Lesson Planning: To discuss in the forum

Throughout the training period trainers have refrained from providing ‘recipes’ regarding lesson planning, expecting trainees to put together all the pedagogical concepts and updated teaching approaches that have been analyzed during the career as the basis for their own lesson designs.

Lesson planning is a very personal thing and different lessons can be equally effective if the proper, pedagogical conceptualization and didactic approach underlie the classroom actions stated in the lesson plan.

However, no matter what the format of the lesson plan may be, if some of the basic elements are missing, the lesson plan has to be re- edited.

As we have come across this drawback a number of times, we have thought that, perhaps, if we provided a sample lesson plan, we could somehow help trainees visualize what a professional well-structured lesson plan is expected to include, pointing out the elements that shouldn’t be omitted for a lesson to be successful.

So, we would like you to follow this very simple guide of a lesson plan, adapting it to your own particular ways of teaching a class and also including your creativity and imagination, while making sure all the basic elements that make a good class are present in this sample that we can all work at together.

You can give your opinion about this experience and make all the necessary comments in the forum.

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN (to be sent to tutor)

TASK

Elaborate the following lesson plan. Make sure you follow the different steps as

indicated in the guide.

Trainee’s name:………………………………………………

School: XXX…………………

Form: 1st year………………..

Course Teacher:YY………………………………

Class time: 40 minutes

Number of students: 20

Students’ language level: Elementary

Class N° 1

Lesson Plan-

Planning a lesson is thinking about the different parts of the teaching and learning

process. Thus, every step must be carefully considered and developed.

Determining the target language

First it is essential to determine what points we want to teach, that is to say, what

we expect our students to learn.

While determining this we should also take into account what students already

know, so that we can use this knowledge as a support for the new items we intend

to introduce.

Let us assume the target language (that is to say the new language, the language to be taught) we

want to introduce in this class is:

have got / has got

Then we should set the aims of the class. Aim setting is an important decision in a

lesson plan. The aims that the teacher sets will be a point of reference for the

teaching strategies and activities he/she decides to use. Also, a teacher has to be

realistic about what learners can achieve. Remember the aims of a class should be

referred to what students will achieve, not the teacher. Thus: to teach ‘have got’ or

the Simple Present can never be an aim.

When setting aims we should remember to use the verbs in the infinitive

e.g. To develop learners’ ability to …………………..

To make students use the target language to be able to………..

To make students understand and discuss topics connected with……

The teacher can write the aims of the class on the board so that at the end of the

class we can have students check whether these aims have been achieved

entirely, partially or not at all.

Didactic material : In the lesson plan we should provide a description of the

didactic material we will use: course book if any, (lesson, page) handouts (don’t

forget to provide a copy for trainers!) pictures, posters, flashcards, realia, etc. Use

of the Internet should form part of your lesson plan (provide links). Extra material

(if any). Authentic material (if any).

Time: We shouldn’t forget to mention estimated time for each step of the class and

for each activity.

Lesson Aims: Now you yourself set the lesson aims for this particular class

To enable students to describe people/animals’ appearance

To encourage students’ speaking ability through oral work

Now the class starts

Warm up: A warm up is a brief activity to do at the beginning of a lesson for any of

the following reasons:

To get our students’ attention and prepare them for the English class

To revise and recycle some linguistic items that have been already taught

and that may come in handy to teach the new language

To introduce the work to follow - Remember that a warm up is not meant to

be used to teach anything new.

To cheer them up and put them in a good mood for the English class

Any other reason the teacher deems necessary as an introduction to the

day’s class.

Warm up: Now prepare a warm up for this class (no more than 5 minutes). You

may do this having the target language in mind (have / has got) or devise an

entirely different type of warm up.

I tell students that I am going to ask each of them about their neighbour’s name,

that I want them to tell me the name of the boy/girl sitting next to them because I

don’t remember everybody’s name yet and I want to learn all their names soon.

I model the activity asking one student for example: Juan who is he? (Pointing at

the classmate sitting next to him.) EA: Marcos / he is Marcos

After the warm up stage we are ready for the teaching of the target language.

Sometimes we use the word introducing or presenting. Sometimes trainees seem

to confuse the use of these verbs, but it is essential for a future graduate to use

professional vocabulary.

