Teaching Practice III Dossier

Instituto de Educación Superior
"José Eugenio Tello"
Practice III
Instructor: Mariana Ortega

Class: 3rd year
ENERO
2023 FEBRERO MARZO
D L M M J V S S L M M J V S D L M M J V S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
29 30 31 26 27 28 26 27 28 29 30 31 1
ABRIL MAYO JUNIO

D L M M J V S D L M M J V S D L M M J V S
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30
30
JULIO AGOSTO SEPTIEMBRE

D L M M J V S D L M M J V S D L M M J V S
1 1 2 3 4 5 1 2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 19 19 20 21 22 23
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
30 31
NOVIEMBRE DICIEMBRE
OCTUBRE
D L M M J V S
D L M M J V S
D L M M J V S 1 2
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
26 27 28 29 30
29 30 31 31
Contents
Unit 1 Starting out
Classroom at work. What is a teacher. What is a teacher?. Teaching and Learning. The subject
01
matter of ELT. First Lessons-hints and strategies
Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching. (3rd
Ed).Oxford: Macmillan Education
The many roles of the teacher.
Maggioli Días, G., Painter-Farrell L. (2016) Lessons Learned- First steps towards reflective teaching in
Date
ELT: Richmond Subject
-
Unit 2 Managing our classrooms
Use of eye contact, gesture, and the voice. Classroom arrangement. Attention spread.
Teacher talk and student talk. Eliciting giving intsruction. Eliciting, giving instructions and
02 setting up activities. Monitoring. Starting and finishing the lesson. Establishing and
maintaining discipline.
Gower, R. Phillips, D., Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice: A handbook for teachers in training.
Macmillan Education
Unit 3 Teaching Grammar

What is grammar?.Present-Practice. Clarification. Restricted output: drills, exercises,
dialogues and games.
03 Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching. (3rd
03
Unit 4 Teaching Lexis
What's lexis?. Lexis in the classroom. Presenting lexis. Lexical practice activities and
04
Concert
games. Lexical items
Unit 5 Speaking and Writing

Approaches to speaking. Communicative activities. Role play, real play and simulation.
Fluency, accuracy and communication. Different kinds of speaking. Approaches to
05 writing. Writing in class.
Contents
Unit 6 Listening and reading
06
Approaches to listening. The task-feedbacl circle. How do we listen?. Listening ideas.
Approaches to reading.
Date Subject
-
Unit 7 Strategies, Tools, Techniques and activities
Scaffolding. Co-cosntructing knowledge with learning. Modeling. Bridging. Contextualizing.
Schema building. Re presenting. Developing metacognition.
07 Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching. (3rd
Maggioli Días, G., Painter-Farrell L. (2016) Lessons Learned- First steps towards reflective teaching
in ELT: Richmond
Question Types. Techniques for teaching use, meaning and form
Maggioli Días, G., Painter-Farrell L. (2016) Lessons Learned- First steps towards reflective teaching
in ELT: Richmond
Tools, Techniques, activities .Flashcards. Picture stories. Storytelling. Songs and music.
Fillers. Lexical games. Drama. Getting to know a new class
03 Coolers, Warmers and Fillers
Unit 8 Observation: Learning as a tool

03
What's interview? What's observation? Beggining to observe: the silent phase. Reasons
for observation.Directed observation. The observation cycle in action. What's good
08 teaching?
Maggioli Días, G., Painter-Farrell L. (2016) Lessons Learned- First steps towards reflective
teaching in ELT: Richmond
Concert
Unit 9 Lesson Planning
Why is planning important? Where to beging. Knowing the context. Stages in planning
Qualities of a good lesson plan. Learning objectives. Learning outcomes. Bloom's
taxonomy. Lesson Planning Procedures: ESA. TASK BASED CYCLE. Microteaching.
09 Assessment. Lesson self-assessment. Feedback from observers, cooperating teacher
and trainer.
Harmer, J. (2009). The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Harlow: Longman
Contents
Unit 10 Teaching Practice
Approaching teaching practice. The role of TP on a teacher training course. Working
10 with others . Your own attitude. What do observers do during TP? Feedback on lessons.
Keeping track
Gower, R. Phillips, D., Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice: A handbook for teachers in training.
Macmillan Education
Date Subject
-
Unit 11 Reflective Teaching
11
Understanding reflection.It's all in questions. The reflective practice cycle. Towards
eviednce-based reflection. Seeing reflection in practice
Towards reflective Teaching . Peer observation.Written accounts of exepriences. Self-
Report. Autobiographies. Journal Writing.
Richards, J. C & Lockhard, C. (2007). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms

Cambridge University Press.
03
03
Concert
09
Unit 1 Starting out
Classroom at work. What is a teacher. What is a

teacher?Teaching and Learning. The subject matter
of ELT. First Lessons-hints and strategies
Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to
English Language Teaching. (3rd Ed).Oxford: Macmillan Education.
The many roles of the teacher.

Maggioli Días, G., Painter-Farrell L. (2016) Lessons Learned- First
steps towards reflective teaching in ELT: Richmond
CHAPTER 1
THE MANY ROLES OF THE TEACHER
As we have seen so far, the teacher’s main task is to provide every

opportunity to students so that learning can happen. Because of this,
the teacher does not always behave in the same way or perform the
same functions in class. In other words, in order to accommodate
our various students’ needs so that they can learn, teachers need to
perform different roles. Hadfield and Hadfield (2008) say that teachers
may perform two macro functions: provide information that students
do not have, or act as facilitators of the students’ learning process.
These two macro functions can be achieved through a range of roles,
which are described in the following table:
Macrofunction Role Examples of the role in action
You will have to be explicit about various things such

as how to play a game or do an exercise, how grammar
Explainer works, or the meaning of words that the students do
not know. Particularly at lower levels you will often use
mime, action, pictures, tables and diagrams.
You will have to show some things to the class through

actions—for example, by miming “jump” to show them
Demonstrator
what the word means or by showing through your own
actions how a game is played.
TEACHER AS You will have to give instructions to the class such as

INFORMATION “Now get into groups of 4” or “Turn to page 23” so
GIVER Organizer
that they can engage in productive work leading to
more learning.
Depending on the group, you may have to restore order

from time to time, for example by reminding the class
Controller to speak English, asking them to speak more quietly, or
preventing more dominant learners from interrupting
others.
In this role, you may give your students a sense of

Route Planner direction by outlining what you will cover in the course
or in a lesson.
40
CHAPTER 1
Instead of explaining and giving information you can

elicit information from your learners, remodeling where
Guide
necessary, so that they formulate their own explanations
of grammar or vocabulary items.
In this role, you will be listening to your students when

Monitor they are speaking to each other in pairs or groups,
noting errors to discuss with them later.
TACHER AS Again, when students are working by themselves or in

FACILITATOR Support system groups, your role is to circulate to give help and provide
language when asked.
In this role, you give students comments on their

performance by correcting their errors—or better,
Feedback giver
encouraging them to identify and correct their own
errors if they can.
In this role, you will give students advice and support

Counselor on things they can do to help themselves learn, for
example, on ways of learning vocabulary at home.
Table 1.3 – A typology of teacher roles – Adapted from Hadfield J. and Hadfield, C. (2008, p. 144).
By combining your knowledge of the various levels of language

proficiency with your awareness of students’ needs and their learning
preferences, you will be able to “inhabit” the roles that will yield the
maximum learning benefit for your students, while, at the same time,
becoming progressively more and more aware of what good teaching is
all about.
CONCLUSION
In this first chapter we have explored the first steps we need to

take to create powerful learning opportunities where language becomes
a vehicle for the construction of a learning community that revolves
around the needs and motivations of our students. They come to us in
order to fulfill these needs and motivations and it is our main task to
make sure that they succeed.
41
Unit 2 Managing our classrooms
Use of eye contact, gesture, and the voice.

