Session 1 plan

Session One

Students:     High school

Time:             30 Minutes

Materials:      handouts, pens/pencils

Youth forum  Goals:         Students will get in character, meet students from other schools/cities, get comfortable with each other, reinforce some of the points they heard during the opening

Language Objective(s): Speaking, listening, reading, writing

Building Language Awareness:  Reinforce to students that they will be

expected to speak English during the forum, and that the event will integrate

multiple skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing).  Model appropriate behavior for students by speaking English during the forum.

Building Cultural Awareness:  This plan gives students an opportunity to examine cross-cultural issues and share their own experiences. The exercises, tasks, and activities in which students will take part during the summit will encourage them to investigate their value system and look at what different cultures value most.  Try to facilitate this introspection and cross-cultural thinking as students work within their groups and with their micro-classes during their round-tables.  Initiating this cultural awareness will help prepare them for the greater development they will continue during the summit as they work towards developing intercultural communicative competence. 

Teacher’s Tips:  Be strict on time.  Keeping activities short and students moving from one activity to another quickly maintains their attention and keeps them from speaking Russian and talking about their evening plans. 

Lesson Sequence

Find someone who… (5-7 min.)

Stand near door and hand worksheet to students as they walk in the room.  Greet them: “Welcome, hello, please come in, great to have you,” etc., but don’t have them sit down.  Have them begin the activity immediately. You should also participate in the activity – facilitators and teachers.

Everybody loves an introduction!  (7-8 minutes)

(Introduce yourself, tell some words about your background, experience, occupation and so on)

1.     Have students introduce one of their peers in their group.  You will not have time to have everyone introduce each other. (Perhaps 4 or 5 introductions.)  Students should stay where they are when they introduce their peers; however, the speaker should stand and the peer should stand briefly and wave or note who they are when referred to.  Just like we do at a conference.

2.     You will model this.  You will introduce the first student since you did find someone who as well.  Have a teacher introduce the second student, then ask for a volunteer. 

3.     The objective here is to try to start identifying leaders.  Who might be the representatives at the end? – the students who will present.  If no one volunteers, call on someone.  Call on the least frightened looking students.  Someone making eye contact perhaps.  This is your model (make sure you are standing next to the student you are introducing and that you have NOT asked the student to come to the front of the class):

This is [name],He/she’s from [country],The main interesting issue in his/her country is…. [issue]

So you’ve got issues… (5-7 min discuss; 5 min. present)

1.     Have students get out their charts from the Opening Ceremony.  They should compare and discuss what they filled in with their group mates.  They should supplement what they missed.  Have them look for overlapping points between countries.  In other words, compare what points countries presented on when they presented their issues and see if any raised the same points. 

2.     Have students write these points down. 

3.     Have groups present any issues on which countries were in agreement.  State the country and the point.  Call on three groups.

What lies in store?  (2-3 min)

Reinforce what students did this session and tell students what they’ll be doing the next session.  This session you got to know each other and started looking at the issues.  Next session you’re going to look more deeply at the issues and continue to work with each other.  Together you’ll examine what the issues mean and think about different ways we might look at them, both globally and from the perspective of individual countries.  It was great working with you!  Good job!