In order to teach new language effectively we must always present it in context. The context may be a situation, a description, a poem, a story, an anecdote, etc.

created by the teacher or taken from a book, a journal, etc. The context prevents

your teaching from being decontextualized.

Creating Context

Creating context is an important step of our lesson plan and it should be thought

out very carefully and clearly expressed.

For the target language in this class there are many possible contexts we could

think of. It is up to us to decide on one which we think our learners will easily

understand and be interested in.

A context for this particular class could be:

A personal anecdote about things we have or not have and would like to

have.

Description of a family, what each member has or has not, and would like to

have.

A text we may find in the Internet and we can adapt to our class.

A picture story, in which we can show what the characters have /not have /

would like to have.

A poem which contains the new structure.

An animal farm, what the farmer has / hasn’t / needs/ wants to have.

There are as many possibilities as teachers have imagination.

Now you: A situation

Create the context to introduce the target language in this class and write it down

clearly and in a detailed way.

I tell students that today there is a new student in the classroom and as she is very

very shy she is in a box. I show students two boxes one is quite small and the

other rather big. I tell them that our new classmate is in one of these boxes. I will

describe the new student and they will have to guess in which box she is.

So I describe her as follows:

She has got small eyes, she has got black eyes. She has got a small nose and a

small mouth. She has got a tiny tongue. She has got no hair. She has got 4 legs.

She has got very short legs and she has a very very hard body. Her name is

Manuelita.

And I ask Where is Manuelita? EA: in the small box

So, by the time we have finished describing the context we have especially

prepared for this class, the students will have heard the new verbs quite a number

of times. (we are providing input, exposing learners to the new language)- We don’t

need to translate the new verb forms because; if our context is clear enough

students will be able to guess their meaning. (So, you’d better make sure to repeat

have/has got as often as possible).

Isolating or introducing the target language: that is to say, teaching it.

This is the time when we introduce (teach/present) the target language itself. Any

of the following teaching strategies can be used:

Demonstration (we use language containing the new item/items and this

time we direct students’ attention to it/ them. We can make them repeat the

sentences if we want to, as long as we make sure they understand what

they are saying.

Explanation (we isolate the new language and write it on the board, always

through examples). Isolated words or word lists are not advisable

Using people and objects around the class

Using mimics, onomatopoeic sounds or songs

Directing students’ attention to some special action, picture or object related

to the new language.

Using discovery techniques. It is not advisable to have students discover

‘the rules’ for ‘have/ has’. In fact, students do not need to learn rules at all!

We should aim at their understanding of meaning, rather than form. We

don’t need to point out that ‘has’ is used for the pronouns it/he/she. It will not

mean anything to learners at this stage. We should concentrate on meaning

and use of the structure and try to forget grammar rules.

Now you:

Explain the way you will teach have / has got. (you can use any structure that

seems effective, other than the ones mentioned above)

I will use the people in the classroom.

I start talking about myself: ‘I have got long, I have got brown hair, I have got

brown eyes, I have got a big mouth, I have got small hands’.

Then I move to a student and describe him: ‘he has got short hair, he has got

black hair, he has got blue eyes’. Next I do the same with another student and

then I describe 2 students who have similar characteristics and say for

example, ‘Anita and Juan have got blonde hair, she has got long hair and he

has got short hair. They have got blue eyes. They have got freckles.

I will ask students if they know the meaning of freckles, if they don’t I will

explain freckles are stains that some people have on their skin, Anita and Juan

have got lots of freckles, do you see? If there are other people with freckles I

continue for instance Maria has freckles too, Santiago has freckles too.

Checking comprehension

Describe in your lesson plan the questions you will ask the class in order to

check full comprehension of the new structure.

Now you:

To check comprehension I will ask students to think about a classmate and

don’t say his/her name to the others. So they are going to describe him/her and

the others will have to guess who he/she is.

I model the activity: ‘she has got very long hair, she has got black hair, she has

got brown eyes…. Who is she?’ EA: Manuela, Micaela, etc

After we have checked comprehension, that is to say, making sure students

understand the meaning of the new language, we must have students practise

the new language.