Classroom arrangement. Attention spread.
Teacher talk and student talk. Eliciting giving
intsruction. Eliciting, giving instructions and
setting up activities. Monitoring. Starting and
finishing the lesson. Establishing and
maintaining discipline.
Gower, R. Phillips, D., Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice:

A handbook for teachers in training. Macmillan Education
Unit 3 Teaching Grammar
What is grammar?.Present-Practice.
Clarification. Restricted output: drills,
exercises, dialogues and games.

Unit 4 Teaching Lexis
What's lexis?. Lexis in the classroom.

Presenting lexis. Lexical practice activities
and games. Lexical items

Unit 5 Speaking and Writing
Approaches to speaking. Communicative activities.

Role play, real play and simulation. Fluency, accuracy
and communication. Different kinds of speaking.
Approaches to writing. Writing in class.
Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to English

Language Teaching. (3rd Ed).Oxford: Macmillan Education
Unit 6 Listening and reading
Approaches to listening. The task-feedbacl circle.

How do we listen?. Listening ideas. Approaches to
reading.
Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to English

Language Teaching. (3rd Ed).Oxford: Macmillan Education
CHAPTER 6
making clear how the contents are sequenced), showing how this
specific lesson connects to future ones or making explicit how students
can use the contents learned in this lesson in real life. Also, the closure
moment provides a great opportunity for assessment for learning
activities (these are discussed in Chapter 11).
Again, this depiction of the components of a language lesson
provides useful information as to what the overall structuring blocks of
a lesson are, but it does not explicitly show you how lessons pursuing
different purposes can be organized. In our opinion, the deciding factor
in shaping a lesson is its purpose. A language presentation lesson
will have a particular organization, which is different from that of a
reading lesson or a fluency lesson. Lesson organization is a matter of
teachers’ decision making in light of students’ learning needs. It is also
a consideration made in light of broader course goals, as the teacher
will decide when to present language inductively and deductively,
when to practice it, and when to engage students in free expression.
We can conclude that because, as we have said before, lessons are
“stories” told by the teacher and the learners, they require the active
participation of both parties.
CO-CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE WITH LEARNERS
One key idea behind our view about language teaching and learning
is that teachers and students should engage in meaningful and active
co-construction of their knowledge where the teacher’s main task is to
organize for learning to happen, as well as to mediate learners’ efforts
by providing the necessary scaffolds (Diaz Maggioli, 2013). Along the
same lines, Fisher and Frey (2014) suggest that effective instruction
leading to student learning is a matter of structuring teaching so that
responsibility for learning is gradually released towards the students.
In other words, these authors advocate for the provision of scaffolds
as the teacher’s main task where the ultimate aim of the teacher’s
intervention is to bestow control over the communicative activity
on the students themselves. In order to do this, the teacher will use
different mediational moves that seek to extend the students’ current
grasp of the language.
180
CHAPTER 6
The term scaffolding was originally used in the field of education

in 1976 (Wood, Bruner and Ross, 1976; Bruner and Sherwood, 1976)
and since then, it has taken a multitude of meanings. Originally defined
as “a process that enables a child or novice to solve a problem, carry
out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond his [sic] unassisted
efforts” (Wood, et al., 1976, p. 90) the term has come to mean various
things in our field, from direct instruction to assessment or peer
learning.
As you read the following section, think of concrete examples of the various scaffolds that you have
used or seen used in language classes. Which is the most common scaffold you have seen? Can you
think why this is so?
To us, scaffolding is a form of intentional and meaningful

mediation of learning oriented at transferring control of the activity
over to the students, so that by learning today, they are better equipped
to continue developing tomorrow. Walqui (2006) provides these
examples of scaffolds that are suitable for English Language Learners:
• Modeling
Learners are able to see or hear what a demonstration of the
expected performance looks like. They are also given clear
examples of what is required of them. Teachers can provide
modeling by demonstrating procedures, showing their thinking in
action by verbalizing decisions they make, and also by exhibiting
their use of knowledge in action.
• Bridging
When you use this scaffold you make sure that new understandings
are firmly built upon students’ previous understandings. You can
model both at the cognitive level (e.g. activating the learners’
prior knowledge by providing anticipatory guides or graphic
organizers) as well as the metacognitive level (e.g. by coaching
learners’ thinking targeting their prior experience and helping
them self-monitor and evaluate performance).
181
CHAPTER 6
• Contextualizing
This scaffold involves you in “fleshing out” new concepts by
making explicit connections between these and the learners’
current understandings. You can do this through analogies and
metaphors based on the learners’ prior experiences (“This is
similar to…” or “An auxiliary verb is like a crutch that helps you
ask a question”).
• Schema building
We organize knowledge and understanding around schemata
(singular: schema), or clusters of meaning that are interconnected.
Understanding is then a process of weaving new information
into pre-existing structures. Hence, you can scaffold evolving
understandings by helping learners see connections between what
they already know and the new understandings. One effective way
of fostering schema building is Socratic questioning (lead students
to discover new facts about the language by asking them questions
to help clarify their thinking, challenge their assumptions, asking
them to provide evidence, etc.) and also by providing advanced
organizers (for example, a short semantic map of the topic they
will work on), explicit summaries or allowing for “previews” of
the content to be learnt.
• Re-presenting
To implement this form of scaffolding you resort to alternating
among different genres in order to help learners make sense of
events or information. For example, you may choose to use a
narrative to illustrate the process of deriving a conclusion from
a text used for reading, which is not self-evident at first. Walqui
(2006, p. 174) suggests that an effective sequence for scaffolding
understanding through representation “starts with asking students
to say what is happening (as in drama or dialogue), then what
has happened (narratives, reports) and, finally, what may happen
(tautologic transformations, theorizing).”
182
CHAPTER 6
• Developing metacognition
Metacognition refers to the ability to plan, monitor and evaluate
one’s own understanding, so that one is aware of how adequate
that understanding is. Walqui (op.cit: p. 176) indicates that this
kind of scaffolding comprises four aspects:
a) “consciously applying learned strategies while engaging in
activity;
b) knowledge and awareness of strategic options a learner has
and the ability to choose the most effective one for the particular
activity at hand;
c) monitoring, evaluating and adjusting performance during
activity; and
d) planning for future performance based on evaluation of past
performance.”
These scaffolds are a toolkit for you to interact with students during
a lesson and respond to their evolving understanding and emergent
language capacity. As to how the lesson should be structured, we refer
once again to the learners’ communicative needs. The purpose of any
lesson is to help learners make headway in their language development.
If the lesson is teacher-centered, then students have few opportunities
to gain control over their language. If, on the other hand, the lesson
has no structure, students may feel lost because they do not have the
necessary resources to use the language to fulfill their communicative
intent. What is needed, then, is a framework for lesson development
that is responsive to students’ evolving needs and language proficiency,
while helping the teacher manage the learning process.
Fisher and Frey (2014) provide one such framework for teaching
and learning activities organized around four key forms of interaction.
They propose a “gradual release of control over understanding” model
that comprises four kinds of interaction: one where you interact with
the class as a whole, another one in which students interact with one
another and with you in small groups, a further one in which students
interact with one another in groups, and finally, one where students
individually interact with the content and the learning tasks built
around it. The model can be graphically depicted as follows:
183
CHAPTER 6
teacher activity Student activity
“i do it”
Focused instruction
guided “we do it”

