Module 6 - Planning
Module 6 - Planning
Module 6: Planning
Module 6: Planning
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Table of contents
Introduction
Unit 1: Pre-Planning Stages
Unit 2: Teaching Methodologies
Unit 3: Timetable and Classroom
Unit 4: Are your students young learners, teenagers of adults?
Unit 5: Teaching different age groups
Unit 6: Teaching different levels
Unit 7: The Importance of Class Size
Unit 8: The Importance Differentiation
Unit 9: Learning Styles
Unit 10: Discovering Learning Styles
Unit 11: SMART Aims and Objectives
Unit 12: What kind of problems can you expect
Unit 13: Pre-Planning Stage Lesson Plan
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Introduction
How do you decide what to teach on your first day or first week?
In this Module, we will help you plan a lesson for the level of the students in front of you. In many cases, there
will be different levels within one classroom and as you gain experience you will learn how to differentiate
activities to suit the needs of these students.
The most natural strategy for dealing with different levels is to encourage group work and also pair stronger
students with weaker students. This type of differentiation will allow both, gifted and talented children, and
weaker students to flourish together. It's good to remember that we all develop at different speeds throughout
our lives and it's natural for us to share knowledge and ideas.
TEFL Fullcircle can promise you one thing: you will feel tremendous after you complete your first lesson. It's a
mixture of achievement, happiness, relief and reward and it will make you want to go back and do it again.
Let's imagine it's your first week and you have just arrived at your new school. Well done! Many schools will
already have students in levels and have a coursebook for you to follow; this will be a great help. You'll find
your first week a busy time; you'll be getting to know the staff and finding your way around at the same time as
getting used to your environment outside of your new school. I can remember when I first moved to Vietnam. It
was an exciting, exhilarating and visual stunning experience.
Most courses will have a syllabus which will correspond to the level of the students and a textbook which will
accompany the course.
A syllabus is a detailed list of topics which will be taught during the course, so that the learner can attain a
certain standard or level of English from Beginner to Advanced.
The syllabus acts as a road map, listing the major areas of grammar, vocabulary and other language areas to be
covered. The syllabus also sets targets for the students to achieve.
If you have a syllabus, this will help you a great deal and you can start to plan your first few lessons.
However, before you meet your students and assess what they are like, you won't be able to tailor-make your
lesson plan. So, it's important that you get to know your students first. You will be able to plan a better lesson
once you have found out more about your learners. Getting to know your students will provide you with the
starting point for caressing context in your lesson. You will need to think about your learners interests and the
kind of activities they do inside and outside of school. Many teachers plan lessons to find out this kind of
information in the first week of school.
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4/4/2018 Module 6: Planning
You have completed the Class Management and Grammar Basics Modules. Well done!
In Module 1, we introduced Teaching Methodologies and Techniques which we will now re-visit to refresh
your memory on the different approaches to teaching. It should also be noted that at some point in the
future you will start to incorporate many of these different approaches into your lessons.
For the moment, though, we are going to focus on the Presentation-Practice-Production Technique.
An outstanding teacher has many accomplished qualities but, for TEFL Fullcircle, a teacher should try to be
authentic, funny, knowledgeable, and dynamic, and aim to gain the respect of the class. Underpinning all of
these qualities is planning.
Over time, when you have taught some lessons, you will be able to add more and more of your own personality
to the plans and you will feel more relaxed.
However, when you start, ensure you have a plan on your desk so that you can follow it step by step. Print it in
large type, so you can see it clearly, and include a few more activities than you may need, just in case your
students finish quickly or you complete the lesson too quickly. These things happen.
Planning a lesson is crucial to your success and planning will allow you to relax more and more, showing your
true personality and your real reasons for becoming a teacher: to help and guide others to learn English.
A plan should be a written or electronic document on your tablet or laptop. Many of the schools you will work
at will have a set format to follow. However, most lesson plan documents contain the same information. There
are some sample lesson plans at the end of this Section which can be downloaded and used.
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A good lesson plan will contain: context, structure and practice. If another teacher is looking at your lesson
plan, he should know exactly what is going to happen in your lesson.
Class size
Differentiation
Learning styles
Potential problems
Teaching techniques
Timing
Presentation Stage
Practice Stage
Production Stage
A well-planned lesson will allow you to show your humour, personality and passion. It will let you have fun
and become an outstanding and inspirational teacher.
Let's show you how and give you some tips from real teaching experiences on how to create a well-planned
lesson within your safe and fun learning environment.
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As you get to know your class, you will begin to understand who the gifted children are and you'll also have a
better idea of potential issues.
As mentioned in Module 2, success is the classroom is all about building solid relationships. Having a sound
plan will help you relax and build these relationships.
