Virtual Fun

Learning and Evaluation

Situation

Dominique Roy and Inga Ivanova

EDTL 636
McGill University

November 2016

Name
School
Level and number of students
Description of students

Previous lessons
Anticipated problems and
solutions
Next lesson(s)

Dominique Roy, Inga Ivanova

Cavelier-de-LaSalle
Secondary 1 Core ESL, 20 students
Students are attending a Francophone Secondary school in LaSalle.
They come from various backgrounds and their first languages vary.
Majority of students have a low-intermediate level of English
proficiency.
Students completed a unit on food.
Some students do not play video games, so they might find it difficult
to choose a game to write about. Solution: instead of playing, they can
watch several trailers of the game, to be able to form their opinion.
Teacher can also ask all students to play a video game as homework.
Students will be exploring the theme of natural disasters.

Title of lesson: Virtual Fun

Goal of lesson: By the end of the unit students will:
- Have explored positive and negative features of video games
- Have determined their gaming profile
- Be able to use Past Simple Tense (regular and irregular)
- Have practiced using oral interaction strategy to elicit more information
- Be able to write a review
- Have practiced exercising critical judgment
- Have practiced expressing their opinion, likes and dislikes
Brief description of lesson: In the course of this unit, students will determine their gaming profile,
form their opinion on usefulness of videogames in their lives, and learn past simple tense. They will also
watch a clip about a videogame and read and deconstruct some game reviews. As a final project
students will have to write their own game review using information learnt in the unit.
Educational aim
Health and Well-Being: to ensure students have an understanding of how video
of a Broad Area of games influence their lives and are able to look at it critically and express their
Learning
opinions on the matter.
Related Content
(Culture,
Functional
Language,
Vocabulary,
Grammar,
Strategies,
Processes, Texts)
that students need
to carry out
activities in lesson

Functional Language: Likes, Dislikes, Opinions

Vocabulary: several words related to video games. Ex: feature, skill, challenge
Grammar: Past Simple Tense
Oral Interaction Strategy: Ask follow-up questions to get additional information.
Writing Process: Prepare to write (brainstorm, graphic organizer), First draft,
Revise (self-, peer-correct), Edit, Final copy.
Text: Information-based

Materials and
sources

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz46CPrgaSg
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1tBXe0JGyc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft3bgQvSmWw
-Textbook. Beyea C. and Blanchet H (2016). Snapshot: English as a
second language: secondary cycle 1: student workbook, 2d ed. Cheneliere
Education.
- Annex 1
- Annex 2
- Annex 3
- Annex 4
- Annex 5
- Annex 6
- Annex 7
- Annex 8
- Annex 9
- Annex 10

PREPARING TO LEARN
ACTIVITY
DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTIVITY
&
(role of Teacher and Students)
TIME

RATIONALE
EVALUATION
COMPETENCIES

Use Timer for all parts of the activity in order to

keep the students on task
Step 1
Video/discussion
6 minutes

Step 2
Guessing/matching
game
15 minutes

Play Game through the ages music video and have

students tell the T. what they think the unit is going to
be about. T. asks a few questions like How many of
you play video games?, How do video games make
you feel; do they help you relax, give you energy?,
Etc Emphasize that the students raise their
hands before answering. Ignore those students that
yell out answers.

Getting the students to

talk, write, predict,
summarize, and question
each other and
themselves around the
theme of video games
gets them thinking more
deeply about video
games and the impact
Have pictures printed from various Video Games
they have on their lives.
either on the board or around the room and have
Since this will be the
students walk around looking at the pictures, like a
theme of the LES, this
museum/art gallery (Annex 1). As they do so, have
lesson is meant to delve
them try to guess what games they are (the names of deeply into this theme so
the games are provided if needed). They can do this in that they can properly
pairs. This does not need to be too orderly but let
take part in their
them know that if it gets out of hand i.e too rowdy, reinvestment task at the
the activity will be cut short. T. gives the answers
end of the unit.
once students are sitting back in their chairs.

