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EAL Thematic Lesson Plan: “This is Me & My Classroom”
- Target Level: Newcomer Children / Primary School (CEFR A1.1 – A1.3 Progression)
- Theme: Myself / School and Classroom Routine
- Duration: 1 Week (Blended Withdrawal Play and In-Class Support)
- Core Tone: Warm, high-energy, playful, and low-anxiety.
Target Language Targets
Specific Target Vocabulary (The Big 5 Nouns):
- Schoolbag
- Pencil
- Crayons
- Coat
- Book
Specific Target Sentence Structures:
- A1.1 Level (Noun Identification): “It is a [noun].” (e.g., “It is a pencil.”)
- A1.2 Level (Possession / Identification): “This is my [noun].” (e.g., “This is my coat.”)
- A1.3 Level (Functional Requests & Actions): “Can I have a [noun], please?” / “Open the schoolbag.”
Lesson Structure & Teaching Methodology
Step 1: The “Guess What’s in My Bag!” Mystery (Withdrawal – 10 Mins)- Methodology: Curiosity-Driven Direct Instruction, Modeling, and Choral Response.
- How to teach it:
- Gather the children around the whiteboard. Launch your Gamma slide deck showing a Bing-generated image of a big schoolbag [zdnet.com, bing.com].
- Sit on the floor in a circle. Place a real, empty schoolbag in the middle. Give it a dramatic shake so things rattle inside. Gasp and whisper: “Oh! What is in my schoolbag?” Pass the bag around the circle so each child can shake it.
- The Big Reveal: Pull out a giant physical pencil. Pretend it is incredibly heavy. Move your body like you can barely lift it. Say clearly: “Oof! A pencil! It is a pencil!” Pass it around.
- Silly Voice Drill: Say the word “pencil” in a squeaky mouse voice and have them repeat it. Now say it in a deep monster voice.
- Targeted Prompts:
- Point to an A1.1 student: “What is this?” (Target answer: “It is a pencil.”)
- Turn to an A1.2/A1.3 student: “Show me your pencil.” (Target action & answer: Child points and says: “This is my pencil.”)
- Open the zip of the real schoolbag dramatically. Say: “Open the schoolbag.” Have the children copy the unzipping motion in the air with their hands while chanting: “Open the schoolbag! Open the schoolbag!”
Step 2: The “Freeze-Dance” Subtitle Game (Withdrawal – 10 Mins)
- Methodology: Total Physical Response (TPR) and Text-to-Sound Mapping.
- How to teach it:
- Cue up a classroom routine song on YouTube with standard English subtitles enabled.
- Tell the children: “When the music plays, we dance! When the music stops… FREEZE!” Everyone dances and wiggles around the room.
- The Freeze: Hit pause abruptly when the word COAT pops up highlighted in the English subtitles. Everyone must freeze like a statue.
- Point to the frozen word on the screen, then point to your own coat. Shiver dramatically: “Brrr! Cold! Coat! It is a coat.”
- Unfreeze the children by shouting the action instruction: “Get your coat!” The children race to the classroom coat pegs, grab their physical coats, run back to the circle, and hold them up.
- Guide them to repeat the phrase structure rhythmically while shaking their coats: “This is my coat! This is my coat!” Repeat the music loop for the words schoolbag and book.
Step 3: The Osmo “Eye-Spy” Masterpiece Match (Withdrawal – 10 Mins)
- Methodology: Multi-sensory Tracing, Fine-Motor Action, and Puppet Error-Correction.
- How to teach it:
- Set up the iPad with the Osmo Base [playosmo.com]. Place a standard mini-whiteboard and a dry-wipe marker on the desk space in front of the camera mirror. Launch the Osmo Masterpiece App pre-loaded with a simple vector outline of a book and a box of crayons.
- Select the simple outline of the book on the screen.
- The Magic Trace: The child traces over the lines on the whiteboard, watching the screen to guide their hand. As they trace the line, trace it with your finger in the air, chanting the target word together rhythmically: “Book, book, book.”
- The Object Match: Once the shape is traced, slide a real physical reading book onto the whiteboard line drawing. Say: “Can you match it?” When the camera registers the real item aligned with the sketch and flashes a success animation, model the phrase: “It is a book.” Have the child repeat it.
