Fine

My Favorite Singer – A Performance Task

Incorporating Internet Technologies for EFL

Chezi Fine

E-mail Address hezi5@bezeqint.net

Sample Title Page of Student Portfolio

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I. Description of Class

School: Amit Technologi Dati, in Dalet neighborhood in Beersheva. Grade: 10 Number of hours per week: 4 Size: 7 girl pupils Composition : 3 Ethiopian immigrants, 4 Israeli born sabras from

disadvantaged backgrounds Level: Remedial Book: Russak’s Chance Abilities: 2 non-readers among other classmates with very basic

English Motivation: Low Attitude to subject: Nonchalant Special Needs: Most had learning disabilities which prevented them

from producing spoken or written communication or from understanding written or spoken information. Some had attention disorders which prevented them from focusing on their work. Others had emotional / developmental problems. This manifested itself in not coming to school, disrupting class, coming late, not being able to organize their work, not doing homework, and various other behavioral manifestations that required monitoring by the minute and “putting out fires” on the part of the teacher in order to prevent a volatile situation from going out of control.

II/ Description of the Technological Environment and Access

The computer lab was situated in the school shelter. It had about 9 stations

with a central server, one shared printer not always in working order. The sound

systems had been disconnected because of frequent thefts of the speakers. In order

to access the ” lab” the teacher had to obtain a set of keys to two heavy metal

doors which had to remain locked to prevent pupils not belonging to the class to

enter the lab and steal printer ink, cables, and any detachable equipment. There

was no way to prevent the frequent banging on these two sets of doors from the

outside and the lessons had to be interrupted frequently to deal with this

disturbance.

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The class had access to this lab for 1 double lesson per week. The computers

were connected to the Internet and there was access to the Internet – most of the

time.

III. Rationale

The performance task will motivate and challenge weak learners to

access information about their favorite singer, write fan e-mail and share it

with their classmates and their peers worldwide.

E-mail will enable them to express their real feelings towards their idols.

Chat (simulated) will allow them to practice asking and answering basic questions in English.

Forum will allow them to be part of a world wide group of youngsters with similar interests.

IV. EFL Objectives (at Foundation Level)

Use vocabulary of personal information and music covered in Units 1-4 in Chance.

Write their names in English, using capitals appropriately. Asking and answering simple questions orally and in writing.

V. The Internet Technologies to be used: Chat. Forum, E-mail

Chat is the appropriate medium to allow pupils to practice question exchanges to elicit basic, personal information on a topic they chose.

Forum will allow pupils share their enthusiasm for music and song with others and thus feel part of a world-wide community of youngsters.

E-mail will allow them to express their feelings in fan mail to their favorite singer / band

URLs for Dave’s Forum/chat: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/student/viewforum.php?f=14 http://www.eslcafe.com/chat/chatpro.cgi

VI. A General Description of the Project

Pupils choose and prepare and identity card on their favorite singer. Pupils access, copy lyrics from Internet site on singer and ‘translate’ one

stanza into English.

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Pupils decide what they especially like in the song and write this in fan e-mail to their singer.

Pupils practice questions to ask their friends on their favorite singer on

simulated chat.

Pupils take part in Dave’s EFL Music forum. Pupils prepare a portfolio (6 pages) and give an oral presentation

about their favorite singer.

VII. A Detailed Stage-by-Stage Description of the Project

Stage 1

Timetable

1 double-lesson

Task OutcomeCreate identity card on singer1 Singer chosen and ID card

begunDecide on information needed Pupils know what they will

look for

Pupils write down choiceNon-readers will to pair up with readers

1 See example identity card adapted from Amit site on the next page

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Stage 2

Timetable

1 double-lesson

Task OutcomeTeacher locates and simplifies information on chosen singers

Small , simplified texts on singer with pictures (see below

Pupils read texts and complete information on ID card ID card completed

Pupils complete the sentence “I chose this singer because….”

Pupils have commented on their choice

Sarit Hadad

Sarit is 23. She can sing. She can play the darbuka, the

guitar and the piano. Sarit has 8 CDs. The name of her latest

CD is La’asot Mashe ba Li. Her songs are hits of Israeli music.

Sarit sang in the Hadera music band from the age of 14 to

the age of 16. After that Sarit sang as a soloist in beachside

cafes. She was a hit. Song writers like Ehud Manor and Kobi

Oz wrote songs for her. She sang at the Eurovision song

contest. Sarit says:” I love it when people like my music, it

makes me happy in my heart."

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Stage 3 (in the computer lab)

Timetable

1 double-lesson

Task OutcomePupils will search Internet for lyric sites with the help of URLs or keywords

Pupils have copies of lyrics preferably in English and get help in translating a stanza into English if lyrics are in Hebrew.

Pupils learn how to copy and paste pictures and lyrics in word documentPupils complete the sentence “This song is about.” and ask questions

Pupils have ability to comment on and ask about a song.

Light a Candle

לפעמים נדמה שאין תקווה

והכל נראה כל כך אפל ולא ידוע

הפרחים עוד לא פרחו בגן ובשדה

ובערב רק מכה הרוח

  אז בואו ונדליק ביחד נר, נר

Light a candle

Light a candle with me

A thousand candles in the dark

Will open our hearts

Stage 4 (in the computer lab)

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Timetable

1 double-lesson

Task OutcomePupils will get code names and guess who is behind them by asking about the singers in chat simulation.For this purpose they will learn basic chat greetings

Pupils will acquire basic questioning skills in writing

Pupils paste and save questions in word document

Pupils have a bank of questions about singers ready for use

Pooled Questions:2

1. Is your favorite singer a man or a woman?

2. Can your favorite singer play the guitar?

3. What is your favorite singer’s hit?

4. What’s the name of your favorite singer’s band?

5. How old is your favorite singer?

Chat greetings

Hi, I’m Sarit. I’m from Beersheva, in Israel.

