LESSON PLANNING

Lesson Types/Shapes/Stages/Aims

Writing your Lesson Plan

Notes on clarifying language:
‘Clarifying’ means checking meaning, pronunciation, form and apporpriacy (MFPA). We focus on these things when
the main aim of the lesson is language but also at other stages e.g. pre-teaching vocabulary, teaching useful
language for a speaking/writing task. This means that you need to submit a full analysis of the language you are
teaching on paper as part of your plan - completing the relevant section of the lesson plan. (After identifying your
lesson type/shape, this should be the next thing that you do as part of the planning process.)
Think especially about how to convey and check meaning – avoid explaining. After you have introduced/shown the
meaning of a language item in some way, try and ask questions to check the students understand – we call these
concept checking questions (CCQs).
E. e.g. wardrobe:
Where do you find it? (usually in a bedroom)
What is inside? (clothes)
Write CCQs like these in your plan.

Questions to avoid are:

 ‘Do you understand?’
 ‘What does ____mean?’
 ‘Do you know this word?’
 ‘Have you seen this word before?’
Notes on the procedure pages:
Think about the following when completing the procedure page and try and ‘rule off’ each stage
LESSON TIME/ PROCEDURAL
STAGE INTERACTION DETAIL
This is the NAME of TIME: Put how long each This should be detailed – not just WHAT you are doing but
each stage. stage will take here. Make HOW you will do it. i.e. not ‘Give instructions to ex 2’ but :
sure the total adds up to Put Ss in groups of three.
Also state the AIM the total length of your Hold up book and point to questions in exercise, etc.
of each stage here lesson!
too. (See lesson Another teacher should be able to read your plan and teach
shapes above for INTERACTION: from it.
examples). Show who will be the focus
of attention for each stage,
E.g. NB if there are too many Ts in your plan you lesson is likely
T Ss to be very teacher centred!

Ss Ss
Ss Ts
Notes on Instructions:
It’s also a good idea to script all your instructions and instruction checking questions (ICQs) and include them in your
plan; this will help you to learn to grade your language.

ICQs to avoid are: “Do you understand?” “What are you going to do?”

Please do not forget to give your Lesson Plan to your tutor at least 24 hours (part-time course) or 2 hours
(full-time course) before your lesson. If you do not the lesson cannot be assessed and will not be counted
as one of your Teaching Practice Lessons.

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
 SKILLS-FOCUSED LESSON
SYSTEMS-FOCUSED LESSON HOW TO CHOOSE THE LESSON SHAPE
 Grammar
RECEPTIVE SKILLS PRODUCTIVE SKILLS
 Lexis
 Reading  Speaking
 Functional language
What is the main focus  Listening  Writing
 Discourse
of your lesson?

SYSTEM SKILL
Is the main aim: Is the main focus reading
1) Clarification or listening?
2) Practice
3) Both

CLARIFICATION OR BOTH PRACTICE NO YES

Does the target language
come from a reading or See lesson shape Is the main focus See lesson shape
listening text? B speaking or D
writing?

NO YES NO YES

See lesson shapes See lesson shape Check again and See lesson shape
then check with E
C, F or G A your tutor

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
Lesson shapes H and I are for DELTA students or to experiment with after CELTA.
 Lesson shape (A) – Text Based Presentation of Language
The language is introduced using a reading or listening briefly first (but this is not the main aim) and then language
from the text is clarified (checking meaning, form and pronunciation) before doing further practice. The main aim
here will usually be: By the end of the lesson, learners will have been presented to _____ and practised using it in
the context of ____

The normal stages here are:

Lead in/ Building context To generate interest in the topic/theme/context of the text or listening
Reading or Listening task To practise reading or listening for______ / To introduce the target language via a text or listening
Highlighting target language To highlight the target language by use of eliciting/a guiding task/an underlining activity
Clarifying target language To :
 Clarify meaning of target language
 Model and provide controlled practice of pronunciation
 Highlight form
Language practice To provide controlled/less controlled/freer oral/written practice of _______________

Feedback To establish correct answers/ to deal with results of the task

You may need to pre-teach some vocab before the reading task.

Lesson shape (B) - Language Practice

This is connected to/follows on from lesson shape A or C. If the aim of the lesson is 'By the end of the lesson,
learners will have practised using _____ in the context of _____ ’ i.e. language that another teacher has taught,
then your lesson will follow on from the previous teacher who would have clarified the language. It will involve
different practice stages, e.g. controlled written practice, controlled oral practice, less controlled written/speaking
practice, freer written/oral practice.

You may not need a lead-in, but if you do, remember that this lesson is the second part of the previous lesson and if
possible, keep the same context. This type of lesson may need some student preparation, e.g. pre-teaching,
controlled practice, group discussion, role preparation. Feedback stages are also important.