- The Puppet Twist: Bring out your classroom hand puppet. The puppet looks at the child’s drawing, points to it, and says in a silly voice: “Oh, look! A beautiful… banana!”
- The children will giggle and correct the puppet using their target structural frame: “No! This is my book!”
Step 4: The Classroom “Treasure Hunt” Integration (In-Class – 15 Mins)
- Methodology: Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Gamified Social Inclusion.
- How to teach it:
- Walk with the group back into their mainstream classroom during a coloring activity. Hand each newcomer an EAL Clipboard with their printed visual checklists showing pictures of a pencil, crayons, and a book.
- Turn them into Secret Agents. Give them a fun prop, like a paper magnifying glass to look through. Walk up to a group of peers sitting at a table together.
- Whisper the exact target phrase directly into your newcomer’s ear: “Ask your classmate: Can I have a pencil, please?”
- The Interaction: The newcomer says the phrase to their classmate: “Can I have a pencil, please?” The classmate pulls a pencil out of their desk pencil pot and hands it over.
- The newcomer looks at their clipboard, finds the picture of the pencil, stamps it with a smiley-face stamp, hands it back, and says: “Thank you.” Move to a different desk to repeat the pattern using the structure: “Can I have a crayon, please?”
Step 5: The “High-Five Goodbye” Routine (5 Mins)
- Methodology: Expressive Language Sampling via Playful Exit.
- How to teach it:
- Stand at the classroom door with your printed Diffit picture sheets as the children prepare to line up for home-time [web.diffit.me]. Hold your hand up high for a high-five.
- Testing A1.1/A1.2 Learners: Point directly to the picture of the schoolbag on the page. Ask the child: “What is this?”
- Target output: The child must say, “It is a schoolbag” or “This is my schoolbag” to get a high-five and walk through the door.
- Testing A1.3 Learners: Point to the picture of the crayons and say in a silly voice: “Is this a schoolbag?”
- Target output: The child must answer: “No, it is crayons” or “No, these are crayons.” Once spoken, they slap the page, get their high-five, and exit to line up.
Differentiation
- For A1.1 Learners (Emerging): Focus purely on the formulaic “It is a…” structure and accurate noun identification. Accept single-word answers during fast-paced games. Remove expectations of spoken sentences during the YouTube freeze routine.
- For A1.2 – A1.3 Learners (Expanding): Push for expanded sentences including colors or actions (e.g., “The blue pencil is on the table”). On the Osmo tracing station, challenge them to verbally tell the puppet what color marker th📚 EAL Thematic Lesson Plan: “This is Me & My Classroom”
Target Level: Newcomer Children / Primary School (CEFR A1.1 – A1.3 Progression)
Theme: Myself / School and Classroom Routine
Duration: 1 Week (Blended Withdrawal Play and In-Class Support)
Core Tone: Warm, high-energy, playful, and low-anxiety.
🎯 Target Language Targets
🔑 Specific Target Vocabulary (The Big 5 Nouns):
Schoolbag
Pencil
Crayons
Coat
Book
🗣️ Specific Target Sentence Structures:
A1.1 Level (Noun Identification): “It is a [noun].” (e.g., “It is a pencil.”)
A1.2 Level (Possession / Identification): “This is my [noun].” (e.g., “This is my coat.”)
A1.3 Level (Functional Requests & Actions): “Can I have a [noun], please?” / “Open the schoolbag.”
⏳ Lesson Structure & Teaching Methodology
Step 1: The “Guess What’s in My Bag!” Mystery (Withdrawal – 10 Mins)
Methodology: Curiosity-Driven Direct Instruction, Modeling, and Choral Response.
How to teach it:
Gather the children around the whiteboard. Launch your Gamma slide deck showing a Bing-generated image of a big schoolbag [zdnet.com, bing.com].
Sit on the floor in a circle. Place a real, empty schoolbag in the middle. Give it a dramatic shake so things rattle inside. Gasp and whisper: “Oh! What is in my schoolbag?” Pass the bag around the circle so each child can shake it.
The Big Reveal: Pull out a giant physical pencil. Pretend it is incredibly heavy. Move your body like you can barely lift it. Say clearly: “Oof! A pencil! It is a pencil!” Pass it around.
Silly Voice Drill: Say the word “pencil” in a squeaky mouse voice and have them repeat it. Now say it in a deep monster voice.
