Lesson Planning

 
1
 Planning is an essential part of delivering a good lesson.
2
 Bear in mind factors such as type of group, time of day, objectives for the lesson, context within the unit of work.
3
 Establish clear routines for entering and leaving the room, pairwork, register, homework setting, giving instructions.
4
 Pay special attention to transitions between activities. At no point should there be any time when the pupils are not engaged in a specific activity. This will lead to restlessness and potential disruption. The smooth flow of the the lesson will be interrupted.
5
 Start planning by looking at the wider context of the lesson. Where does this lesson fit in? In what ways will it contribute towards the wider context? Decide on the lesson outcomes. How will the lesson make a difference in terms of moving the pupils forward? Once you have decided on the learning outcome, plan backwards dividing the lesson into blocks of activity. Ensure there is an appropriate mixture of pace, variety and settling activities.
6
 Decide what you want most pupils in the group to be able to achieve by the end of the lesson. Decide what some should be able to do by the end. Sequence your activities in a way which is as smooth as possible and which supports the pupils, building up their skills. Plan backwards radiating out from the intended outcome.
7
 Keep the focus of the lesson narrow. It should not be a linear journey or a random visit through a series of unrelated activities in the textbook, but a cohesive presentation and exploitation of a central theme.
8
 Make sure all the activities revolve around the central theme. Build in some settling time but try to make sure that the end of the lesson involves a recap of the main objectives.
9
 State the learning objectives specifically: "By the end of this lesson most of you should be able to .... and some of you will.... " At the end, check that this has been achieved. Devise recap and checking strategies for the last 3-4 minutes of the lesson. Perhaps dismiss a selection of pupils once they have proved that they can perform a certain task. e.g. "the password to get out of the classroom is to say one thing about your favourite teacher."
10
 When deciding on the building blocks, make sure that you sequence the activities in a logical and helpful way. Check that the pupils have the required knowledge to perform certain tasks. For example, in order to cope with statements using the 24-hour clock, they will need to demonstrate confident handling of numbers 1- 59. Check and practise this first.
11
 Homework should be relevant to the activities covered in the lesson. Allow plenty of time for homework to be noted down. Make sure that the pupils understand what is required and that they have a fair chance of completing it successfully. Hoemwork that involves learning should always be tested in some way in the following lesson and the pupils should expect this. Make sure that you keep an accurate record of the homework and that you pursue defaulters rigorously from the start. See the homework ideas page for more.
12

Each lesson should follow the general pattern of:

  • contextulaisation (setting the scene, explaining objectives)
  • presentation (of language, grammar point)
  • practice (repetition, pair work)
  • reinforcement & consolidation (listening/ reading/ more pairwork/ game / writing)
  • homework (if applicable)
  • recap (diagnostic check)
13 Don't try to to do lots of oral work late in the lesson. In the last 10 minutes of most lessons, pupils appreciate and need the opportunity for quiet writing-based activity. Many lessons fall apart because the pupils are over-stimulated when they are at their least receptive. You also need the breathing-space.
14 Focus on pupil learning rather than your teaching. Always think about the validity of a certain task in terms of the pupil learning.
  Many thanks to my colleague Rachel Cusworth of Longdean School, Hemel Hempstead for some of this material.