Didactic Guide Tefl Instruction Emmmm

PEDAGOGÍA DEL IDIOMA INGLÉS
TEFL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

STUDENTS:
Instruction
DIDACTIC GUIDE
Lic. Germán Carrera Moreno

Manta, Ecuador
2020-1
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Contenido
UNIT 1 (week 1-2) .................................................................................................................................... 4
LEARNING AND TEACHING STYLES FOR PRIMARY SHOOL STUDENTS ................................ 4
1. Introduction for Language Teaching ........................................................................................ 4
a. What am I teaching? ................................................................................................................. 4
b. What do I want students to do with the material? ............................................................... 5
c. How will I know if the students have learned the material? ................................................ 6
d. How will I prepare the students to demonstrate their learning? ......................................... 6
The presentation is stage (Encounter) ............................................................................................ 7
The practice stage (internalization) ................................................................................................ 7
The Use Stage (Fluency) .................................................................................................................... 7
2. Considerations for Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) ............................................ 8
3. Learning Theories: Jerome Bruner On The Scaffolding Of Learning ................................... 12
Do You Know What ECRIF is?! ............................................................................................................. 15
The phases of ECRIF framework. ........................................................................................................... 17
ENCOUNTER ....................................................................................................................................... 17
CLARIFY: ............................................................................................................................................. 17
REMEMBER: ....................................................................................................................................... 17
INTERNALIZE: ..................................................................................................................................... 18
FLUENCY: ............................................................................................................................................ 18
UNIT 2 (week 3-4) ................................................................................................................................ 20
Creating Objectives and Plans ............................................................................................................. 20
Making SMARTA Objectives and Action Plans ................................................................................ 20
What’s a useful objective?................................................................................................................ 20
Creating Objectives for Speaking Lessons ...................................................................................... 21
Processing a Speaking Lesson 1 ........................................................................................................ 23
Action Verbs for Objectives .............................................................................................................. 27
Giving Clear Instructions..................................................................................................................... 27
Additional Tips for Giving Clearer Instructions ................................................................................. 29
Error Correction ..................................................................................................................................... 30
Factors to consider ............................................................................................................................ 30
Difference between error and mistake ................................................................................................ 31
Error Correction Strategies ................................................................................................................. 31
Concept Checking Questions (CCQs) ................................................................................................ 32
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Storytelling (Second Term)....................................................................................................................... 35
When do people tell stories? ................................................................................................................ 35
Why use stories? ................................................................................................................................ 39
Your book collection .......................................................................................................................... 39
The delivery........................................................................................................................................ 40
Follow-up activities............................................................................................................................ 42
A framework for Teaching Receptive Skills: PDP ................................................................................... 50
Pre Stage (What do we do here?) ....................................................................................................... 51
During Stage (What do we do here?).................................................................................................. 51
Post Stage (What do we do here?) ..................................................................................................... 52
Tips for Listening Lessons ................................................................................................................... 52
Creating Objectives for Receptive Skills Lessons ............................................................................... 53
• Processing a Listening Lesson 1 ..................................................................................................... 55
The Changing Face of Listening or Reading (excerpts) ............................................................................... 57
By John Field ............................................................................................................................................... 57
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UNIT 1 (week 1-2)
LEARNING AND TEACHING STYLES FOR PRIMARY SHOOL STUDENTS
Objective: At the end of this unit you will be able to apply useful activities and teaching ideas
specifically designed for Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL).
1. Introduction for Language Teaching

by Patrick Moran, School for International Training
The framework that I describe below is a personal guide that I use in my own teaching
and in analyzing the teaching of others. It contains nothing new or revolutionary. In fact, the
framework is based on a series of fundamental questions that all teachers must face.
This framework is designed to help a teacher to find his purpose in the classroom - in as
clear and as precise a manner as possible. If this purpose is not clearly articulated, a teacher is
less likely and often at a loss to Identity what is working, what is not, and why. As a means to
define this purpose, I have found it necessary to return to four fundamental questions. Specific
answers to these questions lead to a clear definition of purpose and the framework for carrying
it out.
These questions are listed below. I also provide an indication of how these questions can
be answered. The framework that is derived from these answers is then explained along with an
example of how it can be used.
a. What am I teaching?
Answers to this question need to be quite specific, and at the very least, include:
a) Linguistic items,
b) Cultural Points,
c) Language Skills.
Linguistic Items are vocabulary words, grammar points, sounds and intonation patterns,
word order, etc. In spelling out these items, detail is important. In the case of a verb tense, your
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answer needs to address mood (active or passive); interrogative, affirmative, or negative
sentence patterns; first, second or third persons, singular or plural; contractions; long- or short-
answer forms; and so on.
Cultural Points also need to be delineated. Are the points informational? Do they relate
to values? Which ones? Is it cultural awareness? What kinds of awareness? Are they
sociolinguistic points?
Language Skills obviously include listening, speaking, reading, or writing. Which ones are
the students to use?
Another answer to this question could consist of the learning process itself, where you
are working on helping students become aware of themselves as learners and of the tools they
have at their disposal as learners.
Still another answer might be self-awareness, where you are helping students become
concious of the values they hold, of the way in which they relate to others and to themselves.
The two latter answers depend on your own approach to teaching, but I feel that all language
teachers must deal with the others: linguistic items, cultural points and language skills.
b. What do I want students to do with the material?

Having defined the material, your answer to this second question constitutes your statement of
purpose. Essentially, this calls for a definition of learning on your part. By using and emphasizing
the word DO, I am suggesting that learning is related to action of some sort and also that this
learning is, to a great extent, visible.
This action can translate into many forms: students’ speaking, listening, writing and reading or
even performing an action - carrying out a command, acting something out or drawing a picture.
It is important however, that the action be a demonstration of students’ learning. Clearly, it is
the student who is engaged it in the action, not the teacher.
Your answer to this question needs to be as detailed as possible, since it is the culmination of
your work in the classroom. Often your answer to this question is, in fact, a description of your
final activity in class.
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c. How will I know if the students have learned the material?
As the answer to the previous question suggests, you ought to be able to observe your students in action
and verify if they have learned the material or not.
For this to occur, at least two things are necessary:
a) you need to be an observer call MA the students need to be acting;

b) students need an activity that requires them to choose or discriminate among a number of
possible responses. This activity is important, since it requires that students do more than simply
repeat after you, or nod their heads in response to a question.
Answering these three questions is the first stage in preparing to enter the classroom: setting the general
boundaries of what is to happen in class. Simply put, it means stating what the students are going to
learn, what this learning will look like and how you will know if they've learned it or not. The next
question then leads into the mechanics of putting together the Lesson plan following the framework.
d. How will I prepare the students to demonstrate their

learning?
In assembling the various activities and procedures of your plan you are pointing to work the activity you
have defined in answer to what you want students to do with the material they activity language they
demonstrate their learning. Therefore, all preceding activities techniques materials and teaching aids
need to be chosen and design it with this final learning activity in mind.
People learn in three stages: Present, Practice, and Use. The pyramid below represents the framework I
use as a guide in designing learning activities. It can be used in putting together an entire lesson plan or
any activity within a lesson. The divisions within the pyramid represent the three essential stages within a
learning activity.
A. Presentation Stage
A (Encounter Stage)
B. Practice Stage
B (Internalization Stage)
C. Use Stage
C (Fluenty Stage)
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The presentation is stage (Encounter)
Consists of getting the meaning of the material across to the students. Usually this does not call for any
production on the part of the students but some indication that they have understood. There are many
established techniques for conveying meaning; among them, explanation in the target language,
definition, demonstration, objects, visual aids, etc. A second feature of this stage is making sure that the
students understand the nature and purpose of the activity - what is expected of them.
The practice stage (internalization)

Calls for production by the students. The material is manipulated in a controlled context to help students
gain fluency and confidence. At its simplest, this means repetition or copying. At a more complex level, it
could take the form of a question answer exercise, where students are restricted to a particular topic or
certain vocabulary terms.
The Use Stage (Fluency)

Involves activities in which students are called upon to choose and discriminate among language
responses. The context is less controlled and provides for freer expression and involvement on the
student’s part. This is the “learning activity” that you have Previously defined. Examples of such activities
include role plays, student spiels, personal reactions, discussions, or games.
The size of each section of the pyramid represents the amount of time that should be allotted to each
stage. As your can see, the majority of time in a learning activity is devoted to the Practice and Use
Stages; the Presentation Stage takes up very little time in comparison. The emphasis is obviously on the
student’s production and use of language since the teacher becomes more of an observer as the lesson
moves through the sequence of stages. Dissecting a 45-minute lesson following this framework would
result roughly in 5 minutes for Presentation, 15 minutes for Practice and 25 minutes for Use. In reality,
such a division of time is not always possible; however, the pyramid principle is still relevant – in terms of
emphasizing Use over other stages.
The following example indicates how the questions can be answered and then applied to the pyramid
framework to result in a Lesson plan. The mythical class would consist of beginning-level ESOL students
from several different countries. the Class period lasts one hour.
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Although the above description is it does give an idea of how the principles of the framework can be
applied to a language lesson.
In the following video you can see a demonstrative class.
2. Considerations for Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL)