Let's now consider some of the key points you will need to consider to understand the context of the
classroom.
Class size
Differentiation
Learning styles
Potential issues
You will have to plan different lessons for different ages and different levels of students. Unfortunately, 'one
size' does not fit all and you will have to tailor-make each of your lessons to meet the needs of your learners.
A small group of Business English learners will have very different needs to those of a large group of teenage
students. Young learners will require lots and lots of short, fun activities to help them keep their focus
compared with adult beginners who might feel self-conscious when trying to speak.You will find that having a
Wikispaces site will help you manage many different types of groups and allow you to differentiate lessons.
There is a wealth of information on the internet and your Wikispaces site will give your learners a central
location from which to locate games, activities and acquire knowledge.
In summary, you will have to adapt activities to meet these different needs. However, by having an outstanding
lesson plan and staying calm you will be able to cope and also have fun.
Connecting with your learners will make your lesson much easier for you.
At this point please download a copy of an TEFL Fullcircle lesson plan so you can start to understand each part
as we go through the different sections.
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1. 2.
3. 4.
Potential Issues:
5.
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Introduction / Warmer:
6.
Lesson Activities:
7.
Detail:
Activity 1:
Activity 2:
Activity 3:
Activity 4:
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8.
9.
Extension Strategies:
Homework:
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As stated in the introduction to this section, TEFL Fullcircle will teach you the Presentation-Production-
Practice technique to create a well-planned lesson.TEFL Fullcircle would also like to state that, over time when
your experience grows, you should try all of the methods below in full or in parts in your lessons.
There have been many different methods of teaching introduced over the years. Here are some of the main
methods which are used for Teaching English as Foreign Language.
The Grammar-Translation method: Students have to memorise grammar rules and vocabulary and practise
by translating sentences from their mother tongue into the foreign language. There is little time spent
developing oral skills.
The Direct Method or Oral method or Natural method: This method advocates teaching in only the target
language. This method also focuses on teaching oral skills, practice in having conversations, and
improving pronunciation. Writing and reading is developed later. Grammar is learnt using the inductive
approach.
The Audio-Lingual method: This is a drilling method where a student listens and then repeats. Students
practise different dialogues for different situations.
The Structural-Situational method: A model pattern is introduced and often practised with drilling. However,
context is added to the scenarios. Grammatical rules are learnt one at a time.
Task Based Learning: With this form of learning, the students are given a task and try to work out the
structure themselves. Often there is no formal instruction, as students must find the solution themselves.
In this method, the teacher will say as little as possible and encourages students to create their own language,
prompted by physical objects.
Immersion:
In this method, students are immersed in English throughout the day in school. They are taught all subjects in
English. This method is often used in Asian schools.
The Lexical Approach: In this approach, the students are taught the most commonly used lexical chunks of
words and structures. The idea is that common phrases are taught
Eclectic Approach: This approach uses all of the above teaching methods and uses styles which suit learners at
different levels.
Let's consider the difference between inductive and deductive teaching. The main difference between the two is
the direction of information that flows between the teacher and student.
Inductive: With this approach, an activity is introduced first and students are expected to work out the rules
themselves, before the teacher explains it. This approach is often used in smaller classes. The inductive
approach allows for creativity in the lesson.
Deductive: With the deductive approach, the teacher (or the concept) introduces rules and then they are applied
to an activity. This approach is often used in larger classes. This approach is also quite traditional in its nature.
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TEFL Fullcircle recognises that to be an outstanding teacher you need to be an authentic person who can build
solid relationships with your students and can adapt your teaching methods to suit the needs of your students.
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Once you have your timetable, you will then know how long your lessons will be and what time they take
place. Often a timetable will have the same room number but it will be in a different block. Once you get your
timetable, it's a wise idea to go and have a walk and find where your classroom is located.
Also, if you can, go and have a look inside and see what you have to work with. Ask yourself questions like:
It's important to go and find out the level of resources you have available in your new classroom. Remember
that if you have planned a lesson, which relies heavily on technology and when you arrive in the classroom all
the technology is redundant or has been moved, you will have to think on your feet quickly!
Once you have your timetable with room numbers and you have found your classrooms, you are ready for the
next step.
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However, most of the time, you will have to wait until you meet your students to find out more information.
During the first week or first few lessons, it's a good idea to get to know your students and build up
some rapport, with some games and simple activities. This will also make you feel more relaxed, knowing that
the first week will be spent getting to know the new school and students.
Nobody will expect you to walk in the door and start teaching without getting to know your students first.
If you are teaching in a slightly different environment, like a private language school or within a business, you
will also have to get to know the background of your learners.
