The example case for this class is using the situation of ordering food at a restaurant. The learning objectives for the class material is for the students to be able to understand a menu in English, and properly order the food that they want to eat. There are four separate but related assignments provided online to supplement what will be studied in a class, as well as a class Wiki document and class discussions which will take the form of posts and comments. The assignments are as follows: 1. Menu Assignment 2. Video Assignment 3. Play "Guess Who?" Game 4. Make a Multiple Choice Question
1. Menu Assignment – ask your students to find a menu from a restaurant they want to eat at. This could be a picture of a menu from a restaurant they visit, or a menu they find online. Ask the students to post the menu and find the meanings of any of the food dishes they could not understand, and provide deeper explanations of these dishes. Finally, tell the students that they must post an order on at least 4 different menu post for the foods they would want to eat at each restaurant. This gives your students a chance to develop a case to learn from on their own.
2. Video Assignment – ask students to find a partner and create a video in which one member takes the role of server/cashier and the other a restaurant customer. The students can choose any restaurant and create a dialog which they will create a video around. Have the students use what you study in class as a base, and to brainstorm other language necessary to successfully order food at a restaurant. They will post their videos on the group page and be expected to make comments on their peer’s videos. Comments can be as simple as great job, to a critique of English mistakes they made in their videos. This assignment can be easily modified and used for a variety of situations. As the students get used to this method, their skills at producing videos will improve, and will be able to better focus on the language skills they are trying to assimilate into their cognitive pathways.
3. "Guess Who?" Game – tell the students that they are expected to play this game at least 8 times and record their wins. The game contains 3 questions and answer sequences related to the situation of ordering food in a restaurant. The answers to the questions lead to hints as to who the other person has chosen to be. Which is of course the point of the game, to figure out who the other person is first. This game is great as it forces students to use learned grammar and vocabulary in a problem solving gaming situation, solidifying cognitive processes needed for deeper learning. This game can also easily be modified to be played with many different situations or language point besides just the ordering food scenario. This activity gets the students to practice the target language needed to order food in a real-life game situation.
4. Make a Multiple Choice Question – Facebook groups has a "Create a Poll" function which can easily be exploited to make simple multiple choice questions. Tell students that they are expected to make and post at least one multiple choice question related to ordering food in a restaurant. Any question related to the topic is acceptable, and the students should be encouraged to answer as many of their peers' questions as possible. After enough of their peers have answered their question, they should post an answer in the comments section and open a discussion about why some students may have made a mistake. These questions are designed to stimulate conversation about the newly learned language points.
The Basics -
Now for the basics of setting up a Facebook Group for study purposes (For those who don't already know). For privacy reasons, you may not wish to befriend or have your students know your Facebook account information. If this is the case with you, or you do not have a Facebook account, simple make a "work" account from a second email account that you check often enough. After you have chosen an account to use, you must then create a group, which you will see to the left of your news feed. You can then choose a picture relevant to your class as your cover photo. After creating your group you will see a simple toolbar under your cover photo. There are five tabs: Discussion, Members, Events, Photos, Files. For the purposes of this course design, you will need to pay most attention to Discussions, where posts will be made, and Files, where you host the course materials and detailed instructions for the students to follow.
Posts (Discussion): Now you can start making posts, but first of all you should make a special introduction post that you can "pin" to stay on the top of the page. Put all the information about the course in this post, including a brief description of the assignments and where to find more detailed instructions. You may wish to turn the comments off for this post. I would also suggest that you make posts for each of the various activities, as well as uploading a file with a list of detailed instructions for each activity.
Files: In the files section you should upload a file for the students to access or download with detailed instructions of all the activities they will be expected to take part in over the course period. You should also make a second file by clicking on the shared document tab, and the Create Doc button. Title this based on your situation and use it as a shared wiki that can be updated and added to by the students.
1. Menu Assignment – ask your students to find a menu from a restaurant they want to eat at. This could be a picture of a menu from a restaurant they visit, or a menu they find online. Ask the students to post the menu and find the meanings of any of the food dishes they could not understand, and provide deeper explanations of these dishes. Finally, tell the students that they must post an order on at least 4 different menu post for the foods they would want to eat at each restaurant. This gives your students a chance to develop a case to learn from on their own.
2. Video Assignment – ask students to find a partner and create a video in which one member takes the role of server/cashier and the other a restaurant customer. The students can choose any restaurant and create a dialog which they will create a video around. Have the students use what you study in class as a base, and to brainstorm other language necessary to successfully order food at a restaurant. They will post their videos on the group page and be expected to make comments on their peer’s videos. Comments can be as simple as great job, to a critique of English mistakes they made in their videos. This assignment can be easily modified and used for a variety of situations. As the students get used to this method, their skills at producing videos will improve, and will be able to better focus on the language skills they are trying to assimilate into their cognitive pathways.
3. "Guess Who?" Game – tell the students that they are expected to play this game at least 8 times and record their wins. The game contains 3 questions and answer sequences related to the situation of ordering food in a restaurant. The answers to the questions lead to hints as to who the other person has chosen to be. Which is of course the point of the game, to figure out who the other person is first. This game is great as it forces students to use learned grammar and vocabulary in a problem solving gaming situation, solidifying cognitive processes needed for deeper learning. This game can also easily be modified to be played with many different situations or language point besides just the ordering food scenario. This activity gets the students to practice the target language needed to order food in a real-life game situation.
4. Make a Multiple Choice Question – Facebook groups has a "Create a Poll" function which can easily be exploited to make simple multiple choice questions. Tell students that they are expected to make and post at least one multiple choice question related to ordering food in a restaurant. Any question related to the topic is acceptable, and the students should be encouraged to answer as many of their peers' questions as possible. After enough of their peers have answered their question, they should post an answer in the comments section and open a discussion about why some students may have made a mistake. These questions are designed to stimulate conversation about the newly learned language points.
The Basics -
Now for the basics of setting up a Facebook Group for study purposes (For those who don't already know). For privacy reasons, you may not wish to befriend or have your students know your Facebook account information. If this is the case with you, or you do not have a Facebook account, simple make a "work" account from a second email account that you check often enough. After you have chosen an account to use, you must then create a group, which you will see to the left of your news feed. You can then choose a picture relevant to your class as your cover photo. After creating your group you will see a simple toolbar under your cover photo. There are five tabs: Discussion, Members, Events, Photos, Files. For the purposes of this course design, you will need to pay most attention to Discussions, where posts will be made, and Files, where you host the course materials and detailed instructions for the students to follow.
Posts (Discussion): Now you can start making posts, but first of all you should make a special introduction post that you can "pin" to stay on the top of the page. Put all the information about the course in this post, including a brief description of the assignments and where to find more detailed instructions. You may wish to turn the comments off for this post. I would also suggest that you make posts for each of the various activities, as well as uploading a file with a list of detailed instructions for each activity.
Files: In the files section you should upload a file for the students to access or download with detailed instructions of all the activities they will be expected to take part in over the course period. You should also make a second file by clicking on the shared document tab, and the Create Doc button. Title this based on your situation and use it as a shared wiki that can be updated and added to by the students.