Author: Lenka Garshol

Her Story

Lesson plan for lower secondary (double lesson, can be conducted also as a series of lessons)

You may use and adapt this lesson plan as you please for non-commercial purposes (CC BY-NC). Please, credit Line Reichelt Føreland & Lenka Garshol if publishing.

Introduction (5-10 min)

Today, we are going to try to solve a mystery. What do you think of when you hear the word “mystery”? (Brainstorm some ideas: murder, scary, danger, book, detective/police, film/series; names of some mysteries/authors they might know: Manifest, Stranger things, Agatha Christie, Sherlock Homes, Jo Nesbø…) 

This mystery is a murder mystery. Someone has died and someone is being interrogated (do you know what interrogated means?). We have access to an old police archive, but the problem is that we can only access a couple of videos from the interrogation at a time and they are not organized in a timeline. We can only see/hear what the person responds, not what the question was because the investigator’s videos are lost.  But we can search for any word we want and watch the videos which contain that keyword. We need to find out what happened. 

So this is what we are going to do: 

We will divide you into groups of 4-5 and each group will work as an investigation team. 

You all have some papers in front of you. You can make a timeline, note down names and/or dates and any keywords which you think about while we watch. 

After we watched the first 5 videos, each group needs to decide on one keyword which we will try next. After we have watched the videos for all keywords, each group should come up with a hypothesis about what happened. 

When we have collected enough evidence, each group presents their final findings and we vote which one is the most believable/logical. 

During gameplay (60-80 min)

The teacher questions assumptions and fascilitates discussion between the groups. Depending on the class environment and the maturity of the pupils, this game can get test the patience of some of the pupils. In some classes, it may be beneficial to play the game over a period of couple weeks.

Additional tasks

  • Create a timeline of the story.
  • Write a series of diary entries from the point of view of the different characters.
  • Write a short story depicting your chosen interpretation of the story.
  • Write (or record) a news story reporting on the ongoing investigation.

Scribblenauts Unlimited

Lesson plan for elementary school (5th-7th grade) – one 60-minute lesson

You may use and adapt this lesson plan as you please for non-commercial purposes (CC BY-NC). Please, credit Lenka Garshol & Line Reichelt Føreland if publishing.

Introduction – warm-up game (10 min)

Good morning, everyone! We will speak English most of the time today but if you don’t understand or if you cannot remember the correct word, it is ok to ask in Norwegian. We are going to play a game on iPads today. But before we start with that, I have a little warm-up game for you. In this bag, there are some things. I want you to put your hand in, grab one of the things and without looking, tell me what you are holding. Then take it out and we will see if you were correct. 

Things in the bag: yellow metal car, red plastic pen, empty plastic bottle, green lego/duplo block, small metal spoon, small white and orange ball, white plastic cup. Try to have them use both nouns and adjectives. 

Good job! Now, do you know what a noun is (or substantiv in Norwegian)? How about an adjective? Can you give me some examples? Good. We will need nouns and adjectives in the game today. Let me now show you what the game is about. 

Game cinematic (5 min)

Play the opening cimenatic introduction to the game from YouTube on the class projector (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dngx4TKi7ro), ideally on 0.75 speed for this age group. Summarize in English or Norwegian after: Ok, so let’s see if everybody knows what the game is about. Can someone tell me what the goal is in the game? What do we need to do? How do we do it? Etc.

Playtime (35-40 min)

Ok, so now it’s time to start playing. You will play in pairs and we would like you to talk to your partner and help each other find solutions to the problems in the game. You don’t need to watch the intro again; you can skip it. We will walk around and help you. Make sure that you read what is written on the screen. The game will give you ideas and instructions. Remember that you need to use nouns (names of things) and adjectives (descriptions of things) and write them down in the magic notebook. They will then appear in the game. 

The teacher(s) walk around the classroom and help pupils advance in the game if needed. Try to ask questions leading them to possible solutions instead of giving direct instructions. Point out the use of the built-in dictionary if needed (most players discover it quickly themselves).

Wrap-up (5-10 min)

Collect the iPads before summarizing. Elicit some nouns and adjectives the pupils used in the game. Repeat the definitions and uses of nouns and adjectives.

Embracelet

Ideas for a cross-curricular project in lower secondary

You may use and adapt these ideas as you please for non-commercial purposes (CC BY-NC). Please, credit Line Reichelt Føreland & Lenka Garshol if publishing. The game can be purchased and downloaded from Steam or Itch.io, but for school use, we recommend contacting the author, Mattis Folkestad, for a bulk-buy of licences.

