Grammar Lesson PlanEDUC 244-Spring 2011

Standards: TESOL Standard 1, 2

Theme: Ordering in a fast-food restaurant.

Lesson Topic: Using infinitives.

Content Objectives:SWBAT identify infinitives.SWBAT order in a fast-food restaurant.SWBAT use key vocabulary for fast food restaurants.SWBAT discuss menu option and ordering in fast-food restaurants.

Language Objectives: SWBAT read sentences with infinitives and key vocabulary terms.SWBAT listen to each other and the teacher.SWBAT make statements and ask questions using sentences with infinitives and key vocabulary terms.

Learning Strategies, Scaffolding, Higher Level Thinking:Learning Strategies: Use of pictures, real restaurant take out menus and online menus, for visual support, model sentences written on whiteboard, opportunity for extended speaking during the skitScaffolding: modeling, guided practice, independent practice, comprehensible inputHigh-order thinking: Students will be able to synthesize new sentences from the vocabulary list and their own vocabularies. Students will collaborate to create a skit scenario.

Key Vocabulary:OrderWantEatDrinkPayHaveCokeHamburgerHot DogFrench FriesKetchup

MustardCashierTableTray Trashcan

Supplementary Materials:Whiteboard, markersPictures Online and takeout restaurant menusTextbookPlastic “food”, restaurant-related realia

Motivation/Building BackgroundThe students have studied food in other units and it is a popular classroom

conversation topic. Nearly all of the vocabulary terms have been pre-taught or have been observed to already be part of the students’ vocabularies and would considered PRIOR KNOWLEDGE. Infinitives have been used in class before, so this could also be considered prior knowledge, however they have never been explicitly taught. With the vocabulary base already in place, the grammar point of using infinitives will be the NEW LEARNING and it will be easier for students to focus only on this since the vocabulary could also be considered PAST LEARNING.

As an additional MOTIVATION, students will be informed on an upcoming outing to a fast-food restaurant. (The restaurant is owned by a U.S. immigrant and former refugee who has kindly offered our class a special discount.) We will be practicing our speaking, reading and listening skills in this context, as preparation for this trip.

Presentation:We will begin by going over the content and language objectives, which will be

displayed on the overhead projector. Then students will be formally introduced to the concepts of verb infinitives and their use in English sentences. For COMPRHENSIBLE INPUT, the students will show some simple pictures relating to a verb and asked to identify the verb (such as “jump” or “run”). Once a verb has been identified, it will be written on the board. Then the word “to” will be written in front of it, producing the infinitive. We will practice identifying verbs and their infinitives in this fashion, until the point seems clear to everyone.

Practice and ApplicationNext we will turn to the computer and begin looking at restaurant menus online.

(The menu links will have been bookmarked for easy transition.) Popular national chains all have online menus with lots of pictures, so this will also aid in COMPRHENSIBLE INPUT. Useful infinitives such as “to order”, “to eat” and “to drink” will be posted on the whiteboard as a simple word bank. We will continue to look at the menus and students will

be give a chance to look at the pictures, read the menu text and say aloud things like “I want to drink a Coke” or “I want to order a hamburger”. They can also respond to other students’ statements with remarks like “I would not like to order a hamburger, I want to get a hot dog.” This is one example of an INTERACTION OPPORTUNITY. More opportunities come later, such as in the segment below:

Finally we will turn to our textbook, which has several pictures of restaurant scenes. We will continue our discussion of infinitives in this context. Students will work with a partner, looking at the pictures and asking each other questions or making statements using infinitives. This activity will be modeled by the teacher as well. During this segment, the teacher will circulate through the room and offer verbal feedback to the students on their performance.

FIRST LANGUAGE use is encouraged, as always, in the classroom. There is a small library of L1/L2 dictionaries students may refer to. Also, students are paired with speakers of their native language whenever possible.

VARIED GROUPING is used throughout the lesson. We use large group participation during the online menu exercise, then partner work when looking at the textbook and finally small group work during our skit exercise, which is the final activity and is described on the skit instruction handout that is attached to this lesson.

HANDS-ON MATERIALS/ACTIVITIES include the skit and the plastic “food” and take-out menus, as well as the online menus. There is LANGUAGE AND CONTENT LEARNING throughout the lesson as the grammar point is taught and re-taught throughout the lesson, in different ways that all relate to the content objectives.

This lesson covers the MULTIPLE LANGUAGE DOMAINS of speaking, reading and listening. Speaking: covered while we discuss the restaurant menus, work with partners, and present the skitReading: covered while we look at the restaurant menus, look at what is written on the whiteboard, and review the directions for the skitListening: covered while students listen to the teacher (throughout the lesson), while they listen to each other speak, and when they listen to the skits.

Review/Assessment:Review of relevant grammar/vocabulary: pictures of nouns will be shown, students will say the names of the items, pictures of verbs will be shown and students will say the infinitive.Review of key concepts: Cloze sentences will be written on the whiteboard, students will raise their hand to fill in the noun or the infinitive.Provision of feedback: Verbal feedback will be given after each of the skits and during the partner activity. Praise given for correct answers whenever a student speaks. Constructive feedback will guide students to the right track and acknowledge their participation.Assessment of learning objective ensuring a match of assessment and objectives: The skit will provide an opportunity to demonstrate content knowledge as well as proper use of infinitives. Performance anxiety may account for some student-related reliability issues, but

overall this should provide a good guideline for assessing whether or not language and content objectives have been met. Additional instruction time will be given if needed.

Rationale:The ability to properly use verb infinitives is key to producing comprehensible

sentences in both the speaking and writing domains, as is the ability to understand the meaning of the infinitive in the domains of listening and reading. This grammar point is one that would be used in an extremely wide variety or settings, as it is pervasive in daily conversation and text.

The decision to contextualize this lesson around a fast-food scenario is based, on the prevalence of these establishments in American society and the likely that the student has already encountered these restaurants and may need more vocabulary to more comfortably interact in these environments. It is further rationalized from personal experience with students of this age that this is generally a subject of great interest to them, thusly providing some intrinsic motivation for learning.

Restaurant Skit Instructions

Work in groups of three students. Two students will be the “customers” and one student be the “cashier”.

Create a short “skit” – pretend you are in a restaurant.

Take turns speaking to create a skit like the one shown below. Be sure to use INFINITIVES as much as possible!

Present your skit to the class.

Sample Skit:

Clerk: Welcome to our restaurant. What would you like to order?

Customer 1: I would like to have a hamburger and French fries.

Clerk: Do you want something to drink?

Customer 1: A Coke, please.

Customer 2: I would like to have the same, please.

Customer 1 (to customer 2): Where do you want to sit?

Customer 2: Let’s sit over there.

Clerk: OK, here is your food

Customers 1 and 2: Great, thank you!