Traccia N.

5
AMBITO DISCIPLINARE VERTICALE 5 - CLASSI DI CONCORSO:
A25 – LINGUA INGLESE ALLA SCUOLA SECONDARIA DI PRIMO GRADO
A24 – LINGUE E CULTURE STRANIERE – INGLESE ALLA SECONDARIA
DI SECONDO GRADO

The candidate shall present a lesson on the following topic: "The technical
innovations of the Victorian Age".

Target class: Scuola tecnico/professionale - year 4

School context: mixed ability class with a student with Asperger syndrome -
(cooperation with special needs teacher)
 An age of technological wonders

Candidate: Walter Omiccioli

CONTEXT

Class profile: the class is made up of 20 students attending the fourth year of a technological institute - specialisation in electronics and
electrical engineering. The level of the class is mixed and a student with Asperger syndrome is also present.

Language level: CEFR Level from B1 to B2

Period of the school year:

1st term 2nd term

XX

Time: 60 minutes lesson

Aims, Goals and Strategies

Lead-in

● Watching a video: can understand a large part of a video in the standard form of the language.
● Inferring: can use a variety of strategies to achieve comprehension by using contextual clues.

Task 1

● Informal discussion: can exchange, check and confirm factual information, summarise and give opinion on a discussion about the topic
● Cooperating: can exploit a familiar repertoire of language and strategies to help keep the conversation going.

Task 2

● Goal oriented cooperation: can generally follow what is said and, when necessary, repeat back part of what someone has said to confirm mutual understanding
● Asking for clarification: can ask for further details and clarifications in order to move the discussion forward.

Task 3

● Reading for information: can understand short authentic texts on the subjects recognizing argument and significant points
● Information exchange: can find out, ask, obtain and offer straightforward factual information
● Monologue-giving information: can report straightforward factual information on the topic using familiar language
● Monitor and repair: can start again using a different tactic when communication breaks down
● Turntaking: can initiate, maintain and close simple face-to-face conversation on the topic

Homework

● Written report: can produce a text on the topical subject and can synthesise information and arguments provided that simple familiar language is used
● Planning: can recall and rehearse an appropriate set of phrases from their repertoire and try out new combinations and expressions

History and civilisation: at the end of the lesson students will have improved their knowledge of the historical context and the most important inventions of the
Victorian Age,
Prerequisites:

● knowledge of the historical and socio-cultural context of the industrial revolution

● main changes brought about in society by technological development in UK and USA
● threshold language level B1

Materials:

● interactive whiteboard
● laptop/tablet
● handout sheets
● slido.com
● youtube.com
● screencast-o-matic.com
Anticipated problems and possible solutions

1) Being a mixed-level class I made sure that the material for task 3 is graded in order to be completed by all students. Sheets S3/S5 are for
students around level b2. Sheets S1/S6 are for students around level b1+. Sheets S2/S4 are for students around level b1.

2) Pair-work is consistently used along the chain of tasks so that students will be engaging in active use of language as much as possible.

3) I will take charge of forming pairs so as to have weaker and stronger users working together. Doing so I expect to activate and take
advantage of peer-to-peer tutoring processes.

4) After monitoring the fist two tasks I will make sure to form new pairs depending on the cooperation and interaction shown during
previous classroom work.

Student with Asperger Syndrome

1) Law 104/1992 define pupils with physical, mental and sensory impairment and entitles them to have a special needs teacher. A
collaboration in producing individualised materials with the colleague need to be constant and consistent to ensure inclusion.
2) Depending on the severity of the syndrome the rate of acquisition can be considerably slower. On the other hand a particularly gifted
pupil is not an event unheard of.
3) Use of video modelling, a strategy used to increase positive behaviors and aid in skill acquisition in individuals with autism. It is a
teaching method where an individual watches a video of someone completing an activity and imitates the activity themselves.
Lesson rationale:

Approaches and methods employed:

● Constuctivism → Student-centred approach

● Task-based language teaching
● Communicative language teaching

Pair-work activities:

● Cooperative learning
● Negotiation of meaning
● Peer to peer learning and tutoring

Competencies

● linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic

● intercultural
● learning by doing
● learning to learn
Stages Teacher’s activity Interaction Student’s activity Objectives Timing

Lead-in He introduces topic and structure of T <-> Ss They listen and ask for To make students active 8 mins
Pre-task the lesson clarifications if needed participants of the learning process
and raise motivation
.
He shows the video Ss <-> Ss They watch the video To activate pre-existing knowledge
He writes ideas on the board Plenary: they respond to the To listen for the gist
questions To activate inferring strategies