These ideas are inspired by suggestions published by Kulturtanken (https://magasin.kulturtanken.no/spillstudieark/embracelet/).

Relevant subjects: Norwegian, (English, Spanish, French, German – if played in those languages), social sciences, arts & crafts, music, health & life skills, sustainable development

Equipment needed: One PC or tablet for each playing pair.

Teacher’s role: The teacher should play the entire game ahead of time to be familiar with the narrative and potential paths directed by the decisions in the game. During the game play, the teacher should work as guide asking questions and encouraging discussion in the pairs.

Pupils’ roles: You are going to steer the main character, Jesper, and decide what he should do. You need to discuss what you are going to do before you make a decision. Note down critical points which directed your journey; include also why you chose what you chose. Try to answer these questions:

  • Main characted – who is he, what is hius personality, what is special about him?
  • Which other characters do you meet? What function do they have in the story (or what do you think will be their function later)?
  • What kind of narrative/story is this?
  • Were some of the choices difficult to make? Did you disagree? How did you decide what to do?
  • What do you think about the music? What role does it play in the gaming experience?
  • What do you think of the graphics? Does it make a differences that the graphics is not always realistic? What role do you think it plays?
  • What is the role of the bracelet (Embracelet)?

Potential tasks after the initial session(s): Write the story: What do you think will happen next? or What do you think would have happened if you chose something else when…?

Crosscurricular project:

  • Play the game over the course of several weeks in language classes (English, Norwegian og foreign languages) with different discussion and reflection tasks along the way. The pupils need to have opportunities to present their theories to each other. Whrn they finish, they should present their result and discuss why/how they came to that ending (compare with others).
  • Sustainable development: Starting from the game’s narrative, the pupils can work with topics related to environment and sustainable development. In the game, the (oil) industry is introduced both as something negative but also as something which hinders depopulation. Which role does industry play in small communities and how does potential contamination of the environment influences these communities. The pupils should use both examples from the game and other sources to prepare a presentation of a concrete case/scenario.
  • Health and life skills: The game brings up several themes which are relevant for young people, including the growing responsibility for own life, honestly/loyalty towards own family, and identity questions. For example, the main character can at one point choose whether he is romantically instersting in a male or female character (or neither of them). This theme is worth exploring even if none of the players choose non-heteronormative ending. In that case, the teacher should show this alternative ending themselves.
  • Democracy and citizenship: Topics such as depopulation, work opportunities, and the influence small communities have on their own life are central in the second part of the game. The inhabitants of the island Slepp are mostly presented as non-agents who have very little impact on the decisions which concern them. This can start a discussion related to: “Democracy and citizenship as an interdisciplinary topic in school shall give the pupils knowledge about the basic tenets of democracy and its values and rules, and prepare them for participating in democratic processes.”
  • Follow-up discussion: What do pupils think of the story? Would they have told it differently (how)? Let pupils create alternative multimodal narratives using both text and pictures/video/music.

The Climate Trail

Lesson plan for lower secondary (double lesson)

You may use and adapt this lesson plan as you please for non-commercial purposes (CC BY-NC). Please, credit Lenka Garshol & Line Reichelt Føreland if publishing. The activities in this lesson plan add to more than 90 minutes. Pick and use what suits your class best. The game can be downloaded for free here: https://www.theclimatetrail.com/

Introduction: (5 min) 

Today’s lesson is about sustainable development, more specifically about climate change. We will use both English and Norwegian today and do several activities connected to the cross-curricular topic and we will also play a game called The Climate Trail. But before we get to the game, we need to know what you already know about this topic. You have already started working on the topic of sustainable development in your English and natural science classes. Today, we will look more into the future. 

Show a gif image of global warming from 1850 to 2020: Is climate change real?

Copyright: Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist in the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Padlet (10 minutes)

Which topics/issues do you think of when you think of climate change? What is climate change? How does it manifest itself?

  • Elicit 3-4 topics
  • Divide the class into smaller groups and assign the topics – each group needs to come up with 2-3 sub-points to their topic
  • Either the pupils or the teacher writes the results into a Padlet

Video about climate change (10 mintues)

(Available in five languages)

Klimasystemet

Group activity (10-15 minutes)

Can you notice any signs of climate change in your own environment? Which signs did you notice? Discuss with your group.

Use your Chromebooks to find 3 news articles related to climate change. What are they about? Which one of them is the most worrying one for you? Present your choice to the rest of the class.

