Running head: READING AND WRITING LESSON PLAN 1

Reading and Writing Lesson Plan

Monchi Liu

Colorado State University

READING AND WRITING LESSON PLAN 2

Introduction

This is a reading and writing lesson plan I created to fulfill the requirements for E528
Professional ESL Teaching- Theory to Practice. A 50 minutes class was conducted based on this
lesson plan. The purpose of this lesson plan is to help me establish connections between second
language theories and the actual practice.

Reading and Writing Lesson Plan

Brief description of classroom setting:
• 10-25 students from various of ethnic and culture backgrounds whose English
proficiency level are between Beginner to Advanced.
• 10 TESL/TEFL graduate students will be included in the lesson activities.
• First out of three reading and writing lessons about the overall theme of history (focused
on biography).
• Lesson will incorporate the following interaction types: individual work, pair work, and
teamwork.
Pre-lesson inventory:
Overview of lesson objectives:
• Content:
o Students will be able to understand what biography is.
o Students will be able to get to know some world-famous persons.
• Language:
o Students will be able to use skimming and scanning skill and perusal skill.
o Students will be able to identify past tense when they occur in a sentence.
o Students will be able to write few sentences to describe a person in past tense.

Materials to take to class:

• Copies of handout.
• Papers for writing.
Equipment needed for class:
• Laptop to show questions.
• Print out hardcopies for doc cam. (Plan B: Just in case that the laptop doesn’t work)
READING AND WRITING LESSON PLAN 3

Assignments to collect from students:

• None.
Special room arrangements:
• Our TEFL/TESL cohort members will intervene in all groups ideally.

Warm up Brainstorming. (7 minutes)

Purpose: Introduce the lesson topic of biography and autobiography. Each student brainstorms
one famous person that everyone might know and introduce his/her achievements in past tense.
Procedures: (Model before start)
• Step 1: Quickly explain what a biography means and ask students to brainstorm a famous
person (Could be a celebrity, politician, musician, entrepreneur, businessman, inventor,
etc.). Introduce the person in past tense which they learned in the last thematic unit. (3
mins)
• Step 2: Students will talk to each other about the person they come up with one by one in
a group size of 3 to 5. The teacher will walk around while the students are brainstorming.
(3 mins)

Transition: The teacher follows up students’ ideas by asking the following questions. “Who did
you come up with? What were his/her achievements? Raise your hand if you want to share it
with us. Yes, these persons are all/mostly well-known in the world and you did a good job on
describe them. Now you’ve discussed famous people using the past, we are going to look at how
it can be done in writing.” (1 min)

Activity 1: Guess who he/she is. (9 minutes)

Purpose: This activity allows students to get familiar with the narrative past tense writing style
of biography.
Procedures: (Model skimming and scanning)
• Step 1: The teacher will explain the detailed rules and regulations of the activity. “Now,
I’m going to show you several short paragraphs (Appendix A). Each paragraph is
excerpted from a biography. You will read through these paragraphs individually and
guess the person that the paragraph indicates. In this part, you won’t have to read word by
READING AND WRITING LESSON PLAN 4

word. Just try to skim and scan. Find the key words that you are looking for in the
content.” (5 mins)
• Step 2: “Exchange your answers with your groupmates. Talk about it and see if you both
guessed the same person for each biography or if you have different guesses. If you and
your partner had different answers, discuss why you chose the person you did. You are
allowed to find the person on your electronic devices if none of your groupmates have an
idea.” (3 mins)

Transition: “In the activity, we know what a biography looks like. Now we are going to
challenge ourselves. Let’s read a couple of biographies and do some fun exercises.” (1 min)

Activity 2: Reading Comprehension. (20 minutes)

Purpose: Students will be able to understand and interpret what they read. In order to follow the
story, students must comprehend what is happening as the story progresses. Point out the usage
of past tense in these articles.

Procedures:
• Step 1: The teacher hands out the reading comprehension handout copies (Appendix B)
and instructs the students that they are going to read the paragraphs and complete the
exercises below the reading materials individually. (2 mins)
• Step 2: Before students get started, the teacher will illustrate that students will underline
every past tense verb in the first article and try to write the original form. (Example here)
(1 min)
• Step 3: Give students 1 min to read the questions and ask them if there are any unclear
questions. (1 min)
• Step 4: Walk around the classroom when students read the materials and do the exercises.
(8 mins)
• Step 5: Ask students to find a partner and exchange the answers with him/her. Explain
why they choose this answer and where to find the clue sentence in the article. Talk about
the past tense they underlined. Check the original forms with each other. (4 mins)
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• Step 6: The teacher will check the answers and original verb forms with students at the
end of this activity. (3 mins)

Transition: “How do you feel about the reading materials? Are they easy or difficult? Can you
identify the original forms of those past tense verbs now? Let’s try to write something in past
tense!” (1 min)

Activity 3: Writing. (13 minutes)

Purpose: Students will be asked to use past tense in this activity. Also, this activity will help
them to improve their writing skill.

Procedures:
• Step 1: The teacher hands out the writing sheets (Appendix C) and instructs the students
that they are going to write a draft of a biography which based on the person they come
up with in warm up section. Follow the clues that are given on the paper. Be sure to use
third person to write (Explain). They may use their electronic devices to find the
information they need. Ask students if there are any questions. If not, they will write it
individually. (1 mins)
• Step 2: Walk around the classroom when students write the paragraph. (10 mins)
• Step 3: Ask students to find a partner and exchange the writing sheet with him/her. Peer
review it to see whether they use the correct past tense verb form. (2 mins)
• Backup idea: exchange with a partner and then present to each other in small groups.

Closure
Purpose: Review this class and prepare for next class.
Procedures:
• Ask students “Do you have any questions about biography or about past tense?”
HW assignment:
• Fill out the Michael Jackson form for the next class.
Announcements: None.
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Appendix A

______was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India.
Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, He led India to independence and inspired movements for civil
rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahatma applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa—
is now used worldwide. In India, he is also called Bapu and Gandhiji. He is unofficially called the Father
of the Nation. (Mahatma Gandhi)

______ is an American business magnate, investor, author, and philanthropist. In 1975, he and Paul Allen co-
founded Microsoft, which became the world's largest PC software company. During his career at Microsoft,
he held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, and was the largest individual
shareholder until May 2014. He has authored and co-authored several books. (Bill Gates)

______was a Hong Kong and American martial artist, actor, philosopher, filmmaker, and founder of the martial
art Jeet Kune Do. He was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-chuen. He is widely considered by
commentators, critics, media, and other martial artists to be one of the most influential martial artists of all
time, and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He is often credited with helping to change the way Asians
were presented in American films. (Bruce Lee)

______ was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best
known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on
his Christian beliefs. He also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his
famous “I Have a Dream” speech. (Martin Luther King Jr.)

______ was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to
1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of
the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and later presided over the 1787
convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He is popularly considered the driving force behind
the nation’s establishment and came to be known as the “father of the country,” both during his lifetime and
to this day. (George Washington)

______ was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars
of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics). His work is also known for its influence on
the philosophy of science. He is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy
equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed “the world’s most famous equation”). He received
the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of
the law of the photoelectric effect”, a pivotal step in the evolution of quantum theory. (Albert Einstein)
READING AND WRITING LESSON PLAN 7

Appendix B
Biography:
Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied
the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and
Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in
parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. [1] Two years ago, he played his first piece
Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.
Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly,
his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable. They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel does not
even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish
of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law
and music. [2]
Samuel cannot understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My
mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly
decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any
lessons. [3] It comes easily to me---I hear the notes and can bear them in mind---each and every
note,” says Samuel.
Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had
more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is
now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists cannot play it. Samuel
says confidently, “It is all about super memory---I guess I have that gift.” [4]
However, Samuel’s ability to remember things does not stop with music. His family says
that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell
the story word for word.
Samuel is still only a teenager. He does not know what he wants to do in the future. For
now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.

1. What is special about Samuel Osmond?

a. He has a gift for writing music.
b. He can write down the notes he hears.
c. He is a top student at the law school.
d. He can play the musical piece he hears.
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2. What can we learn from paragraph 2?

a. Samuel chose law against the wish of his parents.
b. Samuel planned to be a lawyer rather than a musician.
c. Samuel thinks of himself as a man of great musical ability.
d. Samuel studies law and music on the advice of his teachers.
3. Everyone around Samuel was surprised because he _________.
a. received a good early education in music
b. played the guitar and the piano perfectly
c. could play the piano without reading music
d. could play the guitar better than his father
4. What can we infer (conclude) about Samuel in Paragraph 4?
a. He became famous during a special event at his college.
b. He is proud of his ability to remember things accurately.
c. He plays the piano better than many professional pianists.
d. He impressed the audience by playing all the musical pieces.
5. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
a. The Qualities of a Musician
b. The Story of a Musical Talent
c. The Importance of Early Education
d. The Relationship between Memory and Music
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Biography Writing Sheet

Name of person: ______________________________

Birthplace of person: ___________________________

Birth date of person ___________________________

Why this person is famous:

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Three interesting facts about this person:

1.________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

2________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

3________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________
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Michael Jackson