This month the 10th graders at MAN 1 Kendari learned English with a little help from social media! Students finished their month-long exploration of Recount Text by learning about Biographies, a unique form of Recount Text. To add some excitement to the material, ETA Meghan Cullinan developed a lesson with the theme of Facebook. First, students played a Guess Who? activity, in which students worked with a partner to match identifications with photos of famous individuals. Then, Meghan gave her students an example of a Biography text on Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Meghan chose this text because she knew he was a relevant person in her students’ daily lives and his contribution has also united her two communities in Indonesia and the United States.

After students practiced their text reading routine and learned about the structure of Recount Text, Meghan wanted her students to practice gathering information about famous individuals and writing Biography-style sentences about them. Meghan prepared “Fakebook” profiles for six famous individuals with diverse backgrounds, Oprah Winfrey, Queen Elizabeth II, Adele, John F. Kennedy, Jay-Z, and Albert Einstein. She included personal information that her students could use to create mini “Biographies.” Meghan hung the profiles around the room, and students chose the profile they found most interesting and used it to write 3-5 sentences they could include in a Biography about this person, using the simple past and simple present. The class was very enjoyable for Meghan and her students. They all enjoyed friending some new friends on Facebook!

Meghan Cullinan is currently teaching at MAN 1 Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi