As we already know teachers develop their own personal styles to plan their lessons. There are many things you can include in a lesson plan and the possibilities are endless. Some of these elements are mentioned on pages 371 - 374 in the TEFL book.
Here is a list of elements you can find in lesson plans. Read the list and choose 5 elements you consider essential for your lesson plan. Post the list of the 5 elements and a short explanation of the reasons behind your choice. Don't forget to read one your partners' comments and reply to it.
Here is a list of elements you can find in lesson plans. Read the list and choose 5 elements you consider essential for your lesson plan. Post the list of the 5 elements and a short explanation of the reasons behind your choice. Don't forget to read one your partners' comments and reply to it.
Good Luck!
It was very hard for me to make a decision because all of the elements on the list play a different role when planning a lesson, but anyway here you have my top five based on my experience and preferences:
ReplyDelete1. The date.
It may seem as something very little but it helps you to be very organized. If you have a notebook for lesson planning and one or more classes assigned by writing the date you can know what you did on different occasions. So, if you have to go back and take a look at the activities you implemented or any assignments, you won’t have any doubt of your actions in class because the date will allow you to have all the evidence you need.
2. Lesson objectives.
You need to know what you want your Ss to achieve and what your class is going to be focused on. So, don’t forget to make this goal as specific as possible, by using the ABCD model (Audience, Behavior, Degree and Condition).
3. Short description of each activity.
I think this element is a mixture of what the T and Ss are going to do in class, how much time we’re going to spend on each activity, how are Ss going to be working (grouping) and the pages of the book you’re going to cover (if you have one).
4. Materials.
This one could be included in the previous one but I decided to separate it because sometimes you plan to use different things from the book, cd, cd player or board, so if you write the materials on a different session of your lesson plan, you won’t forget for example that you have to have a ball, or make some copies or ask Ss to bring dictionaries, etc.
5. Homework.
As a teacher, I always find necessary to assign homework to my Ss, for them to practice outside the classroom, but of course we have to remember that the grade of difficulty cannot be always the same. We need to take into account how much time they’ll have to do hw, what they need to do it, if it is something really useful for them (like exercises to practice for a quiz) and other situations depending on the context.
So, this is what I think. What’s your opinion? :)
Meliza Muñoz
Well, I agree with you Meliza. It is really difficult to choose only five elements from the list we were given, because I consider all of them are important when planning a lesson, but the ones that you chose let us see how organized and careful you are at the moment of writing a lesson plan.
DeleteMeliza I agree with most of the elements you chose, and I really enjoyed seeing and learning from your point of view . I will add that also the homework set prior to a lesson can aid understanding later in class.
DeleteHi Meliza,
DeleteI see your point when you say it is hard to choose but I think you did a great job. Even though this is a very personal matter and it depends on a series of factors I agree the five elements you chose could help any teacher to have a juicy lesson plan. I like the fact you give materials the importance they deserve, I think it helps you a lot.
Thanks for sharing
Good job Meliza!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I picked out my 5 important elements I didn't pay too much attention to the date since I always write it down. After reading your comment I realized how important this aspect is. I do agree with your argument that the date helps you to be organized and also keep the evidence of what we did that day in class, especially if we teach kids or teenagers who tend to say that something wasn't done in class or maybe a topic wasn't covered. Thank you, I am able to say why the date should always be included in our plans without exception.
Jennifer Torres Acosta.
After analyzing the list of elements of lesson plans, I can say that all of them are necessary at the moment of planning a lesson. These are five of the ones I consider more essential:
ReplyDeleteLesson objectives.
It is very important to describe and let your students know what you want them to be able to accomplish after the lesson is completed. These objectives have to be specific.
Age of learners.
Taking into account the age of your students helps you to choose the right activities to have in class. Don´t forget that children and teenagers learn differently from adults. (Kids are more visual learners)
Review of the last lesson.
I think it is a good idea to start my classes with a warm-up activity reviewing the last lesson studied because in this way I can connect the current lesson with the previous one by going over some topics or vocabulary learned previously.
Timing of each activity.
By doing this, you can have control of the students while doing the activities. If Ss know the time they have is limited, they won´t waste it. They will focus on what they have to do.
Short description of each activity.
Both teacher and students need to know what activities are about. Students must get clear instructions in order to develop those activities in class.
Hey Ruth, You did a great job!...You are right when you say we need to pick the correct activities according to the ages of our students, because some activities could be boring for teenagers but could be very fun for children. You should also take into account the skills you want your students to work on according to the activities you choose.
DeleteFinally, I want you to think about "homework", for me this element is very important because your students can practice what they learned in class...Remember sometimes we don't have enough time to teach and practice everything we desire.
Great job!
:)
Congratulations Ruth on your concise and clear comment. I couldn't agree more with the importance of class objectives, review of the last lesson and the description of the activities in a good lesson plan. I can tell your classes are well organized. That explains why your rapport with kids is great.
DeleteHi Ruth,
DeleteNice list. I will also include a review because I think part of our job is to train our students with strategies and that is a very important one that would help them remember the material they have covered and clarifying doubts they have.
Take care
Making up my mind was not that easy at the moment of choosing five important elements when planning a class. However, based on my experience I have chosen the ones listed below:
ReplyDelete1. Lesson Objectives: believe it or not, after writing the objectives on the board and before beginning my classes I always have one student read what they will be able to do by the end of the class and I also make sure everybody understands the goals by asking them some comprehension questions. This aspect shows students that we care about them and we know where to lead them.
2 .Descriptions of what the learners do: What makes our planning understandable and easy to follow is the description of the activities we have prepared for students. If someone else, maybe a colleague, needs our help we can easily facilitate our planning so that the other teacher can follow it or learn a lot from it without asking too many questions. Also, keeping everything detailed, such as the page of the book we are working on or the kind of grouping strategy we are using, helps us for future consulting and to recycle activities either to repeat or improve them.
