Didactic Unit: YEAR 4.

1. INTRODUCTION

Once I have developed the Annual Plan, I’m going to move on explaining the didactic unit nº:_____
Which is:_____________________________________

As I pointed out on the Annual Plan:

Modern thinking on English teaching, places great emphasis on communication. The important thing is
to use the foreign language for a meaningful purpose.
The aim is: to teach our students to use the language, not to learn about it.

This didactic unit will help and collaborate to achieve this main purpose

2. PRESENTATION

I will now establish the didactic unit connection with the official curriculum by
applying the theory to a specific educational situation. For this purpose I will:
1. Establish connection through:
- The general objectives,
- assessment criteria and
- blocks of contents.
2. Then, I will explain basic conditioning elements as far as both students &
context are concerned.
3. I will justify the selection of the topic,
4. Explain the methodology and specific strategies used to deal with: diversity,
discipline, classroom displays (fostering reading – responsibilities) and ICT
5. Deal with fostering reading and ICT
6. Illustrate the connection of the topic, in a specific educational situation by
developing some sessions of the didactic unit.
7. Focus on evaluation, and
8. Offer a conclusion.

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The connection between the didactic unit & the official curriculum can be noticed
in:

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3. GENERAL OBJECTIVES,

General objectives for the area of English in Primary Education following the minimum requirements

( R.D 1513/2006, 7th December) and RD 22/2007, 10th May (Comunidad de Madrid)

1. Listen and understand messages, using the information transmitted to perform tasks
related to their experience.
2. Express themselves orally in simple usual situations, using verbal and non-verbal
procedures and showing an attitude of respect and co-operation.
3. Write texts with different purposes about topics previously studied in the classroom
and with the help of models.
4. Read comprehensively for pleasure and personal satisfaction and in order to extract
information according to a previously defined purpose.
5. Learn to use, with progressive autonomy, all the means they have access to, including
the new technologies, so as to obtain information and communicate in the foreign
language.
6. Appreciate the foreign language and languages in general as means of
communication and mutual understanding among people of different origins and
cultures.
7. Show an attitude that is receptive, interested and confident on one’s own capacity
to learn and use the foreign language.
8. Use previous knowledge and experiences in other languages for a faster, more
efficient and more autonomous acquisition of the foreign language.
9. Identify aspects such as phonetics, rhythm, stress and intonation, as well as
linguistic structures and lexical items of the foreign language, and use them as basic
elements of communication.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

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4. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

These objectives have to be assessed according to the following criteria establish in the Official
Curriculum (D. 22/2007 10th May):

Students will have achieved the Foreign Language objectives intended for the second cycle
of Primary, by working on the contents, when they are able to:

1. Grasp the global sense and identify specific information in oral texts related to
the classroom and the students’ environment activities, with the aid of linguistic and
non-linguistic elements that appear in communication.
2. Read and grasp the global sense and some specific information from varied and
simple texts adequate to the students’ communicative competence about familiar
topics, with the aid of basic strategies and with a specific purpose.
3. Take part in classroom activities and guided oral interactions about familiar topics
in everyday communicative situations, predictable, simulated or related to immediate
communicative needs (talk about skills, likes and dislikes, asking for permission…),
respecting the basic interchange rules, such as listening and looking at the speaker.
4. Write sentences and varied short meaningful texts in everyday and school
situations by following models, with a concrete purpose and in a given format, both
on paper and digital medium.
5. Use forms and structures typical of the foreign language that contain elements of
sound, rhythm, stress and intonation, within different communicative contexts, in a
meaningful way, in reading-aloud activities and where students take active part.
6. Use some learning-to-learn strategies: asking for clarification, observing models,
accompanying communication with gestures, making associations, using visual and
bilingual dictionaries, recovering, searching and collecting information about familiar
topics on different media, and identifying some personal aspects which improve one’s
learning.
7. Appreciate the foreign language as a means of communication with other people
and show curiosity and interest toward the people who speak the foreign language.
8. Identify some aspects of everyday life, customs and celebrations from the
countries where the foreign language is spoken, and compare them to one’s own.

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SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

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5. CONTENTS

In order to carry out these objectives the learning process requires different
CONTENTS:

Following the directions given in the current legislation (RD of C. Madrid, 22/2207,
10th May), we will divide the contents as follows:

Block 1. Understanding, speaking and conversation

 Listening and comprehension to obtain global or specific information

 Listening and extracting specific information
 Oral interaction
 Production of oral texts
 Interest in expressing oneself orally
 Appreciation of the foreign language as an instrument for oral communication

Block 2. Reading and writing

 Association of spelling with alphabet sounds
 Reading and understanding very simple and varied texts
 To start acquiring a reading habit
 Guided writing of different types
 Interest in care, elaboration and presentation of written texts

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Block 3. Knowledge of the language Linguistic knowledge.

