Academic Interaction 4

Antonella Gazzardi
Tue 09/20/16

Audience

Students 18-20+ years of age

Majority of students consists of continuing INTO AE students. Fewer are new to the
program, placed at level 4 by placement tests
Students fluency varies
Students of mixed genders and of Arabic and Asian ethnicity

Background
Students have watched one of the two sub-sections of the Division episode Part II video, from
America, the story of us. They have already familiarized with and practiced using the
vocabulary/key words of the abovementioned section, regarding the cotton economy of the
South, the manufacturing economy of and the new role of women in the North. The latter issue
has not been discussed as a class, only in pairs. Students worked on whaling vocabulary at home
but it has not yet been reviewed in class. They have been introduced to the use of the first five
symbols of a 21-item list to be used while taking notes as well as to the Cornell note-taking
method.

Course Objectives
General objectives/student learning outcomes of the course.

Lesson Objectives
1. SWBAT define 4 key words concerning womens activism in the North (vocabularybased)
2. SWBAT compare womens pre-mill and post social status in the North (non-language)
3. SWBAT define 7 key words from the Whaling portion vocabulary (vocabulary-based)
4. SWBAT utilize 7 key words from the Whaling portion vocabulary (vocabulary-based)
5. SWBAT utilize 5 new note-taking symbols in the target language (functional)
6. SWBAT apply 5 note-taking symbols to Division Part II Whaling vocabulary
(vocabulary-based)
7. SWBAT compare African-Americans social status and their contribution to the economy
in the North on and off whaling boats (non-language)

Materials
Division Part II DVD
Note-taking symbol handout
Division Part II vocabulary handout
Additional Whaling vocabulary list
Division Part II quiz
Computer
Overhead projector
Markers and erasers
Board
Overview of Procedure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Review of grading procedure and rationale

Warm-up: review of Division Part II first section vocabulary
Introduction of Division Part II second section vocabulary
Introduction of 5 new symbols
Whaling video, 1st vision: note-taking
Division part II quiz: questions 6-10
Discussion and targeted feedback
2nd vision: note-taking
Wrap-up

Detailed Procedures
Introduction
11.00 11.10: Take attendance. Collect notes due on Erie Canal, the cotton economy of the
South, manufacturing in the North, and womens new status. Explain to students that from now
on in-class quizzes will be graded. Explain homework grading rationale: if Ss used Erie Canal
video key words appropriately in a sentence, they received 2 points each.
Warm-up Review
11.10 11.20: The teacher will pair students the same as last class; show list on screen:
Henry and Saleha
Mahmoud and BK
Liao and Fatma

Jung Geum and Dalia

Abdulrahman and Gao Xin
Pei Yi and Gao Jian

Vocabulary review and discussion (Objectives 1 & 2).

The teacher will show the following on screen:

Activity:

1.
Discuss the following questions and key words for two/three minutes.
What do they tell you about women?

Women protested against their working situation and went on strike: why?

Did mill owners back down?

What were the suffragettes fighting for?

2.
Define each word or write a sample sentence.
Volunteer your sentence on board.

The teacher will always project activity instructions and key words on screen, either
by showing the e-lesson plan portion through computer screen, or by showing said
portion in the hard-copy lesson plan, under the doc-cam.
New Material
11.20 11.35:
1. Review Whaling vocabulary (Objective 3)

Whaling
Runaways
State of the art.

The teacher will ask students to volunteer definitions and own sample sentences.
2. T will introduce new additional vocabulary (Objective 3 & 4):

Activity:
1.

discuss the following questions and key words with your classmate
try to put together a definition

Discussion Questions:

Why do you think whale oil was important?

Do you think whaling entailed high human cost?
What kind of weapon do you think a harpoon is?
What skills would you need to be a whaler?
What punishment would an escaped slave receive

2.

come to the board and write a definition or a sample sentence using a word

The teacher will call for additional attempt if first does not produce an applicable definition.
The T will assign words to pairs if people do not volunteer.

11.35 11.45: T will introduce 5 new symbols: leading to, therefore, because, also known as,
number (Obj.5)
Handout under doc-cam to show symbols. Afterwards:
Activity, in pairs

1.
Guess symbols corresponding to words
Provide an example of how each is used
2.

Volunteer your symbol and sample on board.

What would you add to the definition?

The teacher will distribute extra handouts in case they dont have it with them.
The teacher will call for additional attempt if first pair did not produce the target symbol and/or
an appropriate sample of use.
11.45 11.50: Whaling video, first showing. Minutes 16 21 (Objectives 4 & 6).
The teacher will ask students to:

take notes using the new symbols

use those you did previously too

11.50 12.05: In-pair discussion (Objective 7). T will show the following on the board for
students to discuss:

In what way did whaling contribute to the northern economy?

What was the social status of ex-slaves in the North and on board of whaling boats? Was
it the same?
Who invented the harpoon they used?
How many symbols did you use?

The teacher will walk around to give targeted feedback: to check if students got the main points
and issues discussed in the video (Objectives 4 & 7).
12.05 12.10: 2nd vision. Students will be asked to take notes one second time and pay attention
to numbers (Objectives 4 & 6).

Wrap-up
12.10 12.15: Comprehension check: quiz, questions 6-10 (Objectives 4 & 7).
Projected on screen for class review:
6) Whales can reach a weight of 200 tons
T
F
7) A whale can produce 300 gallons of oil
T
F
8) Many men are willing to take the risk of working as whalers
T
F
9) African-American men are seen as equal in the whaling business
T
10)

F
The kind of harpoons they used was invented by a Northern

white man

To be graded.
Key: Whales can weigh up to 180 tons not 200.
One can produce up to 3000, not 300 gallons of oil.

Anticipated Problems: technology hiccups would require a major adjustment of the lesson since so
much relies on computer and screen, let alone the audio of the video itself. Not having a textbook to use
in such a case, I would rely on the hard copy of my plan, board, and markers, and I would also have to go
back to completely verbalized instructions. The class would turn into vocabulary practice and discussion
only: the note-taking element, based on the video, would have to be postponed.
Post-teaching reflection: the teacher must be ready to paraphrase to throw questions back at them
when the latter are met by blank stares and silence. Sometimes the challenge is to find language simple
enough that students get it, but sometimes its probably just a matter of shyness on their part, or fear to get
it wrong, because once the teacher calls on them, they give a more than adequate answer most of the
times. So she should not hesitate but insist. Also, when grammar gets in the way of meaning negotiation,
she should intervene, because while accuracy is not one of the SLOs of this class, meaning negotiation
remains a crucial matter nevertheless.