Task 1 He gives instructions and forms pairs T <-> Ss They listen to instructions To introduce new vocabulary 10 mins
Pair-work He hands out sheet 1 To build context
He monitors and gives feedbacks S <-> S They do the task in pairs To motivate (personal sphere)

Task 2 He gives instructions T <-> Ss They listen to the instructions To foster interaction and 15 mins
Pair-work He hands out sheet 2 negotiation of meaning
He monitors and scaffolds S <-> S They do the task in pairs To encourage peer-to-peer
He hands out sheet 3 learning.
He monitors and gives feedbacks They correct the task and discuss To build historical context

Task 3 He gives instructions T <-> Ss They listen to the instructions To foster interaction and 25 mins
Pair-work He forms pairs, hands out two sheets negotiation of meaning
(S1,S2 etc.) per couple. They do the task in pairs To give a presentation
He monitors and gives feedbacks
He asks students to give a report S <-> Ss They report to the class

Wrap-up/ He concludes the lesson T <-> Ss They listen and ask for (To produce a written report) 2 mins
homework He gives instruction for homework clarifications if needed
Watch the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNhinA8ajoI

Where was the telegraph invented and when?

Why was it extremely important?

 ● Which inventions do you think are helpful and which are annoying? Fills the grid and discuss it
with your partner

Helpful inventions: Annoying inventions:

telephone - braces - alarm clock - karaoke machine - plastic bottle - tarmac - railway - light bulb
vacuum cleaner - cell phone - bicycle - car
1
 The Victorian era is the period between 1837 and 1901 corresponding to Queen Victoria's reign

Put the inventions from the previous exercise in the right chronological order.

1837 1901
Before Queen Victoria’s ascension Victoria’s reign After Victoria’s death

2
 KEYS

The first alarm clock was created in 1787 by Levi Hutchins in New Hampshire.

On 21 February 1804 the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place.

German Inventor Karl von Drais is credited with developing the first bicycle in 1817.

Modern braces were invented in 1819 by Christophe-Francois Delabarre.

The telephone was first patented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell.

Thomas Edison first patented the first light bulb in 1879.

Karl Benz patented his three-wheeled motor car, known as the "Motorwagen," in 1886.

Herbert Booth, a British engineer, filed his patent for a motorized vacuum cleaner in 1901.

Tarmac was patented in 1902 by Welsh inventor Edgar Purnell Hooley

The first karaoke machine was invented in 1971 by Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue

The plastic bottle was patented in 1973 by engineer Nathaniel Wyeth

The first handheld cellular phone call was made in 1973 by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper
3
 Read the text and gives the most relevant informations about
the invention described to your partner
Now listen to your partner’s report and take notes, you will be
asked to give a brief oral presentation.
……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………..
The telephone
The invention of the telephone took a long time and can be credited to the
work of several pioneers who developed the different aspects that made it
possible to create a working model. It wasn’t until the 10th of March 1876
that the first successful clear transmission of speech was both received and
responded to via a telephone device. This was done by Sir Alexander Bell
(a Scottish born scientist) and his assistant Thomas Watson (an electrical
designer and mechanic), when Bell spoke into the device he uttered the
famous words “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.”. It was only
Alexander Bells’ race to the patent office that technically secured him with
the invention of the telephone, many other people were working on similar
systems with varying success at the same time.

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

S1
 Read the text and gives the most relevant informations about
the invention described to your partner
Now listen to your partner’s report and take notes, you will be
asked to give a brief oral presentation.
……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………..
Vacuum Cleaners
Hubert Cecil Booth, an engineer, created the first electric vacuum cleaner
and set up the British Vacuum Company in 1901. The design, which
sounds strange now, was an engine transported by horse and cart, with a
hose that was passed through clients’ windows. It was actually so
successful that he was asked to vacuum the carpets for King Edward VII’s
coronation ceremony.

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

S2
 Tarmac
Read the text and gives the most relevant informations about
John McAdam is usually credited with the creation of tarmac, but in actual fact,
the invention described to your partner
he only created the method of crushed stone road surfaces. He failed to make
the stones stick and although this sufficed when the only vehicles traveling
Now listen to your partner’s report and take notes, you will be
were horse-drawn carts, it created quite a problem with punctured tires after the
asked to give a brief oral presentation.
invention of cars. It was a surveyor for Nottinghamshire county who
accidentally discovered tarmac when he came across a smooth stretch of road,
……………………………………………………………………..
created when a barrel of tar had fallen from a dray and burst open. Locals had
…………………………………………………………………….. poured waste slag over it to clear up the mess. By 1902 Hooley had patented
the process of heating tar, adding slag to the mix, and then breaking stones
…………………………………………………………………….. within the mixture to form a smooth road surface. Having perfected the
operation, Hooley began transforming road surfaces and Nottingham’s
…………………………………………………………………….. Radcliffe Road became the first tarmac road in the world. A five-mile stretch
was given the tarmac treatment and proved itself by being long-lasting, dust,
…………………………………………………………………….. and mud-free.

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

S3
 Read the text and gives the most relevant informations about
the invention described to your partner
Now listen to your partner’s report and take notes, you will be
asked to give a brief oral presentation.
……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………..
Cars
The first automobile was built in 1885 by Karl Benz who was a German
engineer and became a co-founder of the company that would eventually
become Mercedes-Benz. It was a vehicle with three wheels powered by a
one-cylinder gasoline engine. There was a speed limit imposed of 4 miles per
hour. Given the average human walking speed of 3.1 miles obviously driving
was not the time saver it is today for quite some time. It was also quite a while
before anyone other than the fabulously rich could afford to own a car.

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

S4
 The lightbulb
Read the text and gives the most relevant informations about
the invention described to your partner In 1879 Thomas Edison, an American inventor and businessman, invented the
electric lightbulb and a patent was granted in 1880. Electric light was actually
Now listen to your partner’s report and take notes, you will be first invented in the early 1800s, however, it held little use in day to day life as
asked to give a brief oral presentation. it would grow too bright and hot and required a huge source of power to sustain
it. Inventors figured out that the current needed to be passed through materials,
…………………………………………………………………….. however in early experiments the materials simply melted or burst into flames.
Inventors realized they had to eliminate oxygen from the process to make
…………………………………………………………………….. combustion impossible. Many people tried and failed to perfect the design and
only after studying everyone else’s mistakes with the help of physicist Francis
…………………………………………………………………….. Upton did Thomas Edison find success. He probably cannot claim full credit
for the invention but he certainly created the first sustainable and useful
…………………………………………………………………….. lightbulb. In 1883 the first business installed the incandescent lamps and this
was Macy’s in New York City.
……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

S5
 Read the text and gives the most relevant informations about
the invention described to your partner
Now listen to your partner’s report and take notes, you will be
asked to give a brief oral presentation.
……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………..
The railway system
Although railways began with the opening of the Stockton and Darlington
line in 1825 the Victorian era saw a railway boom with 30 million passengers
traveling along 2441 miles of railway by 1845. This opened up new
opportunities for travel and transport, which alongside the penny post system
saw radical changes to social barriers which had been in place. It was these
railways that helped begin the still very popular family tradition of a day trip
to the seaside. Queen Victoria herself graced the railways for the first time on
13th June 1842 and from then on used it to show herself to her subject
throughout the country.

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………..

S6
Homeworks

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Maw22LT1Nq0

Post a summary on slido.com

All material about the lesson will be posted on slido.com

Additional feedbacks about language accuracy, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation will be provided through Screencast-O-Matic
Performance assessment grid

Descriptors/performance poor sufficient good very good excellent

● can understand a large part of a video in the standard form of the

language.

● can exchange, check and confirm factual information, summarise

and give opinion on a discussion about the topic

● can generally follow what is said and, when necessary, repeat back
part of what someone has said to confirm mutual understanding

● can understand short authentic texts on the subjects recognizing

argument and significant points

● can find out, ask, obtain and offer straightforward factual

information

● can report straightforward factual information on the topic using

familiar language

● can produce a text on the topical subject,synthesise information and

arguments, provided that simple familiar language is used
Strategies assessment grid

Descriptors/strategies implementation poor good proficient

● can use a variety of strategies to achieve comprehension by using contextual

clues

● can exploit a familiar repertoire of language and strategies to help keep the
conversation going.

● can ask for further details and clarifications in order to move the discussion
forward.

● can start again using a different tactic when communication breaks down

● can initiate, maintain and close simple, face-to-face conversation on the topic

● can recall and rehearse an appropriate set of phrases from their repertoire and
try out new combinations and expressions
References

Sources of authentic material

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNhinA8ajoI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Maw22LT1Nq0

https://kidskonnect.com/history/victorian-inventions/

Bibliography

CEFR (2001)

CEFR - A Guide for Users (2001)

CEFR - Companion volume (2020)

David Nunan - Task-Based Language Teaching (2010)

Jeremy Harmer - How to Teach English (1997)