Game: It all hangs together (10 minutes)

Each pupil receives one or two cards which include a concept and a definition, but they do not correspond to each other. The teacher starts with one card reading the concept (top of the card) and the pupil who has the corresponding definition on their card (bottom of the card) reads it. If correct, then the same pupil proceedes to read the concept on their card and another pupil with the correct definition reads theirs. The game continues until the whole loop is finished. (Game cards can be downloaded here in Norwegian: https://www.fn.no/undervisning/undervisningsopplegg/5-7-trinn/ressursbank-baerekraft-5.-7.trinn/loop-begrepsoevelse-om-baerekraft)

Video about changing ecosystems: Where does this lead us? (10 minutes)

Økosystemer i endring

The Climate Trail (20-30 minutes playtime in pairs)

The teacher introduces the game and goes through the background of the story on the projector screen. Discuss the options the players have: Should all survive? Risk taking strategies: speed vs. safety.

Pairs play together on one device (iPad/Android) and should make decisions together. Multiple rounds should be possible in 30 minutes.

Summary (10-15 minutes)

Repeat the learning goals + watch video: What can I do? Oppdrag Bærekraft – en film om verdens viktigste kunde Pupils can pitch their ideas in a Mentimeter or Padlet.

Previous MA theses in English GLU

2025

(working titles)

  • Bjørtvedt, O. N. & Lindland, S. H. (2025). The role of AI in formative self-assessment in English.
  • Støylen, D.-O. H. & Jacobsen, S. F. (2025). Tracking agreement errors in learner texts in years 8 to 10.
  • Kvinlaug, I. & Rustad, S. J. (2025). Effect of feedback on pupil writing.
  • Hyni, P. G. & van Ditshuizen, V. W. (2025). Gaming and gamification as tools to reduce FLA.
  • Andersen, V. (2025). The effect of out-of-school gaming on pupils’ vocabulary.
  • Ekelund, J. M. K. (2025). The effect of traditional and game-based grammar instruction on agreement errors.
  • Finstad, V. U. (2025). Reacting to the past as a teaching method.
  • Hansen, R. D. T. (2025). Indigenous peoples in textbooks for 5-7 vs. 8-10.
  • Nika, F. (2025). The use of songs in the EFL classroom.
  • Ramthun, V. K. (2025). Gender and diversity in the EFL textbooks.

2024

  • Bjørkmann, W. (2024). Students’ Attitudes Towards Speaking English in the Classroom [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3135380
  • Eriksen, J. (2024). Textbook Tasks and Linguistic Diversity [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3134127
  • Grevsen, A. (2024). Teachers Written Feedback Commentary Practices based on the Proficiency of the Learner [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3134128
  • Hauglid, P. (2024). Foreign Language Anxiety in Norwegian L2 Classrooms: A study about student’s oral anxiety in the classroom, what makes them nervous and how teachers can help [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3135765
  • Henriksen, J. Å. (2024). Portrayal of African American history in EFL textbooks: A mixed methods study of the representation of African American history in Norwegian lower secondary school EFL textbooks [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3135083
  • Osorio, L. M. (2024). The Digital Classroom: Exploring Pedagogical Approaches to Technology in Southern Norway’s Primary Schools [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3137401
  • van Dijk, R. B. J. (2024). English learners’ code-switching during gameplay: Analyzing Norwegian lower-secondary students’ communication during gameplay in the ESL classroom [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3137400
  • Kjær, J. (2024). The Effect of Role-Playing on Students’ Foreign Language Anxiety and Oral Participation [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3134129

2023

  • Haver, A. (2023). Words In the World: Vocabulary learning in and out of class [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3075731
  • Kolstad, J. (2023). Commercial-off-the-shelf games in the English classroom: Adapting a COTS game as a language learning tool for English language learning in an 8th-grade class [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3076241
  • Rosseli, R. (2023). Digital Escape Room as a Tool to Teach Grammar [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3075730
  • Jørgensborg, M. (2023). Lexical Richness in the Texts of Norwegian Lower Secondary School Students: The Effect of Specific Extramural English Activities [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3075729
  • Nordby, M. N. (2023). Student’s Oral Language Production – Peer Interaction vs. Student-Teacher Interaction [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3072736
  • Nord, M. E. (2023). Indigenous Peoples in the English-Speaking World [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3074492
  • Ørnholt, T. (2023). Enjoyment of Interactive Fiction Compared to Non-Interactive fiction, in a Norwegian EFL Classroom [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3073034
  • Larsen, K. A. (2023). Exploring The Impact of Gaming on L2 English Proficiency [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3076233
  • Aamodt Bårnes, C. (2023). How the Civil Rights Movement is Taught in Norwegian Lower Secondary School [Master’s thesis]. University of Agder. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3072947

