Planning a lesson in 6 steps

In a typical lesson according to the situational approach, a four-phase sequence, known as the P-P-P-P
cycle, was often employed: Preparation, Presentation, Practice, and Production.
It is very important to understand what Preparation, Presentation, Practice and Production really are,
and how they work in combination to create effective communicative language learning.
Besides this cycle, at YES! we also have the Review and the Rounding off steps . Each step follows the
objectives below:

1. REVIEW
 Check open answers.
 Motivation.
Homework correction.
 Monitor development
Games.
Reinforcement Cards.
Checking open answers.
Quizzes.
Free Activity.

2. PREPARATION
Set the scene for the lesson.
Generate students’ interest and get them thinking about the topic.
Activate students’ schemata. (When you introduce a topic, for example with pictures, a video or
some questions, you activate in your students minds a mental image or expectation based on their
existing knowledge of the topic. This mental image is often called a schema).

3. PRESENTATION
Introduce target language through written texts, songs, dialogues, pictures and/or objects.
Use real-life situations to contextualize the target language.
There are a variety of ways in which new language items may be presented but most presentations
should have at least some of the following features: meaningful, memorable and realistic examples;
logical connection; context; clear models; sufficient meaningful repetition.

4. PRACTICE
Students have the opportunity to practice the learned items in a controlled way. This is a chance for
them to use what they have learned without making mistakes.
Students do individual and choral repetition of the model sentences.
Teachers encourage work in pairs or groups.
Start with restricted practice, and then gradually move on to less restricted and eventually much
more authentic practice.

5. PRODUCTION
Teachers should have minimal to no involvement in this part of the lesson.
This stage focuses on fluency and students are given the opportunity to personalize the language
learned by doing less controlled tasks, that is, by using their own ideas.
The production activity can be done in a group, in pairs, or individually depending on what it is. As a
group, they can gather together to find a solution to a problem, or they can pair off to act out a role-
playing activity.

6. ROUNDING OFF
Reconstruction of the AGENDA set at the beginning of the class through elicitation.