers the question correctly, they can either keep the points, or try the same March Madness “double or nothing” by throwing the “baseball” into a basket.
Files used:
4th of July Worksheet_Print.docx
Independence Day.pptx
IndependenceDayJeopardy.pptx
12 : Song Game Show
This game was inspired by another ETA's lesson, and I had modified it to best fit my students! It 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! Because the key is located on my work computer and the PPT is on a Google Slides document, I'll just link the PPT itself!
13. End of the Semester Survey
The last week of class, I have students tell me what they thought about the class! I wanted to know what they liked, what they didn't like, what they wanted to learn, and how much more confident they feel using English in our class!
I allowed them to use the full class time to do this, and if they finished early, they can hang out and talk comfortably.
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.
1. Introduction Meeting
I introduced myself and the club. The purpose of this club is as the name suggests – experiencing English casually. I expressed to the students that they must think of their interests and inform me so that I can help prepare club materials and activities with them. We talked about what they would be interested in, and worked on completing the club summary document.
My introduction was just about me and where I am from. I allowed the students to freely ask me questions, and we got to cover an unexpected topic – my home city of Chicago. I told them all about Chicago’s dialect, sports teams, traditions, and more. I used YouTube videos as well to help describe Chicago’s unique identity following the student’s inquiries.
I also prepared a lesson on common slang for “zoomers” in the States. “Zoomers” is a slang term itself describing Generation Z aged individuals. “Zoomers” also suggest Gen. Z individuals that are a part of internet culture – specifically Snapchat, Instagram and most importantly, TikTok.
The lesson involved a PPT and a worksheet used to define the common slang terms:
What’s up
What’s good
Awesome
Sick
Fire
Lit
Rona
You good?
Bet
Sus
Swag
Bruh
Homie
Fam
Bae
Tea (give me the tea)
2. See You Again - Song Lesson
For this meeting, I wanted to continue with learning USA specific terminology that student’s may or may not be aware of. Wanting to teach through music, I chose to use Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” 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:
I’ll tell you all about it
Been through
‘bout
To hit the road
Something told me
Switch up
See the bigger picture
A better place
Family’s all that we got
Standing there by my side
The last ride
It’s been a long day
From where we began
Go out your way
The vibe is feeling strong
That bond will never be broken
The line will never be crossed
That line has to be drawn
Not only were the student’s able to learn a bunch of English phrases, but the student’s got to talk about the song’s themes and meaning. Brotherhood, loyalty, missing a lost loved one, and more are discussed in this song. And, it was really fun to describe the importance of the song to the students. The music video got to show the real-life transcendence of the on-screen brotherhood between the late Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, how the circumstances of the late Paul Walker’s death was related closely to the movie franchise, and how they were able to honor the late Paul Walker’s death.
After the lesson, we enjoyed playing cards together. I had purchased two decks of playing cards and made two groups to play various games together. I sat with one group, and I had them teach me how to play a game they were all very familiar with. Very similar to the US’s Uno, but called “5 Card.” It was fun having the students explain the card games to me in English.
3. Texting Slang Lesson
Today’s lesson would be the final installment of CEC’s slang theme. I wanted to teach students very commonly used American messaging/texting slang. I wanted to make this lesson be more fun and interactive, so I made a bomb game to promote learning through gamification.
The bomb game involved teams, and I used texting examples to help teams guess the meaning of the different slang words. That way, students are able to see specific examples / situations on how the slang terms are properly used in a chat between friends.
The lesson involved the bomb game and worksheet covering the following slang words:
brb
btw
eta
fr (frfr)
fyi
gtg / g2g
hbd
hmu
idc
idk
ikr
ily
irl
iykyk
jk (jkjk)
lmk
lol
nm
nvm
omg
tbh
tmi
ttyl
way
wyd
4. Mafia
After the lesson, we played Mafia with self-made playing cards I prepared for outside of club activities. The game involved the whole class. I played as the narrator, and the students took on randomly assigned roles from the playing cards: mafia (people that can kill one player a night, aka. “bad guys”), cop (investigates once a night a player to see if they are mafia), doctor (someone that can save one person a night), and villagers (those that have no other job but be killed). This game involved the whole class, allowed for discussions, and had students listen to me narrate the game in English.
5. Howl's Moving Castle Movie - English Dubbing
Today I wanted to allow the students to enjoy a relaxing club class. We decided to watch the famous and awarded Japanese animation, “Howl’s Moving Castle,” using the English dubbed version. The English dubbed version helped students watch a movie they knew well and be exposed to British English pronunciation while enjoying.
This movie involved many meaningful themes such as destiny, youth, courage, and love. The moral of the story is a very important lesson – the realistic view of love. When watching the film, one can be quite confused and feel as though they are on a roller-coaster. This is to describe how the journey to one’s destiny is unclear from the beginning, how love is never rational, and that one’s love can be expressed in many different ways.
6. Yes Day Movie - English Subtitles Only
Today we finished the last few minutes of “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and moved onto a different film. The film I chose was “Yes Day” because this would let students watch an American family film with a very wonderful message and many meaningful themes. This film was shown mostly in English with English subtitles. Other languages spoken in the film were ironically Korean and Spanish.
The film was about a family of five living in California. The husband and wife used to be thrill seeking and fun-loving individuals without any limitations. “Seizing the day” was the way they lived and enjoyed their early years of dating... until becoming parents. The husband is actually an immigrant, so students got to see a very common occurrence in the states: the dynamics of a mixed, bilingual family with an immigrant parent. The parents took on the responsibilities and burdens of being a working and doting parental team … which turned their “saying yes” lifestyle to “saying no.”
