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LESSON PLAN LESSON PLAN

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LESSON PLAN
By: Msc. Roxana Leonor Villeda de Trigueros
English teacher at the University of El
Salvador

Persons that plan for the future are those that are sure
of their objectives. That is why in education to plan a
lesson is extremely necessary. In this article a lesson plan
is define as a source or tool that guides teachers through
their working learning process.

Principal
17/11/2015
 LESSON PLAN

By: Msc. Roxana Leonor Villeda de Trigueros

English teacher at the University of El Salvador

Persons that plan for the future are those that are sure of their objectives.
That is why in education to plan a lesson is extremely necessary. In this article a
lesson plan is define as a source or tool that guides teachers through their working
learning process. It is imperative for a teacher to plan his/her lessons since this
has the content, method, activity, practice and material the teacher will use in the
development of the class. Teachers that do not use a lesson plan usually mislead
the learning process. A lesson plan is guided by objectives that the students
will assimilate, learn and perform. It can also serve as “a usefull in-lesson reminder
to you of your pre-lesson thought” (Scrivener, 1994).

To write a lesson plan takes time. The activities included are well organized
to assure the students learning. In an ESL or EFS lesson plan teachers integrate
the four macro skills since they do not occur in isolation in real life. As a matter of
fact the use of one skill leads to another.

The practice included in the lesson plan is properly order from the easiest to
the most difficult task. Some EFL teachers recommend ordering the activities from
controlled, semi controlled and free practice. Each of this practices are divided in:
listening controlled practice, speaking controlled practice, reading controlled
practice, and writing controlled practice; listening semi controlled practice, speaking
semi controlled practice, reading semi controlled practice, and writing semi
controlled practice; Finally we have free listening practice, free speaking practice,
free reading practice, and free writing practice.

PARTS OF A LESSON PLAN

1. When beginning to write a lesson plan it is important to write the generalities

which include: the name of the institution, the name of the subject, the level,
date, and the teacher’s name.

1
2. After the generalities you may consider writing down the unit number, content,
and target structure.

3. The objectives go in infinitive form and always end with an adverb. You can
include a general objective and specific objectives. It is advisable to include
just one general objective since it takes time and hard work to achieve it.

4. Timing is very important. You must include the estimate time that the lesson
plan will last. At the University of El Salvador it is timed for a session of ten
hours approximately.

5. Now you may think in the material you will need. Write down in details every
single thing needed to develop the activities included in the lesson plan.

6. The warm up is very important to break the ice and to have student get familiar
with the topic. Remember that this section must be well related with the
content you will teach. It can last around 5, 10 or 15 minutes. As follows you
will find examples of warm ups and fillers you may use. Remember that to do
so you must take into account students’ the age, sex, religion, believes and
English level.

Warm Ups and Fillers

 Yesterday (intermediate, group)

Have a learner stand in front of the group and make one statement
about yesterday, such as "Yesterday I went shopping." Then let
everyone else ask questions to learn more information, such as
"Who did you go with?" "What did you buy?" "What time did you go?"
etc. Try this with 1-2 different learners each day.

2
 Criss-Cross (beginner-intermediate, large group)
Learners must be seated in organized rows at least 4x4. Have the
front row of learners stand. Ask simple questions like "What day/time
is it?" Learners raise their hands (or blurt out answers) and the first
person to answer correctly may sit down. The last standing learner's
line (front-to-back) must stand and the game continues until 3-4
rows/lines have played. You can use diagonal rows if the same
person gets stuck standing each time. To end, ask a really simple
question (e.g. "What's your name?") directly to the last student
standing. Variation for small group: the whole group stands and may
sit one by one as they raise their hands and answer questions.

 Show & Tell (any level, individual or group)

A learner brings an item from home and talks about it in front of the
group. Give learners enough advance notice to prepare and remind
them again before their turn. Have a back up plan in case the learner
forgets to bring an item. Beginners may only be able to share the
name of an item and where they got it. Be sure to give beginners
specific instructions about what information you want them to tell.

 Mystery Object (advanced, group)

Bring an item that is so unusual that the learners are not likely to
recognize what it is. Put it inside a box or a bag so they can’t see
what it is. Students take turns feeling the object with their hand.
Spend some time eliciting basic descriptions of the item and
guesses about what it is and how it's used. This is an activity in
observation and inference, so don't answer questions. Just write
down descriptions and guesses until someone figures it out or you
reveal the mystery.

