lesplanning1

LESSON PLANNING

I. BRAINSTORMING

* What is a lesson plan?
* Why do teachers prepare a lesson -plan?
* How do you plan a lesson?
* What are the essential elements of a lesson plan?
* What do you want the students to have done and learned by the end of the lesson which you are planning?
* What are the goals and objectives for the lesson you are planning?
* Do the activities which you have planned match with your intended outcomes?
* How do you organise the sequence and timing of the activities in the lesson?

II. WHY DO YOU PLAN A LESSON

     Each teacher, no matter if experienced or not, has unique strengths, and, usually, some particular weaknesses. Good lesson preparation will help the teacher use his/her strengths, and minimise weaknesses. This will, of course, help the students learn better. Ultimately the goal of teaching and of good lesson preparation is to help students learn during class period

III. HOW DO YOU PLAN A LESSON

     First of all, a teacher should know that a lesson is one portion of an entire course. It is the material that will be presented in the time allotted for that particular meeting. If a course has 100 class periods, then one lesson is 1/100th of the course. Therefore, each lesson must adequately and successfully accomplish 1/100th of the goals of the course. The syllabus has already divided the course into the various daily lessons, examinations, review periods, and other activities. Once this is done, you are ready to construct each individual lesson. This is where lesson preparation begins.

       Before preparing a lesson plan and stepping into a classroom, you must ask the seven important questions to yourself:

1. WHO will I teach?
     Who are my students? What age group are they belong to? What are their level of English?What are the needs and abilities of the students? What do they need to know?    What do they need to be? Is the material too difficult or too easy? Can these students understand it? Will they be frustrated or bored? Does the level of material meet the needs of the students and be within the range of their abilities?

2. WHAT will I teach?

    What are the objectives of the specific lesson? What material will you use? What is the purpose of this material? How deep and wide should you go? What should you include? What should you exclude? Remember, each lesson must help accomplish the overall objectives of the course. If the lessons fail to do their part, then the course will be a failure. Make sure each lesson accomplish its own goals and objectives.

3. HOW should I teach the subject?

     What teaching methods should you use? Which activities, materials and teaching aids should you use to carry out the lesson successfully? Should you use lecture, have discussions, show films, take students to events, start an argument, or let them read the book and figure it out on their own?
What methods will effectively teach the material? There are many to choose from. Which one is most suited for today's material?

4. In which order/sequence will I teach the skills/activities/etc.?

    Since a lesson should incorporate a combination of teaching skills and related activities, each lesson must use effective activities to successfully teach the material. How should I start the lesson? How can I attract students attention and interests? What can I do next? How should I sequence the activities in a logical order while considering the pacing and timing adequately? How should I end an activity and move on to next one smoothly?

5. How do I use teaching time properly?

    How long will each activity take place in a class period? How should I arrange timing and divide the lesson into skills/subskills? What can I do if my lesson ends earlier/lasts too long? How much time should I give students to work in groups?

6. What can I do if things go unexpectedly?
     Have you prepared extra materials to use in the classroom? Have you got appropriate songs/games as fillers? Are you planning to use audio-visual aids to simplify everything if things go wrong? How can I fill the lesson if there is any gap?

7. WHY is my teaching effective or ineffective?

     How do you know if the students understand the material you are teaching? How is the evaluation used to adjust your teaching so the students can increase their comprehension levels? Do you have adequate feedback? How do you know? Are the examinations difficult enough? Do they measure what you teach? What the book teaches? Are they fair? Can a good student who prepares well get a good grade? Can a poor student who seldom studies also get a good grade? What do the students think of your examinations and grading procedures?

If you seriously consider each of these questions while planning your lessons, then the lesson can be constructed to truly accomplish its purpose, as seen in the bigger picture of the overall course. Also, a carefully prepared lesson plan solves many problems of a new teacher in the classroom. It might be said that “ long hours spent for lesson planning can be tiring” but those hours are not as stressful as a lesson which goes out of control!

