Components of a Delta Lesson Plan

On the Delta, for the formally assessed lessons you will need to write full lesson plans. These formal,
structured plans are a means of professional development during the course and will encourage you
to look at the lesson in the right way. Try not to look on them as a meaningless chore!! Although the
Diagnostic Observation is not formally assessed, you are required to produce a lesson plan that
conforms to the rest of the Delta assignments. In this way you will have an opportunity to 'try out' the
lesson plan format, and get some feedback on your attempt, before producing it for assessed
lessons. The information given here is valid for all the systems and skills assessed lessons.

In the following sections we will look at the individual components in detail:

1) WRITING THE PRELIMINARY INFORMATION
This includes everything in the lesson plan before you begin describing the procedure (Criteria 5a -
5g, 5i and 5k of the Assessment Specifications). You need to include:

a) Learner Profile: (Criteria 5a(i + ii) and 5b). In this section, you need to give a brief overall picture
of the group including a description of their needs (see below), their level (see below also) and the
group dynamics. Don’t forget to say whether it is a monolingual or multilingual group and where the
students come from. Mention the length of the course, the frequency, time and length of the lessons.

b) Write a brief summary of the group’s overall needs. You can include their reasons for studying
English and the needs you have identified whilst teaching them. Make sure these needs and the
weaknesses mentioned in the table link up to the aims of the lesson i.e. that you’ve planned a
useful lesson for them that addresses some of their needs / weaknesses.
In addition to the overall description of the class, you will need to write a more detailed profile of
students that make up a representative cross section of the class members (see the table below). As
you can see, you must include the students’ strengths and weaknesses, but be careful not to mention
everything you know about their abilities – only focus on areas that are relevant to the aims of the
particular lesson you are teaching. Make sure you comment on their strengths and weaknesses in
terms of the focus of your lesson. This will meet Criteria 5a(ii) and 5b.

Group:
Name Age Reason for Learning Strengths (S) and Weaknesses (W) Other comments How they will
Nationality benefit from this
lesson
Andrea 23 Improve speaking S – Accurate grammar when Lovely,
Italian skills. To get a better writing but makes basic mistakes cooperative
job. when speaking. member of the
W – Rather basic vocabulary in group.
unfamiliar topics
Sandra 46 To study MA in S – Good knowledge of grammar Has been sick and
Italian economics. FCE in for this level and generally accurate missed several
June. W – speaking very quiet. Problems days.
with sounds and word stress.
etc….

c) Date

d) Level: Choose between Beginners, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper

Intermediate, Advanced, (so not e.g. Level 1, 2, 3, or any terms that are specific to your institution).
For the TP group in Verona, it will be Intermediate.
 e) Time: The duration of the lesson. Formally assessed lessons need to be a minimum of 40 and a
maximum of 60 minutes. For the TP group in Verona, it will be 60 minutes.
f) Number of Students: Leave this blank on the plan and the tutor will fill it in on the day.
g) Overall and Subsidiary Aims for lesson: (Criterion 5b) See the file on the website on how to go
about writing these.
h) Timetable Fit: (Criterion 5d) This shows how your lesson fits into a sequence of lessons. You can
use headings here:
 Link with previous lesson(s): Indicate how your lesson relates to the lesson that has gone
before, or to previous lessons or ‘threads’ in the course (not just the last lesson you have taught in
the course). Indicate the work that has been covered which is relevant to the lesson. There is a
tendency to include unnecessary information here. For example, if you are focussing on past
simple question forms, it is relevant that your learners know how to make present simple
questions. It is not, however, relevant that they know about countable and uncountable nouns. If
your lesson is on a new topic, then do not invent a spurious link! However, you could talk about
the overall syllabus / skills / language balance of the course and how you lesson fits with this.
 Link with next lesson(s): Indicate if the lesson will be consolidated in the next lesson(s). You
could also mention ways you (or other colleagues if you are team teaching, as with the Verona TP
group) intend to work further on any aspect during future lessons. Of course, both these sections
will make more sense when you are writing plans for your own groups towards the end of the
course.
Of course, for the TP group in Verona, this section may be difficult to write. If so, explain why.
i) Assumptions and Strengths of the group (in relation to this lesson): (criterion 5e)
Here you can specify:
 Language systems: what language items you assume the learners will already know (e.g.
phonology, lexis, grammar, discourse) without which you could not easily introduce the new target
item(s).
 Language skills: the level of ability learners have with skills and / or sub-skills which will help with
the skills work in the lesson.

 Interests: what you know about the students’ interests and how this knowledge will help the lesson
flow.