instruction
Collaborative “You do it together”

learning
independent learning “You do it

independently”
Figure 6.1 - The progressive release of responsibility

framework (Fisher & Frey, 2013, p. 3)
The following description of each of these forms of interaction

will help us build a case for their use in lessons that respond to different
purposes.
As you read this section, think back to your language lessons. How do they compare to Fisher and
Frey’s model? If you are currently teaching, how would you describe a typical class taught by you?
Focused instruction – the most basic form of interaction

involves you directly teaching the students, for example, in order to
establish a clear lesson goal. We use the term “goal” and not “aim” so
as to differentiate this kind of interaction from the statement of goals
and objectives, generally found in lesson plans and course books. By
overtly telling students of the goal of the lesson, and by writing it on
the board for the whole class to see, we are helping students grasp
the relevance and importance of the lesson. It is not enough to tell
the students what the goals of the lesson are. We need to explain how
these goals will contribute to their future learning.
A well-explained goal incorporates information not only about
the various activities, but also about the content to be learned, the
specific language needed in order to learn it, as well as the social worth
of this language: how the language is used in real-life contexts. This is a
good moment for direct instruction and explanation, but always within
a context of language use.
184
CHAPTER 6
It is at this moment that we also provide students with information

about the “ways in which a skilled reader, writer, or thinker processes
the information under discussion” (Fisher and Frey, op. cit., p. 5). This
is done with the whole class through direct explanation, modeling, or
think-alouds (where you model how to think in the target language).
The focused instruction moment should last a maximum of fifteen
minutes and it need not come at the beginning of the lesson, but can
occur at different moments, and even more than once, depending on
students’ needs.
Guided Instruction – The second moment is conducted
with “small, purposeful groups that have been composed based
on formative assessment data” (Fisher and Frey, op. cit., p. 6). This
means that teachers can alter the conformation of the groups to
work with either mixed-ability groups or same-ability groups. Guided
instruction is the ideal time to provide differentiation, particularly if
you are working with mixed-ability groups. Differentiation is a concept
developed by Tomlinson and Imbeau (2010) by which you may adapt
the content, process or product of a lesson in order to accommodate
the different levels of performance of students within a class. Fisher
and Frey explain “Small-group instruction allows teachers to vary the
instructional materials they use, the level of prompting or questioning
they employ, and the products they expect.” They go on to add “Over
time and with cues, prompts and questions, teachers can guide students
to increasingly complex thinking.” (op. cit., p. 7).
Collaborative learning – this is the moment when students
work with one another, either in pairs or groups, in order to apply
and expand on what they have learned. By working together,
students disclose misunderstandings, consolidate their thinking and
understanding, and engage in frank negotiation of meaning with their
peers. This negotiation may include the discussion of ideas stemming
from the content, elaboration or expansion of information learned
during the lesson, as well as engagement in inquiry. This engagement
with others provides students with an opportunity to use what they
have learned thus rehearsing their understanding in the safety and
comfort of the classroom, where you can always be called upon for
help, should it be needed. It is important that no new information
be incorporated at this stage and that this is also a great moment to
185
CHAPTER 6
engage students in reviewing prior knowledge. The tasks provided at

this stage should help students reveal their complete (or incomplete)
understandings or misconceptions as well as confirm what they
already know. In short, collaborative learning is about collaborative
problem solving.
Independent learning – The ultimate aim of all teaching is to
have students become independently capable of applying information,
content, skills and strategies to new situations using the habits of mind
characteristic of the discipline being taught. In our case, independent
learning is about communicating in the target language in real-life
situations. To achieve this, learners need opportunities to complete
independent tasks and learn from them. However, the crucial factor
in ascertaining their success is for students to be ready to engage
in the kind of real-world tasks characteristics of the discipline. In
this sense, we will see in the next chapter that discrete grammar,
vocabulary or pronunciation exercises have little to contribute to
independent learning. Also, we remember that independent learning
will happen only if the other three key learning moments are fully
developed and exploited (focused and guided instruction, and
collaborative learning), no matter the order. It goes without saying
that learning tasks at this stage should be as authentic as possible as
the idea is for students to be able to apply what they have learned to
new contexts. Nunan (2004) created the concept of “skills getting”
(i.e. pseudo-authentic tasks done in class that replicate real-life tasks
for students to get control over the language and the situation) for
“skills using” (where students are able to use in real life what they
have learned from skills getting tasks in the classroom). We can say
that the first three moments in this model aim at skills getting, and
that independent learning is all about skills using.
Lastly, we should point out that this model of the teaching
and learning processes is suitable for teaching both the language
systems and the language skills. As we will see in further chapters, the
development of skills progresses in much the same fashion as in this
model.
186
CHAPTER 6
DIFFERENT NEEDS, DIFFERENT LESSONS
Why do learners attend English lessons? The answer to this

question will be as varied as the people who answer it. Each student
will bring to class their own needs and motivations for learning the
language. While these are really varied, we can narrow down students’
needs to the following list:
• develop communicative competence.
• competently use the macroskills of listening, speaking,
reading and writing.
• become aware of the culture of the countries where the target
language is spoken.
• review and consolidate their knowledge of the language.
• put their knowledge of the language to use.
• demonstrate (for assessment purposes) their mastery of the
language.
Two basic kinds of lessons may help teachers achieve these

purposes: language presentation lessons and language practice
lessons. We will now demonstrate each lesson format through our
understanding of Fisher and Frey’s model.
A. LANGUAGE PRESENTATION LESSONS
Purpose:
To raise students’ awareness about how language works, while
helping them notice relevant features of the input so they can engage in
grammaring and language use.
a. For Beginners and Elementary students
Can you explain the meaning of the different pyramid diagrams before reading each of the next
sections? How can you connect them to the notion of scaffolding we saw before?
187
CHAPTER 4
Consider the following exchange:
Teacher: Look at this picture (holds up a picture of a desert) What is it?

