EFFECTIVE LESSON PLANNING, DELIVERY TECHNIQUES

AND CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT SUGGESTIONS

Good lesson planning is essential to the process of teaching and learning.

A teacher who is prepared is well on his/her way to a successful
instructional experience. The development of interesting lessons takes a
great deal of time and effort. As a new teacher you must be committed to
spending the necessary time in this endeavour.

It is also important to realize that the best planned lesson is worthless if

interesting delivery procedures, along with good classroom management
techniques, are not in evidence. There is a large body of research
available pertaining to lesson development and delivery and the
significance of classroom management. They are skills that must be
researched, structured to your individual style, implemented in a
teacher/learning situation, and constantly evaluated and revamped when
necessary. Consistency is of the utmost importance in the implementation
of a classroom management plan.

All teachers should understand that they are not an island unto
themselves. The educational philosophy of the district and the
uniqueness of their schools should be the guiding force behind what takes
place in the classroom. The schools code of discipline, which should be
fair, responsible and meaningful, must be reflected in every teachers
classroom management efforts.

SUGGESTED PRACTICES

Establish a positive classroom environment

Make the classroom a pleasant, friendly place
Accept individual differences
Learning activities should be cooperative and supportive
Create a non-threatening learning environment

Organize physical space; eliminate situations that my be dangerous or

disruptive
Establish classroom rules and procedures and consistently reinforce them

Begin lessons by giving clear instructions

State desired quality of work
Have students paraphrase directions
Ensure that everyone is paying attention
Ensure that all distractions have been removed
Describe expectations, activities and evaluation procedures
Start with a highly motivating activity
Build lesson upon prior student knowledge

Maintain student attention

Use random selection in calling upon students
Vary who you call on and how you call on them
Ask questions before calling on a student; wait at least five seconds for a
response
Be animated; show enthusiasm and interest
Reinforce student efforts with praise
Vary instructional methods
Provide work of appropriate difficulty
Demonstrate and model the types of responses or tasks you want
students to perform
Provide guided practice for students; monitor responses and deliver
immediate corrective feedback

Use appropriate pacing

Be aware of your teaching tempo

Watch for cues that children are becoming confused, bored or restless;
sometimes lesson have to be shortened

Provide suitable seatwork

Seatwork should be diagnostic and prescriptive
Develop procedures for seeking assistance; have a help signal
Develop procedures for what to do when finished
Move around to monitor seatwork
Vary methods of practice

Evaluate what has taken place in your lesson

Summarize the lesson and focus on positive gains made by students; use
surprise reinforcers as a direct result of their good behavior
Determine if the lesson was successful; were goals accomplished?

Make a smooth transition into next subject

Have materials ready for next lesson
Maintain attention of students until you have given clear instructions for
the next activity
Do not do tasks that can be done by students (i.e. passing out paper or
collecting assignments); use monitors
Move around and attend to individual needs
Provide simple, step-by-step instructions
Utilize a freeze and listen signal, when necessary

Develop positive teacher/student relationships

Set a good example; be a positive role model

Create an exciting learning environment for all students

Reward good behavior; create special activities that children will enjoy
doing
Correct misbehaviors; have consequences of disruptive behavior;
communicate them to children
Handling disruptions
Keep is short and simple (KISS)
Use a warning system
Defer disruptive behavior proactively (eye contact, close space between
you and student, use head/hand gestures)
Help students be successful
Use planned ignoring (and teach other student to also ignore)

As we know set induction is the important part that teacher always do at the beginning of
teaching and learning process .The objective of set induction is to induce the pupils to attract
them and make them concentrate their attention towards teacher's presentation.

focusing attention on what is to be learned by gaining students'' interest

transition from old to new materials - relating back to previous learning

to provide a structure for the lesson - telling them what is expected

to give meaning to a new concept or principle - for instance by giving examples.

The skill of set induction will come in time - and as with so many aspects of teaching, it
links with planning. You need to plan your set induction, as part of lesson

Five Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans

(and how to avoid them )

by Dr. Bob Kizlik

Successful teachers are invariably good planners and thinkers. They didn't
get that way overnight. The road to success requires commitment and
practice, especially of those skills involved in planning lessons, activities,
and managing classroom behavior. Planning lessons is a fundamental skill
all teachers must develop and hone, although implementation of this skill
in actual teaching can, and usually does, take some time. So let's begin at
the beginning.

In my career as a teacher and teacher educator, I have read and

evaluated thousands of lesson plans written by education students at all
levels. On a consistent basis, I see mistakes that distort or weaken what
the plans are supposed to communicate. If you are serious about
improving your skill in planning lessons, you should begin by first thinking
carefully about what the lesson is supposed to accomplish. There is no
substitute for this. In teaching students how to develop lesson plans, the
following are mistakes I have observed that students make most often:

1. The objective of the lesson does not specify what the student will
actually do that can be observed. Remember, an objective is a description
of what a student does that forms the basis for making an inference about
learning. Poorly written objectives lead to faulty inferences.

2. The lesson assessment is disconnected from the behavior indicated in

the objective. An assessment in a lesson plan is simply a description of
how the teacher will determine whether the objective has been
accomplished. It must be based on the same behavior that is incorporated
in the objective. Anything else is flawed.

3. The materials specified in the lesson are extraneous to the actual

described learning activities. This means keep the list of materials in line
with what you actually plan to do. Overkilling with materials is not a
virtue!

4. The instruction in which the teacher will engage is not efficient for the
level of intended student learning. Efficiency is a measure that means
getting more done with the same amount of effort, or the same amount
with less effort. With so much to be learned, it should be obvious that
instructional efficiency is paramount.

5. The student activities described in the lesson plan do not contribute in

a direct and effective way to the lesson objective. Don't have your
students engaged in activities just to keep them busy. Whatever you have
your students do should contribute in a direct way to their accomplishing
the lesson objective.

A lesson plan that contains one or more of these mistakes needs

rethinking and revision. Below is a rationale and guide to help you
develop effective lesson plans and avoid the five common mistakes.

First, You Must Know How to Plan

The purpose of a lesson plan is really quite simple; it is to communicate.

But, you might ask, communicate to whom? The answer to this question,
on a practical basis, is YOU! The lesson plans you develop are to guide you
in organizing your material and yourself for the purpose of helping your
students achieve intended learning outcomes. Whether a lesson plan fits a
particular format is not as relevant as whether or not it actually describes
what you want, and what you have determined is the best means to an
end. If you write a lesson plan that can be interpreted or implemented in
many different ways, it is probably not a very good plan. This leads one to
conclude that a key principle in creating a lesson plan is specificity. It is
sort of like saying, "almost any series of connecting roads will take you
from Key West Florida to Anchorage Alaska, eventually." There is however,
one any only one set of connecting roads that represents the shortest and
best route. Best means that, for example, getting to Anchorage by using
an unreliable car is a different problem than getting there using a brand
new car. What process one uses to get to a destination depends on
available resources and time.