Step 3
Questionnaire
10 minutes
Step 4
Pair sharing
5 minutes
Step 5
Pair work
10 minutes
Step 6
Opinion game
15 minutes

Step 7
Exit card
10 minutes

Have students individually answer in a written format

Are you a Gamer Questionnaire on p. 76 (textbook)
and read the interpretation on page 77.
After, have students turn to the person to their right
and compare/share answers.
In those same partners, have the students answer the
questions on page 78 and discuss why they made
those choices.
Have the sign agree on one side of the room and
another sign disagree on the other. T. reads the
questions out loud and the students move to one or the
other side of the room depending on their answers. T.
pauses after each question to ask a different student to
explain why they agreed or disagreed. Once again,
emphasize raising their hands, and respecting each
other when talking by not talking at the same time.
If they do not listen, cut the activity short.
Students then go back to their desks and write 3
statements with which they strongly agreed and why,
this is to be handed in to the T. as an exit card as they
leave the class.

CARRYING OUT LEARNING (DURING)

Period 2
Step 1
Teaching grammar
(Past Simple)
20 min.

T. begins teaching Simple Past grammar with the

verbs to be and to have since these were the first
verbs to be introduced when teaching Simple Present,
are the most often used, and have exceptions that
differ from regular verbs. T. will draw a timeline on
the board to show Simple present and then a timeline
to show simple past, so that the visual learners will
understand what is being taught. T. will write out a
grid with all the pronouns and the conjugated past
tense verb, asking students to guess the answers
before writing them down. T. will instruct students to
take notes by copying what is being drawn on the
board. After these verbs have been shown, T. will call

By learning and
practicing the given
grammar point, students
prepare for the final and
formative assessments,
as they will need to use
it.

on a few volunteers to verbally/orally change a simple

present sentence into past tense.
Afterwards, T. will move on to explain regular verbs,
adding ed to the end of the verb. T. will ask students
to give a verb, T. will write the infinitive verb on the
board then call on another volunteer to conjugate it to
the past tense. Students will write these examples in
their notes.
Step 2
Grammar practice
30 min.
Step 3
Teaching the strategy
3 min.

Step 4
Practice discussion
15 min.

Step 5
Silent work
5 min.

Practicing past tense Grammar With an activity

Called Out & About (Annex 2).

Having students move

around for a bit after the
grammar lesson will help
them refocus once back
T. will ask for a student to volunteer to help them
demonstrate the strategy. They will sit in chairs facing in the classroom. Once
each other and the T. will ask the student to talk about back in the classroom,
students will be verbally
their weekend. Once the student is finishing sharing
information, the T. will pause and speak to the entire practicing the learnt
grammar rules.
class explaining that the strategy is to ask follow-up
questions to get additional information. The T. asks
the class if they can think of any questions that would
help continue the conversation and prompt the speaker
to share more details about their weekend. As proper Learning and practicing
an oral interaction
questions are provided, the T. writes them out on the
strategy will allow
board, and asks the speaking student the questions.
students to be able to
elicit more information
T. will pair students up according to their English
during conversations. It
abilities (pairing stronger students with weaker
will help them during
students). The T. will have students discuss about
the C1 evaluation and in
their past weekends activities, practicing the oral
future classes.
interaction strategy demonstrated. Students will use
the questions written on the board to help. For
example: What did you do this weekend? How did
that make you feel? Did you like doing that? Why?
Where was it?
A change in lesson focus
keeps the students
Students will answer questions 1, 2 & 3 identifying
their prior knowledge and opinions about video games engaged. Returning to
their textbook and
found on page 79.
discussing their prior
knowledge about video
games is in-line with the
theme of this LES. This
can also be used as an
exit card.

Period 3
Step 1
Video & Questions
15 min.

Step 2
Pair work
7-10 min.
Step 3
Mini-discussion
7 min.
Step 4
Grammar practice
10 min.

