understand how to prepare a lesson for

PREPARING FOR them, create a plan for doing so, and

LESSONS – have tricks up your sleeve in case your
students get restless.
INTRODUCTION
So far we’ve covered the key topics
which will go into your lessons, such as What is a lesson plan?
grammar, sentences, tenses, and
punctuation. We’ve also covered the A lesson plan is like a road-map for your
essential skills which you’ll need your lesson. It contains all the details of what
students to practice, such as reading, your students will be learning, and how
writing, speaking, and listening. Now, you’re going to direct the class from start
we’ll look at how to string these together to finish.
into a cohesive lesson. They’re often a single sheet of paper
There’s a lot of preparation work and that notes what students are going to do
consideration that goes on behind the during a lesson and what material they
scenes. When first starting out as a will learn, but can take different forms
teacher, it’s not uncommon to spend up depending on how the teacher prefers.
to an hour on preparation work for each Creating a quality lesson plan before
class you deliver. It might seem like a your class will give you confidence,
lot, but making sure to do this before knowing you’re completely prepared
your class will pay off. when you walk into the classroom, and
As you build your skills, you’ll get used can help your lesson run smoothly.
to adapting previous lesson preparations
for new topics, and you’ll soon narrow What goes into a
this time down.
lesson plan?
In this section of the course
Any good lesson plan should answer the
there are 3 modules we’ll cover: following questions:
 Lesson plans – how to plan  Aims and Objectives – what
effective 60-minute lessons. will the students know at the end
 Class context – how to adapt of the lesson that they didn’t
know before?
your lessons for different
environments.  Student Level – is this lesson
 Spicing things up – how to suitable for beginner,
intermediate or advanced
make your lessons fun and
students?
engaging.
After covering these three modules
you’ll be able to examine a class,
  Age group – will this lesson then a schedule below which shows how
work best for adults, teenagers or the lesson will unfold.
children?

 Time required – how long will

the lesson be? LESSON PLANS –
 Schedule – what activities will EXAMPLE PLAN
happen and when? Here’s an example of how a lesson plan
 Homework – will there be any can look. Note the different sections, the
homework? content within each and how it might
come in handy in your class. Consider if
 A resource list – what there’s anything extra which you might
resources will you need to find useful to add to your own plans, or
prepare? things you might change.
The information to answer these After looking over this plan, we’ll explore
questions will often be split into two some of the details and methodology it
sections, an initial section that provides has been built on.
information about the class context, and

Lesson Plan
Class details:

Topic: Facial features

Students: Beginner class of young learners aged 8-10 years old.

Duration: 1 hour

Primary:
Teach vocabulary to describe personal appearance – eyes,
Objectives: nose, ears, mouth, hair, face.
Secondary:
Have students practice speaking abilities in front of the class.
 Topic: Facial features

Materials Flashcards

Schedule:

Timing: Stage / Procedure: Reason:

Warm up: Refresh last week’s

10.00-10.10 vocab, and get the
Recap last week’s lesson with color class in a learning
(10 mins)
flash card drilling. mindset.

Presentation:
10.10-10.15 Introduce new vocab
Display new vocabulary using
to the students in an
(5 mins) flashcards:
audio-visual way.
 Eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hair.

Practice: Get students to start

10.15-10.20 pronouncing the
Drill new words with students –
(5 mins) show cards, pronounce, then elicit words, using lots of
students to repeat. repetition.

Practice:
Ask for individual volunteers (or Check understanding
10.20-10.35
nominate if shy), point at facial and pronunciation on
(15 mins) feature, elicit answer. Mirror correct an individual level.
pronunciation after answering if
students make mistakes.

10.35-10-50 Production: Give the students a

chance to have some
(15 mins) Give each student a randomly
engaging experience
assigned card with a facial feature
whilst practicing the
 Timing: Stage / Procedure: Reason:

on it (eyes/nose/ears/hair)
On whiteboard draw 2 face outlines.
Then ask students ‘Who has a….’
followed by facial feature. The
student with that card should then
come and place it on either face.
new vocab.
Repeat until both faces finished.
Note: If game proves too difficult
(‘Who has a….’) then call out
students by name, have them say
what card they have, and then come
to place it on the board as a reward.

Get students all back

Cool down: to their seats and to
10:50-11:00 calm down while
Review all the language learned in going over the
(10 mins)
the lesson using original flashcards. lesson’s content
before finishing.

