A SEQUENCE of lessons

vA number of related lessons that develop language knowledge and / or language skills over a period of time.

vMay develop a single topic (language area) or may involve topics or language areas that are very closely connected.

10 questions that ensure that your lesson plan is motivating

ü  What is my overall aim?

ü  Will the topic be interesting and motivating for my learners?

ü  What are the learning outcomes?

ü  Are the activities and teaching materials at the right level for all the learners? ü Have I planned enough for the time aviable? Do I need any extra material?

ü  Have I planned too little or too much for the time available? ü Does each step (or stage) in the lesson help to achieve the aim? Are there any stages I can cut if necessary?

ü  Do the steps/stages develop logically out of one another/make learning easier?

ü  Have I thought about exactly how to start and end the lesson? ü Are there any aspects of the lesson which I should state as personal aims?

Useful tips

§   Learners may well require more frequent revision than the coursebook provides.  A scheme of work is a good way to make sure that we recycle language and include regular revision activities during a sequence of lessons. § Coursebook units are often arranged around a specific topic. This kind of sequence gives us the chance to develop particular areas of vocabulary, but learners may feel that the lessons are repetitive, so we need variety of texts and tasks.

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§   When planning lessons we may need to think about the needs of individual learners or groups of learners, e.g. Those that always finish first, those that can’t concentrate for long etc. A coursebook can’t provide material and activities for needs that are specific to our groups of learners. This means we may need to plan parts of the lesson that adapt the coursebook or work with supplementary materials or activities.