As you go through the basic principles of teaching young learners, please think about how these theories
can be applied to your TEYL classroom situation.
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A. How children learn
Effective Scaffolding (Bruner, 1983)
Parents who scaffolded

effectively:
• created interest in the task;
• broke the task down into
smaller steps;
• kept child “on task” by
reminding him of the purpose or
goal;
• pointed out the important
parts of the task;
• controlled the child’s frustration during the task;
• modeled the task, including different ways to do the task.
Let’s watch the next video:
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B. Characteristics of YLs
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“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell when his influence stops.”
Henry Adams
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3. Learning Theories: Jerome Bruner On The Scaffolding Of
Learning
by Steve Wheeler, Associate Professor, Plymouth Institute of Education
In this post, we explore the work of Jerome Bruner on scaffolding of learning. This is a simplified
interpretation of the theory, so if you wish to learn more, please read the original works.
The Theory
Bruner’s theory of scaffolding emerged around 1976 as a part of social constructivist theory and
was particularly influenced by the work of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky argued
that we learn best in a social environment, where we construct meaning through interaction
with others.
His Zone of Proximal Development theory, where we can learn more in the presence of a
knowledgeable other person, became the template for Bruner’s model.
Bruner believed that when children start to learn new concepts, they need help from teachers
and other adults in the form of active support. To begin with, they are dependent on their adult
support, but as they become more independent in their thinking and acquire new skills and
knowledge, the support can be gradually faded. This form of structured interaction between the
child and the adult is reminiscent of the scaffolding that supports the construction of a building.
It is gradually dismantled as the work is completed.
In a very specific way, scaffolding represents a reduction in the many choices a child might face,
so that they become focused only on acquiring the skill or knowledge that is required. The
simplistic elegance of Bruner’s theory means that scaffolding can be applied across all sectors,
for all ages and for all topics of learning.
Let’s watch the next video:
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How It Can Be Applied to Education
It is important for teachers to provide opportunities for children to constantly learn new things.
Some of those may be highly complex and will require support of a very focused kind. Teachers
need to be aware of the developmental state of each of the children in their care and should
provide scaffolding that is appropriate.
Although this may not be possible to do on their own, teachers can improvise and provide
scaffolding through other support, including the use of other adults such as teaching assistants
(para-educators) parent helpers, or more knowledgeable other children within the classroom.
As children gain in confidence and competence in a particular area, teachers might place them in
groups to extend each other’s learning further. It’s also important that teachers recognise when
a child is at the point where they begin to learn independently, and decisions can be made to set
them free from the scaffolding.
Scaffolding Our Instructions

I think we have all found that giving clear instructions to our students, especially lower
proficiency students, can be a real challenge. We quickly learn that giving only oral instructions
can be futile in getting our students to understand what it is we want them to do. The
temptation is to explain the activity again, only to find that our students are even more
confused, resulting in failure of the activity.
Let’s explore together some of the techniques and strategies of giving effective, unambiguous
instructions and how scaffolding plays a part. Here we will define scaffolding to mean anything
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that supports clarity of meaning.To do this we will first examine poor instructions given in French
to a lower level French class.
The French teacher gives the following instructions orally:
Bonjour classe! Ça va? Bon, très bien, ça va. Bon, nous allons faire une petite activité aujourd-
hui. Et ce que nous allons faire c'est que je voudrais que vous preniez un morceau de papier et
que vous numérotez votre papier de un jusqu'à dix et vous allez faire une liste de priorite de
vos nourritures préférées. Allez! …….Quoi? Vous ne faites pas ce que j'ai dit? Qu'est-ce qu'il y
a? Quel est le problème?
English translation: “Good morning, class. How are you? (students respond) Good, very well.
I’m fine too. Good, we are going to have a small activity today. What we are going to do is I
want you to take a piece of paper and number your paper from one to ten and you are going to
make a prioritized list of your favorite foods. Go ahead….. …What? You don’t know what I said?
What is it? What is the problem?”
A couple of students are able to comply with the instructions, but most have no idea what to do.
If we were to give the students the opportunity to offer suggestions to the teacher on how to
make the instructions clearer, what might they say?
Before we hear from the students, let’s consider the following: the instructions were given only
orally; all of the steps were given at one time; they were spoken too fast; there was no use of
gestures or visuals of any kind to support or help the students understand what to do; and
finally, there was no checking of understanding by the teacher. Consequently, the activity could
not move forward and time was wasted.
Here are some of the students’ recommendations:
• slow down and pause between phrases, checking to see if we are with you
• give one step at a time
• show us what to do, not just tell us
• model the instructions, including the activity itself
• write on the board
• use visuals and gestures to support meaning
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• use simple imperatives, not complex sentences
• use simple vocabulary
• after the instructions are given, monitor to be sure we are on task
By implementing these suggestions, the teacher would insure that the instructions are clear to
the students and the activity is a success. Let’s now return to the concept of scaffolding and how
it plays a significant role in making the instructions clearer.
Again, we are defining scaffolding as whatever connects concepts to meaning. Examples of

scaffolding are: using a gesture to give meaning to a word, phrase or sentence; providing a
definition of a word; providing a visual to support meaning; using a graphic organizer to frame
meaning; simply pointing to a board example when making reference.
If the scaffold is to succeed, it must help connect the student’s previous knowledge and
experience to the new information being presented. If, for example, there was a student from
Thailand in the class who spoke only Thai, the use of cognates would not convey meaning. We
can’t assume that all gestures and facial expressions mean the same thing in all cultures. So if
there is a disconnect between the student’s background knowledge and previous experience
and the new concepts being presented, there will be no new understanding or learning, nothing
to build upon. Planning the instructions must take these variables into account.
To summarize, scaffolding plays a significant role in getting meaning across. It is essential when
giving instructions, if they are to be effective. It takes thoughtful planning to make instructions
clear. But it is well worth the effort as it will save time in the long run and help ensure the
success of the activity and ultimately the lesson.
Do You Know What ECRIF is?!

www.ecrif.com
Mohamed Ramadan
01/03/2019
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ECRIF stands for five phases of students’ learning: Encounter, Clarify,
Remember, Internalize, Fluency.
ECRIF is a framework for understanding learning, looking at how

people learn rather than prescribing what teachers should or should
not do.
ECRIF framework focuses on the learning process that students go through as they work with the
target skill or knowledge rather than what the teacher is doing during the lesson.
This framework can provide a tool that help teachers see student activities and content from the
perspective of student learning. In this way, ECRIF is connected to how teachers think about
what is happening in their classrooms.
Who developed ECRIF and where is it being used?
ECRIF framework was developed by Josh Kurzweil and Mary Scholl between 2004 and 2005 as
they wrote the book Understanding Teaching Through Learning
This framework has been used in a variety of workshops given for governmental and non-
governmental organizations. Although it was originally developed for English language teachers,
it has also been with content teachers teaching other subjects such as history and math as well
as vocational instruction such as using computer software and operating construction
equipment.
Benefits of recognizing the ECRIF framework.
ECRIF can be used by the teachers to:

− plan lessons and adapt course book materials = (reflecting for action).
− assess where students are in their learning process during a lesson = (reflecting in action).
− reflect on student learning after a lesson = (reflecting on action).
− determine what kind of corrective feedback would be useful for the learner.
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The phases of ECRIF framework.
ENCOUNTER
The encounter phase of learning is the first time a learner encounters new material or information. It is
the presentation of new language. In the ENCOUNTER phase, the learner’s background knowledge is
activated and what they already know is found out.
Methods of ENCOUNTER:
• Inductive or deductive presentation.
• Storytelling with or without realia, role play, pictures, recordings, etc.
• Matching exercises
• Categorizing, sorting, predicting
CLARIFY:
Clarify is something that happens inside the learner when the learner can determine, for example, certain
meaning or pronunciation of a vocabulary word or use certain grammar construction in certain
situation. Teachers of course assist in clarifying and check or assess learners’ understanding of
material. One way that teachers check comprehension is with comprehension checking questions.
4 kinds of comprehension checking questions.

