Lesson Plan: The Cellist

By Josiane Messier

The Context:

This lesson is intended for an intermediate ESL class in Toronto. The lesson is consciously reading-heavy,

but it does integrate the four skill areas. It would be part of a larger integrated curriculum, and I would

use it as part of the theme “Hobbies and Interests”.

Some parts of the lesson are adapted from a suggested activity in The Practice of English Language

Teaching by Jeremy Harmer, 2007.

Enabling Objectives:

Ss read The Concert for gist, understanding main points sufficiently to fill out Post Reading Chart

Ss read their puzzle-stories for detail with sufficient understanding

o to answer questions (written)

o to explain their story to their peers and answer questions (oral)

The Objectives:

Ss solve the jigsaw mystery by using two different reading strategies – reading for gist, and

reading for specific details

Ss have meaningful discussion with each other, developing listening and speaking skills, to

o decide on titles for the music piece

o negotiate meaning of both texts with each other

solve the mystery by answering each other’s questions, and by inferring links and connections

between events

Using transition words as cohesive devices to introduce their examples and clarify their

argument, Ss write a short paragraph in response to the story, answering the question: Is art

enough to heal people?

The Materials:

CD player

Copy of the piece, The Cellist of Sarajevo, performed by David Wilde or Yo-Yo Ma.

Handouts - for the whole class: The Concert, Comprehension Chart, Transition Words

-for 1/3 of the class each: Student A, Student B, Student C

The Procedure:

1.

2.

3.

Interaction

TClass

T Class

TClass

SS

Procedure

T introduces topic of classical music and asks Ss what they know about the

topic. Can they name any composers or classical musicians? Do Ss like

classical music? Why or why not? Do they have any favourite pieces? What

do they like about them?

T’s Transition: “I’m going to play a short part of a classical piece. I won’t tell

you what it is called right now, because this is part of a mystery we are

going to solve. Just listen for now, and we will discuss the music after.”

T plays an extract of The Cellist of Sarajevo

T elicits responses from Ss about what they have heard. Did they like the

piece? How did it make them feel? Does it evoke any images?

In small groups or pairs, Ss create a list of 10 titles they would give the

piece, based on images it evoked or how it made them feel. The groups

decide on 3 to share with the class (they remain seated).

T’s Transition: “We are going to read a story about a concert where this

Timing

5mins

3mins

3mins

10mins

4.

5.

6.

7.

TClass

S,S,S

SS

TC

piece was played. You will read it to understand as much of the main idea

as possible, but it’s ok if there are details that you miss.”

Teaching Point: T elicits from Ss strategies they may use to read for gist and

writes them on the board. T elicits from Ss situations where reading for

gist is appropriate, and where it is inappropriate.

T’s Transition: (Points to strategies listed on the board) “Use the strategy

that you think will work best for you, and read the story just for the main

idea. We will discuss the story after. You will have about 15 minutes to

read.”

Ss read the text The Concert (Handout 1) individually.

T’s Transition: “Once you are done reading the text, please get into groups

of three or four. I will hand out a chart for you to fill out with information

from the story you just read. You don’t need to write full sentences.”

In small groups, Ss work together to fill out the post-reading chart. T

monitors and helps w/ difficulties.

T takes up the groups’ answers and checks comprehension of important

details; helps the students with any comprehension issues.

T’s Transition: elicits from Ss their predictions about what the mystery

might be. Who is the man in the audience? What is his connection with the

cellist, or with the music?

“You are going to solve this mystery together!”

The class is divided into three groups (A, B, and C). Group A receives

handout “Student A”, Group B receives handout “Student B”, and Group C

receives handout “Student C”.

10mins

15mins

10mins

10mins

8.

S,S,S

SS

TC

TC

Teaching Point: Reading for specific information. T encourages Ss to read

the questions on the top of their handout first, then read the whole text,

then come back to the questions and try to answer them. This will help to

focus their reading.

Each member of Group A reads the same story. When they are done

reading, the group works together to answer all of the questions on the top

of their handout and to make sure they understand the story.

