Topic: Our little homeland

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

8th grade primary school student.

Core curriculum:

VI. Local society.

The student:

5) finds and presents information about his municipality, events and characters from its history.

The general aim of education:

The student uses information to create his own statement.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• finds information about the town, municipality or commune he lives in.

• presents the advantages of his town/commune .

• explains the challenges that arise in front of his commune and suggests the possible solutions.

• creates a presentation/folder presenting his town/commune.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• digital competence,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences,

• sense of initiative and entrepreneurship,

• cultural awareness and expression.

Teaching methods:

• teaching conversation using scheme, movie,

• WebQuest.

Forms of work:

• group work,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will find out, what challenges your community or town have to face, and what the opportunities for its development are. You will discover, if there is anything to be proud of as the inhabitants of your town/commune.

2. The teacher asks the students if they have heard anything about a town called Annopole Stare. He invites the students to look at a photo gallery from this town, where its inhabitants present what they are proud of in their commune. Then the teacher asks the students what would they present in such a case. The student present their suggestions.

Implementation:

1. The teacher divides the class into groups of three or four. He explains that the task of the students is to prepare a joint presentation, for example using the Google Presentations or Prezi application, about the town or commune in which they live. Each group chooses one of the aspects of the presentation (first come, first served):

• The history of our little homeland.

• Our beautiful Poland.

• Culture and science in (name of your town/community).

• Sports in (name of your town/community)!

• To live a healthy lifestyle in (name of your town/community).

• The road I take in (name of your town/community).

• Investment you can’t see in (name of your town/community).

• Our pride!

The presentation may also include a description of the activities of the police, fire brigade, flood protection, the most important authorities and offices, companies, factories, shops, etc. The teacher encourages students to also present ideas on what needs of residents should also be satisfied.

2. The teacher informs the students that the „How to present your little homeland?” and “Where to look for information?” materials from the abstract „Our little homeland” will help in the preparation of the presentation. He asks the students to pay extra attention to the part of presentation that concerns their tasks.

3. Then the teacher asks the students, where they plan to look for the information about their town/commune. After writing down their ideas on the board he reminds the students (if they have not mentioned the source), that they could use the Public Information Bulletin, available online. Then together with the students the teacher explains:

• what the Bulletin is,

• who publishes using the sites of the Bulletin,

• what kind of information may be found in the Bulletin.

In a teaching conversation, the teacher uses the scheme “Where to look for information?”.

4. The group work starts. The teacher assists the students in finding the information they could use in their presentations. The teacher or the students also add an appropriate background music to the presentation.

5. The students present their parts of presentation. The teacher monitors the time of each presentation, so that all the groups have their chance to present the results of their work.

Summary:

1. The teacher plays the presentation as an animation with background music, without the students' comments this time. Together, they watch the material about their town or municipality – this time in a movie‑like version.

2. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

3. Homework proposal:

a. Find out, when the nearest session of the commune council takes place and what issues will be discussed. The write a message to a chosen commune council member with a suggestion to introduce certain changes in your commune, which would make the life of its inhabitants easier or more pleasurable. Remember to use a proper form of expression.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

Notes for the teacher

If the students have difficulty working in the cloud or the school does not have the appropriate equipment, the presentation can be prepared in a printed form – as a folder.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Our little homeland

Do you like the place you live in? Opinion polls (CBOS) show that most Polish people would not change their towns for anything else! How would you answer that question?

Often – even if we are aware that our surroundings are not the most beautiful place in the world – we are able to see a lot of advantages. We like the places we grew up in. Some towns have wonderful architecture, some – gorgeous nature, others – an impressive landscape. There are places with great, well‑equipped schools or sport centres. Some communities invested in roads, others decided that good water supply was the most important.

Look at the gallery to find out what the inhabitants of Annopole Stare in Zduńska Wola community (łódzkie voivodeship) are proud of.

Split into groups and prepare folders about your communities. The task of each group will be to cover one of the subjects. Here are some ideas:

1. The history of our little homeland.

2. Our beautiful Poland.

3. Culture and science in (name of your town/community).

4. Sports in (name of your town/community)!

5. To live a healthy lifestyle in (name of your town/community).

6. The road I take in (name of your town/community).

7. The investment you can’t see in (name of your town/community).

8. Our pride!

You can also present the functioning of the police, the fire brigade, flood protection, the most important authorities and offices, companies, factories, shops, etc. in your community. And maybe it would be a good idea to create something new in your community that would be a dream come true for the inhabitants. In a separate point in your folder, design something that your community needs and would benefit from like a hi‑tech cinema, sports hall, nature trail, tennis court, or simply fixing something that has not been working for a long time, planting trees, improvement of aesthetics, etc. If there are any problems, conflicts, controversies in your community concerning local issues, present them in your folder as well with a title “Controversies over...” or “Consent builds”.

After you have all the information write an introduction to your folder, and stress the advantages of your community. Show off! Invite others to visit your little homeland!

Watch a presentation with examples and suggestions on what you could show and describe in your folder. Good luck!