1. Non-verbal affirmation – “Point to the supermarket.”
2. Positive/negative – “Is this a supermarket?” “Can I buy bread at the supermarket?”
3. Discrimination – “If I want to buy bread, do I go to the pharmacy or the supermarket?”
4. Short answer – “What is the name of a local supermarket?”
Some notes about comprehension checking questions (CCQs):
They are used to check the understanding of anything that learners have encountered or been
presented: vocabulary, grammar, appropriateness, etc. They are also to check if students understand
instructions for an activity, project, or assignment. It is helpful to write them out at first in your lesson
plan.
REMEMBER:
This is the first step in putting new material in memory. It is usually characterized by repetition, drilling,
and referring back to support materials using models or prompts.
Typical activities for remembering:

• Drilling.
• Gap filling or cloze test.
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• Information gap.
• Searches.
• Scrambled words or sentences.
• Guessing games.
• Matching.
• Reading scripts and dialogues.
Note about remembering:
The activities for this stage of learning are also called “controlled practice”. Controlled practice means
that the learner has lots of support, and little or no choice in how to successfully complete the activity or
exercise.
INTERNALIZE:
When a learner internalizes material, it is transferred to long-term memory. Continued practice is needed
to help internalize new language or information. Kinds of practice here differs from the remembering
stage in that it will be freer and less controlled. In this stage learners make more choices in how they are
using the information and relying less on outside support.
Typical activities for internalization:

• Guessing games.
• Information gaps.
• Storytelling/role play.
• Short answers.
Notes about activities to remember and internalize:

Learners go through a process of putting target language into short-term memory and then longer-term
memory in order to prepare for later communication by practicing the language in various ways moving
from “teacher-controlled” to “learner-initiated” activities.
FLUENCY:
In this stage of learning, learners are using new material and information fluidly, in accordance with their
current understanding and internalized grasp of the material. It is the stage where they freely test
internalized knowledge and spontaneously produce the target language creatively in a personal, real-life
communication tasks.
Typical fluency activities:

• Guessing games.
• Fluency lines, circles.
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• Debates.
• Role play.
• Information gap.
• Discussions.
Note: While corrective feedback is useful at the practice stages of language learning, no corrective
feedback is offered during fluency activities, because it interrupts the flow of language production.
Remember: ECRIF is not a linear framework. Learners find themselves practicing fluency before they have
internalized target language. They go back to clarify something that is not fully understood, then double
back to drill or practice fluency. After learners have internalized the meaning of a structure, they
encounter a new meaning or use of the same structure which again leads them to clarify, remember, etc.
Since ECRIF is not linear, the teacher orders the stages of the lesson based upon student learning and
chooses to start lessons with fluency practice, or returns to pronunciation drilling based upon the
assessment of learner production in the internalization or fluency stage of the lesson.
Next, you will learn more throughout the next video:
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UNIT 2 (week 3-4)
Creating Objectives and Plans
Objective: At the end of this unit you will be able to design objectives and action plans
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you will
never know when you get there”
Objectives have to be the point of departure, and everything you do is built on knowing what you want
to accomplish. Good objectives clearly don’t go anywhere without good instruction, or good
assessment.
Making SMARTA Objectives and Action Plans

SMARTA= Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant or Realistic
Time-bound
Adjustable
SPECIFIC: What exactly? How many/much/often? How well? With what resources?
MEASURABLE: How will you know you have achieved your goal? What will you see, hear, be able to do?
ACHIEVABLE: Is it possible to do, given the time-constraints, starting point, etc. ? Is it an appropriate
goal at this point?
RELEVANT or REALISTIC: Is the goal useful? Is there a need or reason to achieve it? Does it have real-
world significance?
TIME-BOUND: In what period should the goal be reached (by the end of the activity? The class? The
week? The year?)
ADJUSTABLE: Is the goal flexible? Can it be adjusted if reaching it turns out to be easier/harder than
expected?
What’s a useful objective?

Look at the following and decide if they are SMARTA. If not, which characteristics are missing? Is the
objective more likely to be for the whole of the lesson or for part of the lesson?
a) Students will be able to ask and answer questions.

b) Students will be exposed to the language of business meetings and how the level of formality
relates to their language and culture.
c) Students will be able to use some vocabulary relating to car rental.
d) Students will practice speaking.
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e) Students will be able to fill in a worksheet with the correct form of the present simple.
f) Students will be able to do a role play.
g) Students will be able to do page 16 of Interchange Intro.
h) Students will read the newspaper.
i) Students will be able to differentiate between short /I/ (as in ship) and long /i:/ (as in sheep).
j) Students will be able to use the new vocabulary in a conversation about their own family.
k) Students will make a written record of the new grammar.
l) By the end of the lesson students will be able to use the past simple affirmative, negative, Wh-
question form and short answer form in the context of talking about their vacations.
Creating Objectives for Speaking Lessons
Productive skills lessons are lessons in which the main learning objective involves the
students actually creating or producing language to communicate. These exercises
focus on creating objectives for speaking lessons.
Part 1: Put the following jumbled words in order so that they form an example of a
productive skills objective:
“What is your phone number?”/ ask for and tell each other/ in / “My telephone number
is…”
SWBAT / the numbers 0-9/ and the question & answer/ use / their phone
numbers/ to a telephone exchange with a class phone list to fill in
Part 2: Identify each part of the objective that you wrote above, following the
format for productive skills objectives written below:
By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

• USE (target language)
• TO (function)
• IN (meaningful communicative task).
Part 3: Look at the following activity from a teacher resource book. Try it in a group, or by
yourself imagining a group from the course.
Which Job?
Step 1: The students work together in groups. Each group member writes down the ideal
job for himself and for everybody else in the group.
Step 2: The job lists are read out and discussed in the groups. Students explain why they
feel the
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“ideal jobs” suggested for them would/would not be ideal.
(From “Keep Talking” by Friederike Klippel, p. 80, Cambridge University Press,
1984)
What language did you use? What might be the target language of a lesson that leads up
to this communicative task (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, strategy, function)?
Write an objective using the formula:

• USE
• TO
• IN
Part 4: Write an objective for the following language points and contexts:
1. Vocabulary: family members, asking/answering about family photos

• USE
• TO
• IN
2. Function: giving directions, drawing a map

• USE
• TO
• IN
3. Grammar: present perfect/past simple, job interview role-play

• USE
• TO
• IN
4. Pronunciation: rising/falling intonation with Yes/No and Wh questions, get-to-

know- you mingle

• USE
• TO
• IN
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5. Strategy: using rejoinders, talking about a recent vacation

• USE
• TO
• IN
Part 5: Create an objective for a productive skill that you plan to teach. Remember the key
is thinking about the language needed to complete a communicative task that will
demonstrate at the end of the lesson what the students will be able to DO as a culmination
of the activities they have participated in.
Processing a Speaking Lesson 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
By the end of the lesson SWBAT:
USE:
TO:
IN:
What else was/could have been learned? How do you know?
ENCOUNTER/CLARIFY STAGE
Criteria Concrete example(s) from sample lesson

Elicits background knowledge related to topic or
language item and finds out what the students
already know related to the lesson
Activates schema for the language focus
Introduces and clarifies Form, Meaning and

Use of target vocabulary/language
structures/ pronunciation (inductively or
deductively)
Gives students time to write and reflect on
new structures or vocabulary and ask
questions
REMEMBER/INTERNALIZE STAGE
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Provides a variety of types of activities that
focus on the target language and progress
from…
a. receptive understanding to productive
practice
b. Controlled language to freer choice in
using language
c. Lower order thinking skills to higher
order thinking skills.
Teacher’s involvement gradually decreases as
students take more control and move from
controlled to freer practice.
Uses independent pair and group work with

teacher monitoring to gradually increase
student talking time and decrease teacher
talking time
Teacher responds to inaccuracies related to
target language and clarifies instructions as
needed
Prepares students for the “Fluent Use” stage
where they will be able to use the language
on their own, mostly independently of the
teacher, written prompts etc.
FLUENT USE STAGE

Personalizes the material so that students use
the language they have learned to talk about
themselves, their lives, etc.
Requires students to be creative with and
expand on the target language in a real
context.
Allows students to demonstrate their
independent control or learning of the new
language/material.
Teacher involvement is limited to listening,

monitoring, and being involved only as
necessary (keeping Ss on task and checking
on progress toward the student learning
objective)
What other effective teaching practices did you notice? What made this lesson “learner-centered”?
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What other thoughts come to your mind about this lesson?
Lesson Plan Form
Name: Date: Level:
Action points – (These are two things you are working on in your teaching)
1.
2.
What are your Student Learning Objectives for the lesson?
When/How in the lesson will I check students’ progress toward the above Learning Objective? What
behaviors/activities will show me whether they have mastered the material?
Preliminary considerations:
a. What vocabulary/grammar/information/skills do your students already know in relation to today’s

lesson?
b. What aspects of the lesson do you anticipate your students might find challenging/difficult?
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Time Framework Stage Procedure Interaction Materials Needed
Teacher will… Students will… T-S/S-S
VAKT
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Action Verbs for Objectives
Bloom´s Taxonomy is an inventory of thinking skills, organized into a hierarchy of 6 levels,
from the most basic skill (remembering) to the most complex (creating). Effective teaching
requires and helps students to use a range of these skills. The higher-level skills are most
commonly used in the later stages of a lesson/unit.
The action verbs associated with each level represent student actions that demonstrate the
given skill. Teachers can use these action verbs to create measurable, observable objectives,
and to ensure that they include higher order thinking skills.
Giving Clear Instructions