This is one example of how a lesson their timing/duration, and any particular
plan can look. You’ll notice that notes.
it’s written in a very brief way, closer
Early on in your career, it can be helpful
to bullet points or text-book notes, rather
to add extra information such as what to
than a descriptive guide. This is
do if a particular activity proves too
because when you’re in a class, you’ll
difficult for students. It can also help to
need to be able to access the important
include notes of why you’re doing each
information from this lesson plan at a
particular activity or stage.
glance. However, how you choose to
write lesson plans will depend on your Teaching Methodologies
own preferences.
Presenting new information to students
The key points are that it should first set and having them store it to memory
out the context of the class, so that you within an hour-long lesson can be quite
can ensure the lesson is suitable for the a challenge. To help you do this
students and other factors such as the effectively, there are a number of
environment. After this, it should provide lesson planning methodologies which
guidance on what activities you’ll do, have been developed over the years.
In this module, we’ll examine three ✍️ Writing a PPP lesson
common methodologies:
plan:
PPP – Presentation, Practice,
Production. As the name suggests, PPP lessons are
split into three main stages:
TTT – Test, Teach, Test.
TBL – Task-Based Learning. PRESENTATION – The teacher will
first introduce (or present) new
Learning about these approaches will language to the class with an
give you various frameworks to use with explanation of its meaning and how to
your lessons. The lesson plan in the use it.
example above uses a common
approach known as PPP (Presentation, PRACTICE – Next, students are
Practice, Production) which first given a very controlled activity or game
introduces new language and then gives which uses this new language. Such
students ways to practice it. activities should be made with minimal
room for mistakes – such as filling a gap
In the next few pages, we’ll examine
in a sentence, or a question and answer
each of these methodologies in detail.
exercise.
With each one, we’ll show an example
lesson plan. These lesson plans will use PRODUCTION – Finally, students
the same topic, so that you can see will be given a much more open and
how the same lesson can be taught in flexible activity to use the new language
different ways. with. This could be creating a roleplay or
an exercise such as writing a diary entry
Be sure to take time to study these
using the newly learned
different approaches and consider how
words/grammar. This allows the
you might apply them to other topics.
students to use the language in a more
natural way and to really experiment
with it.
PPP – The idea behind this teaching method is
PRESENTATION, to build students’ understanding of the
language one stage at a time, with
PRACTICE, AND greater freedom at each stage.
PRODUCTION One thing to note when creating a PPP
lesson is how to divide your time – the
Presentation, Practice, and Production Presentation section should be the
(PPP) is one of the most popular shortest section, and the Production the
teaching methods used in ESL longest (up to 40% of your time).
classrooms today. It’s a fairly simple
model and most teachers will use it 📋 Here’s an example of a
repeatedly to introduce new grammar
and vocabulary. PPP lesson plan:
  To review using the present
Aims simple tense with routines
 To review common nouns

 Present simple verbs I play/I

Target Language
watch/I go/I eat/I do/I come/

Time Action Objective

– Give pairs a picture of a room, – Review previous

10 min then give them a few minutes to vocabulary that
(Warm-up) name all the objects they can, the students will need
pair with the most wins. > for this lesson.

– Write a daily schedule on the

board consisting of target language – Introduce verbs.
along with times of behavior.
10 min – Check
– Explain, with actions and words, pronunciation.
(Presentation) what the teacher does each day.
– Check
– Ask students what they do each understanding.
day.

– Use choral and individual drilling

for pronunciation of separate terms.
– Practice
– Chart fill exercise. Give each pronunciation.
student a schedule chart with one
15 min – Check
activity filled in (different for each
(Practice) student), then students mingle and understanding.
learn what information the others – Use language in a
have, and try to fill in their blanks. controlled way.
First to complete the chart correctly
wins.

20 min – Students create their own daily – Free production of

schedule. the language
 (Production) – Report and compare in groups. targets.

Though PPP lessons can be used with TEST – First, the students are given
any level of ESL student, they can be a an activity that tests their understanding
little too straightforward to use of a certain topic. It could be anything
repetitively with older and more from certain vocabulary, to tenses or
advanced classes. As such, it would be even skills such as speaking.
important to not rely on only using this
approach as your students might TEACH – From the observation of this
become bored with the format over time. task, the teacher will identify areas
where students are making mistakes, or
have limited understanding. The teacher
will then use activities to help rectify
TTT – TEST-TEACH- problems, or teach the target language
TEST which they need to improve on.

Unlike PPP lessons which first present

TEST – Finally, the students will be
given another test activity similar to the
new language and then teach it, the TTT
first. With this activity, the teacher will
approach first assesses students’
then be able to judge the level of
understanding of a topic, and then seeks
improvement made by the class, and
to patch any knowledge gaps. It can
any areas which require further attention
require you to have a degree of
in the next lesson.
flexibility, and to be able to adapt your
activities to meet the students’ needs. This approach requires the teacher to be
confident with what they are doing, and
✍️ Writing a TTT lesson to have a range of activities that they
plan: can adapt for different situations.

