Lesson Planning

For
Four skills
 Content
S-No Topic Name Page Number
1 Lesson Planning 03
2 Steps for Preparing Lesson Plan 04
1. Outline learning objectives
2. Develop the introduction
3. Plan the specific learning activities
4. Plan to check for understanding
5. Develop a conclusion and a preview
6. Create a realistic timeline
3 Presenting the Lesson plan 05
4 Reflecting on Your Lesson Plan 06
5 Lesson Planning for all four skills 08
6 Lesson planning for Listening 08
Listening difficulties
Stages of teaching a listening activity
• Before listening:
• During listening:
• Post listening:
7 Lesson planning for Reading 09
• Techniques to teach reading
8 Lesson planning for Speaking 10
Problems and Solution
Speaking activities
Accuracy and Fluency
9 Lesson planning for Writing 11
• Before writing
• During writing
• After writing
Lesson Planning
A well-managed classroom starts with a good preparation prior to teaching. As classroom
management and classroom organization are part of lesson planning, many problems related to
classroom management occur due to lack of adequate planning. Lesson planning is also the only way to
ensure that your educational objectives are achieved. Therefore, it is important to think about how you
would like your learners to behave in order to achieve educational objectives. Planning begins with
thinking about how you would like your learners to approach their learning in your subject, and what
you would like them to understand, know or be able to do by the end of the session.
An order to understand what a lesson plan is, it is important to fully understand the concept of
a lesson. A lesson is a single activity or a series of activities designed by the teacher so as to achieve
one or more instructional objectives determined, or desired in promoting positive change in the
learner. A lesson is thus a period of instruction or contact between the teacher and the learners which
is totally devoted to a prior identified, specified and single limited title, skill, content or idea.
Lesson planning is the activity which the teacher performs before the actual lesson takes place. A
lesson plan is a detailed description of the instructional strategies and learning activities to be
performed during the teaching/learning process. This important preparation involves the following:

• Identification of learning as well as teaching objectives, activities and tasks to be undertaken by

both the learners and the instructor.
• Sequencing of these activities and tasks.
• Determining appropriate instruction aids, methods and references.
• Deciding the proper organization and or management of the learning resource available,
environment and activities.
• Determining evaluation process i.e. how the learner shall be deemed to have acquired the
desired chance of behaviour or mastery of content and/or skills.

The importance of a lesson plan is that it enables the teacher to read ahead in order to enrich the
content area and skill to be taught, to have confidence during the actual teaching/learning process and
to logically present the content standards for effective learning.
 Steps for Preparing a Lesson Plan
Below are six steps to guide you when you create your first lesson plans. Each step is accompanied
by a set of questions meant to prompt reflection and aid you in designing your teaching and learning
activities.

1. Outline learning objectives

The first step is to determine what you want students to learn and be able to do at the end of class.
To help you specify your objectives for student learning, answer the following questions:
• What is the topic of the lesson?
• What do I want students to learn?
• What do I want them to understand and be able to do at the end of class?
• What do I want them to take away from this particular lesson?
Once you outline the learning objectives for the class meeting, rank them in terms of their
importance. This step will prepare you for managing class time and accomplishing the more important
learning objectives in case you are pressed for time. Consider the following questions:
• What are the most important concepts, ideas, or skills I want students to be able to grasp
and apply?
• Why are they important?
• If I ran out of time, which ones could not be omitted?
• And conversely, which ones could I skip if pressed for time?

2. Develop the introduction

Now that you have your learning objectives in order of their importance, design the specific
activities you will use to get students to understand and apply what they have learned. Because you
will have a diverse body of students with different academic and personal experiences, they may
already be familiar with the topic. That is why you might start with a question or activity to gauge
students’ knowledge of the subject or possibly, their preconceived notions about it. For example, you
can take a simple poll: “How many of you have heard of X? Raise your hand if you have.” You can also
gather background information from your students prior to class by sending students an electronic
survey or asking them to write comments on index cards. This additional information can help shape
your introduction, learning activities, etc. When you have an idea of the students’ familiarity with the
topic, you will also have a sense of what to focus on.
Develop a creative introduction to the topic to stimulate interest and encourage thinking. You can
use a variety of approaches to engage students (e.g., personal anecdote, historical event, thought-
provoking dilemma, real-world example, short video clip, practical application, probing question, etc.).
Consider the following questions when planning your introduction:

• How will I check whether students know anything about the topic or have any preconceived
notions about it?
 • What are some commonly held ideas (or possibly misconceptions) about this topic that
students might be familiar with or might espouse?
• What will I do to introduce the topic?

3. Plan the specific learning activities (the main body of the lesson)
Prepare several different ways of explaining the material (real-life examples, analogies, visuals,
etc.) to catch the attention of more students and appeal to different learning styles. As you plan your
examples and activities, estimate how much time you will spend on each. Build in time for extended
explanation or discussion, but also be prepared to move on quickly to different applications or
problems, and to identify strategies that check for understanding. These questions would help you
design the learning activities you will use:

• What will I do to explain the topic?

