Unit 4 Lesson Planning

Module 2 Lesson Plans and Self-Development

At the end of this module you will:-

a) understand the importance of adequate planning over a series of lessons

b) understand the importance of planning stages and activities within a lesson

c) be aware of teacher and student roles at each stage

d) be able to write a detailed lesson plan

e) have considered ways to become a reflective teacher in your future career

This is the final module of the course and you will be asked to submit a lesson plan for a full lesson - it will be time to show what you have learnt. If you have been doing the course slowly, you may find it useful to leaf back through earlier modules to remind yourself of their content and relevance to lesson planning. In any case, your mind should be making links between all you have learnt as you work through these final sections.

Your second task in this section is related to teacher development and how learning continues after you finish the course.

Part 1. Lesson planning

Lesson plans and holidays

Lesson plans and lesson planning worry teachers a lot. Some even have lesson planning nightmares, where they leave their plan on the bus or it flies out of the window. But lesson planning is not as scary as it seems.

Think for a moment about going on holiday. When we are about to go on holiday, here are some questions we ask ourselves:

How long do I have?

Where is my holiday going to be and what do I want to do when I get there?

How am I going to travel around and what do I need to take?

Can you see already how a holiday is like a course of lessons? Then, having made a plan, when we arrive in the place we have chosen for our holiday we find:

That something is more interesting than we thought or not as interesting.

That we cannot get somewhere because there is no transport.

That the weather is better or worse than we had expected.

But if we plan well and have a guidebook, we are able to make changes without panicking or getting confused.

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SELF-CHECK 4:2 1

Which parts of a holiday are like which parts of lesson planning?

Look at the lesson planning points below the table and write a lesson planning point next to the holiday point it resembles.

Holiday Lesson

Something is more interesting than we thought or not as interesting.

Day to day changes in plans can be made depending on students’ interests

We cannot get somewhere because there is no transport.

How am I going to get around and what do I need to take?

That the weather is better or worse than we had expected so we do different things.

.

Where is the holiday going to be and what do I want to do when I get there?

How long do I have?

Lesson planning points:

Sometimes you cannot do what you planned to do because of equipment problems.Timing of the course and each lesson. Questions about planning language and materials.Questions about long-term planning of overall aims.Students can be unpredictable so we have to be able to adapt.

There are different kinds of lesson planning to take into consideration:

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Long-term planning (over a term or year)

Find out the aims of your school for this level of student.Study the book you are using and check that you have the basic materials that you need.Consider the aims of the course. Are you supposed to concentrate on speaking more than reading? Is there a special exam? Think about timing - how long do you have? (including missed lessons for holidays, etc.)Divide your course up into sections in some way and give a period of time to each one. This often goes with course book chapters. For example:

Units 1 and 2: The futureUnits 3 and 4: Past tenses and storytellingUnits 5 and 6: Likes and dislikes Units 7 and 8: Descriptions

Try to stick to your plan and not race ahead or get behind.

Planning within a section of work

Sections of work are sometimes called schemes of work or units. There are a number of aims for a unit of work and these may be in your course book, so read it!

Some teachers just pick up the book and go on from where they left off last lesson without thinking about the overall plan for the section or what other materials to include. Here’s why that is not a good idea:

It’s confusing for you and the students. Unless you have a clear concept of what you want to achieve in a section of work, your students will feel misguided.

It is rare that pages in the book will fit exactly into lessons, and you will often have unfinished activities or exercises.

The textbooks is not always up to date, and the lessons in it may not have interesting materials to make links with real life.

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The lessons in the books cannot be personalised as the book authors don't know the students in your class and their needs.

Students do not understand why they are studying certain things - just ‘it’s in the book.’

That is why you need to use the textbook material wisely and take from the textbook only as much as is required to meet the aims of your students and the course. This is linked with what we discussed in Unit 3 Module 4 about assessing, adapting, axing and adding.

A spidergram could help you understand what is going on in a unit. Make one together when your class starts a new topic. Here’s one on sport:

Remember also to consult the beginning of your course book. You often find a double page spread with a clear idea of what is going on in each unit. And

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Sports

2.Reading and grammar: Magazine biographies 1.Speaking:

Pair presentations on a famous sports person or sport Powerpoint.

7.Project work: Preparing presentation, wall displays

3.Writing: Report on a sport - clear info and use of bullet points

6.Listening: Interviews - note taking, being a good listener

5.Grammar: Commands and rules. Have to, must. Present perfect tense.

4.Vocabulary: Sports and equipment, food and health

there should be a Teacher’s Book to go with your course to give you more help and advice.

Day-to-day lesson planning

You also need a plan for each day.

Aims

Before anything else, concentrate on having clear aims for every lesson. Write them at the top of your lesson notes.

The aims are what your students should learn to do by the end of the lesson. The best way to think about your aims is ‘by the end of the lesson, my students will be able to use the present perfect continuous’ or 'by the end of the lesson my students will have reviewed/practised ways of asking for directions in the street.' When you write your plan, however, you may shorten that to infinitive phrases, such as 'to be able to use the present perfect continuous' or 'to review ways of asking for directions in the street'.

1) Main aim

The main aim of the lesson should be introduced to students at the beginning of the class.

It can be a language aim, for example:

To introduce the present perfect used with ‘for’ and ‘since’

To revise number recognition to 100

It can be a skills aim, for example:

To improve the skills of skimming and scanning a scientific text

To learn to engage in small talk

Less frequently, it is a study skills aim, for example:

To investigate what kinds of dictionaries exist and how to use them quickly and efficiently

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A longer lesson can have more than one main aim.

2) Subsidiary aims

Along with the main aim, there can be secondary or 'subsidiary' aims. These can also have to do with language, skills and study skills:

To improve speed reading of short texts(skills)

To get used to answering multiple-choice test questions(study skills)

To revise countable and uncountable nouns(language)

3) Personal aims

There can be personal aims for individual students or groups of students; these are NOT shared with the class.

