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Adapting Sign Language to Climate Change: A Lesson Plan for Advanced English Learners, Quizzes of Visual Sociology

This lesson plan focuses on the adaptation of sign language to climate change, specifically in british sign language (bsl). It aims to enhance students' reading comprehension skills by analyzing an authentic text from bbc news. The lesson plan includes various stages, such as introduction, warm-up, presentation, practice activities, review, and end of review, designed to engage students and promote active learning. The development of new signs for environmental science terms in bsl, highlighting the importance of accessibility and inclusivity in scientific discourse.

Typology: Quizzes

2024/2025

Uploaded on 03/29/2025

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Name of the Teacher Date Level of the class Length of lesson
Rebecca Parker 03/25/2025 Advanced (C1) 60 minutes
Lesson Type:
Four Skills - Reading
Lesson Topic:
How is sign language adapting to climate change
Lesson Aims:
By the end of the lesson, students will be better able to…
Understand an authentic piece of writing by using
reading techniques such as reading for gist and reading for detail.
Lesson Outcomes:
Read and understand the topic of adapting sign language to climate
change. Read the text to identify some specific information in the
reading piece. Understand the target vocabulary
Anticipated difficulties:
1. Students might struggle with understanding and
remembering scientific and technical vocabulary related to
climate change and sign language.
2. Students might not have prior knowledge of sign language,
making it challenging to understand its adaption (not speaking
sign language, just the knowledge of it).
3. Some students may be hesitant to actively participate in
Suggested solutions:
1. Use the vocabulary in context during discussions and
activities to reinforce understanding.
2. Emphasise that the focus is on understanding the
importance of accessibility rather than mastering sign
language itself.
3. Encourage quiet students to contribute by asking open
ended questions and giving them time to think before
responding.
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Name of the Teacher Date Level of the class Length of lesson Rebecca Parker 03/25/2025 Advanced (C1) 60 minutes Lesson Type: Four Skills - Reading Lesson Topic: How is sign language adapting to climate change Lesson Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will be better able to… Understand an authentic piece of writing by using reading techniques such as reading for gist and reading for detail. Lesson Outcomes: Read and understand the topic of adapting sign language to climate change. Read the text to identify some specific information in the reading piece. Understand the target vocabulary Anticipated difficulties:

  1. Students might struggle with understanding and remembering scientific and technical vocabulary related to climate change and sign language.
  2. Students might not have prior knowledge of sign language, making it challenging to understand its adaption (not speaking sign language, just the knowledge of it).
  3. Some students may be hesitant to actively participate in Suggested solutions: 1. Use the vocabulary in context during discussions and activities to reinforce understanding. 2. Emphasise that the focus is on understanding the importance of accessibility rather than mastering sign language itself. 3. Encourage quiet students to contribute by asking open ended questions and giving them time to think before responding.

group discussions

  1. In Italian, when you ask a question, the words don’t change their position and you can recognise a question by the intonation. But, in English, the structure of the sentence change when you ask a question. This can be confusing for the students as they would struggle to know when a question is asked, or when there is simply just a statement given.
  2. As mentioned above, these are Italian students, so pronunciation might be difficult to some students.
  3. Students might find it difficult at first to read for understanding and specific facts (scanning). They might only skim the text and loose interest.
  4. All students speak the same L1, so it might be easier to speak in their own language at first and not the English language.
    1. Teacher asks the questions with the emphasis on the correct places to indicate to the student that a question is asked, and not just a statement made. Also use question words and tags at the beginning or end of the question.
      1. I will repeat the words a few times and get students to then repeat these words after me. Drilling will come in handy here, and I can also refer to the phonetic chart if needed.
    2. Help students understand that the purpose of the activity is to help with reading for information. For that we need to scan and understand the text in full. 7.With the introduction I will already make it clear that we are having an English reading lesson, and get the students excited about it. Authentic Text (insert reading text here or link to the listening recording) How is sign language adapting to climate change? For deaf children, teachers and scientists, talking about things like "greenhouse gases" or "carbon footprint" used to mean spelling out long, complex scientific terms, letter by letter. Now they are among 200 environmental science terms that have their own new official signs in British Sign Language (BSL). The deaf scientists and sign language experts behind the update hope the new vocabulary will make it possible for deaf people to fully participate in discussions about climate change, whether it's in the science lab or classroom. "We're trying to create the perfect signs that visualise scientific concepts," explains Dr Audrey Cameron. Dr Cameron, who is profoundly deaf, leads the sign language project at Edinburgh University, which has just added the new terms to the BSL dictionary. She described how, in her own scientific career, a lack of vocabulary meant she was excluded from important meetings