Parents learned that saying no to everything to “keep their kids safe and alive” really was limiting not only the children’s experience as a kid, but also the parent’s experience of being a parent to children. By saying “yes” more, more people got to enjoy life together.
Themes the movie taught the students:
The power of positivity
How saying yes can lead to more fruitful experiences
How parenting is a partnership
Immigrant parental figures
Bilingual families
The power of familial bonds, no matter the age
7. Travel USA
Students have not considered what activities they want to do for club class. So, I made a short lesson and a research activity known as “Travel USA.” The PPT lesson was used to discuss the different geographical regions of the USA, a worksheet was made to help lead students on their research, and I showed a YouTube video on the different terrains in the states to help the students decide on a research location.
The worksheet, labeled “Travel Itinerary,” allowed for the students to research a region, state, or even a city in the USA. They can go as general or as specific as they wanted. Once they picked a location, students were to research the location’s weather, tourist attractions/activities, famous foods, what to pack in a suitcase if someone would travel there, fun facts on the location, famous people from there, a hidden gem to go see, any regional dialects / slang there, and why they would like to travel to that location. I also included a place for students to draw a picture to depict their chosen location.
This activity’s purpose was to:
Give a general lesson on the US geographic locations and regional diversity
Allow for students to pick a location of interest
Research their chosen location
Allow for students to teach each other about their chosen location.
8. Painting Class
This is our first meeting after a very long break. I felt like it was unfair to have students do their research project after a very hectic and busy schedule, so I bought materials to allow students to decompress and de-stress through painting.
Watercolor painting is a wonderful activity to express oneself and detach from the stresses of the “daily grind.” We played relaxing music and made three painting stations for students to enjoy the activity. While painting, students enjoyed free talk. I sat with one table while painting, and we discussed what we were painting.
During the last part of the club class, I asked students whether they would enjoy painting again on our second club class of the week, or if they would like to do another activity. They decided that they would enjoy watching a movie again. I instructed the students to consider what movie they would like to watch for our next meeting.
9. Karate Kid Movie Lesson
Today is our third movie day. I asked the students whether they considered what movie they would like to watch, but they said they have not. I luckily vetted two movie choices. I asked them whether they would prefer watching one of two inspirational films: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty or The Karate Kid. The students decided on The Karate Kid. This movie is fantastic and involves many new themes that the past two movies we covered did not.
This adaption involves the following themes:
a single mother and son
being Black in a non-black neighborhood/country
moving to the highly homogeneous China
being “the outsider”
being “the new kid”
being bullied
the importance of having a mentor
making foreign friends
experiencing language barriers
learning a new language when moving to a different country
cultural differences / culture shock
homesickness
how determination and training pays off in the end
10. Karate Kid Discussion
This day is to finish our movie, “The Karate Kid,” and open up for a movie review / discussion. I made and prepared a PPT lesson and written activity to encourage a discussion about the many meaningful lessons that students got to experience while watching the film.
The PPT/worksheet opens up discussion on the following:
Their thoughts about the movie
Should the movie title be changed?
Did they watch the original Karate Kid?
Which was better: original or the 2010 version we watched?
What is different between the two films?
Being Black in China
Do you think it was a good idea to have a black main character?
Would it be easy to be black in China? Why?
What is hard about being black in China? Why?
Why was Dre and his mother the only black characters?
Dre’s school had many foreigners, but Dre was the only black student. Is this true in real life?
Do you think Dre was bullied because he was black?
What do you think about people wanting to touch black hair?
What do you think about Dre’s main friend is Chinese, not another foreigner?
Being “The Outsider”
Definition of “the outsider”
Have you ever been “the outsider”?
What was the situation? When? How did you feel?
Mr. Han – Having a mentor
Do you think Mr. Han is open minded?
Why do you think he wanted to train Dre?
Who has been your favorite / most important teacher? Why?
What do you think of Mr. Han’s 6/8 tradition? (fixing his car and then smashing it every year on his family death anniversary)
What do you think about the reflection story? (Being still / calm internal energy and seeing the reflection clearly vs. touching the water / chaotic internal energy and not being able to see the reflection well)
Being “The New Kid”
Definition of “the new kid”
Have you ever been “the new kid” before? When? How did you feel?
What is good about being “the new kid”? What is bad?
Traveling
Have you ever traveled with your family before? Where?
Did you have to speak a different language there?
Did you learn a new language to use there?
Did someone know the same language as you?
Definition of “language barrier”
Have you ever experienced a “language barrier” before? When?
Have you ever made a foreign friend before?
Or, have you ever made a friend in a different place (not your hometown)? Where did you meet them?
Experiences
Definition of “homesick”
Have you ever felt “homesick” before? When?
What is something you trained / practiced hard for?
Have you ever experienced traditional medicine before? How was it?
Have you ever learned martial arts? Which ones?
Have you ever been in a fight before?
Have you ever done a competition? What was it for?
What is the craziest thing you have done?
What is something you want to learn
Teach me!
Which Korean festivals should foreigners experience?
Which traditional Korean stories should foreigners know about?
Compare the three movies we watched: Howl’s Moving Castle, Yes Day, and The Karate Kid
Which movie was the best? Why?
Which movie was the worst? Why?
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.
