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Environmental Conservation Project

Details

Main Website:

https://esldiscussions.com/e/environment.html

Activity Website:

https://esldiscussions.com/

Additional Websites:

TEDEd
CommonLit

Tech Product/Equipment:

Computer and projector, Mobile devices for students, Speakers

Activity Description

Source: Pixabay by Sergei Tokmakov (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Students engage in conversation about the environment, practice listening comprehension by watching a video and answering questions, read an article about the harm of plastics on the environment, brainstorm ways to preserve the natural environment, write a paragraph, and create an inforgraphic based on their ideas.

Preparation

Check the websites to ensure they are not blocked at your site.
Read through the lesson plan.
Print and make copies of any handouts.
Select a level-appropriate text to use. CommonLit has two texts that are free to use with a free account: "Tiny Plastic, Big Problem" and "Plastic Pollution."
Collect or create a slideshow with images for warm-up.
Practice infographic building sites to become familiar with them, optionally choose one to demo for students.

How-To

TEDEd: For TEDEd lessons, there are a video, comprehension questions, resources for learning more, and a discussion forum.

After registering and signing in, select "Customize this Lesson" to view questions for the video. You can add, delete, or revise the questions as desired. Publish the lesson to add it to your account. You can then share the lesson with students. After you have customized or published a lesson, you get sharing options: students to create accounts or students use nicknames; select “Share your lesson.” Then email the lesson, post the link, or embed it. If you don’t require TEDEd accounts, then students will be prompted to enter their names. You can view student submissions in your TEDEd dashboard.

How to Give Feedback to Students: Student is sent an email that contains a link to your feedback. If they follow the link, there is a space provided for them to respond to your feedback, in which case you will receive an email letting you know that they have responded. Only the lesson creator and the learner have access to this exchange.

Program Areas

ABE: Adult Basic Education
ESL: English as a Second Language

Levels

Intermediate
High
Intermediate High
Advanced

View Lesson Plan

Warm-up

Engagement

Start by showing images (or video) of the Great Garbage Patch, wild animals wrapped in plastic, and other scenes collected in advance of class and optionally arranged on a slideshow.

As you show the images, ask students to voluntarily do a free association by saying words that come to mind when the view the images.

Introduction

Engagement

Tell students that they are going to converse about the environment, watch a video, and read an article to build some background knowledge on the topic of environmental conservation, particularly how garbage that fills landfills and cannot be recycled (such as plastics) harms nature and humans.

Presentation

Enhancement

Lead the class on brainstorming causes of harm to the environment. Students' contributions can be listed on the board, or students can post to a Padlet or a shared Google Doc or Google Slides slideshow. As possible, categorize the causes (human-caused, unavoidable, etc.).

Practice

Engagement Enhancement

1. Conversation: Distribute the questions from ESL Discussions, downloadable from the site at https://esldiscussions.com/e/environment.html. Model conversational turns. After the allotted time, allow time for debriefing.

2. Listening: Have students watch and answer accompanying questions for the TEDEd Lesson "What really happens to the plastic you throw away?" at https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-really-happens-to-the-plastic-you-throw-away-emma-bryce.

3. Previewing: Optionally begin with a KWL chart based on the text you choose. Preview the text you have selected and have students make predictions. Model your thought process as students listen for a think-aloud. Have students pick out new vocabulary and in pairs find definitions and write model sentences for the class. Have students answer accompanying comprehension questions and check their answers in pairs or small groups. Have students answer the question: What is the main takeaway from this reading? What is one new thing you learned? How have your thoughts or feelings about this topic changed?

4. Tell students: In class, we have read about plastics and how they are polluting the water and air we breathe. This is just one of the many problems that are causing damage to the environment.

5. Ask: What types of things can each of us do that will make a difference generations from now?

Put students in pairs and small groups for a brainstorming session, which can be documented on Google Docs or a Padlet wall. After listing ideas, have groups share out, them as time permits.

Evaluation

Enhancement

Introduce the writing assignment:

Write a paragraph that includes the following:

A header in the top left (name, my name, class, date
A centered title
A topic sentence that includes the quote above
A quote, statement, statistic, or fact from the text read in class
Three (simple) things for daily life to treat our environment better and ensure that it will be livable in the future with transition words (One, first, second, next, last, finally, etc.)
A conclusion that is a final statement about the importance of protecting the environment

Your name

Teacher's Name

Class

Date

Title

According to the article "[title]," (surprising fact or statistic). There are some simple things that everyone can do to make a difference and protect the environment for future generations to have a healthy place to live. First… Another… Finally, … To conclude, …

After students have submitted their paragraphs and have revised them based on peer and instructor feedback, introduce the infographic assignment, optionally showing the included student-created infographics made on Canva.

Based on the suggestions included in your paragraph, create an infographic that illustrates your ideas. [Show examples of infographics about the environment using a Google Images search].

Demonstrate for students on selected infographic creation sites: Canva, Genially, Piktochart, or others.

After students have created their infographics, they can email them to the teacher, include them in their paragraphs, or make presentations.

Use a rubric or checklist to provide summative feedback on the assignment to students.

Application

Extension

Students will think critically about how human actions affect the natural environment and will exercise traditional literacy, digital, and visual literacy skills.

View Documents

View Subjects

View Standards

Reading Foundational Skills
- RF.4 - Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. (Fluency)
Reading
- CCR Anchor 1 - Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
- CCR Anchor 2 - Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
- CCR Anchor 4 - Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
- CCR Anchor 5 - Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
- CCR Anchor 7 - Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
Writing
- CCR Anchor 2 - Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
- CCR Anchor 4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- CCR Anchor 5 - Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- CCR Anchor 6 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Speaking and Listening
- CCR Anchor 1 - Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
- CCR Anchor 2 - Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
- CCR Anchor 4 - Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- CCR Anchor 5 - Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
- CCR Anchor 6 - Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Language
- CCR Anchor 1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCR Anchor 2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
- CCR Anchor 6 - Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.