students: sand
Teacher: Yes, we can see sand, a lot of sand, yes?
students: Yes
Teacher: is it a cold place or is it…. (prompts to finish sentence)
students: Hot
Teacher: right very hot…is it all sand?
students: Yes
Teacher: it’s a desert.
Notice the way in which the teacher uses simple, or graded

language to support the students path of discovery and notice how she
uses a visual, questions and a unfinished sentence to arrive at desert,
the new lexical item.
QUESTION TYPES
In class we ask many questions in a variety of ways and for a

variety of reasons, including checking understanding, in order to
engage our students, to find out information they know as well as to
affirm knowledge. Research shows that the most-often asked type
of questions are display questions. These respond to the I R F
sequence we discussed before, among other characteristics.
Display questions
The teacher is holding a picture of a dog and a man.

Teacher: What animal is this?
student: a dog
Teacher: Yes a dog. Who is next to the dog?
student: a man
Teacher: Yes, a man
106
CHAPTER 4
If you notice, there is one possible answer to the teacher’s

questions, and even though it may not be entirely evident here, the
teacher expects the students to know that single, correct answer. The
aim of this type of questions may be to introduce a topic, prepare the
students for new information that will build on existing knowledge,
or engage students in the topic of the lesson. In many ways, display
questions are not “real” questions because we assume the students
know the answer.
Referential Questions
Unlike display questions, when asking referential questions we do
not assume that students know the answers. Also, referential questions
may lead to multiple, possible answers rather than a single, correct
answer. For example, look at these questions:
What is the weather like in your country?

How is it similar to the weather in new York?
In order to be able to answer these questions, the students have

to engage in a process of critical analysis. They have to consider the
weather in their own countries and then compare it to the weather
in New York. Higher-order thinking skills are required that involve
comparing and contrasting, fact-finding and evaluating.
This type of questioning presents a greater challenge than display
questions. In all likelihood, the more able students in your class will
possibly provide an answer to the question first, or they will be able to
construct a response more quickly than the less able. This is important
to keep in mind and something we will refer to later in this chapter. As
mentioned before, research has shown that display questions outnumber
referential questions in most EFL/ESL classrooms. H.D. Brown (2007)
states that teachers need to develop a wide repertoire of questioning
strategies that foster classroom interaction, ideally augmenting display
questions with referential questions whenever possible. In other words,
we need to utilize both types of questions and realize the value and
aim of both.
107
CHAPTER 4
Open and closed Questions
closed questions: The answer is generally a “Yes” or a “no.”

Teacher: is it raining?
student: Yes, it is.
open questions: require more elaborate answers.

Teacher: What do you like doing when it rains?
student 1: i like to stay at home and watch TV.
Why is it important to balance the type of questions that you

ask? Remember that, while we want to challenge, involve and engage
our students so as to expand their expression, we do not want to
overwhelm them. In that sense, we have to judiciously use open and
closed questions so as to accommodate the learning rhythms of all our
students.
Concept Check Questions
Another form of questions language teachers often ask in class are

called “concept check questions.” Personally, throughout our teaching
careers we have found these questions invaluable. Their name explains
their use. They are asked in order to check students’ understanding of
newly presented concepts. In that sense, they can also be considered
a form of elicitation, in that the “pull and push” process we referred to
before also takes place when we ask these questions.
Look at the following example to check whether students
understand the concept of the Second Conditional in English
Key or Focus sentence:

iff i were rich, i would buy a house.
Possible concept check Questions:

• am i rich?
• Do i have a house?
• can i buy a house now?
• Why?
108
CHAPTER 4
The concept questions above are created by considering the

concepts behind the key sentence:
1. The fact that I am not rich.
2. The fact that I do not have a house.
3. The fact that I cannot buy a house now… I need money.
In order to build concept check questions, we break down the
concept (meaning) of a particular focus or key sentence representing
the language we want to teach into statements and then, we convert
these statements into simple “Yes,” “No” or “Maybe” questions, as
shown above.
The aim is to ask questions, which, as much as possible, gleam
real answers. Consider what we usually ask students to check their
understanding: “Do you understand?” Or, in the United States: “Do you
get it?” The problem is that, out of embarrassment, students usually
say ‘yes’ but that is no guarantee that they actually do! Therefore, we do
not obtain a real answer, which indicates what the students understand
about the concept. In order to ensure that these questions are effective,
teachers need to avoid the use of the target language that they are
checking, require simple “yes,” “no” or “maybe” answers, and grade
the questions to the students’ level making sure they do not include
language that is more complicated than the actual concept they intend
to check.
Wait time
Once we have become mindful of the type of questions that
we ask and their use, we need to consider how long we wait for our
students to respond to the questions. Our students usually need more
processing time when being asked questions. Tsui suggests that many
students are generally shy and reticent to speak; therefore, sufficient
wait time is essential (Tsui 2001) if we want all our students to succeed.
However, research has shown that the average time that teachers wait
for students to respond is only one second (Nunan and Lamb, 1996).
Why do you think this is the case? One teacher in training attributed it
to the fear of silence in class. This is possibly true. Other reasons may
include that the teacher is hurried because of the brevity of the class
session, the need to cover some particular content or certain textbook
109
CHAPTER 4
materials, or simply the fact that teachers allow the brightest students
to respond first.
Our advice is that you wait about 5 seconds before calling on any
students to answer the question, or even repeat the question yourself.
Because you will not be able to check your watch, count up to 5
Mississippi’s (that is, say the numbers followed by the word “Mississippi”
like this: 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, 4, Mississippi, 5
Mississippi) and then ask the question again or call on a student to
answer. This way, you will help all students by providing them ample
time to process the question and search for an answer. Using wait time
effectively has been proved to improve students’ chances to do well in
class, thus, bear our advice in mind.
Transitions, Signposts and Benchmarks

There are points in the lesson when teachers need to take control
and lead from the front of the classroom. One such time is when they
want students to navigate from one activity to the next, that is when we
want our learners to transition from one activity to the next. This needs
to be done in a manner that indicates that we are not just simply jumping
from one activity to another, but that there actually is a connection
between the activities and, as much as possible, the rationale for the
activity. In the chapter on Lesson Planning, we stated that our learners
do not have access to our lesson plans when they enter class. Hence,
they have little idea of what will be covered or what they will do until
we share the schedule for the day on the board. This can lead to a
certain amount of anxiety, and also unnecessary apprehension with
what is happening in class and why. Therefore, mapping the lesson out
and making sure that we join each stage together with the next will
help students to comprehend and appreciate the validity of the lesson
by indirectly engaging with the teacher’s pedagogy. Transitions and
signposts indicate movement form one activity to another, providing
closure for the preceding activity and a rationale for the following
activity. Benchmarks differ from both signposts and transitions because
they pay closer attention to achievements and progression through a
lesson. We will return to the topic of transitions in Chapter 7.
110
CHAPTER 4
PROBLEMS WITH TEACHER TALKING TIME
Consider teachers that you have had and reflect on your own
language and consider how Teacher Talk can impede learning rather than
facilitate it. Look at the issues below. Did you consider any of them?
Too much of it!

