Item 1 Svisch Sabina gr 31 (E/G)

The presented topic for developing listening skills and teaching vocabulary
in a communicative context is “Balloons”. It satisfies the criteria of
correspondence to school curriculum requirements as this topic is included into the
school curriculum for 8th form. This topic is appropriate for covering all learners’
needs such as cognitive (learners are able to ask questions and get answers),
affective (learners have time for reflection and self-assessment) and social
(learners can communicate with peers while doing the tasks). The learners’ age is
about 13-14 years so they can understand the purpose of developing listening skills
and vocabulary learning. The level of English is B1 because learners can
understand information about common everyday topics and identify both general
message and specific details of the texts.
This is a sequence of activities to develop listening skills and to practice the
vocabulary based on the text “Balloons”:
1) You are going to listen to the recording. Read the key-words below
and try to predict the topic of the text. Work in pairs.
• to have passengers in its basket;
• a mixture of smoke and hot air;
• to fill with hydrogen;
• helium;
• to explore the upper atmosphere.
Now listen to the recording and check if you were right.
Purpose: to provide orientation to the topic; introduce the target vocabulary;
to prepare learners for the while- and post-listening tasks and familiarize them with
the topic of the listening exercises.
Instruction: read the key-words below and try to predict the topic of the
text.
Description: the teacher gives the handouts and explains to the learners
what they should do, then gives learners 3-5 minutes to read the key-words and
after that s/he asks learners one by one to check the task.
 2) Fill in the first two columns of the table. Share information with a
partner. Listen to the recording and then fill in the third column.
What I know about the What I want to know What I have learnt about
balloons about the balloons the balloons

Purpose: to predict what might be in a text about balloons; to transfer the

information into tables.
Instruction: fill in the first two columns of the table and share information
with a partner, then listen to the recording and fill in the third column.
Description: the teacher explains to the learners what they should do, gives
learners 3-5 minutes to fill the first two columns and then learners listen to the
recording and fill in the third column. After that the teacher asks learners to check
the task.
3) Read the questions. Listen to the audio track to find the answers.
When was the first balloon sent into the sky?
Who were the first passengers of the balloon?
What did the mixture that filled the balloon consist of?
Why did people prefer helium to hydrogen?
Are the balloons still used nowadays?
Purpose: to check the understanding of the context in which new words are
used, to improve listening skills.
Instruction: read the questions and then listen to the audio track to find the
answers.
Description: the teacher explains to the learners what they should do, then
gives learners 3-5 minutes to read the questions and then learners listen to the
recording. After that a teacher asks learners one by one to check the task.
 4) Listen to the recording and fill in the gaps.
Balloons
September 19, 1783, was a great event at the King’s residence in France.
The Montgolfier brothers were going to send __________________. They had
tried a balloon a few months before, and it had worked. Now they were going to
try again before the King. And this time the balloon was to have passengers in its
basket: _____________________.
The balloon was made of _____ and was open at the bottom. Ropes held it
in place over a fire of straw. A mixture of smoke and ________ rose from the fire
into the balloon. The mixture was lighter than the cool air around. The ropes were
made free and the balloon rose. When the smoke and hot air cooled, the balloon
came down.
Soon there were balloons that could carry people. Many of these balloons
___________________, the lightest known gas. But it was dangerous as it was
easy to catch fire. So people switched to helium which is not as light as hydrogen
but is much safer.
The passengers could not guide the first balloons. But they could make them
go up by throwing bags of sand overboard or down by letting some _____ out of
the balloon.
Balloons are still used nowadays to ________ the upper atmosphere.
Purpose: to enhance learners’ vocabulary; to improve pupils listening skills;
to check understanding of the new vocabulary in context.
Instruction: listen to the recording and fill in the gaps.
Description: the teacher explains to the learners what they should do, then
learners listen to the recording and do the task, after that the teacher asks learners
one by one to check the task.
During the microteaching practice I tried out the 2nd task “Fill in the columns
of the table”. While preparing and presenting the sequence of activities I faced
with some difficulties. First of all, my purpose was to create interesting tasks and I
also wanted to make them as much communicative as possible. As for presentation
of activities, the most difficult thing for me was to engage all students in the
learning process and to attract their attention. I also tried to create supportive
atmosphere in the classroom by giving my peers opportunities to cooperate and
share their experience and engaging everyone in the learning process.
In general, the result of the lesson satisfied me. The reaction of my peers met
my expectations. They were active, listened carefully and took notes, shared their
answers with each other.