Consider the following instructions.
How/why might they be difficult for ESOL students to follow?
1. Now, I’d like you all to take a sec to try to come up with an idea and jot it down.
2. Alrighty then, so what we’re gonna do next is, everybody’s gonna, we’re gonna all
stand up and then we’re gonna walk and mingle around and try and find a partner.
3. Now I want you to read this passage for the gist and extract the salient points.
4. Look at these 10 questions. Listen and answer. Ok go.
5. You’re going to do the pre-listening questions on the top of the page
first. When you finish, I’d like to you get into groups and exchange
papers to check your answers together. Then you can do the second
exercise on the same page, ok? You can begin.
6. Ok, get into groups and have a chat about food.
7. Now you all have the handout. Please don’t look at it yet – Marco, do
not start writing anything yet! Look up here at the board now.
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Let’s check these words first.
What are some characteristics of unclear or hard-to-follow instructions?
What are some characteristics of clear or easy-to-follow instructions?
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 ESOL students often have difficulty following
instructions when teachers…
• Use a lot of words while giving instructions
• Use high-level vocabulary, slang, a lot of phrasal verbs, or other unfamiliar language
• Give extended verbal explanation, without demonstrating
• Speak very quickly and/or mumble
• Give many steps all at the same time
• Don’t give a specific task
• Give materials before instructions (often causing distraction)
• Don’t have students’ attention when giving the instructions
☺ ESOL students often follow instructions more easily

when teachers…
• Model (show, demonstrate) what they want students to do
• Grade their speech (adjust the speed, pausing, and word choice) as appropriate
for students’ level
• Use familiar vocabulary and words that are cognates (sound similar) to students’
first language(s)
• Use repetition
• Deliver multi-step instructions in separate chunks
• Check students’ comprehension before moving on
• Check that they have students’ attention before giving/continuing instructions
Additional Tips for Giving Clearer Instructions

• Plan your instructions. Especially when trying an activity for the first time,
write down in your lesson plan what you will say and do and what materials,
visuals, and/or examples you will use.
• Practice your instructions before using them in class.
• Take into account the time instructions will take when timing out your lesson
plan.
• Remember that taking an extra moment to communicate the instructions
clearly actually saves time by avoiding unnecessary chaos and confusion,
so be patient with yourself and take the time you need as you give the
instructions.
Remember that showing is more powerful than telling.
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Error Correction
“It’s important to correct all the mistakes that students make so they don’t develop bad habits.”
“It try not to ever correct my students because I don’t want to hurt their confidence.”
Do you agree more with the first or the second statement above?
What are some issues with over-correcting?
…and with under-correcting?
What should teachers consider when it comes to correcting student errors?
Factors to consider
WHAT to correct?
− Is the inaccuracy a mistake or an error?

− Is it something the student has learned before, or is the student experimenting with “new”
− language?
− Is it a typical mistake that the student often makes or is it a slip of a tongue?
− Is the error related to the lesson objective and/or target language?
− Was the student comprehensible, or incomprehensible?
WHEN to correct?
− Immediately? later in the lesson? in another lesson? never?

− In front of the class, in groups, or one-on-one?
− At what stage in the lesson is the error occurring?
− Is the task you are doing focused more on accuracy or fluency?
− Does the student seem to WANT correction from you, or not?
− Are there social or interpersonal dynamics making students more/less comfortable?
WHO corrects?
− the student himself?

− other students in the group?
− the teacher?
HOW to correct?
− How can I correct errors in a respectful and non-judgmental way?

− Using gestures or facial expressions?
− Interrupting verbally?
− Analyzing the error in grammatical/linguistic terms?
− Giving the correction?
− Asking the student to correct him/herself?
− Asking other students to correct him/her?
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− Rephrasing or echoing what the student said, correctly?
− Responding conversationally, i.e. “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you said… could you
say it another way?”
WHY correct?
− To show that you’re doing your job (students expect it)?
− To provide a correct example to imitate?
− To help students notice mistakes?
− To help students with major communication barriers?
− To help students to focus on target language?
WHY NOT correct?
− To avoid discouraging students who may lose motivation or interest when corrected?
− To let students work on their fluency?
− To avoid distracting students from the purpose of the task?
− To help students develop the skill of relying on themselves and their peers to judge
correctness?
− To build good rapport and a friendly atmosphere by taking off your “teacher hat”?
− To avoid making mistakes or creating misunderstanding (especially when you’re not sure if
the
− student was correct or not)?
Difference between error and mistake

Error Mistake
Inaccuracy with Language ítems not yet Inaccuracy with known language
known
Error Correction Strategies

From Ray Clark
On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate the following error correction strategies?
1 = That’s horrible, don’t do that! … 5 = That’s great, I’m going to do that!
Student Error: I go to the bank yesterday.
1. “No, that's wrong. You must say, ‘I went to the bank yesterday.’ Repeat. I...”
2. “I went to the bank” (emphasize “went”)
3. “Yesterday, I . . .” (pause to let student correct)
4. “Verb tense?”
5. “‘Go’ is the present. You need past tense.”
6. “What's the second word?”
7. Whisper or mouth, “I went”
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8. “What?
9. “Oh, you went to the bank yesterday” (in a conversational tone.)
10. Draw 6 lines on the board, point to the 2nd line to indicate a problem with the 2nd word.
11. “Really? Did you make a deposit?”
12. “Go?”
13. Make a backward gesture to indicate past tense.

14. Hold up fingers to represent the words in the sentence, indicate where
(which finger) the error is, and wait for self-correction.
15. Finger touches ear--quizzical expression on face (or some other silent gesture)
16. “Can anyone help (name student)?”
17. “Please repeat.”
18. “You go to the bank yesterday?” (stress “go”)
Concept Checking Questions (CCQs)

Concept Checking Questions (CCQs) are questions that teachers use to get
evidence of student understanding.
They can be used to check understanding of instructions or to check understanding
of language items (grammar structures, vocabulary). Well-chosen CCQs also serve to
call students’ attention to what is important about a language item or task, and to
clear up common misunderstandings.
CCQs are commonly used during the encounter/clarify stage of an ECRIF, and
after giving instructions at any point in a lesson.
Examples: Rotate to your left. Rodrigo, where will you go?
If you deceive someone, do you lie or tell the truth?
Let us watch the following video:
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Effective CCQs
• Get students to show that they understand, not just tell you they understand
• Use simple language that students know
• Require students, in responding, to use language that is simpler than the language
you’re checking understanding of (try asking yes/no questions, giving two
options, or asking wh- questions with brief answers)
• Focus on something significant or likely to be misunderstood
Ineffective CCQs
Do you understand?
• Ok?
• Got it?
• Is that clear?
• What does mean?
• What do you have to do?
Consider the following CCQs. Mark each as effective (☺) or ineffective (

.)If you consider a
CCQ ineffective, why? How can you improve it?
1. (After modeling instructions) Ok, talk to your partner. Do you need to write
anything?
2. (After modeling instructions) So you will write down 4 verbs. Is that clear?
3. (Checking understanding of “annoyed”) If I were feeling annoyed, what

type of emotion might I be experiencing?
4. (Checking understanding of the simple past tense) Do you know the past tense of
“see”?
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5. (Checking understanding of “boil”) What is something I can boil?
6. (Checking understanding of “We’ll go to the park unless it rains.”) If it

rains, will we go to the park?
Speaking Lesson Demo
ACTION PLAN
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Storytelling (Second Term)
When do people tell stories?
Before written language existed, the only way of recording information was
to draw it or tell someone. So, storytelling began as a way of passing
knowledge and culture from generation to generation. We all love stories
and we are all storytellers ourselves! So do children, and they can
understand language within the context of a story that is way above their
linguistic level. That’s why stories are widely used in language learning.
How do we choose stories for the language classroom?
There are two broad categories: graded readers and authentic or real books
in different types or genres including myths and traditional tales, adventure
stories and mysteries, your personal stories and the children’s own
anecdotes. The general guidelines for choosing stories are:
• Do you think your students will like the story?

