- I've been given a Scheme of Work. Why do I need a lesson plan too?
You're quite lucky if you are offered a workable scheme of work, which
sets out broadly how best to cover the syllabus over the weeks of the
course. It is an overview, which should help you to keep on track and
not reach the end of the course with whole areas of the syllabus still
uncharted territory.
A lesson plan, however, will set out to indicate just what you aim
to cover in one particular session, and how you will go about it.
Without a clear plan, you run the risk of missing valuable steps out
and asking the learners to carry out an activity for which they are
ill prepared. Drawing up your plan also ensures that you assess very
carefully just what you're hoping the learners will achieve in that
session.
- So what do I need to put in the plan?
| 1. |
Start with your objectives for the lesson; what would you like
the learners to be able to do at the end that they couldn't
do at the beginning? The scheme of work might set out roughly
what you should be covering at each stage of the course, or
it might be left entirely up to you. Either way, Using Public
Transport, for example, isn't specific enough as an objective.
For beginners, think through the different transactions needed
to cope in that context and break them down into separate points.
To ask about train times to a chosen destination. To specify
a type of ticket. To ask the price. Etc.
At a higher level, Using Public Transport, might encompass
asking the reason for a delay, booking tickets by telephone
or understanding an announcement over the tannoy. Your syllabus
will dictate.
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| 2. |
Think through the
new vocabulary likely to be required to achieve those objectives
and make a note of it on your plan. Without a clear idea of the
basic new vocabulary, it's easy to end up presenting too much
new material at once. |
| 3. |
Think about how
best to present that new vocabulary and set out your chosen method
on the plan. |
| 4. |
Include plenty of
opportunities to practise the new material. |
| 5. |
Set out details
of the activity or activities that allow the learners to have
a go at asking about train times & prices and buying tickets.
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| 6. |
Don't forget to
build in time to discuss any work set to do at home and to iron
out any difficulties in work set in previous weeks. |
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Most importantly,
by drawing up a plan you have a clear idea in your head about
the objectives of that session and how you will achieve them,
and you can share that information with your learners at the start.
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- How can I tell where to pitch my lessons?
Be sure to study well the syllabus that describes the programme you'll
be covering. Indeed it's extremely helpful to spend time reading those
of all the other levels offered by your college or institute. That way
you can see the intended progression route for the learners and understand
what they're likely to have covered in previous years. Don't forget
though that some of the group will have not been in formal adult education
before but will have decided that your class is the appropriate one
for them. This may or may not be true and it's quite common for students
to try classes at one or two levels before finding the right one for
them.
- I'm taking a class for absolute beginners, but some of my learners
know quite a lot of language already. Should I change my planning?
It's very common for adults to underestimate what they know. In French
classes especially, many students have studied for a while at school
- often years ago - but don't feel they have retained anything. They're
usually surprised when the language starts to come back to them. Don't
be tempted to make assumptions though; if a class was advertised for
complete beginners then it must be accessible to all those with no prior
knowledge at all and moving into a higher gear will almost certainly
frighten off the very students at whom the class was aimed. If after
a few weeks it's obvious that those with prior knowledge would be better
suited to a class at the level above, then suggest it and offer to speak
to the tutor who runs it.
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