One teacher told us:
“When nothing else is happening in the classroom – I open my mouth.
I’ve no idea what I say most of the time. But it stops those horrible silences.
It’s probably useful for them to hear me speaking English anyway….”
A lot of teachers dislike quiet students in class; however, it is necessary.
We need silence to think, to process, to rest for a short while.
Echo
Student: The weather is cold

Teacher: The weather is cold yes. The weather is very cold.
In Beginner level classes, this might be seen as an aid for the students,
as it affirms that what they have said is correct and allows the other
students to hear also that it is correct. However, we should be mindful that,
if done too frequently, it can also lead to students’ loosing confidence in
their ability to communicate correctly because the teacher repeats what
they have just said thus interrupting the flow of communication in an
unnecessary manner. It is best to echo students’ expression only in those
occasions when teachers feel the rest of the class has been unable to hear
it. Even in those cases, it is best to ask the student to speak out loud and
get him or her to repeat what s/he has just said.
Confusing Instructions
Consider the following set of instructions:
Teacher: What we’re going to do is complete the work on page two.

I mean we are going to fill in the gaps in the activity on page 5 and
then we are going to do page 6. Page 6 is a story, we are going to
111
CHAPTER 4
read that and do some comprehension questions. First, we are going

to do the gaps on page 6. No! I mean, 5.
How would you feel if you were a student in that class? We bet that
you would feel confused, even anxious about not knowing what to do
first. Some classroom tasks or activities require that we give complex
instructions (for example, because there are various steps to the task or
activity). When this is the case, the best scenario involves the breaking
down of the instructions into steps and providing students with each
step in sequence. Next, ask students to remind you what needs to be
done. This way, you can check that they have really understood. While
they do so, even if you need to correct them, write the sequence of steps
on the board. By doing this, students will have something to go back to
while doing the activity or task, if they get lost.
Inauthentic, or Perfunctory Comments
Teacher: How is everyone today?

Student: My little dog, he is gone.
Teacher: Where did he go?
Student: Dead
Teacher: Oh, you mean he has passed away. Right! Everyone else?
What has happened here? Consider the roles of the teacher and
what the student has just shared. Many times, language teachers tend
to focus too much on responding to the learners’ “language” and not
to the “ideas expressed through that language.” In the case above, the
student is sharing something painful and the teacher does not respond
in an authentic manner to the students’ ideas. Instead, the teacher
chooses to focus on correcting the student. This is not only inauthentic,
but it also conveys the wrong message in terms of our idea of “Ubuntu.”
Being too helpful
Teacher: Yes, good! Very good! Was that useful? Did you enjoy it? Do
you want to sit next to a new partner now? Are you comfortable or
112
CHAPTER 4
are you too close? Move your chair a little, please. Do you want me
to move the chair?
This teacher appears to be trying too hard! However, this is not

an unusual occurrence. Many times, teachers – particularly novice
teachers – feel they need to please students. While it is true that we
must foster an environment devoid of tension or anxiety, it is also true
that one of the most important teacher’s roles is to organize for learning
to happen. In that sense, the teacher; needs to set clear boundaries
and enforce procedures (such as having students work with different
classmates) so that the lesson is effective. It may happen that some
students do not want to work with others. Nevertheless, the teacher
needs to convey the idea of community and reinforce it. In those cases,
we recommend that you be firm but polite.
Flying with the fastest
Teacher: Can anyone tell me what opaque means?

Student A: It means not clear.
Teacher: Excellent, can anyone tell me what vague means?
Student A: It means not clear
Teacher: Good so let’s move on…
In this part of the lesson the teacher is not focusing on the class
but listening to one student only. Probably, in this instance, it is the
most able student, which sets the pace of the lesson, the pace of that
one student. The other students’ understanding is not checked. Always
make sure you call on various students to answer (after also making
sure to use wait time). One strategy we often use is the “lighthouse
light” strategy. We make sure we involve everyone by focusing on
different sections of the classroom from left to right, as if we were the
light of a lighthouse thus illuminating all students equally. This makes
sure that everyone has a fair chance of participating. We do this, even
when we request that students “Raise their hands” before speaking.
One key issue to effective classroom management is to make all efforts
to involve all learners at all times in the lesson, when you know that
they can be successful.
113
CHAPTER 4
Over Praising
Teacher: Good, good, great, good, lovely… that was really, really
good!
Teachers need to encourage their students with praise. However,

this praise needs to be delivered with sincerity and also in an even
manner. Students soon realize when a teacher is simply routinely
telling all students that they have done well and when the teacher is
truly acknowledging work well done.
As van Manen says “A compliment should be meaningful and
should not be granted indiscriminately because, if given too readily
and too freely it may lose its significance. Yet, many students without
a doubt deserve commendation for a variety of reasons. And on
occasion, it is possible that only one student or only a few students
stand out for their accomplishments. For this very reason praise
creates dilemma.”
Make sure you use praise when it is due, that is, when students
have done something well and they deserve to be recognized for doing
so.
INTERACTION PATTERNS
A teacher-in- training wrote the following after he had watched a

film of himself teaching:
“What I had observed was everything I did not want to be as a teacher. My

approach to teaching was teacher-centered and front-staged, where only
I stood in front of the classroom and lectured to my students. They saw no
purpose to what I had planned for today’s lesson, other than listening to a
native speaker talk to them in English.”
Reflections such as this, which we have collected over the years

as teacher trainers, made us realize how easy it is to fall into the
habit of standing in front of our students and talking to them rather
114
CHAPTER 4
than talking and interacting with them. We have already mentioned

earlier in the chapter that this is a ‘chalk and talk’ style of teaching
in which the teacher does not integrate the students into the lesson;
rather, the lesson is a ‘showcase’ of what the teacher has to offer.
This style has little relation to the students’ needs or their process
of language learning, and a lot to do with teachers flexing their
knowledge. Rather than remaining in front of the students for the
entire lesson and keeping control of language in class, teachers need
to facilitate language learning and ultimately language ownership by
varying the way students interact with one another during the lesson.
We call these, interaction patterns, as they tend to repeat themselves
from lesson to lesson. Look at the following table. Initially read the
interaction patterns in the left hand column. For each one consider
the rationale behind each pattern, in other words, what aim would
each pattern achieve.
Interaction
Instructions Rationale
pattern
Pairs instruct students to work This is possibly the most useful interaction
with the person sitting next pattern in class and the most common. There
to him or her. are many uses for pair work, which we will
address in more detail in the next paragraph. in
s s many ways pairwork can be described almost
as a pedagogy in itself because of the various
reasons it is implemented in class.
Trios instruct students to work in The usefulness of this is that it changes the
groups of threes. groupings a little especially if students tend to
work in pairs and generally with the person next
ss ss to him or her.
Mingles in this interaction pattern, This works well when you want to change the
the whole class stands up dynamic in the room, for example if the students
and walks around the room have been seated for a long time during the
talking to as many of the lesson, they get to stretch, add movement to the
other students as possible. class along with talk to all of the students in class.
This helps strengthen the learning community
because students become familiar with one
another, get to know one another more.
115
CHAPTER 7
second language instruction that departs from the traditions that are
popular—though not always effective—in the field. In the remainder
of this chapter, we will look at some basic instructional techniques that
can be used to promote this kind of pedagogy.
TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING USE, MEANING AND FORM
The history of language teaching is extremely rich. It abounds