3. Materials needed: this is something I always highlight when planning my lessons. I do it because I am kind of absent-minded and I don't like to leave anything out. Even though some of the materials I will be using are not such important, for instance a blue marker, I write it down and highlight it. So, before going to the classroom, I usually double check my list in order to have everything set for my class. It helps me as well with the point number two about having the full description of the activities. As a result, I have the activities and also what I need to perform them.
4. Homework: With something to do at home or outside the class, students have the chance to continue practicing, reinforcing, studying what they have learned in class. So, writing the homework in our planning after carefully design it, reminds us of what we have assigned in order to check or correct it next class.
5.Extra activities: last but not least, having one or two extra activities written on our class preparation helps us deal with last-minute problems we might get in our class. For example, when a topic is not clear enough or in case we have some time left, we know what to do or how to manage the situation. It is advisable to have a bank of resources ready to use if necessary.
I personally believe that what we include in our planners is what we really need for our classes. It also shows the kind of teachers we are and what we want our students to achieve.
I will appreciate your comments!!!!
Jen, I really like your point of view about having extra-activities. Sometimes Ss may be more energetic than what they use to be and can finish the tasks very fast. It is always a great idea having a plan B, C or even D and then everything is going to be just fine. :)
DeleteI strongly agree with the "extra activities" issue. sometimes they do not receive much attention when planning a lesson but as you said when a̶n̶ ̶u̶n̶w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ a last minute problem appears extra activities can make the difference.
DeleteJenny, I almost include "extra activities" in my 5 elements, but then I analyzed they are part of our materials. We always need to have extra work or activities to let students practice the topics without using the textbooks and where they could use their oral, social and other skills.
DeleteI really liked the way how you explained each element you chose.
Good Job! :)
Congratulations Jennifer! By writing an inspiring comment you also helped me inspire to write mine. I start every class by talking a little bit with my students about the last class objective and then I also share with them the new class objective. I think that when students know what they will do in class, their participation and learning will be more meaningful. Great work!
DeleteHi Jennifer,
DeleteThank you for taking the time to write such a complete comment. I strongly agree with you on including extra activities. Something I usually do when I receive a new course is that I take some time to look at the topics I am going to teach and I brainstorm on activities I have used to teach those topics in the past so I create a sort of bank of activities. Whenever I am planning and I am running out of ideas I go to to the bank and "withdraw" a couple of activities to vary my classes.
Lovely comment.
Jennifer, The idea of extra materials is very important. We all need to have an extra card in case we run out of activities from the book. Students may not like it but they see that we are always prepared. This is important in lesson planning.
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ReplyDeleteThese are the five elements I consider essential for my lesson plan.
ReplyDelete1. Objective. I choose this one as number one element because as teachers we must be clear about the purpose of the class, what the students will be able to do by the time they completed it.
2. Review of the last lesson. I believe that by creating a short activity I can help students remember something they already learned and this will ease the learning environment and will help them feel comfortable learning something new.
3. Materials. Me, as a teacher, definitely need to carefully choose the resources that will be used to teach the processes and content being addressed and assess learning gains
4. New Vocabulary. I think that it is essential to prepare and provide students a special vocabulary list which includes words and terms that students need to know in order to meet the learning outcomes
5. Homework. In my opinion this element is extremely important since I provide students opportunities for reinforcement of work learned during class time and to develop their research skills and by doing so I am also helping them to become autonomous learners
I will appreciate your comments.!!!
( First time using blogger I hope this time works well...!!!)
Even though I did not include homework as an element in my lesson plan, I do believe it is important to give students tasks and assignments that will help them reinforce knowledge or improve skills by practicing outside of the classroom. It also teaches students to be responsible for their own learning. It is kind of like the agency in the five A's. Well stated, Maria!
DeleteMaria, there is an interesting thing in your post I woul like to go deeper. I strongly agree with you in terms of "REVIEW OF THE LAST CLASS". Students and teachers have to find ways to put into practice everything we learn/teach in class. I personally believe in giving students lots of new words so that they can communicate more but I dont feel comfortable with just having them write the words on their notebooks. I try to recycle the vocabulary from previous classes through contests, mock quizzes, dictations, definition games, and the like. by doing this, Ss feel they have to review and memorize the words as well as put them into a given context.
DeleteHey María, congratulations on your first post. It was about time, wan't it?
DeleteLet me tell you I really like it. Your experience has given you a great sense to guide your students' learning.
I also think that good homework is essential in order to provide opportunities for knowledge reinforcement. I am with you too when you say homework helps student grow autonomous learning. Very good work. I can't wait to read your second post.
Hi María,
DeleteCongrats on your first blogging experience. I agree with all of your partners who mentioned the importance of giving homework. I'd like to say that homework is part of autonomy and it can help our students to learn different strategies that will eventually contribute to their learning process.
Way to go Mary!!
These are the 5 elements I consider essential for my lesson plan.
ReplyDelete1. Lesson objectives: I consider this to be my #01 concern and the base of every class. The purpose and direction of the class must be clear from the very beginning.
2. Timing activities: This is a very personal favorite :) . Students tend to waste time if the teacher doesn´t set a time limit so I include this issue in every lesson plan and try to stick to it. Sometimes it is difficult to predict how long an activity will take and this can be a downside because you have to adapt your lesson on the go.
3. New vocabulary: I think it is very important to include a list of "new vocabulary" in the lesson plan. Understood as the "new" words or expressions they are supposed to learn in that particular lesson including variations, synonyms, extended vocabulary and possible questions from students. This helps a lot when teaching vocabulary and a student comes up with a very specific question...I am not a walking dictionary but I like to show I'm ready.
4.Extra activities: In my opinion having extra-activities is very helpful when students find a certain topic obscure and difficult to understand even after having used all my activities and the exercises provided by the textbook/workbook then one or two extra activities might come at your help as a last resource.
5. Homework: In the particular case of regular courses teachers including the homework in the lesson plan is really useful because we have to comply with the "translation homework" policy and I prefer having my sentences ready rather than inventing them in the middle of the class.