some CCQ questions like ”What are the people doing in the first picture vs. the second picture?” and “What difference about nature do you see in picture 3?” 4. T then ask students their feedback and what they think. Warm up Require students to engage. 10 S Gets students thinking about the topic Encourages students to share their own experiences Activates students' prior knowledge and schema Sets the stage for the listening activity Students will be able to recall and share their own daily routines and habits. Students will be able to use vocabulary related to daily routines and habits. Students will be mentally prepared for the listening activity and will have a clear idea of what to expect. Presentation Allow student to become familiar with the material 10 T-S OCFB Greet the students and introduce the topic of daily routines and habits. Ask students to share their own daily routines and habits. Write down key vocabulary related to the topic on the board. Students will be able to understand and identify the main ideas and supporting details of a conversation about daily routines and habits. Students will be able to use vocabulary related to daily routines and habits correctly in context. Students will demonstrate improved listening comprehension skills through completion of a listening comprehension task. Practice activity 1 Practice listening skills. 20 Ss-Ss Play the listening recording (e.g. a conversation between two people about their daily routines and habits). Divide students into pairs and have them listen to different parts of a conversation. Then, ask them to share the information with each other.

Ask students to listen to the main ideas and support details. Provide students with a listening comprehension worksheet to complete. Role-Play: Provide students with a scenario related to the listening topic and ask them to role-play a conversation. Discussion: Ask students to discuss a question or topic related to the listening text. Review vocabulary This stage allow student to see and use what they learned in different complexes. 5 SS Ask students to check their answers with a partner or the class. Review the key vocabulary and questions from the pre-listening stage. Ask students to discuss any new vocabulary or phrases they learned. Give out worksheets and pair student together to get them to review. End of review This stage allows student to wind down and look back of what they learned. 5 T-S S-S Ask students to reflect on what they learned. Provide students with a follow-up activity (e.g. writing a short paragraph about their own daily routines and habits). Collect the students' worksheets and review them for feedback. End the lesson on a positive note and encourage them to use there listening skill they used. Lesson Rationale (700-1000 words): In designing the lesson plan “Adapting Sign Language to Climate Change” for an upper-intermediate class of 18-25 year old Italian students, several considerations were taken into account to create an effective and engaging learning experience. All my students in this lesson have the same L1 and are all at upper-intermediate level. The lesson plan is structured to ensure that students not only comprehend the unique challenges faced by the deaf community in the context of climate change but also appreciate the innovative ways sign language is being adapted to address these challenges. The lesson aims to foster empathy, critical thinking, and inclusive communication among students while enhancing their vocabulary and comprehension skills. The lesson begins with a captivating

the learning aims of critical thinking and awareness. While designing the lesson plan, several activities were considered but not included due to time constraints and the need to maintain a focused approach. For instance, a role-playing activity involving a climate change debate between a hearing and deaf individual was initially considered. However, it was excluded to ensure sufficient time for in-depth reading, comprehension, and discussion of the article. If any of the planned activities do not proceed as intended, flexibility is key. If group discussions encounter participation challenges the teacher can consider adopting a think-pair-share approach. This modification allows students to reflect individually before sharing their thoughts in pairs, thereby boosting confidence before group engagement. Additionally, if the vocabulary review activity does not yield the desired level of retention, the teacher can allocate more time for interactive exercises or assign a vocabulary-related homework task to reinforce the words further. The vocabulary pre-teaching stage doesn’t just introduce terms; it bridges the gap between unfamiliar scientific jargon and students’ understanding. This step acknowledges a potential difficulty upfront and provides a scaffold for effective comprehension of the reading material. One concern is the seven-year gap between the ages of the learners. Thus, a fluctuation in learners-levels van be expected and the result may be that some students might get lost during the lesson. To counter this, I will guide students slightly to derive the answers from the passage. This will boost the students’ confidence and no student are left behind. As students dive into the reading and comprehension phase, they actively process information and analyse the challenges faced by the deaf community. By discussing the article’s content, students not only refine their comprehension skills, but also cultivate empathy by understanding the exclusion faced by individuals like Dr. Audrey Cameron. This fosters a deeper connection with the topic beyond theoretical learning. Materials (include all physical copies of the materials you plan to use in your lesson, referenced): IMAGE 1 Image from Google Images

IMAGE 2 Image from Google Images IMAGE 3 Image from Google Images

  • FIG.

WORKSHEET 1: Reading for specific information

  1. Who leads the Sign Language project at Edinburgh University? Dr. Audrey Cameron
  2. Why was dr. Cameron excluded from important meetings and conversations? She was profoundly deaf / lack of vocabulary
  3. True or false: sign language is a visual language? True
  4. What do one flat hand and the other hand with projected fingers represent? Photosynthesis
  5. Since when has the Science Glossary Project been running? Since 2007
  6. How many new signs has been added to the BSL (British Sign Language) since then? 7000 Own worksheet WORKSHEET 2: MATCH COLUMN A WITH COLUMN B Bibliography (if needed): How is sign language adapting to climate change? (n.d.). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66464437 All images taken from ‘Google Images’