Want to actively engage your students in your next English lesson? Then this article is for you!
This month we propose a ready-to-use lesson plan revolving around the controversial theme of Generation Alpha’s relationship with technology.
Register on MLA EDU Resources to download it for free!
Premise
Children born from 2010 onwards are considered part of Generation Alpha, abbreviated as AlphaGen.
They are the first generation to grow up with access to the internet from childhood, and therefore their members are considered accustomed to using technology and social media—though these do not play a significant role in their socialisation process. For this reason, they have been defined as “Digital Natives”.
While researchers and parents agree that the educational paradigm shift is significant, the outcomes of this change are variable. On one hand, technology offers opportunities for improved learning and more personalised education; on the other, there is concern that excessive device use may create technological dependency and a lack of self-regulation that hinders development.
Educational Goals
The educational aim of this month’s lesson plan is to make students aware that new technologies have brought numerous positive developments but also have negative implications; to reflect on the importance of the “peaceful coexistence” between analogue and digital lifestyles.
Learning Objectives
With this proposal, we aim to guide students towards the following learning objectives: analytical text comprehension; learning to classify data; preparing questions for an interview, conducting the interview and reporting it according to the principle of “integrated skills”.
Activities
The activities included in the lesson plan are designed to enrich vocabulary and guide students in drafting a personal letter, an essay and conducting an interview. Here are some examples:
Activity 1: Writing an essay
As an activity that can also be assigned as homework, students are asked to write an essay reflecting on the use of technology in education:
Computers are a central part of education today. In some schools every child has a personal laptop and the class teacher communicates with them through his/her computer or tablet. Do you think that computers and technology are useful in education? Write your opinion (120 words).
Activity 2: Interviews
As a concluding activity, the teacher will ask students to work in pairs to conduct interviews. Each member of the pair will:
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Prepare two questions in English about their partner’s reading habits and preferences regarding reading and internet browsing.
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Ask their partner the prepared questions.
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Listen to the response and write it down in their notebook.
This is a perfect example of “integrated skills”, as the proposed activity involves all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing).
Now all you have to do is register in the MLA EDU Resources section and download the ready-to-use PDF lesson plan complete with plenty of exercises to use with your students!