So, if you agree that the purpose of a lesson plan is to communicate, then,
in order to accomplish that purpose, the plan must contain a set of
elements that are descriptive of the process. Let's look at what those
elements should be.

THE LESSON PLAN

1. Preliminary Information

The development of a lesson plan begins somewhere, and a good place to

start is with a list or description of general information about the plan.
This information sets the boundaries or limits of the plan. Here is a good
list of these information items: (a) the grade level of the students for
whom the plan is intended; (b) the specific subject matter (mathematics,
reading, language arts, science, social studies, etc.); (c) if appropriate, the
name of the unit of which the lesson is a part; and (d) the name of the
teacher.

2. The Parts

Each part of a lesson plan should fulfill some purpose in communicating

the specific content, the objective, the learning prerequisites, what will
happen, the sequence of student and teacher activities, the materials
required, and the actual assessment procedures. Taken together, these
parts constitute an end (the objective), the means (what will happen and
the student and teacher activities), and an input (information about
students and necessary resources). At the conclusion of a lesson, the
assessment tells the teacher how well students actually attained the
objective.

In a diagram, the process looks something like this:

Input ======>process=====>output

Let's look at each part separately.

Input: This part refers to the physical materials, other resources, and
information that will be required by the process. What are these inputs?
First of all, if you have thought about what the lesson is supposed to

accomplish, the inputs are much easier to describe. In general categories,

inputs consist of:

1. Information about the students for whom the lesson is intended. This
information includes, but is not limited to the age and grade level of the
students, and what they already know about what you want them to learn.

2. Information about the amount of time you estimate it will take to

implement the lesson.

3. Descriptions of the materials that will be required by the lesson, and at

some point, the actual possession of the materials.

4. Information about how you will acquire the physical materials required.

5. Information about how to obtain any special permissions and schedules

required. For example if your lesson plan will require a field trip, you must
know how to organize it. If your lesson will require a guest speaker (fire
chief, lawyer, police officer, etc.) you must know how to make
arrangements for having that person be at the right place at the right
time.

Process

This is the actual plan. If you have done the preliminary work (thinking,
describing the inputs), creating the plan is relatively easy. There are a
number of questions you must answer in the creating the plan:

1. What are the inputs? This means you have the information (content
description, student characteristics, list of materials, prerequisites, time
estimates, etc.) necessary to begin the plan.

2. What is the output? This means a description of what the students are
supposed to learn.
3. What do I do? This means a description of the instructional activities
you will use.
4. What do the students do? This means a description of what the
students will do during the lesson.
5. How will the learning be measured? This means a description of the
assessment procedure at the end of the lesson. For a short discourse on
how to write an assessment, click here .

As an example, here is a template that I have used successfully to tea

my classroom, I am constantly amazed by how a thoroughly planned lesson
can often fall flat, while sometimes when I'm "flying by the seat of my pants," I
can stumble upon magical teaching moments that really speak to and excite my
students.
in

But, what exactly do the best lesson plans look like? What do they feel like to the
students and to us? More concisely, what characteristics must a lesson plan
contain in order to reach maximum effectiveness?
The following ingredients are essential to delivering effective lessons. You can
even use this as a checklist when you plan your days. This basic formula makes
sense whether you are teaching kindergarten, middle school, or even junior
college.
State the Lesson Objective - Make sure that you know exactly why you are
teaching this lesson. Does it correspond to a state or district academic standard?
What do you need the students to know after the lesson is completed? After
you're perfectly clear on the goal of the lesson, explain it in "kid-friendly" terms
so that the kids will know where they're headed as well.
Teach and Model Behavior Expectations - Set out on a successful path by
explaining and modeling how the students should behave as they participate in
the lesson. For example, if the kids are using materials for the lesson, show the
kids how to use them properly and tell them the consequences for misuse of the
materials. Don't forget to follow through!
Use Active Student Engagement Strategies - Don't let the students sit there
bored while you "do" your lesson. As I recently heard at a conference, the person
who does the work, does the learning. Get your students engaged with hands-on
activities that enhance your lesson's objective. Use whiteboards, small group
discussion, or call randomly on students by pulling cards or sticks. Keep the

students on their toes with their minds moving and you'll be many steps closer
to meeting and exceeding your lesson's goal.
Scan Peripheral Students and Move Around the Room - While the students
apply their new skills, don't just sit back and take it easy. Now's the time to scan
the room, move around, and make sure everyone's doing what their supposed to
be doing. You'll may be able to limit your special attention to "those" kids who
always need to be reminded to stay on task. You know who I'm talking about!
Answer questions, give gentle reminders, and make sure the lesson's going how
you envisioned it would.
Give Specific Compliments for Positive Behavior - Be obvious and specific
in your compliments when you see a student following directions or going the
extra mile. Make sure the other students understand why you are pleased and
they will increase their efforts to meet your expectations.
Question Students to Develop Critical Thinking Skills - Ask Why, How, If,
and What Else questions to strengthen student comprehension of the issues or
skills at hand. Use Bloom's Taxonomy as a basis for your questioning and watch
your students meet the objectives you set out at the beginning of the lesson.
Use the preceding points as a checklist to make sure you are planning your
lessons in the most effective way possible. After the lesson, take a few minutes
to consider what worked and what didn't. This type of reflection is invaluable in
helping you develop as an educator. So many teachers forget to do this. But, if
you make it a habit as much as possible, you'll avoid making the same mistakes
next time and you'll know what you can do better in the future!
This information is based on the work of several experienced teachers who know
what it takes to help students learn to their fullest potentials. Special thanks to
Mary Ann Harper for allowing me to adapt this piece and offer it to my audience
here at About.

Some songs are active but include a lot of new language. In this case, you may want to "pre-teach"
some of the vocabulary. For example, if you are going to sing "The Pinocchio," you can introduce
the parts of the body before you sing the song. This is as simple as saying, "Everybody show me
your right arm" and holding up your right arm as the students follow you. Have them say, "Right
arm!" Next say, "Everybody show me your left arm!" Continue through all of the parts of the body in
the song and then "quiz" the students. "Right arm!" (students hold up their right arms). "Right leg!"
(Students hold up their right legs).

After reviewing the body parts, say, "Make a big circle!" Then play the music and do the gestures!
It's easy to follow and there is a lot of repetition, so even if the students don't follow at first, they will
definitely catch on by the end (and will be asking you to sing it again the next class!)
You can also use picture cards to introduce new vocabulary. We have free flashcards for almost
every song onSuper Simple Songs 1, 2 and 3 and our Themes Series has printable flashcards
included with each CD. When using picture cards, try to teach a gesture along with each word.