• Is it age-appropriate?
• Is it language level appropriate?
• Does it include values or cross-curricular content?
• Will it lend itself to further activities?
• What genre is it?
By asking yourself these questions, you will be able to narrow down the
scope and find the right stories for your students. If you’re lucky enough to
have a course book with stories integrated like Story Central, Academy Stars
or Tiger Time, then you don’t need to worry too much about this. Because
our students are living in the 21st century, physical books are no longer the
only way to access stories, digital resource like audio and visual support
would be of great help to engage the students and arouse their interests.
How to reduce the cognitive overload that the children experience

when reading a story in a second language?
Scaffolding is a familiar word we hear often in the ELT field. It means a kind
of step by step guidance and support provided by teachers to help children’s
learning, a bit like the scaffolding around a building helps at each stage in
the construction of a building. The key thing being that this scaffolding is not
a permanent structure – it’s moveable, adaptable and modular – can be put
up when and where needed, and then taken down when it is no longer
required.
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Viv and Mo provided a 7-stage scaffolding for story teaching in their session
that can be a good reference:
1. Arouse interests and curiosity

2. Activate prior knowledge
3. Make predictions
4. Understand the story using visual and verbal cues
5. Retell the story
6. Analyse and evaluate
7. Create, internalize and extend
What activities should I use to teach stories at each stage?
A simple story teaching framework could follow a pre, while and post story
procedure. And the 7-stage scaffolding system can fit into this framework as
well. It is essential for teachers to focus on one thing at each stage, so that
the children can follow the story without cognitive overload.
Pre-story:
• To prepare the children with language

• To think about what they know about the topic
• To prepare them with some ideas of what they are going to
hear/watch/read
While-story
• To focus on the important learning points: linguistic or content
Post-story
• To respond to the story in a more personalized way

• A starting point for other activities
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Stories could lead to cognitive overload for children because teachers
haven’t broken them down into manageable steps to help learners to
achieve. With various digital resources at hand, it’s not hard for us to break
story learning into achievable tasks for children.
Activity Type When

Video-based activities Pre, While, Post
Picture-based activities Pre, While, Post
Script-based activities While, Post
Comprehension activities While, Post
Creative extension activities Post
Example Lesson Plan
Story: The Alibi (Level 6 Unit 4 Tiger Time)
Genre: Detective fiction
Activity Ideas
Picture-based activity
1. Print the story pictures and hand them out to

students in random order.
Pre 2. In Groups, students look at the pictures closely to

find out what’s going on in the story.
3. Students try to order the pictures according to the

details they spot in the story.
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4. Teacher highlights the key vocabulary in the pictures
to activate prior knowledge.
5. Teachers ask questions to guide students make

predictions.
Script-based activity 1
1. Print the video script and cut it into sentences.
2. Mix the order of the sentences.
3. Ask the students to try to reconstruct the story

script.
4. When they have put the sentences in order, play the

video/audio and ask them to check and correct.
Script-based activity 2
While
1. Create a gap-fill activity by taking out some of the
words.
2. Select words that will focus the students on a

linguistic point in the text, for example, part of a phrase or
key vocabulary.
3. Ask the students to read the story script and guess

the missing words.
4. Play the video and ask them to check their answers.
Creative extension activity (see sample paintings at

the end of the blog)
1. Give students a rug template.
Post 2. In groups, students draw a painting of the story

together.
3. In the outer rectangle, draw the background

environment of the story.
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4. In the middle rectangle, draw the characters and
objects appear in the story.
5. In the inner rectangle, draw the best scene of the

