Lesson Plan: Famous People

by Thea Khachoshvili, Village Naphareuli English Language Teacher

Grade: 11 

Main Objective: By the end of the lesson Ss. will be able to reconstruct the text about “Frank Abagnale” and discuss it

Method: Dictogloss

Classroom management: Ss. are divided into three groups.

Assassment: Grades

1. Warm up (2mn) Teacher shows a clear slide in which a photo of famous person (Leonardo DiCaprio)  is hidden and asks students to ask yes/no questions before they understand  this person. After this T. shows them this photo.

Objective: To make interesting environment and encourage students to involve in the process

Resources: Laptop; projector

Organisation: individually

2. Lead in (5mn) Teacher shows a photo of Frank Abagnale and asks some questions : Who is he? Where is he from? What is he? Students think in some minutes and teacher elicits the answers and writes down on the board. Then teacher shows  the right answers to them.

 Objective: To make motivated and interesting environment for the topic. (pre listening)

Resources: Laptop; projector;

Organisation: Individually; whole class

3. Activity 1 (5mn)Teacher reads the text about Frank Abagnale and Ss. listen it. The T. reads again and Ss. write down words/sentences which they hear.

Objective: Ss. will be able to focus on the listening and key words. (during listening)

Resources: Paper with texts.

Organisation: Individually

4. Activity 2 (10mn)Ss. reconstruct the text using key words which they write down and reminding the reading

      Objective: Ss. will be able to reconstruct the text (post listening)

      Resources:Pieces of paper; pens;

      Organisation: Group work

 5. Activity 3 (5mn)  Teacher distributes the text and Ss. compare with their reconstructed texts and check them. ( students are divided in three groups and teacher gives each group different parts of the text. )

      Objective:Ss. will check the text

      Resources: Handout  Tex   t“Frank Abagnale”

      Organisation:Group work

6. Activity 4 (8mn)  Teacher asks some questions: 1. What have you written? 2.What could not you written? 3.What were the differences from the original version?(using Venn diagram to compare them)

Objective: Ss. will be able to compare their version with original one.

Resources: White board; markers

Organisation: Individually; Whole class

 7. Discussion (5mn)Teacher asks one student to say two sentences about the person and then asks another student to add more information and so on before the whole information is got. Then T. asks them to say their own ideas about this person.

Objective: Ss. will be able to analyze the text and express their own ideas

Organisation: Individually

8. Reflection (3mn) Teacher recall the lesson. And asks some questions: 1. What were the stages of the lesson? 2. Who and what is the main character of the text. 3. Is the text interesting for you and why?

Objective: Recall the stages 

Organisation: Individually

9. Assassment (2 mn ) Students assess themselves and each other/one another.Teacher assesses them using rubrics

Objective: Assassment

    Rubrics:

Criterions/Indicators	scores
1.      Guessing the specific information and connecting them with general information	0-1-2
2.      Connecting different information with one another and doing the conclusion according to this one	0-1-2
3.      Separating the main issue/problem	0-1-2
4.      Making the idea and reconstructing the text successively and obviously	0-1-2

Handout 1

The True Story of a Real Fake

Frank Abagnale, a good looking Ameican boy with more dreams than money, pretended to be first a pilot, then a doctor and then a lawyer. By the age of twenty-one he had tricked and cheated his way to 2.5$ million.

In the golden age of James Bond, Abagnale really was as international man of mystery. He was wanted by the FBI and Interpol in twenty six countries. His good looks and greying hair helped him, but his charm was his most important tool. He dressed well and everybody believed the stories he made up.

Abagnale was a lonely child. When his mother, who was French, broke up with his father, a New York shopkeeper, Abagnale had to choose which paraent to live with. Instead, aged sixteen, he dropped out of school, ran away from home and began his life as an international trickster. He used magnetic ink to change bank code numbers illegally. He also got a Pan Am pilot’s uniform by saying that his was lost at the dry cleaner’s and that he had an urgent flight. This allowed him to stay in any hotel he wanted. He even pretended to be a doctor and worked as a hospital administrator for a year. With no formal training, he picked up the skills by reading medical books and watching other doctors at work.

Despite his crimes, Abagnale never had any enemies. Joseph Shea, the FBI man who arrested him and later became his friend, said: “I think Frank is close to genius. What he did as a teenager is incredible. His crimes were not physical.  There were no guns, no knives, he just used his brain. He’s charming and I admire him. I think he’s a good man and a moral character, but like anybody he wants to better himself and in this country, money is the way to do it. “

These days Abagnale doesnot need to trick anybody, he is a successful consultant. He advises companies on security, and he also lectures –for free – at the FBI Aademy. It is ironic that he has ended up working for the people who were trying to catch him for so long!

He wrote his autobiography in the 1970s and sold the film rights for $250.000. Abaganale says: “when I was twenty-eight I thought it would be great to have a movie about my life, but when I was twenty-eight, like when I was sixteen, I was egotistical and self-centred. We all grow up.” That’s true. But not many people grow up like Frank Abagnale.