Remember that with very young learners (4 years and younger), they enjoy the familiarity of hearing
a song over and over. You can use their favorites almost every week. If you are using a song
frequently, understand that there is no need for them to sing right away...let them become
comfortable with it and sing when they are ready (they will!).
As the kids grow older, you don't want to repeat songs as much. Students will still have their
favorites that they like to sing, but you won't be repeating songs every week like you do with the
younger learners. In this case, you'll need to build more exposure to the song into one or two
lessons, and then go back to it every once in a while for review. Here are more thoughts
on teaching songs to elementary school students from Devon.

INTRODUCTION &
PRESENTATION
Introduction and presentation go together because the
introduction usually leads right into the presentation phase
of the lesson. They are still separate parts, however, because
they accomplish different purposes.
The INTRODUCTION provides interest and motivation to
the students. It focuses students' attention on the lesson and
its purposes. It also convinces students that they will benefit
from the lesson.

There are many ways to present an introduction. Here are a few:

Asking questions to get the students thinking about the topic of the
lesson.

Showing pictures that relate to the lesson topic.

Telling a story to show the importance of the topic.

Bringing in "realia" (real objects) related to the lesson.

The PRESENTATION phase of the lesson is when the teacher introduces new
information. The teacher guides the presentation, but there may be student input or
interaction.
The presentation may be...
Inductive (where examples are presented and the students draw conclusions based
on them), orDeductive (where the teacher states a rule or generalization and
proceeds to explain or illustrate it), or
Some combination or variation of inductive and/or deductive. Whichever method
is used, during the presentation phase, the teacher
Relates the new material to students' previous knowledge and experiences,
Checks students' comprehension, and
Models examples of the tasks that will be expected of students during the
practice phase of the lesson.
Above all, when teaching English to people whose English skills
are limited, it is essential to ensure that students understand the
presentation by...

Keeping the language simple,

Illustrating the presentation, and

Checking students' comprehension periodically.

Keep the language of your presentation understandable by

Using short, uncomplicated sentences (but don't resort to

"Tarzan talk")

Using simple, basic vocabulary,

Speaking slowly and distinctly (without exaggerating, of

course), and...

Pausing briefly between sentences.

You will have to be sensitive to your particular students (watch their faces, ask
them for feedback, check their actual comprehension) in order to adjust all these
factors to the right level for them.
Illustrate your presentation with
pictures (borrowed from a library, clipped from old magazines, drawn on
paper or the chalkboard, etc.)
realia (objects from the real world, e.g., real carrots and potatoes for a lesson
on the names of vegetables)
gestures (pantomime, make dramatic faces, etc. as you speak), and
anything else that helps make the meaning clear.
And perhaps most important of all
When checking students comprehension, it is not enough to ask, "Do you
understand?" They will usually nod their heads or say, "Yes," even when they are
lost. Have them do something to show that they understand.

For example, here is what an ESL teacher might say during the presentation stage
of a lesson on the pronunciation of /s/ and /z/:

Before going on, review what you have learned in this section by writing down
some of the methods, purposes and techniques common to good introductions and
presentations in effective ESL lessons.

Practice is an absolutely crucial part of almost any ESL lesson.

Our purpose in language teaching is almost always to build students' skills. When they are
communicating in English, they will need to use English grammar, vocabulary, and
pronunciation accurately and fluently, but they will have to focus on what they are saying, not
how to say it.

Therefore, if they are to communicate successfully, their language

skills must be developed to the point where they can use them
naturally and automatically, without even thinking very much about
them. That takes plenty of practice!

Building skills is very different from teaching content. For example, if you were teaching
history, you would probably teach content. You would teach your students about history. You
would expect them to understand history, but you wouldn't usually expect them to go out and
make history.

In contrast, you do expect your ESL students to go out of class and use English. That's the
whole purpose of the class. They need to communicate. If they are to do that, you must build
their communication skills in class, and that takes practice.
To summarize, don't confuse skill teaching and content teaching and merely teach your
students about English. Give them plenty of opportunities (in and out of class) to practice
their English skills.

This practice should take many forms. For one thing, it needs to
be varied just to keep students' interest high. Too much of the
same kind of practice can be boring and reduce their motivation
and enthusiasm.

This practice also typically follows some sort of progression. One type of progression goes
from guided practice (where the teacher controls the students' responses) to free (where the
students choose and create what they want to say). Another type of progression is based on a
classification of language learning activities in three categories:

Mechanical

Meaningful

Communicative

MECHANICAL practice activities are teacher controlled. Students merely follow instructions
or a model. An example is a repetition drill. Mechanical practice activities are good for some
purposes (e.g., teaching accurate pronunciation). However, they quickly become boring, and
they cannot be used at all for developing many other language skills.
That's why we need other types.
MEANINGFUL practice activities may also be teacher controlled, but the students are aware
of the meaning of what they are saying. That also allows them to have some control over
what they say.
In COMMUNICATIVE practice activities students choose the language they will use and the
meanings they will express. (These choices are usually based on knowledge and skills gained
in earlier presentation and practice activities.)

Quotable Quote
'Group work is problem solving in groups. it's socialising in groups, it's
discovering and educating one

another. It's education. I dunno . It's difficult to describe . It's a whole

combination.'
Simon Turner, Hcienertsburg, 4pril 1998

TESL
about group work

about group work

introduction

Group work refers to any classroom activity in which the whole class is
divided up into pairs or larger groups. The specific advantages and difficulties of
pair work are discussed in 'about pair work.' The comments here are concerned
with the advantages and difficulties of working with groups of any size.

Group work has a well-established place in the theory and practice of language
teaching. Still, many teachers and many students seem to be unenthusiastic
about it. Teachers, I suspect, often have misgivings because working with groups
means loosening control of the students. This is not an easy thing for a teacher
to do: There is a natural tendency at all times and in all places I imagine for
teachers to feel they must always be clearly in command of their class. And

there is a connected tendency for teachers to fear the consequences of giving up

even a small part of their authority.

Students, on the other hand, often find group work unappealing because they it
puts them under pressure to act. As long as the classroom is teacher centered,
students can remain passive. In groups, they are expected to speak , to
understand, and to think. They are also expected to be amiable and cooperative.

It would be extremely unfortunate, however, if, because of these natural

misgivings, teachers and students missed out on the benefits of group work. In
what follows, Ill say something, first, about what the benefits of group work are
and then something about the difficulties it presents and how they can be
alleviated.

the benefits of group work

The primary benefit of group work is that it provides practice in speaking and
listening. These skills will never develop fully without a large amount of practice,
and, outside the classroom, most ESL students even those studying in Englishspeaking countries get very little.

Of course, there are ways of practicing listening and speaking that do not
involve dividing a class into groups, but none of them are likely to provide
practice that is as engaging or intense, as a good group-work activity can be
or to offer an experience that resembles real-world communication as closely.

