INCLUSIVE AND INNOVATIVE SCHOOL

The following lesson plan was implemented using the flipped classroom model for Junior high school English language learners with a CEFR level of A2/B1-. The lesson plan was designed to align as closely as possible with the school curriculum and was adapted from an educational scenario presented during a training session on distance teaching, T4E.

 The lesson aimed to help students improve their ability to communicate about their travel experiences using the past tense.

The lesson was structured into four phases: An asynchronous phase before class, a synchronous phase in class,  a second asynchronous phase after class, and a final synchronous phase in class.

​

Phase 1: This phase focused on providing students with access to new knowledge and study materials related to the theme of "holidays-travels" and the grammatical phenomenon of "use of Simple Past tense in narration," which was covered in Unit 4 of the coursebook "Think teen 1" Advanced. The teacher offered a variety of learning resources, such as videos, podcasts, and reading materials, which were available on the e Class platform. This allowed students to study at their own pace and to engage with the material in a way that suited their learning style.

Phase 2 - Synchronous: In Phase 2, the teacher gave feedback on previous activities and implemented interactive activities to encourage active student participation and practice using newly acquired knowledge. The teacher also divided the students into groups and assigned them to create a narrative of a journey using the newly learned vocabulary and grammatical structures in groups.

​

Phase 3 - Asynchronous: In this phase, the teacher assigned exercises and tasks to the students so that they would apply their new knowledge and evaluate their learning process. The teacher provided students with quizzes, assignments, and an evaluation questionnaire to assess their understanding of the subject. Students could complete the tasks and exercises at their own pace, and the teacher provided feedback and assistance to students.

​

Phase 4 - Synchronous: In the final synchronous phase of the lesson plan, students worked collaboratively to create engaging stories about specific tourist destinations using the past tense. The teacher provided support and addressed misconceptions or errors, and each group presented their enriched story to the class. 

​

Expected goals and outcomes

​

• Improved ability to communicate about travel experiences using the past tense

• Collaborative work with diverse peers

• Encouragement of personalized learning through the use of technology

​

​

PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION

​

Phase 1 - Asynchronous: Before class

In the first phase of the lesson, the teacher posted the learning objectives and course content on the e-Class platform. She also explained to students what they needed to do before they met in class. More specifically, the teacher prepared and posted an H5P course presentation that contained vocabulary, grammar, and consolidation exercises (embedded below). The presentation was designed to provide scaffolding for the lesson and help students with the activities they needed to complete before class. The teacher also incorporated an interactive video on the topic of travel and holidays (embedded below).

As part of their pre-class preparation, students studied the H5P presentation, completed the consolidation exercises (which involved filling in the blanks with verb forms in sentences and a song), and watched the Edpuzzle interactive video with embedded questions. They also participated in a chat on the e- Class platform where they could ask and answer questions related to the content. This phase of the lesson allowed students to engage with the material before coming to class, which facilitated more active and personalized learning during the subsequent phases.

​

Phase 2- Synchronous: While in class

At the beginning of the synchronous phase, the teacher used an overhead projector to display an online quiz created with Quizizz. The quiz assessed the students' understanding and consolidation of the basic lexical and grammatical points covered in the previous asynchronous phase related to the Past Tense narration. This allowed the teacher to quickly evaluate the students' progress and adapt the lesson accordingly.

Next, the teacher showed a PowerPoint (PPT) she had prepared, which included pictures related to travel and holidays. The students identified the pictures and wrote related sentences using the Simple Past tense they had learned in the previous phase. 

Afterwards, the students were divided into groups of four people, designed to be diverse, with students of different abilities and backgrounds working together. Each group was assigned the task of creating a narrative of a journey based on the instructions they received. The students worked collaboratively to produce texts which were also used in the group work project assigned to them in the following phases. The teacher walked around the classroom to check in on the groups as they worked on their narratives, providing guidance or feedback on specific aspects of the past tense narration, such as accuracy of verb forms, use of time expressions, or organization of the narrative.

Toward the end of the lesson, a few minutes were set aside for the students to return to the plenary and discuss any difficulties they faced during the group work.

​

Phase 3- Asynchronous: After class

​

During this phase, the teacher created a Kahoot quiz on using the past tense in travel narratives and shared the link with the students in the respective e-Class Module.

Additionally, the teacher provided instructions for an individual task in which the students were asked to record narration using Voki ,  Vocaroo or Padlet and post it on a Padlet which was created for this specific activity in the respective module of e- Class. To help the students understand what was expected of them, the teacher provided an example of a brief vacation narration in the form of an MP3 file and uploaded in on the Padlet.

The students completed the online quiz, followed the instructions for the individual task, and posted their audio files on the Padlet. The students also listened to and commented on two classmates' audio files. Based on the feedback provided by their peers, the students had the opportunity to further improve their work and replace their audio files on the Padlet if they wished.

Finally, the students completed a Google Form questionnaire to reflect on their learning experiences. The questionnaire provided the teacher with valuable feedback on how to improve future lessons and ensured that each student had the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions.

​

Phase 4 - Synchronous: In-Class

In the final phase, the focus was on producing the project of the unit, which consisted of the cooperative enrichment of stories about tourist destinations. The project was built on the texts written by the students in the previous synchronous phase.

Each group was assigned a specific tourist destination to enrich the story, and the teacher provided the groups with the necessary information. The teacher also set clear expectations for the project and reviewed the rubric for evaluation.

The students worked collaboratively to create an engaging story by incorporating the use of the Simple Past tense. They shared ideas and took turns writing and revising the text. They also practiced their oral skills by rehearsing and presenting their story to the class.

The teacher circulated among the groups, providing support. The teacher also used this opportunity to address any errors and to reinforce the language points related to the Simple Past tense narration.

At the end of the class, each group presented their enriched story to the class.

​

Conclusion

The flipped classroom approach provided students with access to study materials and new knowledge related to the theme of "holidays-travels" and the grammatical phenomenon of "use of Simple Past tense in narration." The asynchronous phase before class allowed students to study at their own pace, which suited their learning styles and catered to different ability students, promoting inclusion.

During the synchronous phases, the teacher encouraged active student participation and collaboration through interactive activities and group work, where students could apply their newly acquired knowledge and language skills to create engaging stories about tourist destinations using the past tense.

Inclusion was promoted through the creation of diverse groups, where all materials and instructions were accessible, and additional support was provided to students with learning differences or limited English proficiency (they were paired with more proficient peers to facilitate communication and understanding).

Assessments such as quizzes, assignments, projects, or peer evaluations were used to evaluate student progress throughout the lesson. The use of technology tools such as Quizizz, Kahoot, Voki, Vocarro, Edpuzzle, Animaker, Canva and Padlet also enhanced the learning process and made it more engaging for the students.

​

The Course Presentation and the Interactive Video that students were provided with during Phase 1