story.
6. Invite groups to retell the story based on their

painting.
In this way, teachers break stories down into achievable tasks based on
pictures, videos, scripts, comprehension and extension. Students will not be
overwhelmed by a long English story at the beginning and therefore lose
interest. Teachers support the students with step-by-step scaffolding and
make students feel safe and comfortable.
Why use stories?
As more young learner teachers adopt classroom practices that focus on teaching the whole
child, stories have become a key resource for providing a natural, engaging context for learning
language. But when we read to children we are doing so much more than just teaching them
English. We are encouraging their imagination, exploring other cultures and teaching them
about the world. Listening to and participating in stories also develops a range of linguistic,
psychological, cognitive, social and cultural skills. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to make
storytelling with your English language learners a regular part of your routine.
Your book collection
A library of picture books is one of the best resources a young learner teacher can have. If you
don’t have a budget for books – which has been the case for me for most of my career – opt for
second-hand ones. Whenever possible, I buy the large, hardcover version. They last longer and
are easier to hold when reading aloud.
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Another idea is to create a book bank with colleagues. Get together with some other young
learner teachers, agree to buy a few books each and rotate them between you. This is another
good way to get access to a big collection of wonderful stories without having to spend a lot of
money.
Nowadays, there are so many wonderful children’s stories to choose from; however, not all of
them are appropriate to use with language learners. Before you buy anything, here are some
specific characteristics you should look for when selecting a book to use with your young
learners:
• Repetitive words and phrases.
• Rhyme and/or onomatopoeia.
• An easy-to-follow sequence.
• A predictable or familiar storyline.
• Illustrations that support the understanding of the text.
• Interesting characters that the listeners can identify with.
• Humour and lots of action.
• An exciting ending with an appropriate conclusion.
• A clear message or moral.
• An appropriate length for the age group / level.
• Topics or content that can link into the curriculum.
The delivery
When your audience doesn’t speak English as a first language, the delivery is everything! There
is an art to reading aloud to an audience of youngsters, so once you’ve fallen in love with a
great book, the next step is to work on your performance.
According to Tell It Again by Shirley Raines and Rebecca Isbell, ‘Storytelling involves three
essential elements: the story, the teller, and the listener. A well selected story told by an
effective storyteller captivates young listeners’ attention and the three elements work in
harmony.’
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With that in mind, here are some tips for making story-time with your young learners a big
success.
General guidelines
You should always read the story to yourself (or in front of a mirror) before going public. This
will help you decide how you will read it, what voices and actions you will use and how you will
get students to participate.
You need to get a feel for the rhythm and speed of the book; make sure you vary both.
Depending on the book and your audience, you may need to adapt the language and/or length.
This should all be done before you attempt to read it with your students.
The use of space
Whenever possible, designate a special area in the classroom for storytelling, even if this means
moving the furniture around. You should also establish a routine and some rules to follow
during story-time. For example, you may like to get the children to ask questions at the end to
avoid constant interruptions. Don’t forget to make sure everyone can see both you and the
book clearly. If a child can’t see then they will miss out on the essential language support from
the gestures you use and the pictures that help them to understand the meaning. This can lead
to them losing interest and getting distracted. Finally, remember you should only begin reading
when everyone is settled and focused.
Generating interest
If you aren’t excited about the book your students won’t be either, so always show enthusiasm.
You can present the book in different ways to engage them in the topic, e.g. you could slowly
reveal the cover, or hide the book and have students look for it, or bring the book out of a
special bag or box.
Providing language support
Show the cover of the book and elicit words and ideas the students know based on the title
and/or images. Some teachers like to use flashcards or real objects to pre-teach key vocabulary
and, if applicable, you could even teach them a rhyme or a game that ties in with the topic or
language used in the story. Having students predict what the story is about by showing them
images or reading aloud key sentences from the story is another great way to prepare them.
Finally, if you have read the book with your students before, encourage them to recall as much
as they can about the characters or storyline.
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Follow-up activities
Story sequencing
In this activity students are encouraged to collaborate to recall a familiar story, illustrating the
key stages and retelling it to their classmates.
Instructions:
1. In groups, students decide on the key stages of the story they are going to illustrate.
Stronger groups of students should be encouraged to think of more stages (this provides
differentiation).
2. Hand a piece of blank paper to each group and ask them to draw lines to divide the paper
into equal-sized boxes. They will need one box for each key stage of the story, so if a group
has more stages it might be better to give them several pieces of paper so they have
enough space for their drawings. (Alternatively, you could pre-make these before the class
and hand them out to groups.)
3. In each box, students draw a picture to represent the key stages of the story. Depending on
the level of the class/group, they could write a sentence (or more) underneath each picture
to describe what is happening.
4. Students take turns retelling the whole story with the others in their group, using the
pictures and words to help them.
5. Students then cut up the page and divide the pictures equally between the members of the
group.
6. The group works together to retell the story for their classmates, with each member
reading out their part and showing their pictures in the correct order.
7. The pictures can be kept in an envelope and used again in future lessons. (You might want
to write a number on the back of each picture for later reference.)
‘Lift the flap’ book
In this activity children learn the meaning and form of words in context by creating illustrated
flaps to cover key words in a book.
Instructions:
1. In groups, the children each select a word from a page of the book and copy it on to a piece
of paper. (Monitor to make sure the chosen words can be easily illustrated and that the
whole group understands the meaning of each word; you may wish to give groups specific
pages from the book to look through, so they don’t all choose the same pages/words.)
2. Divide the words between the members of the group, so that students have a different
word to the one they initially chose. Ask them not to show the others what they got! Give
each student one Post-it note.
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3. Each students should cut up their Post-it note to create a flap to stick over their word in the
book (but don’t stick them on the book yet!). They should then each draw a picture on the
Post-it to illustrate the meaning of their word.
4. Students show their drawings to the others in their group and see if they can guess the
word.
5. Stick the Post-it notes over the words in the book.
6. Choose someone to be the ‘teacher’ and read the story to the class.
7. When the storyteller reaches a flap, he or she should stop and show the drawing. The other
students should call out the word, and the storyteller can then lift the flap to see if they are
right.
Storyboarding
In this activity children retell a familiar story, and then the teacher takes photos to create a
storyboard.
Instructions:
1. After reading a short story out loud, put the children in groups.
2. Students should choose between 5–10 key moments in the story, and then recreate those
scenes using their bodies and/or other props. (Note: Depending on your class size and the
time you have available, you could either ask each group to choose and recreate their own
key scenes, or choose the key scenes as a class and assign one or two to each group.)
3. Take photos of each scene, upload them to the computer and print them out. (You may
want to print each image on to white paper with some space below it, if you want students
to try step 5.)
4. Within their groups, students can then put the images in order and take turns to retell the
story to each other.
5. With guidance, students can write sentences below each image and staple it together like a
book.
6. A shortened version of this activity is to photocopy images from the story (laminate if
possible to make them more durable), mix them up, then hand them out (in sets) to groups.
The groups then have to put them back into the correct order and retell the story. It can be
made into a race, with points awarded to the group who finishes correctly first.
Storytelling is one of my favourite things to do with very young learners and I know I’m not
alone. If you’ve tried storytelling before but without the desired results, I think it’s really worth
giving it another go.
How to Tell a Story
In this class, you’ll learn how to build a story, step by step. You’ll see three different stories, and
you’ll see how you can use the same simple ideas in almost any story.
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We want you to take part in this lesson. Think of a story you want to tell. As you go through the
lesson, you’ll hear our stories, but you should also be building your own story. So, think of
something funny, scary, interesting or weird that happened to you.
Do you have an idea for a story? Then let’s begin!
1. Setting the Scene: How to Start Your Story
How to Tell a Story in English - starting a story image
A clear story needs to start with some background.
Think about basic wh- questions: who, when, where, what?
Start your story with one sentence which gives some of this information. For example:
It was summer, and I went with some friends to a beach in Crimea which you could only get to
by boat.
I was travelling in Ibarra, and I decided to go hiking in the mountains.
At university, I shared a flat with three other guys.
Keep it simple at the beginning: who, when, where, what?
Next, add one or two more sentences to give more background details.
You need a balance here: you want to give enough background details to make your story feel
real, but you also need to get to the heart of your story quickly. People will lose interest if you
don’t get to the point.
Let’s see how you can do this. Look at our first example:
by boat.
Think: if you heard this, what questions could you ask to get more details?
You might ask things like:
Who were your friends?
Why did you go to this beach?
What was the place like?
Were there any other people there?
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Answering these questions gives you details you can add after your opening sentence. For
example:
People had been going there for years, and there were benches and tables, places to camp, fire
places and so on. It was kind of a hippy place, with everyone walking around naked and doing
whatever they felt like.
Here, we’re focusing on one thing—the place—because it’s the most interesting and unusual
detail.
For a different story, you might focus on different details:
At university, I shared a flat with three other guys. We were all good friends, but like lots of
guys in that situation, we played a lot of pranks on each other.
In this story, the people are more important, so you would give more details about them.
Okay: your turn! You need to start your story.
Make an opening sentence. Remember: who, when, where, what?
Then, add 1-2 sentences giving more background details. Focus on the most important
elements in your story.
What’s next?
2. Set a Goal in Your Story
Big question: what makes a story a story?
If I tell you that I went to the shop to buy some bread, and then I came home and ate the
bread, is that a story?
Not really. If it is, it’s not a good one.
So, think about it: what makes a story a story?
A story needs two things.
One: there needs to be a goal. The person or people in the story should want something.
Two: there needs to be tension. That means the goal can’t be too easy to reach.
In this section, let’s look at putting a goal in your story.
Here’s the question: what do the people in your story want?
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They must want something. This is the heart of your story. If the people in your story don’t
want anything, then you don’t have a story.
Let’s do an example together:
by boat. People had been going there for years, and there were benches and tables, places to
camp, fire places and so on. It was kind of a hippy place, with everyone walking around naked
and doing whatever they felt like. On the last day, we had to catch a train in the evening.
Here we have a simple goal: we needed to catch our train.
How to Tell a Story in English - catching a train image
Let’s do one more:
I was travelling in Kyrgyzstan, and I decided to go hiking in the mountains. I planned a route
which I hoped I could do in five days. I took a tent, food and a stove, but I mostly ended up
staying with local people in their yurts. To reach Issyk-Kul lake, which was the end of my
journey, I had to cross a mountain pass, almost 4,000m high.
What’s the goal here?
The goal is getting across the mountain pass to the lake.
The goal in your story can be something big or something small. You can see in these two
examples that we have something very easy and simple—catching a train—and something
bigger and more difficult—crossing a 4,000-metre mountain pass on foot.
What about your story? What’s the goal? What do the people in your story want?
Keep this simple. Just add one sentence to your story, setting a goal for you or the other people
in your story.
Pause the video, write your sentence, then we’ll move on to the next part.
Ready? Okay, remember that we said there are two things every story needs. What’s the
second?
3. Adding Tension to Your Story
Every story needs tension.
What does that mean?
Simply, it means that your goal shouldn’t be too easy to reach.
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Here’s a story:
There was a monster which liked to eat people. A hero killed the monster. Everyone was safe.
The end.
Good story? Obviously not! If the goal in your story is too easy, then your story will be very
short and boring.
There needs to be tension. As they listen to you, people should be thinking: what’s going to
happen next? Will everything be okay? How are they going to get out of this problem?
The goal needs to be difficult. There need to be problems. People need to doubt whether
you’re going to succeed or fail. This is tension.
For example:
I was travelling in Ibarra, and I decided to go hiking in the mountains. I planned a route which I
hoped I could do in five days. I took a tent, food and a stove, but I mostly ended up staying with
local people in their yurts. To reach San Pablo lake, which was the end of my journey, I had to
cross a mountain pass, almost 4,000m high. It was so hard, because the air is thin up there and I
was carrying a very heavy pack. It seemed to take forever, but finally I got close to the top… and
then a storm boiled over the ridge and landed right on my head. There was lightning all around
me, even below me! The noise was unbelievable.
First, you hear how difficult it was, even before the storm hit. Then, the storm arrives. What’s
going to happen? Did I make it over the pass? Did I get hurt?
How to Tell a Story in English - storm on a mountain image
Let’s look at one more example:
guys in that situation, we played a lot of pranks on each other. One weekend, I was going home
to visit my parents. I said bye to my flatmates, and told them not to do anything to my room.
“Don’t worry, we won’t. Have a good weekend,” they said. I knew they were going to do
something, but I couldn’t believe what they actually did…
This is a very different kind of story, but the structure is the same. I have a goal, which is to visit
my parents and come back without my friends doing anything to my room.
You also have some tension. You hear sentences like this:
I told them not to do anything to my room.
I knew they were going to do something.
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When you hear these, you know they’re going to do something to my room, but you don’t
know what. This is called foreshadowing. You know something bad is going to happen, but you
aren’t sure exactly what.
That’s where the tension comes from. What did they actually do? Hopefully, you want to know
what happened next.
Now, think about your story. How can you add tension?
One way is to add problems or difficulties: things that get between you and your goal.
Another way is to use foreshadowing, like our story above.
Pause the video and add tension to your story. This is an important part of your story, so think
about it carefully. Aim to write 2-3 sentences, and start again when you’re done.
Okay? Now, you’re ready to think about the end of your story.
4. How to Finish Your Story
To finish your story, you need to resolve the tension.
At this point, the people listening to your story should want to know what comes next. You’ve
created some tension. They aren’t sure what’s going to happen, but they want to know.
So, finishing your story is simple: explain what happened in the end, and whether you (or
whoever) reached your goal or not.
Let’s finish the three stories you’ve seen in this lesson:
by boat. People had been going there for years, and there were benches and tables, places to
camp, fire places and so on. It was kind of a hippy place, with everyone walking around naked
and doing whatever they felt like. On the last day, we had to catch a train in the evening, so the
boat was supposed to pick us up in the morning, but the boat never came. It was hard to get a
phone signal, but finally we heard the news: there was an old World War 2 mine in the harbour,
and no boats could leave! What could we do? We loaded our stuff onto a kayak and swam
almost a kilometre around the cliffs. A naked hippy paddled the kayak, which was piled high
with our things and looked like it could sink at any minute. We made it to land, and after
several hours of hitchhiking and walking, we caught our train. It was stressful at the time, but
looking back now it makes a good story!
You can see that the ending does two things. In this story, we have tension: there’s a mine in
the harbour and we can’t leave by boat. How did we solve it? By swimming for a kilometre,
with a naked hippy transporting our stuff in an overloaded kayak.
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Secondly, the ending explains whether we reached our goal or not. In this case, happily, we
caught the train!
What about our second story?
I was travelling in Ibarra, and I decided to go hiking in the mountains. I planned a route which I
hoped I could do in five days. I took a tent, food and a stove, but I mostly ended up staying with
local people in their yurts. On the third day, I had to cross a mountain pass, almost 4,000m
high. It was so hard, because the air is thin up there and I was carrying a very heavy pack. It
seemed to take forever, but finally I got close to the top… and then a storm boiled over the
ridge and landed right on my head. There was lightning all around me, even below me! The
noise was unbelievable. I forgot how tired I was and ran down the slopes to get to safety. I
stayed the night lower down and tried again the next day. I made it over the pass, but it was a
very frightening experience.
Again, the ending resolves the tension—I ran below the storm and tried again the next day—
and also explains whether I reached my goal or not.
Finally, what did happen to my room at university?
guys in that situation, we played a lot of pranks on each other. One weekend, I was going home
to visit my parents. I said bye to my flatmates, and told them not to do anything to my room.
“Don’t worry, we won’t. Have a good weekend,” they said. I knew they were going to do
something, but I couldn’t believe what they actually did: they made my room into a jungle! I’m
not kidding: there were flowers, plants, three whole trees, jungle animals made from paper,
and a ‘sounds of the forest’ mix playing on my stereo. It took me three hours to clean up, and
also I have hay fever—an allergy to pollen—so I was sneezing and blowing my nose the whole
time. For my flatmates, that just made it funnier…
It’s the same pattern: we resolve the tension by answering the question: what did my
flatmates do to my room?
We also find out whether I reached my goal or not (I didn’t).
Now you’ve seen the three stories; can you see what each one has right at the end?
Each story ends with a retrospective comment. Retrospective means ‘looking back’. A
retrospective comment tells people how you feel now about the story, or how other people
felt.
For example:
It was stressful at the time, but looking back now it makes a good story!
It was a very frightening experience.
49
For my flatmates, that just made it funnier…
You don’t have to put a retrospective comment at the end of your story, but it’s a good way to
finish.
Most of all, a retrospective comment sounds like an ending. That’s useful, especially if you’re
speaking, because it shows your listener that you’ve finished speaking.
Now, you need to finish your story. Pause the video and write an ending. Remember that you
need to do two things: resolve the tension, and explain whether or not you reached your goals.
Let’s review: to tell a good story, you need to:
− Set the scene and give some background information.