The great, general difficulty with group work is that it requires enthusiasm and
cooperation. No doubt, one reason ESL teachers sometimes avoid group work is
because they realize this and they also realize that unlike silence and
orderliness, enthusiasm and cooperation cannot be demanded.

However, even though these things cannot be commanded, they can be

fostered. And because it requires them group work does foster enthusiasm
and cooperation. In fact its secondary purpose is, it seems to me, is to encourage
an enthusiastic and cooperative classroom ambience, and one that is therefore
also freer and more relaxed and more conducive to learning.

 This potential for improving the feel of a class is something that should be
kept in mind by teachers who are reluctant to do group work. It is natural for a
teachers to feel a need to keep control of a class, but it is also natural, it seems
to me, for teachers, to feel oppressed by the need to put large amounts of effort
into controlling students. In addition to its other virtues group work offers
teachers a way of relieving themselves of some of the hard, unpleasant work of
control.

Despite its great advantages, in addition to the general, theoretical difficulties

just discussed. group work does present several other practical difficulties They
can all be alleviated, but none of them can be eliminated entirely. The best
attitude to take toward them, it seems to me, is to acknowledge their
inevitability, to do whatever is possible to reduce their bad effects and beyond
that, to accept them. However difficult it may be to get groups working properly
in the language classroom it is always, I believe, well worth the effort required to
do so.

The four major problems with group work are briefly discussed below and
suggestions are made as to how they can be alleviated.

(1) native language speaking

Even in a highly multi-lingual class where just a few students share the same
language, group activities may be subverted by students who insist on speaking
their native language. This can be an occasional problem even in a highly multilingual class. In a unilingual or nearly unilingual class, it can be a constant, and
very frustrating one. It cannot be eliminated; but it can be greatly reduced by a
combination of persuasion and logical argument.

One way of making a simple but powerful argument against native language
speaking is by asking offenders a couple of questions: Youre here to learn
English arent you? How is speaking your own language going to improve your
English.?

 Demonstrations with two or three students doing a brief activity, entirely in

English, in front of the class can help. Part of the problem, after all, is that
students feel there is something silly or even absurd in speaking to each other in
English when it is so much easier and so much more pleasant to use their native
language. If they see classmates doing this effectively, they may change their
minds.

The most important thing from the teachers point of view is to be patient and
to remember that the problem cannot really be solved until the class as a whole
accepts the idea of working with each other in English but that if that
acceptance comes, the problem can disappear in a moment.

(In a highly-multilingual class this problem can be more or less solved by

putting students in groups in which everyone has a different native language, but
doing that makes it difficult to maintain group fluidity in other words, to
ensure that the make-up of the groups changes from one session to another.
Sacrificing group fluidity in order to prevent native-language speaking may
sometimes be a good idea but it is a high price to pay for a solution. The
importance of group fluidity is discussed further in (4) below.)

(2) students objecting to speaking to other students because their English is not
good

Some students object that language practice with other students who have a
strong accent and who make grammatical errors is valueless, and that it may
even be damaging. They apparently fear they will inevitably, even if
unconsciously, imitate the imperfect speech of other group members. They only
want to listen to a model with accurate grammar and good pronunciation the
teacher, in other words.

This is not a completely unreasonable objection and it is important for teachers

to have something convincing to say in reply.

The objection is reasonable at first glance because it seems to amount to this:

Nothing is to be learned and something is quite possibly to be lost byy speaking
to someone whose English is no better and perhaps worse than yours.

The best response to the objection is, I think, the following:

- the other students in your group arent teaching you, theyre providing you with
an opportunity to practice your English

- There is, it is true, always a small possibility that you will be misled about the
correct pronunciation of a word, or the correct way to form a grammatical
structure, by another member of your group, but there is at least as great a
possibility that you will learn something about pronunciation and grammar from
listening to the other students in your group, even to those whose English isnt,
generally speaking as good as yours.
- Moreover, when you are actually using language for practical communication
with another person as you are in group work you will inevitably be
frustrated by the fact that you have difficulty in being understood. And you will
naturally struggle to overcome this difficulty by improving your pronunciation
and your grammar. In doing this you are much more likely to be influenced by
your memories of the English you have heard spoken by your teacher and other
good models than by the English of the other people in your group
- Finally, even if the danger of being misinformed by follow group members was
greater than it is, there would still good reasons for group work. Practice is
essential: learning a language is not simply a matter of coming to know things
about the language; its also a matter of getting your tongue and your brain, and
your ears used to working with the language and the only way youre going to
get that practice in class is by talking to your fellow students.

It is also, it seems important for a teacher who is faced with this sort of objection
to remember that although it is not completely unreasonable, it is likely to come
from students who are troubled by a teaching method that radically different
from the one they are used to. And that fact suggests that, once again, patience
and subtle persuasion will be an important part of any solution.

(3) domination
Groups of all kinds tend to be dominated by one or two of their members and
the result is always a group that is less productive than it could be. Domination is
particularly damaging in a group of language learners, however, because the
whole purpose of this kind of group is to practice speaking: Group members who
do not speak can gain nothing at all; they are wasting their time.

Here again, the best way of alleviating the problem is with a mixture of logic and
persuasion.

The best argument, it seems to me, is to appeal to the conscience of the

dominators. They should be made to see that by discouraging others from
speaking, they are depriving them of one of the things they came to the class to
get speaking practice. And it should be pointed out, in addition, that the
students who are being dominated are likely to be the shier, less confident ones
and therefore the ones who need practice most. Its also possible to appeal to
the pride of the dominators, and their natural desire for status among their
classmates, by suggesting that they try to make their group more productive by
actively encouraging the quieter, more passive students to participate.

As with other types of damaging group behaviour, the best way to persuade
students to put good advice into practice, is to walk from group to group gently
reminding or reproaching when necessary. (It is important, I believe, not the
actually join any of the groups or even to stand beside one for too long a time
because this will have an inhibiting effect.)

(4) animosities

Sometimes, of course, a student in a language classroom will come to dislike

another student. In a wholly teacher-centered class these animosities usually go
unnoticed, but they can be a serious obstacle to group work. Occasionally, one
student will simply refuse to work cooperatively with another student, forcing the
teacher to move him or her to another group.

Like domination, animosity is a natural social tendency. But again like

domination it is even more damaging in a language-learning group than it is in
groups of other sorts: even if it is kept under control, it will create an atmosphere
that is not conducive to learning. And, as with domination once again, it is the
students who most need language practice who will be most severely affected.
Even if the animosity is not directed toward them, they will be inhibited by it.

However, although animosities, can stand in the way of effective group work, the
work itself can have the effect of reducing animosity. A frequent result of getting
two people who dislike each other to work with each other is to persuade them
that they do not dislike each other as much as they thought they did.

