Getting Acquainted / Inferential Thinking

Carol Lumm, ESOL Instructor
Community Education Center
City College of New York

LESSON TITLE: Getting Acquainted/Inferential Thinking

FOCUS OF LESSON: To provide an exercise in inference and apply the knowledge to how body language, words and actions help people understand what is happening in a play even if they do not understand the language well.

OBJECTIVES: To provide a method for the students to learn more about each other, understand how people make decisions subconsciously, and what a person is like based upon their appearance or behavior without knowing the facts

LEVEL OF STUDENTS: ESL 3-4

APPLICABLE STANDARDS: ELA 1

PREPARATION TIME: No more than 30 minutes

IMPLEMENTATION TIME: 1 Class session

MATERIALS/SUPPLIES: Question Sheets to be supplied by instructor

ROOM ARRANGEMENT: Students remain in their own seats.

INTRODUCTION TO TEACHERS:

This is a good way to introduce students to the nuances of playwriting and how the actors express what the characters are like. It is best used at the point of writing dialogue and stage/acting directions in the playwriting process. This is also a good way to introduce the students to each other at the beginning of a semester, or as part of the community building process, or as a way to further tighten the community sense throughout the semester and to encourage cooperative behavior.

PROCEDURE: First give students set of questions which concern them. Give them about 20 minutes to answer all the questions. Tell the students they are not to write their names on their papers! The instructor collects these papers and randomly gives them to students with instructions to use these answers for the second set of questions. The second set of questions asks students to interpret or infer what the mystery person is like and then to identify that person if possible. (20 minutes)

Activity 1

INSTRUCTIONS:

Do not put your name on this paper. Answer the following questions, giving your first reaction. Do not put what you feel is the ‘best’ answer. You may write more than one answer for a question.

Question 1:

What is your favorite TV show?

What is your favorite song?

What is your favorite movie?

What is your favorite expression or saying?

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite type of weather?

What is your favorite book?

What is your favorite sport?

What is your favorite sound?

What is your favorite smell?

What is your favorite pet peeve or something that annoys you a lot?

If you were a member of a rock group, what would be the group’s name?

Activity 2

INSTRUCTIONS: Using the answers you have been given, answer the following questions. Make the best conclusions you can and state the reasons for your conclusion.

Question 2:

Is your classmate male or female?

Describe your classmate’s physical appearance.

What is your classmate’s hobby?

What is your classmate’s favorite food?

What is your classmate’s favorite activity?

Describe how your classmate’s living room would be decorated.

What job will your classmate have 10 years from now?

Where will your classmate be living 10 years from now?

Describe your classmate’s personality.

What advice would your classmate give you about achieving his/her goals?

ASSESSMENT: Assessment is based on the students’ ability to express their answers orally using descriptive vocabulary to formulate their answers.

REFLECTIONS: When I used this exercise as part of the class play-writing project, the students said that they enjoyed it very much because it gave them an opportunity to get to know their classmates better. Some of the students still don’t know everyone’s name in the class or anything about their classmate’s backgrounds, etc. because they always sit near the same people and have formed their own individual groups. This lesson also gave them real insight into how people make decisions about someone they don’t know whether it’s negative or positive. From this the students will better be able to create characters for the class play with the idea of how others perceive their creations.