To give Aisha more chance to answer questions To fix Igor's pronunciation of /w/ and /v/ by encouraging him to pay attention to the way he pronounces the sounds

There can also be personal development aims for the teacher:

To use more visuals to ensure that students pay better attention than in the previous lesson

To improve timing and give homework clearly

Thus, there are a number of aims for any lesson, but it's essential that you begin by thinking about the main aim. To define it, ask yourself: What is this lesson for? What exactly am I going to teach? Why will my students benefit from the lesson? What am I trying to achieve?

Remember, if something unexpected comes up, you may have to change your aims. A lesson plan is not set in stone, it should be flexible.

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SELF-CHECK 4:2 2

Have a look at these aims for lessons and sort them into the right columns.The first one has been done for you.

Language Skills Study skills Personal for students

Personal development for teacher

A

A) To introduce times of the day and greetings.

B) To introduce vocabulary notebooks and how to use them.

C) Extensive reading of document for gist.

D) To work individually with Group 3 on handwriting problems.

E) To test new seating arrangement for group work.

F) To work on giving clearer instructions with gestures.

G) To listen for the speaker's mood.

H) To revise expressions of intention using want to and going to.

I) To introduce web research for language study.

J) To see whether boy/girl pairwork in role plays is better than work in mixed-gender pairs.

K) To encourage Julia to participate from the beginning of the lesson, not from the middle as usual.

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COMMENT

A and H are language aimsC and G are skills aims B and I are study skills aimsD and K are personal aims for studentsE, F and J are personal development aims for the teacher

They are all valid lesson aims.

SELF-CHECK 4:2 3

Here are three teachers talking about what they are going to do in their lessons today. For each one, decide why they are doing this. What are the teacher’s aims?Which of the teachers seem to have clear aims and which don't.

TEACHER 1

I’ve been talking and talking, explaining grammar too much in lessons recently. Today we are starting a new unit on Health and Fitness, so I have asked them to bring in information about what they ate for dinner last night. I’ve got some food flashcards ready that we're going to go through, and we’re going to look at the reading in the book about healthy eating and work in groups for a large part of the lesson. I’ll also introduce information at the end about a poster project I want them to do.

TEACHER 2

I’m tired today so I’m going to get them to draw some pictures of animals and copy some information about them from this website I found. That should take them an hour but if they finish early I’ll get them to learn any vocabulary they have forgotten.

TEACHER 3

I’ve got up to page 47 and we finished the past tense last lesson so I’m going to teach the present perfect tense today by doing exercises 3, 4 and 5. Then we can copy the timeline in our books and do the pairwork on page 48. For writing practice they can do exercise 6.

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COMMENT

TEACHER 1

This teacher has been thinking about class dynamics and development and wants a change. She aims to encourage interaction/discussion before and during the reading and is planning a longer project so that they can work together on some writing. The plan looks practical and personal. The vocabulary aims have been set, the teacher has prepared a range of vocabulary cards, and the words will be presented in context. The only thing that is not so clear is whether there are any skills aims and which reading sub-skills will be developed. (To say 'look at the reading' is not to say much in terms of what is to be actually done by students).

TEACHER 2

Let’s hope there are not too many lessons like this! This is a time-filling lesson which does not have a clear aim or teach anything. The writing is only copying and the drawing is not related to English. The teacher has not planned to focus on study skills for the vocabulary learning, so probably the students will just sit and try to learn the words off by heart, which could be difficult. There is no introduction or ending planned.

TEACHER 3

This teacher is practical and organised but relies on the book too much. There is a clear language aim relating to grammar, and some skills work but the teacher is not thinking about much else. This plan lists things to be done but it's not clear WHY they are to be done. The teacher said three sentences and after each of them we could ask her ‘WHY?’'. 'To teach a tense by doing exercises' is a rather odd definition, too. There is more to teaching a language point than doing three exercises.

Stages of a lesson

The main purpose of your lesson is to teach 'something' to your learners, and it is important to decide on appropriate methods, materials and activities to ensure the lesson works. To help organise our time and the process of teaching, we need to think about a lesson as consisting of several separate stages.

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The sequence of stages to be explained below is called Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP). We already mentioned it a few times in previous modules. It works best in a lesson where a new language point is being introduced, for instance a grammatical structure, a set of vocabulary or a language function, such as how to ask for/give directions or to apologise.For lessons whose main aim is to teach a skill, the sequences may be different. For instance, note the stages of a writing lesson in Unit 3 Module 3.

A typical PPP lesson will consist of the following stages:

1) Introduction

2) Presentation

3) Practice

4) Production

5) Plenary and warm down

1) Introduction

This may consist of a warmer, revision and a lead-in.

Warmer: It is not a good idea to begin your lesson by taking attendance, saying 'today we are going to learn...' and then immediately plunging into an explanation of the language point of the lesson.

It is important to set the mood for the lesson and put the students' minds in the 'English zone'. Ask them what has happened to them since the last class. Ask them how they feel about the unusual weather outside or about the local football team's historic victory yesterday. Get them talking to you and each other in an informal way. Make sure as many students as possible get involved.

Revision: You may then revise what was learnt in the previous lesson or lessons. It can be a quick exercise or a game based on the language or skills learnt recently. Checking homework may also be part of this revision sub-stage.

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The warmer and revision should not take too long. They prepare your students to begin working on the main point of the lesson. Getting carried away at this stage will mean you may not have enough time left to meet the main lesson aims.

Lead-in:Now from these introductory activities, you will segue into the main point of the lesson.The lead-in is to do with 'setting the scene' for your presentation of the language point. This can be done by encouraging the class to discuss a particular topic or language function, by brainstorming ideas onto the whiteboard, or by revising material from previous lessons which will be useful for the lesson now. One possible aim of this stage is to establish how much the students already know about the language point.

For example, if you are to teach vocabulary of household appliances, then at the lead-in stage you can revise the names of rooms in a house/flat, discuss with students what kinds of jobs they do around the house and then ask if they can name any of the appliances in your picture cards.

Alternatively, you can set the scene by introducing a fictional character, eliciting his/her name, age, etc, and getting students to describe the house he/she lives in. You can also introduce his/her family members. Then take out pictures of the household appliances that the character and each of his/her family members supposedly uses and move on to the presentation stage, where you will present the words.