Thanks for your comments! ;)
Love the fact that timing activities is a very important element in your lesson plan. If not controlled, time can become your enemy when trying to manage your class successfully. Important element of lesson planning.
DeleteIt was a bit difficult for me to choose only five elements from the list. I agree with the transitions and the time, you need to know how much you are going to spend on each activity otherwise you will spend the whole class with the Warm Up. :D
DeleteHi Alberto,
DeleteI have to say that timing is one of my top 5 elements. In my personal opinion if you time your activities and keep track of the time while your students are at them, you will have better control of your classes. I mean you will ensure your students are doing stuff all the time and that would reduce the opportunities they have to go out of track, especially when you are teaching teenagers.
Thanks for sharing.
As in any recipe, having the right ingredients and knowing when and how to combine them will guarantee our success when cooking. Planning a lesson is like cooking which means that as chefs (teachers) we should know how to prepare our dishes (lesson plans) so that they are tasty as well as filling enough for our students. In my opinion some of those vital ingredients to get an assertive and productive lesson plan are:
ReplyDeleteLesson objectives: The objectives will tell us where we want our students to get. In other words, they are our navigation chart. They also work as reference to evaluate our students and ourselves as teachers. At the end of every class we can look back at them and reflect if all the activities we thought of were appropriate to achieve our goals. When students know what they are expected to learn and do in every class, they feel classes are well structured and well thought of.
Transitions: they allow us to switch from one activity to another especially when the first one might not be related to the second one. They are a great tool when coming back from a break or after some period of inactivity. Students won´t feel the change of topic and they also work either to boost our students level of engagement or to decrease anxiety after one activity.
Grouping of learners: This can make or break your class. Grouping is quite vital to foster different skills depending on the tasks. It also promotes student-student interaction, cooperation and negotiation. When grouping students, we have to keep in mind various factors which will guarantee the success of our class. Some of those factors are: the kind and quality of relationships students have among themselves, gender, ages, likes and dislikes, level of English, learning styles, resources, and tasks, among others.
Timing of each activity: Teachers have to pace their classes. A class without a time limit for each activity will not be very productive and students will take advantage of that which might result in misbehavior. When teachers know how long they have for each activity, they get the feeling of accomplishment at the end of every class. On the other hand, those teachers who don’t keep track of how long they have for each stage of the class might feel that they are not doing everything they had planned for.
Homework: Not taking into account that this is a compulsory stage in our lesson plan due to the fact that it is a policy in our institution, I do believe that homework works for several reasons. First, it encourages autonomy and dedication after class. Secondly, it gives the students the opportunity to review and get further practice so that they can find questions and then they can bring those doubts to class. Finally, it gives students the sense of responsibility in their own learning process.
Liked the way you explained grouping of learners. It gives a thorough description of the importance of this element in lesson planning. Even though random grouping also works, it cannot be used in all groups, with all ages or abilities. Great input, Unkown!
DeleteI have no idea why my name does not appear on the top of my comment but it does on my replies. William, Just for you to know, this is my comment.
DeleteDear Mr. Unknown,
DeleteThanks for such a great post. I loved the analogy you made. In fact, one of the activities I have used with trainees to learn about lesson planning is the creation of the perfect recipe for a class topic. I have collected different recipes like "Present Perfect stew", "Future plans soup" and "Personal information grilled sandwich". I see you are a great chef so I have to say that the adding of grouping of learners does give your recipe an ingredient that would make your classes quite tasty.
Great job!
The five elements that I have chosen, after going through the list several times, represent what, for me, the basic elements a lesson plan should include . I also think that some of the other elements on the list are connected to the ones described below.
ReplyDelete1. Lesson objectives.
This is a relevant element because students need to have a clear idea of what the purpose of the lesson is and what they will be able to do after all the stages have been completed.
2. Transitions.
They really help keep your lesson organized and prepare students for next activity. Here I can include a short description of each lesson stage and in this section, I can also include the time.
3. Grouping of learners.
This will also help me keep my class organized and it is a good classroom management strategy. Making the decision on the spot of how you are going to group students may cause disruption and you may waste valuable academic learning time.
4. Review of the last lesson.
Lerning is a gradual process in which students acquire knowledge based on past experience or background information. I am a firm believer of reinforcing previously covered content and if we manage to successfully connect our previous lesson to the next one, students will be able to grasp concepts better. Students do benefit from tasks that activate previous knowledge.
5. Materials needed.
This includes many things, for example, the page of the book and even the skills that are going to be reinforced or learned and any linguistic competence involved in the learning process.
This has been a very enriching experience that is allowing me to geet to know my colleagues better and learn a lot from them. Your comments are welcome.
Hi Lidia,
DeleteI want to start backwards. One of the great things of having this virtual "conversations" is learning from your peers. There is no book that has the information I have read in these posts and I want to thank you for pointing that out. Secondly, the idea that many elements are connected and include some other is just the right one.I want to highlight the idea of including transitions. To me this might be something that some teachers could take for granted but its inclusion could give anew dimension to the whole sequence of your class.
Thanks a lot
Hi Lidia we agreed on the objectives of the class and review of the last lesson, although I chose some others I think the others you selected are very beneficial, too. especially grouping of learners because this keeps control of the class and know what everybody is doing. this does not mean that I do not like the others. all of them are important, too.
DeleteHello, Dear Teachers!
ReplyDeleteI consider the following elements essential for my lesson plan:
1. Lesson Objectives: When writing a lesson plan the first thing you need to take into account is the objective. What are my students going to learn from this lesson? What standards do I have to follow according to the institution? What are they going to be able to produce by the end of the class? A lesson objective is the guide you have to continue planning.
2. Short description of each activity: Teachers and students must know what they are going to do during the class. I personally include the time, pages of the course book and the grouping of learners in this section. Describing the activities is very useful especially if you have prepared your class a lot of days in advance, so you can remember easily or if a teacher has to substitute you he/ she can see what the activities are about.