FUNTIONS
VOCABULARY
MAIN STRUCTURES

Block 4. Social and cultural aspects and intercultural awareness

 Interest in learning a foreign language

 Curiosity to know general information about foreign people and cultures
 Appreciation of the foreign language as a means of communication
 Doing activities of a social-cultural nature
 Knowledge of some typical similarities and differences between our country and those where the
foreign language is officially spoken regarding
 Open attitude toward other languages and cultures.

6. STUDENTS

The Didactic Unit I have designed is aimed at students in 2nd CYCLE of Primary
Ed., YEAR 4. The age of my students is of 9-10 YRS and they are therefore, within
Piaget’s stage of ‘CONCRETE-OPERATIONAL THINKING’.

As far as SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS are concerned, students at this age can co-
operate & want to do so with each other, showing great interest for team & pair
work.

There are 25 STUDENTS in my class, seated in PAIRS. English has been taught
from 1st cycle of Primary Ed. so students LEVEL OF ENGLISH is rather GOOD.

One of the essential aspects of Primary Ed. is that the t-l process is carried out in
a global & integrated manner. In this sense, my D.U. will contribute to the
students’ full development as persons and to favour their integration into our
democratic society.

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7. DIDACTIC UNIT JUSTIFICATION

It is also related to other areas of the curriculum such as LITERACY, DRAMA &
MUSIC.

UNIT 2. TOPIC: “A MAGIC PLACE”:

Familiarised with their closest context: the school.

UNIT 3. TOPIC: “THE HAUNTED HOUSE”:

Familiarised with their closest context: the house.
Learn about Halloween celebration (cultural & artistic; social & civic competence)

UNIT 4. TOPIC: “FUNNY SEASONS”:

Familiarised with their closest context: the clothes.
Learn about Christmas celebration (cultural & artistic; social & civic competence)

UNIT 5. TOPIC: “PLAYING IS FUN!”:

Taking into consideration that children have just come from holiday, we need to :
- Review the previous units by:
Creating a project (ICT, social and civic, etc.)
This way, we will create an open attitude to the English language, and make children aware of
the purpose of the language learning.
Teacher’s assessment games: have the games worked properly? (Grouping, timing, objectives
achieved)

UNIT 6. TOPIC: “LET’S COOK”:

Identify groups of food.
Create a recipe (mathematical competence)

UNIT 7. TOPIC: “AN ANIMAL WORLD!”:

Identify wild and domestic animals
Field trip to the zoo: take advantage (Knowledge & awareness of the world)

UNIT 8. TOPIC: “I LOVE FREE TIME!”:

Identify free time and chores (Autonomy and personal initiative)
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UNIT 9. TOPIC: “MY TOWN”:
Learn about Halloween celebration (cultural & artistic; social & civic competence)
Understand the trading process (buy and sell) (Knowledge and awareness of the world;
autonomy and personal initiative)

UNIT 10. TOPIC: “LET’S PLAY AGAIN!”:

Taking into consideration that children have just come from holiday, we need to :
- Review the previous units by:
Creating a project (ICT, social and civic, etc.)
This way, we will create an open attitude to the English language, and make children aware of
the purpose of the language learning.
Teacher’s assessment games: have the games worked properly? (Grouping, timing, objectives
achieved)

UNIT 11. TOPIC: “I LOVE MY CITY”:

Be able to position (place) oneself in map

UNIT 12. TOPIC: “FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD”: Internet and nationalities

UNIT 13. TOPIC: “OUR PLANET”: recycling

Create an ecologic conscience about the world. (knowledge and awareness of the world,
autonomy and personal initiative)

UNIT 15. TOPIC: “ENJOY!” : review previous units (3 SESSIONS)

Taking into consideration that children have just come from holiday, we need to :
- Review the previous units by:
Creating a project (ICT, social and civic, etc.)
This way, we will create an open attitude to the English language, and make children aware of
the purpose of the language learning.
Teacher’s assessment games: have the games worked properly? (Grouping, timing, objectives
achieved)

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8. METHODOLOGY

A. LOE

The Educational act LOE emphasizes the need to base our teaching on the experiences of our students,
so contents will always be contextualized. Students use the language in authentic situations, such as
shopping, playing in the school, classroom language, etc.

