Who is Miamo Lydie ?

 LITTERACY TOPIC 2 : CULTURE

The lesson was based on the patriotic week, running from 7th to 10th November, and the aim was to impact the students about the history and cultural values of Poland, and to develop speaking, listening, writing and reading skills Each student was given a Polish historical female character to work on. They had to make a presentation about the life and actions of their characters, that made them influence their country as national heroes. I think this approach engaged the students because they had top work individually, and on different characters, so they had the responsibility to educate their peers about the achievements of their respective characters. This surely led them to concentrate and do a good job. And really, they impressed me with their presentation, especially the student who is usually so easily distracted such that the assistant teacher spends a lot of time with him. His presentation was even one of the longest. . The teacher used previous knowledge using questions, asking the students to think of important dates in their lives, what happened on those days, and when It was beneficial for the students because one could immediately see how eager they were to narrate their story, and it made them use past tenses and gave the teacher the opportunity to correct their mistakes. Also, their previous knowledge could be displayed in preparing their presentation making use of their IT skills To contextualizing instruction, the teacher made use of printed texts with images of personalities, a list of topics from which the students chose to work individually on, the projector and computer, they also had cardboard for their group works No new vocabulary was introduced as lesson objective, rather, focus was on the use of known vocabulary to do the presentation in writing, reading and speaking. I would say the lexis part of the lesson was consequential, as students regularly asked translation of some Polish words in English, or meaning of some English words, to do their task. I think there was enough emphasis on the language because the students had the opportunity to read texts, listen to audio recordings that the teacher played in class after each presentation, to reinforce knowledge of each historical figure. They could also write down information, and talk in the course of the presentation, and I think it was quite enough to provide some immersion into the language using various methods, and without boredom. As instructional strategies, the teacher made intensive use of scaffolding during the lessons and preparation pf their presentations. The teacher provided the students with the necessary materials and guidance to complete their tasks asking specific questions to get the students talking without reading from their slides, and providing more information about their works through the recordings. Eg: why was she a national hero? How many days did you spend on your work? There was also room for scaffolding by the parents because the students had to work with their parents to seek for information and to design the slides. Moreover, after each presentation. The teacher played au audio of their lives, for the students to listen, and she provided more information and explanations The strategy was successful to an extent because the students actually did their task and exercised all four language skills (listening, speaking, writing and reading). Although all the students could practice these skills while they were presenting, the presentation did not compel all the students to listen. Some were distracted with writing or talking, because they did not have any clear objective listening to the presentations of their peers. To foster listening skills, I would inform the students that at the end of each presentation, they will make one comment or ask one question about the presentation. I actually tried this, when I was doing my presentation about Independence Day in my country, that my mentor suggested to me. I asked the students to pay attention to dates, names goods sold, of the countries, the flags, and the presidents involved in the history of Cameroon, and jot down important information because at the end they will answer some questions. The students actually got some answers as a class, but as individual student, they couldn't get up to about three answers. I suppose this was because I gave them many things to focus on. They were just to listen as a story, not focus on details. Maybe a better approach would be to put them in groups or pairs, and give them two or three specific information to get from the presentation, then share with the class. They got oral and written feedback. The teacher conducted a self-assessment, and assessed them in the way they behaved during the assembly, how they recited the poem - tone of their voice, speed, intonation, an eye contact. This was an electronic form they had to fill online during their IT lesson. This was very useful, as the students were well engaged in the activities, and I would also have their answers printed and pasted in their portfolio, for easy access in future.