3. Review of the last lesson: By reviewing, students can have the topics still fresh in their minds. This is a moment for the teacher to notice errors from students and explain in case things are not clear.
4. Extra activities: Oh! Five minutes left and my students finished all the activities I brought! One of the things that most teachers (myself included) do not like is to run out of activities. Bringing extra activities to class is useful because students can practice more about the same topic, this can be helpful in case one of your Plan A tasks did not work.
5. Homework: It is the moment for students to practice more in an individual way. Homework does not need to be long, an assignment for home is a good reminder of autonomy.
Thanks for your comments!
Lili,although I did not include homework in my five elements, I highly consider it as a very important one because we need that our Ss keep practicing, studying and working on what they have learned in class, at home. Once they have this as a routine, I am sure they will improve their skills in class.
DeleteLovely post Lilibeth,
DeleteYour five elements could help any teacher refine his/her lesson plan. The objectives as you said are vital and the description of the activities in my opinion is the spinal column of any lesson plan.
Way to go!
A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class time. This definition is too literal, because a lesson plan is more than a simple piece of paper or piece of information about what we would do in class.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my experience, a lesson plan is the guide, the body, the “bible” of the teaching process in a class. It’s not only a list of steps to follow, it’s also the way how, as teachers, we can develop those activities, and how we can immerse our students in the learning process. That’s why I found a little bit hard choosing the correct elements to be added to a lesson plan, because all of those elements play different roles (some more important than the other ones).
According to what I wrote and taking into account my personal experience as a teacher, the following elements are the ones we should always include in our lessons plans:
1. OBJECTIVES: this is the first element we need to take into account because, as in every process, we need to have a vision about where we want to go and what we want to get. Teachers need to know the goal they want their students to achieve in each class.
2. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF EACH ACTIVITY: This is very important because, it doesn’t matter if the activities are about presentation, practice or wrap-up steps, each activity needs to be clear, explained, completed. In this way, teachers and students will understand every detail to do those activities and what they want to get with their realization.
3. TIMING OF EACH ACTIVITY: this is as important as the description of the activities because, if we want a successful class and also to complete the activities we plan to do, we need to have a time limit for all of them. Without a time limit, the organization and the sequences of activities we planned before, will be affected and students also could become demotivated if an activity takes a lot of time or if they don’t do something different.
4. MATERIALS NEEDED: In this element we include the textbooks, dictionaries, markers, board, and all kind of extra work or material we want our students to work on. A teacher without any material is like a cook without a knife. Teachers need to have materials to do their teaching work successfully.
5. HOMEWORK: This element is accepted by some teachers and not accepted by others. For me, homework is the way how students could practice what they learned in class. As a teachers, we need to have strategies to get students appreciate homework, and get them to see homework as a tool of self-learning and not as an obligation or punishment.
Those are the elements I chose to be added to a lesson plan.
Rosana E.
Hi Rosana,
DeleteThanks for sharing your opinion. I know there are many teachers who see lesson planing just as a requirement. For me lesson planning is a great help and something I try always to have before going into a class if it is possible. I read somewhere that you could take your students into a trip and choose a bumpy and dirty road or you could also chose a flight in first class with all the comfort this provides. In both cases you will get to the destination at some point. I prefer to fly first class with my students and facilitate the process as much as possible.
Lovely list.
When planning a lesson is difficult to choose only five elements because I consider we can change them according to the class needs. Sometimes the level is the same but the Ss are very different though . Although I think there are other elements I would use as well, I have chosen these five as my top ones.
ReplyDelete1.The lesson objectives.
The purpose of the class must be clear and specific since the very beginning. I need to let Ss know what I want them to achieve and what I want them to do by the end of the class.
2. Review of the last lesson.
Planning warm up activities which can be used to review topics of the last lesson is very useful and,at the same time helpful for Ss because after doing this, they will feel more confident to participate more actively after having reinforced what they have previously learned.
3. Extra activities.
They are very useful for us teachers and specially for those Ss who did not get the purpose after many tries and then after finishing them they can say, "I got it now, teacher" or maybe when we have a couple of minutes more at the end of the class because one of the activities I have planned did not take the time you thought because your Ss finished before the time is up.
4. Timing activities.
Very important one because having done this, you will be able to control your Ss and the time they use to do their tasks. And they will not be able to waste time either.
The more time controlled the class, the more productive it will be.
5. New vocabulary.
I like to include a new vocabulary list with words, synonyms, variations that will appear in the lesson that they have to learn. And when Ss asks questions about that, we can answer them so they can notice we are well-prepared. This does not mean that I will give the meanings of everything and they will also see I care about them.
Tks for your comments.
Gina;)
I agree with you that its difficult to choose only 5 elements, because it really depends on what you have to teach. So, those elements could really change. On my 5 I didn´t include your No.2, only because I could only choose 5. However, I do agree with you that it is very imporatant to keep on reviewing and refreshing Ss´minds about previously taught language as Ss have the tendency to forget if not constantly putting it into practice. Nice one Gina.
DeleteHi Gina,
DeleteI couldn't agree more with you. Choosing five is hard but you guys have done a lovely job. I'd like to comment of new vocabulary. I think it is a lovely element to have in a lesson plan. Languages are alive and you will always find new vocabulary and expressions you can use for different topics. Having new vocabulary in a lesson plan helps you to anticipate problems for your students and at the same time putting yourself in the position of the learner which some times we forget.
Thanks a lot
Thank s a lot William. And also thank you for sharing your ideas with us.
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ReplyDeleteMy five building blocks for a lesson plan as enquired by our instructor are.
ReplyDeleteOne, objectives. As Rosanna, Lydia, Jwnnifer as well as others have stated, a lesson plan is our GPS, our road map for a class. Accirding to Harmer (2007) our objectives need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timed. For example an objective would be: to find main and secondary ideas in short reading excerps in 3 online-interactive multiple.choice exercises during 10 minutes for each excerpt.
