Chapter 6: Planning lessons and courses – Scrivener

1.Planning is a thinking skill

it helps to be clear about what you want to do – planning increases the number of
your options – and doing so, increases your chances of a successful lesson.
Planning = imagining the lesson before it happens. It involves prediction, anticipation,
sequencing, organising and simplifying.
A written plan is evidence that you have done that thinking.
Prepare thoroughly. But in class, teach the learners, not the plan.
There are a number of general areas to think about: atmosphere, the learners, the
aims, the teaching points, the tasks and teaching procedures, the challenge, materials
and classroom management.

Important considerations when planning

2 key questions:
What is my procedure? (i.e. What sequence of tasks and activities will I use?)
What are the aims of the lesson?

2. How do people learn languages?

Ignorance: The learner doesn´t know anything about the item.

Exposure: The learner hears or reads examples of the item (maybe a number of times), but
doesn´t particularly notice it.

Noticing: The learner begins to realise that there is a feature he/she doesn´t fully understand.

Understanding: The learner starts to look more closely at the item and tries to work out the
formation rules and the meaning, possibly with the help of reference information, explanations
or other help.

Practice: The learner tries to use the item in his/her own speech or writing (maybe hesitantly,
probably with many errors).

Active use: The learner integrates the item fully into his/her own language and uses it (without
thinking) relatively easily with minor errors.
Exposure

The distinction between authentic and restricted exposure is whether the exposure comes
from a text that is realistic or if it is from a text that is recognisably simplified or perhaps
including an unnaturally high number of examples of a specific target item.

Authentic exposure: This is exposure to language when it is being used fairly naturally. For
example:

- reading magazines, books, articles, product labels, etc

- listening to small talk and listening to recordings, radio, etc
- watching English films or television channels
- hearing incidental language used in class
- reading pieces of language on notices, posters, etc around the classroom

Restricted exposure: Exposure to texts specially designed to be accessible to learners – and

probably to draw attention to specific language points.

The texts will often:

- be specially designed for learners, providing clear examples of target language items
being used in context;
- be simplified through use of graded language
- have unusually high quantities of specific target language items.
Learners may:

- listen to you say sentences that exemplify the language point you are aiming to work
on;
- read or listen to coursebook texts designed to present features of certain language
items;
- read examples of particular features of language in a grammar book.

Stephen Krashen has hypothesised a distinction between acquisition (language that we pick
up subconsciously when we are engaged in communicating and understanding messages)
and learning (language we consciously study and learn about, for example in a classroom).

Krashen suggests that acquisition is the significant process here, and that language we learn
is only of any use to us in monitoring and checking out communication. In order to acquire
language, we need to be exposure to comprehensible input, i.e. real messages communicated
to us that are comprehensible but just a little above our current level.

Output

We can make a similar distinction between output that is deliberately simplified or controlled
– maybe because of a teacher instruction or by the nature of a particular task that makes the
load on the learner less demanding (restricted output) – and freer or more natural interaction
which might have many stresses and pressures (authentic output).

Authentic output: Speaking or writing using the full range of language learners have at their
disposal.

- discussions - writing a postcard

- meetings - negotiations
- small talk in a café - chatting in class

Restricted output: Speaking or writing that requires to use less than the full quantity of
language they know. Learners get a chance to practise using language in ways that are
controlled or deliberatively simplified in a way that makes the load on the learner less
demanding.

- drills - simple games based on saying

- written gap-fill exercises very similar sentences (e.g. Simon
- grammar practice activities says)
- ´Repeat what I say´
3. Sequencing lesson components

For lessons where there will be a substantial focus on language study, one straightforward way
is to think of parts (or ‘stages’) of a lesson as ´building brick´ components. We can build
different lessons by putting the bricks together in various sequences. For example, a popular
lesson shape:

- In the first stage, the learner gets to see or hear examples of language being used.
- Clarification refers to a lesson stage in which the learners focus in on a piece of
language, to see it, think about it and understand it, to become much clearer on its
form, meaning and use. “teacher explains the language point”.
- After this, the learners try using the language for themselves in relatively
unthreatening ways.
- PRESENT-PRACTISE LESSON – first the learners meet new language items, then they
practise using them. Then they produce them in freer, more fluent ways.
Some additional bricks that you can use are:

- activities that promote ´memory´

- activities that promote ´noticing´
- activities that promote ´reflecton´
- activities that promote ´preparation´

4. Formal lesson planning

Formal plans often divide into three distinct sections:

- background information about the class, the teacher, the materials and the overall
aims of the lesson
- language analysis of items that will be worked on in class
- a detailed chronological stage-by-stage description of the intended procedure for the
lesson.