Practice (oral work)

It must be remembered that oral practice should come before writing. We want

students to learn how to speak first and then write. Remember that asking

students to write an exercise is not oral practice.

Some types of oral activities.

.

Modelling questions (writing them on the board) so that students can ask

similar questions themselves.

Eliciting answers to questions that require use of the target language

Reconstructing an oral text (a dialogue / a story).

Briefly describing a picture or parts of it.

Talking about family possessions (in response to teacher’s questions).

Practice is still quite controlled here. It should be carefully modeled and guided.

Some more practice:

Pair work: Ask each other questions about the possession of a number

of items suggested by teacher: pet, school objects, playthings, members

of the family, computers, cell phones, etc.

Group work: Make a survey to find out about how many students in the

class have a certain number of objects/ teachers / friends. This, like any

other activity that forms part of controlled practice has to be carefully

guided by the teacher.

These are only some suggestions. You may probably think of more interesting

ones.

Now you:

I will ask those students who have pets to describe them

I will ask those students who don’t have pets to describe one of the

people in their family (father, grandmother, etc)

Practice (Written activities)

Only after we have given intensive oral practice we can resort to the written

activities. These should always be modeled by the teacher. It is not advisable to

ask the class to write random sentences with the new structure. Should the teacher

want the class to do so, plenty of examples should have been provided

beforehand.

Avoid gap-filling written exercises, let alone: Complete with ‘have’ or ‘has’ This

type of exercise belongs to outmoded didactic approaches which went out of

fashion about 50 years ago, so try to think of more challenging activities better

suited to students of today.

(Should the course teacher insist on this type of tasks, you can always set them as

homework)

Here are some samples of written activities. Of course, previous modeling is

essential.

Parallel writing (short text)

Write some true sentences about yourself/ your friend etc.

Write some questions you can ask your classmates about their ………/……

Listen to what the teacher tells you and decide if the ………(pet/ person/ )

has a……../some ……….

Now you:

State activity and instructions that will be given to the class. (Remember the

importance of clear instructions).

Assuming that students know the vocabulary regarding rooms/furniture and

things in the house I will ask students to describe their houses following the

example I write on the board: My house has got 2 bedrooms. It has got 1

kitchen and a big livingroom. It has a bathroom. It has a big garden but it has

got no garage.

If they don’t know this vocabulary I could introduce it in this lesson too or I could

ask them to describe the school or the city.

Developing listening skills

We expect lesson designers to include some kind of listening activity in every

lesson plan. Here’s a brief reminder of what a listening activity should be like:

Although modern English textbooks generally include audio or video material,

teachers may find it necessary to design their own listening activity/activities to suit

the topic or target language they may be dealing with.

But whatever listening activity we decide to select, we must remember that, like

any other task or activity, it should have a clearly defined pedagogic goal. So

before we set an activity, we can ask the following questions:

- What is the pedagogic value of this activity?

- What do I want to teach/ revise/ recycle/ develop/ consolidate, etc through this

activity?

- What is the purpose of the activity?

It is also important to determine beforehand, what our learners will be listening for:

-for gist?

-for detail?

-for some specific information?

Pre- listening activities: After we have decided on this purpose, on the purpose

of the activity, we can give the class a pre- listening activity. ALL listening activities

should be preceded by a previous task: We shouldn’t just plunge learners into a

listening session without due preparation. We should explain in our plan what this

preparation will be like.

Handouts: The sample handout that will be used for the listening activity should

also be included in the lesson plan. Otherwise, the task cannot be evaluated by the

trainer.

Procedure: We should describe the procedure we shall follow to conduct the pre -

listening activity and then the procedure for the activity itself. We must also explain

how students will be guided to perform the activity successfully.

Instructions: We must record the instructions for the listening activity exactly as

they will be given to the class

Some types of listening activities

Listening for gist:

What is the topic in the taped text?

What is the story about?

Are the......... at .......... or at .......... (location)?

Is this a narrative or a dialogue?

Are they talking about .................or about.................?

Listening for detail:

Find the differences.

Record the names of the characters in the story.

Mention the pets you hear mentioned.

Say what the children do at school/at home , etc. every morning.

Obtain information concerning:........................... .