A second building block is personal aims. According to Harmer they are those that help us experiment something we have not accomplished before. For example, I have aimed at ihelping students discover the gist of ahort stories by taking them to the Colombo library for one hour once a.week. After this, students take a brief quiz on the readings.
A third stepping stone in a lesson plan is potential learner problems and possible solutions. This problem and solution key step, helps us think ahead about what we can do to serve the needs of all students in class. For example, I prepare interactive online materials for hose students who need to practice grammar at.home.
A fourth element in a lesson plan is linked to a timetable fit. We need to be clear on what happens before the class, as stated by other classmates as well. Yet, we need to pay attention to what is going to be happening after the class ( Harmer, 2007). For example, last week students worked on the American justice system They had been working on vocabulary related to.court rooms and crine evidence. This week students are working on the Colombian Justice system. They will work on agreeing or disagreeing in a debate on a comparison between the American and the Colombian justice systems. Next week, students will write a two-paragraph response papaer on how the justice systems in the world favor the powerful and not the disenfranchised.
A last factor that plays a role in lesson planning is success indicators. This means that we need to pay attention to all those instances in which students "produce unprompted sentences" (Harmer, 2007). For example, we need to give ample opportunities to students to use their language through role plays, presentations and debates, among other possibilities.
In conclusion, I agree with the ideas mentioned by my classmates in this online.forum. Yet, I bring to the table my stepping stones towards sucessful lesson planning. They are objectives, personal aims, potential learner problems and solutions, skill and language.focus, and success indicators.
I absolutely agree with your opinions and steps to deliver a productive and student-centered class. The five elements that you chose let us see how organized and professional you are at the time of planning a lesson plan.
DeleteI really like it.
Hello, Dr. Lobo,
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your post, and I particularly liked how you connected your personal views to language research. I especially agree with you on the aspect of success indicators as the opportunities learners have for producing “unprompted sentences”. This reminded me of the framework for writing learning objectives that I used on a previous certification course. On that course, we learned that these success indicators, which can be named in different ways, have to be included in the learning objectives because they have the most pivotal role in the scaffolding of the lesson. Have a good evening!
Hi José,
DeleteI am basically speechless. What a great post. I have to say that success indicators is indeed a great element to keep in mind when planning a lesson. I have seen from time to time teachers who planned great coherent classes but do not keep in mind the connection between the activities and the learning outcome. having this element would help any teacher to think twice before just planning a series of activities without looking at the production.
I will finish with this quote. "You have done an outstanding job" (Sastoque, 2015).
Thank you Willy.I strongly believe that you have done the same thing with us. We loved the way you paced your class the day we saw you and everyone was so involved. We were all amazed with the quality of your delivery. We all need to seriously to follow in your footsteps. Thank you for the materials, the links, and the quality of your tasks and activities.
DeleteHi Jose,
DeleteI'm flattered with your comments and I will treasure them. Keep in mind "It takes two to tango" you guys have an amazing group of teachers.
Hope to see you all you guys soon.
First of all, I would like to say that a lesson is like journey, then the lesson plan is like a map, because it shows us where we start, where we finish and the route to take to get there.
ReplyDeleteAfter analyzing the list of elements of lesson plans provided, I have chosen the following ones as more important:
1. Lesson Objectives:
I think all lesson plans need to have puroses or objetives, and they should be clear and student-oriented to get a successfull learning outcome. it is important for students to know what teachers want them to accomplish. A well-written objective tells what students will be able to do, rather than what students will know, by the end of the lesson.
2. Review of the last lesson:
In my opinion reviewing past lessons is very important because students need constant practice of new vocabulary, grammar structures and so on. A lesson plan should always start with a brief activity that is relatively lively whose main purpose is to generate a good class atmosphere, but it can also be used for reviewing material from previous lessons since by doing a review, teachers have the chance to encourage students to use what they have been taught in previous classes.
3. Grouping of learners at each activity:
It is really important to mention that within the sequence of lesson stages, the lesson plan should incorporate dfferent grouping strategies that provide each student with the opportunity to learn in an environment best suited to his or her needs, and interests.
4. Materials needed:
I consider that anything needed to execute the lesson plan should be identified well before class time to ensure that activities can be carried out as planned. This may include realia, visual aids, textbooks, markers, overhead projector, CD players, computers etc.
5. Homework
Last but not least, It is important to say that homework plays an essential role in a lesson plan because it helps teachers determine how well the lessons and material are being understood by their students. Besides, homework teaches students how to take responsibility for their part in the educational process as well as how to work independently.
Totally agree Octavio, I felt betraying myself when I had to decide on the 5 elements since I did not include Materials and Homework. We've been trained to include these elements in a lesson plan, but it's not the only reason why I do it. The real reason is that if I don't make a list of the materials I'm going to be using, I'm quite sure I'll forget something really important to deliver my class. It may seem something simple, but it is a matter of being well-prepared. On the other side, I also think that homework has to be detailed in a lesson plan, so we don't forget and we can later follow-up on homework completion when checking. Every little part of a lesson plan has a key purpose and I think that it shows how much we care about our profession.
DeleteHi Octavio,
DeleteI understand Piedad's feeling but I do have to say the top 5 does not mean you will not include the others. I think your top 5 is great. I liked your opinion about homework and the fact that it helps students to learn about independence. I used to be a teacher who did not use homework because I thought students did not have the time to do it. I realized long ago I was making a mistake.
Thanks for sharing.
Octavio, the grouping idea is essential. This indeed helps us change the mood and the ambience of the class. Keeping students working differently in varied group layouts is like candy for children.
DeleteMy top 5 Key Elements of a Lesson Plan
ReplyDeleteDear all,
The following are the five elements that a lesson should contain, from my perspective, and some brief reasons why I chose them.
1. Lesson objectives:
The lesson objectives cannot be left out because they represent the backbone and essence of a lesson. They describe whatever target language the students are going to work on, how they are expected to learn or achieve it. The objectives also mirror the way teachers are going observe that, and probably the specific stage of the lesson in which the observable conduct is going to be instated.