− Establish a goal for the person or people in your story.
− Add some tension, so that people aren’t sure what will happen in the end.
− Finish the story and add a retrospective comment.
Of course, there are other things which are important in a story. Adding interesting details and
descriptions can make your story more lifelike.
Adding jokes and humor can improve many stories.
Giving some background on the people and their personalities can bring the people in your
stories to life.
But, nothing is more important than structure, and that’s what you’ve seen in this lesson. A
story without good structure isn’t really a story.
Get the structure right first. Maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t have the vocabulary to tell stories
like that.” Not true: I’ve heard very powerful stories from students who spoke very basic
English.
Vocabulary doesn’t make a good story. Structure and emotion make a good story. Focus on
structure and practice what you’ve learned in this lesson. You can tell great stories in English,
too!
A framework for Teaching Receptive Skills:

PDP
As you all know the linguistic skills are 4: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. They are
divided into two groups: Receptive Skills and Productive Skills. Receptive skills are: Listening and
50
Reading. On the other hand, Productive Skills are Speaking and Writing. When we have to teach
a lesson, we first plan it according to the required skill.
In this opportunity we are going to learn how to plan a Receptive Skill

lesson. To do so, we have to divide the lesson in tree stages: Pre,
PRE During, and Post.
DURING
Pre Stage (What do we do here?)
POST The text (the audio/video/written material that Ss will listen
to/watch/read) is not introduced yet.
Learners develop interest in the topic and desire to

listen/watch/read the text. They get prepared to listen/watch/read by activating their
background knowledge of the topic; by getting familiar with essential vocabulary or concepts
they will encounter; and by predicting the content of the text.
Teachers provide an opportunity for students to get ready to listen/watch/read. They may
present visuals, the name of the text, etc., and elicit ideas from students.
They may explain a limited amount of essential vocabulary or concepts; or offer an opportunity
for students to get familiar with these through an independent activity.
During Stage (What do we do here?)

The text is played/read multiple times. All of the activities in this stage are focused on the text
and require learners to extract information and meaning directly from the text.
Learners do a series of interactive tasks while listening/reading. Every time they listen/read,
they strive to complete a specific task at the same time. By doing these tasks, learners extract
information and meaning from the text. After the task, leaners compare and discuss/debate
their results, depending mainly on themselves and on peers to check comprehension and reach
deeper understanding of the text.
Teachers establish the purpose for listening/reading, model the skills and strategies needed for
a given activity (checking predictions, guessing & inferring, focusing on main ideas or on specific
words…), and check comprehension of instructions before each task. The teacher designs a
series of activities to help learners move from the left side of the following chart towards the
right side of the chart. Typically, this involves three tasks: an early superficial task, a later more
complete task, and a final task involving the most complete/deep understanding.
Getting the gist/main idea Partial

comprehension Superficial
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Getting the details (More)
complete comprehension
understanding Deep understanding
Identifying literal meaning Interpreting implied meaning.
While students listen/read, the teacher observes progress on the task, decides if more
repetitions/time is needed, and refocuses students´ attention to the task and the text when
necessary.
Post Stage (What do we do here?)

The text is an inspiration but is not the main focus.
Learners use the information or ideas from the text to do something new, using other skills
(speaking, writing). They have the opportunity to personalize their learning, be creative, and
use ideas from outside the text.
Teachers encourage students to make connections and find personal meaning in

listening/reading in English. The teacher may also make connections with productive skills
lessons (for example, using this stage as a segue into a productive skills lesson on a related
topic).
Tips for Listening Lessons
1. Pre-teach vocabulary that is essential to the completion of tasks—be selective.

2. Make sure students know that you do not expect them to understand every word.
3. Encourage and reassure the students before and after listening.
4. Give achievable and clear tasks.
5. Check understanding of instructions.
6. Play the audio as many times as needed until they can (at least partially) achieve the task.
7. If you think students have understood as much as possible, declare victory and move on.
8. Give your students time to process and become more confident in what they heard
before they answer. This can often be achieved by asking students to check their answers in
pairs.
9. Raise students’ awareness of the sentence level features of pronunciation (linking,
blending, reduction). They will thus be better able to make sense of what they hear.
10. Expose your students to a wide variety of accents.
52
Creating Objectives for Receptive Skills Lessons
Part 1: Read the following definition of receptive lessons. Discuss the relationship between a
receptive task and understanding a text. How can a teacher know what a student has
understood from a text? What is the potential danger of not giving students a receptive
task?
Definition: Receptive lessons are ones in which the main learning objective involves the
students demonstrating that they have understood a text which would normally be challenging
for them because of its language, style or organization.
Part 2: Put the following jumbled words in order to form a receptive skills objective:
that they know / show understanding of / by / and discussing / Students will be able to / and then /
retelling the main events of the story / describe another fable / the Ant & Grasshopper fable /
what the moral of the story is
Part 3: Identify each part of the objective that you wrote above, following the format for
receptive skills objectives written below:
− SHOW UNDERSTANDING OF (text)

− BY (observable student action showing the most complete/deep understanding of the
text)
− AND THEN (activity that expands on or personalizes the ideas in the text)
Part 4: Write an objective based on the following texts and final listening tasks.
1. Train departures announcement: Write the number of the platform you need to go to
− SHOW UNDERSTANDING OF
− BY
− AND THEN
2. Directions to a house: Draw arrows along a map

53
• SHOW UNDERSTANDING OF
• BY
• AND THEN
3. Explanation of how clay is made: Retell the process from the key words
• SHOW UNDERSTANDING OF
• BY
• AND THEN
Part 4: Read the following text. What aspects of the text might make it difficult for lower level
students? Why might you read this text in the real world? What do you think are the most
important things to get from this text? What receptive tasks might you give them?
Receptionist/General Assistant
For busy 3-star hotel in Jersey. Applicants must be mature and outgoing, with a minimum of
one year’s experience. An excellent salary, a uniform and your own bedroom will be provided.
Please supply a recent photograph and C.V. to
Alan Chalmers
Trinity Hotel, Jersey
Tel: 0534 199388
(From Language in Use, Pre-intermediate, p. 82, by Adrian Doff and Christopher Jones, Cambridge
University Press, 1991)
Write an objective based on the text above and your ideas about it.
− SHOW UNDERSTANDING OF
− BY
− AND THEN
Part 5: Create an objective for a receptive skills lesson that you plan to teach. Remember to
choose your text first and then think about what deeper understanding you hope for students
to get out of the text and what they will be able to DO in the final during activity that will show
that they have reached that understanding.
HOMEWORK
54
• Processing a Listening Lesson 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
By the end of the lesson