with methods, materials and activities that were popular at one time or
another and that have been perpetuated until today because of their
effectiveness. Even when most of the methods in language teaching
replaced previous ones, many times throwing away the baby with the
bathwater, we can identify a core set of instructional techniques that
have survived and that can be readily used to teach various aspects of
language. These techniques constitute a very basic toolbox that needs
to be contextualized by teachers taking into account the needs and
motivations of their learners. They can also be supplemented with the
techniques presented in the Classroom Management chapter.
Clarifying use
We have seen above that the context of use is what determines the
grammatical, lexical and phonological realizations of the meaning we
intend to communicate and, because of this, it should be fore fronted at
the time of clarifying the meaning of new phonological features, lexis
or grammar.
The main tool for conveying use is a good situational context
from which the new grammatical, phonological or lexical item can be
clearly elicited and that provides information about the topic and the
participants in the conversation.
Before engaging in disclosing the meaning or the form of a new
item, teachers need to establish the context of use. In order to do that,
the teacher can use questions such as:
• What is the topic here?

• Who are the interlocutors/ Who is the writer?
• Who said/wrote this?
242
CHAPTER 7
• Why did that person say/write this?

• Where is this person?
• Who else is involved?
• If this person says [sample new language], what are the likely
results?
• Why did the person say “X” and not “Y”?
• Let’s draw a picture of this situation.
Clarifying meaning I: Eliciting

Although we have already seen this in Chapter 4, let us review
some basic classroom management techniques. Eliciting means guiding
students towards discovering what you want them to say in the foreign
language. Meaning can be drawn from students and attempting to do
so, means putting in place a dialogic kind of interaction where students
are actually empowered as learners and as individuals.
Eliciting can be done in a variety of ways. You can mime actions,
use pictures, use gestures or facial expression, draw on the board or use
symbols, use color to highlight particular features, use word relations
such as antonymy, synonymy and hyponymy, or use concept questions
(see below).
For example, a teacher is trying to establish the meaning of
the phrasal verb “break up.” For that she designs a short anecdote.
She shows a picture of two teenagers holding hands and elicits the
topic. Then, she mimes that one of the characters is crying and invites
students to speculate why (they broke up). She follows this by asking
two concept questions “Did they use to date?” “Are they dating now?”
She asks students to provide a synonym for “break up.” Finally, she
rounds off this explanation by writing the words “break up” on the
board and drawing a broken heart.
Clarifying meaning II: Concept questions

What does “You should have gone home” mean? It means that:
1. There was some kind of obligation for you to go home, and

2. You didn’t fulfill an obligation. Or, in simpler language:
3. Someone (maybe a doctor) told you to go home
4. You didn’t.
243
CHAPTER 7
Now, if we turn these statements into questions, we get concept

questions:
a. Did the doctor tell you to go home? (Yes)

b. Did you go home? (No)
Correct answers indicate that the learners understand the

meaning.
Concept questions are one way of checking concept. They are
designed to highlight (for the student) the meaning of the new linguistic
point, be it phonology, vocabulary or structure.
They are particularly useful when trying to elicit the language
because they aim the student in the right direction. Also, they focus
attention on meaning once you have provided the new language item.
By nature, concept questions should be simple to understand
and to answer. You’re not supposed to be testing the students’
comprehension of the question. Hence, they should contain familiar
vocabulary and structures but not the word/s for the item being taught.
Most concept questions probably have YES/NO answers but it is
useful to also follow them up with some more complex WH- questions
whose answers come from the context.
You can repeat concept questions any time during the lesson,
especially if you think the students haven’t really got the meaning.
They can also be written up on the board together with the structure/
word/etc. to serve as a reminder.
How to Make Concept Questions

• Reduce the language to be taught to a number of simple
statements (usually two or three) that describe the MEANING
of that language item.
• Turn those statements into questions, and ask the learners.
244
CHAPTER 7
Clarifying Meaning and Form: Gestures, Boardwork and Cuisenaire

rods.
Using gestures: Your fingers
Using your fingers, you can provide learners with information on
stress, intonation, grammar and even features of connected speech.
Look at the examples below:
She read a novel.
read
a
She novel
Here the teacher is drawing students’ attention to the word order

of the sample sentence. The teacher can point to specific items and
even bend the fingers depicting unstressed words in the sentence to
show rhythm.
The teacher can also demonstrate weak forms by putting her
fingers together to show rhythm or pinch a particular fingertip in order
to signal that something is missing.
Other gestures that can be used are the following:
Intonation pattern Gesture with arm (rising or falling)

Word stress Beat correct rhythm, raise finger or draw: ooOo
Word order Gesture with both hands or one hand only
Identifying an incorrect word
Get students to say one word at a time as you use your fingers
and when they get to the incorrect word, bite that finger.
Wrong word/Missing out word Count on fingers until you get to mistake and grab the finger
where the word is missing. Signal for students to provide the
missing word or correct the wrong one.
Confusion of time Point forwards or backwards
Contraction left out Put two fingers together
Table 7.4 – A typology of gestures to support language learning
245
CHAPTER 7
Timelines
When clarifying the meaning of tenses, timelines can help by
providing a graphic representation of a concept. In general, we would
advise to draw the timeline after having established meaning via
concept questions. Look at this example of a timeline for the target
sentence: “I have been to Paris three times in my life.”
present
I have been to Paris three times
in my life
past future
tree times
When creating timelines:

• clearly establish past, present and future and write the words.
• use consistent symbols. For example, a wavy line for
progressive, a straight line to mark time relationships.
• instead of simply drawing the timeline, ask students questions
that reinforce the concept questions you have asked and get
them to help you build the timeline.
• use target sentences that students have already seen and that
are contextualized.
Using Cuisenaire rods

