Project work on the theme Articles

What are the peculiarities of usage articles in English language?

Participants: Oksana Tarkhanova

Vlada Kruglova

19 May, 2017

KOSTANAY STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Aims of the Project

to improve students’ speaking, listening, writing and reading skills;

to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills;

to master students’ skills of correct usage of articles and examine every case of its application;

to provide collaborative work.

Objectives of the Project

• to investigate peculiarities of using the definite article “the”
• to find out particular cases of using indefinite article
• to explore peculiarities of using “zero” article
• to collect necessary material

• to generalize analyze and the information, to draw conclusions
• to create the brochure with the deduced information
• to present the project

Challenges

Authentic challenge of the project is to define how articles affect English grammar

At the end of the project students will know how to use definite, indefinite or zero articles correctly. They will develop their grammar accuracy.

Results of the Project

How will students share their products, solutions, ideas with the audience?

• Discussion
• Brochures

Skills to be mastered

• Speaking/ Listening/ Writing/ Reading
• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving
• Collaborative skill

Technology tools

• Computer
• Microsoft Software programs for making brochures

Results of the project

Key outcomes to be learned in the project

• students will be able to do grammar tasks correctly
• students will be able to use their knowledge inside and outside the classroom

Building teams

Choose 3 pictures from a magazine. Cut each picture in 5 odd shaped pieces and mix them up in a hat. Each student takes one piece and their partners are those whose pieces form a complete picture. The students with the matching pieces must find each other. Names of the teams are: “The”, “Zero” and “A/An”

T H E P R O J E C T S C H E D U L E

Project: Articles in English language

M O N D A Y :

Start Date:

T U E S D A Y :

W E D N E S D A Y :

P R O J E C T W E E K O N E

Project Process:

Preparations for the project

T H U R S D A Y :

F R I D A Y :

Project Process:

Project Content: Questionnaire for students

Introduction of the project.

The division into teams.

Project Content:

In teams students choose the captain and the name of the group. Pupils get driving question for their projects.

T H E P R O J E C T S C H E D U L E

M O N D A Y :

T U E S D A Y :

W E D N E S D A Y :

Project Process:

P R O J E C T W E E K TWO

T H U R S D A Y :

Engagement into the project.

F R I D A Y :

Project Process:

Project Content:

Conducting research on the project

Fairytale about the articles, activities based on it

Project Content: Generalization of the studied content by students, promoting hypotheses.

T H E P R O J E C T S C H E D U L E

M O N D A Y :

T U E S D A Y :

Project Process:

W E D N E S D A Y :

P R O J E C T W E E K T H R E E

T H U R S D A Y :

Presentation of research results by students, presentation of the assessment criteria by the teacher.

F R I D A Y :

Project Content: Presentation students’ brochures, acquaintance with assessment criteria, discussion of the results

T H E P R O J E C T S C H E D U L E

M O N D A Y :

T U E S D A Y :

W E D N E S D A Y :

P R O J E C T W E E K F O U R

Project Process:

T H U R S D A Y :

Performance of the presentation created by students

F R I D A Y :

Project Process:

Defence of the project by teams

The final test

Project Content: Discussion of created presentation

Project Content:: Presentation of the projects, discussion and asking questions after students’ defence. Completing the final test.

Questionnaire for revealing the students’ interest in studying the problem of articles in English

1. Do you like study English?

a) Yes

b) No

c) Maybe

2. Would you like to improve your English skills?

a) Yes

b) No

c) Maybe

3. Were you already familiar with the grammar topic “Articles” before?

a) Yes

b) No

c) Maybe

4. Would you like to learn more about articles in English?

a) Yes

b) No

c) Maybe

5. Do you think the acquired knowledge will help you in the future?

d) Yes

e) No

f) Maybe

Pictures for teams division

Fairytale about the articles

Once upon a time in small english town lived two friends: a baker and a gardener. Baker’s name was “A” , and gardener’s name was “An” . Also there lived a musician whose name was “The. Sometimes the musician walked around in the street and played flute. He frequently stopped in front of the baker’s house. Finishing one of his wonderful melodies, he came to the baker who always sold delicious pie and and asked:

-“Give me A pie, please”.

The baker chose the biggest pie, gave him and said:

-“Take The pie.

Your song is nice today”.