Lead in (optional) (See notes above)

Set up To introduce/set up the practice activity
To highlight the (target) language to be used in the activity
Practice activity To provide controlled/less controlled written/oral practice of _____
To provide less controlled/freer oral/written practice of________________
Teacher monitors as Ss do the activity
Feedback To establish correct answers and/or to deal with results of the task
To provide feedback on use of target language – dealing with errors and problems

The above is repeated with each practice activity. You may need to pre-teach some items.

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
 Lesson shape (C) – Test-Teach-Test Presentation of Language
The students do an exercise at the start using the target language with no help from the teacher (diagnostic test).
The teacher monitors the task very carefully to see what problems the students have and then clarifies (checking
meaning, form and pronunciation) as necessary – i.e. any new language or items the students had problems with.
For example, if there are 15 pieces of vocabulary in the test, the teacher would not clarify every item. This followed
by further practice (test). The main aim here will usually be: By the end of the lesson, learners will have been
presented to _____ and practised using it in the context of ____.

The usual stages here are:

Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme of the lesson

First Test (diagnostic) To test Ss’ current understanding and identify gaps in vocabulary related to_________

Teach (clarifying) To deal with meaning, pronunciation and form of vocabulary related to ________ - with emphasis
on items Ss did not know or were confused about

Second Test To provide controlled/less controlled written/oral practice of ______

(Controlled practice) To provide less controlled/freer oral/written practice of________________

(Freer practice)
Feedback To establish correct answers and/or deal with results of the task
To provide feedback on use of target language – dealing with errors and problems

There might not be time to do the second test stage in a 40 min lesson. In the this case, the next teacher will be
doing this as their lesson (i.e language practice as per lesson shape B)

Lesson shape (D) Receptive Skills – listening or reading lesson

The lesson can be divided into pre, while and post reading/listening stages. The main aim here will usually be….. By
the end of the lesson, learners will have practised reading/listening for gist and detail comprehension in the
context of.......

Possible stages here are (choose as necessary):

Pre-reading / listening tasks

Lead in To activate Ss’ existing knowledge of the topic; to encourage Ss to think about content of the text;
To develop oral fluency
(Prediction task) To encourage Ss to predict/ think about content of the text
(Pre teach vocabulary) To pre-teach/unblock key vocab needed to help students complete the _______ task
While reading / listening tasks
Reading/listening for gist To encourage Ss to listen/skim for gist/general understanding and get an overview of the text
Reading/listening for detail To practise reading for detailed comprehension and understanding the text in depth
(Reading/listening for specific To practise scanning for specific information
info)
Post reading / listening tasks To develop oral/written fluency by providing an opportunity to react to the text;
Follow Up To (further) personalise the topic

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
 Lesson shape (E) Productive Skills – speaking or writing
The lesson can usually be divided into preparation for speaking/ writing and speaking/writing stages. The main aim
here will usually be….. By the end of the lesson, learners will have practised oral/written fluency in the context
of.......

Possible stages here are (choose as necessary):

Lead in To activate Ss’ existing knowledge of the topic; to generate interest in the topic/theme of the lesson
Preparing to write/speak To generate/provide ideas; To provide an opportunity for Ss to brainstorm ideas/prepare
notes/think about what they will say in the subsequent task. (This may involve Ss reading or
listening to something similar to what they themselves will be producing – i.e. To provide Ss with a
model for the task)
(Useful language???) To provide and clarify language which Ss may find useful for completing the writing/speaking task
NB: This is NOT target language. It’s there to HELP them perform the speaking/writing task,
that’s all (i.e. Ss don’t HAVE TO use it)
Speaking/writing task To develop oral fluency through a ________ task; to develop writing skills in relation to writing
_____________
Feedback/error correction To provide quick feedback on contents/results/outcomes and then to deal with generic errors
on oral/ written task

It might be necessary to have a pre-teaching stage during this lesson.

5
Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
 Lesson shape (F)– Situational Presentation (PPP)
Here the idea is that the teacher introduces a context in which new language is to be taught. Having done this, the
teacher then presents the target language (checking meaning, form and pronunciation) before providing controlled
practice. In this stage, the teacher monitors the task very carefully to see what problems the students are having,
correct errors and ensure correct use of the TL. Finally, there is a freer practice (production) in which the learners
use the TL productively and with a communicative end, with more fluent use of the TL encouraged.
Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme/global context of the lesson

Building Context To narrow the context to a more specific area and continue to generate interest while
establishing a clear and specific context for the language to arise out of

Presentation  Clarify meaning so learners understand it

 Clarify the pronunciation so learners know how to say it
 Clarify form so that learners know how to form/construct it

Practice (controlled To provide controlled oral/written practice focused on using the target language
practice) accurately

Production (Freer To provide freer oral/written practice and focused on using the target language more
practice) fluently

Feedback To establish correct answers

(for all practice and To give learners appropriate praise
production activities) To raise learners’ awareness of errors in their language use
Possible delayed error correction after production stage

TIPS FOR PPP

 The teacher contextualizes the Target Language (TL), i.e. puts it into a situation which shows what it means.
 The teacher elicits the TL, i.e. asks students to say the TL rather than giving it to them.