Targeted Prompts:
Point to an A1.1 student: “What is this?” (Target answer: “It is a pencil.”)
Turn to an A1.2/A1.3 student: “Show me your pencil.” (Target action & answer: Child points and says: “This is my pencil.”)
Open the zip of the real schoolbag dramatically. Say: “Open the schoolbag.” Have the children copy the unzipping motion in the air with their hands while chanting: “Open the schoolbag! Open the schoolbag!”
Step 2: The “Freeze-Dance” Subtitle Game (Withdrawal – 10 Mins)
Methodology: Total Physical Response (TPR) and Text-to-Sound Mapping.
How to teach it:
Cue up a classroom routine song on YouTube with standard English subtitles enabled.
Tell the children: “When the music plays, we dance! When the music stops… FREEZE!” Everyone dances and wiggles around the room.
The Freeze: Hit pause abruptly when the word COAT pops up highlighted in the English subtitles. Everyone must freeze like a statue.
Point to the frozen word on the screen, then point to your own coat. Shiver dramatically: “Brrr! Cold! Coat! It is a coat.”
Unfreeze the children by shouting the action instruction: “Get your coat!” The children race to the classroom coat pegs, grab their physical coats, run back to the circle, and hold them up.
Guide them to repeat the phrase structure rhythmically while shaking their coats: “This is my coat! This is my coat!” Repeat the music loop for the words schoolbag and book.
Step 3: The Osmo “Eye-Spy” Masterpiece Match (Withdrawal – 10 Mins)
Methodology: Multi-sensory Tracing, Fine-Motor Action, and Puppet Error-Correction.
How to teach it:
Set up the iPad with the Osmo Base [playosmo.com]. Place a standard mini-whiteboard and a dry-wipe marker on the desk space in front of the camera mirror. Launch the Osmo Masterpiece App pre-loaded with a simple vector outline of a book and a box of crayons.
Select the simple outline of the book on the screen.
The Magic Trace: The child traces over the lines on the whiteboard, watching the screen to guide their hand. As they trace the line, trace it with your finger in the air, chanting the target word together rhythmically: “Book, book, book.”
The Object Match: Once the shape is traced, slide a real physical reading book onto the whiteboard line drawing. Say: “Can you match it?” When the camera registers the real item aligned with the sketch and flashes a success animation, model the phrase: “It is a book.” Have the child repeat it.
The Puppet Twist: Bring out your classroom hand puppet. The puppet looks at the child’s drawing, points to it, and says in a silly voice: “Oh, look! A beautiful… banana!”
The children will giggle and correct the puppet using their target structural frame: “No! This is my book!”
Step 4: The Classroom “Treasure Hunt” Integration (In-Class – 15 Mins)
Methodology: Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Gamified Social Inclusion.
How to teach it:
Walk with the group back into their mainstream classroom during a coloring activity. Hand each newcomer an EAL Clipboard with their printed visual checklists showing pictures of a pencil, crayons, and a book.
Turn them into Secret Agents. Give them a fun prop, like a paper magnifying glass to look through. Walk up to a group of peers sitting at a table together.
Whisper the exact target phrase directly into your newcomer’s ear: “Ask your classmate: Can I have a pencil, please?”
The Interaction: The newcomer says the phrase to their classmate: “Can I have a pencil, please?” The classmate pulls a pencil out of their desk pencil pot and hands it over.
The newcomer looks at their clipboard, finds the picture of the pencil, stamps it with a smiley-face stamp, hands it back, and says: “Thank you.” Move to a different desk to repeat the pattern using the structure: “Can I have a crayon, please?”
Step 5: The “High-Five Goodbye” Routine (5 Mins)
Methodology: Expressive Language Sampling via Playful Exit.
How to teach it:
Stand at the classroom door with your printed Diffit picture sheets as the children prepare to line up for home-time [web.diffit.me]. Hold your hand up high for a high-five.
Testing A1.1/A1.2 Learners: Point directly to the picture of the schoolbag on the page. Ask the child: “What is this?”
Target output: The child must say, “It is a schoolbag” or “This is my schoolbag” to get a high-five and walk through the door.
Testing A1.3 Learners: Point to the picture of the crayons and say in a silly voice: “Is this a schoolbag?”
