Group Project in the English lessons

Group Projects in English Lessons

Secondary School №4 Named after N.A.Nekrasov Specialising in English

Teacher: Peneva I.A

Yaroslavl

2019

“ Alone we can do so little;

together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller

Do group activities need to be part of your lesson ?

• Students of varying  English  levels can  work  together to support each other, make decisions together and learn from one another
• Games and  group work  can involve all of the aspects of language—listening, speaking, reading and writing
• Group work helps students learn to listen to one another’s ideas
• Group work ignites different parts of the brain and allows different types of learners to be successful
• Group work makes everything learners achieve more meaningful since they have an outcome

Group Projects

• can focus on materials students have already learnt
• can be completed within a one-to-two-week time period along with other coursework
• can improve students’ language skills, and learners can also work on increasing their research and presentation abilities 
• can promote students’ autonomous learning

Form 3

Make a page for a calendar. Draw pictures and make a chart to show the days and the weeks. Answer the questions to describe

January

Which month if the year is it? Which month of winter is it?

How many days are there in this month?

Are the days long or short? Are the nights long or short?

Is it a cold or warm in January?

What is the weather like?

What is it fun to do in January?

Form 3

Furnish the room and describe it.

Materials:

• a big sheet of paper
• pictures/stickers with pictures of different pieces of furniture
• glue stick

Form 4

The Earth

The Sun

Stars

The Moon

Oceans

Seas

Rivers

Mountains

Forests

Deserts

Animals

Birds

Insects

Form 5

Form 9 Cultural Studies

• ABC the USA

• ABC New Zealand

• ABC Australia

• ABC Canada

Form 9

eJOURNAL

Top 10 Interesting Places to Visit in the USA

Form 10

Holidays

and

Celebrations

in Russia

Presentation

Projects need to be seen, read and admired so it is necessary to schedule the last project stage as a presentation and ask the group to prepare a task for the others in the class to do connected to the project:

• a quiz
• a crossword using vocabulary for the project
• comprehension questions

Evaluation

A project needs to be acknowledged and evaluated. It is important to comment on aspects of the project such as

• content
• design
• language work
• oral presentation

Content

Project 1

Design

Project 2

Language

Project 3

work

Oral

presentation

Grade

4

Comment

3

Vow!

Good!

2

1

OK

Poor

Advantages of Project Work

• Increased motivation  - learners become personally involved in the project.
• All four skills,  reading, writing, listening and speaking are integrated.
• Autonomous learning  is promoted as learners become more responsible for their own learning.
• There are learning outcomes  -learners have an end product.
• Authentic tasks  and therefore the language input are more authentic.
• Interpersonal relations  are developed through working as a group.
• Content and methodology  can be decided between the learners and the teacher and within the group themselves so it is more learner centred.
• Learners often get help from parents  for project work thus involving the parent more in the child's learning. If the project is also displayed parents can see it at open days or when they pick the child up from the school.
• A break from routine  and the chance to do something different.
• A context is established  which balances the need for fluency and accuracy. Haines (1989)

Drawbacks to Project Work

• Learners using their own language if the class are monolingual
• Some learners doing nothing . While doing the project the learners are given, some more freedom. Some learners may decide they are given freedom to do nothing! This is less likely to happen if the project is planned carefully and roles decided at the proposal stage.
• Groups working at different speeds One group may have 'finished' the project and say they have nothing to do. So it is important to discuss ways they could extend the work they have already completed.

RESOURCES

• https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-group-activities /

• https:// www.esllibrary.com/courses/111/

lessons

• https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/project-work-teenagers