In most formal lesson plans, the following are required:

- a clear statement of appropriate aims for the whole lesson;

- a clear list of stages in the lesson, with a description of activities, their aims and
estimated timing,
- and, if it is a lesson that includes language system work, a list of specific target
language items (or a statement about how and when they will be selected).
Writing a lesson-plan procedure

Once you´ve written the background information, the other essential part of a plan
is a statement of the intended procedure of the lesson.
You need a plan that simply and clearly outlines the intended stages – in enough
detail to be ‘imaginable’ by someone else. Include:
o the essential steps for each stage
o classroom management information, such as what sort of groupings you’ll
use, who will talk, etc.
o things that may be particular problems or hiccups.
- For most part, do not use:
o long prose descriptions of everything that will happen
o detailed descriptions of routine actions that any competent teacher would do
naturally on the spot in class, e.g. ‘stand up’.
o shorthand notes that may be too cryptic for a reader to unravel
o word-for-word texts of all your instructions and explanations, etc.

5. Lesson aims

For every lesson you teach, and for every activity within that lesson, it is useful to be able to
state what the aims are, ie what´s the point of doing it? What will the students get out of it? It
is important to separate mentally:

- the material you use

- the activities that will be done
- the teaching point (ie the language skills or systems that you will work on)
- the topics or contexts that will be used
- the aims of the lesson

Achievement aims

the achievement aim requires a little more thought.

aims are the results of the lesson from the learner´s perspective. It can be helpful to
start with a phrase like ´By the end of the lesson, the learners will have…´ or ‘By the
end of the lesson, the learners will be better able to…’. For example:
- By the end of the lesson, the learners will be better able to find specific information in
tourist information leaflets.
- By the end of the lesson, learners will have had practice in completing timed exercises
on reading comprehension in preparation for their exam next week.
6. Alternatives to formal planning

There may be good reasons for not using a standard ‘aims-plus-procedure’ plan. For example,
you may feel:

- you haven´t got time

- the lesson methodology you wish to use cannot easily be characterised using this
format
- it doesn’t seem an economic or helpful way of describing a lesson’s way of working
- it might restrict your freedom to respond to learners in class
- the lesson content and/or aim will emerge during the class rather than being pre-
decided
- your priority is to create a specific atmosphere, a certain type of rapport, etc
- you want to experiment or work on specific aspects of your teaching

A brief ‘running order’:

- simplest type of lesson plan

- is a basic ‘running order’ of activities, perhaps with a note of specific language points
or materials that will be used.
- This plan has the advantage of being something you can do on the bus in to work or
on the back of an envelope in the staff room five minutes before going into class.

Flow chart:

Write your procedure notes in sketch boxes, rather than in traditional linear down-the-page
fashion. Show a variety of different possible running orders and routes through the stages by
drawing lines between different boxes.

Dream through the lesson:

Don´t write anything. Repeatedly imagine your way through the lesson, perhaps with your
eyes closed. Think up possible different routes that you might initiate – or that learners might.
See where each leads.

Focus on the ‘critical learning moments’

Rather than planning the entire lesson procedure, before class decide on a number of specific
key things you hope learners will gain from the class. Think enough each of these moments
very carefully.

Half-plan

For more experienced teachers. Put your energy into planning how your class will do skills
work. Don’t plan any language system work. In class, spontaneously work on language issues
as they come up if they are useful, interesting and appropriate for students.
Where´s the meat?:

List the main ‘teaching points’ for your lesson. Go back and list the inherent ‘challenges’ in
each of these for the students you are working with: What do you expect them to find
important, difficult, or hard to pick up? What will they make mistakes? What mistakes and
problems are likely?

Focus 95% of your planning on paying attention to this “challenge”. Decide on your teaching
strategies to ‘get to where the learning is going on’.

- Plan the ‘critical teaching moments’: which instructions, explanations, feedback stages,
etc. will be ‘critical moments’ for you, the teacher, which may need to be prepared in
detail in advance?
- Lesson images: draw sketch pictures of the class at several key moments in the lesson.
Show what learners and teacher are doing.