Some techniques we can use at this lead-in step include:Open questions, reading a paragraph, the use of picture stimuli, spidergrams, including input from the students to find out what they know, the use of key words on the board and so on. This gets students thinking along the right lines and focuses their attention, so that they are ready for new material to be presented.

A good idea is to give students a pre-study homework task. Eg in the previous lesson you may have asked them to go home and think about the things people do around the house and what they are called in English. The benefits of this are many, but the advantage is most clearly seen when there is a big gap between lessons - for example if students come only once a week. Tasks and preparation mean they keep thinking about English from one week to the next.

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2) Presentation

At this stage, you need to make sure that you clearly present language that you want the students to focus on. This will be the new language point that they need to have explained to them with your help and guidance, also called the target language of your lesson. Teaching that target language is the lesson's main aim.

Your having set the scene at the lead-in stage will ensure that the target language is presented in context, such as a short written text, a story told by the teacher, or a dialogue, so that students can see/hear the new language and understand its meaning and use. This provides a model for learners to copy and then use to produce their own language.

The target language can then be presented with clear explanations and examples showing what it means and how it is used. As you explain, do keep the students actively involved. Do NOT lecture them but try to elicit as much as they already know about the target language, gently guide them towards a more correct understanding if they are mistaken; let them assist you in your presentation.

Thus, your presentation must be teacher-led but with active involvement of the students.

Make sure that you have presented the meaning, form and pronunciation of the target language. For example, in the presentation stage of a lesson on the past perfect tense you should establish that your students

understand that the tense refers to something finished before another event or point of time in the past (meaning)

know that the tense consists of the auxiliary verb 'had' and the past participle of the main verb (form)

know how to pronounce the structure in a natural way, ie omitting the 'h' I 'had' - /ˌhiː (ə)d ˈdʌn ɪt/ for 'he had done it' (pronunciation)

How do you help them learn the above?

Presenting the target language in context helps students understand the meaning. Use concept check questions to establish that they understand correctly. Eg for the sentence 'When I arrived, Amy had left' ask the students: 'Did Amy leave before or after the speaker arrived?'

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Writing the structure in a clear way on the board helps them understand the form. Point out the parts it consists of (the exact terms you will use depend on the extent to which your students are familiar with the terminology; try to elicit these from them first):

+ Amy had left. subject auxiliary 'had' past participle

? Had Amy left? auxiliary 'had' subject past participle

Modelling and drilling helps students master pronunciation. Demonstrate the correct way to pronounce the target language, then have students repeat after you, chorally and individually. You may need to do more drilling at the next stage (controlled practice stage), because pronunciation may take time to get right.

If you use a text to introduce language, present it to your students for comprehension and discussion (lead-in) and then ask them to focus on certain aspects of the language – eg ‘relationship between the past simple and the past perfect’ or ‘how to express comparison’ (presentation). This way, the lead-in may take a little longer and the presentation may come later in the lesson, but it is still there and should still be a teacher-led section of the lesson.

You can use group and pair work ‘discovery’ techniques (also known as inductive learning; something we discussed in Unit 2 Module 1) - where you give students a context, focus their attention on the target language (in a text for example) and they work out the rules. After they have tried, you can ‘clarify’ the rules for them, and this will be your presentation stage.

3) Practice (Controlled practice)

Practice consolidates the knowledge learners have hopefully gained from the presentation stage of the lesson, preparing them to use the language meaningfully and with confidence. The teacher's role here is to manage a

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range of activities which allow learners to try out the new language through whole-class activities, pairwork and groupwork.

At this controlled stage, there is a strong focus on the target language and a high degree of control over students' output. The aim of the stage is to achieve the accuracy of using the target language, and at this point accuracy takes precedence over fluency.

Even though the target language is not yet used in realistic communication, a good controlled practice activity must be contextualised.

For example, if you are teaching comparatives, the following practice is NOT contextualised and is likely to be boring.

Complete the sentences using the right comparative form of the adjective in brackets.He is ________________ (tall) than his sisterI ______________ (old) than my brother.and so on.

However, if these sentences are incorporated into a short story about, say, the Anderson family, context will be provided and the activity will be more meaningful.

Or you can give students pictures of two movie stars to compare and a list of adjectives to use in their sentences. Make sure that they have the comparative form chart in front of them at this early practice stage as a reminder.

Controlled practice can take the form of guided dialogues or role plays, information-gap activities or games such as Charades to guess vocabulary. The practice can involve listening, reading or writing skills, with texts and recordings introduced which include the target language which can then be practised in a range of activity types: true/false comprehension questions, completion exercises, summarising, etc. Short written pieces based on a certain pattern can be done and monitored carefully by the teacher.

Aim to use a range of practice activities. This will help prevent lessons becoming predictable and will also build in the element of repetition but in an interesting way. The teacher initiates, manages and encourages at this stage, intervening whenever necessary and checking for errors. These can be focussed on later in the lesson.

4) Production (Free practice)

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As the lesson moves away from teacher guidance to semi-free or free language practice by the student, we think of it in terms of language production. This production activity may take the form of a group solution to a problem – oral or written, a story or description using a particular language item, a loosely guided or unguided role-play using the language item, a discussion or letter-writing.

For example, if you are teaching the function of apologising and forgiving, set the roles (or let the students decide what the roles will be), such as mother and daughter, then let them brainstorm what may have gone wrong between the mother and the daughter so apologies are due. Once the scenarios have been developed, have them practise dialogues in pairs in which the daughter apologises, explains the reasons for doing something wrong, and the mother forgives her (or maybe vice versa, it's mother who has to apologise).

The final output by the students should meet the aims of the lesson with the teacher monitoring for errors but being much more an observer than anything else at this stage. Here, the students should be producing the target language with minimal, if any, teacher interference. It's best to take note of errors and to correct later, after the activity has been completed (whereas in controlled practice you would be more likely to intervene early).

Always remember that you will not instantly have perfect production of language by your students. A new language item needs a bit of thinking about and several weeks of ‘revisiting’ by the students before they are secure. What’s more they will progress at different rates. Perfect production does not magically occur in every student at the same time! Your job is to make sure that they have a chance to experiment and learn through making mistakes. If you only ever do controlled practice, students will not see the meaning of learning the language items they are taught or how they can be used in real life. They also need the chance to use what they have learnt before alongside what they are learning now.

