My first lesson

My first lesson was a game to introduce myself and get to know students. It was simple but entertaining and, even if I was afraid they wouldn't be able to follow the game, they did and they got involved in the activity!

Main learning outcome: By the end of this lesson, Ss will have developed their speaking and listening skills

STAGE	PROCEDURES (WHAT T DOES)	TASKS (WHAT STS DO)	AIM / SKILL
1.LEAD-IN/PREPARATION	The T introduces herself and tells Ss they are going to play a game in order to get to know them and for them to know each other better. She sticks a picture on the blackboard which depicts a boy sitting on a chair with a happy face and a bubble above him representing a dream, and she asks: What can you see in this picture? What is the boy doing? Good, he seems to be dreaming! Do you know what a dream is? What do we call it in Spanish? The T asks if Ss have any dreams in life and if they like dreaming. She says ‘The name of this game is Two Truths and a Dream’ and writes the title inside the bubble or above the picture.	The Ss may answer ‘The boy is thinking’ or ‘The boy is happy’, or, preferrably, ‘He’s having a dream/dreaming’.	To observe, to describe Speaking To produce utterances spontaneously talking about themselves
2.SETTING UP	The T asks Ss to sit in a semi-circle so that all of them can see each other. She explains the game: ‘Students, the game is simple and fun: You will get divided in 2 groups: Team A and Team B. Each of you will say three sentences about yourself: Two of them will be true and the other, a dream (without saying which one the dream is). So we should NOT say ‘My dream is...’. We say 3 sentences and the rest must guess which one is false. After one of the first team says his three sentences, the other group will try to guess which one is the dream. (You have only two chances: if you fail twice, you lose your turn and the other team continues). Then, the opposite team goes on: The first person in the semi-circle will say his/her sentences, and the other team must guess. I will draw a column on the bb and put a stick for each right guess under each team. The game finishes when both groups have finished the sentences. The team with the highest number of guesses, wins. There is a nice prize for the winners! Do you have any questions? I will start to give an example: ‘My name is Mariana and my second name, Carla. I live in Rosario and I speak four languages’. Which one do you think is my dream?’. The Ss may answer: ‘That you speak 4 languages!’. The T says: ‘Very good! Now you know me a bit more!’. You may use the bb if you want. (the T makes clear that it is important that the participants speak one at a time so that there are no confussions when deciding whether they have guessed or not).	The Ss listen attentively to the game’s instructions If necessary, they ask questions. They ask the question.	To listen To ask questions if they have not understood Listening and speaking
3.RUNNING THE ACTIVITY	The game starts. The T asks: Which group wants to start? The first pupil in one of the teams starts saying the 3 sentences about him/herself and the other team tries to guess. If they have trouble to think of a dream, the T sticks some pictures on the bb representing aspirations which are common in adolescents. The procedure is repeated until all the Ss have played (except that any of them is unwilling to participate). If any language problem arises, the T writes it down on a paper in order to give a feedback session after the game.	The Ss start to play the game	To listen to their classmates and to speak
4.CLOSING THE ACTIVITY	If the T sees they are running out of time and most of the class haven’t been able to speak yet, she gives a time warning or else points at some images on the bb to provide ideas and speed up the game. Once all of the Ss have participated, the T looks at the chart and announces who the winner team is. She handles a candy to all the Ss for participating in the game.
5. POST-ACTIVITY	The T runs out a feedback session: If there has been any language problems, she writes the inaccurate utterances on the bb and asks the class if they can notice anything in the sentence that is not right. Once the mistake has been identified, she highlights the wrong form and asks Ss how they would rephrase that sentence. E.g.: ‘I am singer’ ------- Is it OK? How would you correct it?	Ss notice the mistakes and try to correct them.	To notice the gap and to produce right utterances