The conciliatory power of group work is even greater, I believe, if groups are kept
fluid in other words, if their make-up always changes from one session to
next. If group fluidity is scrupulously maintained, students know that, if they
have to work with someone they dont like one day, the next day they will
probably be free of that person; and it is easier to make the effort to get along
with someone temporarily than it is to accept the necessity of getting along with
them for a long time.

The only way to ensure group fluidity is by creating randomly selected groups. It
is possible for a teacher to create such groups at the beginning of every session.
But this can become a time-consuming nuisance and it is difficult to ensure
that the results will be truly random: there will always be a temptation to avoid
groupings that seem to be unfortunate for one reason or another. An automatic
method of some kind seems preferable.

The easiest method is to assign each student a permanent number, and then to
create groups by choosing the numbers blindly in some way at the beginning of
each session pulling numbered cubes or even numbered slips of paper out
of bag or box for example.

It is also possible to turn random selection of groups into a brief but useful
whole-group conversation activity by cutting up an appropriate number of
photographs into an appropriate number of pieces, distributing one piece to each
of the students and asking them to circulate, find the other people with parts of
the same photo and form a group.

To involve students in their own learning, to make course topics come alive, to
deepen students knowledge about a topic, and to develop particular skills, try
assigning tasks to small groups during your class time

Teaching Discussion Sections

Group Work

Group work is one pedagogical strategy that promotes participation and

interaction. It fosters a deeper and more active learning process, and it also
provides instructors with valuable demonstrations of the degree to which
students understand particular topics or concepts. In addition to exposing
students to different approaches and ways of thinking, working with other
students in groups can promote a sense of belonging that combats the
anonymity and isolation that many students experience at a large campus. Some
students may initially be reluctant to participate in group work, so sharing the
reasons for group work with your students can help to convince the reluctant
ones. It might help them to know that research has shown that groups frequently
devise more and better solutions than the most advanced individual (Barkley et
al., 2004; Cooper et al., 2003). Working together in groups also gives students
the opportunity to learn from and teach each other. Classroom research has
shown that students often learn better from each other than they do from a
teacher (Barkley et al. 2005, 1620).

From a practical standpoint, group work also fosters interpersonal skills highly
valued by employers, not to mention friends, neighbors, and family.

For instructors, group work can save some preparation time. Although preparing
for effective group work does take some planning, it is less time-consuming than
preparing a lecture.

It is not difficult to incorporate group activities into your lesson plan, but there
are some general rules of thumb about structuring group work so that it has
useful outcomes for students. Below are some basic guidelines to consider when
designing a group activity, along with several kinds of group work learning
techniques.

Guidelines for Designing Group Work

Learning Objectives
How to Form Groups
Group Size and Duration
The Structure of Group Work
Fostering Group Interaction
Tips for Formulating Productive Group-Work Assignments

Group Work Learning Techniques

Think-Pair-Share
Structured Controversy
Paired Annotations
Roundtable
Three-Step Interview
Think-Aloud Paired Problem Solving
Think-Pair-Square
Peer Editing
Reciprocal Peer Questioning
References for Group Work Techniques

Guidelines for Designing Group Work

Learning Objectives

There are many learning objectives that can be achieved by having students
collaborate either in pairs or in small groups. (Blooms Taxonomy is a useful
resource for formulating your learning objectives.) In groups, students can

summarize main points

review problems for exams
compare and contrast knowledge, ideas, or theories
solve problems
evaluate class progress or levels of skill and understanding
Think about your goals for the activity: what do you want your students to get
out of their participation?

Back to top

How to Form Groups

Small groups or learning teams can be formed in four ways: randomly, teacherselected, by seat proximity, or student-selected. Random and teacher-selected
group assignments avoid cliques and ensure that students interact with different
classmates throughout the semester.

Once you know your students fairly well, teacher selection can be useful for
grouping students. Consider selecting groups or pairs with varying strengths and
skill levels, since research has shown that groups of problem solvers with diverse
skills consistently out-perform groups of problem solvers who are highly skilled in
the same way (Page, 2007, cited in Davis, 2009, p. 194).

You may also want to consider using your students attitudes toward group work
as a mechanism to help you create groups. Take a one-question survey, or add
this question to the initial survey you use at the beginning of the semester:

Which of the following best describes your experience of group work?

I like group work because my group helps me learn.

I question the value of group work because in the past I've ended up doing all
the work.
I have little or no experience working in groups.
I have different experience of group work than the choices above. (Please
explain.)
Those who check B can be put into a group of their own. They might find this to
be the first time they are really challenged and satisfied by group work (adapted
from Byrnes and Byrnes, 2009).
Back to top

Group Size and Duration

Group size can vary, as can the length of time that students work together.
Pairing is great for thirty-second or one-minute problem solving. Groups that
work together for ten to 45 minutes might be four or five people. (If there are
more than four or five, some members will stop participating). Groups can be
formal or informal. Informal groups may be ad-hoc dyads (where each student
turns to a neighbor) or ten-minute buzz groups (in which three to four students
discuss their reactions to a reading assignment). Formal group assignments can
serve semester-long group projects.

In large groups it is useful to assign roles within each group (examples: recorder,
reporter to the class, timekeeper, monitor, or facilitator). If students are not used
to working in groups, establishing some discussion guidelines with the class
about respectful interaction before the first activity can foster positive and
constructive communication.

It is useful to arrange the students in groups before giving them instructions for
the group activity, since the physical movement in group formation tends to be
distracting.
Back to top

The Structure of Group Work

Successful group work activities require a highly structured task. Make this task
clear to students by writing specific instructions on the board or on a worksheet.
Include in your instructions:

The learning objective. Why are the students doing this? What will they gain from
it? How does it tie into the rest of the course?
The specific task: Decide, List, Prioritize, Solve, Choose. (Discuss is
too vague.)
Structure the task to promote interdependence for creating a group product.
Create an activity for which it is truly advantageous for students to work
together.
The expected product: for example, reporting back to the class; handing in a
sheet of paper; distributing a list of questions to the class.
The time allotment. Set a time limit. Err on the side of too little rather than too
much. You can decide to give more time if necessary.