Who said: ........... , who asked the question/s...........? Who answered that /

those question/s?

Say where the ........is/are. (revise prepositions).

Spot the phrase or prominent word containing the target language.

Tick the items you hear in the corresponding column.

Complete the lyrics in the song / words in the poem/ phrases in the story.

Write what you have just heard

In most cases it is convenient to stop the recorder and give students time to

answer. We should play back as many times as necessary.

Now you:

(State activity and procedure)

This is a listening for detail activity.

Pre listening:

I tell students that I have a very special pet, a duck. I show them the following

pictures and tell them that I am going to describe my duck and they have to decide

in which of the pictures they can see a similar duck as mine.

1 2

I will describe my pet this way: ‘My duck’s name is Donald. It has got white feathers

and a big beak.

Listening:

I explain students that they are going to listen to different people talking about their

pets. They have to listen to the speakers and decide which animal they talk about.

Write the number of speaker in the box next to the pictures of the pets.

The first one is done as an example:

Listening: Which pet are they talking about? Write the number of speaking Below the picture. 1

Speaker: __ 2

Speaker:____

3

Speaker:___ 4

Speaker: 1

Developing speaking skills

We expect lesson designers to include some kind of speaking activity in every

lesson plan. Here’s a brief reminder of what a speaking activity should be like:

Handouts: The sample handout that will be used for the speaking activity should

be included in the lesson plan.

Modelling speaking activities The same goes for the modelling the teacher will

provide for the learners to speak and develop their fluency.

Otherwise, the speaking task or activity cannot be evaluated.

Procedure: Lesson planners must describe the procedure they will follow to

conduct the speaking sessions for the class that is being planned. A description of

how students will be motivated into speaking and guided by the teacher to develop

their speaking skills should be included.

Instructions: Instructions for the speaking activity must be recorded exactly as

they will be given to the class

Some types of speaking activities

It is always necessary to do some pre-teaching before starting these activities,

either by providing vocabulary students may need to use or by modelling speaking.

An information-gap activity for pair work or group work (this has to be

carefully planned by the teacher who will provide different information for 2

groups of students. One group must not see the information the other group

has and vice versa. Each group take turns to perform the different roles.

Describe and draw: one group gives instructions to the other group. Then

they take turns.

Describe the pictures. Then use the pictures to talk about your own world.

Talk about something in your picture which is similar/ very different from that

in your partner’s picture. Then say in which ways the pictures are different.

Reconstruct the story and tell it to the class. Change the ending/ change the

characters / the setting, etc. Say what you liked /didn’t like about it.

Role play: reconstruct the dialogue (modelled by teacher)/ invent a new

dialogue.

Tell us a few things about your life (modelled by teacher)

Describe your routine and compare it with that of your partner’s-

Could you tell us something about your past /your friend’s / your mother’s ,

etc. (when they have learnt the Past Tense)

Could you tell us something about your future plans (when they have learnt

the Future Tense)

Speak for about 20 seconds / a minute about one of the following

topics...............(teacher sets topics they can discuss.

For all speaking activities the focus should be on fluency, not on accuracy.

Now you: (feel free to create speaking activities that may be well suited to your

own particular class if you happen to be teaching one)

(State activity and procedure)

Role play: you are going to pick a card from a bag. The card shows is a picturee of

a famous person and his/her pet. Imagine you are that person and talk about your

pet, describe its physical appearance and says its name.

I will provide the following example:

‘Hello my name is Susana Gimenez and this cute little doggy is my pet Jazmin.

She has got long brown and blac hair. She has got short legs and a short tail.

Closure : is a conclusion of our class. We can either have students check whether

aims have been achieved, set homework, ask for comments on the class or make

a general overview of what has been learnt in this class , tell a funny story or sing a

goodbye song, etc.

How would you close the class you have planned?

I will tell students that they aims of this lesson were:

To enable students to describe people/animals’ appearance

To encourage students’ speaking ability through oral work

Then I ask: ‘ do you think they were achieve? Were you able to describe people or

animals’ appearance. Do you think you participated in the oral work in this lesson?

How much did you participate a lot? A little? More than before?

We’ll be looking forward to your comments on this class

Your trainers.