LESSON PLAN (11 E) – 2nd semester

Teacher: Istrate Laurențiu Gabriel

School: Colegiul Național ”Ștefan cel Mare”, Hârlău
Date: March 23, 2022
Class: 11th grade (Philology)
Level: B2-C1
Lesson: Rave reviews
Type of lesson: developing speaking skills (debate, expressing opinions, describing products),
acquiring vocabulary, reading for specific information
Skills: speaking, reading
Teaching aids: textbook, printed pictures, blackboard
Textbook: Objective Advanced
Time: 50 min
Method: communicative approach

Objectives
 To develop students’ ability to express their opinions on entertainment topics
 To extend student’s vocabulary related to reviewing different products of
entertainment or consumerism
 To develop students’ ability to read for specific information

Procedure
Stage 1: Warm-up and introduction (5-7 min)
Teacher reveals the topic of discussion (rave reviews – what is a review? What does “rave”
review mean?) and the purpose of the lesson (mention the situations in which you might need
to write a review of a movie, a hotel, a restaurant, etc. on Google or on different social media
platforms; also, giving opinions on a movie you have recently watched, a song you have just
listened to, a product you have tested or a restaurant you have eaten at recently is a common
topic of discussion for everyday conversations; moreover, if they are interested in a certain
topic, they can find discussion groups on the Internet and make new friends there while
debating on movies, music, video games, etc.). After students understand the importance of
the topic, teacher asks them general questions to check whether they read or write reviews on
a regular basis and if so, what kind of reviews they write or read.

Stage 2: Speaking part – offering quick reviews (10-12 min)

For this activity, the teacher prepares in advance printed pictures of different products of
entertainment and consumerism, social media platforms, brands and shows them to the
students; he/she should make sure that the products presented are familiar to them (for
instance, common clothing brands such as Nike, Adidas, H&M, popular movies – Titanic,
superhero franchises, well-known singers, etc.). The students will first react by giving a
thumb signal (thumbs-up if their opinion is positive or thumbs-down if it’s negative); then, the
teacher will call some names to hear concrete opinions. This is a good opportunity for him/her
to check their vocabulary related to different topics and their ability to build arguments to
support their ideas. The reviews should be short, but coherent and on point.

Stage 3. Pre-reading activity (5 min)

Teacher asks students to open their textbooks at page 106. They will first take a look at some
headlines that correspond to five reviews covering different topics. The idea of this activity is
to only focus on the content of the headings and not to peek at the reviews themselves so as to
guess what the reviews are about. This is a good way to check if they are familiar with some
idioms often used in reviews (for example, the headline “standing the test of time” is often
used to describe an old movie that is still relevant today) and to develop their ability to
anticipate what a text is about.

Stage 4. Acquiring new vocabulary and reading for specific information (20-25 min)
During this activity, the students will dive into the content of the five reviews and solve the
True/False reading and comprehension exercise from the textbook which can represent a good
way of testing their ability to look for details in a written material. At the same time, the
teacher draws a table on the blackboard in which, together with the students, will register
words that describe aspects of positive and negative reviews for each topic illustrated in the
textbook.
Stage 5. Homework assignment (5 min)
Teacher gives students a writing assignment to train their writing skills. They will have to
write a review of their favourite movie, TV show, album, clothing brand or whatever they are
passionate about. The teacher explains to them what the review should contain, how it should
be done and gives some suggestions of sources from which they can draw inspiration (for
example, they can read movie reviews on rottentomatoes.com if they want to talk about
films).