Wikis for collaborative learning, knowledge construction, critical thinking, and contextual application.

“WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING RIGHT OR BEING KIND, CHOOSE KIND” RJ PALACIO

Adult Learning Center

ESL 301

8-Weeks Lesson Plan

Target audience: Adult English Language Learners; ESL 301 TABE 10/11 CFR C1

Week #1 – Welcome Unit and Unit 1 Personal Information

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs

Learning Objectives: Discussing, goals, filling out a goal form, discussing past and future events. Describing and comparing likes and interests, describing and discussing personality types

·         Introduction to class.

·         Presentation of syllabus, daily schedule, classroom expectations.

·         Digital Literacy: Northstar digital literacy assessment: (1) Basic Computer Skills and (2) Internet Basics https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

·         Vocabulary: Review time phrases. Personal interests, personality types, adjectives that describe people.

·         Activate student’s prior knowledge. Warm-up Activities: Depending on the number of students, make 3-4 groups. Each group will get 4 envelopes that they have to work on. (Review vocabulary, sentence structure, correcting errors, picture dictation.) They have to show their work on one activity to go to the next one. Activities will be numbered #1 to #4. Tape envelopes to the board.

·         Grammar Focus: Verb tense review, present and present continuous, past and future. Verbs+gerunds; comparisons with more than, less than, as much as; must for logical conclusions.

·         Listening and Speaking: Listening and asking about goals, asking about daily routines, listening about events in the past and the future. Asking about and comparing preferences, describing personality types

·         Reading and Writing: Writing your goal and steps to reach it. Reading an article about personality and jobs; writing a descriptive paragraph with a topic sentence and supporting sentences

·         Introduction to the book “Wonder” by RJ Palacio. Tell students we will use “Wonder” content to develop a wiki. For week 1, read pages 3-41.

Week #2 – Unit 2 At school

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs.

Learning Objectives: Discussing study problems and learning strategies. Offering advice.

·         Review of Week #1. Check FAQ. Communicate your expectations for Week #2.

·         Digital Literacy: Northstar digital literacy assessment: (3) Using Email, (4) Windows 10 https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

·         Show students the Wonder Wikia https://rj-palacios-wonder.fandom.com/wiki/Wonder Ask students to review content about an assigned character in the book: Auggie, Mom, Dad, Olivia, Jack, Summer, Mr. Tushman. What can they find about these characters?

·         Vocabulary: Study problems. Learning Strategies.

·         Grammar Focus: Present Perfect with how long, for, since. Present Perfect questions with ever; short answers. Simple Past and Present Perfect.

·         Listening and Speaking: Asking about study problems and learning strategies. Asking about someone’s recent past.

·         Reading and Writing: Reading an article about strategies for learning English. Write a paragraph with examples to support ideas.

·         Review of Week #1 “Wonder”. Make connections with real life:

·         “Are you ordinary or extraordinary? Why?”; “Auggie is homeschooled, what do you think his daily routine is? (Predict); “What do you think are Auggie’s biggest challenges and opportunities of attending a school?”

·         For week #2, read pages 42-80.

Week #3 – Unit 3 Friends and family

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs.

Learning Objectives: Offering help. Agreeing and disagreeing. Giving reasons. Making a complaint.

·         Digital Literacy: Northstar digital literacy assessment: (5) Microsoft Word https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

·         Assign groups: Identify high-level (2 groups) and low-level students (2 groups). For high-level students, they will use a wiki to share their reviews of “Wonder” assigned readings (8 reviews total, 300 words minimum). For low-level students, they will have to create a dictionary with new vocabulary they find in the assigned readings. (10 words for each Week of Assigned Readings) Students can use pictures, examples in context and/or definition for each vocabulary word. This project will end on Week #8.

·         Vocabulary: borrow vs. lend. Two-word verbs.

·         Grammar Focus: because of phrases and because clauses. Too and enough. Be able to.

·         Listening and Speaking: Asking about and describing problems. Giving reasons. Discussing borrowing and lending.

·         Reading and Writing: Identifying main ideas, facts and examples. Writing a letter of complaint.

·         This week will be the start of the wiki project. Allow room for FAQ, expectations about the wiki, online reputation and privacy.

·         Review of Week #2 “Wonder”. “What does it mean like a lamb to the slaughter?” “Auggie is a Star Wars fan. What do you know about Star Wars?”, “Do you have any fandoms? (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, etc.), “What are precepts?”, “Can you think of a precept for your wiki project?”

·         For week #3, read pages 81-117

Week #4 – Unit 4 Health

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs.

Learning Objectives: Discussing healthy foods and exercise. Describing events in the recent past. Describing past habits.

·         Digital Literacy: Northstar digital literacy assessment: (6) Microsoft Excel https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

·         Check progress on the wiki project. Ask students what do they think are roadblocks, challenges and opportunities of developing this wiki project. Check if low-level groups are following the steps of the project. If they don’t know how to upload images to Wikis, show them the steps to do it.

·         Vocabulary: Healthy habits and routines. Beneficial plants.

·         Grammar Focus: Present Perfect with recently and lately. Used to. Reported commands.

·         Listening and Speaking: Asking about staying healthy. Asking about past and present health habits.

·         Reading and Writing: Reading an article about beneficial plants. Identifying the topic from the introduction and conclusion. Writing a descriptive paragraph.

