Practicum portfolio
1. The Matching Game
a. Lesson Plan (p.2-3)
b. Visual support slide and pictures (p.4-5)
c. Reflection (p.6-7)
2. Think Pair Share
a. Lesson Plan (p. 8-9)
b. Visual support slide and handout (p.9)
c. Reflection (p.10-11)
3. Kahoot
a. Lesson Plan (p.12-13)
b. Visual support slide and sample (p.13-14)
c. Reflection (p.15-16)
Lesson Plan of The Matching game (content pertinent to activity is in a blue font)
Jessica Evangelista
02/11/2015
20 students L1 French
o 1 students on IEP (Autism).
3 students L1 Spanish
2 students L1 Persian.
2 student L1 Arabic.
Rationale
Hook 28 minutes
2 minutes - Attendance.
5 minutes -Ask students to take out their
KWL chart and discuss in their teams
what they know learned about
introduction. The focus is finishing up
the intro section L and covering any intro
related questions in the W.
5 minutes invite students to write their L
part on the computer for the class to see.
3 minutes discuss with the class what
they wrote. Answer any pending
questions.
5 minutes -Still on the KWL chart. Invite
students to now focus on Body. Have
them come up with ideas for the K and
W sections.
5 minutes invite students to write their L
part on the computer for the class to see.
3 minutes discuss with the class what
they wrote. Answer any pending
questions.
Hook 28 minutes
Students interact with the
class and their classmates
about their KWL.
-Focus on introduction
questions they might
have in the W and fill in
the L.
-The students then focus
on body by filling in the
K and W sections.
Hook 28 minutes
Enables the students
to start discussing
right away. (C1)
-Reviewing existing
knowledge and
questions they might
have before starting a
new area.
Development:
10 minutes
-Body. Explain to students what the
different parts of the body are.
Development:
10-15 minutes
- Students take notes on
the body. Ask questions
Development:
10-15 minutes
-Scaffolding learning
of the opinion text.
Focus on mastering
the body.
20-25 minutes
-Students listen to
instruction of the game.
-Staying in their team of
3 or 4 they are given 3-4
pieces of paper that need
to be place with the
correct folder.
-By taking turns, Only
one person per team can
only go and see the
folder at 6 or place the
paper at 1.
- Students circulate and
try and match their pieces
of paper with the right
introduction.
20-25 minutes
-Game offers students
a chance to view body
arguments in a fun and
engaging way. Great
for kinesthetic
learners. A chance to
practice C2 reinvest
understanding of texts
and C1 interacting
with their peers.
Closure:
10 minutes
- Students try and figure
out in teams which
arguments are pertinent
and not pertinent. They
have to explain why.
Closure:
10 minutes
-Students understand
that difference
between a pertinent
and non pertinent
arguments.
The Matching Game: inside the folder, students are expected to add the papers that belong.
During the activity, most students did participate and enjoyed the competition aspect of
the game. They wanted to beat the other teams by getting rid of all their papers the fastest. At
times, the classroom seemed a little chaotic since students were walking around trying to find
which folder their paper had to go with. All the groups were able to complete the activity with
success. I did not however anticipate the issues that arose while the game was happening. Some
students did not want to participate and found it childish, they sat back and watched other
members of their team play. Also a small number of students cheated by not following the rules;
they would get up and place their paper without rolling the dice. At first I thought this was
because they did not understand the instructions but it turned out they did not care about the
rules.
In the future, I plan on revising this lesson by possibly introducing a prize which will
peak students interest. Also for the students who did not follow the instructions and cheated, I
have to make sure that they lose their chance of participating in the activity. Since I did not
anticipate this issue I was not properly prepared to address it. Overall I learned the importance of
planning for the unplanned. I also believe that the instructions could be explained in a clearer
way. In the future I should model what I want them to do since simply reading the instructions
and showing them the PowerPoint slide of the rules is not enough. I ended up modeling the
activity with the final groups since one student asked if I can show what I mean by the game. I
also have to be careful in my planning and review the answers with the students since I did not
even consider how long it would take to go over each folder afterwards. I did not end up
following what was on the lesson plan after the game. I think this happens to a lot of novice
teachers. I believe the more experience we have with creating activities the better equipped we
are with planning logical sequences.
