This year UK is commemorating Magna Carta as a symbol of 800 years of democracy all around the world. Magna Carta, meaning ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most famous documents in the world. Originally issued by King John of England as a practical solution to the political crisis he faced in 1215, Magna Carta established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law.
Similarly, to celebrate 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in Armenia, British Council Armenia and British Embassy Yerevan in collaboration with National institute of Education announce a lesson planning competition for all English language teachers working in basic (6 to 9 grades) and primary schools (10 to 12 grades) across Armenia.
The Competition Overview
The lesson planning competition is composed of four stages:
Stage 1 – Competition Registration: all interested teachers need to register in the competition by filling in the application form (download it below).
Stage 2 – Lesson Plan Development: The teachers need to develop a lesson plan appropriate to the language level and age group of their students on the theme of Magna Carta. The lesson plan must have the below features:
The lesson must introduce the students to Magna Carta and its historical importance.
It must include teaching of one or two of the concepts below:
- No one is above the law.
- To no one we should deny justice.
The lesson must be 45 to 60 minutes max.
The lesson plan must be developed using British Council Lesson Planning Template.
Stage 3 – Lesson Plan Submission: Each teacher submits the developed lesson to British Council Armenia. Please send it to Addeh Hovassapian at Addeh.Hovassapian@britishcouncil.am. The submitted lesson plans are evaluated and judged based on the set criteria (please familiarise yourselves to it). The highest 3 to 5 scoring plans will be then shortlisted to continue to the 3rd stage. The evaluation will take into account the peculiarities of each category (basic vs. primary grades).
Stage 4 – Lesson Delivery: The selected lesson plans will be required to be conducted in the classroom by the developing teacher and will be observed by British Council Armenia ELT Projects Manager, a representative from British Embassy Yerevan, and the Head of the Department of Foreign Languages at NIE who will choose the final competition winners based on the lesson delivery quality.
Winners and Prizes
Based on the observations, 1 teacher will be selected from each age group as the winners of the competition. The winners each will receive the following prizes:
- A smart tablet;
- A school visit by the British Ambassador; and
- A performance of Magna Carta play by professional actors for the whole school
Judging
The panel consisting of British Council Armenia, British Embassy Yerevan and NIE representatives will choose the winners and the decision of the panel is final.
Timeline
The table below indicates the timeline for each stage:
|
|
Start |
End |
|
Stage 1 – Competition Registration |
20 October 2015 |
5 November 2015 – 18:00 |
|
Stage 2 – Lesson Plan Development |
6 November 2015 |
27 November 2015 – 18:00 |
|
Stage 3 – Lesson Plan Submission |
28 November 2015 |
30 November 2015 – 18:00 |
|
Stage 4 – Lesson Delivery |
8 December 2015 |
15 December 2015 – 18:00 |
|
Winners Announcement + Schools visits |
December 16 to 20 |
|
To enter the competition, you should
- Get registered on the TeachingEnglish website www.teachingenglish.org.uk
- Fill in the application form (You will need to enable to document) and send it to Addeh Hovassapian at addeh.hovassapian@britishcouncil.am to officially register for the competition during the stage 1 interval.
- Submit the lesson plan along with the supporting materials (hand-outs; online resources used; etc.) by the set deadline.
- The shortlisted candidates will be contacted upon being shortlisted for the 3rd stage.
Suggested Resources
To develop lessons, teachers can consult the following online resources:
British Council TeachingEnglish website
Or any other website with relevant information. Upon using materials from any website please cite the source.
Final Note: the lessons must be original creation of the teachers and any duplication will result in the lesson plan being rejected.