B. PRINCIPLES

I have considered a number of METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES in the

development of my D.U. Not only have paid attention to my ss psychological
development, previous knowledge and their needs and abilities, but also used
activities that promote meaningful learning & develop ss mental activity. This has
been carried out through the integration of the four linguistic skills.

Inductive methodology will be the base of the teaching-learning process.

C. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

i. DIVERSITY

We have also pay especial attention to cater for diversity and on individual attention. In order to do
so, a multiple intelligences chart will be handed to our students the first lesson, to recognize their
different learning styles. This will helps us to adapt the different activities and games to the students
needs and interests.

ii. DISCIPLINE

In order to deal with disciple and behaviour in the classroom, we have different tools:
o The first day of school, the teacher and the students will set the classroom rules as an
agreement. They will be displayed on the wall.
o A specific behaviour chart will be displayed. The students will move from the no power to the
maximum power depending on their general behaviour. All of them, every didactic unit will be
on the green zone, full battery. This way every didactic unit they will have the chance and the
opportunity to star with full battery.
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The criteria to move up is:
- -Using English,
- Quality of Work, and Making an Effort.
- Good behaviour

To move down is:

- Using L1 (i.e., the students’ mother language and not English)
- Lack of Attention and Effort.
- Bad behaviour

PENALTIES AWARDS
- Go and read a book in the library - Choose film
- Make a composition - Choose responsibility

o General classroom behaviour. Faces. Red: bad, purple: regular and blue: good.

PENALTIES:
AWARDS:

iii. ENGLISH CORNER

If possible, ideally, there will be an English corner in the classroom. Here we will place:
- Reading place (LOE: fostering reading): dictionaries and pictures dictionaries, graded books,
audio-books, mini-books made by children, magazines
- ICTs corner: listening CDs and cd-player, computer, videos (films)
- Register chart: where the children will write what books have they read.
- Worksheets (fast finishers, reinforcement, self-assessment)
- Games: board games, etc.
- Projects, crafts and cut-outs.

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 iv. RESPONSIBILITIES

Every didactic unit children will have a responsibility within the classroom management. These range
from: rolling up the blinds to distribute worksheets.
Given the children classroom responsibilities will favour the acquisitions of some the key competences
stated in the RD 1513/2006 dating 7th of December:
- Linguistic and communication competence - Social and civic
- Learning to learn - Autonomy and personal initiative

v. ICT

Many features of computers can assist pupils in learning English, such as: students can work at their
own pace, work independently and the four skills (repeat, listen, record their own voice, use on-line
translation facilities, have support in writing and reading, and so on). They are motivating, fun and
engage pupils’ interest.

The different methods that we will use, will be based on the trend towards student-centred, active and
meaningful learning. It reinforces the teacher’s primary role as a coach and facilitator in addition to
being a teacher and presenter of knowledge.

We will take our students to the computer’s room once every didactic unit, approximately every two
and a half weeks. They will be able to review all the contents seen in the unit through different online
games and activities. Using computers this way will allow learners to acquire greater independence
and responsibility for their own work, to work towards targets and to be more reflective about their
work.
At the end of every term, students will be asked to do a project. They will go to the computers room
during one session to look for information in the Internet and to have access to content beyond the
classroom.
1. We will have a computer inside the classroom with access to the Internet. It will have three main
uses: Accessing the website [Link]. This site will allow the teacher to upload
different reinforcement and homework activities, for specific students that may need extra work.
Children will have a password to access their site and check if they need to do any work. These
activities can also be done at home, if children have access to the Internet.
2. Reinforcement and FF online games and activities. Even though there will be printed material for
theses purposes, sometimes students will be allowed use the computer in classroom.

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9. DIDACTIC UNIT topics

All the topics chosen in this Annual Plan have been based on the students’
interests and the world around them.

A conducting thread links all the didactics units in this Annual Plan. This link consists in a

journey that children will do through the different topics. An Alien called Sookie, who will express her

natural curiosity about the world that surrounds her and her new friends (students), will accompany

them. After every didactic unit, students will get a stamp on their passport worksheet, which will

“allow” them to continue to the next level.

10 .TIMING

My Didactic Unit is meant to be carried out in seven sessions of 50 min. each I

will present some lessons of this Didactic Unit, as they are the most relevant to
the topic.

11. LESSONS
All the lessons have this structure: Presentation, practice, production, closure

1. Lesson One aims to:

- Revise previous unit contents,
- Check children’s previous knowledge of the new contents
- Introducing vocabulary
Skills: Oral communication: listening and speaking skills.