2. Description of what the learners do at each stage:
This aspect is key to me because it demonstrates evidence about the flow of activities and what is expected to happen and what can be observed, from the perspective of the teacher and the perspective of an external observer. But on a deeper level, describing what the students do at every stage reflects the beliefs we teachers hold about the way learning can actually happen in a class, by placing the focus of the lesson on student-centeredness. I chose this aspect over others like grouping because it’s more general, but it can also describe the grouping patterns and why the teacher chose certain ways of interaction over others.
3. Description of what the teacher does at each stage:
For me, it’s important to describe the role of the teachers and what they do. Describing what the teacher does informs the lesson plan explicitly or implicitly, in terms of the pedagogical approach the teachers are using to carry out the lesson. Also, this may describe how teachers introduce every stage and what course of action they can take in case problems occur. Another aspect of this description can be the Comprehension Checking Questions the teachers ask to be aware that the learners understand the directions for the activities, and the language or concepts that are presented.
4. Short description of each activity:
The activities we choose, or how we chose to present and adapt activities that we cannot omit, also reflect the way we approach learning and whatever pedagogical approaches or methods we adhere to. For example, from the description of the activities, we can get a hint or learn if the teacher believes that learning is more likely to happen when learners engage in learning by doing, as opposed to learning by analyzing chunks of language or metalanguage. By describing each activity, the lesson can be easily analyzed in terms the pedagogical choices the teacher has made to scaffold the lesson. The flow of activities and their description shows a progression that goes from when the students encounter a piece of language, up to the point when they can fluently use it.
5. Review of the last lesson:
I chose this aspect but I understand review in a different way. Rather than bringing to class an activity to reinforce a weak topic, I approach the term review as an action plan that the teacher can implement in order to address a situation that is hindering learning. So, rather than reinforcing by repeating, a review is a chance for teachers to challenge their own techniques to foster learning.
I like the way you explain the review part. we, as teachers, most of the time see this part of the process as one way activity. I mean, sometimes we prepare our review activities for the students only ( which, of course 90% of the time is for them) but as you said, this is a big chance for teacher to challenge ourselves, to create, design, apply different techniques in order to take advatanges of this moment of the class!!
DeleteI like the way you explain the review part. we, as teachers, most of the time see this part of the process as one way activity. I mean, sometimes we prepare our review activities for the students only ( which, of course 90% of the time is for them) but as you said, this is a big chance for teacher to challenge ourselves, to create, design, apply different techniques in order to take advatanges of this moment of the class!!
DeleteHey Miguel,
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your comment. It was inspiring and helped me a lot to do mine.
I agree with you in everything you're saying, but as I have already commented some other teachers' posts, I would like add my cent to your appreciation about the importance of describing what a teacher does in class. When a teacher is describing what he does in class, he is telling himself about the importance of his tasks and, therefore, he is conveying respect and motivation. That stimulates students' learning a lot!
Congratulations on your great post.
Miguel, I love the idea of describing briefly each activity. People may believe it is time consuming, but this is necessary. The more we work on details the better the class will progress and the more the students will end up benefitting.
DeleteHi Miguel,
DeleteI didn't expect less from you. What a great post. I share your feeling about these elements. I'd like to say that including a description of what learners do at each stage is not one of the most common elements teachers choose when I do this activity in TEFL class but your explanation would make any teacher realize how important this can be and how much it can contribute to the aspect of student-centeredness and collaborative learning.
You totally rock!
Having to select only 5 elements out of a list that includes key parts of a lesson plan is hard for any of us. In my personal opinion, a lesson plan should be as complete as possible in order to fulfill its purpose of guiding me as a teacher, keeping my class as structured as possible and being able to give me enough feedback to measure the result of class delivery. Now, if I do have to think of the ones I would definitely not leave out of my lesson plan, these would be:
ReplyDelete1. LESSON OBJECTIVES: I consider this is the main element of a lesson plan, as it tells me as a teacher, what I have to work on for my students to accomplish. There is no way a lesson plan can be effective if teachers and students don’t know where they’re heading and they don’t keep an academic connection between the activities performed and a class goal.
2. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF EACH ACTIVITY: While it is true that as a teacher and the person that designed the lesson plan I don’t need to explain myself too much what I’m supposed to do, a lesson plan is something we can recycle for other classes or sometimes it could be necessary for others to understand what it is to be done. Therefore, it would the minimum to have a short explanation of the class activities.
3. TIMING OF EACH ACTIVITY: Timing for me has two purposes. One is to help me distribute class time effectively and control delivery, and the second is to keep track of the syllabus provided by the institution. If I don’t plan my classes including time limits, I might have problems complying with class goals and syllabus distribution.
4. ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS: I’ll have to accept that this is something I’ve never included explicitly, but I always tell teachers that when planning you must anticipate students’ needs and problems so that they can have possible answers and include ways of satisfying students’ needs and interests. So I think it would be helpful, not only to keep this in mind, but include it in the formal plan.
5. REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS: Apart from the fact that having a review at the beginning of any class is a policy for us CCCA teachers in Barranquilla, I’ve always believed that the best way to set the mood and activate students knowledge is to drill previously taught concepts in order to be able to reinforce and to have students use language actively.
I totally agree with you about the description of the activities. It had happened to me when recycling my own lesson plans!! I need to write what I did in an specif activity, otherwise i get lost!! No matter how many times you have taught certain levels, you do not always use the same activities, so it is very useful to have this short descriptions and even post notes about the process; in case you need to know if the task itself was a success or a complete disaster!! ;)
DeleteI did not include problem anticipation in my comment, but I agree two hundred percent that we, teachers, should always observe our student language learning development and anticipate their needs. Ausubel (2000) emphasizes the importance of previous learning and students needs as a basis to provide a good environment build new knowledge, Greetings.
DeleteI love the anticipation of problems. It is not that we need to be negative, but we need to be one step ahead of possible obstacles and dilemmas. The role of being a teacher refers to being a caretaker in all areas of pedagogy.
