WEEK 4 - PRODUCTIVE AND RECEPTIVE SKILLS AND LESSON PLANS

READING, WRITING, VOCABULARY SKILLS AND LESSON PLANS

"A little learning is a dangerous thing."
-Alexander Pope

This has been a very productive week. I have learned a lot with the use of the internet in writing and reading activities, this is a very good aid as a teaching medium, there is a great variety of authentic material and suggestions to apply in the classroom they work as a real learning.
I like the ideas for teaching writing and the different techniques proposed which are based on: Web sites, e-mail and web publishing. They are according to the age and student's interest. The first element is practical because it is used to get information they need, the second element is nice for students to share and interact each other and third one is the production where learners can display everything they learn. In the second element students for example can write "A letter to a friend" , they will find it authentic and purposeful to establish a discussion and interact with a real person. In an "argumentative essay" they can write their ideas and express arguments for and against a specific topic. There are another suggestions which are valid to write like: a description of a person, a biography, notices and advertisements, etc. All of them are good to practice on-line writing. They provide students with choice, variety, authenticity, and recency to give them a real purpose for writing.

There are also reading activities and tips to help students to choose an e-book depending on their interest and reading levels. The procedures to understand, analyze or evaluate a book are clear so we can get students involved in the process of selecting books. They give us clear ideas to promote them to organize summaries or lead students in a higher thinking.

The lesson plan model includes many components and can be used for a technology class. I think this is complete and does not left anything out. There are some elements in this lesson plan which are new and different from my usual lesson plans, these are: state curriculum standards, student's present level of performance and skills and instructional procedures. I have included these three elements in my lessons but I have not detailed them as I did now.

I described two of the issues I face in my classes which are student-oriented and I really hope to solve them with technology to get my students actively involved in the English Language Learning.

Mory-Ecuador