IV. PARTS OF A LESSON PLAN

A lesson plan is an instrument that instructors use to outline the contents and activities of each class session. Planning an effective lesson for your classes is one of the most important aspect of successful language teaching. A lesson plan should be SHORT, usually one or two pages. The lesson plan must be adapted to student needs and abilities.

The main parts of a lesson plan may be varied. Perhaps you have developed and/or seen lesson plans which may have included some or all of the following:

a. Introduction part
b. Teaching part
c. Evaluation part

a. Introduction part
Introduction part usually contains:
1. The tittle of the lesson
2. Details of the class
3. Time/date
4. Goals
5. Objectives
6. Level of the students
7. Materials and equipment

e.g.   Introduction part

Lesson: English
Class:    Prep. A
Level:    Beginners
Time:     09.00-10.00
Unit::     Unit 5 “Numbers in Environment”
Goals:    This unit aims to provide opportunities for students to develop their understanding of the use of numbers in the environment.
Objectives: To consolidate student learning about the use of numbers in the environment and display what they know in class charts and books.

          When the introduction part is completed, then, it is time to plan the strategy to use the techniques and activities while teaching.

b. Teaching part
          Again, a number of questions may come into mind in teaching part:
How should I start the lesson? How can I attract students attention and interests? What can I do next? How should I sequence the activities in a logical order while considering the pacing and timing adequately? How can I fill the lesson if there is any gap? How can I know if my lesson is successful?

          In Teaching part, divide your lesson into three parts as:
1. Pre-teaching
2. While-teaching
3. Post-teaching

1. Pre-teaching (Presentation)
        It is suggested that, pre-teaching part of a lesson should be about %10 of the overall teaching time. It aims to attract the attention and interest of the students about the lesson and begin to get students involve the topic. To do this, one or two lead-in activities can be prepared or selected from sources and the suitable technique for these activities is used to start the lesson.
       Usually, the teacher asks questions about the previous lesson to review and then combine it with the new lesson. The objectives of the lesson are stated to get them thinking.

2. While-teaching (Practice)

         The longest part of a lesson is the while-teaching part. At this stage, a set of activities and techniques take place both for the whole class work and the group work.
          These activities should be different and sequenced logically. That is, students should start learning without getting bored through a number of different activities and techniques which are neither too long nor too shorts. There must be a smooth flow and transition from one activity to the next. Usually 5-7 minutes for each activity provides this smoothness.

3. Post-teaching (Product)

        This part should be %10 of the overall time as with the pre-teaching part. In this part, main points from all that has gone on during the lesson are highlighted, a brief summary about the lesson is given to repeat the main points of the lesson. Students are assessed by question and answer, and they are guided to apply the learned knowledge to practice at home through homework for the next lesson. Thus, a necessary feedback is obtained from the students as to if they understood the lesson..

c. Evaluation

      If the class learn the subject well while enjoying and participating communicatively throughout the lesson, and if the lesson goes properly according to plan, we might say that the lesson was successful. A good teacher should think after giving a lesson whether it was a good one or not, and why. This should be done by every teacher after a lesson to improve a good lesson or/and to find the reasons of the success to apply it to the next lessons.

The following checklist might be helpful for you in the evaluation of your lesson.

Evaluation Checklist

1. Was the subject taught into clear steps to help the learners?
     Comment:

2. Was the content of the lesson set up clearly so that equipment and materials were ready and the class members could all understand?
     Comment:

3. Did the introduction recall prior knowledge, create interest, and explain key points of what people should expect to
     see?
     Comment:

4. Did the activities set a model of correct performance?
     Comment:

5. Were special or difficult aspects given extra attention or explanation?
    Comment:

6. Did the follow-up activities check that students understood the main steps?
     Comment:

7. Did the follow-up activities provide for students to have supervised practice?
     Comment:

8. Did the follow-up activities give feedback to students on their new learning?
    Comment: