Lesson plan

Preliminary Information
CLASS PROFILE
Level :Beginners
Age: Adults
Main Coursebook: Headway for Beginners
No in Class: 10 students
Time :55
TEFL Trainee: Dina Markopoulou

Aims of Lesson
PRIMARY : to teach the Present Progressive
Form: Affirmative (*Interrogative form introduced but not taught-What is
he doing?-What are they doing?)
* He is reading a book
Function: to describe action (s) at the moment of speaking

SECONDARY AIMS

1. to introduce new vocabulary (old woman, binoculars, read, write, drink,

play) or revise if known
2. To contrast with Present Simple (concepts and form)

Skills involved
Speaking (controlled practice, oral drills-free activity)
Writing (guided gap fills in controlled written practice)
MATERIALS

Flash Cards and Pictures of various actions ( source:the Internet)

Assumed Knowledge

Ss may know some of the vocabulary that the T intends to elicit/pre-teach and
have been taught the form of the Present Simple. They have some basic
knowledge of simple structures (Subject+Verb+ Object)

Anticipated Problems
Students may not understand the need for
another Present tense since such a form probably
may not exist in their mother tongue (Farsi). They
may thus have problems with comprehending its
function
Students may not have background knowledge of
the use of binoculars
Students may not be able to retrieve new or old
vocabulary during the production stage
Students may not have background knowledge of
a life guard

Strategies/Remedies
Compare/Contrast (briefly) with Present
Simple and highlight that the action is
being done now and not constantly
(e.g all day long)-Use timeline to
demonstrate
Mime action of watching through
binoculars
Display again flash cards from practice
stage
Shows picture of lifeguard and explains
the duties that a lifeguard has

Rationale

This is a group of Afghan students who are trying to learn both Greek and English
in a foreign country, whereas the majority is hardly literate in their own language.
They try hard but apparently their former educational background-if any-does not
allow for sustained concentration and consolidation. Thus, it is very probable that
their memory will not have retained previous taught items such as the present
tense and, similarly, they might not be able to retrieve any of the vocabulary. In
this case, the warm up stage would be re-adjusted and vocabulary would be
presented and not revised. Owing to their limited span of concentration, they
need to be reminded of new lexis and structure; flash cards will be constantly
used and displayed to help them produce some language. As this group is not
expected to understand and consolidate more than one aspects of the present
progressive form at the same time, the affirmative is the main aspect taught (with
some reference to the interrogative, but without any highlights). In the same
context, the production stage involves oral drills and mere repetition of structure
and language presented. Furthermore, in an attempt to promote values such as
peace, solidarity and egality, the pictures are adapted to establish a multicultural
context, which could be motivating and stress-reducing.

Lesson Plan

WARM UP1

Stage

Teacher

Learners

Purpose/Aim

Mats

-Shows picture of old

woman and
binoculars.
Asks Questions: Do
you think she is a
nice old woman or
not?

Observe and
Listen.

To set the
situation and
provide a
context for the
new language

Pictures of

Elicits
answer: Not a
nice old lady

Sets the context:

Shows picture of
building and tells Ss
that she is the owner
of this building
(simplified to Its her
building for this
level)

Board
To
involve/motivat
e learners and
elicit
vocabulary
Present ideas
(free
practice)

T. tries to elicit what

the old woman does
with the binoculars.
Elicits : She watches
the people that live in
her building
Asks Ss what they do
when they are home.
Possible answers
elicited:
I eat, I read, I sleep, I
watch TV

Experiment,
trying to
produce right
language

To revise/preteach new
vocabulary
necessary for
later- ie, the
presentation

Time

Plenary

5-6
mins

Old
woman
Binoculars

Pre-teaches new lexis

old woman,
binoculars

Org

PRESENTATION

Shows picture of
people in their
apartments. Tells Ss
that the old lady is
looking through
binoculars into the
apartments and
telling a friend on the
phone what the
people are doing.

Pictures of
people in
their
apartment
s

Listen and
Observe

To
elicit/introduce
new pattern

Provides Example:
Katina (the old lady)
is talking to another
old lady (Soraya),
Introduces Question
and points to one
apartment at a time
Produce
Tell me Katina, what
is s/he doing?

S1 :She
read* a book

To make sure
Ss understand
the main
concept in the
new pattern (i.e
action
happening at
the present
moment)

T: She is read-ing a
book
What are they
doing?
T: They are watching TV

S2: They
watch* TV

Defines time :e.g 11

pm
Asks Concept
Questions

Answer Yes

1.