The method of reporting out; that is, of sharing group results with the class.
Reporting out is useful for accomplishing closure
Closure, which is critical to the learning process. Students need to feel that the
group-work activity added to their knowledge, skills, abilities, etc. Summary
remarks from you can weave in the comments, products, and ideas of the
students in their small groups is also an effective way to close a group-work
activity.
If your group work consists of a set of short problems for students to work
through, as often happens in science and mathematics courses, there are many
ways to structure the activity. Here are a few ideas, with some advantages and
disadvantages:

You can give the whole class a single problem, break into groups to solve it, and
then come back as a class and discuss the problem, either by having groups
report out or by leading the discussion yourself. Then repeat.
Advantages: You know everyone is exposed to the correct way of thinking about
things, so there is good closure for each problem.
Disadvantages: Potentially too much idle time for faster groups. This method can
be very slow, so less material can be covered.
You can give each group a different problem, and have the groups report back to
the class to walk through the solutions.
Advantages: Students get some practice teaching as well as good exposure to
problems and solutions.
Disadvantages: Students dont get to practice as much problem solving.
You can give each group a different problem, have them solve it, and then have
these groups split up and re-form in such a way that each new group has
someone experienced with each of the problems. Then they can explain the
solutions to each other.
Advantages: Students get a lot of practice explaining, as well as good exposure
to problems.
Disadvantage: Students dont get to practice on many different problems.
You can give the whole class a set of problems and discuss the set of problems
with each group.
Advantages: Students work through more problems without significant idle time.
You can address difficulties specific to each group.
Disadvantages: You may end up repeating yourself a lot. You also may be spread
too thin, especially if several groups are stuck at the same time. If this happens,

call the class back together when you find that all the groups are having
difficulties at the same place.
Back to top
Fostering Group Interaction

During group work, as tempting as it may be, do not disengage from your class
and sit at the front of the room! Circulate and listen to your students. Are they on
task, or are they talking about their weekend plans? Are students understanding
the concepts and the assignment, or are they all stuck and confused? Do they
have questions for you? Pull up a chair and join each group for a while.

On implementing group work for the first time in their section, some GSIs find
that the students fall awkwardly silent when the GSI walks by or listens to their
discussion. This is only temporary, and it should stop once your students are
familiar with you and the group-work format. Because unfamiliarity drives this
reaction, it is good to implement group work very early in the semester and to
use it often in your section.

When a student in a group asks you a question, the natural reflex is to answer it.
Thats your job, isnt it? Well, not exactly its lower on the list than
empowering students to find answers to the questions they ask. Frequently a
student asking a question hasnt discussed it with the group yet and is not aware
that members of the group either know the answer or have enough information
to figure it out together. So, especially early on when your class is forming groupwork habits, it is important not to answer questions at least not at first.
Instead, ask the other group members how they would approach the question. If
no one in the group has an idea, you can either give the group a start on how to
answer it, consult with a different group on the question, or answer the question
yourself. (The latter is best considered a last resort.) Following this pattern will
foster group interactions, and soon students will only ask you questions after
they have discussed them with their group.
Back to top

Tips for Formulating Productive Group-Work Assignments

One common mistake that leads to failure in group work is that the assignment is
too vague. For example, if you tell your students to discuss a particular
concept, students may make a few vague or general comments and then turn to

discussing what they did over the weekend. Instead, make sure you have
concrete and descriptive assignments. For example, instead of Discuss
projectile motion, try Solve for the final velocity of the projectile. Instead of
Discuss the use of technology in the classroom, say List the pros and cons of
using clickers in the classroom.

Ask questions that have more than one answer. (This may not work for all
disciplines.)

Make the material that groups will analyze short maybe just a short paragraph
or a few sentences. Present it via handout, overhead, chalkboard, or another
medium that all can easily see.

If the material is longer, give concrete lines of questioning, which you display
prominently or hand out. Understand that groups often take longer with longer
material than their GSI anticipates, which can produce frustration.

Vary the format of the tasks. For example, on one day students might generate
the questions they want to analyze; on another students may give arguments or
provide evidence for or against a position or theory, etc.
Back to top

Group Work Learning Techniques

Think-Pair-Share

The instructor poses a question. Students are given time (30 seconds or one
minute) to think of a response. Each student then pairs with another and both
discuss their responses to the question. The instructor invites pairs to share their
responses with the class as a whole.

Structured Controversy

Divide the class into groups of four. The instructor identifies a controversial topic
in the field covered in the course and gathers material that gives information and
background to support different views of the controversy. Students work with one

partner, forming two pairs within the group of four. Each pair takes a different
side of the issue. Pairs work outside of class or in class to prepare to advocate
and defend their position. The groups of four meet, and each pair takes a turn
stating and arguing its position while the other pair listens and takes notes
without interrupting. Each pair must have a chance both to listen and take notes
and to argue their position. Then all four talk together as a group to learn all
sides of the issue. Next, each pair must reverse its position and argue the
opposite position from the one it argued before. Lastly the group of four as a
whole discusses and synthesizes all the positions to come up with a group report.
There may be a class presentation in which each group presents its findings.
Back to top

Paired Annotations

Instructor or students identify a number of significant articles on a topic. Each

student individually outside of class writes a reflective commentary on one
article. In class, students are randomly paired with another student who has
written a commentary on the same article. The two partners read each others
commentaries, comparing key points to their own commentary. Then the two
students team-write a commentary based on a synthesis of both their papers.
Back to top

Roundtable

Students in small groups sit in a circle and respond in turn to a question or

problem by stating their ideas aloud as they write them on paper. The
conversation can go around the circle, each student in turn, more than once if
desired. After the roundtable, students discuss and summarize the ideas
generated and report back to the class.
Back to top

Three-Step Interview

This can be used an icebreaker or as a tool to generate ideas and discussion. Ask
each student to find one partner they dont know well. Make sure everyone has a
partner. You can use triads if there is an uneven number of students in the class.
Students interview their partner for a limited amount of time using interview

questions given by the instructor. Often questions are opinion- or experiencegenerated: How do you use writing in your daily life? Should premed students
study holistic medicine? After a set time, students switch roles so that both get a
chance to be interviewed. Then, join each pair with another pair to form a group
of four. Each partner in a pair introduces the partner to the other pair and
summarizes the partners responses. Other variations on this activity are
possible.
Back to top

Thinking-Aloud Paired Problem Solving

Students in pairs take turns thinking through the solution to a problem posed by
the teacher. The student who is not the problem solver takes notes, and then the
two students switch roles so that each student gets a chance to be both solver
and note taker. Then they can go into larger teams or back to the class as a
whole and report back about the solutions and the process.
Back to top

Think-Pair-Square

Same as think-pair-share except that instead of reporting back to the entire class
students report back to a team or class group of four to six.
Back to top

Peer Editing

Ask students to hand in a first draft of a writing assignment. Photocopy each

paper and identify it with a number instead of the students name. Give each
student in the class an anonymous paper to edit. It is helpful to give the students
verbal and written guidelines for editing criteria. After the students edit a paper,
each student receives the anonymous feedback from his or her unknown peer
editor. It is often useful to have a class discussion about how this process worked
for everyone.
Back to top

Reciprocal Peer Questioning

The instructor assigns outside class reading on a topic. The instructor asks
students to generate a list of two or three thought-provoking questions of their
own on the reading. (Note that asking productive questions can be a new skill for
students to learn; you may want to give some attention to this.) Students bring
the questions they have generated to class. Students do not need to be able to
answer the questions they generate. Students then break into teams of three to
four. Each student poses her questions to the team and the team discusses the
reading using the student-generated questions as a guide. The questions of each
student are discussed within the team. The team may then report back to the
class on some key questions and the answers they came up with.