2022

Earth under pressure – “Stop Motion” Animation Video

About the lesson

Based on the competence aim “use different digital resources, and other aids in language learning, text creation and interaction”, we chose to use the app “Stop Motion” to make the students create a Stop Motion animation video. The concrete lesson goals was to “make a stop motion movie about “Earth under pressure” including both pictures and audio”. We also included the criteria to use three words from a given list to further enhance the lesson goal. (Word sheet is listed down below). Another focus was oral communication, therefore the students had to communicate in English during the lesson, as well as using English when they narrated their story. By making the students write down their story beforehand, physically make figures out of playdough, communicate while making and recording a voiceover they were exposed to oral and written communication, listening, and the use of digital tools. The use of the “Stop Motion” app provided a huge benefit timewise. If we were to use traditional methods to complete the same lesson, it would take up too much time. Having a designated app was beneficial. 


Evaluation

We were a bit concerned about the learning outcomes of this lesson beforehand. A potential pitfall could be that the students got distracted by making cool figures using the playdough instead of using the English language and creating and narrating the film. We were also worried that none of the groups were able to finish the task because of the short amount of time they were given. 

As we expected, the time limit was an issue. The students got forty-five minutes to complete all the tasks. If we would have had an extra hour, the time would not be an issue. Some of the students did not get the opportunity to record their voiceover, while others did not get done recording the video. Some of the voiceovers were a bit low and suffered from some background noise. A possible improvement in the recording process could be to use a microphone, more space between the groups, or separate the groups into different rooms.

Because of the many opportunities, this app contains, it can also be used in different subjects or as a tool in a cross-curricular lesson. It can be a fun and creative way to learn English less traditionally, but a significant criterion is that the schools have enough iPads with this program. Whether the app’s function on other digital tools than the Ipad and its function there must be investigated.

However, the lesson was successful overall. Most of the students enjoyed their stay at UiA’s undervisningsverksted, while they also seemed engaged at the task at hand. Almost all the groups managed to complete the tasks given based on the presentations at the end of the lesson. Until next time, we will wait to put forward Ipads and playdoughs as this created some inconsistency among some students and give students more time to complete the task. Otherwise, we are very happy with the lesson.

Words:

Sustainable – bærekraftig
Endangered – utrydningstruet
Carbon footprint – karbonfotavtrykk
Recycle – resirkulere
Climate change – klimaendringer
Waste – søppel
Habitation – leveområdet
Hurricane – orkan
Heat wave – hetebølge
Droughts – tørke
Deforestation – avskoging
Species – arter
Agenda – agenda
Pollution – forurensing
The greenhouse effect – drivhuseffekten

Discussing “Earth Under Pressure” Using a Podcast

Using the teaching workshop, we have created a lesson about the topic “Earth Under Pressure” for 10th graders. In the lesson the pupils made podcasts, discussing questions related to the topic. We made them make a podcast, because it can be interesting for the pupils and a creative way to start off the conversations in the class. Unfortunately, we just had one podcast station with microphones and headsets, which caused only one group to be able to use this because of the time frame. As a second option, the other pupils had to use Creaza on an iPad. Most of the pupils succeeded using Creaza, but two of the groups had some technical issues, which caused them to not be able to finish their podcasts.

Our lesson targeted the pupils’ speech and vocabulary. They also had to practice having a conversation with others, and come up with follow up questions in english. Podcasts give the learner the opportunity to practice both speech and pronunciation. By having conversations on different subjects on a podcast will the students become quite aware of their language. Also the possibility for acquiring new words and mastering their speech level opens as they spend time reflecting on what they have been saying.

After this lesson we expected the pupils to be able to reflect on questions we gave them related to climate, and communicate with each other in english. Related to the learning outcomes, podcasts were a useful tool in the terms that the pupils might get motivated to speak because they knew they were being recorded. As a teacher you also have the ability to listen to the pupils’ work when using a podcast, compared to the traditional teaching.

There were many pupils in our lesson, but luckily we had many rooms they could use, which were beneficial when making podcasts. As mentioned earlier, some of the pupils experienced a technical issue during our session. Different recordings overlapped one another after being paused in Creaza, which resulted in disturbing noises and a small amount of content. Because we did not know the pupils from before, we did not know if they had used Creaza AudioEditor before.

The lesson plan worked well, but it could have been better if we had a longer lesson, where the pupils could do their own research before recording a podcast. It would also give us time to explain the program Creaza AudioEditor, which would have helped us with the technical issues we experienced. We would have liked for everyone to be able to try out the podcast station at the teaching workshop, as it makes it more authentic and interesting for the pupils. This lesson can be used in the classrooms outside the teaching workshop if the schools have the acquired equipment such as iPad, Chromebooks or a podcast station with microphones. Using podcasts in the classroom will hopefully make the lessons more interesting for the pupils, and gives you multiple benefits as a teacher. When the pupils are making podcasts, you are able to hear what they have recorded and how they pronounce their words.