3
 Name Bingo (beginner, large group)
Hand out a blank grid with enough squares for the number of people
in your class. The grid should have the same number of squares
across and down. Give the students a few minutes to circulate
through the class and get everyone's name written on a square.
Depending on the number of blank squares left over, you can have
them write their own name on a square, or your name, or give them
one 'free' square. When everyone is seated again, have each
person give a short self-introduction. You can draw names randomly
or go in seating order. With each introduction, that student's name
square may be marked on everyone's grid, as in Bingo. Give a prize
to the first 2-3 students to cross off a row.

 Name Crossword (any level, group)

Write your name across or down on the board being sure not to
crowd the letters. Students take turns coming to the board, saying
their name, and writing it across or down, overlapping one letter that
is already on the board. It's usually best if you allow students to
volunteer to come up rather than calling on them in case a letter in
their name isn't on the board yet, although the last few students may
need encouragement if they're shy.

 Similarities (beginner-intermediate, group)

Give each person one or more colored shapes cut from construction
paper. They need to find another person with a similar color, shape,
or number of shapes and form pairs. Then they interview each other
to find 1-2 similarities they have, such as working on a farm or having
two children or being from Asia. They can share their findings with
the class if there is time.

4
 Snowball Fight (any level, group)
Give learners a piece of white paper and ask them to write down
their name, country of origin, and some trivial fact of your choice
(such as a favorite fruit). Have everyone wad the pages into
'snowballs' and toss them around for a few minutes. On your signal,
everyone should unwrap a snowball, find the person who wrote it,
and ask 1-2 more trivial facts. Write the questions on the board so
the students can refer to them. Remember that each learner will
need to ask one person the questions and be asked questions by a
third person, so leave enough time. Variation for small groups:
learners can take turns introducing the person they interviewed.

 Mystery Identities (any level, group)

Write the names of famous people or places (or use animals or fruits
for a simplified version) onto 3x5 cards. Attach a card to each
learner's back. Give them time to mingle and ask each other
questions to try to figure out their tagged identities. This is usually
limited to yes/no questions, although beginners might be allowed to
ask any question they can. Be at least 90% sure that the learners
have heard of the items on the cards and especially the ones you
place on their own backs.

 20 Questions (any level, group)

One person thinks of an object (person, place, or thing). Everyone
takes turns asking yes/no questions until someone can guess
correctly (or until 20 questions are asked). The difficult part is that
you cannot ask "wh" questions!
Example: PINEAPPLE. Does it talk? No. Does it make life easier?
No. Do you eat it? Yes. Is it something you would eat for dinner? No.
Etc...

5
 If someone makes a mistake in forming the question, other club
members can help turn it into a proper question.

 Can't Say Yes or No (any level, group)

In this game everyone is given a certain number of coins or squares
of paper (about 10). Everyone moves around the room starting
conversations and asking each other questions. The only rule is that
you cannot say the words YES or NO. If you accidentally say one of
these words, you have to give a coin or square to the person who
you said it to. Try to trick each other by asking questions that you
would almost always answer with a yes or no. Think of other ways
to trick your friends. Sometimes asking two quick questions in a row
works well. (Especially tag questions: Are you new here? This is
your first time in America, isn't it?). This game is a great way to
practise using small talk and to add variety to your vocabulary. It
also makes everyone laugh.

 Fact or Fiction (intermediate-advanced, group)

In this game, one person tells a short story about themselves or
someone they know or heard about. Usually it is something funny or
crazy. It can be a true story, or something made up.
Example: Josh tells a story about his Uncle Leo who sleeps in the
nude. One day Uncle Leo was sleepwalking and he went outside
and took his dog for a walk. The next door neighbour was coming
home late from work and saw him! She called the police and he got
arrested for being naked in public.
Everyone around the room has to say whether they think Josh's
story is fact (true) or fiction (made up). Josh reveals the truth when
everyone has guessed. Members can take turns telling a story.

6
 Chain Fairytale (intermediate-advanced, group)

This is a fun writing warm-up. Everyone has a piece of paper and

writes the first sentence or two to start a fairytale (not one that
already exists).
Example: Once upon a time there was a frog that had no legs. He
wanted to get married, but there were no female legless frogs in the
land.
After one minute the leader will say "SWITCH". At this time the
writers have to put down their pens and pass the papers. They
cannot finish their sentences. Then, the next writers will continue the
story. After about ten minutes you will have as many silly stories to
read as you have club members. The leader should warn the writers
that they will soon have to wrap-up the story during the last two
minutes so that each story has a conclusion. Read all of the stories
out loud for a good laugh. You can extend this activity by trying to
edit each other's writing and spelling errors.