At the GSI Teaching & Resource Center we have other material to help you plan
and design group work activities. Come and visit us in 301 Sproul Hall, or send
an email with your comments or questions to gsi@berkeley.edu.
Back to top
References for Group Work Techniques
This section draws on the following works:

Barkley, E., et al. (2005). Collaborative Learning Techniques. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

Byrnes, Joseph F. and Mary Ann Byrnes (2009). Dealing with Students Who Hate
Working in Groups. Effective Group Work Strategies for the College Classroom.
Madison: Magna Publications, 67. Available through facultyfocus.com.

Cross, K. Patricia (2000). Collaborative Learning 101. The Cross Papers 4. League
for Innovation in the Community College.

Davis, Barbara Gross (2009). Tools for Teaching, 2nd ed. San Francisco: JosseyBass.

Johnson, D., R. Johnson, and K. Smith (1991). Cooperative Learning: Increasing

College Faculty Instructional Productivity. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No.
4.

Meyers, C. and T. Jones (1993). Promoting Active Learning: Strategies for the
College Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Millis, B. and P. Cottell (1998). Cooperative Learning for Higher Education Faculty.
Oryx Press.
Back to top

Finally, the production part of the lesson. This is the fun part. This is the part of
the lesson where the teacher should have minimal to no involvement. It gives
students the chance to use their newly learned material freely and openly. The
production activity can be done in a group, in pairs, or individually depending on
what it is. As a group, they can gather to solve a solution to a problem, or they
can pair off to act out a role-playing activity. In the end, the student should be
able to achieve the goal's lesson: to express an understanding of language by
using the new material in context, with minimal, if any, teacher interference.

Use this as a simple guide when planning a lesson for ESL students. Use the links
provided as helpful resources. And please, leave a comment below.

Closure
Do you want your students to attach personal meaning and relevance to what
they glean from your daily lessons? An effective "Closure" activity at the end of
each class period can help with that objective, creating what psychologists call
the Recency Effect, otherwise known as a last impression.

Ideally, closure activities create powerful learning effects at the tail-end of the
class, something that will reverberate for hours after the lesson is over,
something a little sticky.

The defining element of the closure activity is that which your students will soon
come to realize: class isnt over until it has taken place. The bonus added-value
factor, of course, is this: as they come to realize that the closure activity is an
essential part of the overall lesson, your students are more likely to think twice
before leaving early!

Closure activities also help define both your teaching agenda and the intended
learning progression, weaving today's lesson with yesterday's while providing a
look ahead at what tomorrow's will bring. As a deliberate part of your planning
process, these activities summarize the current lesson, provide it context, and
build anticipation for the next. Properly implemented, they will help you establish
and maintain course momentum.

Reinforcing what students have learned, closure activities also serve as an

assessment tool with which to evaluate your students retention levelDid they
get it?as well as your own effectiveness.

Including a closure activity with a SET Activity in every lesson is an effective

classroom management strategy. It establishes a clear classroom framework for
your students, with a clearly delineated and articulated BEGINNING and END, a
format they will come to expect and on which they can depend.

Closure
When planning a lesson, it is very important to set aside time for a closure
activity. As a supervisor of student teachers, I often see this portion of the lesson
being skipped, short changed, or merely perfunctory, What did you learn
today? Closure should go much deeper than that. Closure is really the lesson
wrap up. It is also a way to check to see if the students understood the lesson
as well as to determine exactly what they learned. Information from a closure
activity can help to inform future instruction.

Of course it is important to check for understanding throughout the entire lesson;

however closure, as the word implies, is that activity that comes at the end of
the lesson. Checking for understanding is part of good instruction, which is why
it is important at various points during the lesson to probe by asking questions
from concrete what questions to higher level thinking why and how
questions. Of course it is also crucial to ask the students Are there any
questions? But none of that takes the place of bringing closure to the lesson.
The closure section of the lesson, first described by Madeline Hunter, helps the
students coalesce all aspects of the lesson by having them demonstrate what
they have learned today.

Closure should link learning to what was just taught as well as to past and future
lessons. There are lots of closure activities to choose from and can be as simple
as asking students to summarize 3 important things learned in the lesson or
identify and explain 2 key points of the lesson. Closure activities can also require
students to build on the statements of others; can require students to draw
conclusions or to identify when and how the information learned in the lesson
can be used. It might be helpful to think of lesson closure as an informal
formative whole group assessment, which can help drive future instruction. From
a closure activity the teacher is should be able to determine if the students
require more practice on the topic, understand the topic, or require additional
teaching on all or part of the topic before moving on.

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A good lesson plan is one that is engaging for the students. If a subject or an
assignment is considered boring by students, they are less likely to pay
attention. When they fail to pay attention, they don't retain the information as

well. Good lesson plans are laid out in a logical order, starting with a broad
overview of the subject and working toward more specifics and details as the
lesson continues. Hands-on activities, if applicable, are great additions to lesson
plans.

Were the learning objectives met?

Yes: Pupils were able to use both a number line and a calculator to find the
difference between numbers, involving
negative numbers.
Quality of learning that took place:
The lesson was less tight than the one yesterday. Most pupils worked well, but
some were off task, talking. I will
move Darren or Sharon next lesson if the work level does not improve. Pupils
were happy using the number line
to find the difference, and I could see that they were getting the answers correct,
so we moved on very quickly to
the calculator use. Quite a few pupils got onto the extension worksheet and
showed that they could calculate differences in a range of contexts.
Quality of teaching that took place:
Not as good as the last few lessons. This was because when I was doing the
input, the pupils were already able to do
part of the work I had planned to cover. I was thrown by this and found it hard to
pick up the threads of the lesson again.
In my planning I need to try to predict where pupils will find work easy or
struggle, and plan alternatives accordingly.
This will cut down the number of problems I could have in the classroom as I will
be prepared for them in advance.
I saw most of the pupils work throughout the lesson, but my timing was a little
off: I didnt have enough time for
a proper plenary at the end, and I had to delay reading out the answers until
next lesson. I had also planned to
give marked work back, but I ran out of time.

Good feature: I used some weather temperatures I had gathered from the
internet before the lesson and projected
it onto the screen, incorporating some geography, ICT and knowledge of the
world into the lesson.
Control of class:
My control of the class was quite good. I didnt allow pupils to talk when I was
talking, but I still need to work in
my whole class awareness throughout the lesson.
Issues with work covered:
I started off with work that was too easy but the extension sheet was at the right
level to stretch pupils.
Issues with SEN or G and T pupils:
I need to plan separate activities for Bertha as she has already covered this
work.