The jungle path:

An alternative approach would be to not predict and prepare so much, but to create the lesson
moment by moment in class with you and learners working with whatever is happening in the
room, responding to questions, problems and options as they come up, and finding new
activities, materials and tasks in response to particular situations.

7. Planning a course

There are two main considerations:

- What will I teach (ie what is the syllabus)?

- How will the separate items be sequenced (ie what is the work plan or timetable)?

What will I teach? – The Syllabus

On a day-to-day basis, there are a variety of reasons for the selection of lesson content such
as the learners’ needs.

A syllabus provides a long-term overview. It lists the contents of a course and puts the separate
items in an order. In some schools, the syllabus may simply be the coursebook, whereas in
others, there may be a much more detailed requirement.

A syllabus can be mainly grammatical or functional or lexical. Alternatively, it may be based

on skills work, or may contain a mixture of work on systems and skills. Some syllabuses
describe course content in terms of topics or tasks.

Having a syllabus can be a great help, setting out clearly what you are expected to cover with
your class. It can be a burden, too, if it is unrealistic for your students in terms of what they
need or are likely to achieve within a certain time.
The Common European Framework

It was published by the Council of Europe and it has had a lot of influence over syllabus design
in Europe. It describes possible course content in terms of what learners need to do with
language to communicate in the real world, a radical departure from many syllabuses that
describe what people need to know. The CEF organises the content into a clearly defined level
system. With more schools and educational establishments taking up the CEF, it now provides
a common basis for discussion and reform in language teaching, course design, testing and
materials writing. From the students´ perspective, there is more chance that the level and
qualification they achieve in one country will be understood in any other country they go to.

Timetables and work plans: how will the teaching content be sequenced?

In school management, timetabling refers to the preparation (by the head teacher, head of
department or director of studies) of an overview master plan of which classes are with which
teachers in which rooms at which times.

For a teacher, timetabling refers to the day-to-day, week-to-week decisions about how to
interpret a syllabus into a series of lessons. You could also call this a work plan or a scheme of
work. It is usually wholly or partly the teacher´s job.

The process of making a work plan typically involves looking at a school syllabus or a
coursebook contents page and trying to map out how you will cover the content in the time
available, i-e- selecting items from the syllabus and writing them as a dated list, under
headings or by placing into appropriate spaces on a blank timetable grid. The work plan is
your translation of the syllabus requirements into a balanced and interesting series of lessons.

Work plans are usually written out in advance, prepared by the teacher responsible for
teaching a subject with a particular class. You may be required to show it to your supervisor
or head of department, and you may have to get formal approval for what you intend to do.

A work plan enables other teachers to understand what work is being done in your class. The
information it provides may be especially important if another teacher shares your class with
you, if you are ill or absent one day, or if your manager is concerned about your class in any
way. It is also useful for your students to see what they will be doing. The work plan should
give others a clear idea of what works was planned for a particular lesson and also show how
that fits into the overall shape of the week and the course.

A work plan may be more or less detailed:

o A skeleton work plan lists only general headings or labels or perhaps coursebook
page numbers. This type of work plan is used for planning the overall shape of a week
or course; it helps to ensure that there is balance and variety in a course.
 o A detailed work plan contains more information, specifying exactly what is to be done.
A detailed work plan is for your own planning, for keeping an accurate record of the
course and for informing others (eg your director or another teacher) about what you
are doing in class.

8. Unrealistic requirements

Teachers are often faced with planning a course when there are syllabus requirements they
don´t agree with or teaching material that they don´t like. There is a fine balance between
doing what you are required or expected to do and doing what you believe is appropriate,
useful or needed.

It is often possible to do what is expected of you, to reach the goals you have been told to
reach; to use the pages of the book you have been told to use, to get students through tests
they need to pass, to make the end point of the lesson, the day, the course exactly where it is
supposed to be, but still to make the journey there surprising, interesting and exciting.

E.g.: your boss has told you that the only aim of your course in to get students to pass a written
grammar and essay exam at the end of the term.

The straight line approach is to spend all the class time doing grammar and written work. The
parabola is to follow a balanced syllabus that includes a lot od speaking, listening and other
skills work all kinds, as well as grammar and vocabulary. Sometimes the parabola is the shortest
road; you may find that the students make much better progress and get better results than
students who only follow the straight line.