DeleteHi Piedad,
DeleteI do agree it is hard to choose but on the other hand the process of selection helps you realize many other things. Your top 5 is a great one. I want to highlight the inclusion of anticipated problems. This is the kind of element that can get you to know your students better and can also help you to tailor your classes so they can suit beautifully the different learners we have in class.
Thanks for sharing.
hello dear colleagues!!!!
ReplyDeleteChoosing only 5 elements of a lesson plan is hard for me and I guess for all teachers since, this is a very important step when preparing a class. A lesson plan is a map to follow that previously will lead you to have a successful class but it is also a tool to know if the activities you are designing and applying are working or if you need to change some things of your procedures to improve not only the students performance but yours as well.
When planning a lesson, for me the first step is lesson objectives. As a teacher, it is very important to know what do you want your SS to achieve, so from there, you are ready to create suitable activities according to several thigs like SS age, level, even previous class topics. If a lesson plan is a map to reach successful learning environment, I would say that lesson objectives are the flashlights to follow that path.
Age of learners is another element that plays an important role when planning a lesson, as sometimes you teach the same level but to a widely range of people. Due to this, preparing the same class to each one of your groups, even if it is the same level, can lead you to a disaster. Activities that work for children, sometimes do not work for teenagers, even if they are older only one or two years;this lapse of time makes a big difference in a student point of view, motivation and learning process.
Review of the previous lesson. This step of the class is essential, specially for groups you only teach once or twice a week. It is a way of activating SS knowledge, an opportunity to reinforce skills, topics you previously taught and of course, it is a way to know if they need further explanation. Review activities help SS become confident in class. If they strenghten what they learned, they will be able to participate more.
Material needed. Based on my own experience, I think a teacher needs to have clear what kind of material he/she will need to carry out his/her class. I am not talking just about textbooks, dictionaries, board or markers, but also about extra activities you plan for the class; copies, boardgames, flashcards. It had happened to me that when preparing my class, I include a game, an speaking drill, and if I do not write or point out what I need for such activity, I will forget to bring to class that extra copy, the pictures I need for the discussion or the game itself.
Finally but not least, Homework!!! It is the opportunity for SS to practice what they learned in class since it is an individual activity, it is a chance for them to be autonomous. It is not necessary to assign long pieces of homework, but a simple task makes the student feels responsible for his/her learning process.
Hi Brenda, I completely agree with you that you should review the past lesson. I did not include that in mine as I could only choose 5, however this is definitely up there for me as Ss have the tendency to forget what they learnt if they don´t constantly keep on putting it into practice and reviewing the previously learnt language. Nice one Brenda!
DeleteStudents' age is of utmost importance. It is not the same to show a piece of a video from Murder She Wrote to 30 and 40 year-olds to showing a video to teens who are 15 or 16. They would probably like to see a scene from CSI or any other modern mystery series. I like your comments indeed.
DeleteHi Brenda,
DeleteThanks for taking the time to write your comment. I think you are totally right when you include age of learners in your list. I think it is vital for a teacher to choose appropriate activities, topics and goals depending of the age you are teaching. This element helps you with the contextualization of language and at the same time provides you with an excuse to get to know your students' interest better.
Thank you
I have had a nice time reading all of the above comments and I think, you all have helped me the most to do my task. I hope you have the chance to read me, I swear I did my best to be brief.
ReplyDeleteMost of us agree that lesson planning help us gain students’ respect as we can easily convey we, teachers, have devoted time to thinking about them and their needs. At a Colombo, our circumstances provide us with a really nice environment to teach, but also we are somehow “obliged” to develop high standards of professionalism.
Among others, I would cite the following elements of lesson planning I consider essential while getting ready for a class:
As a class without objectives would be nothing, I also agree with my colleagues in this course that they’re the first and mandatory part of the lesson plan. Objectives give the class an outline basis that will allow the class to accomplish the desired goals.
Secondly, I also agree with my colleagues that the selection and appropriate use of the available resources are very important in order to develop a good class session, starting with our students as they are “the richest, deepest seam of gold that a teacher has.” (Hadfield and Hadfield, quoted by Harmer 2007a:176). As teachers we always have to keep in mind their different learning styles and their most relevant circumstances. Also, according to the class objectives and contents, we should include appropriate resources in order to achieve a meaningful class environment.
Thirdly, as a well-known concept in education states that “new knowledge to acquire is related with previous knowledge” (Ausubel 2000). I always assume that the review of the last lesson is a very important element of a lesson plan, therefore I always review what my students and I did on the last class. I almost always ask my students to remind me about the last class objective and some of the activities that we did in the previous class, and then I proceed to tell my students about the new class objective. (At the Colombo it is a must to write the class objective at the beginning of every class).
I also think that a lesson plan should include the description of the activities that students will do in the class in order to keep track and vary the activities in the future to cover some other abilities.
And, last but not least, I agree a million per cent with my colleagues on the importance of homework assignment in order to guide our students’ class preparation. Although I do not like it so much, I have had good result with translation homework as they usually help me warm up and introduce new vocabulary and language functions. I also try as much as possible, to assign some group homework in every module I teach as it enhances students’ cooperative learning.
Hey, Juan!
DeleteThanks for visiting my post and commenting on it. Something in your post that for me is really important (but, I didn’t get around to mentioning in mine) is the relevance of connecting every new learning and theory with our current situation. Whenever we encounter old or new theories and approaches to learning and teaching, it’s important to analyze how they “fit” with our context, or how we can “envision” changes based on them. I can see this notion informing all your post, and that was meaningful for me when I read it. Regarding the aspect of “review”, the technique you described for asking the students the specific objective they worked on in the previous lesson is one I have never used, and I’m thinking about how useful it would be for students to reflect and revisit their own learning. Good job!
Hey Juan,
DeleteI loved your comment and the fact you used your partners' ideas to work on your own post. The activation of schemata is indeed a tool we should always keep in mind so we avoid the over teaching of concepts and concentrate in hat our students really need. I see you included elements that would help both novice and experienced teachers to refine their lesson plans.
