Lesson plan (English)

Title: What does it mean „hero”?

Lesson plan elaborated by: Katarzyna Maciejak

Topic:

Hero – who is it?

Target group:

6th‑grade students of an eight‑year elementary school.

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

1. Reading literary works. Student:

7) tells about the events of the plot and sets the order of events and understands their mutual dependence

9) characterises the lyrical subject, the narrator and the characters in the read works;

10) distinguishes between first‑person and third‑person narratives and indicates their functions in the work;

11) indicates the main and supporting heroes in the work and defines their features;

12) defines the theme and issues of the work;

14) calls the impressions that the text reads in it;

16) defines the experiences of literary heroes and compares them with his own;

17) presents his own understanding of the work and justifies it;

18) uses in the interpretation of texts own experience and elements knowledge about culture;

19) expresses its own judgment on the forms and events;

20) indicates the values in the song and determines the values important for the hero.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

2) searches in the text for information expressed directly and indirectly;

3) defines the topic and main thought of the text;

5) distinguishes between important and secondary information contained in the text.

II. Language education.

2. Differentiation of language. Student:

4) understands the literal and portable meaning of words in speech; recognizes ambiguous words, understands their meaning in the text and consciously uses them to create their own statements;

7) adapts the way of expressing the intended purpose of the statement;

8) distinguishes synonyms, antonyms, understands their functions in the text and applies in their own statements.

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

1) participates in a conversation on a given topic, separates its parts, construction signals strengthening the bond between participants of the dialogue, explaining the meaning;

3) creates a logical, semantically complete and orderly statement, applying the composition and graphic layout appropriate to the given form. understands the role of paragraphs in creating the whole of a mental expression;

4) selects information;

5) knows the principles of paragraph building;

2. Speaking and writing. Student:

4) edits notes;

5) talks about the text read.

IV. Self‑study. Student:

1) perfect quiet and loud reading;

2) improves various forms of saving the obtained information.

The general aim of education

Students learn about the literary image of Emilia Plater and collect vocabulary to describe the character.

Key competences

communication in the mother tongue;
communication in foreign languages;
learning to learn;
social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

determines the meaning range of the word „hero”;
collects the vocabulary needed to describe the character;
creates a description of the hero;
justifies your opinion.

Teaching methods / techniques

giving: talk;
practical: elements of drama, practical exercises;
programmed: using a computer, using an e‑manual.

Forms of work

individual activity;
collective activity.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Before the lesson

1. Students conduct a survey among at least 10 people, asking them questions:

What does it mean a hero?
What character traits does the hero have?
Who is the hero for you?
They are writing the answers in a notebook.

2. Students are supposed to repeat the news about the November Uprising.

Introduction

1. The teacher determines the purpose of the classes and gives the students criteria of success.

2. The teacher asks students who they consider to be the hero or what heroes were mentioned by the people with whom they conducted the survey before the classes. Writing names on the board - in total, 20‑30 names should appear.

Realization

1. A short overview: who are the heroes whose names we have written on the board, what links them and what is different about these characters?

2. Pun game. Eager students choose one of the characters on the board and present it without words so that the other students can guess who they are talking about.

3. The students together with the teacher write the English vocabulary needed to describe the hero (interactive board in the abstract). You will need nouns (eg knight, patriot), as well as adjectives (eg brave, courageous, heroic, clever) and adverbs (eg wisely, bravely).

4. Reading a poem by Adam Mickiewicz. The Śmierć Pułkownika. An eager or chosen student reminds us briefly about the November Uprising. Students search for information about Emilia Plater in available sources and complete the form in an abstract. The teacher asks if the Polish heroine reminds the students of some other historical figure and if necessary, guides the pupils to the figure of Joan of Arc.

5. Exercise 3 and 4 regarding the content of the poem.

6. The teacher asks students why – in their opinion – the poet only revealed the hero's first and last name at the end of the poem (exercise 5). The students give their suggestions, e.g.

to strengthen the reader's surprise effect
because a woman soldier was a rarity in those days.
The students explain the uniqueness of the Colonel (Exercise 6).

7. Students in pairs prepare a justification in English: why Emilia Plater can be called a heroine.

8. At the end, by working in pairs or individually, the students prepare a short description of the person they consider to be the hero. Selected students present their notes on the class forum.

Summary

The teacher asks the students questions for a summary, e.g.