I suggest starting this section with this phrase: ‘The suitability of the learning load and level of
challenge of the lesson depends on the following assumptions: …’ This will ensure that you include
the right sort of assumptions here.
j) Language analysis: (criterion 5c) If you plan to teach new language items, you must include a
section where you summarise their meaning, from and phonology. Imagine a newly-qualified teacher
wants to know about the language you were going to teach: what would you tell them? For all new
language items, you must include how you intend to check it. (e.g. writing the concept questions you
plan to use). For lexis, you need to define the items you plan to teach, and give parts of speech and
pronunciation. This section should look like the grammar summary you find at the back of a
coursebook, or a page from a grammar reference book. At this point, do not mention problems
students may have - these must come in the following section.
k) Anticipated problems and solutions (in relation to this lesson): (criteria 5f and 5g)
This is a crucial stage. This section should contain the specific things students might have problems
with in relation to the aims, activities and materials in your lesson, together with solutions for each
problem.
Thinking this through carefully will help
 you plan more effectively
 you feel more confident about dealing with questions in class
 your observer to see your ability to analyse systems and skills
Go through the lesson stage by stage and think through any difficulties students might have at each
moment of the lesson. Use headings e.g. Stage 1 / Stage 2 / etc.
Here are some possible areas of difficulties to think about:

Problems with new language items (these will link up to your analysis in section j)

Meaning / Use: Specify exactly which features could cause problems.

Appropriacy: Is there anything about the medium (written / spoken / a certain genre)? Think
about style (formal / informal) and register (used by different people in different situations) if relevant.
Form: This includes grammatical form, word order, grammatical patterns e.g. after
verbs, conjunctions (colligation), spelling, and any associated punctuation.
Phonology: Rhythm, stress, intonation, and sounds, including features of connected speech.
Be specific, and use phonemic script when necessary.
The effect of L1: Are there any ‘false friends’, are there likely to be particular linguistic problems
for a nationality?
Problems with skills work:
What problems might learners have with the skills stages of the lesson? Are there any sub-skills
which will be challenging for the class? e.g. not understanding the tape in detail, widely different
reading speeds when skimming, a tendency to revert to Italian.
Other possible problems:
Learning context: Location, time of day, etc.
Learners as people: Group dynamics or individual issues.
Class Management: Issues of complicated task setting etc.
Socio-cultural: Is there anything unfamiliar about the topic, the genre or the methodology which
would need special care?

An important aspect of anticipating problems is thinking of typical questions learners might have
about language, tasks, or texts. Giving some thought to these matters at the planning stage can add
to your confidence in the classroom, reduce the need to provide spontaneous (and possibly
inaccurate) answers to complex grammatical questions, and means you fell feel less anxious about
being observed. (Although, of course, you will be aware from your own experience, that much of real
teaching emerges in the interface between the planned and the unexpected).

Do not include any difficulties that you have already sorted out in your procedure or materials e.g.
‘Students might not know some words in the listening, so I’m going to pre-teach them beforehand.’
This is no longer an anticipated problem!

Remember that whenever there is a focus on new language items (i.e. in nearly every lesson) as a
main or a subsidiary focus, you need to include relevant information about linguistic problems. Many
course participants do not provide enough depth of analysis here and tend only to focus on problems
to do with class management or group dynamics. NB. Don’t forget to write solutions which link
directly to each of the problems you mention!

As the teaching aspect of the Delta has a heavy developmental focus, you will probably want to use
these Teaching Assignments to develop your existing skills and expertise rather than merely
reproduce your current classroom practice. A balance, however, needs to be struck between doing
what is familiar and comfortable and adopting completely unknown procedures just for the sake of
experimenting. You should, of course, try out new things, but not blindly. The Professional
Development Assignment will offer you the opportunity to experiment with a new practice or
technique.

Cambridge are aware that at times you may be working with a group of learners who you do not
know in any great depth, and this is acceptable to state, providing you do so clearly. Linguistic
problems will still need analysing, however. If you are planning a lesson which depends heavily on a
given resource, you should consider alternative strategies at the planning stage which you could call
upon in the event of unexpected technical problems during the lesson – e.g. power failure.

Finally, your previous teaching experience may have necessitated moving classes very swiftly
through a lot of material in one lesson in order to meet syllabus goals. Please remember that in the
case of assessed Delta lessons, you need to show sensitivity to learners’ needs as they emerge
through the delivery of the planned materials whilst not unnecessarily abandoning the plan.
l) Materials and resources
 List and provide a copy for your tutor of any published material. Make sure that you acknowledge
the title, the author/s, the publisher and the date, e.g. Dellar, H. & Hocking, D. 2000 Innovations
LTP.
 Include a reference to and copy of any home-made worksheets or overhead transparencies. If
you have numerous handouts, it will help the observer if you number them and use these
numbers in your plan.
 List any tapes, visual aids, realia you intend to use.
m) Personal Aims (optional)
Here you can specify particular areas you are working on in terms of your continuing professional
development. You could choose to relate these to some of the action points you have identified in
previous assignments and / or to particular challenges you find with the type of lesson you are giving
or the learners in the class.