Their background will directly affect the course and the way you deliver the content and add context. For
example, a group of Business English learners will have very different backgrounds compared to school age
students.
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In summary, you will have to tailor-make all your lessons to meet the needs of your students.
We have included some super resources in the Suggested Reading section to help you when teaching young
learners and teenagers.
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The following information on the different levels will guide you with the content. The coursebook will also
have the topics, which you will cover during the course.
Beginner:
At the beginner level, the student will know very few words in English. It's a rewarding level to teach because
everything is new. A beginner can be a child or an adult. Remember to set everything in a meaningful context
when teaching all students.
Here are typical areas of lexis and structures for your beginner class:
Verbs: 'to be' and 'to have' in positive and negative forms
Numbers: 1 to 100
Jobs
Basic food
Family
Everyday objects
Elementary:
Here are typical areas of lexis and structures for your elementary class:
Verbs: Present simple in the positive and the negative, past simple, future simple
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Lexis/vocabulary: teaching new vocabulary to cover: shopping, cooking, directions, telling the time
including months and years
Comparatives
Pre-intermediate:
A pre-Intermediate student has knowledge of basic grammar structure and a good range of vocabulary.
Here are typical areas of lexis and structures for your pre-intermediate class:
Verbs: Modal verbs: I can/can't and I must/mustn't, present perfect tense, past simple with irregular verbs,
past continuous
Adverbs
Vocabulary to cover the following topics: movies, shopping, clothes, booking hotels and holidays, and
many more useful areas that you think your students will enjoy.
Intermediate:
Here are typical areas of lexis and structures for your intermediate class:
Verbs: Modal verbs, conditionals, gerunds and infinitives, present perfect continuous, past perfect tense
Upper Intermediate:
A student at this level will be confident and have a good command of all structures and will have a wide range
of vocabulary.
Here are typical areas of lexis and structures for your upper intermediate class:
Third conditional
Reported speech
Verbs: I wish, to be used to/ to get used to, past perfect continuous tense, future perfect
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Vocabulary: Feelings and more specialised vocabulary depending on the learning needs of your
students. For example: medical terminology, marketing words in Business English.
Advanced:
At the advanced level, students can communicate in English to a very high level and we suggest the following
syllabus for advanced speakers.
Question tags
Phrasal verbs
The syllabus provided should be used as a guide. It's crucial to identify your students' needs and teach what
they need and would like to learn.
Always set the learning in meaningful context and play to your strengths.
You will all have a number of wonderful experiences that you can bring into the classroom at any level. Sharing
your life (to a degree) with your students will create a warm and friendly classroom.
Many of you will use a textbook with a syllabus when you are teaching the different levels of students, so don't
worry about creating a brand new syllabus every time you walk into a new school or classroom.
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Let's compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of one to one, large and small classes.
One to one teaching is very different from the group dynamic situation. One to one teaching is more intimate
and it's critical to have the right resources and be aware of the timings of your lesson.
However, often the relationship is more equal and you can both decide the direction of the lesson.
Advantages:
The learner's needs can be fully addressed and often he will learn more.
Disadvantages:
Small Classes:
Advantages:
Student-centred, as they are likely to have more time to speak than in large classes.
In smaller classes, you can give more attention to your students and it's easier to do fun activities.
Disadvantages:
Large Classes:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Preparation will take a long time if you have 40 students of differing abilities.
Intimacy will be hard because it will take you a long time to get to know your students.
Team games.
Peer to peer marking: this is where students mark each other's work.
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Many teachers are often faced with mixed ability classes and some classes are as big as 40 or 50 students.
These classes will inevitably have a range of levels.
The most natural and competent way to handle classes with mixed abilities is to arrange students in pairs or
groups, with high level students helping students at a lower level.
You can also spend some time interacting with stronger and weaker students once planned activities have
started.
You can also deal with gifted students by offering them extension work and research based work. It will always
help if you have technology in the classroom and you can point a student towards your Wikispaces site where
your resources are listed.
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There are 3 main categories of learner style: Auditory, Visual and Kinaesthetic. Knowing what kind of learners
your students are will help you when you are planning.
However, TEFL Fullcircle thinks it's important to try to incorporate visual, kinaesthetic and auditory techniques
in as many lessons as possible.
Visual:
Visual learners absorb more information into the brain by seeing items. They like video, images, flashcards and
reading but find verbal instructions difficult.
Kinaesthetic:
These types of learner learn best by doing. They often like trying new ideas without any guidance. You will
notice a kinaesthetic learner because they will enjoy getting up and walking around. They find it difficult to
focus on a task for a long time.
Auditory:
A learner who prefers auditory learning will excel in listening and speaking, but they will often struggle with
reading and writing. You will notice an auditory learner because they enjoy chatting.
