UNIT 3 - A HALLOWEEN PARTY

GRADE
This didactic unit have been designed for a sixth grade class in Primary Education.

MOTIVATION

So, the first thing that has to be taken into account is the interests of the students of this age. They are teenagers and their interests are not as childish as in the first stages of Primary Education. They are eager for participating in the world as adults, but at the same time they are still children. For instance, they enjoy games a lot and when a topic is presented like a game they enjoy it much more.

UNIT STRUCTURE

Al the Units of this Didactic planning have been structured in 7 sessions.

Each session will last 45 minutes.

The four skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) will be worked separately in this order in different sessions, although the oral interaction will always reinforce the concepts that the pupils have to learn in all sessions. Last input must be the first output, because when you express something with your own words you do not forget it as easily as it happens when you listen to something passively.

In the fifth and the sixth session all the skills will be worked together and in the last session our students will be evaluated by doing a final task, though there are several activities along the unit which will be considered as partial tests of the students’ skills.

SESSION 1 (LISTENING)
a. Warm-up activities: Guess what it is! (2 minutes)
b. Listening (They watch a video about Halloween twice: 8 minutes)
c. Brainstorming: What do you know about this? (12 minutes)
d. Flashcards (Vocabulary presentation) (3 minutes)
e. Final task presentation: My favourite Halloween Monsters (15 minutes)
f. End of class routine: Song (Ghostbusters). (They listen to the song twice: 5 minutes)

In this first session the topic of the unit will be presented to the students.

Activity a: Guess what it is! (6 minutes)

I start the lesson drawing some parts of a picture and the students have to guess the word that the picture represents before the teacher finishes it. You can also do this activity showing parts of a photograph, so the children have to guess the word before showing the complete image.

Activity b: Documentary video (Listening) (7 minutes)

The pupils listen to a documentary video about Sea Monsters.

Activity c: What do you know about this? (Brainstorming) (13 minutes)

The pupils try to guess the title of the Unit with the information they have learnt in the documentary video. Then, the students speak about what they know about Sea Monsters.

Activity d: Flashcards (Vocabulary presentation) (4 minutes)

The students repeat the pronunciation of each word according to a model of voice of a native English Speaker they listen to in the following video-flashcards. The video is watched twice in order to reinforce the new vocabulary about Halloween.

Activity e: My favourite Sea Monsters (Final Task Presentation) (10 minutes)

The teacher explains the Final Task and interact orally with the students solving their doubts about how to do it. In this Unit, the students will have to elaborate a wallchart about two Halloween Monsters.

We will work several abilities in the learn to learn competence by working this activity. They have to be able to look for information to present the real Sea Monster. They have to develop their creativy to invent a creature.

They improve their communicative competence when they have to select the most accurate linguistic structures in order to write a complex physical description. Also, they have to transfer this writen information into oral language when they do the oral exposition of their wallcharts.

Activity f. End of class routine: Listening and mimics (5 minutes)

The students listen to the song of this unit twice. The second time they listen to the song they will do mimics representing the creatures which appear on the video-clip. This didactic resource will be used like video-flashcards to learn the new vocabulary about real Sea Monsters.

SESSION 2 (SPEAKING)

a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)

b. Which one is missing? (10 minutes)

c. Sea Monsters Bingo. (15 minutes)

d. Bets. (10 minutes)

e. End of class routine: Singing and dancing (5 minutes)

a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)

The picture warm up is ideal for visual learners. The teacher shows a picture that relates to the topic of the unit. For instance, we can show a picture of Moby Dick when it is harpooned by the whalers.

The teacher can ask them:

"What is happening?"  "What's next?" Imagine you are one of the sailors. What will you do?"

b. Which one is missing? (10 minutes)

First of all, we show all the flashcards on the board. The teacher will give a few seconds for children to memorize them. The teacher asked the students to close their eyes. The teacher will remove a flash card from the board. Children turn to look and have to guess what is missing. Repeat the game several times to help strengthen the acquisition of the vocabulary.

c. Sea Monsters Bingo (15 minutes)

Children place on their table six flashcards (preciously elaborated by the pupils at home) of the ten vocabulary words. The teacher will show the flashcards one by one. A student is the winner when says BINGO after checking that the flashcards on the table are the same as the teacher has taught in the same order.

d. Bets. (10 minutes)

It is an oral linguistic game in which the students have to bet for the correct option a certain amount of points. Everyone starts with the same amount of points (100 points).

e. End of class routine: Singing and dancing (5 minutes)

The students will watch the video-clip of the song of this unit twice and they will sing and dramatize the song the best they can both times in order to improve the performance. The mimics helps them memorize the song. The lyrics appears written on the screen, so this help facilitates them to sing the song because they can see the words they will sing.