PRESENTATION

The teacher tells students about the grammatical use or meaning of the TL.
 The teacher asks the students concept checking questions, i.e. questions that check their understanding of the
use or meaning of the TL.
 The teacher elicits/presents the form of the TL.
 The teacher elicits/presents the pronunciation features of the TL, e.g. sentence stress, features of connected
speech, intonation etc.
 The teacher drills some of the model sentences.
 Focus on accuracy: the students carry out controlled or restricted practice activities, i.e. ones in which they can
PRACTICE

use only the TL (e.g. gap-fills, ordering, matching, sentence completion, sentence transformation etc).

 Focus on fluency: the students do less controlled or freer practice (i.e. where they can use their own ideas)
PRODUCTION

using the TL.

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
 Lesson shape (G) – Engage, Study, Activate (ESA)
Phase Procedure
Engage – arose the
You may wish to use still or moving images or give a personal anecdote on the general
students' interest
topic. Then move closer towards the focus of the lesson ideally capitalising on any
involving their
student-produced language.
emotions
Look in detail at the main focus of the lesson. If it is vocabulary then you would be
showing the target language (TL) in context and eliciting the meaning using CCQs,
perhaps. Or asking students to work out the meaning via Guided Discovery which you
Study - stage at
can do by giving students the TL in context and providing CCQs to work out the
which the
meaning in pairs/small groups.
construction of
language is the
Once you have covered the meaning you will also cover the form and the
main focus
pronunciation. You can do this in different ways:
1. Meaning, Form, Pronunciation
2. Concept, Oral, Written
Activate – get
students using the Get students practising and using the TL in controlled and freer or free activities as
language as freely much as possible
as they can

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
 Lesson shape (H) – Task-Based Learning / Teaching (TBL /TBT)

In TBL, the idea is that the learners first carry out a task in pairs or small groups, focusing on
communication and completing the task, not worrying about using pre-selected language or grammatical
accuracy. They then report how this was accomplished to the class, before going on to analyse relevant
language or features of a text. Finally, they practice this new language by some controlled activities or
ideally, repeating a similar task and incorporating that language in it.

The overall main lesson aim might be: By the end of the lesson, the learners will have completed a
speaking/writing task about and be better able to talk/write about _________ _______. They will also
have clarification of ____________________ (relevant language point) in the context of________

Pre-Task /Lead In To generate interest in the topic/theme of the class and to

set the task
(To clarify any lexical items helpful for the task/topic)
Model text To read or listen to the model text; For learners to be
exposed to a model of the task to gain an idea of what to do
Noticing useful To notice some language items in the model text; to focus on
language useful language
Preparation for the task To prepare (orally or in writing) for the task
Task performance To carry out the task in pairs or small groups/ to have practice
speaking/writing
Language focus
 To compare and discuss different outcomes to the task
- Praise good language and consolidate learning
use  Clarify meaning so learners understand it
- Highlighting errors  Clarify the pronunciation so learners know how to say it
- Comparing language  Clarify form so that learners know how to form/construct
features in a model of it
the same task  To establish correct answers and highlight correct use of
- Filling in gaps in new language
learners’  To give learners appropriate praise
knowledge/abilities  To raise learners’ awareness of errors in their language
use

You may need to highlight some useful lexis in the pre-task stage and or a model of the task.
If learners move on to the subsequent practice stage, then ensure that you include an additional
practice aim in the lesson aims.

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022
 Lesson shape (I) – Dogme ELT

Dogme ELT is not so much a methodology as it is an approach to teaching. The three main precepts of
Dogme ELT
are:
 Conversation driven (based around authentic, meaningful discourse)
 Materials-light (relying on student-generated materials/texts instead of coursebooks)
 Focus on emergent language (language focus comes up naturally based on students' output)

As such, there is typically no rigid lesson plan for a Dogme class, although there may be some type of
lesson skeleton' which includes the initial prompt or speaking task. Alternatively there may be a lesson
mindmap which predicts some of the directions the lesson may take and what language might naturally
emerge.

Although the procedure for a Dogme lesson will necessarily be much sparser than other types of lessons,
this does not mean that it is 'just winging it'. Much greater consideration needs to be given to the context,
learners, anticipated problems and solutions, etc. In addition, if you wish to try a Dogme lesson, a more
detailed evaluation of the lesson, including the students' output is required as well as a completed post-
lesson language analysis of any emergent language that was focused on.

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Part of this document was created by NB, AA, SB and JB July 2007 – International House Sydney
Updated and adapted by Paul Ashe September 2022