Practice and production should be seen as leading from one to the other. It is no use springing a production task on students that you have not prepared them for through controlled practice.

5) Plenary and warm-down

Plenary'Plenary' refers to a whole-class review of what has been learnt in the lesson.Unit 4 16 Module 2

It is extremely important that you end your class with a re-focussing on what they have been doing. You may begin this stage by giving feedback and encouraging students to give feedback to their partners on the production activity. Focus on the mistakes you noticed while monitoring.

Then summarise the lesson. Some teachers do this very formally by talking with the class about ‘what we have been learning today’ or referring back to lesson aims written on the white board. The students can see how the lesson has progressed and how the activities are all linked.

Some teachers have a short question and answer session in which the students give their opinion on what they think they have learnt.

In other lessons the whole-class review may be longer. For example, if your students have been writing letters in pairs or doing a discussion task in groups then you may wish them to present what they have done to the class. If there isn't enough time to listen to everybody, ask if there are any volunteers or choose the group that you think have been the most successful with the task.

You can also tie in the lesson with previous or later lessons. It is now time to set homework and talk about the next session. Write the homework on the board and repeat it orally. Make sure students understand what to do. Maybe an even better idea, though, is to set homework right at the beginning of the plenary stage. This is done in case the lesson finishes during the review stage. Students may turn off once they know the lesson is over and they won't pay due attention to the homework assignment.

Warm-downIf there is some time left after the plenary, a short activity such as a song or a game may be an appropriate way to end the lesson. This will not necessarily have to do with what has been learnt in this class. It may be a fun ritual that you and your students have created and that they like (eg make a prediction for the coming weekend), or a song that you sang together a long time ago and your students enjoyed, or a quick game that you know they love.This will allow you to end the lesson on a relaxed and pleasant note, and your students will go home in a happy mood.

SELF-CHECK 4:2 4

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1. Now that you are familiar with the stages of a PPP lesson, can you see how the role of the teacher changes through the lesson? At which stage is the teacher involved the most in what goes on in the lesson? At which stage is the teacher involved the least?

2. Match the parts of the lesson described to the five stages in the box:

Introduction

Presentation

Practice

Production

Plenary

"I asked the class about the weather today, and wrote the vocabulary which they used correctly on the board. I added more vocabulary and used pictures to make sure everyone understood what each word meant. I drilled the words in sentences about the weather in different cities and asked concept check questions. Next, I gave out worksheets with pictures of the weather and days of the week, and as I played a listening of this week's weather forecast, students listened and matched the picture to the correct day. Then the answers were checked in a whole-class session. This was followed by pairwork, with an information gap activity in which students completed a weather map of Britain. The final activity was a written description of the weather in each season in their own country. Some of them read out what they had written to the class. For homework I gave them a research task on the climate in a range of different cities around the world so that we can prepare a class display next lesson.”

Can you write ‘aims’ for this lesson?

COMMENT

1. The teacher involvement generally decreases towards the end of a PPP lesson. It is substantial at the introduction stage, then it's the heaviest at the presentation stage, it decreases at the controlled practice stage and there is the least involvement at the production stage. The teacher gets back students' attention for the plenary but it's important that the plenary remains student-centred.

2. I asked the class about the weather today, and wrote the vocabulary which they used correctly on the board. - this is Introduction.

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I added more vocabulary and used pictures to make sure everyone understood what each word meant. I drilled the words in sentences about the weather in different cities and asked concept check questions. - this is Presentation.

Next, I gave out worksheets with pictures of the weather and days of the week, and as I played a listening of this week's weather forecast, students listened and matched the picture to the correct day. Then the answers were checked in a whole-class session. - this is Controlled Practice

This was followed by pairwork, with an information gap activity in which students completed a weather map of Britain. - this could be Controlled Practice or Production depending on how much support was given to students for target language use. One classification talks about Freer practice as opposed to Free practice. According to that, this stage would be Freer practice followed by Free practice (the next activity).

The final activity was a written description of the weather in each season in their own country. - this is Production.

Some of them read out what they had written to the class. For homework I gave them a research task on the climate in a range of different cities around the world so that we can prepare a class display next lesson. - this is Plenary.

The main aim of the lesson was to teach weather vocabulary and help students to use it in descriptions of weather. You may have identified various secondary aims, and you can only guess about personal aims.

Time management

There is no exact instruction how much time each stage of the PPP lesson should take. What is important is that the stages are well-balanced. For example, in a 45 minute lesson, having a 20 minute introduction, 15 minute presentation, followed by 4 minute practice and 4 minute production, and finally a 2 minute plenary does not demonstrate a well-balanced lesson. If you set aside just 3 minutes for presentation leaving plenty of time for practice and production, your students may simply not be ready to practise or produce the target language, so you'll find yourself having to go back to square one.

In general, the introduction should be brief, the presentation longer, then the practice and production should take up the largest part of the lesson.

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However, if the language point is difficult, you may spend longer on presentation, whereas production may be left for homework.

To give you an idea how to best approach time management in the classroom, let's look at some common mistakes that teachers make at the planning stage and problems they encounter due to poor planning.

Teachers plan for 50 minutes of work in a 50 minute lesson. A 50 minute lesson is not 50 minutes long, as the students have to get in and get organised, then pack up and get out of the room. More like 45 minutes, sometimes only 40. You can still plan for 50 minutes but add a couple of extra minutes to each activity to allow for the set-up and delays.

Teachers plan a 1-minute brainstorm activity.Never write things into your plan that take one minute. They always take longer! Have you thought about the time taken to draw the spidergram or write down student suggestions? Or just to explain what they have to do?

Group work goes on a lot longer than planned.Teachers don’t plan the time it takes to move the furniture and give instructions. You often see ‘work in groups for 10 minutes’ on teachers’ plans, but 5 minutes of that may be getting organised!

Students are not handing in their homework - they say they didn’t write it down.This is often the fault of the teacher who makes a lesson plan that does not allow time for discussing homework. As we've mentioned before, it does not have to be at the end of the lesson, but could be half way through or even at the beginning. It is also a sign that there is probably not a clear plenary stage at the end of the lesson.