SWBAT: SHOW
UNDERSTANDING OF:
BY:
AND THEN:
CHOICE OF MATERIALS

The text is an example of realistic language
use & is authentic when possible
The text is potentially interesting to Ss
The text is more difficult than what Ss could

understand without repetition & guiding tasks,
but possible for Ss to interact with
PRE STAGE

Ss activate schema through use of visuals,
topic-related discussion, prediction
Ss become familiar with context and/or

background information interactively
Ss are motivated to listen to the text
DURING STAGE
55
Ss have multiple opportunities (AT LEAST
THREE) to hear the SAME text
Ss perform an interactive task while they

listen, each time they listen; the teacher can
see/hear the learners’ actions and observe

the extent of their understanding
The first task(s) require general or superficial

understanding of the gist/main idea
The later task(s) require more specific or

complete understanding of information in
the text or deeper understanding of more
complex or implied ideas in the text
Ss depend on themselves and peers to check

comprehension and reach deeper
understanding of the text; the teacher does not
interpret the text for the students
The teacher focuses attention on the process

of reaching understanding, rather than on
getting right answers
POST STAGE

Ss expand on the text and/or relate it to a
new or broader context
Ss have the opportunity to be creative and

personalize the themes of the text
Ss integrate productive skills (speaking or

writing)
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What other effective teaching practices did you
notice? What made this lesson “learner-
centered”?
What other thoughts come to your mind about this lesson?
Now it’s time to read
The Changing Face of Listening or Reading

(excerpts)
By John Field
Listening or Reading methodology has changed a great deal, but some would argue that many
of the changes have been cosmetic, and that what is really needed is a rethinking of the aims
and structure of the listening lesson. Here are some of the more important limitations of our
current approach.
• We still tend to test listening rather than teach it.

This is often said, but the truth is that we have little option but to use some kind of checking
procedure to assess the extent of understanding which has been achieved. What is arguably
wrong is not what we do, but how we use the results. We tend to judge successful listening
very simplistically in terms of correct answers to comprehension questions and tasks. We
overlook the fact that there may be many ways of achieving correct answer. One learner may
have identified two key words and made an intelligent guess; another may have constructed
meaning on the basis of 100% recognition of what was said.
We tend to focus upon the product of listening when we should be interested in the process -
what is going on in the heads of our learners.
Wrong answers are more informative than right ones. Spend time asking learners where and
how understanding broke down. Make listening diagnostic, than construct remedial tasks. If it
is evident that learners are finding it difficult to recognize weak forms (/waz/ for was, /tə/ for to,
/u/ for Who), a series of sentences containing examples of these forms can be dictated, to
ensure that the next time they occur, students recognize them and interpret them correctly.
Remedial exercises can also be used to develop higher-level skills: distinguishing important
pieces of information, anticipating, noticing topic markers and so on.
57
Teaching listening or reading, rather than testing it, involves a change in lesson shape. Instead
of the long pre-listening period which some teachers employ, it is much more fruitful to allow
time for an extended post-listening period in which learners’ problems can be identified and
tackled.
• We do not practice the kind of listening that takes place in real life.
If we are to use authentic texts (and there is every reason why we should), it is pointless to
work on the assumption that learners will identify most of the words they hear. We need a new
type of lesson where understanding of what is said is less that perfect. The process that non-
native listeners adopt seems to be:
− Identify words in a few fragmented sections of the text. Feel relatively certain about
some; less certain about others.
− Make inferences linking the parts of the text about which you feel most confident.
− Check those inferences against what comes next.
This kind of strategy is not confined to low-level learners; my evidence suggests that it is used
up to the highest levels.
We very much need to reshape some (not all) of our listening lessons to reflect this reality. Let
us encourage learners to write down the words they understand, to form and discuss
inferences, to listen again and revise their inferences, then to check them against what the
speaker says next. In doing this, we not only give them practice in the kind of listening they are
likely to do in real life; we also ensure that guessing is not seen as a sign of failure but
something that most people have to resort to when listening to a foreign language.
• Listening work is often limited in scope and isolating in effect.

Our current methodology reinforces the natural instinct of the teacher to provide answers. We
need to design a listening lesson where the teacher has a much less interventionist role,
encouraging learners to listen and re-listen and to do as much of the work as possible for
themselves. On the other hand, we should also recognize that listening can prove as isolating
activity, in which the liveliest class can quickly become a group of separate individuals, each
locked up in their own auditory efforts.
The solution is to get learners to listen to a short passage, then to compare their understanding
of it in pairs. Encourage them to disagree with each other -thereby increasing motivation for a
second listening. Play the passage again, and let the pairs revise their views. Ask them to share
their interpretations with the class. Resist the temptation to tell them who is right and who is
wrong. When the class has argued about the accuracy of different versions, play the text again
and ask them to make up their minds, each student providing evidence to support his/her point
of view. In this way, listening becomes a much more interactive activity with learners listening
not because the teacher tells them to, but because they have a vested interest in justifying
their own explanation of the text. By listening and re-listening, they improve the accuracy with
which they listen and, by discussing possible interpretations, they improve their ability to
construct representations of meaning from what they hear.
58
The methodology of the listening lesson has certainly come a long way, but let us not be
complacent. Unless we address the three problem areas outlined earlier, out teaching will
remain hidebound and we will be missing out on what should be our true aim -not simply
providing practice but producing better and more confident listeners.
“There is no reflection if there is

not interaction with others”
Germán Carrera
PRACTICE:
Complete the next form with the instructions learned in previous units. (Review
ECRIF and PDP stages)
➢ ECRIF for productive skills
➢ PDP for receptive skills
59
Lesson Plan Form (for all skills)
Name: Date: Level:
Action points – (These are two things you are working on in your teaching)
1.
2.
What are your Student Learning Objectives for the lesson?

When/How in the lesson will I check students’ progress toward the above Learning
Objective? What behaviors/activities will show me whether they have mastered the
material?
Preliminary considerations:
a. What vocabulary/grammar/information/skills do your students already know in relation to
today’s lesson?
b. What aspects of the lesson do you anticipate your students might find challenging/difficult?
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Time Framework Stage Procedure Interaction Materials Needed
Teacher will… Students will… T-S/S-S
VAKT
61
Sample Lesson Plan

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PEDAGOGÍA DEL IDIOMA INGLÉS

TEFL FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

Lic. Germán Carrera Moreno

1. Introduction for Language Teaching

b. What do I want students to do with the material?

For this to occur, at least two things are necessary:

a) you need to be an observer call MA the students need to be acting;

d. How will I prepare the students to demonstrate their

The practice stage (internalization)

The Use Stage (Fluency)

In the following video you can see a demonstrative class.

2. Considerations for Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL)

Parents who scaffolded

Let’s watch the next video:

Let’s watch the next video:

Scaffolding Our Instructions

The French teacher gives the following instructions orally:

Here are some of the students’ recommendations:

• give one step at a time

• show us what to do, not just tell us

• model the instructions, including the activity itself

• write on the board

• use visuals and gestures to support meaning

• use simple vocabulary

• after the instructions are given, monitor to be sure we are on task

Again, we are defining scaffolding as whatever connects concepts to meaning. Examples of

Do You Know What ECRIF is?!

ECRIF is a framework for understanding learning, looking at how

Who developed ECRIF and where is it being used?

Benefits of recognizing the ECRIF framework.

ECRIF can be used by the teachers to:

4 kinds of comprehension checking questions.

Typical activities for remembering:

Typical activities for internalization:

Notes about activities to remember and internalize:

Typical fluency activities:

Next, you will learn more throughout the next video:

Creating Objectives and Plans

Making SMARTA Objectives and Action Plans

What’s a useful objective?

a) Students will be able to ask and answer questions.

Creating Objectives for Speaking Lessons

By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

Write an objective using the formula:

By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

1. Vocabulary: family members, asking/answering about family photos

By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

2. Function: giving directions, drawing a map

By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

3. Grammar: present perfect/past simple, job interview role-play

By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

4. Pronunciation: rising/falling intonation with Yes/No and Wh questions, get-to-

By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

Processing a Speaking Lesson 1

What else was/could have been learned? How do you know?

Criteria Concrete example(s) from sample lesson

Introduces and clarifies Form, Meaning and

Uses independent pair and group work with

FLUENT USE STAGE

Criteria Concrete example(s) from sample lesson

Teacher involvement is limited to listening,

Lesson Plan Form