 Draw the Picture (beginner-intermediate, group)

In this activity members split up into pairs or small groups. One
person looks at a scene from a magazine or book (the leader should
cut out enough pictures, or bring in enough magazines for the club).
The other person has a pencil and a blank piece of paper. The
person with the picture will try to describe everything he sees to the
drawer. This is good practice for using prepositions of place. When
the describer is finished, compare the drawings to the real thing!
Whose is the closest to the original?

 Categories (beginner-intermediate, group)

For this game, one person thinks of a category, such as MOVIES.
In a circle, everyone must take a turn thinking of a Movie title (in

7
 English of course). If someone takes too long to give an answer (the
leader should count to five) then that person is out and a new
category begins. If someone gives an answer that doesn't make
sense or is incorrect, he is also out of the game. For example, if the
category is VEGETABLES and someone says "banana" that person
is out. The game continues until only one person is left!

 Who am I? (beginner-intermediate, group)

In this game, the leader prepares cards with famous people's names
on them. The leader tapes one card on the back of each member.
Then everyone pretends they are at a party and asks each other
questions to find out their own identities. When someone guesses
their own name correctly, the name-tag gets taped to their front and
they continue to chat with the party guests until everyone is wearing
the nametag on the front.

 Hot Seat (intermediate-advanced, group)

In this game, the club is split up into two teams. One member from
each team sits facing the group. The leader holds up a word (or
writes it on the board if you are in a classroom) for all of the team
members to see except for the two players in the hot seats. The
teams must try to get the person in the hot seat to guess the word
or phrase. The first person to guess correctly gets to stand up and a
new member from their team takes the hot seat. The person on the
other team has to remain in the hot seat until she gets an answer
first. You can keep score or just play for fun. This game can also be
played in pairs. One pair member closes their eyes while the leader
shows the word to the other pair members. The first pair to get the
word right gets a point. Warning! This is a loud game because
people tend to get excited and yell!

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 Broken Telephone (any level, group)
This is a listening and pronunciation activity that always gets people
laughing. The leader first must think of a sentence or phrase and
whisper it to the person beside her. That person will then whisper
what she heard to the next person. Each person can only say, "Can
you please repeat that?" one time. When the message reaches the
end of the chain that person must speak out loud. Oftentimes the
message will be completely different when it reaches the end. Try to
find out where the chain broke! In a big group you can send the
message two ways and find out which team comes closest to the
real message. (A famous example is the army message that started
as "Send reinforcements, we're going to advance" and ended as
"Send three and four pence, we're going to a dance.")

 Tic-Tac-Toe (any level, group)

The teacher draws a 3x3 table on the board and writes the numbers
from 1 to 9 in each square. Each number corresponds to a question
the students need to answer. Write the questions in advance
according to the point being taught. The students are divided into
two groups, one for noughts and the other for crosses. The groups
take turns chosing a square and answering the corresponding
question. If the group gets the answer right, they can draw their
symbol in the square, or if they get it wrong, the other group gets the
square. The group to sussessfully make a line of 3 wins. For longer
games, the teacher can make a 4x4 table.

 Board Race (any level, group)

Divide the class into two teams and have each team line up in front
of the board. Give a marker to the first student of each team. Write
questions in advance according to a theme or a teaching point. The

9
 teacher asks the question and the first student to write the answer
on the board wins. The two students run to the end of the line and
the second question is asked to the second students of each team.
The game goes on until all the questions are answered. Example:
The teacher says the name of a city and the students need to write
the country it belongs to.

 Object Stories (intermediate-advanced, group)

Collect a number of objects and put them all in a canvas bag. The
objects can include everyday items like a pencil, key-chain, mobile
phone, but also include some more unusual ones i.e. a fossil,
holiday photograph, a wig, some pictures, etc. Pass the bag around
the group and invite each student to dip their hand into the bag
(without looking) and pull out one of the objects. The leader begins
a story which includes his object. After 20 seconds, the next person
takes up the story and adds another 20 seconds, incorporating the
object they are holding. And so on, until everyone has made a
contribution to your epic literary tale.

 Word Association (any level, group)

The first student says a word, going around the class, each student
must give a different word associated with the last one.

 Secret Sentence (intermediate-advanced, group)

Write random sentences in pieces of paper and give each student
one. They need to start a conversation with a partner and include
their sentence without the other noticing.

 Alphabet Conversation (intermediate-advanced, group)

10
 Ask a student to pick a random letter of the alphabet. That student
then needs to start a story or a conversation with a word that begins
with that letter. The next student continues, starting his/her sentence
with a word that begins with the next letter of the alphabet and so on
until all letters are used (SpaceA, 2015).