Groups B and C do the same thing with their stories.

T monitors and helps with difficulties as they arise.

T’s Transition: “Now, each of you has one piece of the puzzle. You have to

be able to share with members of the other groups who don’t know your

story. But, you will have to do it without the story in front of you.”

Teaching Point: T explains that Ss will have to judge what information is

relevant and necessary to share. An important part of speaking is making

decisions of this kind based on the communicative situation. Ss are

encouraged to take very brief notes of some details of the story that they

think they may have to share. They are given only 2 or 3 minutes to do so.

T’s Transition: “When your classmate is giving you the answer to your

question, what will you be doing? You’ll be listening.”

Teaching Point: “Your job, as a listener, is to show your classmate if you

understand or not, so your classmate can decide if you need more

information or not.” T explains that an important part of listening is

signalling comprehension or lack thereof. T elicits ways of showing your

classmate that you understand, and of showing that you do not yet

15mins

5mins

5mins

9.

10.

11.

SS

TC

TC

understand what your classmate is saying. Ss are encouraged to use these

cues during their interactions.

The class is rearranged into groups of 3 (if possible). Each group should

have at least one member from each original group; one A, one B, and one

C student. Students B and C can bring with them the questions from the

bottom of their handouts, but the students do not have the full texts with

them. They can bring the answers they worked on in Step 8 and any notes

they took during step 8.

The mixed groups work together to answer the questions on their

handouts; they need information from each other’s stories. They should

refer to their notes only, not the original texts, to facilitate communication.

T monitors and assists with difficulties as they arise.

The class comes back together and T elicits from Ss the missing details of

the story. Who was the man in the audience? What piece of music was Yo

Yo Ma playing? Who wrote it?

T’s Transition: “We have just read a story about a man who chose to write

music as a way to confront a tragedy.”

T elicits from Ss whether they can think of any similar examples.

“Do you think art is enough, in cases like these, to heal people from

tragedies?”

T elicits a few answers.

T introduces homework assignment where Ss must respond to question: “Is

Art Enough to Heal People?” in a paragraph.

Teaching Point: T explains that in their paragraph, Ss will have to use at

15mins

3mins

2mins

7mins

least two examples to make their argument. T explains that an important

part of writing is using cohesive devises (transition words). T elicits from Ss

what kind of transitions can be used to introduce or explain an example or

an argument. T elicits from Ss why a writer would want to use words like

these. T encourages Ss to practice using transition words in their

paragraph.

T hands out Transition Words handout and looks it over with students.

T takes up questions.

2mins

The Concert

There was only one chair on the stage of the concert hall in northern England. There was no piano, no music stand and no conductor. Just that solitary chair.

The atmosphere in the hall was tense. People were nervous and excited. Everyone in the

audience of 600 people knew that they were going to hear a very special kind of music.

Finally it was time to start. Yo-Yo Ma, one of the world’s most famous cellists, came on to the

stage, bowed to the audience and sat down quietly on the chair. He made himself comfortable, thought for some minutes until

there was complete silence, and then he started to play music that was at first empty and dangerous, but that soon became loud and

painful, like the worst thing you’ve ever heard. It was almost unbearable but then, finally, it faded away to nothing. Yo-Yo Ma did not move. He

stayed with his head bowed over his instrument. Everyone in the hall held their breath. For what seemed like hours, nobody moved. It

was as if they had all experienced something terrible and dark. But then Yo-Yo Ma stood up. He put down his cello. He stretched out his hand to

someone in the audience, asking them to come and join him. An electric shock ran through the audience when they realised what was going to happen.

A man got up from his seat and walked towards the stage. He was dressed in dirty motorcycle leathers, but Ma did not seem to mind. He rushed down from the stage, and

when the two men met they flung their arms around each other in an emotional embrace.

The audience went crazy; suddenly everyone was cheering and shouting, like people do when they’ve just heard great music. But this was more than music.

Source: Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 4th edition. Harlow: Pearson Ed, 2007. 299.