With the TTT approach, there are again 📋 Here’s an example of a

3 main sections:
TTT lesson plan:
 To review using the present simple
Aims tense with routines
 To review common nouns

 Present simple verbs I play/I watch/I

Target Language
go/I eat/I do/I come
 Time Action Objective

– Review previous
– Give pairs a picture of a room,
Warm-up vocabulary that students
then give a few minutes to name
will need for this lesson
10 min all the objects they can, the pair
such as television, foods,
with the most wins.
homework etc.

– Give students 6 pictures to

arrange in order and prepare a – Test students’
Test understanding of the
story about their daily activities.
10 min vocabulary and grammar
– Get groups to present their used for this task.
stories to other groups.

– Teacher draws attention to

gaps in knowledge/ language.
– Teach structures they will need – Review language.
Teach to complete the next task
accurately. – Teach structures that
15 min will help them accomplish
– Game to practice the new the next task.
language or to remind students
of previous language that they
have forgotten.

– Students plan a roleplay where – Use the same

they must discuss and organize structures and language
Test
their partner’s daily schedule to to complete the new test.
20 min determine if they can attend an – Observe if language
appointment/class. use has improved.

🎬 See how this could look in an ESL If used well, this can be a great
classroom: approach for rooting out problems and
solving them.
Can’t see the video? Click to open on
YouTube. It can be especially useful if you wish to
understand what your students already
know about a particular topic prior to PRE-TASK ACTIVITY – The class
teaching it. Many teachers will also use will begin with a quick activity, to remind
this approach in the lessons leading up students of vocabulary they will be using
to larger examinations – searching for throughout the lesson.
topics that their students don’t fully
understand and then providing help. Task – From there it will move straight
into a task, with students working in
groups to accomplish the task’s goals
while using any English that is useful to
TBL – TASK-BASED them.
LEARNING Report – After completing the task the
students should plan a report, detailing
With Task-based Learning (TBL),
issues and problems, which they then
students are given a task to complete
present.
with a clear goal – such as conducting a
role play where they purchase Practice – As a result of this report,
something from a shop. How the activity and the teacher’s own observations, the
unfolds will then shape the language teacher will design another activity to
which is taught in the lesson. So as practice language that the class had
students experiment with the language trouble with throughout the task.
they already know, their limitations and
mistakes will come to light. New As you can see, this kind of teaching not
language can then be taught which will only requires students to be flexible with
enable students to complete the task their language use, but also that the
with greater ease and accuracy. teacher is able to plan activities on the
fly during the lesson.
✍️Writing a TBL lesson plan:
A TBL lesson will include these key 📋 Here’s an example of a
stages: TBL lesson plan:
 To review using the present simple
Aims tense with routines
 To review common nouns

 Present simple verbs I play/I watch/I go/I

Target Language
eat/I do/I come

Time Action Objective

 – Give pairs a picture of a
– Review previous vocabulary
Warm-up room, then give a few
that students will need for this
minutes to name all the
10 min lesson such as television,
objects they can, the pair
foods, homework etc.
with the most wins.

– Give groups a set of six

pictures.
– Encourage students to use
Task – Groups to put the pictures
the language naturally to
in a sequence to tell a story
15 min describe character’s daily
of the characters’ routines.
routines.
– Prepare to tell the story to
another group.

– Students analyze their own

– Students prepare a report learning.
on the task (what they
Report understood and didn’t, – Students think and learn
easy/hard parts). about the language used to
10 min report.
– Present report to the
class. – Teacher gets a clearer idea
of problem areas.

Practice – Practice game or activity – To address problem areas

based on students’ noted during the task
20 min difficulties and concerns. exercise.

This approach is very context-heavy, These three teaching approaches are

often based on real-life tasks where the the ones most commonly used in ESL
students can use any language they lessons. They each have their own
know to accomplish the task. As such, benefits, disadvantages, and ideal
students should be around an situations for use. By incorporating
intermediate level or above before this these approaches into your
learning style is brought into their understanding of teaching, you will give
lessons. yourself more options to help your
students with, as well as different ways
💡 Final thoughts
to think about learning.
In the next page, we’re going to look at
some of the different ways that you can
smooth the transition between activities
in your lesson plans.
 talk and have fun, and require little
WARMERS, FILLERS, preparation to use.
AND COOLERS –
🧊 What are coolers?
INTRODUCTION
Coolers are used at the end of lessons.
In this section we’re going to be looking They are quick activities that reaffirm
at Warmers, Fillers, and Coolers. learning during the lesson and
These are types of short activities which also lighten the mood a little. If you
can be added to your lesson plans to plan a good cooler, your students will
help transition between different stages leave the lesson happy and upbeat,
in a productive way. feeling as if they have both learned and
had a good time.
☀️What are warmers?
Warmers are just what they sound like.
They are quick activities or games that WARMERS, FILLERS,
are used at the start of the lesson to get
your students moving and using English. AND COOLERS –
Warmers can help your students WITH BEGINNERS
to break the ice, to relax and start
You’ll often find that different activities
talking without fear of making mistakes,
can be adapted to work as either
and to remind them of previous
warmers, fillers or coolers depending on
material. They can also be used to
how you use them. However, some
provide context to the lesson by
activities are more suited to beginners
introducing students to the lesson’s
rather than advanced learners.