Thanks
Ok, second time round after just losing all my comments
ReplyDeleteAs, I mentioned from my previous lost work, for me there is no absolute top 5 elements for a lesson plan. It depends on what is the topic and what I wish my students to learn. Therefore, I have chosen 5 of my most commonly deployed elements.
1. Lesson objectives
It is fundamental in my opinion to know where it is I want to take my students. For this, I need a clear lesson objective. From this core element I can build the rest of my lesson plan around that. Having this objective in mind, I will be much better planned and I will have a clear purpose. If I am clear on this, then the Ss will almost certainly benefit.
2. Description of what students do at each stage
Now, in order to get to my and my Ss´ goal, I must have a basic outline of my path. In order to reach a final destination which is the objective, there would be stages. Stage 1 being the warm up, getting Ss to start thinking about the topic of the class. To the final stage, being the wrap-up, where Ss are putting into practice everything without my help as they have hopefully grasped the concept and are now commanding it.
3. Extra activities
Depending on the stage there should be a specific activity. Activities are extremely important to help guide the S on his learning process. One must carefully choose this depending on the nature of what is the class objective. This could be a speaking activity, or a listening exercise etc. Basically, Activities help the Ss to build confidence, become aware of the language and to master it.
4. Transitions
Each stage and activity should transit well from one to the next, building up and as we go along and Smooth classroom transitions can save time for the entire class, allowing the saved time to be utilized for the betterment of the instructional process. Thus, I think teachers should teach and explicitly demonstrate basic transition skills to their students so that the classroom activities are not disturbed when students transition from one activity to the next.
5. Anticipated problems
As in life, problems will arise in the classroom. Experience here proves king! With experience one may be better equipped to anticipate problems that may arise. If the teacher anticipates the problem then he/she will know how to deal with it and give solution to it. Such problems may be grammatical, or pronunciation, or translation. If the teacher can anticipate this then the whole class will benefit from that and such problems will be reduced in the future.
Well, fellow teachers. These are my 5. What do you think?
Hi Paul,
DeleteI'm really sorry to hear you lost your first comment. I would advice you to copy it and paste it in a word document before hitting publish next time. Anyway, this comment you posted shows lots of reflection on the process of writing a lesson plan. You have four of the elements that I would include in my top 5 so it is kind of hard to comment on something you agree so much. Anyway, I have to say that I loved the fact you included transitions. I do believe this element brings a lot to a lesson plan and helps your students to stay on the track of the achievement of the learning goal.
Well done Paul.
For me this are the thing we should keep in mind when designing a lesson plan.
ReplyDelete1. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Students and Teachers need to know what the class is going to be about. All the activities and the purpose of them. This shows the preparation of the teacher and the professionalism.
Misael Pastrana
2. REVIEW OF THE LAST CLASS: The way students learn a class, the same way they can easily forget if they do not practice or review what they studied before. It is important for the teachers and learners keep practicing whatever thing they learn.
3. SKILLS PRACTICED: As teachers we have mention the skills students practice in order for them to know that they are using all the skills in their language process.
4. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF EACH ACTIVITY: You have to know exactly what your activities are for the class, the necessary time, the kind of students you have in order to accomplish the task successfully.
5. EXTRA ACTIVITIES: To have a very motivated class, you have to use extra activities including listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Hello Misael,
DeleteI agree with you when you say that objectives are important since we all need to know what it is going to happen in class and the level of professionalism of the teacher, i also think it shows their level of commitment, The review is also useful to check previous knowledge and determine the exact amount of time we have to devote to each activity or certain topic.
Hi Misael,
DeleteThanks for your comment. The topic of skills integration you brought up is indeed something to keep in mind when planning. I think you might have misunderstood the concept of extra activities though.It basically refers to the need of having a plan B in case something goes wrong which can easily happen.
Thanks for sharing your list.
I think that when we plan our lessons, we show our students how well prepared we are to teach a class and we also display our professionalism. I think that all the elements mentioned, seemed to be important since the real pupose of a plan is to be as useful as posible for the people who are going to use it and it has to be as clear as posible. Having said that, in my opinión, i would choose the following elements as the most important ones:
ReplyDelete1.Lesson objectives: It is important to state what we want to achieve and whatt students will be able do to at the end of the lesson. When we have clear objectives, we plan our lesson according to them and bring activities that can help us achieve them very easily. The objectives give us an idea of what we want to do in the lesson in terms of activities, skills and language.
2. Short description of each activity: When including activities in class, sometimes we forget to include descriptions for each one because we assume they are easy to follow, but if we bring something to class, we need to know how we and our students are going to do the activity, whether or not they are going to be put in pairs, how long the activity is going to last, when to give instructions and our role as teachers while students are performing the activity.
3. Timing of each activity: In my opinión, we need to estimate how long each activity is going to take so that we can measure our progress as the lesson continues. We can also minimize student’s frustration when time is over and they haven’t finished or sometimes when the activity is over and the teacher has some time left and doesn’t know what to do with it, so having a clear idea of the time is useful.
4. Material needed: The way I see it it is important to think of the best way of doing things. We have to include all the equipment we need to deliver a class, we have include role cards, board, cd player etc, not just the most exciting technological option. We need to take into consideration the physical condition of the classroom in order to consider how that could affect the equipment we want to use.
5. Anticipated problems: If we as teachers try to identify the problems that might arise when delivering a class, we will be in a better pisition to deal with them and to decide what to do at a certain point.
GISELA CERA
Hi Gisela,
DeleteYou have introduced an easy-to-follow list which most likely would help a teacher to plan better and more effectively. I think your explanation on the reasons why we should describe the activities we want to carry out is a great one. There are many things we can do well and almost in a mechanical way but if we try to explain somebody how to do that we might find ourselves in trouble. Describing activities is one of those things teachers need to practice in order to master.
Take care
I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion. Really its great article. Keep it up. TEFL
ReplyDelete