• What will I do to illustrate the topic in a different way?
• How can I engage students in the topic?
• What are some relevant real-life examples, analogies, or situations that can help students
understand the topic?
• What will students need to do to help them understand the topic better?

4. Plan to check for understanding

Now that you have explained the topic and illustrated it with different examples, you need to check
for student understanding – how will you know that students are learning? Think about specific
questions you can ask students in order to check for understanding, write them down, and then
paraphrase them so that you are prepared to ask the questions in different ways. Try to predict the
answers your questions will generate. Decide on whether you want students to respond orally or in
writing. You can also ask yourself these questions:

• What questions will I ask students to check for understanding?

• What will I have students do to demonstrate that they are following?
• Going back to my list of learning objectives, what activity can I have students do to check
whether each of those has been accomplished?

An important strategy that will also help you with time management is to anticipate students’
questions. When planning your lesson, decide what kinds of questions will be productive for discussion
and what questions might sidetrack the class. Think about and decide on the balance between covering
content (accomplishing your learning objectives) and ensuring that students understand.

5. Develop a conclusion and a preview

 Go over the material covered in class by summarizing the main points of the lesson. You can do this in
a number of ways: you can state the main points yourself (“Today we talked about…”), you can ask a
student to help you summarize them, or you can even ask all students to write down on a piece of
paper what they think were the main points of the lesson. You can review the students’ answers to
gauge their understanding of the topic and then explain anything unclear the following class. Conclude
the lesson not only by summarizing the main points, but also by previewing the next lesson. How does
the topic relate to the one that’s coming? This preview will spur students’ interest and help them
connect the different ideas within a larger context.

6. Create a realistic timeline

Global System of Integrated Studies knows how easy it is to run out of time and not cover all of
the many points they had planned to cover. A list of ten learning objectives is not realistic, so narrow
down your list to the two or three key concepts, ideas, or skills you want students to learn. Instructors
also agree that they often need to adjust their lesson plan during class depending on what the students
need. Your list of prioritized learning objectives will help you make decisions on the spot and adjust
your lesson plan as needed. Having additional examples or alternative activities will also allow you to
be flexible. A realistic timeline will reflect your flexibility and readiness to adapt to the specific
classroom environment. Here are some strategies for creating a realistic timeline:

• Estimate how much time each of the activities will take, then plan some extra time for each
• When you prepare your lesson plan, next to each activity indicate how much time you expect it
will take
• Plan a few minutes at the end of class to answer any remaining questions and to sum up key
points
• Plan an extra activity or discussion question in case you have time left
• Be flexible – be ready to adjust your lesson plan to students’ needs and focus on what seems to
be more productive rather than sticking to your original plan.

Presenting the Lesson Plan

Letting your students know what they will be learning and doing in class will help keep them
more engaged and on track. You can share your lesson plan by writing a brief agenda on the board or
telling students explicitly what they will be learning and doing in class. You can outline on the board or
on a handout the learning objectives for the class. Providing a meaningful organization of the class
time can help students not only remember better, but also follow your presentation and understand
the rationale behind in-class activities. Having a clearly visible agenda (e.g., on the board) will also help
you and students stay on track.
Reflecting on Your Lesson Plan
A lesson plan may not work as well as you had expected due to a number of extraneous
circumstances. You should not get discouraged – it happens to even the most experienced teachers!
Take a few minutes after each class to reflect on what worked well and why, and what you could have
done differently. Identifying successful and less successful organization of class time and activities
would make it easier to adjust to the contingencies of the classroom. For additional feedback on
planning and managing class time, you can use the following resources: student feedback, peer
observation, viewing a videotape of your teaching, and consultation with a staff member at CRL.
Lesson Planning for all four skills
The four skills of language learning are Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. They are four
capabilities that allow an individual to comprehend, produce, and use the language in effective
interpersonal communication. They are most often acquired in the order of listening first, then
speaking, then possibly reading and writing. Listening and reading are called receptive skills because
learners do not need to produce language to do these, they receive and understand it. Speaking and
writing are called productive skills because learners doing these need to produce language. Having a
good English level means to understand and to produce the language, so we should teach and develop
all the four language skills in our students.

Lesson planning for Listening

Listening is a very important skill. It is the queen of the four skills as it helps students to speak,
communicate with others and learn vocabulary and grammar. It is the first receptive language skill.

Listening difficulties
• The speed: It is related to how many people are there in the conversation and how quickly they
speak.
• Vocabulary: It is related to the inability of students to understand the listening text if they
cannot understand the vocabulary included.
• Structures: It is related to the inability of students to understand the listening text if they
cannot understand the key structures included.
• The length and the topic: A long conversation about football, food, clothes, films or TV
programs may be easier for students to understand than a short one about politics or science.
• Intonation: The intonation and stress of English native speakers are different from speakers of
other languages.

Stages of teaching a listening activity

Before listening:
Prepare students for the listening activity by:
• Making them interested with an interesting introduction to the topic.
• Giving them a reason for listening asking them a question to answer.
• Explaining the new words.
• Explaining the new structures.

