Second edition

Lesson plan components
Level and number of learners / class profile		24 students at Intermediate (B2) level
Timetable fit		Students have already worked on simple descriptions of people
Main aim{s)		To extend range of vocabulary for describing people Oral fluency practice
Subsidiary aims		Students use appropriate language for basic physical descriptions
Assumptions		Students can use present simple & past simple to describe habits and past events
Anticipated problem		Students may be unwilling to repeat the same task in the last stage of the lesson
Possible solution		if necessary, suggest that students report description from their original partner rather than repeating their own
Timing	Procedure	Stage aims	Aids and materials	Interaction pattern
5 minutes	Students talk about their families	Warmer/lead-in: to get students talking and introduce the topic	Family photographs brought in by students	Patrwork
10 minutes	Students select appropriate adjectives to complete descriptions of family members in transcripts of mini-dialogues	To introduce new vocabulary	Short gapped transcripts Recorded dialogues CD player	Individual work pairwork
	They listen to the mini-dialogues and check answers	Intensive listening		Teacher whole class
10 minutes	Students exchange information about their own family members	To give students fluency practice; describing personalities, habitual behaviour and specific past events	(none)	Pairwork (Teacher monitors)
10 minutes	Teacher gives feedback on language used Students do gap-fill task	To highlight need for new language To introduce new language To focus on accuracy	Teacher’s notes Whiteboard Worksheet	Teacher ■“* whole class Individual work
10 minutes	Students repeat family description task	To provide an opportunity for students to improve their spoken performance	(none)	Pairwork (new partners)
		To give students further fluency practice

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Lesson plan components
Timetable fit	1
Main aim(s)	2
Subsidiary aim(s)	3 To listen to authentic spoken English.
Personal aim(s)	4
Assumptions	5 Students will find the topic motivating.
Anticipated language problems	6 Students may make lots of mistakes.
Possible solution	7
Procedures	8

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Unit 20 Identifying the different components of a lesson plan

A To practise giving an informal spoken summary,
В Students listen twice h> ihe smry₍ liien in their groups prepare a spoken summary, Groups present their summaries and receive feedback from the rest of the class.
C Be realistic about timing.
D Correct only serious errors; ignore mistakes that don't cause misunderstanding,
E To consolidate work on reported speech.





Think about these comments from teachers. Which do you agree with and why?

0. 
   I know my classes, so I don't have to list all the components in every lesson plan.
   
1. 
   I always try to think about timetable fit - what we did in the last lesson and what we're going to do in the next one,
   
2. 
   It's important to think about things that might go wrong, so I always write something about anticipated problems.
   

1. 
   Look at Chapter 8 ('Why did I do it like this?') of Children Learning English by Jayne Moon, Macmillan 2000, for some useful examples of lesson plans in different styles and formats.
   
2. 
   Exchange ideas with colleagues on how to write a lesson plan. Try out different approaches to planning and make notes mi what works best for you in yonr Teacher Portfolio.
   
3. 
   For ideas on lesson planning, look at Chapter 12 ('How to plan lessons') from Howto Teach English (Second edit ion) by Jeremy Harmer, Longman 2007, and two short articles on. planning by Callum Robertson, BBC English at:
   

http;//www.teachingenglish,org.uk/think/articles/planning~:{ and /planning-2

4. 
   For more detailed advice on planning and further examples of how to write a plan, look at Chapter 22, Sections A, В1-3 and C of The Practice of English Language Teaching (Fourth edition) by Jeremy Harmer, Pearson Education Ltd 2007, and Chapter 8 of Teaching Practice Handbook (Second edition) by Roger Gower, Diane Phillips and Steve Walters, Macmillan 1995.
   
5. 
   For lesson plans on a wide variety of topics that you can download free, visit: http://wwvv.onestopenglish.eom/
   

The British Council in Romania offer an 'ELT lesson plan of the week' with, links to all ihe materials you need for each lesson at;
hi tp://www.hritishcou ndl.org/roinania-educat ion-materials-f or-teachers-elt- lesson-pkm.htm


137

Module 2

ГKT practice task 20 (See page 245 for answers)
For questions 1-7, look at the lesson plan components and the three extracts from lesson plans listed A, В and G.
Two of the extracts are examples of the component. One sentence is NOT.
Choose the letter (A, 8 or C) of the sentence which is NOT an example of the component. ¹


1 Personal aim
A to improve the timing of the lesson В to include all the learners in feedback C to check understanding of new lexical items

2. 
   Assumptions
   

A Learners may come from China, Spain and Thailand. В The text will be a useful challenge for this group.
C Learners are familiar with the topic.

2. 
   Procedure
   

A Learners mingle to do a survey.
В The teacher prepares a PowerPoint® presentation.
G The teacher checks the answers.