Lesson Plan of Think Pair Share (content pertinent to activity is in a blue font)
Jessica Evangelista
03/10/2015
20 students L1 French
o 1 students on IEP (Autism).
3 students L1 Spanish
2 students L1 Persian.
2 student L1 Arabic.
Rationale
Hook: 10 minutes
Attendance: 2 min
-Give back essay to students
and have them look over what
they wrote. Invite them to
question about what they are
still unsure about.
-Explain to students that there
is a written essay next class.
They are expected to actively
participate in the Think Pair
Share activity that is planned.
Hook 10 minutes
- Students look at their
essays from the previous
class and ask questions if
needed.
Hook 15 minutes
-Inviting students to review
what they had previously
written to notice what is
expected of them for the next
class.
Development:
45-50 minutes
Think Pair Share
2 minutes
-Explain to students that they
are expected to find arguments
from the textbook to help
support or go against the 3
prom essay questions.
-Teacher circulates to help
students.
Development:
45-50 minutes
Think Pair Share
2 minutes
-Students write individual
arguments and are
expected to find
arguments from the
textbook to help support
or go against the 3 prom
essay questions.
Think : 15 minutes
Prompt students to work
individually and with a partner
Think : 15 minutes
Students work
individually and with a
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Development:
45 minutes 50 min
Think Pair Share activity
-Students discuss in teams
(C1)
-Researchers have found
that students' learning is
enhanced when they have
many opportunities to
elaborate on ideas through
talk (Pressley 1992)
- The think, pair, share
strategy increases the kinds
of personal communications
that are necessary for
students to internally
process, organize, and retain
Pair: 15 minutes
Prompt students to work in
teams of 4 where they discuss
the arguments and compare
their notes.
Share: 15 minutes
Students share with the class
their arguments. Teacher
animates discussion.
Closure 10 minutes
-Explain to students that
there is homework is to
review Read and review
notes and texts pertaining
to the prom Student book
(p.121- 145) Literature
book (p. 91 -102)
partner
Pair: 15 minutes
Students work in teams of
4 where they discuss the
arguments and compare
their notes.
Share: 15 minutes
They share with the class
their arguments.
Closure:10 minutes
-Students listen to what is
expected of them for the
essay next class. They ask
questions if needed.
Think Pair Share Handout (Slide 3 from Lesson 7 Think Pair Share PowerPoint)
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understood what to do while others did not fully cooperate. However, I was still pleased since
they were on task and talking about finding supporting evidence in English. Since I had primed
the students that the following class was the exam, many took this activity seriously. They filled
out the handout I provided and were able to find supporting facts for the arguments. Many
though were confused in distinguishing between arguments and supporting examples since this
was an issue for many in the previous classes.
Besides a few issues with some skipping steps, overall the activity was a success. Most
students followed the sequence and when it was time for group discussion. I noticed an abundant
participation on behalf of the students. Some of the more reserved students also spoke up which
was fantastic. Nevertheless, I have to make sure that all students are able to follow through with
the instructions and have a voice. I also have to be careful with students that can monopolize the
class discussions since it usually is the same students who participate.
I think I would definitely use Think Pair Share again for brainstorming and finding
supporting arguments. I also think it would work well with critical thinking units since it enables
opportunities for deeper thinking. Allowing the students to reflect on a topic for a while enables
them to have a platform to become independent learners. Overall, I believe that this activity
would be better if I collect the individual work of the students for formative feedback. One
cannot assume that from classroom discussion at the end that all the students understood the
purpose and goal of the lesson. It is often hard to find an activity that will benefit all learners but
this one helps learners open up and share. If they arent brave enough to share with the class,
they usually are more comfortable in sharing in smaller groups.
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Core
Rationale
Hook 20 minutes
Hook 20 minutes
-Kahoot cellphone
activity. Students answer
10 questions based on
world travel. Those that
have cellphones with
internet access go on the
website: www.kahoot.it
- Kahoot cellphone
activity. Enables
introduction to new
unit in a fun way.