During listening:
• Students listen to the text for the first time.
 • Helping them guess what will happen next after listening to a part of the text.
• They compare their predictions after their first listening.
• Ask some questions to answer before they listen a second time.
• Students listen a second time.
• They do some activities e.g. filling in a table while listening the second time.
Post listening:
• Check students’ understanding of the whole listening text by asking more questions on details.
• The teacher reads aloud the text (the story) from the audio script with five or six mistakes (not
the grammar of course). Students correct these mistakes either immediately or by making a list
of these mistakes and tells the teacher of them after listening.

Lesson planning for Reading

Reading is the second receptive language skill which includes the following three levels in
sequence.
1. Getting the primary, directed meaning of a word, idea or sentence.
2. Getting what the writer is trying to say to us “between the lines” without actually
stating it.
3. Analyzing what the writer says or means.

Techniques to teach reading:

1. KWL Technique (What I know – What I want to know – What I learned)
In this technique:
• The teacher uses a picture or the title to ask the students to say everything they know about
the subject they’re talking about and lists their pieces of information (What I know)
• Students ask questions to get information about the topic they are reading about. The teacher
accepts any questions that the students ask (What I want to know)
• He/she gives answers to the questions the students asked. The teacher lists these pieces of
information (What I learned)

2. DRTA Technique (Directed Reading Thinking Activity)

In this technique:
• The teacher asks students what they think a story or text with a title like this might be about.
Students then read part of the story or text.
• The teacher asks the students what they think now. Are their guesses right or wrong?
• The teacher asks students what it is in the story or text that makes them think this.
• The teacher asks the students what they think will happen next.
Lesson planning for Speaking
Speaking problems and their solution:
 Problem Solution
Some students are afraid of making mistakes. Be patient and encourage group work. Correct only
serious mistakes.
Some students don’t get a chance to take part in Speak to them after the lesson.
speaking.
Passive students don’t participate in speaking. They need help and attention from the teacher.
The topic is not interesting to students. Move on to a different topic.
Some of our students speak very quietly. Encourage them to speak loudly.

Speaking activities
There are six activities a teacher should use in speaking:
1. Students make sentences about themselves.
2. The teacher asks a question to one student who, in turn, asks another friend to answer.
3. He/she tells a learner to ask another learner one question.
4. The teacher asks a question and encourages students to give short, realistic answers.
5. He/she asks the students to give a response of more than one sentence.
6. The teacher gives a real answer and asks the students to make a question for it.

Techniques for correcting speaking mistakes based on the type of mistake:

Accuracy Fluency
Expressions of face. Don’t correct everything.
Gesture with hands. Correct some at the end.
Something like “Try again”. List mistakes and deal with only common ones.

Lesson planning for Writing

There are three stages to deal with writing: before writing, during writing, and after writing.

Before writing (4 steps):

Students get enough ideas and information necessary for writing. It helps learners focus on the
purpose and possible readers of their written work before starting writing.

I. Grouping discussion:
Encourage your students to discuss a certain topic in groups. The advantages of this are:
• It helps students get different viewpoints.
 • Stronger students can help weaker students.
• It helps the teacher find out whether his students have enough vocabulary and are good at
language structures.
II. Sunshine outline:
• Students draw rays coming from the sun and write a question word on each ray: who,
what…etc.
• Help students think of possible questions that begin with these question words. Then, they
write a phrase or two to answer these questions.
III. Oral brainstorming:
This is done orally. It involves the use of questions. The teacher can write these questions on the board
and ask each student to think out answers to them. The teacher should bear in mind the following
points:
• Accept all students’ answers.
• There are no wrong or right answers.
• Never force the students to follow your viewpoints.
• Never interrupt the students during answering.
The teacher discusses the answers with his students. Then, he asks them to go to the next step.
IV. Interviewing:
Students interview each other. They share viewpoints and ideas. They usually share their
personal experiences and think about them during the interview. This makes students relaxed and
reduces the fear of writing.

During writing (3 steps):

a) Drafting,
b) Revising
c) Editing
• The teacher tells his students to write on every other line of their paper to allow room for
revising and editing.
• They write the first form of their writing.
• Then they revise whether the content of their writing is clear or not, either in pairs or alone.
• Students edit their writing, either in pairs or alone, as they focus on grammatical, spelling, and
punctuation mistakes they might have in their writing.
• In the end, they write the final form of their writing.

After writing (3 steps):

I. Publishing students’ writing:
 The teacher encourages his students to publish their writing in different ways, e.g. in classroom,
school, newspaper or magazine. They can collect their written work in a classroom book. They can
put it in the classroom, school library. Students can borrow it and read it.
II. Classroom discussion:
Students can read their writing to the whole class, in groups or in pairs. This helps students
practice listening to and speaking about their writing.
III. Drawing pictures based on the writing:
Students start drawing pictures based on their writing. This helps students realize that learning
English can be fun, enjoyable and interesting.