Cuisenaire rods are a set of colored sticks measuring from 1 to
10 centimeters. They were originally developed for the teaching of
Mathematics, but Caleb Gattegno, creator of The Silent Way, used
them to teach language. Rods are a flexible tool that allows the teacher
to create different situations where meaning can be easily elicited. Rods
are also useful in teaching pronunciation (both stress and rhythm) and
also grammar. Take a look at the following photographs.
246
CHAPTER 7
Photo 1
Because they come in different sizes, are colorful, and can be

manipulated in many ways to create very straightforward linguistic
situations, rods help create memorable experiences.
Photo 2
For example, take a look at how to establish the difference

between “She has visited Paris three times” and “I have visited Paris
three times in photo 2. Students can manipulate shapes and colors and
actually “see” grammar in action.
Photo 3
247
CHAPTER 7
If students have difficulty stressing a word, you can also use the
rods to mark stress. Photo 3 shows the stress pattern for the word “PAris.”
Photo 4
Also, as you can see in picture 4, you can use the rods to mark
stressed and unstressed syllables in a sentence thus marking its rhythm,
e.g. “SHE has NEVER BEEN to FRANCE.”
Additionally, you can create situations with the rods and thus help
learners discover the meaning of new language. Each rod can stand
for a person in the situation and, since they can be moved around, you
can develop a context for students to notice the new language in a
non-written way.
Rods are a flexible tool that can help you highlight use, meaning
and form of grammar and pronunciation. They engage students
because of their color as well as the chance to manipulate them. Thus,
they are a wonderful and economical teaching resource.
Working on form: Substitution tables

Substitution tables were a frequent technique in Audio Lingual
times. They were used to clarify form and also to provide practice
opportunities. Today, we can use substitution tables to highlight the form
of a new grammatical item, as well as to engage students in controlled
repetition of sample sentences. For example, the substitution table on
the left can be used to practice both the affirmative and negative forms
of the present perfect. We introduced the new grammar item with a
situation about a person who is visiting Paris.
248
CHAPTER 7
You may make the tables as simple or as complex as you want.

The important thing to remember is that the sentences they contain
must be contextualized to the situation used to highlight the use and
meaning of the new item. In our case above, you can ask students to
use the table to say as many true sentences about the situation we used
to introduce the item as possible.
Encourage students to copy the substitution tables in their
notebooks and to use them to practice making sentences applying
the new grammar item. Substitution tables are an efficient way of
highlighting how the new item is syntactically organized at the level of
the sentence, while providing a controlled way of practicing the new
pattern in a meaningful context.
Beginning practice: A few words on Drilling

Drills are another technique derived from the Audio Lingual
Approach. While in that approach, the whole lesson involved oral and
written drills, as it was believed they established good verbal habits,
nowadays we know we can use them mostly to provide students
practice with pronunciation. Pronouncing in a new language is mostly
a motor skill. The different organs of articulation may be used in ways
that are unfamiliar to us in our L1. Hence, we can say that the only way
to master the pronunciation of a new language is through practice and
repetition. We cannot simply construct a new pronunciation —meaning
we rationally figure out how it works— we must actively verbalize our
understanding of segmentals and suprasegmentals. Also, drills are a
useful way of helping with “the tripping of the tongue,” i.e. the sequence
249
CHAPTER 7
of articulation necessary to enunciate longer stretches of sound in a

foreign language.
Drills should not dominate the class. They should be done at a
brisk pace, maintaining the natural rhythm and intonation of spoken
English, and always contextualizing them to the situational context
used to introduce the new item.
A procedure for drilling
• Elicit or tell learners the word or sentence you want students

to practice saying.
• Get everyone’s attention onto it. Say “Listen!” and put your
hand to your ear. When everyone is looking at you say the
word or sentence at natural speed, clearly, two or three times.
Then, highlight the stressed syllable, the number of syllables,
the contractions on your fingers or on the board or with
Cuisenaire rods while you say it again. If you write any words
on the board to show learners, then erase them after this step
so they listen to you after they’ve seen it.
• Say the target sentence (or play it on tape). Accompany this by
beating on the desk or clapping your hands to mark stress and
rhythm, using the right intonation and at natural speed.
• Get the whole group to repeat after you in unison. This is called
choral repetition. If they experience problems because of the
length of the sentence, use back chaining. This means, building
up the sample sentence from the end to the beginning always
using meaningful chunks. For example: “/I have visited Paris
three times in my life/.../life/.../my life/.../in my life/…/
Paris/.../visited Paris/.../I have visited Paris/.../I have visited
Paris three times in my life/.”
• After choral repetition, you may want to have individuals
repeat. One frequent procedure is to nominate a student to
repeat who, in turn, nominates another student. This is called
open pairs repetition. Finally, you can put students in pairs for
them to take turns cueing each other and repeating the sample
sentences. This is called closed pairs repetition.
250
CHAPTER 7
• Avoid comments such as “Great!” or “Fantastic!” and refrain

from saying “Repeat.” Instead use gestures to indicate when
you want students to repeat.
Types of drills
• Verbatim repetition – learners repeat exactly what the teacher

has said.
T: I have visited Paris three times in my life.
Ss: I have visited Paris three times in my life.
• Single-slot substitution – teacher gives a model and provides

one word for learners to substitute in that model.
T: I have visited Paris three times in my life… Rome
Ss: I have visited Rome three times in my life.
T: Four
Ss: I have visited Rome four times in my life.
• Multiple slot substitution – teacher gives a model and provides

two or more words for learners to substitute in that model.
T: I have visited Paris three times in my life...Rome/four
Ss: I have visited Rome four times in my life.
T: She/five
Ss: She has visited Rome five times in her life.
• Moving slot substitution – teacher provides a model and a word

for learners to substitute. This word changes category (noun,
verb, adjective, etc.) with each new repetition.
T: I have visited Paris three times in my life...Rome
Ss: I have visited Rome three times in my life.
T: She
Ss: She has visited Rome three times in her life.
T: not
Ss: She has not visited Rome three times in her life.
251
Warmers, Fillers & Coolers
Activity Book
A Collection of Short Stories to Engage Your Students
Introduction Effective warmers, filler & coolers
It is important to have a collection of such short activities to help structure your Effective warmers, filllers and coolers have
lessons or provide a change of pace in the middle of a lesson. You can plan to use
warmer and cooler activities like book ends at the beginning and end of your lesson. 5 basic features:
Warmers, fillers and coolers are short 5-10 minute activities used to engage learners, • They are short (ideally 5-10 minutes only).
fill time during a lesson or to end a lesson on a positive note. They can either be • They are fun and engaging.
related to the aim or theme of the lesson or act as short, stand alone activities. • They are simple to explain.
• They require little preparation.
Warmer: to engage learners at the beginning of a lesson.
This guide provides you with some example warmer, filler and cooler activities.
Filler: to change the pace of the lesson in the middle of the lesson. Activities are categorized for ease of reference according to warmer, filler and cooler
activities. However, activities can always be adapted and used at different points of
Cooler: to consolidate/round-off a lesson, leave students on a high. the lesson. Such variations are suggested.
It is also useful to have a number of activities up your sleeve to use as fillers if you
feel your lesson is running shorter than expected or you feel students would benefit
from a change of pace within the lesson. Effective warmers, filllers and coolers have
Contents
A-Z Board Race 2 Find Your Partner 22