Step 5
Correction
5 min.
Step 6
Introducing new
vocabulary
20 min.
Step 7
Vocabulary practice
5 min.
Step 8
Exit discussion
5 min.

T. will read the statements found on page 79, number

4. Students will watch a video and fill in the blanks on
page 79, number 4. After watching the video, students
will individually answer questions 5 & 6 found on
page 80.

Students hear the opinion

of others and try
expressing their own
opinion, practicing for
their final assignment.

Students then compare their answers with the person

sitting beside them. With that same partner, they will
write 5 characteristics they think a popular video
game must have, page 80, number 7.
Students will return to their desks, and the T. will
conduct a discussion asking what the students had
written as characteristics. Students will practice their
discussion strategy learnt in previous class.

Students use previously

learnt oral
communication strategy.

By returning to the
grammar points learnt in
the previous class, this
helps the students from
forgetting and putting
aside this important
foundation for
T. corrects the activities with the whole class by
asking individual students for their answers, providing communication.
correct answers and giving feedback on the errors Ss
made.
After silent work,
students will need to be
T. will introduce new vocabulary important in
describing gamers and gaming through a game called more active and so a fun
vocabulary activity will
Balderdash (Annex 3).
fulfill this need and in so
Students will then individually do page 90 in their text doing also provide the
book matching synonyms and anonyms (vocabulary) students with new words
needed for their
they have just learnt during the game Balderdash.
reinvestment task.
T. will then return the students attention to grammar;
returning to practice the grammar learnt in the
previous class, but this time in a written format. They
will individually do activities on pages 69 & 70 in
their textbook.

As a class, students will discuss (with the aid of the

T.) aspects of video games they like and dislike
Period 4

Step 1
Video-trailer
2 min.
Step 2

T. shows students a trailer of Just Dance video

game.

To hook the students for

the lesson and inform
about the game,

Deconstructing a
game review
10 min.

Step 3
Reading/questions
35 min.

T. shows students the Just Dance video game

review on the Smart board (Annex 4). Each student
has a printed copy of it in front of them. T. reads the
text and asks students to tell what each paragraph
describes. Then, T. asks students to guess the structure
name of it. She then tells Ss. the correct name and
asks them to write it in their text. At the end, T. asks
several students to name the full structure of a video
game review.

understanding needed for

the next activity.
Students learn the
structure of a review,
needed for the final
project.

Ss read video game reviews in the textbook on p. 8182 individually. While reading, Ss are asked to
highlight verbs in Past simple. After reading, Ss
answer comprehension questions on a separate sheet
of paper in writing (Annex 5).

Reading and response

process provide students
with actual examples of a
review and prepare them
for the final reinvestment
task.

Step 4
Positive/negative fact Ss fill out a fact sheet with positive and negative
sheet
features of the 3 games individually in writing, p. 83
20 min.
in the textbook. T. asks several students to share their
answers to check for understanding.
Step 5
Homework
T. tells Ss that they have to find and play a video
game as homework. T. mentions that Ss will be using
this game in their final project.
Period 5
Step 1
Teaching grammar
(Past Simple
Irregular)
10 min.
Step 2
Grammar practice
20 min.
Step 3
Correction
5 min.

T. asks students to remember and tell when Past

Simple is used. T. tells students that some verbs do
not end in ed in Past Simple but have a different
form instead. T. gives Ss 2-3 examples. T. shows a
table with most common verbs in Base and Past
Simple form (Annex 6) and asks Ss to copy it in their
Grammar booklets.

By learning and
practicing the given
grammar point, students
prepare for the final
assessment, as they will
need to use it in the final
project.

Ss practice using Past Simple irregular verbs by

completing 2 activities on p. 85-86 in the textbook
individually in writing.
T. corrects the activities with the whole class by
asking individual students for their answers, providing
correct answers and giving feedback on the errors Ss
made.

