Lesson Plan

NB: The class will be held online via Skype video conference. The teacher will be addressing the students via headset and web camera.

Teacher: Milan Milutinovic, 2829

No. of students: 4

Age: 16-18

Level: Intermediate to advanced

Lesson length: 45 minutes

Objectives:

By the end of the lesson, the students will have: worked on their speaking and listening skills acquired 6 new vocabulary items related to the topic (black humor, stand-up

comedy, gag, sketch, slapstick, routine) acquired some general knowledge about stand-up comedy

Aims:

I will be working on my students speaking and listening skills, on enriching their vocabulary, and providing them with some general knowledge of stand-up comedy.

Assumptions:

students’ language proficiency level will enable them to complete all the given assignments,

students will be willing to cooperate, the virtual work environment will stimulate their interest motivate them to

actively participate in the activities.

Anticipated problems and possible solutions:

technical problems concerning the audio-visual equipment (the teacher will use the message box in the program window to help the student solve the problem)

students will not be very motivated for work (the teacher will tell a joke or play a video of a stand-up routine)

time management (the teacher will prepare a list of additional activities in case there is additional time left at the end of the lesson; alternatively, the teacher will give students less time for some of the activities if there is not enough time to do everything in the plan)

Method: CLT (Communicative Language Teaching)

Materials:

Handouts (practice) Crossword puzzle (3 min. additional activity) Links for videos for the production part of the lesson

Warm-up (5 min):The students will be sent the following URL via Skype message box: http://www.rong-chang.com/michelle.htm, where they will practice their English by exchanging written messages with a “robot”.

Aim: I will give them the activity that should help the students relax and mentally prepare for work.

Linguistic introduction (1 min):

The teacher will briefly introduce the topic to the students – “Humor and Comedy”. Aim: I will briefly introduce the topic of the lesson.

Presentation (5 min):

The teacher will ask students questions to elicit answers related to the target vocabulary. E.g. What kind of humor or jokes they prefer? Whether some of them know some jokers?Have you heard of Eddie Murphy and do you know how he started his career?

Target words: Hilarious, black humor, stand-up comedy, gag, sketch, slapstick, routine

After the presentation, the teacher will send each student a copy of the word list poster with vocabulary items mentioned during the presentation. The new vocabulary items will be highlighted. (See list of materials)

Aim: I will introduce some new vocabulary and revise some vocabulary that the students already know.

Practice (12 min):

1. Students will be sent a handout in electronic form (a Word document), which will contain a matching exercise. They will be given 5 minutes to complete this, and then they will check their answer with the teacher via the Skype video conference. (Handout 1)

2. Students will be sent a handout in electronic form (a Word document), which will contain a fill-in the blanks exercise. They will be given 5 minutes to complete this, and then they will check their answer with the teacher via the Skype video conference. (Handout 2)

Aim: I will be working on my students’ new vocabulary that was mentioned in the presentation part of the lesson.

NB: The teacher will be available at all times should the students have any problems with the exercises.

Homework:

Students will be given two tasks to choose from:1. Students should come up with a stand-up comedy routine of their own (4 minute long), or2. Students should browse the internet to find a stand-up comedy routine they like and prepare a short presentation of it for the next class.Aim: The students will be working on the new vocabulary, listening and speaking skills.Production (19 min):

Each student will be given a link to a video of a famous stand-up comedian (Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Billy Connolly) and they will have 8 minutes to watch the video and prepare a short presentation. Then they will present what they have watched to the rest of the group. Students will also be instructed to use as much of the previously mentioned vocabulary as possible.

Links: Connolly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyW0riD54nYRock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M902ZJHzaLEMurphy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XylJW5c9eJ0&feature=relatedCarlin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

Aim: The students will be practicing the new vocabulary and their speaking and listening skills.

NB: The teacher will be available at all times should the students have any problems with the exercises.

Checking (2min):

The teacher asks questions to elicit answers concerning the target vocabulary.

Aim: To check whether the students have successfully acquired the new vocabulary.

Closing (1min):

The teacher thanks the students for their cooperation and reminds them of their homework.

Aim: To thank the students on their cooperation and remind them of their homework.

Additional activities:

3 minutes: A crossword puzzle

Procedure: The students will be given a crossword puzzle with the new vocabulary items that they should fill in.Aim: To practice the new vocabulary.

5 minutes: Each student tells a joke in English.

Procedure: Each student tells a joke in English.Aim: To practice their speaking skills.

7 minutes: The students should browse the Youtube, find a routine they like other than those previously mentioned in the production part of the lesson, and report on it.

Procedure: The students should browse the Youtube, find a routine they like other than those previously mentioned in the production part of the lesson, and report on it. Aim: The students will be practicing their speaking and listening skills.

MATERIALS:

1. Black humor a) A type of comedy that consists of a series of short comic scenes.

2. Stand-up comedy b) A type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense. Made famous by Charlie Chaplin.

3. Gag c) A type of comedy where a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them

4. Sketch d) The sub-genre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism. Black humor is often a satire on the topic of death.

5. Slapstick e) Live performance by a comedian.6. Routine f) Anything which conveys humor visually,

often without words being used at all.Handout 1

Handout 2

1. Eddie Murphy is one of the kings of __________. 2. Charlie Chaplin made ____________ comedy famous.3. In one of his most famous ___________ Chris Rock talks about love.4. If you are joking about death that is a bit too much of ___________ humor for

me.5. Him imitating his father’s walk is one of the funniest __________ I’ve ever seen.6. A type of comedy that consists of a series of short comic scenes is called a

_________.

Crossword puzzle

Poster for the production:

Software and tools:

- MS Word – for creating Handouts 1 and 2- http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/ - For creating the crossword puzzle- www.youtube.com – For selected videos.- http://www.rong-chang.com/michelle.htm - For the warm-up activity.- Skype – For video-conferencing.- Corel Draw – For creating the poster for the production.