In the context of the ELT week that British Council Argentina organised in March 2023, we invited teachers to submit lesson ideas for the remote and online classroom that drew on the contents of the talks they attended during the event.
This lesson plan was contributed by teacher Silvia Cordi as a response to this call. Its target audience are beginner level primary school children and its main aims are to identify the characteristics of poems and to learn and review vocabulary related to senses, sounds, shapes and colours.
There are many activities that invite learners to respond using their whole body and develop their creativity. Some of these could also be used in isolation for revision purposes or as an active pause. The idea behind this multisensory lesson is to make learning more memorable. There is plenty of rehearsing and practice to promote retention and retrieval of previous information.
Lesson plan: Captain Impossible poem
Author: Silvia Cordi
Aims:
- To identify poems and their characteristics.
- To learn and review vocabulary related to senses, sounds, shapes and colours.
- To develop listening and writing skills.
- To develop creativity and critical thinking.
- To promote coordination and motor skills development.
- To develop skills for collaboration.
Age and level: Primary school learners aged 8-10 years at CEFR A1 level and above.
Time: 80 minutes approximately.
Materials:
- Digital copies of the poem
- Digital flashcards
- A hat and a magic wand
Procedure summary:
This lesson based around a poem revises the following categories: senses, sounds, shapes and actions. The poem is used as a trigger for all the activities. The lesson begins with a warmer to identify characteristics of the poem and predict what it is about. This is followed by comprehension and analysis of the text. After reading, learners will produce their own phrases inspired by the poem. As a follow up, there are physical response and interactive games, as well as a brain breaker activity.
In the sections below you will find the detail procedure for this lesson plan.