Step 4
T. tells Ss that this activity is the beginning of their
final task. T. distributes fact sheets (Annex 7) and

This is the beginning of

the final project that

Complete the
description/fact sheet
(plan)
10-15 min.

Step 5
Complete graphic
organizer/plan
20 min.

explains that Ss need to choose a video game and

complete the fact sheet about it (provide the name of
the game, description of the game and
positive/negative features). T. mentions that
positive/negative features must be written in the bullet
point format.
The second part of planning is graphic organizer
(Annex 8). T. distributes graphic organizer sheets to
every student. T. explains that Ss need to write the
theme of the game, reasons for choosing it as well as
what they liked and disliked about it. T. specifies that
Ss do not have to write full sentences.

helps planning and

structuring the final
written piece. The fact
sheet and graphic
organizer will be
evaluated as a part of the
writing process in C3
according to the rubric
provided.

INTEGRATION
Final project: video game review
N.B. As students are required to use Writing Process Teacher will evaluate the
to complete their project, they have already completed C3 according to the
a part of it (plan) during the previous lesson. They
presented rubric.
have also deconstructed a sample review in one of the
previous lessons.
Step 1
Writing the draft
30 min.

Step 2
Self-correction +
teacher revision
40 min.

T. tells students that they need to write a video game

review (Annex 9), from a players perspective using
the plans that they have completed during previous
lesson. Students are shown the rubric for C3
evaluation (Annex 10) and the elements that should be
included in their review (use the structure of a review
[introduction/reasons for choosing the game,
description, positive and negative features of the
game/what I liked or didnt like, conclusion], use
complete sentences and proper punctuation, use Past
Simple tense when appropriate, use adjectives, use
new vocabulary learnt in the unit when appropriate,
use available resources [dictionary, grammar notes
and model texts]). Students write the draft of their
review.

Students practice
expressing critical
judgment and personal
opinion in writing.

Using available resources (dictionaries, grammar

notes and teachers help) students correct their own
work using a pen or a differently coloured pencil. T.
circulates the classroom providing immediate
feedback.

Students practice using

available resources as
well as monitoring
strategy (revising and

(In case some students finish their corrections early,

they should try to make their descriptions more vivid
by adding more adjectives).
Step 3
Editing
10-15 min.
Step 4
Final copy
10-15 min.

Taking into consideration teachers feedback, students

edit their draft.
Students write their final copy and submit the project
including the plan, the draft with visible corrections
and the final copy of the review.

editing) in order to
improve their work.

Annex 1
Answers in Order of pictures
1. Zelda
2. Assassins Creed
3. Sonic The Hedgehog
4. Pac Man
5. Mine Craft

6. Grand Theft Auto

7. Super Mario
8. Halo
9. Angry Bird
10. Starcraft

Annex 2

Activity name:

Go Out and About

Activity type:

Practice past tense

Age/level:

Secondary school/ Intermediate

Time:
Materials:

30 minutes
Notebooks and pens/pencils to write; Grammar
points check list
- Students will be out of the classroom and
observing;
- Students will familiarize themselves with the use
of pasttense;
- Students will be able to practice note-taking
skills;
- Students will listen to their classmates and work
in groups to give corrective feedback

Objectives:

Procedure:

- Guided by the teacher, students take a short walk

outside the school (if this is not possible, then take
a tour around the campus).
- Students are supposed to take notes on what they
observe during the tour, for which the teacher has
already taught the techniques before leaving the
class.
- When the students come back to the classroom,
they will share in groups of five what they
experienced on the walk, using simple past. A
grammar check list will be given to each student.
While one person is talking, the rest should listen
attentively, check off the list and take notes, in
order to provide corrective feedback.
- To extend this oral practice, students will be
asked to write a 250-word journal about todays
experience as homework. In the next class, the
students will get into pairs to peer-edit their
journals.

