This document provides guidance on lesson planning for English language teachers. It discusses what a lesson plan is, the importance of planning, and key components to include in a lesson plan such as aims, stages, procedures and learning objectives. The stages covered are warmer, contextualization, vocabulary presentation, language input, controlled practice and freer practice. Examples are provided for each stage. Overall, the document emphasizes that planning helps teachers be organized, confident and ensure a balanced lesson that meets students' needs.

1. Lesson
Planning
Lcdo. David Estrella I., MBA
Ing. Juan Carlos Delgado V., CELTA

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.

4. Why planning?
• 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.

5. • 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.
Why planning?

6. Planning the class
1. How long before a specific lesson do you
plan it?
2. Do you write down lesson notes to guide
you?
3. Do you rely on a lesson format provided
by the Teacher's book?

7. Planning the class
4. Do you write down your objectives?
5. Do you actually look at your notes during
the lesson? If so, rarely? occasionally?
frequently? Why?
6. What do you do with your
lesson notes after the
lesson?

8. What to consider?
NGAGE
TUDY
CTIVATE

9. What to consider?
• Engage: get the students interested in
the class and hopefully enjoying what they
are doing.
• Study: it is a focus of language, such as
grammar or vocabulary and pronunciation.
It does not have to be NEW
language input.

10. What to consider?
• Activate: the students do writing and or
speaking activities which require them to
use not only the language they are
studying that day, but also other language
that they have learnt.

11. 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.

13. We’re doing unit
3A. It’s about
Present Simple

14. We’re going to
practice
Present Simple

15. We’re going to use
Present Simple in
positive sentences
and wh- questions to
talk about daily
routines

16. We’re doing unit
3A. It’s about
Present Simple
We’re going to
practice
Present Simple
We’re going to use
Present Simple in
positive sentences
and wh- questions to
talk about daily
routines

17. What are the aims of 3A?
• Main aim: Grammar input; present simple
positive sentences and wh- Qs to talk
about daily routines.
• Subsidiary aim: Reading skills; reading for
specific information or vocabulary; daily
routines.

18. How do we define the aims?
• 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.

19. What is the main
aim for this lesson?
And the
subsidiary aim?

20. When do we write the aims?
a. Immediately when we start writing the
lesson plan.
b. After you’ve pondered on what part of the
lesson you’ll dedicate more time to.
c. Only when you know you’ll be observed.
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above.

21. Are my aims correct?
• Your aims should answer:
–Why are we going to do the lesson?
–What is the learning purpose of this
lesson?

22. What are the stages in a
lesson?
• Warmer
• Contextualization
• Pre-teach vocabulary
• Reading / listening
– For gist
– For specific info

23. • Language/Lexis input
• Controlled practice
• Freer practice
What are the stages in a
lesson?

24. • A warmer is a short activity that demands an active
involvement from the students. We use warmers at the
beginning of lessons for a variety of reasons. Firstly and
perhaps most importantly to get the students going at the
beginning of the day or the beginning of the lesson, to
warm them up just like an athlete would warm up before
their big race. Also it gives the students a chance to
switch on to using English, to get their brains ready to
use a different language.
Lesson Plan,Gareth Rees
Warmer

25. Warmer
• A warmer is a game you play at the
beginning of your lesson.
• It sets the mood for the rest of the lesson.
• It helps students to relax and feel
comfortable.
• It lets students have fun.

26. • It makes students realize “everyone is in
the same boat” .
• Students can learn a little about you and
their classmates .
• They can get a feel for how the rest of the
class will be like.
• Students gain confidence.
Warmer

27. Who am I?
• Every S gets a paper with a character on
the stuck on the back.
• Ss need to ask yes/no questions only.
• When a S guesses his/her character
he/she can sit down.
Warmer

28. Contextualization
• Introduces the topic for the lesson.
• It motivates students to be engaged in the
topic of the lesson.
• You can personalize your class.
• It gives students key elements for the
class.

29. How would you
contextualize this
lesson?

30. Pre-teach vocabulary
• Before the listening or reading text.
• Don’t teach all vocabulary.
• Teach only the vocabulary required for the
listening/reading activities.