Even though this class was mainly facilitated by the teacher, the students were
engaged for the entire class period. Within each activity the students played an
active role, whether they practiced grammar through conversation with a
partner, corrected homework collaboratively, raced to finish an exercise with
candy incentives, or offered answers and questions during the class discussion.
The variety and large number of content-based activities kept the students'
attention and challenged them to integrate grammar into writing, reading,
listening, and speaking. It was clear that the teacher facilitated Content-Based
Instruction because of its support of error correction during conversation, the use
of negotiation of meaning, and the matching of content and language learning
objectives (Horwitz, 2008).

I learned that differentiated instruction and a comfortable environment really

keep students engaged. This class covered a lot of information in an hour and a
half, but students had a positive and eager attitude about learning. Because this
is an academic class, the teacher mentioned how a few rules they discussed
would be useful to know for the standardized tests they must make. Helping
students plan and understand why they need this content is a part of good
teaching.

I learned new techniques to integrate reading, listening, speaking, and writing

into a grammar class. I was surprised that a few different topics of grammar
were being taught in one class period, but the students seemed to manage it
well. This encourages me to think differently about the goals of my lessons in
the future, in which I could integrate more topics at once. This observation was
very useful for me because I saw similar teaching patterns that I have used
before and because I was able to recognize methodologies and theories learned
in my graduate courses- both a confirmation of how I have taught in the past and
what I am learning now.

Consider Your Destination

When creating lesson plans, always keep your destination in mind. Where do you
want students to end up? If you're planning daily activities, think about how
these activities connect to the larger goals for the course. Ask yourself, how will
each activity prepare students for the upcoming portfolio assignment? Assuming
that your assignment sheets accurately reflect the course goals, use them at the
beginning of each unit to determine:

What is the overall goal for this assignment? What is the assignment asking
students to do?
What knowledge do students already have that will help them meet the goals for
writing this assignment?
What skills and concepts will students need to meet the goals for this
assignment?
From these questions, create a list of smaller objectives to use as stepping
stones for your destination. If you are planning writing assignments for student
portfolios, your list of objectives may include:

Sequence Your Objectives

While sequencing your objectives, consider how each one builds off another. How
might one objective prepare students for learning another? If reading critically helps
students summarize an argument, you might address your critical reading objective
before teaching summary.
Also, think about what your students know. Given the information they already have,
which objectives would be best met at certain points in the unit? Will simpler
objectives work better at the start of a unit? Will more complicated objectives make
clearer sense to students after some basic objectives have already been met?
Finally, determine how your sequencing of objectives will best meet these goals and
requirements for the upcoming assignment.

Know Your Time Frame

While sequencing your objectives, be aware of the amount of time allotted for each
portfolio. Based on the overall goals for the portfolio, determine how much time you
will need to spend addressing each objective. Keep in mind that a single lesson will
address only one or two objectives. Some of these goals will be easily met, while
others will present a challenge for students. You may decide to build in extra time to
review concepts that are more challenging.
Try to be flexible, but remain within a reasonable time frame. Spending three days on
one essay may be too much (even if students are thrilled by the subject matter). One
strategy to help you keep up your pace, is to utilize outside resources such as the CSU
Writing Center or online tutorials. The Writing at CSU home page contains plenty of
online resources as well. Use these resources to compliment discussions and save you
some time in class.
Below is an example for how you might organize your sequence and time frame for the
first student portfolio:

Develop Activities to Meet Objectives

Once you've sequenced your objectives within a given time frame, the next step is to
create activities that will help students meet each objective. Decide which activities
are most relevant to your desired objectives. Take the time to revise existing activities

and to create new ones that meet the needs of your class. You may also combine
activities or eliminate some that seem less related to your objectives.
Two questions that you should always keep in mind when constructing activities are:
"What do my students already know that will help them meet a desired objective?"
And, "What activities will best help students meet a desired objective?"
Below is an example illustrating how you might design activities to meet a particular
objective:
Objective: Students will use critical thinking skills and critical reading strategies to
become better writers.
Activities:
1. Define critical reading and provide a list of strategies on an overhead (this is
useful because many students do not know what critical reading is).
2. Model critical reading strategies (show students how to implement critical
reading strategies).
3. Have students practice critical reading strategies with their homework.
4. Ask students to respond to an in class writing, describing their experience with
the critical reading assignment. Have them speculate as to how this process of
critical reading will influence their own writing. As a group, discuss the
connection between reading and writing.
Just as you did with objectives, you'll need to create a sequence and time frame for
your activities. Which activities should come first? How much class time will each
activity take? Planning this out ahead of time will help you create smoother transitions
between activities and it will help you connect your activities to larger, writingrelated objectives.

Check for Understanding

The final step in planning lessons is to make time for assessing students' learning. How
will you check to see that students understand the new concepts you're teaching?
When will you revisit the material that they didn't quite grasp?
Intervention along the way can help you learn what students are struggling with. Many
instructors collect homework once a week, or assign quizzes and short writing
exercises to assess their students' progress. Conferences and e-mail exchanges are
other effective means for gauging students' understanding.

Depending on what you learn from using evaluative measures, you may need to revise
your lesson plans. If students' homework indicates that they're having trouble
summarizing main points, you may spend the first fifteen minutes of the next class
reviewing this concept. Addressing such struggles early on will help students face the
more challenging objectives that follow.
Just as you did with objectives, you'll need to create a sequence and time frame for
your activities. Which activities should come first? How much class time will each
activity take? Planning this out ahead of time will help you create smoother transitions
between activities, and help you connect your activities to larger, writing-related
objectives.

Teaching Guide: Writing Lesson Plans

There are many approaches to writing lesson plans. Some instructors develop their
plans independently from scratch, while others borrow plans from a shared
curriculum. Some carefully write out all the details for their lesson, while others use a
brief outline. Your approach to writing lesson plans will depend on various factors:
how well you know the material you're teaching, how long you've been teaching, the
kinds of teaching you've done, and the students you expect to have in your class.
There is no single formula for writing lesson plans, but this guide will help you think
through some of the processes that other instructors have found valuable to their own
lesson planning.
If the trademark of a doctor is the stethoscopes, the engineer is the calculator, the
teacher cannot be able to teach without his or her lesson plan. Can be tedious on the part of the
teachers especially when it is done for the first time, lesson plans are actually very essential in
inculcating students and pupils necessary skills, knowledge and wisdom they need.

A lesson plan is vital in teaching, it gives you the guide you need to pull through. Remember, that
teaching is a difficult since you are dealing with children or teenagers with raw skills, knowledge,
and wisdom.
Finally, with lesson plans you will be able to impart the things they need to learn, to the best of
your abilities.