7. Next there is the presentation of the topic. You may want to present the topic
with a dialogue, a reading, a dictation, a song or whatever activity suits your
pupils well. A presentation is meant to just present the topic and not explain
it. At this stage, it is supposed that students acquire the language in a natural
way. It may last 15, 20 or 25 minutes.

8. The grammar, grammar notes or explanations of the content are given in this
section. Do not extend the explanation; just go straight to the point with the
necessary information the students need to manage the topic well. This
section may last between 15, 20, 25 or 30 minutes maximum.

9. The practice starts here. Start with the controlled practice, continue with the
semi-controlled and end with the free practice.

The following information taken from table 9.1. Taxonomy of language-

teaching techniques (adapted from Crookes & Chaudron1991:52-54) gives a clear
example of what to include in each of the controlled, semi-controlled and free
practice section.

CONTROLLED TECHNIQUES

1. Warm-up:

Mimes, dance, songs, jokes, play. This activity gets the students
stimulated, relaxed,motivated, attentive, or otherwise engaged and
ready for the lesson. It does not necessarily involve useof the target
language.

11
2. Setting:

Focusing in on lesson topic. Teacher directs attention to the topic by

verbal or

Nonverbal evocation of the context relevant to the lesson by

questioning or miming or picture presentation, possibly by tape
recording of situations and people.

3. Organizational:

Structuring of lesson or class activities includes disciplinary action,

organization of

class furniture and seating, general procedures for class interaction

and performance, structure and purpose of lesson, etc.

4. Content explanation:

Grammatical, phonological, lexical (vocabulary), sociolinguistic,

pragmatic, or any other aspects of language.

5. Role-play demonstration:

Selected students or teacher illustrate the procedure(s) to be applied

in the lesson segment to follow. Includes brief illustration of
language or other content to be incorporated.

6. Dialogue/Narrative presentation:

Reading or listening passage presented for passive reception. No

implication of student production or other identification of specific
target forms or functions (students may be asked to "understand").

7. Dialogue/Narrative recitation:

Reciting a previously known or prepared text, either in unison or

individually.

8. Reading aloud:
12
Reading directly from a given text.

9. Checking:

Teacher either circulating or guiding the correction of students' work,

providing feedback as an activity rather than within another activity.

10. Question-answer, display:

Activity involving prompting of student responses by means of

display questions (¡.e., teacher or questioner already knows the
response or has a very limited set of expectations for the appropriate
response). Distinguished from referential questions by the likelihood
of the questioner's knowing the response and the speaker's being
aware of that fact.

11. Drill:

Typical language activity involving fixed patterns of teacher

prompting and student responding, usually with repetition,
substitution, and other mechanical alterations. Typically with little
meaning attached.

12. Translation:

Student or teacher provision of L1 or L2 translations of given text.

13. Dictation:

Student writing down orally presented text.

14. Copying:

Student writing down text presented visually.

15. Identification:

13
 Student picking out and producing/labeling or otherwise identifying
a specific targetform, function, definition, or other lesson-related
item.

16. Recognition:

Student identifying forms, as in identification (i.e., checking off items,

drawing symbols, rearranging pictures), but without a verbal
response.

17. Review:

Teacher-led review of previous week/month/or other period as a

formal summary and type of test of student recall performance.

18. Testing:

Formal testing procedures to evaluate student progress.

19. Meaningful drill:

Drill activity involving responses with meaningful choices, as in

reference to different information. Distinguished from information
exchange by the regulated sequence and general form of
responses.

As Brown(2001) stabliches there is a range of classroom language-teaching

semicontrolled and free techniques:

2 SEMICONTROLLED TECHNIQUES

Brainstorming:

A special form of preparation for the lesson, like Setting, which

involves free, undirected contributions by the students and teacher
on a given topic, to generate multiple associations without linking
them; no explicit analysis or interpretation by the teacher.

14
Story telling (especially when student-generated):

Not necessarily lesson-based, a lengthy presentation of story by

teacher or student (may overlap with Warm-up or Narrative
recitation). May be used to maintain attention, motivate, or as
lengthy practice.

Question-answer, referential:

Activity involving prompting of responses by means of referential

questions (i.e., the questioner does not know beforehand the
response information). Distinguished from Question-answer,
display.

Cued narrative/Dialogue:

Student production of narrative or dialogue following cues from

mimin, cue cards, pictures, or other stimuli related to
narrative/dialogue (e.g., metalanguage requesting functional acts).

Information transfer:

Application from one mode (e.g., visual) to another (e.g., writing),

which involves some transformation of the information (e.g., student
fills out diagram while listening to description). Distinguished from
Identification in that the student is expected to transform and
reinterpret the language or information.