Post-Reading Chart

Name of the concert cellist

Description of the music

Audience reaction to the music

Description of the event after the music finished

Audience reaction to the event

Adapted from: Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 4th edition. Harlow:

Pearson Ed, 2007. 300.

Student A

Read the text and make sure you understand the answers to the following questions.

a. Why was there a queue of people in the street? b. What happened at four o’clock?

c. How many people died? d. When exactly did they die? e. Who were they?

f. Who is or was Vedran Smailovic? In the early 1990s, there was a terrible war in Yugoslavia.

Many people died, both soldiers and civilians. The city of Sarajevo was for many months one of the most dangerous places in the world. It was constantly under attack and its

civilian inhabitants had to live with no electricity and little water. Only a few shops stayed open to sell food.

On May 27, 1992, one of the shops, a bakery, opened in the afternoon and a long line of men, women and children

queued to buy fresh bread. But it was not to be. At four o’clock a mortar shell exploded in the street and twenty-two innocent people were killed.

A man called Vedran Smailovic lived near the scene of this terrible tragedy. He was 35 at the time, and when he

heard the news he decided to do something about it.

Source: Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 4th edition. Harlow:

Pearson Ed, 2007. 300.

Student B - Text

Read the text and make sure you understand the answers to the following questions.

a. What was Vedran Smailovic’s job before the war? b. What did Vedran Smailovic do when he heard the news? c. What piece of music did he play?

d. Why did he play his cello? e. Was he ever hurt?

Before the war, Vedran Smailovic had been a cellist with the Sarajevo Opera. When he heard about an explosion

that had killed men, women and children in a bread queue in Sarajevo, he decided to do something about it. And so he did what he did best. He played his cello.

For the next twenty-two days at exactly four o’clock in the afternoon he put on his concert clothes, took his cello and

a plastic chair into the empty streets and played a piece of music by the composer Albinoni – his Adagio in G minor, one of the saddest pieces of music ever. Around

him there was fighting and death. Shells fell and bullets flew while he played, but he was never hurt. With the world collapsing around him he played for compassion

and peace, to ease the pain of loss and to preserve the dignity of the human race.

Student B - Questions Find the answers to the following questions by asking Students A and C.

Don’t show your text to them.

a. Why did Vedran Smailovic play for twenty-two days?

b. Why did he play at four o’clock in the afternoon? c. Who is David Wilde and what did he do? d. What is David Wilde’s connection to a concert in Manchester?

Source:

Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 4th edition. Harlow: Pearson Ed, 2007. 301.

Student C - Text

Read the text and make sure you understand the answers to the following questions.

a. Who is David Wilde? b. What did he read about? c. What did he do then?

d. Where was the first UK performance of his new music? e. Who played it?

f. Who was in the audience? David Wilde, an English composer, read a story in his

newspaper which moved him deeply. It was about a man called Vedran Smailovic, who played his cello in the street in the middle of a war to honour the dead. His

courage was extraordinary because he sat in the street and played while shells and bullets flew around him.

David Wilde was so inspired by the story that he wrote a special piece for solo cello which he called The Cellist of Sarajevo. It was performed by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma at

the Manchester Cello Festival in April 1994. Incredibly, Vedran Smailovic had survived the war and was in the audience that night to hear it. When Yo-Yo Ma finished

playing, the two men embraced in front of a cheering audience.

Student C - Questions Find the answers to the following questions by asking Students A and B.

Don’t show your text to them.

a. Exactly what happened in Sarajevo on May 27, 1992?

b. What was Vedran Smailovic’s job before the war? c. Why did Vedran Smailovic play his cello? What piece of music did he play?

Source:

Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 4th edition. Harlow: Pearson Ed, 2007. 301.

Transition Words

These transition words can be used: To give an example

To support your point To create emphasis

These transitional devices (like especially) are used to introduce examples as

support, to indicate importance or as an illustration to help the reader understand your point.

in other words for one thing in this case

for this reason that is to say another key point

first thing to remember on the positive / negative side with this in mind

notably to be sure

certainly surely especially

specifically in fact in general

in particular for example for instance

such as

Adapted from: http://www.smart-words.org/transition-words.html