2. 
   Class profile
   

A The learners are at pre-intermediate level.
В Most of the learners have a visual learning style.
C The learners are all reliable.

2. 
   Anticipated problems
   

A Learners may find the text too long.
В The accents could be difficult to understand.
G Learners can deduce meaning from context.

2. 
   interaction patterns A pairwork
   

В self-access G teacher / whole class

2. 
   Timetable fit
   

A to prepare for project work В to consolidate revision of tenses C to introduce new language


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Structural sequence	integrated skills sequence	Project work sequence
revision: past simple revision: present perfect contrast: past simple vs. present perfect	vocabulary development: describing places (function: describing) reading: choosing a holiday writing: letter to a friend narrating holiday experiences (function: narrating)	reading and listening about free-time activities class survey and research: sport and entertainment preparation of a poster display to show results of survey about free-time activities

■ Key concepts
Planning an individual lesson
When we plan an individual lesson, we ask ourselves a number of questions: © What is my overall aim?
• Wi 1Пhc topic be 1 nleresting and mot!vating fоr my 1 eamers?


139

Lesson i (Introducing new language)

Lesson 2 (Developing reading skills)

t Warmer/Leadun: students describe contrasting pictures of two cities. Reading task: students read article comparing the cities in the pictures. Focus on form 1: students notice forms used in text for comparison. Focus on form 2: students deduce rules for formation of comparative adjectives. Controlled practice: students apply rules to complete worksheet exercise. Speaking task: in pairs, students make further comparisons based on pictures of different places, Homework (writing): students produce a similar text comparing second pair of pictures.

Warmer/lead-tn: teacher asks students about topic (healthy eating) P re-teach vocabulary: pairs complete worksheet Gist reading task (text: letter requesting advice): identify addressee (magazine advice column) Detailed reading task i (text organisation): students match jumbled paragraph summaries to the text Detailed reading task 2 (sentence-level comprehension): true/faise task Extension (speaking): discussion/brainstorm ideas to respond to letter Homework (writing): reply to letter

Although language lessons vary in the sequence of stages (perhaps, as in PPP lessons, focusing first on language, or, as in TBL lessons, starting with language in use), they always include some attention to formal features of language, with tasks that give learners more or less controlled practice of particular structures.
Skills-based lessons, however, aim at developing learners' abilities in receptive and/or productive language skills, and rather than focusing on particular language items, they give learners the opportunity to work on specific .subski 11s, though subsidiary aims and their related procedures may well focus on language.


140

	Scheme A	Scheme В	Scheme C
Weeks	® Grammar * Vocabulary	s Grammar revision (past tenses) ? Vocabulary (free-time activities) s Practice exercise {from coursebook)	® Class discussion of advantages and disadvantages of living in the city s Revise and extend vocabulary & Focus on comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs; practice exercise
Week 4	Listening Speaking	s Check vocabulary з Reading (emails) « Speaking - fluency activities	8 Reading: personal stories: students order sections of text s Focus on text organisation s Writing: students’own stories a Peer correction (where students correct one another)
Week 5	в Reading s Writing	Quick revision: work from weeks 3 and 4 s Listening (e.g, holiday story) Grammar focus (reported speech) s Writing (report of story)	» Listening: song - group transcription Grammar game (snakes and (adders) to revise work on comparatives and superlatives Pronunciation practice: focus on /э/
Week 6	§ Test	© Speaking (role-play) * Feedback	s Review of grammar and topic * Group work: producing sections of tourist brochure for students' town

■ How detailed should schemes of work be?
Schemes of work are not as detailed as lesson plans. Like any individ ual lesson, a sequence of lessons should have a logical and learning-friendly progression (where one stage leads to another in a dear order) and a good balance of approaches and activities. Like a lesson plan, a scheme of work helps us to identify our aims and make sure we choose materials and procedures that match those aims.
A very detailed scheme of work (like example C above) gives us a dear sense of direction, but it is often difficult to predict how learners' needs develop, so we may need to change the scheme. A very broad scheme (like example A) without much detail, leaves the teacher much freer to respond to learners' needs, but doesn't give any reminders of aims or materials for individual lessons. The most useful approach is probably one that includes some detail and gives the teacher a sense of direction (like example B), hut leaves him/her free to add to it week by week to make it into a series of lesson plans.


141

pace	-A quick and fast-moving, or slow and reflective
interaction pattern	-A individual, pairs, groups, whole class
skill	-A productive or receptive
level of difficulty	-A non-demanding, or requiring effort and concentration
content	-A changing from one language point to another; from one subject to another
mood	A light or serious; happy or sad; tense or relaxed
exciting or calming activities	A ‘stirring’ (lively and active) or ‘settling’ (quietening down)

(adapted from A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur, Cambridge University Press 1996)


Read these tips and tick the ones which ore most important for you.
© Learners may well require more frequent revision than the coursebook provides.