- Cross curricular
competency: uses
information and
communication
technology.
-Change seating
Students can pick their
group members
Development: 50
minutes
15 minutes
-Students listen and take
notes of the new project.
A handout is provided for
each student.
-They are welcome to
question as we go
through the guidelines.
35 minutes
-Students work in teams
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- Change seating
Enables students to
change
Development: 50
minutes
-New project is
introduced to
students. They will
be working on the
project for the next
8 courses.
-Teacher brings
authentic materials
to support lesson
e.g. travel related
books, vacation
35 minutes
-Ask students to work in
teams of 3-4 to
brainstorm ideas. They
have to decide on a
country as a group.
(Not allowed to pick
country of origin nor
Quebec since it would
be too easy)
-Teacher circulates to
help students and listen
if students are
interacting in English
and taking notes.
Conclusion: 5 minutes
-Closure, teacher asks
students if they have
questions.
-Explains next class will
be in the library for
research.
-Teacher picks up the
booklets.
of 3-4 to brainstorm
ideas. They have to
decide on a country as a
group.
Conclusion: 5 minutes
-Students are invited to
ask any additional
questions.
-Students hand in
booklet.
Conclusion: 5
minutes
-Teacher can
examine what
students have
completed during
class time.
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Reflection of Kahoot
Cellphones in the classroom has often been frowned upon and discouraged. Many believe
they have no place in learning and are a distraction that should be banned. It is true that students
who do use them in the classroom are distracted and disrupt the learning environment. However,
I think it is time we try and use this tool to as an educational learning tool.
It was thanks to a fellow student teacher who showed me a great website called Kahoot.
It is a classroom response system which creates an engaging learning space, through a gamebased digital pedagogy (https://getkahoot.com/). The teacher can creates quizzes where the
students use their digital devices to participate. It happens in real time and the students get to see
on their devices if they get the right answer. They also are introduced to competition element to
try and answer the question the fastest to get the most points.
At first my CT was reluctant to have me do this activity with the students. Since it is a
software that only works when connected to the internet, she was worried that it would not be
fair to all the students. The reality is that not all the students have phones or tablets and expecting
them to have internet connection can be discriminating to students who dont have the means. I
agreed with her that it does cause a sense of injustice and that kept me stumped on the activity.
Still, I wanted to try and see what was the general response would be to this. Since Kahoot has to
be projected and viewed by all on a big screen rather than just on an individual device, I thought
the students without cellphones could still enjoy viewing it on the projector. I also encouraged
students to pair up with others to answer questions on the cellphones.
The response to the quiz I created was phenomenal. All the students who played loved it.
Also those who did not have a cellphone or tablet also enjoyed the experience. The students we
did not have access told me that they loved watching and some were guessing out loud the
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answers. Everyone was excited since they felt that they were on a game show in the ESL class.
They never knew it existed before I showed them and the absolutely went nuts when they played
it. I never saw students as focused and as involved in an educational setting. The learning
experience was fun, interesting and captivating.
Many left positive feedback in regards to Kahoot. I think it enables students who are shy
a chance to participate. Since students can pick nicknames, their identity could still be held
anonymous. Overall it was a success but there were still unplanned surprises that occurred. Since
the students could pick their names the inevitable happened. Sometimes inappropriate names
appeared but I was able to dismiss the students since there is a feature with the software that
allows the teacher to kick out students. This is an excellent feature since the teacher can control
who is allowed to play and who is not.
Since I started the class with the game, that really got the students excited and it was hard
to carry out the rest of the lesson. I recommend using Kahoot as a reward at the end of class.
There is also a feature to have the answers sent to an excel document which shows the students
scores. This document can show which questions students had the most difficulty with. This
feature allows for assessing students in a productive way. The possibilities with this tool are
endless, one can create numerous exercises such as grammar quizzes, idioms exercises, spelling
tests, vocabulary building, etc. Kahoot is now my go to tool for engaging with students in a fun
and interactive way.
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