Answer No

2.

Is she reading a
book now?
(Alternative) Does
she read a book
all day or is she
reading it now?

What are YOU

doing?
Tries to elicit the
correct answer
for I am reading
Writes present form
of verb read on BB
and adds auxiliary
TO BE + ing suffix

Answer: You
are teaching

Provides example:
What am I (the
teacher) doing now?
Tries to elicit other
present continuous
forms

Try to figure
rule for
present
continuous
form

Asks Ss to notice

To model the
marker
sentence for
form and
pronunciation

To invite Ss to
notice the
forms that
express the
context

reading,
writing,
eating,
watching
TV

9-10
mins
Individua
l Ss

Plenary

CONTROLLED PRACTCE 13

Shows flash cards

(watch -TV, read, eat,
drink)
Sets the same
context: Katina and
Soroja talking on the
phone

Listen and
Observe

Asks
What is he doing?
What are they doing?

Try to link
their latest
experience
with present
continuous
and produce
correct forms

Elicits :
Watch: They are
watching TV
Drink: She is drinking
Eat: They are eating
Read: She is reading

Flashcards
To check
understanding
through
individual
responses

Board

Individua
l
Ss

3
mins

Plenary
10
mins

To promote
accuracy with
regard to form
and
pronunciation

Checks pronunciation

CONTROLLED PRACTICE 24

Gives HO1. Divides Ss

in pairs and tells
them to circle the
right form
Checks
understanding of
instructions
I am reading
I am read*
He is eating
He are eating
Invites Ss to pick the
correct answer and
justify their response
Monitors and Corrects
if necessary

Work in pairs

6 min
HO1

Experiment
by producing
forms
Listen to
incorrect
answers and
correct

To check
understanding
through
individual
responses

To promote
accuracy with
regard to form
and
pronunciation

Board

Individua
l Ss
Plenary

CHECKING OF LEARNING &

5
FURTHER PRACTICE STAGE
CONTROLLED PRACTICE IN PAIRS6

Game:
Jumbled cards with
bits of information :
a)subject-auxiliaryverb-ing a)they
b)are c)read d)ing
a)he b)is c)drink
d)ing
Ss choose in random
order
Asks Ss to find their
partners and make
sentences
*Additional bits are
provided e.g.
are/is/ing so that
everyone has a
card.
T monitors and helps
The first group to
make a sentence
wins points

T divides Ss into pairs

and gives cards with
children. Tells Ss to
ask question and
gives an example
Ss swap places and
do the same drill

T monitors and
corrects when
necessary and
praises for effort all
students

Choose cards

Try to find
missing
partners and
form
sentence(s)

Work in pairs

Open
Pairs

4min

Flashcards

Closed
Pairs

8-9
mins

To model newly
presented
patterns of
language

To motivate Ss
and give
incentives to
participate

S1 What is
she doing?

To motivate Ss
by presenting
multicultural
cotext

S2 She is
eating

To explain how
activity works

S1 What are
they doing?
S2 They are
reading etc

To consolidate
through an oral
drill both
vocabulary and
grammar
structure
taught

Individual
students
perform
interchangea
bly peer
correction

Cards
To check
understanding
through
pair/group work

To reward Ss

Open
Pairs

FREER PRACTICE (PRODUCTION) AND EVALUATION

7
OF THE LEARNING IN THIS LESSON

T gives HO2 and tells

Ss that they are life
guards on the beach
and they have to
report/ write
(affirmative) what
some people are
doing on the beach.
(Defines time-present
moment and context)
Invites Ss-one at a
time- on BB to write
the answer and tells
the rest of the class
to ask the question
T monitors
Praises Ss for their
effort

Listen
Write (may
consult each
other)

To consolidate
grammatical
structure and to
revise or study
(new)
vocabulary

HO2

Board

Write
answers on
Bb
Ask
Questions to
their peers,
who write on
the board

To practice
handwriting
and spelling
skills

Plenary

7-8
min

1. Choose the correct form of the Present Continuous

READ
I am reading
I am read
You are read
You are reading
He are reading
He is reading

WRITE
We is writing
We are writing
He is write
He is writing

EAT
I are eating
I am eating
He is eat
He is eating

1 Mary

2 Helen

3.Kate - Anna

Sara
Today is Sunday. What are the girls doing on the beach?

4.