Lesson Plan | Active Learning | The Noun and its Determiners

Assumptions: This Active Lesson Plan assumes: a 100-minute class, prior student study with both the Book and the start of Project development, and that only one activity (among the three suggested) will be chosen to be conducted during the class, as each activity is designed to take up a significant portion of the available time.

Objectives

Duration: (5 - 10 minutes)

The Objectives stage is crucial for establishing the learning goals of the lesson and ensuring that students clearly understand what is expected of them. By defining specific objectives, the teacher directs the students' focus to the most important aspects of the study of nouns and their determiners. This helps to maximize the efficiency of class time, providing a solid foundation for subsequent practical activities.

Main Objectives:

1. Empower students to identify and differentiate the types of determiners that accompany nouns, such as articles and numerals.

2. Develop the ability to classify nouns according to their gender and degree, exploring the concepts of masculine and feminine, singular and plural, and comparative and superlative degree.

Side Objectives:

1. Encourage active participation from students through discussions and practical exercises in class.

Introduction

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

The Introduction stage serves to activate students' prior knowledge and connect it with the content that will be explored in the lesson. The problem situations encourage students to think critically about how nouns and their determiners function in real contexts, laying the groundwork for deeper understanding. The contextualization, in turn, aims to show the practical and theoretical relevance of the topic, motivating students through real-world examples and literature.

Problem-Based Situations

1. Imagine you are reading a book and come across the sentence: 'The big elephant.' What is the noun in this sentence and what are its determiners? How can you tell if 'big' is a determiner and what function does it serve?

2. Think about a supermarket ad that says: 'Take 3, pay 2.' What words are the nouns in this sentence and what are '3' and '2' in relation to them? How do you determine the role of the numerals in the configuration of the noun?

Contextualization

Nouns and their determiners are like the glue that holds words together in a sentence, giving them context and meaning. For example, when discussing a classic of literature, it is crucial to understand not only the main words but also their adjectives and articles, which shape the interpretation and style of the author. Additionally, understanding these concepts aids not only in reading but also in effective writing, allowing students to construct richer and more precise sentences.

Development

Duration: (70 - 75 minutes)

The Development phase is designed to allow students to apply the prior knowledge acquired about nouns and their determiners in a practical and playful manner. By engaging students in activities that simulate real situations, such as using competitive and collaborative elements, this stage aims to solidify students' understanding of how these language components work together to form clear and precise meanings. Through the suggested activities, students also develop teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity skills.

Activity Suggestions

It is recommended to carry out only one of the suggested activities

Activity 1 - Detectors of Determiners

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Develop skills for analyzing and classifying nouns, as well as understanding the function of determiners in constructing the meaning of sentences.

- Description: In this activity, students will become linguistic detectives, investigating complex sentences to identify the nouns and their determiners. It will be like putting together a puzzle, where each piece (word) has a specific role in constructing the meaning of the sentence.

- Instructions:

• Divide the class into groups of up to 5 students.

• Distribute cards with sentences that contain mixed nouns and their determiners, such as 'The big elephant hit its trunk on the tall tree.'

• Ask the students to identify the nouns in each sentence and classify them according to their gender and number.

• Request that they underline or highlight the determiners in each sentence and discuss in groups what function each one serves (definite article, indefinite article, numeral, etc.).

• Each group will present their findings, justifying their choices.

Activity 2 - The Great Noun Tournament

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Reinforce knowledge about nouns and their determiners in a playful and competitive manner.

- Description: Students will participate in a knowledge tournament, where they will compete to identify and classify nouns and their determiners. The objective is to accumulate points by quickly answering correctly.

- Instructions:

• Organize the room in an arena format, with teams on each side.

• Project sentences on the board that contain nouns and their determiners.

• At the signal, the first student from each team runs to the board and writes the word they believe to be the noun in the sentence.

• If correct, the team receives points. The next student must then classify the determiner.

• The game continues until all sentences are completed.

• The team with the most points at the end wins.

Activity 3 - Sentence Builders

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Stimulate creativity and practical application of knowledge about determiners and nouns in sentence construction.

- Description: In this activity, students will use their knowledge of nouns and their determiners to construct sentences that meet certain criteria, such as gender and number.

- Instructions:

• Give each group a set of cards with nouns, articles, and numerals.

• Challenge them to build as many correct sentences as possible, using all the cards.

• The sentences must respect the gender and number of the nouns and the correct use of the determiners.

• Each group will present their sentences and explain their choices.

• Score the sentences based on correctness and creativity.

Feedback

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

The purpose of this feedback stage is to consolidate students' learning, allowing them to reflect on and articulate the knowledge acquired during practical activities. The group discussion helps reinforce understanding of the concepts, as students can hear different perspectives and approaches from their peers. Additionally, this stage is crucial for the teacher to evaluate students' understanding and identify any points that may need further clarification, ensuring that all learning objectives have been achieved.

Group Discussion

To conclude the lesson, organize a group discussion with all the students. Start the discussion with a brief review of the main concepts covered, such as the definition of nouns, their determiners, and classifications. Then, ask each group to share their findings and the challenges faced during the activities. Encourage students to discuss what they learned new or what they found most interesting about today's lesson. Use this moment to clarify any remaining doubts and reinforce key concepts.

Key Questions

1. What were the main difficulties your group encountered when identifying the determiners of the nouns in the sentences?

2. How did classifying nouns by gender and number help you better understand the text or sentence where they appear?

3. What is the importance of understanding the function of determiners in constructing sentences?

Conclusion

Duration: (5 - 10 minutes)

The Conclusion stage serves to synthesize the learning and reinforce the key concepts of the lesson. By recapping the content, the teacher ensures that students have understood the topics discussed and can apply them in future situations. Furthermore, by highlighting the connection between theory and practice, this stage reinforces the relevance of the content to students' daily life, motivating them to continue exploring and enhancing their language skills.

Summary

To finish, let’s do a brief summary of the points covered today. Students explored the identification and classification of nouns, as well as the function and classification of determiners, such as articles and numerals. Additionally, we discussed the importance of understanding these elements in constructing cohesive and meaningful sentences.

Theory Connection

Today's lesson was carefully structured to connect theory with practice. Through dynamic activities such as 'Detectors of Determiners' and 'The Great Noun Tournament,' students were able to apply theoretical concepts in practical and competitive contexts, solidifying learning in an interactive and engaging way.

Closing

Understanding the structure of nouns and their determiners is essential not only for the study of Portuguese but also for improving students' reading and writing skills. This knowledge is fundamental for them to build clear and coherent texts, demonstrating effectiveness in communication.