The teacher finishes early and doesn't know what to do in the remaining time.You should have an ‘if time’ activity to do if you finish too quickly.

The teacher runs out of time.Have a cut-off point in the last activity in the lesson that is clear and organised - not just ‘finish that off for homework then’.

The key to successful time management in the classroom is what we call ‘flexible planning’. That means you plan what is going to happen in a lesson

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but you are ready to change your mind if something does not go quite as you had planned. If we plan very rigidly then the students do not have a chance to go over something if they do not understand or move on quickly if they understand very fast. On the other hand, if we are always distracted by trivia, then the students will get frustrated as the aims of the lesson may not be fulfilled.

So even as you put specific timings in your lesson plan, it is very rare that you will be able to faithfully stick to them for the entire lesson. In fact, trying to do so at any cost and ignoring reality is a recipe for failure.

SELF-CHECK 4:2 5

You will see a lesson plan for a 1-hour lesson. It describes the main activities and is not detailed. (NB: When you submit your own plan in task one, it should be more detailed than this! Examples of detailed plans are on pages 24-30). The reason this plan is so sketchy is that the focus in this self-check is on timing.

Can you spot any errors concerning timing in this plan?

Warm up (whole-class)

Ask what they've done since last class. 3 minutes

Revision (whole-class) Revise first conditional. 5 minutes Lead-in (pairs, then whole class)

Elicit meanings of 'dream'. Students discuss in pairs what they dream about. Plenary.

15 minutes

Presentation (whole-class) Use some of students' dreams to present structure 'I wish + past simple'. Introduce fictional character and what she wishes about: turn into 'I wish' sentences, drill, write on board.

5 minutes

Practice (pairs) Do exercises from textbook. 3 minutes Practice (mingling) Mill drill. Write your dreams and go around the

class to find out who has the same dreams using 'Do you wish you were...' etc.

10 minutes

Production (small groups) In group of three discuss what some famous people might wish they did/had/etc. (Give them list of names to choose from).

20 minutes

Plenary (whole-class) Let groups share their ideas. Feedback on correctness. Homework.

1 minute

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COMMENT

1. If you add up the timing of all the lesson stages, you'll get 1 hour and 2 minutes. The lesson's duration is just 1 hour.

2. The introduction takes 23 minutes – almost half the lesson time. That's too long and you need enough time to present the language point. While the warm-up and revision are of reasonable length, the lead-in is too long for its purpose.

3. The presentation could, in theory, be done in 5 minutes, but you would then have to rush and students might fall behind. You need to present the target language very clearly and at a normal pace, checking from time to time that everyone in the class follows you and has the chance to ask questions.

4. 3 minutes is unrealistic for the first practice activity. 'Exercises' means there are more than one, and even if they are tiny 2-sentence exercises, students would need time to find them in their books, understand the instructions, write their answers, and then the answers need to be checked together – this will definitely take much more than 3 minutes.

5. 20 minutes is probably too long for the production. The teacher's aim at this stage may be to give students extensive free practice of the target language by producing many different things the famous people might wish for, however it's likely to get repetitive, and students' imagination is likely to run dry soon enough.

6. 1 minute for the plenary is almost nothing – only setting homework is bound to take longer than that (though because the production is likely to finish early, there'll hopefully be enough time for the plenary in the actual lesson).

Additionally, it is not clear whether the previous homework is checked in the lesson.

Planning for group and pair work

When planning a lesson you should look at what the students and the teacher will be doing at each stage. This is important so that you prepare a variety of focus. That means the students are not facing the teacher or listening to the teacher all the time. We have discussed this in many different sections of the course and it is fundamental to good lesson preparation and planning.

Pairwork

Unit 4 22 Module 2

By using pairwork, students are encouraged with little, if any, teacher interference and have the chance to co-operate with other learners for the completion of a given task. It is important that learners should be able to cope with the practice tasks set (which must be linked to the language focus and presentation for the lesson). The materials must be of a suitable level and the content must be motivating. Don’t take ages setting up pairwork for the students to say: ‘Is it a tomato? No it isn’t, it is a pear.’ and so on. Give them something interesting to do. It is also important to think about who to pair up. Work ‘mixed ability’ into your pairwork with ‘if time’ activities and ‘cut off points’ as discussed above. Pairwork can be done easily and quickly without moving the furniture about if you have set your classroom up in a communicative way - remember you can even do it if the furniture is immovable!

Group work

Group work lends itself to a range of activities. Learners have the opportunity to communicate with others in the target language, and group work can encourage strong and weak learners to participate in discussions, debates and problem-solving activities. Flexible groupings can be extremely motivating for students. They start off in a set group, then split and re-form. For example, 3 groups of A, B and C are each given a part of a story to prepare orally (A – the introduction, B - the development, C - the ending). They then make 3 new groups, with A, B, and C students in each, to put together a completed narrative. This encourages every student to participate, to learn from others in the group, to listen and to give feedback, leading to confidence, improved fluency and support for reading and writing tasks. Group projects are motivating, especially if there is a plenary at the end or if work is to be displayed on the wall.

Group work needs a clear task, and it should not be over in two minutes when you have spent five minutes setting up and moving the furniture! And remember, as we discussed in Unit 4 Module 1, not all groups have to do the same thing.

SELF-CHECK 4:2 6

Here are some disadvantages in using pair work or group work activities in the ESOL classroom. Fill in the column with suggestions of how to cope. Try to use these key words in your answers.

KEY WORDS: group roles, clear tasks, circulate, feedback, extension

Unit 4 23 Module 2

Disadvantage How to copeThe noise level may be quite high. Make sure students are seated close enough

together so that they do not have to shout and far enough from the other groups so they are not distracted.

Students may start using their mother tongue in a monolingual class.

The teacher cannot listen to all of the students at the same time.

Some students may do no work at all.

Some groups may finish more quickly than others.

Pairs may not like each other.

It may not be possible to arrange furniture in the right way.

Students in a pair may be of different levels and have difficulty understanding each other.