2) WRITING THE PROCEDURE

The main criterion for the procedure, besides being clear and logical, is that it should make the
lesson reconstructable; in other words (a) don’t write a play (a word-for-word script), and (b) don’t
write it in such brief note form that only you understand it. Give just enough information so that
someone else could reconstruct / teach your lesson from the lesson plan. When teaching the lesson,
you may wish to have a simpler working document for yourself which shows major stages, concept
questions, board plan, etc. with boxes, arrows, stars or highlighted features. Some people even like
to use a series of small coloured cards which carry instructions and contain the main points of a
particular stage so that they can be easily referred to during the lesson.
Try a tabular layout style for the Procedure part of the lesson. This will help you to check whether you
are really clear on the aim for each stage, whether your timing is realistic, whether you have provided
sufficient variety of interaction, etc.

An example might be:

 Stage / Procedure / Activity Aim Inter-
Time action

1. Lead- Ask students if they like swimming / do To arouse interest in the topic Whole
in they ever swim in the sea / have they prior to the reading group
ever had any problems or heard of any
5 mins. problems swimming in the sea?

You may find a landscape rather than a portrait format is more manageable.
What needs to be included in the procedure?
 A heading for each stage: This will help you to plan logically staged lessons and make it clear
for your observer / reader how the stages of the lesson develop.
E.g. “Test” stage / Language Focus / Listening / etc.
 Timing: Show the amount of time you expect to spend on each stage / activity in the lesson.
Be realistic about this. A lot will depend on your experience and your knowledge of the learners, and
sometimes the timing can go wrong, but don’t be afraid of being flexible in the lesson. The time you
give to particular stages / activities is often a reflection of what you perceive to be important in the
lesson, so you will need to make appropriate decisions about this. Remember to allow for thinking
time and don’t rush students It will be helpful for you to appropriately limit what you hope to cover in
the stated timeframe for the lesson; including flexi-stages in the lesson plan may alleviate the sense
that everything on the plan must be covered in order to meet criteria. At Delta level, you are expected
to be sensitive to learners’ emerging needs and to implement your plans appropriately in relation to
these as they arise in the lesson(Criteria 5j).
 A description of the procedure: This should make it clear what the learners and the teacher will
be doing at each stage. In any language focus stage it is a good idea to indicate how you will
clarify and check meaning, form and phonology, as relevant. So, for example, you might draw a
time-line or use phonemic script/boxes/circles/arrows to show features of phonology. It is also
often helpful to include any board stages written out or attached as an appendix (Criteria 5i).
 A clear definition of the aim of each stage: This is crucial and will help you to make sure you
have a clear rationale for each stage of the lesson (Criteria 5b).
 Identification of the Interaction: This will help you see the overall balance of the lesson in
terms of learner-learner and learner-teacher focus. For example: pairs, small groups, whole-
class.
The following tips should prove useful:
Plan backwards. By this we mean start from the intended outcome of the lesson, decide how much
time the learners need to achieve this outcome and then start apportioning time to the stages leading
up to this outcome.
For example, if you decide that ‘by the end of the lesson learners will be better able to tell a short
anecdote about a childhood memory’, you might decide that you wish to give them 15 minutes
speaking time to do this in small groups and that after that you want to do 5 minutes feedback work
on what they have produced. This is then the last 20 minutes of your lesson. Looking back on your
lesson plan at this point you might have to undertake some major surgery! E.g. You’ll have to cut out
that 3 minute warmer that you know in your heart of hearts will really take 10 minutes. Be ruthless
and cut out all activities that do not contribute to your main aims.
Plan for 50 minutes, knowing it will in reality take 60 (although you can write 55-60 minutes under
the Time category)! Allow for the natural ebb and flow of interaction in the lesson. You need to allow
for unanticipated questions, natural exchanges, and a bit of ongoing correction. You don’t want to tie
yourself and the learners in a straitjacket so that you cannot be responsive.
Plan flexi-stages and make it clear in the plan that if time is running short you will jettison these
stages. Of course, you must make sure that these are not stages crucial to your aim. In the case
above, for example, it would be highly inadvisable to abandon the final speaking activity because this
is fundamental to your lesson objectives.

