Writing a lesson plan can be a daunting task for many,
whether you are a new teacher or a teacher teaching in their second
language. This series will present
different aspects about planning a lesson once a week during the month of
June.
A lesson plan can take many different forms but they all
tend to include the same information.
For the sake of where I work, I will use specific language in regards to
lesson planning. While I want to
keep this as general as possible for all my readers, I will use the following
vocabulary today: warm up, presentation, practice, and production. Because I work in a country that has
specific guidelines for lesson plan, I will note that through out the lesson,
but when I do I will use blue font.
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| This is specifically for the teachers in Costa Rica, erase the blue to fill your information |
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When planning a lesson, what is the first thing you do? Hopefully you say write the
objective. The objective molds the
rest of the lesson. When writing
the lesson plan ask yourself, “What
should my students be able to do by the end of this lesson?” and “How will I measure their learning?”
If you have a syllabus that breaks down things into units,
then don’t forget to prepare your lesson within that topic.
In the case of some, the
syllabus includes not only the topic but also objectives to be covered within
that unit. If this is the case,
look in the unit you are teaching and choose an objective to complete in that
one lesson.
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Once the objective is
written, you need to think of the students’ production, where students
demonstrate their understanding of the objective and how you will assess this learning. This is the last part of the lesson plan, after the new
material has been presented and students have practiced. Ask your self, “How will the students show their understanding of the objective?”
The production
must be where students show their learning without the teacher’s
assistance and individually if possible.
Production can be an oral report/presentation, a
worksheet, a skit, a written report, a summarization, or many other
things. Teachers *must* note if the students’ accomplished the
objective at this time. This can
be done through many assessments (evaluations),
such as a rubric or checklist.
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| Production example: Internal Organs "cereal" |
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Once you
have planned how you will measure the students’ learning, you need to plan a
guided practice
that will prepare the students to demonstrate their learning individually. As
you prepare this section, ask yourself “What
activities can the students do to help prepare them to show their understanding
of the objective?”
A practice
is where students work in pairs or small groups using the newly presented
information while the teacher helps answer questions and *gently* corrects
mistakes.
Practice
can be a game, pairs completing a task, and more. As long as it uses the vocabulary and grammar taught *that
day* and prepares them to complete the production successfully.
The practice
should be about half of the class period.
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| Practice Example: labeling the organs of the body |
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Once you have planned how you will measure the objective and
the practice, you need to think of “What
vocabulary, grammar, and sentence/question structure do the students need to
know to complete the practice and production?” This is the presentation.
The presentation
is where you give the students the vocabulary, grammar, and structure they need
to be able to successfully and confidently complete the practice and production.
Presentation
can be a PowerPoint slide show, notes on the board, a diagram, a graphic
organizer, a video, etc. The presentation only needs to include the things
students need *that day* to successfully accomplish the objective. The presentation should be short,
about 10 to 15 minutes.
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Only once the rest of the lesson is planned do you need to
think of the warm
up. The warm up is
at the beginning of the class to get the students ready for the day’s
lesson. As you plan this last
part, ask yourself “What short activity
can get the students ready to learn about today’s objective?”
The warm up is to activate students’ prior
knowledge and get them thinking about what they will learn that day.
Warm up can be a song, short video, question
that they must answer, survey, etc.
The warm
up *must* be short, 3 to 5 minutes. It is best to have
this ready as soon as the students walk in your door.
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| Warm Up Example: Race to label the organs in 1st language |
That was a short rundown of preparing a lesson plan. While this blog is specifically focused
on teaching English, this series can be for any type of teacher. The items that are in italic will be addressed later on in the
series.
Check back next week of a new post in the “How to Plan a
Successful Lesson” series! And
stick around for new teaching English ideas each week!
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