Annex 3
Activity name:

Balderdash Vocabulary

Activity type:
Age/level:
Time:
Materials:
Objectives:

Learning new vocabulary

Any level (the difficulty can be adjusted)
25 minutes+
Papers, pens, pencils
Practice sentence structures while simultaneously
learning new
vocabulary words.

Procedure:

The teacher chooses words that are unknown to

the students. Students get into groups of 3 and
have to write down what they think the definition
of the word is. They have to use language similar
to that of a dictionary and provide an example of a
sentence using the word.
The goal is to convince the class that their
definition is the dictionary definition. The teacher
will then pick up everyone's definition and read
them all out loud. The students have to vote to
decide which definition is
the real one. At the end of the round, the teacher
tells them which definition is the real one. If one
of the groups' definitions was voted to be the real
one by the majority of the class, they get a point.

Comments:

Annex 4

This is a great way to introduce students to new

vocabulary at the beginning of a new unit. The
activity promotes creativity and allows students to
practice their writing skills and makes them aware
that they have to a sentence that sounds
"professional" if they want to convince people
their definition is the correct one. You can also
increase the difficulty depending on the level of
your students by picking harder words. By
allotting students points, you also make the
activity more exciting through competition.

Just Dance 1 Review

I just bought a Wii and this was one of the games I threw in on whim because it looked like such fun
in the videos. And it truly is!
The game is simple. You choose a song, and then after a countdown from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, you'll see a
silhouetted character on your screen doing the dance moves. The character is generally dressed
appropriately for the song: a disco dude will lead you through "That's the Way I Like It", a cowgirl
will do a two-step to "Cotton Eye Joe", and a dog (yes, a dog) will dance to "Who Let the Dogs Out".
You basically just have to do the mirror image of the character's moves. They also have multiplayer
games. In the first game (Challenge), you can basically have a dance-off between you and up to three
other friends to see who'll get the high score. In the second game (Strike a Pose), it's like a game of
Red Light / Green Light where you have to freeze in your tracks when the music stops. The third game
(Last one standing) is an elimination game where the person who makes the least mistakes wins the
game.
The first thing that struck me when I popped the game into the Wii was that these were fun songs from
every era. They're all family-friendly, and there's something in the track list for everyone, from baby
boomers to Gen X'ers to Gen Y'ers. Here's the entire track list. Most of the songs are not covers, but
original tracks from the original singers. The second thing that impressed me was that this game
features actual dance moves to the songs. In other words, not only are you playing the game, you're
learning actual dance steps. You'll learn the "Mashed Potato" that was all the rage in the 1960's to
Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potato Time". You'll learn the best disco moves of the 70's with songs like
"That's the Way I Like It". And my personal dream come true--you can dance like MC Hammer with
"U Can't Touch This".
The only downfall is that there aren't many songs! Another bummer, sometimes when you are really
nailing the moves it gives you a "Miss"...not cool!
Overall it is great! It is definitely worth the money and I'd definitely buy a second volume!
GAME REVIEW STRUCTURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Annex 5

Comprehension Questions
1. Who did Simon start playing the game with?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_
2. What do the warriors in Fire of the Dragon II fight for?
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. What made the Fire of the Dragon II game more realistic and alive?
_______________________________________________________________________________
4. Why did Nadia choose the Hard Rock Band game?
_______________________________________________________________________________
5. How many songs does the game have?
_______________________________________________________________________________
6. What didnt Nadia like about the graphics?
_______________________________________________________________________________
7. What were the 2 reasons for Ian to choose the Extreme Kayak Racing?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
8. How did the game help Ian in real life?
_______________________________________________________________________________
9. How many people can participate in each race?
_______________________________________________________________________________
10. Where do you find information about a new game?
_______________________________________________________________________________
11. What types of games do you like to play most?
_______________________________________________________________________________
12. How do you think video games influence the life of teenagers? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