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We have designed a questionnaire which you can give to your older students when you first meet them, to find
out what type of learner they are. Of course, this won't apply to those who are not yet able to understand or
speak in English.
Get your students to answer the following 5 questions to find out what type of learners they are.
a) Visual
b) Kinaesthetic
c) Auditory
2. When you are trying to spell a word, which of the following do you do?
a) Write it down.
b) Say it.
a) Visual
b) Auditory
c) Kinaesthetic
3. When you are waiting in a queue to pay for something, what do you do?
a) Look around
b) Talk to somebody
a) Visual
b) Auditory
c) Kinaesthetic
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a) Visual
b) Auditory
c) Kinaesthetic
a) Visual
b) Auditory
c) Kinaesthetic
And here's a learning styles questionnaire for you! This should help you reflect on whether you prefer a certain
style and how you may want to adapt this a bit in your classroom to suit all your learners.
Don't spend lots of time thinking about your responses. Just go for it! Don't look for an answer key! There are
no correct answers!
Circle or tick the answer that most represents how you generally behave.
a.look at a map
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5. I tend to say:
a.watch how I do it
b.listen to me explain
c.you have a go
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c.move around a lot, fiddle with pens and pencils and touch things
a.looking at something
b.being spoken to
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c.doing something
c.taking part in sporting activities, eating fine foods and wines, or dancing
a.watching television
b.talking to friends
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c.try to get together whilst doing something else, such as an activity or a meal
a.faces
b.names
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a.writing a letter
Marking key
a= b= c=
If you chose mostly option a, you are likely to have a visual learning style.
If you chose mostly option b, you are likely to have an auditory learning style.
If you chose mostly option c, you are likely to have a kinaesthetic learning style.
Some people find that their learning style may be a blend of two or three styles.
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Once you have more of an idea of the age, level and learning style of your students, you can plan an appropriate
lesson, communicate what you would like them to learn and give them the aim or objective of the lesson.
Giving your students an objective at the start of the lesson is vitally important, so that you can explain what you
will be covering in the lesson, and why.
An objective is also an important way for you to reflect and measure the success of the lesson. It's also essential
to give your students a variety of ways to achieve these objectives, in terms of varied tasks.
We recommend that when you are making a lesson plan, you state the aim or objective of your lesson. The
lesson aim should be SMART, which means it should be:
For example:
To be able to use the present simple tense when you are talking about a hobby.
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Even with some of the best classes, there are sometimes issues and often they are completely unrelated to you
or your lesson. Problems can really disturb the flow of your lesson and it's crucial that you deal with them
effectively. However, unexpected problems do happen from time to time.
Let's consider a few potential problems and the best way to deal with them.
Many behavioural problems can be handled quickly by referring to the rules in your classroom. If a student is
always arriving late, or a student is disturbing the class, or students are speaking in their native tongue too
much, use humour.
If you have to, speak to the student in private, outside of the classroom. In most cases, students will be having
external problems. Ask them if they are ok.
Using the 'I feel .....' is also a great way to deal with issues depending on the level of english in the class. You
could say 'I feel very disappointed ...' or 'I feel let down when you talk at the same time as me'.
If your students are having problems with the content you are presenting, you will have to use some strategies
to quickly deal with this. Often, it helps if you slow down and spend a little longer with the presentation
stage of the lesson. Also, try a variety of different ways to introduce an item, using the board or other teaching
aids.
Another strategy is to get through the presentation stage and then pair students together in stronger and weaker
partnerships, or use group work. Often, a student can explain something to another student. Once the students
are in groups or pairs, it will be easier for you to sit down with a group or pair and explain the language
element or instructions etc.
Another excellent way to cope with students who do not understand is to play a game. The dating game is a
good one.
Sit your students face to face in a long line, a little like speed dating. Each student on one side of the room has
to explain one concept and the students on the other side have to explain another concept to the others.
Every 30 seconds, students move to the next student, in the same way as speed dating works. The objective is
to explain the concept to the person in 30 seconds. If there are 20 people in the room, one person gets the same
concept explained to them 10 times. Try it.
In all cases, where things aren't going so well, don't take it personally and try to turn the situation into a fun
activity. You can always return to a concept again, once you have reflected on why it didn't go so well.
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We have now had a look at the Pre-Planning stage of a lesson and now you should be able to comp
boxes 1-4 of the template.
1. 2.
3. 4.
5.
Introduction / Warmer:
6.
Lesson Activities:
7.
Detail:
Activity 1:
Activity 2:
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Activity 3:
Activity 4:
8.
9.
Extension Strategies:
Homework:
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