Title: And what's next?

Lesson plan elaborated by: Katarzyna Maciejak

Topic:

How to win the fight against adversity?

Target group:

8th‑grade students of an eighth‑year primary school.

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

1. Reading literary works. Student:

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

8. uses in the interpretation of literary works the necessary contexts, e.g. biographical, (...) social.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

2. organizes information depending on their function in the message;

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

1. functionally uses rhetorical means and understands their impact on the recipient;

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

3. agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion.

IV. Self‑study. Student:

1. reliably, with respect for copyrights, uses information.

The general aim of education

Students based on the literary text reflect on the fight against adversity.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic skills.

Operational objectives

Student:

• uses phrasal verbs related to dreams;

• indicates features whose possession helps achieve the ideal goal;

• talks about how to behave in the event of an accident;

• discusses the rules of first aid and provides the necessary emergency telephone numbers.

Teaching methods / techniques

• giving: talk;

• practical: subject exercises;

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

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher determines the purpose of the class: the students will talk about perseverance in pursuing the goal despite adversity.

2. The teacher can ask students what their dreams are and whether they all have a chance to come true.

Realization

1. Students perform interactive ex. No. 1 – on the basis of pictures they guess the idioms associated with dreams (the szczyt marzeń , the marzenie ściętej głowy , pożegnać się z marzeniami).

2. The teacher or student selected before the lesson introduces the figure of Bethany Hamilton and encourages students to read excerpts from her book.

3. The participants read the text in an abstract, and then perform interactive exercises in which they assess the truth of the statements related to the history of the surfer.

4. On the basis of the fragment read, students answer the question of what role her parents played in her life. In the next exercise, they write positive rules prevailing in the Hamilton family.

5. The teacher begins a conversation about the traits that help a person to achieve a goal, and encourages students to perform an interactive exercise of assigning quotes to traits that are important in achieving success (both in sport and in the wider context of life).

6. The students end up thinking: „Bethany Hamilton deserves admiration, because...”. Everyone arranges three sentences, then exchanges insights with a colleague from the bench.

7. The teacher draws attention to the fact that Bethany received help quite quickly, and her companions kept cool during the accident. He asks students if they know how to behave in a situation threatening someone's life or health.

8. Students perform an interactive exercise: they supplement emergency phone numbers – and an exercise in which to rank in the right order of action performed at the scene of the accident.

9. At the end, the students get acquainted with the presentation (interactive map) regarding the rules of first aid.

Summary

The teacher gives students short surveys with self‑evaluation.

Then he summarises the class by asking students questions:

• Can you say that Bethany was lucky? Why?

• Who is Bethany's story directed to? Who can help?

Homework

Visit the Bethany Hamilton website. Take a look at her photos and describe the one that drew your special attention.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

And what's next?

Think, what do your colleagues dream about the most often. Why some dreams cannot come true?

Have you ever been in a situation that could be described in words: “like a bolt from the blue”? What did you feel during this sudden and unexpected event? Do you remember a pleasant thrill or rather a panic fear?

You will read about a teenage girl whose life has changed completely in a split second. How would you behave in such situation? Would you be able to deal with the consequences of the event that ruined all your plans and dreams?

Bethany Hamilton was born in 1990 in Hawaii. She was the third child of Tom and Cheri Hamilton. Bethany started surfing at the age of five. She won numerous competitions in the children’s and junior’s categories. When she was eight, she attracted the attention of the sponsors – the RipCurl company. They supported the talented girl financially and guided her sport and media career. October 2003 was for Bethany the turning point. She was swimming with her friends in the Napali coast waters, when a tiger shark attacked her. She started practising her beloved sports discipline again in less than a month after the accident.

During the Bethany’s accident her friend remained calm. Would you know how to behave in the situation when someone’s life or health is in danger?