·         Review Week #3 “Wonder”. “Last week we read Via’s perspective. How can you describe Via?”, “How has Via’s life changed since Auggie was born?” “How’s Via doing lately?”

·         For week #4, read pages 118-159

Week #5 – Unit 5 Around Town

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs.

Learning Objectives: Discussing future plans. Describing actions based on expectations. Describing community events.

·         Digital Literacy: Northstar digital literacy assessment: (7) Microsoft PowerPoint https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

·         Check progress on the wiki project. Does the wiki look organized? Is it easy to read? Are there visual representations that help the user understand the content better? Have students include pictures from the “Wonder” book or movie?

·         Vocabulary: Entertainment. Positive and negative adjectives.

·         Grammar Focus: Verbs + infinitives. Present Perfect with already and yet. Verbs + infinitives and verbs + gerunds.

·         Listening and Speaking: Asking about people’s plans. Asking about people’s expectations. Talking about community events.

·         Reading and Writing: Reading a review of a concert. Use context to distinguish between positive and negative words. Writing an e-mail. Complete a graphic organizer.

·         Review of Week #4. “Last week we read Summer’s and Jack’s perspective. How can you describe Summer’s personality?” “How can you describe Jack’s personality?” “What do you think are Summer’s and Jack’s best traits?”, “How do you think Jack felt when he realized that the ‘Bleeding Scream’ was Auggie?”

·         For week #5, read pages 160-199

Week #6 – Unit 6 Time

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs.

Learning Objectives: Discussing how to manage time. Giving advice. Describing habits.

·         Digital Literacy: Northstar digital literacy assessment: (8) Social Media https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

·         During this week, set up a meeting with each group. For the high level groups, they should have at least 5 entries on their book review (one per each week, 300 words minimum per review). For the low level groups, they should have at least 5 entries for their picture dictionary, one per assigned reading, 10 words per each entry.

·         Vocabulary: Time-management. Prefixed meaning not. Idioms with time.

·         Grammar Focus: Adverb clauses with when. Adverb clauses with before and after. Use one/some/any and it/them.

·         Listening and Speaking: Asking about habits and daily routines. Contrasting qualities and habits of good and weak time managers.

·         Reading and Writing: Reading an article about cultural time rules. Recognizing dashes that introduce examples. Identifying words with prefixes meaning not. Writing a descriptive paragraph about a good or weak time manager.

·         Review Week #5 “After reading Jack and Auggie being friends again, have you ever had a fight with a friend and make amends later?” “What was Justin’s impression when he first met Auggie?”

·         For week #6, read pages 200-236

Week #7 – Unit 7 Shopping

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs.

Learning Objectives: Making suggestions. Asking and giving advice. Discussing financial concerns. Comparing banking services.

·         Digital Literacy: Northstar digital literacy assessment: (9) Information Literacy https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

·         During this week, ask wiki groups to share their experiences while working on the wiki project. Encourage wiki groups to show their wikis to other groups. If possible, use the projector to show how the wikis look. Ask groups “Does this wiki look attractive? Would you visit this wiki if you had any questions about vocabulary? Would you visit this wiki if you wanted a review of the assigned readings? Thumbs up or down.

·         Vocabulary: Banking and finances. Compound nouns.

·         Grammar Focus: could and should. Gerunds after prepositions. Collocations with get and take.

·         Listening and Speaking: Asking and answering questions about buying on credit. Making suggestions and giving advice.

·         Reading and Writing: Reading an article about credit card debt. Identify problems and solutions discussed in a text. Giving advice about saving money. Using first, second, third, and finally to organize ideas.

·         Review Week #6 “Last week we read Justin’s perspective. What are his thoughts about Auggie?”

·         For week #7, read pages 237-275

Week #8 – Unit 8 Work

Materials: Ventures 3 Student Book and Workbook, “Wonder” book, handouts, PCs.

Learning Objectives: Discussing work-related goals. Discussing ways to find a job. Identifying procedures involved with a job interview.

·         Digital Literacy: Final review of the wiki project. Would students be motivated to work on another wiki collaboration project? Elicit answers.

·         Vocabulary: Employment. Separable phrasal verbs.

·         Grammar Focus: Present Perfect Continuous. Separable phrasal verbs. Present Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous.

·         Listening and Speaking: Talking about a job interview. Asking about ongoing activities.

·         Reading and Writing: Reading a blog about a job search. Scanning for specific information. Using a dictionary to select the best definition for a context. Writing a formal thank-you letter. Understanding what to include in a thank-you letter.

·         Review of Week #7 and Conclusion: “What did you learn from Auggie’s story?” “How can you describe Auggie’s family?”, “How can you be kind?”

·         Watch the movie “Wonder” with the class. Allow room for students to bring popcorn if they want it!

·         For week #8, read pages 276-310

Rubric for wiki project

	25 points	20 points	10 points	5 points
Completion	All of the project was completed	Most of the project was completed	Some of the project was completed	Little or none of the project was completed
Organization	Project was extremely neat and organized	Project was neat, organized and could be read.	Project was somewhat neat and organized, it was difficult to be read sometimes.	Project was messy and not organized, it was hard to be read in general.
Following instructions	Followed all directions.	Followed most directions.	Follow some directions.	Did not follow directions.
Creativity	Much thought was given to the project. It was unique.	Some thought was given to this project.	Little thought was given to this project. Display was not very creative	No thought was given to this project.

Rubric was based on https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Landform-project-with-rubric-1459101