Then the musician went to the gardener’s house and played the flute in the garden, among the roses. After that he came to the gardener and politely asked him:

-“Give me An apple, please”.

The gardener chose the biggest apple and said:

-“Take The apple.

Your song is wonderful today”.

One day the musician left the town. He went to another city, where no one had heard his songs yet. And people could not forget about him and in memory of the musician and his good friends, baker and gardener, began to add a few words to the sayings: A, An, The.

Questions:

• Do you find this story interesting? Why/Why not?
• Could this story be real?
• Can you identify the difference between articles?
• Why should we use articles?

Listen to the song and fill in the gaps with appropriate article

Rubric for evaluation of the brochure

Total: _______

Category

Writing-

5

Each section in the brochure has a clear beginning, middle and end.

Organization

4

Writing-

3

Attractiveness and Organization

There are no grammatical mistakes in the brochure

Grammar

Almost all sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.

There are 1-2 grammatical mistakes in the brochure

Content- accuracy

Most sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.

The brochure has exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information

2

All information included in the brochure is accurate

The brochure has attractive formation and good information

Less than half of the sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.

There are 3-4 grammatical mistakes in the brochure

The brochure has well-organised information

90 % of the information in the brochure is accurate

There are more than 4 grammatical mistakes in the brochure

The brochures’ formatting and organization of the material are confusing to the readers.

80 % of the information in the brochure is accurate

Fewer than 80 % of the information in the brochure is accurate

Peer Assessment Rubric

Category

Participation

5

Leadership

Group member

4

Group member assumed

participated fully and was always on task in class.

Group member

3

Group member sometimes assumed

leadership in an appropriate way when necessary by helping the group stay on track,

1

Group member participated but wasted time regularly or was rarely on task.

participated most of the time and was on task most of the time.

encouraging group participation, posing solutions to problems, and having a positive attitude.

leadership in an appropriate way.

Group member usually allowed others to assume leadership or often dominated the group.

Group member

did not participate, wasted time, or worked on unrelated material.

Group member did not assume leadership or assumed it in a nonproductive manner.

Listening

Group member

Feedback

listened carefully to others’ ideas.

Group member usually listened to others’ ideas.

Cooperation

Group member

Group member treated others respectfully and shared the workload fairly.

Time

Group member

offered detailed, constructive feedback when appropriate.

Group member sometimes did not listen to others’ ideas.

offered constructive feedback when appropriate.

Management

Group member did not listen to others and often interrupted them.

Group member usually treated others respectfully and shared the workload fairly.

Group member completed assigned tasks on time.

Group member occasionally offered constructive feedback, but sometimes the

comments were inappropriate or not useful.

Group member

Group member sometimes treated others disrespectfully or did not share the workload fairly.

Group member usually completed assigned tasks on time and did not hold up progress on the projects because of incomplete work.

Group member often did not complete assigned tasks on time, and held up completion of project work.

did not offer constructive or useful feedback.

Group member

often treated others

Group member did not complete most of the assigned tasks on time and often forced the group to make lastminute adjustments and changes to accommodate missing work.

disrespectfully or did not share the workload fairly.

CHECKLIST FOR COLLABORATION

Evaluation Criteria

Did I attends group meetings regularly and arrives on time.

2

3

Did I contributes meaningfully to group discussions.

4

Did I completes group assignments on time.

5

Did I criticize my co-workers during preparing the project?

Did I collect enough appropriate materials and sources for the project?

Did I contributes significantly to the success of the project.

TOTALS

References:

www.native-english.ru

www.homeenglish.ru

www.lingualeo.ru

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/

Бармина Л.А., Верховская И.П. Практикум по

английскому языку: Артикли. - М.: Наука, 2000

Вейхман Г.А. Новое в английской грамматике. – М.:

Высшая школа

Виноградов В.А. Лингвистический энциклопедический

словарь. Артикль.

Ершова Н.Н. Некоторые случаи использования

нулевого артикля в современном английском языке. –

М.: Наука, 2004

Виноградов В. А. Артикль

Лещикова А. В. Природа и функционирование артиклей в английском языке

Чудинова Ю. В. Определенный артикль

Л. Кутузов - "Практическая грамматика английского языка"

Михельсон Т.Н. Успенская Н.В. "Практический курс грамматики английского языка"

И.П.Иванова, В.В.Бурлакова, Г.Г.Почепцов "Теоретическая грамматика современного английского языка".