Planning review

Good planning means:

1. Specifying your aims for the lesson and how you intend to put over your teaching point(s) in a coherent manner.

2. Being aware of the time you, the teacher, have to deliver your lesson and to achieve your aims.

3. Using context to teach the target language.

4. Dividing your lesson up into stages.Unit 4 24 Module 2

5. Being aware of what the students will be doing at each stage.

6. Choosing suitable situations and activities to exploit (ie practise) the teaching point(s).

7. Being aware of which other language items (not your target language) are likely to be used by the students in these situations. Teachers may present the same teaching point in different ways. One teacher may make more use of a textbook than another, who might only include textbook material as a last resort. Planning inevitably involves rejection of ideas whatever the source may be as well as acceptance of them.

Lesson planning is not easy. Take it seriously right from the beginning and you will gradually understand its importance and it will become easier. If you start off as a lazy planner, you are cheating your students out of the chance to feel secure and succeed.

Look at the following lesson plans as reference for producing your own. Study the lesson plans, then complete Task 1.

Sample Lesson Plan 1 (Vocabulary lesson). Group/class teaching

Pre-plan:

Level, age Intermediate, Adults

Lesson duration 1 hour 30 minutes

Main aim To learn cooking verbs and to be able to use them in recipes. Secondary aims To practise giving and following instructions, sequencing and

talking about favourite dishes. Target language Add, bake, beat, boil, chop, crush, fry, grate, grill, mix,

measure, mince, peel, pour, roast, sautee, slice, stir.Assumptions Recognition of imperative form for instructions

Food vocabularyLanguage of sequencing [first, then, next ....]

Expected problems

Use of 'you must' rather than imperative formConfusion of articles [take a carrot , peel the carrot]

Unit 4 25 Module 2

Students may not know what to name all the ingredients.Solutions Demonstration and drilling of the imperative form of cooking

verbs. Quick revision of articles. Encourage students to look up the names of unfamiliar ingredients in a dictionary.

Lesson sequence:

Introduction (5 minutes)

Bring a carrot or potato into the lesson. Ask students to suggest how you could eat it, what you could make from it. Then ask students about their favourite meat or vegetable.

Presentation(15 min)

Put details on the board in 3 columns.

Vegetables/meat How to prepare How to cook

potatoes peel fry slice bake Tell the class that your favourite meal is Shepherd's Pie oranother dish that you know how to prepare. Explain the process, putting the stages on the boardusing flashcards to help explain vocabulary [ie chop] orrealia, and using sequences [first, next …] Elicit as much as you can from the students. Limit to a maximum of 10 stages. Check that the group have understood and can reproduce the instructions orally.

Practice 1Pair work (10 mins)

Hand out worksheets with pictures of various actions used when cooking [ie fry, mix, add]. Students match the verbsgiven to the pictures. They then complete a short passage below, putting the correct verb into the correct space to complete the recipe. Teacher monitors.

"Take two large potatoes. First ......... the potatoes, then ........ them thinly and ........ gently in hot oil."

Practice 2 Individual work (10 mins)

Students listen to someone giving instructions on makinga Victoria Sandwich. The steps are given on a worksheetbut in the wrong order. Students listen and put stages intothe correct order. Students check in pairs. Teachermonitors.

Production Students in groups prepare the recipe for a simple dish,

Unit 4 26 Module 2

Group work (30 mins)

possibly from one of their own countries. They discuss, then write down, the ingredients, and the steps involved, but also make a copy with details in the wrong order.These are then collected and handed out to differentgroups, who must rearrange the instructions into thecorrect order and produce their own version, finallycomparing it with the correct original.

Teacher sets up the groups and possibly appointsgroup leaders. Teacher then monitors, noting errors for future revision work and helping with unknown vocabulary.

Plenary(15 mins)

Some ingredients/recipes read out to the class. Question-and-answer on foods and ingredients. Revision of aims and key terms plus mistakes/strong points from group work.

Homework(5 mins)

Students write down the recipe for a typical or favouritedish from their own country and bring it to the next lesson for wall display or for a small leaflet of recipes (with samples of course, if possible!)

Sample Lesson Plan 2 (Functional Lesson). Teaching One-to-One

Pre-plan

Level, age Elementary, 15-years oldLesson duration

1 hour 30 minutes (with a 5-minute break in the middle)

Aim To learn how to ask someone about their attitude to something and how to express your own attitude

Target language

Do you like...?How do you feel about...?What's your attitude to...? (optional, if the student has learnt the previous two phrases well)I love, I (really) like, I don't mind, I don't care about, I don't like/dislike, I hate, I can't stand + object How about you?

Unit 4 27 Module 2

Assumptions Student knows the word order in present simple sentences and questions. They probably know the basicverbs of attitude such as 'like'. The last lesson was on hobbies and free-time activities. They have previously studied fruit and vegetables.

Expected problems

Student may fail to grasp the more subtle differencesbetween the verbs of attitude.

At the freer practice stage the student may lack ideas for what to ask about.The production task may require a range of vocabulary in addition to the target language and assumed knowledge

Solutions Apart from the visuals on the board showing different degrees of liking/disliking, reinforce meaning with gestures and body language.

Make it fun, show that it can be about any object you see.

Encourage the student to say a word in their language and you will translate (if you know their language), or encourage them to use a dictionary.

Learning style Visual

Lesson sequence

Introduction. Warm-up (5 mins)

General chat about everyday matters. (This helps to build social skills and the vocabulary used when making small talk. Since the lessons are only once a week, the student needs ‘warming up').

Introduction. Revision and Lead-in(5 mins)

Produce pictures of free-time activities from the previous lesson, such as walking, playing computer games, watching TV, jogging, etc. Elicit the vocabulary. Then ask the student 'Do you like + activity?' about each activity. See how much of the target language he knows already. Encourage the student to ask you the same question and tell him how you feel about a few activities using the target language using simpler verbs at this stage.

Presentation(15 mins)

Tell the student how you feel about several activities, using all the target verbs ranging from love to can't stand (ie you

Unit 4 28 Module 2

love the first activity, like the next, don't mind the next, etc.) Draw the continuum on the board with funny pictures to convey meaning (eg big heart for 'love', skull and crossbones for 'can't stand'). Drill the words as they are presented. Drill the question 'How do you feel about...?' and have the student ask you about a set of activities. Quickly answer with body language reinforcement. Then ask the student how he feels and prompt him to use the target language. Drill some more.

