‘Understanding the media’: use of cell-phones and its implications, advantages and disadvantages.

Lesson plan

School: Liceo Solymar Central
Teacher: Maria Pia Cejas
Group: 3CB2 Medicina
Date: Monday 17th, August 2010.
Time: 40’
Topic: ‘Understanding the media’: use of cell-phones and its implications, advantages and disadvantages.

Objectives: by the end of the lesson students will be able to express their opinion about the use of cell-phones in our time and say what they think the advantages and disadvantages of it are. Ss will practice their skimming and scanning skills and their reading comprehension.


Personal aims: to establish a good atmosphere, to foster Ss critic point of view and help them to produce their own opinions on how the world has changed since cell-phones appeared and became so common.

Assumptions: Ss have already learnt what skimming and scanning mean, they have been introduced in “Understanding the media” unit and the mass media world including a debate on whether cell-phones should be considered as a mass media component or not and why.

Anticipated problems:
• Ss may not understand some of the words or expressions in the texts.
• Time may not be enough.

Possible solutions:
• T will explain them the exercise is about reading comprehension and they will not need to know the exact meaning of every single word but to try to deduce it from its context.
• Teacher will explain last activity (Reflection) so Ss may be asked to write a short reflection for homework.

Materials:
o Task sheets
o Hand outs
o Markers, eraser, whiteboard


Activity Objective Development

Warm up (0)
5’ To set Ss in the actual lesson, to remind them of what they have worked in and how the coped with the debate on ‘Mass media” concept. To introduce the rest of the activities T will remind Ss of Mass media concept and will ask them to think what were the eight elements considered mass media means of communication and the last two (whose inclusion in the term was being discussed) After stating cell-phones are one of those two elements T will ask them to think of how the world was before having so much technologic devices and gadgets at home.


Reading comprehension, skimming and scanning practice.

20’ To help Ss practice and improve their reading skills and to amuse them with the texts presented. T will arrange Ss into three groups, the activity will be explained and the three groups will receive one text each. Ss will read the text and try to complete the two parts of the activity presented. They will be asked to answer the skimming questions and to scan the text looking for the specific information requested.

Correction of the task.
10’ To correct the task and check Ss have understood the texts, to inform all of them of the other groups’ texts. T will ask to each group to answer the questions from the two parts of the activity. Ss will comment to the other groups
what their texts were about.

Reflection and closure
5’ To encourage Ss reflection about main advantages and disadvantages of using cell-phones. To foster Ss comparison between the past and the present. To close the lesson making Ss feel they have done well. T will ask Ss to think about two main advantages and disadvantages on using cell-phones and how they think the situation has changed throughout the years. T asks Ss whether they have achieved the lesson objective.