Target output: The child must answer: “No, it is crayons” or “No, these are crayons.” Once spoken, they slap the page, get their high-five, and exit to line up.
⚖️ Differentiation
For A1.1 Learners (Emerging): Focus purely on the formulaic “It is a…” structure and accurate noun identification. Accept single-word answers during fast-paced games. Remove expectations of spoken sentences during the YouTube freeze routine.
For A1.2 – A1.3 Learners (Expanding): Push for expanded sentences including colors or actions (e.g., “The blue pencil is on the table”). On the Osmo tracing station, challenge them to verbally tell the puppet what color marker they are using to draw their shape.
📝 Assessment
Formative Checklist (CEFR Scale): Keep a running record of daily interactions on your clipboard during the Secret Agent game. Track if the student is transitioning smoothly from A1.1 (responding to simple direct questions) to A1.2/A1.3 (initiating communication spontaneously).
Osmo Observations: Informally record engagement and associative naming competence during the tracing activity, updating their learning profiles on your school’s tracking system.
ey are using to draw their shape.
Assessment
- Formative Checklist (CEFR Scale): Keep a running record of daily interactions on your clipboard during the Secret Agent game. Track if the student is transitioning smoothly from A1.1 (responding to simple direct questions) to A1.2/A1.3 (initiating communication spontaneously).
- Osmo Observations: Informally record engagement and associative naming competence during the tracing activity, updating their learning profiles on your school’s tracking system.
Apologies for the formatting issues with my submission. Despite trying the guidance suggested above it seems to be hit or miss whether it works for me. I have ran out of attempts to amend it. I have contacted support to help me make the post readable.
I agree, this will definitely be something I use going forward. I actually gave it a go with my own kids at home and they absolutely loved it—the fact that they get to choose where the story goes kept them interested.
I agree MagicSchool AI really appealed to me. It looks like a brilliant resource that will be a wonderful time saver for prep, especially for EAL. You just log in and use their pre-made templates to make resources in seconds.In September I intend to use it to generate visual vocabulary lists of school items, or to translate essential, everyday phrases into our newcomers’ native languages for communication cards. There’s also a text leveler that simplifies wordy stories and worksheets into short, easy sentences for infants. It is a fantastic shortcut for pulling together tailored materials for the classroom without spending hours on planning.
For the past few years, I’ve been working as an EAL teacher mostly with Junior and Senior Infants. I’m always on the lookout for ways to make learning English fun and engaging for them, so I was delighted to find out about Osmo in this module. I’d actually never heard of it before now, but it’s got me planning how I could use it with my new newcomers this coming September!
My main goal in those first few weeks is always to fast-track their BICS. They just need that basic survival language and social vocab to get through the school day. Since most of our kids are first-generation Irish citizens, building up that oral language and confidence right from day one is our absolute priority.
I love the sound of the game for this. I’d bring a small group over, show them how it works myself, and put some of the physical silicone clothes on the table to show them how the character on screen reacts. It uses computer vision AI to “see” what’s on the desk, which basically does the teaching for you. The instant visual feedback means they don’t need a translator to understand. They can connect everyday words—like “red coat” or “happy”—directly to the object. I could even use custom pictures to help them practice asking for a drink, using the toilet, or saying they feel sick. Plus, pairing a newcomer with an English-speaking buddy would create natural, low-pressure chatting from the get-go.
The only real downside is the cost. In a busy primary school, budgets are always tight and we definitely don’t have iPads for everyone. It’s such a shame it won’t work on a standard, basic tablet, because that really limits how many teachers can actually use it. That said, if we could get our hands on even just one or two compatible devices for September, it looks like a brilliant way to turn standard screen time into a chatty, hands-on lesson!
For the last number of years I have worked primarily in the Junior end of the school, in a variety of roles; class teacher, reading recovery teacher and SET. One resource we use in SET is the SRA kit, MagicSchool are Diffit are basically a next‑level SRA kit because it takes the same idea of levelled reading and makes it completely flexible — you can instantly adapt , create any text to any level, add EAL supports, and tailor it to your pupils instead of relying on fixed passages. In my school we regularly get newcomer children throughout the year, and one thing I often do is design for them their class Explorers (SESE) texts at a differentiated level so they can access the content. This can be incredibly time consuming MagicSchool and Diffit is going to make that so much easier for me — I’ll be able to adapt any text instantly instead of rewriting everything myself. I will also be able to quickly and easily assess their comprehension level of the texts we cover, it is a game changer.
