Texas
Adult Education Standards and Benchmarks
for ABE ASE and ESL Learners
Lesson Plan Bank
esl LESSON PLANS
Texas Adult Education Standards
Lesson Plan
Before you begin
Title: Secret Game
Setting: ESL
NRS Level(s):
Level 3: High Beginning
Level 4: Low Intermediate
Level 5: High Intermediate
Open entry/exit: Yes
Context: Academic
Standard(s): Listen Actively
Benchmark(s): 1.4, 2.4, 3.3, 4.4, 5.4, 2.5
Objective: To integrate listening, speaking, understanding, and communicating information that is conveyed.
Materials: Chalkboard and chalk
Estimated time needed to prepare for this lesson plan: 30 minutes
Estimated time needed to complete this lesson plan: 2 hours
The Lesson Plan
Introduce the lesson:
Review the topic of object pronouns/possessive pronouns. Introduce vocabulary
words such as medicine, sickness, etc. Review vocabulary words
and identify cognates. Vocabulary words should be reviewed orally as
students use these words in sentences when called upon.
Teach the lesson:
Explain to students the necessity of communicating correctly certain
information such as health related information. To demonstrate how
information is easily mis-communicated, the class will play the Secret
Game. Begin by asking the following questions:
- What is a secret?
- How do you whisper?
- Have you ever played the secret game?
Explain to the class that it is interesting how a secret will change a little each time it is repeated.
Practice the lesson:
For this activity, students will be seated in rows of 3. First the teacher
whispers a secret to Student 1. (Secret is repeated as necessary. Show
the written secret to the student if student doesn’t understand
when whispered orally). Student 1 whispers the secret to Student 2.
Student 2 whispers the secret to Student 3. Student 3 writes secret
on the board.
Teacher writes original secret under Student 3’s written message. The class will evaluate miscommunication between students.
Replay the game using the following “secrets.” These “secrets” are related to previous grammar and vocabulary lessons (object pronouns, possessive pronouns and medical related terms):
- I gave the aspirin to her.
- My doctor wrote a prescription for me.
- The medicine is ours.
- I took her to the emergency room.
- Did he give you a flu shot?
As the game is replayed, students should change positions. Each student should have an opportunity to reveal the “secret.”
Assess the lesson:
Students become more proficient each time the game is played. As students
become more acquainted, they learn to mentor each other as secrets
are communicated. As students write the “secret” on the
board, the entire class should work together to help develop a clear
sentence.
Apply the lesson to the real world:
As students see the results of miscommunication, they should be able
to associate the importance of speaking clearly and asking for clarification.
Submitted by: Marilyn Querejazu