Love.

Sarit

Stage 5 (in the computer lab)

2 Vocabulary and sentence structure for pooled questions is based on the first 4 units

of Chance.

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Timetable1 double-lesson

Task OutcomePupils will learn basics of e-mail and compose a very short fan e-mail letter using the sentences they have written so far about themselves and why they like their song.

Pupils will have a copy3 of fan e-mail ready to add to their portfolio

Sample e-mail

Sarit, hi.

My name is Gallit. I am 16. I learn English in Amit High School in Beersheva. I am your fan. I love your songs and your music. You are fantastic. I can sing Yalla Moti, Lech habayta in English. I want to sing hit songs. I want to learn to play the guitar.

Can you help me?Love,

Galit

Stage 6 (in the computer lab)

3 Pupils will utilize what they have already learnt in Unit 1 in Chance (p.10)

concerning postcards.

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Timetable

1 double-lesson

Task OutcomePupils will take part in music forum at Dave’s EFL Café4 one at a time while their peers fill out a reflection form about the performance task

Each pupil will have a forum exchange and a reflection rubric ready for her portfolio

Sample reflection questions: (in Hebrew)

Name:______ Class:________

Did you enjoy doing this project?

____________________________________________________________

What new things did you learn about your favorite singer?

____________________________________________________________

What did you learn about the favorite singers of your classmates?

_____________________________________________________________

Who would you like to show your project?

_____________________________________________________________

Was it easy to do this project?

Stage 7 (in the computer lab)

Timetable Task Outcome

4 http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/student/viewforum.php?f=14

http://www.eslcafe.com/chat/chatpro.cgi

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1 double-lessonPupils will come in front of the class and present the information in their portfolio. The class, as audience, will add information and ask questions as they see fit.

Pupils will have had the opportunity to organize / choose information in their portfolio for oral presentation and experience the excitement of presenting to their classmates

Oral Presentation Rubric (Given to Pupils before their Presentation)

Name:_____ Date:_______

Criteria Excellent Good

I spoke clearly, slowly,

and loudly for everyone

to hear

10 9 8 7 6

I showed my feelings

using my body

language.

10 9 8 7 6

I gave information about

important points in the

life of my favorite singer

and said why I liked this

singer.

10 9 8 7 6

I showed pictures and

played a hit of my singer

10 9 8 7 6

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VIII. Enabling Skills

All EFL skills will have been given to the pupils by the end of Unit 4 of Chance.

Unit 1 has basic introductions and giving personal information (e.g. age, name)

Unit 1 has a postcard reading exercise on p. 10 and this is the basis for the e-mail

Units 3 & 4 have relevant vocabulary (e.g., sing, play, guitar, music, hit, ballad) and also relevant structures (e.g., Hal can sing. He can play the guitar)

EFL– Music vocabulary, basic sentence-structure/questions;

presenting singer (This is …She can sing…She can play the darbuka…)

– E-mail letter format– Basic chat greetings.

Computer / Internet– Using search engine with given keywords (e.g., ‘Israeli

singer’) ; copying and pasting text and pictures from sites of singers; logging on to the music forum at Dave’s ESL Café; writing e-mail

Sample search engine:http://index.nana.co.il/Category.asp?cat=1817Sample URLs of sites of Israeli singers and lyrics:http://www.milim.cjb.nethttp://www.israeli.web1000.com

IX. Assessment Rubric

ContentMaximum

Points

Points

Earned

Cover Page includes:

my name our class our teacher’s name the date

10

Singer’s ID card and comments about the singer /

band20

There are the title and one stanza of a song with explanations

20

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There are at least 3 photographs of the singer or

band10

There are captions under the pictures 10

Form

The portfolio is presented in a plastic cover 5

It has all the relevant material ( cover page, ID card, photographs, one stanza with translation, pictures)

5

Capital letters have been used for names and

titles5

The captions are appropriate 5

The portfolio is clean and attractive 10

Total

Pupils who help the non-readers of the group get

bonus

100

X. How the Task Fits into the Yearly Plan

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Sept Nov Dec Jan

Mar

Sept Nov Dec Jan

Mar

S

ept

em

ber

O

ct

N

ov

D

ec

J

an

F

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Units 1- 4 from ChanceUnits 1- 4 from Chance

Performance TaskPerformance Task

Units 5-8 Units 5-8

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The performance task suggested itself to us when our class reached Unit 3 in our textbook, Chance. This Unit has music as its theme and presents (on p. 26) a ballad called Sam And PamWhen I had the class listen to the taped version of the ballad Sam and Pam, and when later in this Unit we read that this ballad was a hit in Max Lang’s café, the pupils had a big laugh at the expense of the efforts of this remedial book to stick to “sound” phonological gradation principles to teach the appropriate vowel and consonant combinations.

Sam and Pam sat on the sand.They sat hand in hand.They sat and they sang.……………..Ad nauseum

How could this ever be a hit? I challenged them to suggest hits for Max Lang’s café. They began to suggest the songs of their favorite singers. I seized the opportunity to offer a performance task called My Favorite Singer. This is how the project was born.

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