2. Lesson two focuses its attention into fostering reading. (We introduce here
the vocabulary and structures that we will be working on, during the unit,
through the reading)
- A short story will be read.
- Comprehension activities
- Mini-book made by children

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3. Lesson three introduces the practice of grammar structures and
vocabulary

4. Lesson four continues with the practice of grammar structures and

vocabulary, or introduces any new grammatical structure.

5. Lesson five reviews the grammar structures and vocabulary

6. Lesson six we will work with ICT

7. Evaluation

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12. ACTIVITIES

I will now centre my attention on the specific ACTIVITIES used to develop the D.U.
through the presentation of my ___________ lesson plans.

There will be assorted activities like: motivation, previous knowledge, development, summarize, make
up, extension and evaluation.

A. SKILLS

We will pay attention to the 4 skills:

Listening: Getting an overall idea, collecting information, finding out specific aspects.
Speaking: Repetition, information exchange, games, questionnaires and surveys, acting out.
Reading: Pre-reading activities, illustrating their favourite part of a story.
Writing: Co-operative writing, where students exchange ideas and help to correct each
other’s material.

B. COMPETENCES

Also I will refer to the Key Competences developed by the different activities:

C. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES used in this didactic unit are:

- Boards
- Flashcards, wordcards, storycards, posters
- White board and marker
- Worksheets (activities, portfolio)
- Notebooks
- Scissors, glue, bla bla bla, cardboard
- Books
- Computer
- Cd player and listening material
- Games

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D. ACTIVITIES:

RESOURCES TAKEN FROM

Websites:
- [Link]
- [Link]
- [Link]
- [Link]
- [Link]
Magazines:
- Teachers magazine, different numbers. Publisher: EDIBA

Own creation

 Time WHAT: activity

 Grouping HOW: grouping, materials, time
 Material WHY: skills, competenes
 Skills
 Competences

13. EVALUATION

In Primary Education, the evaluation is continuous in the development of each of

the units & throughout the whole academic year and it is carried out through
observation. In this sense, it forms an integral part of teaching and learning. It
gives us important information on the progress of our ss and feedback on what is
going on in the classroom.

This type of evaluation enables us to detect the difficulties & successes of our ss
at the same time in which they occur. All ss must fulfill the objectives proposed in
the D.U. so it is important to bear in mind that not all ss learn at the same pace.
Some are slower and others faster. We must therefore be prepared to adapt or
introduce changes to cater for diversity.
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For those ss which show a slower rhythm of acquisition of contents we may have
to:
- Change the materials used to present the contents or change the
procedure.
- Take special care in enhancing ss successes through positive
reinforcement.
For those ss which are faster than the average we can:
- Offer activities that will help ss to get deeper into contents (C, P & A)
- Encourage them to help their classmates

Our educational System intensifies the process of evaluation of ss, teachers &
schools. Continuous evaluation not only provides the opportunity to check ss level
of acquisition of objectives & contents, but also allows teachers to compile details
of their teaching instruction. The continuous evaluation of the teaching practice
enables teachers to detect difficulties & make the corresponding adjustments to
overcome these in an effort to improve the t-l process.

In order to keep a record of student’s progress, I will make use of a chart. If, after
having carried out the evaluation process, I were to detect that some students
have not reached the proposed objectives, I would offer a number of
PROCEDURES such as:
- Try to get the students to participate more by offering more examples.
- Ask faster students to help out those who have not achieved the
objectives. They can help those completing the tasks or play some game
with them to reinforce the concepts.
- When grouping for games or group activities make sure you put different
ability students so they can help each other.
- If some students continue to have difficulty they can even miss
extension activities and work with the teacher to reinforce previous
concepts they haven’t achieved.

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TOOLS
- Register chart
- Tests
- direct observation through an everyday register,
- self-assessments (students and teacher) and
- students language portfolios: Portfolios are purposeful collections of students’ work, that
demonstrate to students and others their efforts, progress and achievements in given areas.
They are very useful to
 asses student achievement,
 they promote student involvement and
 responsibility for their own learning and assessment, collaborative work, etc.

14. CONCLUSION

I have developed a didactic unit, which has been contextualized from the General
Relation of the Topic with the Official Curriculum. I have shown the essential
aspects of a D.U.: connection with the Official Curriculum, characteristics of the
school and students, objectives, contents, procedures and strategies to use
during the development of a unit. I have included different activities (listening,
speaking, reading, and writing). To end up I have mentioned the evaluation
criteria and the remedial procedures for those ss with different abilities and pace
of learning.

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