⌛ What are fillers?

vocabulary or themes.
Below are some examples of such
activities which can be great when used
with beginners or young learners.
Sometimes your lesson plans work out
great. You accurately plan the exact Example activities:
amount of time your students will take
for each activity and have enough 🔗 Word/Sentence chain. Have
material and activities to fill the entire students sit or stand in a circle. Then
allotted time. But when you’re new to have the first student say a word or a
teaching, or have a new class, you may sentence such as “I like…” Then, have
get the timing wrong and be left with five the second student repeat this sentence,
minutes at the end of an activity that you and add their own part to it. Repeat until
can’t fill. This is where fillers can be everyone in the circle has recited the
useful. chain and added their part.
They are quick and easy language You can steer it towards a certain topic
games that encourage the students to by adding the first sentence in the chain
yourself, or by having key vocabulary stand in a circle and take turns throwing
written on the whiteboard which a ball to each other, with each throw
students get extra praise for using. being accompanied by a question. Make
sure you put some rules in place for
🖼️ Pictionary. Put students in two polite and safe behaviors, such as not
teams. Give one person in each team a throwing balls at other people’s faces!
word on a card, and have them try to
draw it while the rest of the team guess
the word (in English). As you should be able to see, many of
This can be great for making sure the above activities could be used as a
students really understand the meaning warmer to refresh the previous lesson’s
of the word, and can be a great cooler vocab, or at the end of a lesson to recap
activity if used to recap the vocabulary what has been learned. Similarly, they
learned at the start of the lesson. could be used during a class to plug a
time gap between other activities, while
🔤 Alphabet words. Sit students in still remaining productive.
a circle and run through the alphabet
from A to Z, with each student thinking of
a word that starts with their given letter.
This will be difficult once they get to Q or
WARMERS, FILLERS,
X! AND COOLERS –
WITH ADVANCED
This can be good as a warmer to get
your students thinking in English, but CLASSES
might be a little too distracting as a filler.
More advanced students will be able to
📢 Simon Says. This is quick and manage more complex activities, and
easy, and gets your student moving. may grow tired of the same basic games
Give them simple commands to follow, mentioned previously.
with points if they don’t do an action
when you don’t say ‘Simon Says’ before
Here are several
the command. As your students get activities which can be
more confident, you could even get
them to take turns being ‘Simon’.
used as warmers, fillers,
This activity works great as a warmer,
and coolers:
filler or cooler, as you can potentially
🙋 Find someone who. Give
have students act out commands related
students a chart with five categories
to the vocabulary they’ve been learning.
such as ‘Has brown eyes’ or ‘Likes
⚾ Throw and catch. This is a grapes’. Then have your students
simple game which younger classes mingle and use complete question forms
often love to play. Have your students to ask about the categories. The first
student to get ‘yes’ for all five categories end of your lesson. By learning about
wins. these types of activities, and using them
in your lessons, you will increase your
🕵️ Two truths, one lie. If your students’ enjoyment of the lesson and
students already have a reasonable give yourself another vital tool to keep
amount of English, have them write your classes running smoothly.
down two truths and one lie about
themselves. Then have your students
mingle and say their sentences so
others can guess which statement is the
lie. Once students understand the point
of the game, they’ll love trying to trick
each other.

🤔 Error mingle. Find some

common mistakes made by your class
and write these onto cards as sentences
with mistakes. Then, put your students
into pairs and hand them several cards
each. Next, have the students read their
cards to each other and try to notice the
error. To gain a point they’ll have to say
the sentence correctly. This is great for
making your students aware of issues
with their own grammar.

💬 Discussion. This is one of the

most basic and easiest ways to warm-up
your class. Give your students a topic,
such as what they did over the
weekend, and let them talk about it for
two minutes. Make sure you confirm that
they understand the language they need
to use and report afterward what their
partner did in the correct forms.

Final Thoughts
Warmers, fillers, and coolers get your
class ready to use English, use up spare
time when your students move through
the material too quickly, and give your
students a few moments of fun at the