How to plan a lesson

1. LESSON PLANNING
PROF.ª ESP. ANA LOURDES PEREIRA

2. WHAT IS A LESSON PLAN?
 It’s the framework for my lesson.
 It’s the map I follow during class.
 It’s a pain in the neck.
 It’s the product of my thoughts about the class to give and what I hope to achieve.

3. WHY PLANNING?
 Planning helps you to reduce uncertainty or panic and gives you confidence and clarity.
 It reminds you to prepare materials beforehand, and makes it easier for you to organize the time and
activities flow in classes.
 For students, evidence of a plan shows them the teacher has devoted time to thinking about the class.
 It is a way to help gain the respect of your students.
 It suggests professionalism and commitment.
 Planning ensures that the class you are teaching gets a balanced mixture of different materials, content
and interaction types.
 Planning helps you to develop a personal style.

4. PLANNING THE CLASS
 How long before a specific lesson do you plan it?
 Do you write down lesson notes to guide you?
 Do you rely on a lesson format provided by the Teacher's book?
 Do you write down your objectives?
 Do you actually look at your notes during the lesson? If so, rarely? occasionally? frequently? Why?
 What do you do with your lesson notes after the lesson?

5. AIMS
 Think about your aim as your mission.
 Your lesson plan should be aim driven.
 They are “why” we teach.
 Each lesson has a main and subsidiary aim.
 Each stage in the lesson has a specific aim.
 Main aim –The point where you will spend the
most time during the lesson.
 Subsidiary aim –The next important point in your
lesson.
 Both aims depend on what is necessary for the
student to learn.

6. WHAT ARE THE STAGES IN A
LESSON?
 Warmer
 Contextualization
 Pre-teach vocabulary
 Reading / listening
 Language/Lexis input
 Controlled practice
 Freer practice