ControlledPractice(10 mins)

Give the student a short text where a fictional character called Ned (whose picture is provided) talks about how he feels about different fruit and vegetables. There are gaps in sentences where the target language should be. Pictures of bananas, potatoes, plums, etc along with the symbols previously used on the board are provided as clues for what to put in the gaps. The student is encouraged not to look at the board and try to get the words from memory. Then he looks at the board to check the word choice and spelling. The text is read out with focus on pronunciation.

Whilst student is doing the task, put the kettle on and make a drink.

Break(5 min)

Tea/coffee and a chat. This can be about anything but you can also ask how he feels about tea and coffee (for instance he chose tea because he dislikes coffee), how often he drinks tea, coffee (if at all). What about milk, juice, etc? Since this is informal, don't focus on accuracy during this time.

ControlledPractice(15 mins)

Have pictures of some Hollywood stars ready on yourcomputer screen. How many of them can your student name? Listen to a recording where a girl talks about her attitude to those actors/actresses. Have the student make notes while he listens. See how much he understood. (She really likes Martin Freeman, she doesn't care about Meg Ryan, etc). Listen again and try to catch the reasons why she likes/dislikes some of the stars. Play sections of recording again to check if there are incorrect answers.

Freer practice (10 mins)

Drill 'how about you?' Model the dialogue:

'How do you feel about...?' 'I (like/hate, etc)… How about you?' 'I...'

Unit 4 29 Module 2

Act out this dialogue with the student asking about the first thing that crosses your mind (could be anything you see in the classroom). Take turns being the one to begin.

Production(15 mins)

Give the student time to prepare a short presentation: 'How I feel about living in...(wherever he lives).' Tell him to try to use all the target language and comment on what exactly he likes/dislikes about living there.

Plenary and warm-down(15 mins)

Listen to the student's presentation and give feedback afterwards. Encourage the student to correct his mistakes if any. Discuss what he has learnt today. Set homework: write about your family member or pet – what he/she likes, dislikes, etc. If time remains play Charades.

Now before you complete the Tutor-assessed task, read the following extract about lesson planning:

(*) This part is omitted from the printed textbook due to copyright protection. Please refer to the digital file of the textbook where you will see an excerpt from the book, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer 2007, Longman. That will help you complete the tasks. - INTESOL Japan

TASK FOR SUBMISSION TO YOUR TUTOR

TASK 1

And now the big one. You have had a great deal of input on how to organise lessons, what needs to be taken into consideration, how language works, what students are like and so on. Your task is to prepare a lesson plan to teach a group of ESOL students a language point of your choice (grammar, vocabulary or function).

You should begin with a pre-plan:

Clearly indicate rough timing of the lesson. It should be 45 minutes or more.Indicate the aims and level of the lesson and the target language.Indicate your assumptions: what you expect students to know before the lesson.Unit 4 30 Module 2

Indicate the expected problems and suggest solutions to them.

Then continue with the lesson sequence:

Show clearly different stages of the lesson and indicate the role of the teacher at each of these stages.Remember to focus on the target language. Show that you have a clear idea how it is used.Remember to include a variety of activities. Remember to include different types of grouping in your lesson.

Together with the plan, submit any worksheets, reading texts or other materials that you plan to use, so that these may be assessed.

Finally:

Say what the last lesson might have been and what a follow-up lesson might be.

Part 2. Self-development

This part is all about the support that is available for you. As an EFL teacher in the 21st century you are part of a global community and you should never feel lonely!

The INTESOL course is finished but your life as a teacher is not finished. Some of you on this course are already teaching in classrooms, some of you are about to start and others may be doing private lessons. Whatever you are doing you must never stop looking for ways to improve your teaching and learning throughout your professional life. You do not know all there is to know about teaching, nor do the INTESOL team. Be a lifelong learner!

You

Unit 4 31 Module 2

The most important person for ensuring that you develop as a teacher is you yourself. Always reflect on your lessons and be prepared for change and experimentation.

Some teachers keep a teaching diary where they note things down on a regular basis. They may keep a record of how they feel about their lessons, any good ideas they had, any lessons that didn’t go well and other details. Teachers who keep diaries report that they are an excellent way of focusing your mind on what goes on in your classes and they can be organised as you wish.

Colleagues

They are always around, but it is surprising how often teachers in the same staffroom do not talk to each other very much!

It is very easy for a non-sharing atmosphere to develop among colleagues who are pressed for time and feeling insecure about their teaching. Staff rooms become competitive, and teachers keep all their best ideas to themselves. If this atmosphere develops or has already developed in the place where you go to work, then try to change it little by little.

Make a notice board where teachers can pin up their new ideas. Suggest adding a five-minute ‘new idea of the week’ section to staff meetings. Individually ask colleagues for assistance. Perhaps you have just thought of a new teaching activity which looks good. It may look perfect to you, but your colleague could help you develop the idea. Explaining an idea to a colleague is very useful practice before explaining to learners - if your colleague cannot follow the activity then probably the learners won’t either! Similarly, if you have been having a problem with a few of the learners, don’t be afraid to say so to a colleague. You may find that he/she had the same problem with the same learners last year. You can brainstorm a solution together! When you have a good relationship with colleagues, ask if you can sit in on their lessons. This is a good way to make yourself aware of the varied techniques that teachers use and you will definitely pick up some new ideas.

Experienced colleagues, often with positions such as Senior Teacher or Head of English can be very helpful and reassuring and are often more available when you want to ask for help as their teaching load is less. However, if your Senior Teacher always looks busy and harassed then make a formal appointment to see them. Ask them to observe your lessons informally and to give you their advice, don’t wait for formal assessments!

Unit 4 32 Module 2

Being observed

Two words to set the hearts of teachers quivering. But lesson observation is a very important part of development if it is handled well.