SESSION 3 (READING)

a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)

b. Invisible words (10 minutes)

c. Terrifying stories (15 minutes)

d. Show what you know, pirate! (10 minutes)

e. End of class routine: Singing and dancing (5 minutes)

a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)

b. Invisible words (10 minutes)

We write some words on the blackboard. The pupils have to read them aloud. We erase a word, and the students have to read all the words including the word that has been deleted. Remove another, and so on until all the children say the words while the teacher points to the "invisible words". It is a useful activity for working memory.

c. Terrifying stories (15 minutes)

The students listen to a reading of a text about sea monsters. Then, they have to read it aloud imitating the model of pronunciation.

d. Show what you know, monster hunters! (10 minutes)

After the reading, the students have to play a board game, They have to answer some questions orally in order to check if they have understand the reading. The class is organized in groups. Each time that the group says the correct answer they advance one step in a board (similar to a parcheesi game) with a picture of a few Sea Monsters in the middle of the board. The first group that reaches the Sea Monsters square wins the title of Monster Hunters.

e. End of class routine: Singing and dancing (5 minutes)

Session 4 (WRITING)

a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)

b. Short Reading (10 minutes)

c. Complete the story (10 minutes)

d. Crosswords. (10 minutes)

e. End of class routine: Fill in the gaps  of the lyrics (10 minutes)

a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)

b. Short Reading (10 minutes)

The pupils read a short incomplete story imitating a model of pronunciation they have listened to previously. It is important to dramatize the text in order to communicate better the messages by adding the paralinguistic context. After the reading, the teacher asks them orally how they will finish it and write on the blackboard some structures to help them to express their ideas.

c. Complete the story (10 minutes)

The students are organized in groups to discuss and write a possible ending of the story the have read before. The teacher acts as a counsellor solving the doubts.

d. Crosswords (10 minutes)

The pupils are organized in pairs to fill in crosswords with the help of descriptions or relevant information about some sea monsters.

e. End of class routine: Fill in the gaps of the lyrics (10 minutes)

Each student listen to the song of the unit twice with a short silent period between them to check their answers. They have to complete an incomplete lyrics without the help of the images and the text of the video-clip. Finally, they watch the video-clip with the lyrics on the screen.

Session 5 (4 SKILLS)

a. Warm-up activities: What's happenning there? (5 minutes)

b. Dramatized Reading (15 minutes)

c. Guess the magical formula! (10 minutes)

d. Create your Sea Monster! (10 minutes)

e. End of class routine: 30 seconds (5 minutes)

a. Warm-up activities: What's happenning there? (5 minutes)

The students listen to a short oral text of a few seconds and they have to guess what is hapenning. There are many possible answers. They will hear it several times to exercise the listening skill.

For instance: "Help! We can get out of here! Please, open the door! (Something crashing) Noooo!"

b. Dramatized Reading (15 minutes)

All the groups of students read the short texts they wrote the day before dramatizing their performance like in a theatrical composition.

c. Guess the magical formula! (10 minutes)

The class is organized in groups and they have to read a long text in which they can find the words of a magical formula to trap a monstrous Jack-o'.lantern with into a magical cage. The first group that discover the magical formula is the winner.

d. Create your Halloween Monster! (10 minutes)

All the groups of students discuss how to describe a new creature with physical features of a monstrous sea animal. They must write about its physical appearance, size, habitats and behaviour.

e. End of class routine: 30 seconds (5 minutes)

The teacher chooses a few volunteers and gives each one 30 seconds to speak about something they want to share with their fellows about their experiences or feelings during the English class or something related to the topic of the unit.

Previously, the teacher will help the pupils to choose the structures and words to express their ideas.

The important thing here is to give them a space to share something they have produced with the linguistic elements they have learned.

SESSION 6 (4 SKILLS)

a. Warm-up activities: What's happenning there? (5 minutes)

b. Let’s Investigate as a Scientist! (25 minutes)

c. Crosswords (10 minutes)

d. End of class routine: 30 seconds (5 minutes)

a. Warm-up activities: What's happenning there? (5 minutes)

b. Let’s Investigate Halloween! (25 minutes)

The pupils are organised in groups to write about Halloween creatures. This activity is part of the Final Task, so the teacher has previously explained them what they have to do in the presentation of the Final Task. They have bring the necessary materials they have have found at home to the school. The groups discuss how to describe the physical features of a real sea creature. They must write about its physical appearance, size, habitats and behaviour.

c. Crosswords (10 minutes)

The pupils are organized in pairs to fill in crosswords with the help of descriptions or relevant information about Halloween.

d. End of class routine: 30 seconds (5 minutes)

SESSION 7 (4 SKILLS)

a. PORTFOLIO (5 minutes)

b. FINAL TASK: Oral Exposition (20 minutes)

c. WRITTEN TEST (15 minutes)

d. SELF EVALUATION (5 minutes)

a. PORTFOLIO (5 minutes)
The students have to review and organised their portfolios (compilation of homeworks, didactic materials and school projects) which they have elaborated during this unit and deliver them to the teacher.

b. FINAL TASK: Oral Exposition & Portfolio (20 minutes)

All the members of each group explain a part of their wallcharts. The students have to organize their portfolio while they are not exposing their wallcharts.

c. WRITTEN TEST (15 minutes)

The students will be evaluated about the information they have learn about the sea monsters they have studied when elaborating the wallcharts.

d. SELF EVALUATION (5 minutes)