Main Principles of Communicative

Teaching
Suitable
material

Mistakes /
Natural

Use of target
Language

Interactive

Communicative
Teaching

Positive
reinforcement

Meaningful

Enjoyable

Involving

Answer the 4 questions. Discuss your

answers with your peer. Report to the group

Why is lesson planning

important?
How is lesson planning
important for the teacher? For
the learners?
What do you take into account
when you design a lesson plan?
What constant components are
there in your lesson plan?

Why is lesson planning important?

Being clear on what you want to
teach.
Being ready to cope with whatever
happens.
Give your teaching a framework, an
overall shape.
A reminder for the teacher when they
get distracted.
It suggests a level of professionalism
and real commitment.

How is lesson planning important for

the teacher and the learners?
For the teacher

For the learner

They dont have to

think on their feet.
They dont lose face
in front of their
learners.
They are clear on the
procedure to follow.
They build on
previous teaching and
prepare for coming
lessons

They realize that the

teacher cares for
their learning.
They attend a
structured lesson:
easier to assimilate
They appreciate their
teachers work as a
model of wellorganized work to
imitate.

What do you take into account when

you design a lesson plan?
Five guiding
principles:

Variety
Coherence
Balance
Flexibility
Challenge

Coherence

Challenge

Balance

Flexibility

Variety

Variety

Why vary?
a- to meet different learning styles: theorist
Activist Pragmatic Reflector
b- to consider different intelligence types.
c- to keep them interested and avoid
monotony.
What to vary?
Contents Activities Interaction modes
Materials Aids
How to vary?
VAK Approach

Ways of Varying these

different components
1. Tempo/Pace : Activities may be brisk and fastmoving, such as guessing games; or slow and
reflective, such as reading or responding in writing.
2. Organization : The learners may work on their own at
individualized tasks, or in pairs or groups, or as a full
class in interaction with the teacher.
3. Mode and Skill : Activities may be based on the
written or the spoken language; and within these,
they may vary as to whether the learners are asked to
produce (speak/ write) or receive (listen / read ).

4.

Difficulty : Activities may be seen as easy and non demanding;

or difficult , requiring concentration and effort.

5.

Mood : Activities vary also in mood: light and fun -based versus
serious and profound; happy versus sad; tense versus relaxed.

6.

Stir - Settle : Some activities enliven and excite learners ( such

as controversial discussions for advanced levels), or activities
which involve physical movement (such as the race dictation)
for the lower levels. Others, like dictation, have the effect of
calming them down

7.

Active - Passive : Learners may be activated in a way that

encourages their own initiative ; or they may only be required
to do as they are told

Coherence
Observe a logical pattern to the lesson:
there has to be connection between the
different activities in the lesson.
Smooth transition is one of the pillars that
ensures success of the lesson plan during
implementation in the classroom.
An activity in a lesson builds on a previous
one and prepares for the next.

Challenge
Learners are intelligent human beings and

come to class with knowledge previously

acquired.
The new lesson should add to that
knowledge without excess.
The lesson that does not challenge is a
lesson that does not motivate.
No learning happens if the lesson doesnt
present new items beyond students prior
knowledge.

Flexibility
Two dimensions:
a- ability to use a number of different
techniques and not be a slave to one
methodology Principled eclecticism.
b- ability to change the plan if it shows
inappropriacy to the classroom real
situation for one reason or the other.

Balance
The lesson is a mixture of a
number of ingredients:
techniques, activities, contents
. The successful teacher is the
one who is able to observe the
right dosage and makes the
learners enjoy a savoury lesson.

What do you take into account when

you design a lesson plan?

Objectives set out to be achieved.

Prior knowledge of learners.
Materials and didactic auxiliaries
to be used.
Tasks and activities to select and
sttsgrouping patterns.
Interaction modes.
Timing and time management

COMPONENTS OF A LESSON
PLAN
1- Information
about the
learners:
Who?

How
many?

Cooperative?

How old?
Students

Quiet/
Agitated?

COMPONENTS OF A LESSON
PLAN
2- OBJECTIVES:
Enable learners
to
Students
needs

Official
Program

Objectives

Textbook

Module
map

COMPONENTS OF A LESSON
PLAN
3- Procedure
What to
do?
Logical
sequencing

How to
do?

Procedure

Who does
what?

How
much
time?

COMPONENTS OF A LESSON
PLAN
4- Aids

Textbook
+
Worksheets

Realia
Aids

OHP
Lap top
Data show

Board
Wall paper
Maps

Audio-visual
aids

Anticipated difficulties and

reserve tasks

What might go
wrong?
How to deal with it?

I.

HINTS FOR LESSON

MANAGEMENT

Prepare more than you need : It is advisable to have

an easily presented, light reserve activity ready in
case of extra time .
II. Similarly , note in advance which component(s) of
the lesson you will sacrifice if you find yourself with
too little time to do everything you have planned.
III. Keep an eye on your time, make sure you are aware
during the lesson how time is going relative to your
plan. Include timing in the plan itself. It is difficult
to judge intuitively how time is going when you are
busy, and the smooth running of your lesson depends
to some extent on proper timing .

IV.

Do not leave the giving of homework to the last minute!

At the end of the lesson learners' attention is at a low ebb, and

you may run out of time before you finish explaining .
V.

If you are doing group work, give instructions and make

sure these are understood before dividing the class into
groups and even, if practicable, before handing out
materials.
If you do it the other way around , people will be looking
at each other and at the materials you have given them,
and they are less likely to attend to what you have to say

Suggested format of a lesson

plan

A. Goals: A unifying theme, an overall general purpose to

accomplish by the end of the lesson period.
e.g. Students will increase their familiarity with the
conventions of telephone conversations
B. Objectives : Explicitly state what you want students to gain
from the lesson.
What students will do:
a. Be sure you know what it is you want to accomplish
b. Preserve the unity of your lesson
c. Predetermine whether or not you are trying to accomplish
too much
d. Evaluate students' success at the end of, or after,

 OBJECTIVES:
Final learning outcomes that you will need to
measure and evaluate
e.g. [ 1 ] Students will develop inner expectancy
rules that enable them to predict and anticipate
what someone else will say on the telephone.
[ 2 ] Students will solicit and receive information
by requesting it over the phone

C.Materials & Equipment : Tape / tape recorder / poster /

map / handouts / OHP
D.Procedures : There is so much variation here that it is
hard to give any "set recipes", but make sure your plan
includes :
a. An Oral Test
b. An opening statement or activity as warm-up for the
lesson itself
c. A set of activities and techniques in which you have
considered appropriate proportions of time for :
-- Whole class work
-- Group and / or pair work
-- Teacher Talk
-- Student Talk
-- Teacher / student Talk
d. Closure
e. Homework
f. Evaluation