1. Show your proposed lesson plan for your observation to other colleagues and listen to their suggestions.

2. Do not be overly ambitious and try to reinvent the wheel. Keeping things simple is your best bet. As INTESOL trainers we have seen teachers going crazy with endless flashcards that end up on the floor, activities that are incomprehensible, video clips that are too complicated and so on, and the ensuing lesson is a muddle.

3. Don’t suddenly spring new techniques on your students just because your ‘boss’ is coming in. They will not understand what you are doing and you will make them nervous too.

4. Include a clear language teaching point in your lesson so that the observer understands that you can teach language.

5. Most of all listen to what the observer tells you. Observers are not hostile people who want to fire you; they are there to make sure that you are coping in your classroom and that the students are getting a good experience.

Not all goes smoothly in teaching. Sometimes you can feel that the students are restless or uneasy. It may be time to get them involved in feeding back or evaluating what they are doing and how they see you as a teacher.

SELF-CHECK 4:2 7

You want to find out what your learners think of :

1. You as a teacher.2. The teaching styles and activities you use.3. The course.4. A particular lesson.

How many ways can you think of for doing this?

COMMENT

Unit 4 33 Module 2

The simple two-word answer here is ‘ask them’. But it is how you ask them that is interesting. Read on.

You care about whether you are doing well or badly. It is very important for our professional development that we do not sit back and presume that we are doing everything right, or alternatively, plod on, depressed and thinking everything we do is wrong! Ask the learners.

Learners’ feedback to you

Take an activity that you might wish to change in some way. Give out a questionnaire (example shown below) after the activity/lesson and ask the learners to tick the appropriate boxes. Tell them that you do not want their names on the paper and, while they are filling in the questionnaire, stay at your desk to ensure their privacy. You can also tell them why you are using these questionnaires: to develop your techniques, to help them learn better, etc. Find time in the next lesson to talk to them about the results. Eg‘Most of you enjoyed the roleplay, but you didn’t think the competitive ‘find the information’ was very useful.’

Using the results of the questionnaire, you can locate points in the lesson which were effective and those that were not very effective from the learners’ point of view. However you get the information and whatever it is, use it and share it.

Unit 4 34 Module 2

Please fill in the questionnaire about today’s lesson/ an activity:Number the following stages from 1 to 5. (1= very interesting/ useful 5= not interesting/not useful)

The brainstorming before reading the text: Guess the titleThe skimming activity: 3 minutes to change your titleThe scanning activity: Who can find the information first?The careful reading: Who was where at the time of the murder?The roleplay: Act out one of the possible versions of the murder (groups)

Any suggestions/comments?

You can also organise discussions with students about their learning. It can work well if you leave the room for 5 minutes to allow them to discuss points they want to raise and write them on the white board. You can then return and discuss them. But you must be able to accept what they say and not get angry if they give their honest opinion of your ability with flashcards or your punctuality! Feedback is usually very valuable indeed as it clears the air of any little points that are worrying the students and usually they have nice things to say about you as well.

Formal events and local groups

Seminars and conferences are where you can pick up some of the latest developments in ELT and useful ideas for teaching. It is also fun to make contact with nationally or internationally recognised people in ELT. Many ‘big names’ in teaching, including the writer of your course text book Jeremy Harmer, can be found at conferences. Your access to such events will depend on where you live and how much money you have available to travel, but most big conferences also post their proceedings on the web these days, so you can catch up on events you missed.The International teachers and educators group IATEFL hold a big conference each year and have groups in many countries. Their contact details appear on their website www.iatefl.org. Another organisation that supports teachers and organises events is TESOL International Association (www.tesol.org).

Join TESOL/TEFL/TESL groups and communities in social networks to stay in contact with colleagues worldwide. Twitter offers a convenient way to get links to daily updates from the world of TESOL which allows you to keep up to speed with the latest news and developments. You can follow some important TESOL people on Twitter, such as coursebook authors, and get updates from them personally.

Literature and publications Books are wonderful friends, especially for those of you who do a lot of private teaching and do not have as many colleagues. Harmer gives a comprehensive list of useful titles and INTESOL has a short list too. Books are great sources of ideas, but don’t neglect the journals, newspapers and magazines that are also around. Harmer mentions one or two major publications that you might like to subscribe to. The EL Gazette is a lively newspaper format publication

Unit 4 35 Module 2

looking at new developments in ELT and with plenty of information on study opportunities. It is available online.

There are thousands of ELT websites; some are small ones that teachers have set up on their own and some are huge organisations. Obviously new ones are developing all the time. Approach web materials with care as they are not always very professional but there are wonderful ideas out there. You may already have a favourite site.

Further training

The most obvious ‘next step up’ in terms of training and qualifications is a Diploma in English Language Teaching when you have had some more experience. Such a course goes into linguistics and developments in methodology in more depth and takes a serious look at such issues as phonology and culture in ELT. The more years you have behind you, the more you bring to a course at that level. When you feel up to the challenge, you might also look at the many university-run MA programmes, some of which can be done by distance.

On the other hand, you may want to specialise and take our Advanced Certificate Course in Teaching Business English.

So development does not end after the course. There are many options open to you and many opportunities that you can create for yourself and your colleagues.

Your final task for this course is designed to focus forwards to your future development.

Now consider the following extract:

(*) This part is omitted from the printed textbook due to copyright protection. Please refer to the digital file of the textbook where you will see an excerpt from the book, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer 2007, Longman. That will help you complete the tasks. - INTESOL Japan

Unit 4 36 Module 2

TASK TO BE SUBMITTED TO YOUR TUTOR

TASK 2

First, make notes on the following, thinking about your teaching and perhaps other things in your life:

The aspects of this course I have been most interested in are………………

Immediately after finishing this course I………………..

Over the next 6 months I …………………….

Over the next 5 years I ………………………

1. Using the notes you make and any other relevant information, write a short report to us (300 words) saying what you have enjoyed on the course, how you see yourself developing over the next 5 years and what areas of your teaching life you would especially like to concentrate on.

2. Keep a copy - looking at it from time to time may remind you of your

‘promises’ to yourself.

Unit 4 37 Module 2

Goodbye and the very best of luck.

Copyright INTESOL Worldwide 2015

Unit 4 38 Module 2