Earth under pressure 

We had a Teaching workshop with a 10th grade class, at Undervisningsverkstedet.

The focus in this teaching session was communication between the students using the English language. We wanted to do this, using tasks that were both fun and structured, to catch the students’ interests and make them motivated to work. One of the tasks focused on writing a news article using Book Creator, where they got guidelines which helped them with the structure of the article. The other one was a game called “Keep talking”, which focused on communication to disarm a bomb. This game is a great tool to express themselves fluently and varied, in context of a specific situation. In their curriculum, this is part of a competence aim. 

There were 20 students in this teaching session. We had 45 minutes to work, containing an introduction, the main session, and an evaluation at the end. The students were divided into groups of 3 or 4, which was a fitting amount for this session. The class was totally new to us, and we did not have clear expectations on how familiar they were with using only English in the classroom, or how well they worked together in groups. The students were already familiar with Book Creator, which led to them not needing any instructions on how to use the program. They managed to start working early, and only a few questions appeared in the beginning. The “Keep talking game” was a big help with the students’ motivation. They focused on solving the task they were supposed to, by talking to each other and giving clear instructions. It was a great tool to rehearse their language, since they had to find new words explaining how to disarm the bomb. This method forced the students to speak more English than traditional teaching, since they had a time limit before the bomb exploded. 

There was a lack of computers to play the game, and therefore we had to improvise and divide the pupils into bigger groups than we originally planned. To make the most out of the teaching session, we switched computers instead of moving the students to new stations. This made the session more efficient. An exception was the computer game, where they switched places. Apart from this, the groups worked well together, all of them managed to get through both stations and they communicated better than we expected. A lot of them were able to defuse the bomb, while some were not. They thought it was a difficult, but fun exercise. We wanted to help them when they needed it, so that they could stay motivated. This way they kept talking and working, instead of losing their interest in the activities. 

These activities can be used in an ordinary classroom if you have the licence to the game. Book Creator can be used by everyone, and it is quite normal to use in a lot of schools. If another teacher were to use this, they must make groups that can work well together. It can also be used as a form of assessment in the teaching. To sum up, this was a successful teaching session, and the students learned that communication is important.

Book Creator lesson in 10th grade

We planned a 45-minute lesson for 10th grade class, using Book creator as our main learning tool. We chose this tool because it allows the pupils to present the content not just in text, but also in ways that may motivate more pupils to be active in class. Book creator is used to make interactive / digital books that can include text, pictures, video, audio and more. The different presentation methods train the pupils in multiple basic skills including oral, writing, reading and digital skills.

Our language focus was correct spelling and expanding vocabulary, and we assessed this by reading and guiding the students during the lesson. We also encouraged them to use a dictionary to check spelling, and one of the requirements was to include at least three-word explanations of new, relevant words, in the book.

Our lesson plan worked relatively well. We chose to divide the class into seven groups of three. The pupils` teacher made the groups ahead of the lesson, and the groups worked well. Undervisningsverkstedet only had seven iPads, which limited other possible group divisions. We had 45 minutes at our disposal, and we were able to get through everything we planned. However, we could with advantage have had some more time because we were not able to show any examples of the pupils’ work in plural. The lesson was from 09:00 to 09:45 which usually means the students are not fully awake yet. The classroom had many small tables making it possible for the groups to sit around in the classroom without disturbing other groups. The pupils were calm through the whole lesson which meant they were focused when working in groups, but it also meant they had a lack of oral activity in plural. 

These competence aims from Fagfornyelsen are related to the lesson:

  • Use various digital resources and other aids in language learning, text creation and interaction.
  • Follow rules for spelling, word inflection, sentence structure and text structure.
  • Read, discuss, and disclose content from different types of texts, including self-chosen texts.
  • Use sources in a critical and verifiable manner.
  • Write formal and informal texts, including complex ones, with structure and coherence that describe, tell, and reflect adapted purpose, recipient, and situation

These learning aims from the student’s English book, are related to the lesson:

  • Discuss present-day issues
  • Write texts that describe, explain, and investigate
  • Find, evaluate, and list sources

Book creator has already been used in ordinary classrooms, we know this from our own schooling and the students we taught told us they had used it a lot in school. There is a starting cost of 100 kr for 1000 books, and a lot of schools choose to invest in this because it’s such a versatile tool. Book creator can be used on almost any digital device and most schools either have iPads or computers for the students.