• to introduce the students to the course
• to introduce basic terms related to US history, geography, and key issues
• to introduce key facts about two most important cities: New York and Los Angeles
• to improve students’ vocabulary
• to start building a corpus of terms and dates related to the subject of the course
• to improve reading skills
• to improve speaking skills
• to be able to summarize a text

• students can name various important moments from the US history of immigration
• students can name most famous geographical regions of the US
• students can present basic facts about two most important American cities
• students are able to outline the history of immigration in the U.S.
• students are able to provide basic facts about the U.S.
• students are able to summarize a text, extract key terms and present it to others

MS Teams, Zoom, wordclouds.com, Mentimeter; wordclouds.com, google.docs

• The following scenario is designed for 16-20 students or more, but up to 30
• If the group consists of less than 10 students, the teacher might decide to choose two texts out of four; however, it is recommended to pair the texts; i.e., US Immigration before 1965 & United Stated – Introduction; LA – history & NYC. The remaining pairs of texts will be used on some other occasion, for example as elective topics.  
• The class requires a min. of B2 level of English, according to CEFR
• The teacher should prepare some exercises (e.g. warm-up) in advance and make sure that all programmes (e.g. wordclouds.com) work
• The scenario might be implemented during a face-to-face class, provided that all students are either equipped with mobile phones with internet access or the class takes place in a room equipped with computers with internet access

The aim of the class is to introduce the students to the course in American Life & Institutions. During the class, the students work in groups (each group reads a text whose topic is related to the course; however, each group member does not read the whole text – just a paragraph or two). After reading the students summarize the extracts to their mates so that all group members find out and learn what the whole text is about. 

During the class the students exchange and share information they have learned from each text. At the end, the students prepare a corpus of terms which will be included in the course’s glossary, deliver a presentation on each text and answer other mates’ questions.  The class finishes with a homework provided by the teacher.

STEP I 
WARM-UP (Mentimeter)

The teacher introduces the course by asking students five questions about the US. Students answer the questions. The results are displayed to the students but not discussed. The teacher tells the students that answers to the questions will be provided later/in due course. 

Questions: Appendix 1.

STEP II
The teacher divides students into groups of 4-5 (using random selection – MS Teams). The number of breakout rooms should depend on the group size. The number of breakout rooms should be even (2 or 4).

STEP III
Students are in their breakout rooms. The teacher visits each room and familiarize the students with the task: 

Each group receives one text (Appendix 2, Appendix 3, Appendix 4, Appendix 5). Students can download the texts either from google.docs, files (MS Teams) or the teacher simply uploads the texts in the breakout rooms. 

The teacher tells the students that each of them is responsible for reading a paragraph or two from a given text. The students might decide themselves who reads what (it is recommended, as it facilitates group work and interaction)

The students spend about 15 minutes or more (depending on the language level) on reading the texts.

Scanning is a recommended technique here, as the students need to find facts and sometimes detailed information. If necessary, students may use dictionaries; for instance, Oxford Advanced Learners (online).

STEP IV
After reading, each student is supposed to tell other students form the group what he/she has found out. The students exchange the information and finally summarize the whole text.

CAUTION: The teacher needs to bear in mind that he/she must monitor each breakout room, as each group has a different text to read. 

REMARK: If necessary, the teacher might interfere the discussion by asking additional questions, facilitating the discussion, or correcting possible mistakes.

STEP V
Each group works on wordclouds.com and prepares a glossary (word cloud) which consists of key terms / dates / words / phrases chosen from the texts. 

CAUTION: To avoid a cloud “overload” each group should prepare up to 10 key terms / dates / words / phrases. 

Each group shows and consults the content of the cloud with the teacher. The teacher might introduce comments, cross some terms, and ask the students to improve the cloud.

STEP VI
10-miute break ☺

STEP VII
Presentation

After the break, all the students meet back in the main room. 

1. Each group presents the word-cloud to other groups.
2. One or two members from each group – basing on the contents of the word cloud they’ve presented – deliver(s) a few-minute speech in which they present the contents of the text they read during the first part of the class. 
3. Students from other groups are welcome to ask questions related to the topic of the text. All group members may answer these questions. 

STEP VIII
Summary:

The teacher summarizes the class and presents the results of the poll introduced at the beginning of the class (warm-up). The students can compare the results with the facts they read. They may also add some comments.

STEP IX
Homework:

The teacher prepares a file in google.docs

Each student receives access to the file.

Homework: each student is asked to prepare two exam/final test questions (based on the text or extract they read during the class).

STEP X
All four texts are uploaded on common disc.