TKT Unit 20:

Planning an
individual lesson or
a sequence of
lessons
How to plan an individual lesson or a
sequence of lessons

• When we plan an individual lesson,

we need to think about
– its aims,
– the shape of the lesson and
– the kind of techniques
that are most appropriate for a
Particular group of learners.
 Example

• To introduce a new grammatical

structure…
We might choose a Presentation,
Practice and Production (PPP)
approach or a task based learning
(TBL)
 Examples of skills lesson
• For receptive skills, we usually plan
tasks or activities for learners to do
before, while and after reading or
listening.
• For productive skills, there is usually
an introductory stage to set the
scene (i.e.to explain the context) and
a feedback stage after the speaking
or writing activity.
We also need to think about
• The connections between the aims of
the lesson and the procedures we’ll
use to achieve the aims.

• The available materials, length of the

lesson and information we have about
our learners will help to identify
possible procedures.
 The most important thing is
• To make sure that the materials,
tasks and activities we select are
the ones that will help a
particular group of learners to
achieve the aim we have
identified.
 What is a sequence of
lessons?
• A number of related lessons that
develop language knowledge and/or
language skills over a period of
time.
• Sequences may develop a single
topic or language areas that are
very closely connected.
Example: Structural sequence
1. Revision: past simple tense
2. Revision: present perfect tense
3. Contrast: past simple vs. present
perfect
Example: Integrated skills
sequence
• Vocabulary development:
describing places (function:
describing)
• Reading: choosing a holiday
• Writing: letter to a friend
narrating holiday experiences
(function: narrating)
 Example: Project work
• Reading and listening about free
time activities
• Class survey and research: sport
and entertainment
• Preparation of a poster display
to show results of survey
 Key concepts
We have to ask ourselves:
• Will the topic be interesting and
motivating for my learners?
• Are the activities and teaching
materials at the right level for all
the learners?
 More questions to ask
• Have I planned too much for the
time available? Are there any
stages I can cut if necessary?
• Have I thought about exactly how
to start and end the lesson?
• Does each step in the lesson help
to achieve the aim?
 Long-term planning
• In addition to knowing what was
covered in the previous lesson
and what will be covered in the
next lesson, it is useful to get a
picture of what will be covered
over several lessons, i.e. a
scheme of work.
• What kinds of things should be
included in a scheme of work?
A scheme of work includes…
• Learning outcomes
• Time needed
• Language input and language reviews
• Activities / tasks
• Materials
• Topic
• Types of skills
• Provision for mixed levels in class
Advantages of a scheme of work
• Provide a framework of what needs
to be taught
• Helps Ts to have an overall view of
learning
• Brings together different elements
of the syllabus and show how they
interlock
• Helps teachers to check at a glance
that they are providing balance and
variety
• Help to clarify priorities
• They can be done for a few
lessons or many
• They help relate individual aims
to the course aims
• Help teachers to see at a glance
that they are incorporating
activities to meet a diverse range
of learning needs
Planning a sequence of lessons
Look at the three teachers’ schemes
of work (i.e. outline plans) for a
sequence of four lessons.

•What do you think might be the

advantages and disadvantages of each
scheme?
 Scheme A
Advantages Disadvantages
• Leaves teacher • Gives no details of
free to respond what will happen in
to learners’ these lessons and so
does not remind the
needs teacher of general
aims or what
materials to prepare
 Scheme B
Advantages Disadvantages
• Probably the most
• Quite detailed. useful
• Some sense of • Not too much detail
direction. or too little, but the
teacher will need to
return to it and add
more detail week by
week to turn it into a
set of lesson plans
 Scheme C
Advantages Disadvantages

• Very detailed • Difficult to predict

several weeks ahead
• Gives very
exactly what learners’
clear sense of needs may be, so the
directions teacher will need to
return frequently to
the scheme of work
and change it if
necessary
 In sum, …
• Schemes of work are less detailed
than lesson plans.
• A sequence of lessons should have a
logical and learning-friendly
progression and a good balance of
approaches and activities.
A scheme of work helps us…
• Plan a sequence of lessons in the best
way to cover the school syllabus or
the units of a coursebook in the time
available.
• Think about what we want to achieve
(aims) and what materials we might
need and what procedures we should
use.
• Include enough variety across our
lessons
 Key concepts
• It’s a good idea to make lesson plans
look as simple as possible, no need to
describe every step in great detail.
• Write down some important things in
a complete form, e.g. prompts for
drilling, questions to check learners’
understanding, instructions, etc.
• A lesson plan should be clear and easy
to read during the lesson.
• Useful to include drawings of the way
the blackboard will look at different
stages.
• Variety is very important both in a
sequence of lessons and in a single
lesson. Avoid doing the same kinds of
things in the same order.
 Things we can vary
• Pace • Quick and fast-moving/
slow and reflective
• Interaction • Individual, pairs,
pattern groups, whole class
• Skill • Productive / receptive
• Level of • Non-demanding /
difficulty requiring effort or
concentration
 Things we can vary 2
• Content • Changing from one
language point /subject
to another
• Mood • Light or serious; happy
or sad; tense or
relaxed
• Exciting or • ‘Stirring’ (lively and
calming active) or ‘settling’
activities (quietening down)
• Learners may require more frequent
revision than the coursebook
provides. A scheme of work will
make sure that we recycle language
and include regular revision
activities during a sequence of
lessons.
• Coursebook units are often arranged
around a special topic which is
useful way of linking together a
sequence of lessons.
• The sequence of lessons in
coursebook units gives us the
chance to develop particular areas
of vocabulary, but learners may
feel that the lessons are
repetitive, so we need plenty of
variety of texts and tasks.