Information exchange:

Task involving two-way communication as ¡n information-gap

exercises, when one or both parties (or a larger group) must share
information to achieve some goal .Distinguished from Question-
answer, referential in that sharing of information is critical for the
task.

Wrap-up:

15
Brief teacher- or student-produced summary of point and/or items
that have been practiced or learned.

Narration/exposition:

Presentation of a story or explanation derived from prior stimuli.

Distinguished from Cued narrative because of lack of immediate

stimulus.

Preparation:

Student study, silent reading, pair planning and rehearsing,

preparing for later activity. Usually a student-directed or -oriented
project.

FREE TECHNIQUES

Role-play:

Relatively free acting out of specified roles and functions.

Distinguished from Cued dialogues by the fact that cueing is
provided only minimally at the beginning, and not during the activity.

Games:

Various kinds of language game activity not like other previously

defined activities (e.g. board and dice games making words).

Report:

Report of student-prepared exposition on books, experiences,

project work, without immediate stimulus, and elaborated on
according to student interests. Akin to Composition in writing mode.

Problem solving:

16
 Activity involving specified problem and limitations of means to
resolve ¡t; requires cooperation on part of participants in small or
large group.

Drama:

Planned dramatic rendition of play, skit, story, etc.

Simulation:

Activity involving complex interaction between groups and

individuals based on simulation of real-life actions and experiences.

Interview:

A student is directed to get information from another student or

students.

Discussion:

Debate or other form of grouped discussion of specified topic, with

or without specified sides/positions prearranged.

Composition:

As in Report (verbal), written development of ideas, story, or other

exposition.

A propos:

Conversation or other socially oriented interaction/speech by

teacher, students, or even visitors, on general real-life topics.
Typically authentic and genuine (Brown, 2001).

You must have in mind that each listening activity must have a pre-
listening activity, during listening activity and post listening activity. As Davies
& Pearse (2006) say, their are many possible pre-,while, and post-listening
activies:
 Pre-listening:

17
 Discuss a relevant picture
Discuss relevant experiences
Associate ideas with the topic
Predict information about the topic
Write questions about the topic

 While-listening
Identify the exact topic, or an aspect of it
Note two to four pieces of information
Answer questions
Complete sentences
Complete a table, map or picture

 Post-listening:
Give opinions
Relate similar experiences
Role-play a similar interaction
Write a brief report
Write a similar text
Debate the topic (Davies & Pearse, 2006)

Then we go with the speaking activity. Here are some suggestions that Kayi
(2015) gives for English language teachers while teaching oral language:

 Provide maximum opportunity to students to speak the target

language by providing a rich environment that contains collaborative
work, authentic materials and tasks, and shared knowledge.
 Try to involve each student in every speaking activity; for this aim,
practice different ways of student participation.
 Reduce teacher speaking time in class while increasing student
speaking time. Step back and observe students.

18
  Indicate positive signs when commenting on a student's response.
 Ask eliciting questions such as "What do you mean? How did you
reach that conclusion?" in order to prompt students to speak more.
 Provide written feedback like "Your presentation was really great. It
was a good job. I really appreciated your efforts in preparing the
materials and efficient use of your voice…"
 Do not correct students' pronunciation mistakes very often while
they are speaking. Correction should not distract student from his or
her speech.
 Involve speaking activities not only in class but also out of class;
contact parents and other people who can help.
 Circulate around classroom to ensure that students are on the right
track and see whether they need your help while they work in groups
or pairs.
 Provide the vocabulary beforehand that students need in speaking
activities.
 Diagnose problems faced by students who have difficulty in
expressing themselves in the target language and provide more
opportunities to practice the spoken language (Kayi, 2006).

The reading is developed almost like the listening. First we start with a pre
reading activity, then a during reading activity and finally a post reading activity.
As previously seen in the listening practice, Davies & Pearse (2006) also give
teaching ideas to develop each one of this reading stages:

 Pre-reading
Guess the topic of the text from the heading, illustration, etc.
Brainstorm around a topic word on the board, for example,
sharks’.
Predict what the text will say.

19
 Write questions that may be answered by the text.

 While-reading
Scan for two to four items of information.
Skim for the general idea.
Answer questions.
Complete sentences,
Complete a table, map, or picture.
Ask each other questions.

 Post-reading
Discuss what was interesting or new in the text.
Discuss or debate the topic of the text if it is controversial.
Do tasks on the language or structure of the text.
Summarize the text, either orally or in writing (Davies &
Pearse, 2006).

On the other hand, according to Morley (2005), the writing skill can be
developed in harmony if we follow some stages:

Stages of a writing lesson

I don't necessarily include all these stages in every writing lesson,

and the emphasis given to each stage may differ according to the
genre of the writing and / or the time available. Learners work in
pairs or groups as much as possible, to share ideas and knowledge,
and because this provides a good opportunity for practicing the
speaking, listening and reading skills.

Generating ideas

This is often the first stage of a process approach to writing. Even

when producing a piece of writing of a highly conventional genre,

20
 such as a letter of complaint, using learners' own ideas can make
the writing more memorable and meaningful.

 Before writing a letter of complaint, learners think about a situation

when they have complained about faulty goods or bad service (or
have felt like complaining), and tell a partner.

 As the first stage of preparing to write an essay, I give learners the

essay title and pieces of scrap paper. They have 3 minutes to work
alone, writing one idea on each piece of paper, before comparing in
groups. Each group can then present their 3 best ideas to the class.
It doesn't matter if the ideas aren't used in the final piece of writing,
the important thing is to break through the barrier of ' I can't think of
anything to write.'

Focusing ideas

This is another stage taken from a process approach, and it involves

thinking about which of the many ideas generated are the most
important or relevant, and perhaps taking a particular point of view.

 As part of the essay-writing process, students in groups put the

ideas generated in the previous stage onto a 'mind map'. The
teacher then draws a mind-map on the board, using ideas from the
different groups. At this stage he / she can also feed in some useful
collocations - this gives the learners the tools to better express their
own ideas.

 I tell my students to write individually for about 10 minutes, without

stopping and without worrying about grammar or punctuation. If they
don't know a particular word, they write it in their L1. This often helps
learners to further develop some of the ideas used during the
'Generating ideas' stage. Learners then compare together what they
have written, and use a dictionary, the teacher or each other to find
in English any words or phrases they wrote in their L1.

21
 Focus on a model text

Once the students have generated their own ideas, and thought
about which are the most important or relevant, I try to give them the
tools to express those ideas in the most appropriate way. The
examination of model texts is often prominent in product or genre
approaches to writing, and will help raise learners' awareness of the
conventions of typical texts of different genres in English.

 I give learners in groups several examples of a genre, and they use

a genre analysis form to identify the features and language they
have in common. This raises their awareness of the features of the
genre and gives them some language 'chunks' they can use in their
own writing.

 Learners identify the function of different paragraphs in a piece of

writing. For example, in a job application letter, the functions of the
paragraphs might be something like;

o reason for writing

o how I found out about the job

o relevant experience, skills and abilities

o closing paragraph asking for an interview

 Learners are given an essay with the topic sentences taken out, and
put them back in the right place. This raises their awareness of the
organisation of the essay and the importance of topic sentences.

Organising ideas

Once learners have seen how the ideas are organised in typical
examples of the genre, they can go about organising their own ideas
in a similar way.

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 Students in groups draft a plan of their work, including how many
paragraphs and the main points of each paragraph. These can then
be pinned up around the room for comment and comparison.

 When preparing to write an essay, students group some of the ideas

produced earlier into main and supporting statements.

Writing
In a pure process approach, the writer goes through several drafts
before producing a final version. In practical terms, and as part of a
general English course, this is not always possible. Nevertheless, it
may be helpful to let students know beforehand if you are going to
ask them to write a second draft. Those with access to a word
processor can then use it, to facilitate the redrafting process. The
writing itself can be done alone, at home or in class, or
collaboratively in pairs or groups.

Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation of writing helps learners to become aware of an
audience other then the teacher. If students are to write a second
draft, I ask other learners to comment on what they liked / didn't
like about the piece of work, or what they found unclear, so that
these comments can be incorporated into the second draft. The
teacher can also respond at this stage by commenting on the
content and the organization of ideas, without yet giving a grade or
correcting details of grammar and spelling.

Reviewing
When writing a final draft, students should be encouraged to check
the details of grammar and spelling, which may have taken a back
seat to ideas and organization in the previous stages. Instead of
correcting writing myself, I use codes to help students correct their
own writing and learn from their mistakes ( Morley & British Counsil,
2005).

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10. After the practice section the students need a review of the content seen in
class. That is why it is necessary to end each lesson with a wrap up activity.
There is no exact way of doing it, however here are some ideas from
Shenassa, 2015) and Cunha, (2012) for you to grasp.

1) Review the lesson.

Like a good trial lawyer who presents the jury with a concluding
summary on the last day of the trial, driving home the important
points, an effective teacher reinforces the key points of the lesson
during the wrap-up. To make your review interactive and exciting,
ask questions about the key points rather than present a boring
summary, and encourage student participation. After a challenging
session, students usually appreciate the added comprehensiveness
a good review brings to the lesson. Your review can be as warm
and comforting as an engaging story told around the campfire after
a full day of strenuous activity.

2) Students compare their answers and check each other’s work.

There is often a bit of tension hanging in the air when students have
been working on tasks which they’ll be put on the spot to present to
the class. A great way to dispel this anxiety is to have students
compare their work in pairs or small groups before having to give
the answers to the teacher. The group-work itself is comforting as
students get to speak to each other and come out of their individual
shells. Sharing the responsibility for the answer also decreases the
weight of a possible wrong answer told in front of classmates. As
an added benefit, students can learn from each other and go more
deeply into their work as a team.

3) Teacher checks the students’ work and gives feedback.

A basic wrap up is the teacher checking the students’ work. This

could be going over the answers of a grammar exercise, which is

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 pretty clear-cut, or something more involved such as evaluating
travel brochures students designed in their teams. Be sure to use
the opportunity to go over any problem areas and remember that
encouragement is an essential ingredient of personal and
educational growth.

4) Students present their work to the class or the world.

One of the more exciting wrap-ups for students is when they have
the opportunity to present their work to the class or to a larger
audience. Imagine your students have been working in small groups
on creating a travel brochure about the attractions of their
hometowns. Why not ask the groups to paste their brochures and
photos to the board and present them to the class. Juice the process
by giving the class guidelines about presentation skills such as
energy, voice, and eye contact. Make sure team members
participate equally in the presentations. To take it all to a higher
level, you could ask the students to publish their work on a travel
blog to reach the wider world of international travelers!

5) Teacher asks students for feedback.

It is a good idea to ask students for feedback about their learning

process, particularly after intense lessons such as the ones involving
presentations, drama, or other activities where students have left
their comfort zones to find themselves again at newer heights. You
could simply give the students the opportunity to share their feelings
and thoughts and by doing so they will begin to process their own
experiences, get a sense of closure, as well as gain insight into each
other’s perspectives. The added benefit here is that any negative or
confusing feelings can also be vented and your students leave your
class with a clean slate, ready for your next exciting lesson and its
great conclusion! (Shenassa, 2015).

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6) Just push PLAY warm-up : show the picture below to your students
and while you play a song they should talk to someone about their day
or weekend. They talk about the things they would like to play again,
rewind, forward or pause. Play the song for 1 or 2 minutes and pause
it. Tell them that now they are supposed to change partners and so on.

7) Just push PLAY wrap-up: in the last 10 minutes of your lesson, give
each student a piece of paper with the buttons printed on it (you can
just print the image above!). Play a cool song and ask students to
reflect upon the lesson and write down on the paper what they would
like to play again, rewind, pause and stop. If you think it is ok, you
can have students talking and sharing their opinions but if you prefer
not, just collect the pieces of paper. I have no doubt you will have a
priceless material in your hands which will work as an accountability
moment to assess how students like your lessons and what they
think of your and their performance.

8) Lesson in a bottle: before class, the teacher should get a plastic

bottle and put some questions inside. Suggested questions: What
was your favorite activity? What can you teach for you classmates
from today’s lesson? Tell everyone a new word you learned? What
topics were discussed during the class? What was the most
important thing you learned today? Can you remember the
homework assignment? and so on… At the the last 5-8 minutes of
the lesson, the teacher invites everyone to sit on the floor and make
a circle. The teacher puts the bottle in the middle of the circle and
asks a volunteer to twist it. The cap of the bottle points the student
who should open the bottle and answer a question. Be sure it is a
simple activity but it will guarantee a nice recapping for your lesson
and students leaving the classroom in a very good mood!

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 9) Ballon Pass: Before class, the teacher should get 5 balloons and
put a slip of paper with a question inside each balloon. Suggested
questions: What was your favorite activity? What can you teach for
you classmates from today’s lesson? Tell everyone a new word you
learned? What topics were discussed during the class? What was
the most important thing you learned today? Can you remember the
homework assignment? At the last 5-8 minutes of the lesson, have
the students stand in a circle. Without using their hands, have the
students pass around the balloon. If a student happens to use their
hands or is unable to keep the balloon afloat, the student must then
sit or step on the balloon to pop it and answer the question inside it.

10) Lesson Stop Light: the teacher should give each pair of students a
picture of a stop light. In the green, they write something they
already knew about today’s topic. In yellow, they write something
they learned today and in red, they write something they didn’t
understand about what was discussed. Give immediate positive
feedback on the green/ yellow comments and try to clarify the red
light comments. If it is needed longer time to do so, tell students you
are going to prepare a great activity to clarify the topics next lesson.
This way you show that you care about their impressions and you
are concerned about their learning! (Cunha, 2012).

11. Formerly, we find ourselves in the homework section. Homework is extra-

class work for learning beyond the class hour and it is planned carefully and
must be clearly communicated to the students.

These are some pieces of advice you can take into account when
assigning a homework assignment, however, keep in mind that homework
goes along with students ‘needs:

27
 1. If you are using a course book let them develop some exercises assigned in
the unit you are studying.
2. Students can also be assigned writing tasks like essays, dialogues, giving
advice, voicing an opinion, or politely agreeing or disagreeing.
3. You may want to use worksheet from the text book or from internet to review
the topic, too.
4. Students can also be asked to read a topic beforehand. Let them prepare
themselves before you explain the lesson.
5. Research can also be done. You may ask students to look up a grammar
point or any matter related with the topic.
6. Tell the students to explore other ways of learning the target structure,
vocabulary or topic seen in class.

12. Following goes the bibliography section or reference section. The reference
must be ordered according to the books, magazines and websites you visited.
If you used books you must write first the last name of the author. Initial letter
of the last name (year when the book was published) title of the book, country,
and name of the publisher. If it is a magazine first you write the last name of
the author, first letter of his/her name. (year of when the book was published).
Name of the article. Place or country: and publisher.
If it is a website, first you write the last name of the author, first letter of his/her
name. (date when it was published: moth, day, year). Name of the page or
article. Retrieved Month day and year, from and the electronic address.
Example:
Books

Cook, V. (2001). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Magazines

Bygate, M. (2001). Speaking. En R. Carter, & D. Nunan, The Cambridge Guide to

Teaching Englishto Speakers of Other Languages (págs. 14-20). United
Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Websites

28
Abbott, S. E., Guisbond, L., Levy, J., Newby, D., Sommerfeld, M., & Thomas, B. (28
de April de 2014). The Glossary of Education Reform. Recuperado el 25 de
April de 2015, de http://edglossary.org/student-engagement/

13. Finally we find ourselves in the appendix and annex section. An appendix is
something extra you got from an author and need students to have a copy of
it. On the contrary, an annex is also something extra but you did it and you
too need the students to photocopy. Remember to include audios or videos
you will use in a CD.

SCHEME OF A LESSON PLAN

UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR
WESTERN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
INTENSIVE BASIC ENGLISH
Cycle I, 2015

By: Roxana de Trigueros

Unit:

Content and target structure:

Objective:

Time:

Material:

Warm up (time):

Presentation (time):

Grammar notes (time):

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 Controlled Practice

Listening controlled practice (time)

Speaking controlled pcractice (time)

Reading controlled practice (time)

Writing controlled practice (time)

Semi controlled Practice

Listening semi controlled practice (time)

Speaking semi controlled practice (time)

Reading semi controlled practice (time)

Writing semi controlled practice (time)

Free Practice

Listening free practice (time)

Speaking free practice (time)

Reading free practice (time)

Writing free practice (time)

Wrap up (time)

Homework (time)

Bibliography

Appendix

Annex

30
 REFERENCE
BOOKS

Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by Principles an interactive approach to language

Pedagogy. New York: Pearson Education Company.
Davies, P., & Pearse, E. (2006). Success in English Teaching. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Scrivener, J. (1994). Learning Teaching The Essential Guide to English Language
Teaching. Holtzbrinck: MACMILLAN.

WEBSITES

Morley, C., & British Counsil. (June de 2005). Planning a writing lesson. Recuperado
el 13 de Noviembre de 2015, de Planning a writing lesson:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/planning-a-writing-lesson
Cunha, A. (12 de Febrero de 2012). Teaching English with Magic. Recuperado el 16
de Noviembre de 2015, de Teaching English with Maic:
http://anaisacunha.blogspot.com/2012/02/activities-to-wrap-up-your-
lesson.html
Kayi, H. (11 de Noviembre de 2006). Teaching Speaking: Activities to Promote
Speaking in a Second Language . Recuperado el 13 de Noviembre de 2015,
de Teaching Speaking: Activities to Promote Speaking in a Second Language
: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kayi-TeachingSpeaking.html
Shenassa, A. (2015). How to create great wrap-ups for the ESL lessons you teach?
Here are 5 tips! Recuperado el 16 de Noviembre de 2015, de How to create
great wrap-ups for the ESL lessons you teach? Here are 5 tips!:
http://www.atcbc.com/atc/component/content/article/9/94-wrap-ups.html
SpaceA. (Agosto de 13 de 2015). Warm ups and Games. Recuperado el 16 de
Noviembre de 2015, de Warm ups and Games:
https://es.scribd.com/doc/274400729/Warm-Ups-and-Games

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