Date: 29.03.2012

Teacher: Irina Bučinska

Observer: Larisa Sardiko

Form 7

VOCABULARY LEARNING: IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS OF WHAT AND HOW

Aims:

Thinking: to create a challenge (=identify the limitations to the way of vocabulary selection and organization) TTF – step 1

Subject-specific: to built up strategies of vocabulary learning for communication

Materials: a list of vocabulary items from ‘Harry Potter’

Abbreviations: T (teacher), P (pupils), POV – point of view, *vocabulary provided by the teacher, O (observer), TTF (thinking task framework)

Summary: during the lesson the pupils discussed the effectiveness of their way of vocabulary organisation and challenged its usefulness through speaking. As a result they came up with the necessity of creating an algorithm.

T. Look at the list of words. Is it a good way to learn vocabulary?

P1. Phrases are better than words. - T.: Can we improve the list?

P1. We can make the list more general.

P2. We can add some examples.

P3. We can reorganise the words – specific for the text and general for any situation.

T. Why is it better? - P4. Because we cannot use all words in any situation.

T. Aim? Why do we need vocabulary for? – P5. Speaking, writing, reading.

 T. How does it help you in speaking? Writing? Let us check.

T. divides pupils into pairs 1 and 2: 2s are speaking on the topic of their choice; 1s has the list of 2 to check how many words from the list 2  uses.

T. Conclusions?

P1. We can’t use these words.

T. We really have a problem with vocabulary. Cann you formulate some problem?

P2. We don’t know which words to learn.

P2.We are not used to use the words that we learn

Homework: think and come up with a suggestion how to learn the words so that it could help you to speak better.

O. We, teachers, still grudge the time for discussion of how to learn and think we can solve all problems ourselves. This lesson showed me that we should trust our pupils more and make them responsible rather than impose our vision and style of learning on them.