Design properties

Name
Make home a better place!
Topic
English as a foreign language (EFL)
Learning time
7 hours and 40 minutes
Designed time
7 hours and 40 minutes
Size of class
24
Description
Through group and class discussion, students will identify positive and negative actions that can affect the quality of our living community. They will subsequently reflect on what can improve quality of life in our community. They will then research ideas and projects that have already been implemented to make a difference in our world. Finally they will produce a leaflet, a poster or a video to campaign for kindness and positive social behaviour in our local community.
Aims
To reflect on the way we relate to the place we live in and to other people, and to raise awareness about the importance of our individual contribution in making the world a better place.
Outcomes
Application, Comprehension, Knowledge, Synthesis, Application, Evaluation
Editor
AnnaLaghigna

Timeline controls

Timeline

DREAM: Identify positive and negative actions that can affect the quality of our living enviroments and the lives of other people.
55 minutes)
  • Discuss
    20
    2
    1
    Using the attached Tricider, in pairs students first list the good (POSITIVE) things that we can do in our daily living environments (for example, school, work, home, street, etc.) which are good also for other people. They then do the same with the bad (NEGATIVE) things which can affect other people.
  • Collaborate
    20
    4
    0
    In groups of 4, students brainstorm on why people do the things listed as positive and negative and add an argument to the previous Tricider.
  • Discuss
    15
    24
    0
    Students' ideas are discussed in plenum. Critical thinking is encouraged by eliciting ideas to improve the things/situations listed under NEGATIVE.
  • Practice
    1
    0
    For homework, students will individually revise the Tricider, add new possible ideas and vote for the best possible solution suggested. The Tricider will be posted on Edmodo and accompanied by an invitation to comment below it or to attach pictures showing examples/signs of good/bad behaviour in town.
Notes:
This Learning Story is designed for 17-year-old Italian students of English as a second language. - Level B1 (intermediate). As such, it includes a wide range of activities which are meant to develop vocabulary as well as speaking/writing skills in the foreign language.
Resources linked: 0
EXPLORE: Students research ideas and projects that can make a difference to our daily lives.
90 minutes)
  • Read Watch Listen
    10
    4
    0
    Students will read the following assignment posted on Edmodo: " Congratulations students! You have been authorized by our school principal to become a stakeholder member in the Municipal Research Committee. Their goal is to make the community aware of the social need and work out a social campaign to tackle this problem. Your task is to come up with creative ways to make a positive difference in our local community. We trust that you will have wonderful ideas to make our community a better place. Good luck!" Feedback from the class.
  • Investigate
    50
    4
    1
    Students investigate projects and ideas that have already been implemented in other parts of the world. For further reference a link to a suggested website is provided. Students browse through the ideas about how to be kind using skimming/scanning reading techniques.
  • Practice
    30
    1
    1
    For homework, students will individually read on texts in order to be ready to talk about the ideas which they liked the most in the following class. Interesting articles or ideas are bookmarked and shared on the attached Lino.it. Comments on Edmodo are encouraged.
Notes:
Resources linked: 0
MAP: Organize content before creation
60 minutes)
  • Discuss
    20
    4
    0
    In the following class students discuss the ideas which they liked the most and that could be appropriate to their campaign.
  • Collaborate
    40
    4
    0
    Using Popplet, MindMup or Mindmomo they prepare a mind map of the main ideas that they are going to promote in their campaign. Students negotiate content, visuals and tools to work out their proposal. They can take up different roles among their group. Each person can be an expert on one aspect. For example, the roles could be social problem analyser, layout designer, image expert, quote analyser, etc.
Notes:
Resources linked: 0
MAKE: Create a leaflet, a digital poster or video to suggest ideas on how we can make a difference in our community.
90 minutes)
  • Produce
    90
    4
    0
    Students create a multimedia artefact to illustrate their proposal. They can choose to make a digital poster using Glogster or Canvas; a leaflet or an infographic using Smore or Easel.ly; a presentation (Tackk, Meograph, EMaze, Thinglink, Haikkudeck) or a video (Animoto, IMovie).
  • Practice
    1
    0
    Collaboration and groupwork continues beyond schooltime. Students use Edmodo to share ideas and comment on other students' posts. They provide suggestions also to members of other groups who need help.
Notes:
During groupwork, one of the students is responsible for timing activities and moderating discussion. After each session, the moderator must turn in on Edmodo the minutes of what has been negotiated and agreed upon.
Resources linked: 0
ASK: Check what has been done and exchange ideas
50 minutes)
  • Discuss
    15
    4
    0
    2 members of each group mix up with another group. Students are encouraged to express at least one positive and one negative comment.
  • Collaborate
    15
    4
    0
    Student advisors should focus on what the other group has succeeded in conveying and where they have failed, and why. They should contribute at least one idea. Teacher facilitates collaboration and offers support if help is needed.
  • Produce
    20
    4
    0
    Changes are made to the initial plan. New mindmap is created and posted on Edmodo.
Notes:
Resources linked: 0
REMAKE: Changes and additions are integrated in the project
65 minutes)
  • Collaborate
    10
    4
    0
    Original groups get together again. Suggestions for improvement are discussed and integrated in the final work.
  • Investigate
    20
    4
    0
    If required, new information is researched and the project is updated accordingly.
  • Produce
    20
    4
    0
    Final editing of the project and publication on Edmodo, blogs or other websites.
  • Produce
    15
    5
    0
    Students also create QR codes of their presentations to be shown around the school on the next "School Open Door" event. They also create trigger images to be used with Aurasma.
Notes:
Resources linked: 0
SHOW: Presentation - Peer review
50 minutes)
  • Discuss
    50
    24
    0
    Each group makes a short oral presentation (max 10 minutes) to show their multimedia project and illustrate their idea to make our community a better place. They have also to prepare a short activity (crosswords, Kahoot quiz, gapfilling, etc. to ensure that the other classmates have followed their presentation. Senior representatives of other classes are invited to attend and provide feedback on the effectiveness of each presentation. Members of the Municipal Research Community are also invited to comment on the effectiveness of the presentations submitted to them by mail.
  • Discuss
    24
    0
    Students of other classes as well as parents visiting the school are invited to scan QR codes or Aurasma images on their smartphones and vote for the best presentation using Sticky Moose.
Notes:
Presentations are evaluated and peer-evaluated using Rubrics discussed and negotiated with the class ahead of the project. Comments and amount of participation on Edmodo and Tricider or Stickymoos and Lino.it, as well as quizzes or while-watching activities prepared by the students are all elements of evaluation.
Resources linked: 0

Learning Experience

One or more graphs might not display correctly, because one or more learning types do not have duration set.
Social learning graph will not display correctly, because no class size is set.
Social learning graph will not display correctly, because one or more learning types do not have group size set.