Having been a Reading Recovery teacher for a number of years,I have significant experience seeing how daily focused reading instruction can help strengthen and improve both the confidence and ability of struggling readers. One notable downside of this programme is that when you discontinue a child the level of support they receive drops significantly and oftentimes their progress, reading coach would enable this support to continue for significantly longer. I envisage using it to enable struggling readers daily instruction which isn’t always feasible for class teachers. It would also be something easily assigned for homework. It’s built in assessment element will assist me in what areas I may focus on, in my in my personal 1:1 instruction. That I experimented with this programme with my son and whilst I agreed with some of it’s mispronunciation suggestions, I wouldn’t agree with all of them.
Through the SSE process one focus for our school was Talk Time. Right throughout the school we have been working hard to improve our pupils oral language abilities,both their vocabulary and presentation giving. I see Speaker coach as a fantastic means of supporting this.
I too was very impressed with reading coach. Giving struggling readers the ability to create their own stories whilst incorporating specific focuses you have for them is very appealing to me. The idea of incentivising time spent reading too , enabling to build greater character and setting options sounds like something many of the children I work with would get on board with.
Personally as advanced and essentially impressive as it appears many of the AI applications used globally do not appeal to me at all. I am not an old school style teacher by any means, I always try to make my lessons engaging and enjoyable but I favour a significantly more personal style of teaching than that which is described by the applications like Carnegie learning, squirrel AI and Century AI. The closing video even further reinforced by concerns about the pressure being placed on children to achieve what appears to be entirely one kind of success (academic) this is never the kind of teaching I would aspire to. I value every child’s unique potential and do not feel I am wrong in thinking that success looks differently for everyone. Many parents of kids in my school send their children to the Khan Academy and whilst I honestly have no personal experience of it, mere anecdotal evidence that I have heard makes me feel it is not a one for all methodology. This is perhaps one challenge that may present itself in future, particularly if parents aren’t accepting of their children’s honest capabilities. An aspect of AI which I shall however definitely use going froward in my teaching is the lesson plan creations that were demonstrated in slides 33,34 and 35. The style of prompts provided gave me a much better insight into how I could use AI to make my planning time more efficient. As the primary curriculum is changing it will help greatly in enabling us as teachers to become better acquainted with it, a challenge however that may present is that our only developing knowledge of the new curriculum may reduce our ability to spot any errors in content suggested to us. As an EAL teacher I shall use AI to help me differentiate for the children I work with.
I too found some elements of this module quite frustrating. While I can acknowledge that individualised teaching platforms could transform a child’s learning, the idea of any child relying on a computer or device to explain something to them feels so impersonal, and honestly a bit wrong to me. As both a teacher and a parent, I struggle with the over‑emphasis on screen time in schools. We already use interactive whiteboards throughout the day, and now the suggestion that these programmes might provide differentiated support across multiple subjects feels like we’re encouraging children to spend even more time on devices. Striking a balance is becoming increasingly challenging.
As has been said repeatedly , for me the greatest benefits of AI are how efficient it can make planning for teaching , learning and assessment. By improving the prompts we give to AI bots we can achieve creative, innovative and engaging ideas for topics that might otherwise be mundane. We can utilise it’s skills to stay in touch with the current interests of our pupils and improve our assessment strategies and techniques.
Having only really used ChatGPT and Gemini before, I found it really helpful to learn about the different apps available through generative AI in education. It’s given me a greater insight into the different tools out there that can support my teaching. I’m looking forward to exploring them more as the course progresses
I agree with your analysis of how AI can support SET teachers. I work primarily with EAL learners and have found it extremely helpful with creating interesting and engaging activities for the pupils I work with. Up until now I primarily used Chat GPT , I will utilise Microsoft 365 and Gemini more in future. Particularly Microsoft 365 as I like how it stores your history and uses it to hone your responses making them more personal. I too struggle with the ‘wording’ of for instance targets in support plans. I have found AI invaluable this past year with assisting me. I have also however witnessed it’s limitations as Afterall it is a Bot and oftentimes its recommendations or suggestions aren’t realistic or achievable.