3) WRITING A COMMENTARY TO ACCOMPANY THE LESSON PLAN

As well as a lesson plan, you will be writing a commentary, of 500 - 750 words, which:
“provides a clear rationale for the lesson plan with reference to learner characteristics and needs and
the candidate’s reading and research in Part 1 (500 - 750 words)”. (Criterion 5k)

The commentary is your chance to explain some of the thinking behind your planning and your
overall rationale. Using the following two headings in your commentary can help to remind you what
you need to mention in this section.

a) How this lesson was informed by learner characteristics and needs

Make links between the learners’ needs (and learning preferences) and the content and chosen
approaches / activities / materials in the lesson. What do you know / have you found out about the
class and individuals within it which informed the planning of the class?

b) Links to reading and research

Link your lesson to your background research (“As a result of reading about… I became interested
in… I decided to investigate whether….”).

NB: For your first Diagnostic Observation, there is no Part 1 Background Essay, so your commentary
for this lesson will only be able to include information from heading a).
YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE LESSON PLAN (this is in your head, so don't write it on the
plan!)
Having produced your lesson plan it is now worth considering your relationship to it. You obviously
will not want to follow it slavishly, neither will you want to diverge from it so much that you fail to
achieve any of your stated aims.
Having designed the lesson and taken into account the anticipated problems, the approximate timing,
etc., the key word is flexibility. You should feel free to diverge from your lesson plan to deal with any
unanticipated learning difficulties that directly relate to your main aims. This shows a willingness to
respond to the classroom situation as it develops, and you will be given credit for doing this. It is not a
good idea to ‘plough on’ with your lesson plan, regardless of the fact that learners have not
understood the concept or do not know what to do in pairs. You cannot achieve your aims if this is the
case, so do not be afraid to go back and clarify / reintroduce / check concept again, or stop the class
and repeat your instructions. Look at assessment criterion 9a from the Language Systems and Skills
Assignments Specifications:
9a. Implement the lesson plan and where necessary adapt it to emerging learner needs.
Remember, having prepared the plan, your skill as a teacher now is to execute the lesson, and this
involves you in making a whole series of decisions as the lesson progresses. You need to show
sensitivity to learners and their difficulties and an ability to respond appropriately. So do not be afraid
to be flexible, show confidence and independence, and if you do not follow your lesson plan exactly
then in your post lesson evaluation, explain why you decided to diverge from it.
The “Inside Story” - some quotes about lesson planning from previous Delta participants:
“Sometimes writing them was a pain in the neck!, but I actually found them very useful because I
need that kind of discipline to order my mind and it helped to have thought about the lesson in so
much detail… I personally found the class profile the least useful thing, but the anticipated problems
section played a big part in how successful a lesson was…. Now I find I routinely think about possible
problems when I plan my lessons… Actually I can say in retrospect the experience was positive, you
never get the chance to spend that much time thinking about a lesson.”

“I never used them in lessons. I always saw them as documents for someone else. I had my own
running order for actually working from…. They made me think a lot more about aims - why I was
doing things, and the pacing of lessons. My pace really tightened up. I think they’re important for the
observer because they know you know what you’re doing. They can see the workings out…”

“I’d maybe start off with a general idea of the aim, then I’d work with the piece of material or some
ideas and see how it kind of grew naturally. I’d go back and rewrite the aims much more exactly right
at the end of the process. Generally having so much time to spend thinking about a single lesson was
fantastic. It really made me think about why I was doing each activity.”

“Our Tutor had a good way of putting it… he said it was like inviting someone to your house for a
meal. You don’t give them cheese on toast or order a takeaway, but you lay on something a bit
special, a kind of cordon bleu cookery to show what you are capable of. So yes, it is a bit of a display,
but it has to be like that I think, and it’s certainly incredibly satisfying when the effort you’ve put in
pays off.”
 CHECKLIST FOR LESSON PLANNING
Here is a checklist which you can copy out and use throughout the DELTA course whenever you are
preparing lessons:
Lesson Plan: Checklist

Date
Level
Time between 40 and 60 minutes
Profile of the Learners a description of the class / teaching context / particular individuals
Learners’ Needs a brief summary of the needs of the group particularly in relation to
this lesson
Overall / Main Aim(s) either language as main aim with supporting skills work or vice
Subsidiary Aim(s) versa
Timetable Fit link with previous lesson(s) and with following lesson(s)

Strengths of the Group in relation to this lesson, what do you assume students know/can
do? You can also title this: Assumptions
Language Analysis if relevant
Anticipated Problems Linguistic : meaning, appropriacy, form, phonology, L1 issues.
and Solutions Other: skills level, sub-skills, the context, the learners as people,
classroom management, socio-cultural as relevant
Materials / Resources credit all published materials. Provide copies of all materials for your
observer
Personal Aims optional
Procedure in enough detail to make the lesson reconstructable for a reader.
Include:
 a heading for each stage
 an aim for each stage
 the procedure
 timing
 interaction