Annex 6

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Group 1 All three forms of the verb are the
same
Base Form
Simple Past
bet
bet
cost
cost
cut
cut
hit
hit
hurt
hurt
let
let
put
put
shut
shut
Group 2 The
are the same
Base Form
lose
shoot
get
light
sit
keep
sleep
feel
leave
meet
bring
buy
fight
think
catch
teach
sell
tell
pay
make
stand
understand
lend
send

2nd and 3rd forms of the verb

Simple Past

lost
shot
got
lit
sat
kept
slept
felt
left
met
brought
bought
fought
thought
caught
taught
sold
told
paid
made
stood
understood
lent
sent

spend
build

spent
built

Base Form
find
have
hear
hold
read
say

Simple Past
found
had
heard
held
read (pronounced red)
said

Group 3 All three forms of the verb are

different
Base Form
Simple Past
drive
drove
ride
rode
rise
rose
write
wrote
bite
bit
hide
hid
break
broke
choose
chose
speak
spoke
wake
woke
blow
blew
grow
grew
know
knew
fly
flew
draw
drew
show
showed
wear
wore
tear
tore
begin
began
drink
drank
swim
swam
ring
rang
sing
sang
eat
ate
fall
fell
forget
forgot
give
gave
see
saw
take
took

Annex 7

Name __________________

Date __________________

Description/Fact Sheet
1. Name of the game: _______________________________________________________________
2. Describe the game. _______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_
_________________________________________________________________________________
_
_________________________________________________________________________________
_
_________________________________________________________________________________
_
_________________________________________________________________________________
_
_________________________________________________________________________________
_
3. List the features of the game
Positive Features

Negative Features

________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________
________________________________________ ________________________________________

Annex 8

Name ____________________

Date ____________________________

POINT FORM = NO SENTENCES, ADD ADJECTIVES

Theme
Reasons I chose it

Annex 9

What I liked

What I did not like

On a separate sheet of paper write a review of the video game that you chose
entitled Project 3. Video Game Review. In your review use:
Information from your plan and graphic organizer,
The structure of a review (introduction/reasons for choosing the game, description, positive
and negative features of the game/what I liked or didnt like, conclusion),
Past Simple tense when
appropriate, Adjectives,
New vocabulary from the unit when appropriate,
Complete sentences and proper punctuation,

Available resources (dictionary, grammar notes and model texts).

Submit your plan and graphic organizer with your text!

Annex 10

Evaluation rubric
Criteria/Points

4
Uses all the
steps of the
writing process
(plan, draft,
visible
corrections,
final)

3
Uses most of the
steps of the
writing process
(plan, draft,
visible
corrections,
final)

Content &
Coherence

The text is clear

and coherent, all
the elements of
the review
structure are
present, all task
requirements
are respected

Most of the text

is clear and
coherent, the
errors do not
impede
understanding;
most elements of
the review
structure are
present, most
task
requirements are
respected

Most of the text

is clear but there
is lack of
coherence, the
errors slightly
impede
understanding;
some elements
of the review
structure are
present, some
task
requirements are
respected

Grammar &
Vocabulary

Up to 2
mistakes in
spelling,
capitalization
and use of Past
Simple,
adjectives and
word order,
substantial
amount of
vocabulary from
the unit is used

A few mistakes
in spelling,
capitalization
and use of Past
Simple,
adjectives and
word order,
good amount of
vocabulary from
the unit is used

Some mistakes
in spelling,
capitalization
and use of Past
Simple,
adjectives and
word order,
some impede
understanding
some vocabulary
from the unit is
used

Writing Process

Uses 1-2 steps of

the writing
process (plan,
draft, visible
corrections,
final)

Shows minimal
involvement in
the writing
process
The text lacks in
clarity and
coherence,
multiple errors
impede
understanding;
almost no/no
elements of the
review structure
are present,
almost no/no
task
requirements are
respected
A lot of mistakes
in spelling,
capitalization
and use of Past
Simple,
adjectives and
word order that
impede
understanding of
the text,
minimal/no
amount of
vocabulary from
the unit is used.