Planning Awesome Lessons Ashley Levin November 15, 2013

Agenda Your role in teaching English communication Basics in creating an effective lesson How to input effective pictures How to expand a topic into multiple lessons Sample lesson plans General tips for challenging classes Q&A

My School Izu Sogo Koko-Half Kogyou (vocational training), half Sogo (general/academic course) Teach 250 students total, class average is 20 students Multi-media is not standard at my school. Projectors and TVs are unavailable No textbook or existing curriculum in my class, so what should I teach? Answer: Not grammar, writing, reading, but English Communication!

What does Teaching English Communication mean? Your class is a break from normal textbook-based classes with the JTEs The level of English in your classes should in general be lower than their other classes Your class is a chance to apply what they know Whats the target? For my school, its for the students to come away thinking English is fun and practical

Basic Lesson Model 10 minutes- warm-up or review game 15 minutes- learning vocabulary 10 minutes- listening activity 15 minutes- competition/group activity __+________________________________________ 50 minutes

Warm-up Activities Examples Get students out of their chairs or have them move their desks Use the black board (ex. whiteboard relay race, spelling competition) Crossfire Review Karuta

Basic Lesson Model 10 minutes- warm-up or review game 15 minutes- learning vocabulary 10 minutes- listening activity 15 minutes- competition/group activity

Introducing Vocabulary Usually I have students match: Pictures with English words Sentences (in English) with English words English words with Japanese words From EFL Press Books

Car Parts Vocabulary Example

Basic Lesson Model 10 minutes- warm-up or review game 15 minutes- learning vocabulary 10 minutes- listening activity 15 minutes- competition/group activity

Listening Activity Examples Students will listen to a dialogue/monologue and: Fill-in-the-Blank Circle items from a list Identify pictures From EFLPress books

Listening Activity Example From EFL Press books

Basic Lesson Model 10 minutes- warm-up or review game 15 minutes- learning vocabulary 10 minutes- listening activity 15 minutes- competition/group activity

Competition/Group Activity Examples Competition and games is the key to motivating low- level students! Read and Run Writing on Mini-Whiteboards Board Games Karuta

Read and Run: Competition Activity Example

Board game: Example Group Activity From EFL Press Books

How to expand on a lesson topic Try to avoid one topic per lesson Focus on topics that can be extended to several lessons Example: The first lesson on a topic may focus on learning and listening to vocabulary The second lesson focuses on sentence structure and writing/applying the vocabulary

Cooking Week 1 Example lesson plan Warm-up (5 minutes) Vocabulary (20 minutes) Kitchen Vocabulary--students match pictures with words Cooking Verbs--students match pictures with sentences Listening (15 minutes) ALT reads a recipe dialogue with the JTE, students fill-in the blank Competition (10 minutes) ALT reads recipes-students guess the dish they make?

Introducing Kitchen Vocabulary

Introducing Cooking Verbs

Cooking Listening Activity

Cooking Week 1: Competition Activity Example ALT reads, Drop the spaghetti into the boiling salted water and cook for 6 to 9 minutes. While the pasta cooks, combine the eggs, cheese, cream and olive oil in a bowl and stir until completely mixed. Drain pasta, toss with the egg and cream mixture, then add the cooked bacon and chopped parsley. Serve right away, with additional grated cheese. Who can guess the dish this recipe makes?

Cooking Week 2: Example lesson plan Warm-up (5 minutes) Review Vocabulary (15 minutes) Crossword-can be done in teams or individually Word search for students who finish early Reading Recipes (15 minutes) Students read sample recipes, fill-in missing vocabulary Students read sample recipes then put them in order Writing Recipes (10 minutes) Students write their own recipes

Cooking Crossword: Example Review Activity

Putting recipes in order: Example Activity Worksheet modified from ISLcollective.com

Example Student Recipe

Cooking Review Week Example Activity: Karuta Review all vocabulary with Cooking Karuta picture cards Also can be used to play Bingo

Tips

Tips: Dealing with mixed level classes Always bring something extra! Especially for advanced classes Crosswords and word searches--can be made easily from online generators Extra activities give you peace of mind Activities you dont get to can be used for review the next lesson.

Tips: When a lesson doesnt go as planned Dont get discouraged over failed lessons. Can be due to a number of factors: It takes time to learn students level Students performance in class can be due to other factors Dont drive yourself insane trying to fix a lesson which failed Things to improve for next time: Clearer explanation Giving more student and teacher demonstrations Check understanding before starting the activity

Conclusion Develop your lesson format which can be applied to any topic Focus on topics that can be extended to several lessons Focus on building on skills and previously learned vocabulary Give lots of opportunities to review Remember the target is for students to walk away thinking English is fun

Recommended Resources ISLcollective.com, all worksheets can be modified EFL Press books--great for pictures, activities and adopting whole lesson plans. Can order free samples easily online Snagit-application for taking screen shots which makes editing pictures much faster

Q & A Shuzenji, Izu-shi

Appendix

Determine what kind of test youll have Listening- Pre-recorded CD or live. Examples include: dialogues with JTE, fill in the blanks/dictation, circling pictures. Speaking- Students have an interview with the ALT Need to start early--usually a full semester project Students need a lot of practice time Performance Test: Students write a 1-minute speech to recite in front of the ALT Usually in addition to a listening/writing-based test

Health/body parts vocabulary example Modified from ESLPress Books.