31. • Illustration
• Mime
• Synonyms/Antonyms
• Definition
• Translation
• Context
Pre-teach vocabulary

32. • Illustration
Very useful for more concrete words (dog,
rain, tall) and for visual learners. Not all
items can be drawn.
• Mime
This lends itself particularly well to action
verbs and it can be fun and
memorable.
Pre-teach vocabulary

33. • Synonyms/Antonyms
Using the words a student already knows
can be effective for getting meaning
across.
• Definition
Make sure it is clear. Ask questions to
check Ss understood.
Pre-teach vocabulary

34. • Translation
It is fast and efficient. Not every word has
a direct translation.
• Context
Think of a clear context when the word is
used.
Pre-teach vocabulary

35. Language input
• Use the reading/listening text as the model
for the language.
• Use a guided discovery.
• Show meaning, form and if necessary
pronunciation

36. • Design tasks so Ss notice target
language.
• Have Ss try to figure out how language
works by looking at its use in context. (text
model).
• Elicit from Ss meaning, form and
pronunciation.
Language input

37. Write a guided
discovery for this
lesson

38. Controlled practice
• After language was introduced.
• They focus only on the target language.
• It gives the Ss their first chance to use the
acquired language.

39. Why?
• To allow the students to internalize the
new language so that they understand it.
• They know how and when to use it and
they’ve had a chance to produce it.
• It helps to fix the language in
the students’ mind.
Controlled practice

40. • By it’s nature, controlled practice can be
very repetitive.
• Ss can become bored and lose interest.
• Be sure the activities don’t go on for too
long.
• Have a good variety in the
practice stage.
Controlled practice

41. • Drills
• Gap-fill
• Sentence completion
• Quizzes
• Games
• Tests
• Information search
• Dictation
Controlled practice

42. Freer practice
• Controlled practice activities develop
students’ accuracy.
• Less controlled activities work on fluency.
• Ss need the chance to activate their
language.
• Ss need to use a wide range
of language as naturally as
possible.

43. • The activity needs to be very carefully
explained and set up.
• Ss will be working without your direct
guidance.
• Ss are the stars here, not you.
• Ss will make lots of mistakes.
• Don’t interfere.
Freer practice

44. • Let your Ss make mistakes.That’s the
idea.
• Your job at this stage is to monitor.
• Move around.
• Listen to your Ss.
• Particular errors can be
pointed out during
feedback stage.
Freer practice

45. What would be a
good freer practice
for this lesson?

46. Procedure
• What the teacher and the students will be
doing during any specific stage of the
class.

47. Procedure
• Each and every activity – no matter what
type!!! – is always divided into three parts:
• Set-up.
• Student engagement.
• Reportback / Feedback.

48. Procedure
• Include these three pieces of information
at all times:
–Activity instruction.
–Interaction pattern.
–Teacher’s behaviour.

49. Activity Instruction
• It tells you what the activity’s instruction to
be followed is - the same one as the
book’s rubric.
• The function of this part is
to let you know what the
students are expected
and supposed to be
doing.

50. Interaction Pattern
• This means the way in which the students
will be working during the activity.
• The interaction patterns can be
individually, in pairs and in
groups of three, four or
more.

51. Interaction Pattern
• Another interaction pattern is T – WC,
which stands for when the teacher talks to
the whole class.
• This interaction pattern is mostly used
when the teacher gives the
instructions to the
students.

52. Teacher’s Behaviour
• What the teacher has done before, is
doing during and will do after the students
do, are doing and have done the activity.
• Here is where you use phrases like: T
helps when needed,
T monitors, T drills proper
pronunciation, etc.

53. Learning Aim
• Tells you why you do an activity and what
the student gets out of it, in an academic
language.
• A lesson is divided into different stages
and each of these stages more often
than not has one specific
aim, but they can also
have many specific
aims.

54. Learning Aim
• Contextualization
To get ss. attention.
To activate ss. passive knowledge.
To motivate engagement.

55. Learning Aim
• CLOSURE
T charms ss.
Keeps job.
Ensures good evaluation.
Makes Emma and Paulina
happy ☺

57. Bibliography
• Ur, Penny; A course in language teaching:
Prcatice and theory. CUP; 1999
• Woodward, Tessa; Planning lessons and
courses; CUP; 2009.
• Robertson, C.; Acklam, R.; Action plan for
teachers; BBC world service, 2000
• Harmer, Jeremy; How to teach
English; Longman 2001.

58. • Spratt, M.; Pulverness, A.; Williams, M.;
The TKT Course; Cambridge ESOL; 2003
• Heath O’Ryan, Jáem; The CELTA Course
handouts; 2007
• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk
Bibliography