Title: Farewell to school

Lesson plan elaborated by: Katarzyna Maciejak

Topic of the class

Difficult farewells – complicated emotions.

Target group

7th‑grade students of an eight‑year elementary school.

Core curriculum

1) Literary and cultural education.

2. Reading literary works. Student:

4) recognises in the literary text: neologism, euphemism (...) and defines their functions;

5) knows the concept of comedy, recognizes its types in texts and determines their functions;

6) knows the concept of irony, recognizes it in texts and defines its functions;

7) defines existential issues in the texts being studied and reflects them;

3) Language education.

3. Language communication and language culture. Student:

4. understands what language politeness consists of and uses it in statements;

5. distinguishes between the standard and functional language standards and applies to them;

6) Creating statements.

7. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

8) functionally uses rhetorical means and understands their impact on the recipient;

9) collects and organizes the material material needed to create statements; edits the compositional plan of his own statement;

10) creates a statement using the appropriate composition for a given form and the principles of linguistic consistency between paragraphs; understands the role of paragraphs as a coherent whole of thought in the creation of written utterances and applies the paragraph rhythm (interweaving of long and short paragraphs);

11. Speaking and writing. Student:

12) creates coherent statements in the following genre forms: (...) speech (...);

4) performs a voice interpretation of texts read and delivered.

13. Self‑education. Student:

6) develops skills of independent presentation of the results of their work.

The general aim of education

Students get to know literary texts about emotions related to saying goodbye.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• defines emotions related to saying goodbye;

• analyses and interprets the poem;

• explains the meaning of idioms;

• discusses the qualities of a good speaker – justifies his/her opinion.

Teaching methods / techniques

• giving: talk;

• practical: discussion, subject exercises;

• exhibiting: recording;

• programmed: using a computer, using an e‑manual.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• work in pairs;

• collective activity.

Lesson plan (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher defines the purpose of the course. Together with the students, he/she sets the criteria for success.

2. The teacher starts talking about moments that are particularly emotional for students and teachers. One of them is the end of a school year - especially for students who are finishing particular stage of education and are closing a certain stage of life as well as for retiring teachers. Students share their reflections on the end of the school year.

Realization

1) Students listen to the recitation of Adam Zagajewski's poem entitled „Nauczycielka dykcji w Szkole Teatralnej odchodzi na emeryturę” and answer the questions (e.g. about the mood of the poem and the emotions of the title teacher). Then they justify whether the character was shown as a positive or negative character (they use arguments from the text).

2) Interpretation of the culminating point of the poem: „Zostaniemy teraz sami. / Będziemy kaleczyć język i usta.” Students present their interpretation proposals.

3. Students read an excerpt of prose contained in the abstract: „Pożegnanie ze szkołą”. The teacher checks the level of understanding of the text: students do multiple‑choice exercises (no. 6 and 7). Explanation of the word: unconventional.

5. Students discuss in pairs the unconventional nature of Doubek's speech, and then do interactive ex. no. 8 – they assign fragments of the text to appropriate collections (Doubek's reactions, audience’s reactions). At the end, they name the emotions of the speaker and the audience.

6. Students do ex. no. 8 – they choose the features of a good speaker and justify their opinions.

Summary

The teacher asks the students questions to summarise the lesson, e.g.

• What emotions are associated with saying goodbye?

• How does literature speak about difficult emotions?

• What should remember a speaker saying a farewell speech?

Homework

Soon you will say goodbye to the school. Write a story about your last day at school. Remember to present the accompanying emotions.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

**Farewell to school **

The school meeting of students and teachers is a stage in life, for both of them. It is shorter for students who, after completing a given cycle of education, face new challenges – in secondary school, at university, in adult life. This period is usually longer for teachers who often spend their entire working life in a particular school. The end of each such significant stage often becomes a source of emotions, sometimes very strong and ambiguous. Joy can be intertwined with sorrow, hope – with nostalgia. This moment of transition is experienced differently by the student and the teacher experiences it otherwise. It is worth looking at these emotions because they can tell us a lot about others and about ourselves.

We wondered about the emotions of a teacher saying goodbye to school – now let's see what such a separation looks like from the perspective of a student. The plot of Michal Viewegh’s novel, a contemporary Czech writer, takes place in the Czech Republic in 1992, and the main role is played by the Czech language teacher, the protagonist and the narrator of the work. One of the scenes in the novel is the end of a school year when a student representative, Doubek, is to thank the teachers. Since Doubek hasn’t revealed the farewell speech text until the last moment, nobody knows what to expect. The following fragment of the novel presents Doubek’s oratorical performance.