Core ESL-Cycle 1, Year 1

EVALUATION SITUATION
Sharks! Good, Bad or Scary

To help students develop a deeper understanding of sharks through various texts and to promote responsible attitude towards the species.

Broad area of learning
Media Literacy / Focus on development
Awareness of the place and influence of the different media in his/her daily life and in society. /

Cross-curricular

competencies

Uses information / Evaluation criteria
Critical analysis of information.
Use of information in new contexts. / Language repertoire
(essential knowledge, vocabulary, functional language, focus on form)
Vocabulary related to broad area of learning.
Vocabulary related to the development of the CCCs
Vocabulary related to the response process.
Functional language: Agreement, disagreement, opinions.
Competencies
1. Interacts orally
2. Reinvests understanding of texts
3. Writes and produces texts / Evaluation criteria

Participation in oral interaction
Management of resources

Use of knowledge from texts appropriate to the task.
Evidence of comprehension of texts.

Pertinence of text
Formulation of text

Resources
Texts, dictionaries, computers (if available), functional language / Culture
The aesthetic aspect of culture.
Cinema and literature

Material needed

Student Text booklet
Student Answer booklet
Teacher Booklet
Answer key
Visual aids: Shark Posters
Movie: Jaws (optional activity)
Evaluation: Self evaluation grid and Teacher observation grid
Websites: (for reference) Some sites include interactive activities. These activities are not listed in this ES but can be used at the discretion of the teacher.

Procedure
PREPARING TO LEARN
Pre-activity : Optional. Have students watch the DVD Sharks from Imax (45 minutes) to acquire prior knowledge on the topic. Invite students to take notes. Then, have students share the different information they gathered on the movie. You may wish to have an evaluation on Competency 1, using the functional language on page 2 of the Student Text Booklet. Tell students to complete their notes with this additional information and use them as a resource for the evaluation situation.
Activity 1: Activate prior knowledge
Are sharks as dangerous as people think they are? Students probably know that many people have negative impressions of sharks and may assume that most sharks hunt people, posing a major threat to swimmers. A lot of this information comes from what they see and hear in movies and on television. In this ES, students will address the questions "Do the media give sharks a bad rap? How can you make people aware that the shark population is at risk?" Write this question on the board to present the final task to students.
Hand out Student Text Booklet and Answer Booklet.
Ask students to complete the fist section of their KWL chart on page 2 of the Student Answer Booklet. Use the following guiding questions for help.

What do you know about sharks?
Where do they live?
What colour are they?
What do they eat?
How long is a shark?
Can you name some species of sharks?
Do sharks hunt people?
Why are sharks an important part of the ecosystem?
What threats exist to shark populations, and what is being done to help prevent shark populations from declining?

Have students compare their answers with a partner.
Discuss their responses as a class.
Activity 2: How Shark-Savvy are you? Student Answer Booklet page 3
Working alone, students complete a true or false activity to see what they know about sharks.
Then working in pairs or triads, students discuss and compare their answers.
Refer students to the functional language on the page.
Circulate and evaluate students with the help of your grids.
See Answer Key for answers.
WHILE LEARNING
Activity 3: Sharks: What do we really know? Student Text Booklet pages 2, 3 and 4; Student Answer Booklet pages 2 (KWL Chart), 4 and 5
Before reading the text, have students complete the Want to Know section of their chart on page 2 of their Answer Booklet.
Use the posters for vocabulary support.
While reading the text, students complete the graphic organizer on page 5 of their Answer Booklet.
See answer key for suggested answers.
After reading, students complete the Learned section of their chart on page 2 of their Answer Booklet.
In pairs or triads, students discuss the questions on page 4 of their Answer Booklet.
Circulate and evaluate students with the help of your grids.
Refer students to the functional language on the page.
Activity 4: Headline News Student Text Booklet page 5; Student Answer Booklet page 6
Before reading the text, have students read the three headlines and the illustration. Have them write notes of their first impression of the text.
While reading, students should use resources to find the meaning of new words. They can use a vocabulary log.
After reading, students answer the questions individually by writing a few notes.
Optional : and then form pairs or triads to exchange and discuss their opinions.
As an extra class activity, you can ask students to discuss what the author meant by “Sharks have a major PR problem.”
Refer students to the functional language on the page.
Optional activity: You could present the movie Jaws to students and hold a discussion as to whether this was a realistic representation of sharks or not and what effect this movie had on the population at the time. Also, you could have students research what the author of the book Jaws has to say about sharks today. See this Web site for some of his comments.
Activity 5: Sharks in Danger Student Text Booklet pages 6 and 7; Student Answer Booklet p. 7
Students read the first paragraph and try to estimate the number of sharks killed since January 1st. If you have access to a computer, you can refer them to this website to verify their answers
Students share their ideas on the dangers to sharks with a classmate.
While reading, students come up with an appropriate sub-title that sums up each paragraph. All logical answers should be considered. Students can exchange their titles with a classmate and choose the better title for each paragraph.
After reading, students illustrate one of the dangers to sharks. For students who feel they can’t illustrate, encourage them to go on the computer and find photos or illustrations they could paste in the rectangle.
Reinvest learning
Activity 6: Final Activity: Sharks! Friend or Foe! Student Text Booklet page 8; Student Answer Booklet page 8
Students pair up and choose one of the tasks listed.
Task 1:
Students prepare their questions for their survey.
Students conduct their survey as homework to gather data.
Students organize their data graphically and present their findings to the class.
Task 2:
Students create a pamphlet or poster to inform the public on sharks.
Encourage students to use the Internet or reference material from the school library, as well as reinvesting the information from their Student Text Booklet to gather their facts.
Optional Task:
Students propose a task to carry out that deals with the two guiding questions: Do the media give sharks a bad rap? How can you make people aware that the shark population is at risk?
Possible tasks: PowerPoint presentation, newspaper article, Website, etc.
This is a reinvestment task and therefore is intended to serve as part of the evaluation for C2. However, you may decide to use this for C3 Writes and produces texts. You will need to select your evaluation criteria and have students work with either the writing or production process. Students must be informed of the criteria and focus.
Competency 3

If you decide to add a task for Writes and Produces texts, make sure you explain the criteria to students and that there is a use of the writing process.
The criterion from Competency 2 Use of knowledge from texts appropriate to the task is directly linked to this criterion from Competency 3 : Pertinence of the text.

Suggestions:

Make a flyer
Write a magazine article for elementary students to explain why we should save the shark
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Self-Evaluation Grid for Students

Name:______Group:______

Competency 1: Student interacts orally in English

Evaluation Criteria / Observable elements / A / B / C / D
Participation in oral interaction / I use functional language.
I use vocabulary related to the sharks.
I listen to the speaker.
Use of strategies / I take risks to communicate.
Use of resources / I use the available resources with autonomy.

I learned

I want to improve

Teacher’s comments

Teacher’s Observation Grid: SharksGroup: ______Date: ______
Legend:
A ______
B ______
C ______
D ______/ C1
Interacts orally in English / C2
Reinvests understanding of texts / C3
Writes and produces texts
Participation in oral interaction / Use of resources and strategies / Use of knowledge from texts appropriate to the task / Evidence of comprehension of texts / Pertinence of
the text / Formulation of
the text
A = Activity  / A2 / A4 / A6 / A3 / A5
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