A-Z Sequencing 4 Hot Potato 26
Ball Game 6 I Spy 28
Categories 8 I Went to the Shops 30
Chinese Whispers 10 Interview by Proxy 32
Coins 12 Intro Star 34
Describe the Picture 14 Liar! Liar! 36
Describe Yourself 16 Making Pizza 38
Filling a Hand 18 Tongue Twisters 40
Find Someone Who 20
Back to the Board 43 Minimal Pairs 63

Blockbusters 45 Noughts and Crosses 65
Carry on the Story 47 Personal Association 67
Change Places 49 Pictionary 69
Charades 51 Question Mill Drill 71
Consequences 53 Revision Tennis 73
Dice Story 55 Running Dictation 75
Five Things Game 57 Scrabble 77
Fortunately, 59 Songs and Music 79
Unfortunately
Air Word 84 Making Plans 104

Anagrams 86 Memory Game 106
Bingo 88 Odd One Out 108
Crossword 90 Simon Says 110
Diary 92 Sing a Song 112
Experts 94 Spelling Game 114
Hangman 96 Story Time 116
Just a Minute 98
Lesson Review 100
Lexical Sets 102
Top 7 Tips
These are the basic principles that make a TEFL class great. They’re easy to forget, so refresh your
memory (and your teaching!) by coming back to them now and again.
1. Throw yourself into teaching
Give it your all, and have fun (your students are much more nervous than you are! Remember what it was
like when you learned a language?). Encourage and motivate your learners. Make your classroom a positive
and enjoyable experience.
2. Have an aim
The most important thing is that your lesson needs an aim.
3. Be organised
Familiarise yourself with any new content you’re going to teach. Make a running sheet. Have your
materials ready to go. Make sure the equipment works. Take a spare whiteboard marker.
4. Get students talking – to each other
This isn’t just about making a lesson lively and fun (although that’s a big plus). Learning English is a skill, like
learning to swim or cook. Your students need to practise English, not just learn about English. And the best
way to make sure students get lots of practice is if they talk to each other, in pairs and groups, or mingling
as a whole class. (Don’t make all the practice through you, or only one student gets to talk at a time).
5. Start a lesson with a warmer
A warmer is a simple activity, preferably something active and fun, where students talk to each other. As
you know, it’s easy to feel awkward and shy with a big group of people. A warmer removes that anxiety. It
helps students feel relaxed and confident enough to speak for the rest of the lesson. In a warmer, students
should be interacting in small groups or mingling – definitely not talking one at a time to the whole class.
That’s the opposite of a warmer!
6. Use variety
As you know, there’s nothing worse than a boring class. But making a class interesting isn’t about playing
games all the time, and avoiding anything ‘heavy’. Rather, it’s about variety. Vary the skills your students are
practising (listening, speaking, reading, writing) as well as the pace and physical activity (sitting, standing,
mingling, running). Keep the expression ‘light and shade’ in mind – follow a quiet and serious activity with
something fun and high-energy.
7. Instruct clearly
We’ve said it’s important to have students practising in a variety of activities. The one risk that creates
– unlike in a traditional class, where students just have to sit and listen – is that they won’t know what to
do. This is especially so since English is their second language. The result will be chaos! Instruct simply and
clearly, and support your instructions with an example or demonstration.
Warmer Class Activity
A-Z Board Race
Activity Warmer
Level Pre-Intermediate (low B1)+
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To revise Vocabulary
Target Language Lexical Sets
Length 10 Minutes
Resources Pen and Paper per Pair/Group
Usefulness of this activity

This activity is useful to revise or recycle vocabulary before a vocabulary presentation lesson. The
activity can easily identify gaps in learners’ knowledge. The activity encourages learners to work in
pairs/teams and introduces an element of competition which, in itself is engaging.
Procedure
1. Organise students in pairs or small groups.
2. Ask learners to write the letters of the alphabet down the left hand side of a piece of paper.
3. Introduce the topic e.g. jobs, adjectives etc. and ask learners to think of one lexical item per
letter. For example, if the topic is ‘jobs’, learners can write ‘artist’, ‘baker’, ‘chef’… Give learners a
time limit eg. 7 minutes.
4. Students should aim to write 1 lexical item for as many letters as possible. The winning team is the
team with the most correct lexical items for the most letters.
Variation
Filler - This activity can easily be used as a vocabulary recycling activity for vocabulary learned in
previous lessons.
Cooler – This activity could be adapted into an oral recycling activity at the end of the lesson to
consolidate learning. You can nominate learners and ask them to provide a lexical item with a certain
letter.
www.premiertefl.com • info@premiertefl.com 2
A-Z Sequencing
Activity Warmer
Level Elementary (A2)+
Age Young Learners/Teens/Adults
Objective To promote team-work & mix students up
Target Language Basic forms to find out personal info
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This activity is useful if you want to change your students’ places to help with classroom management.
It is a tactful way of doing this as your students will be ordered in a random way. The activity also
appeals to kinaesthetic learners as it involves movement. Though short, the activity encourages
learners to speak to many different students. The activity could be adapted easily to revise certain
grammatical structures or aimed at different learner levels.
Procedure
1. Ask students to stand up behind their chair.
2. As a class they have to change places according to what you say:
3. In the alphabetical order of their first names.
4. In the order of height – tallest to shortest.
5. In the order of their dates of birth – January to December.
6. Students mingle to find the order and sit down in different places.
Variation
Filler - This activity could be used after a break to engage learners or used before a pair - work or
group - work activity to change pairs or groups.
Cooler – This activity could be adapted to revise certain grammatical structures or vocabulary items
at the end of a lesson.
Ball Game
Activity Warmer
Level Pre-Intermediate (Low B1)+
Objective To encourage fluency and revise language
Target Language Question forms
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Ball, white board and pens

This activity is designed to encourage fluency as learners do not know when they will be asked to
speak. The activity also appeals to kinaesthetic learners as it involves movement. The activity could be
adapted easily to revise certain grammatical structures or aimed at different learner levels.
Procedure
1. Arrange the students in a circle if possible.
2. Write a selection of questions on the board, revising previously taught language lessons.
3. Throw a ball to one of your students and ask one of the questions.
4. The student answers the question then throws the ball to another student and asks him/her a
question. The 2nd student answers the question then throws the ball to another student and
repeats the procedure.
5. Encourage learners to choose students at random.
Variation
Filler - This activity could easily be used as a filler to practise question forms.
Filler - The activity could be used to revise vocabulary with students saying a vocabulary item
beginning with ‘A’, then throwing the ball to another student who needs to think of a vocabulary item
in the same topic beginning with ‘B’ and so on.
A-Z Categories
Activity Warmer
Objective To revise vocabulary
Target Language Lexical sets of previously taught vocabulary
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Pen and paper per pair/group. White board

This activity is useful for revising vocabulary. The activity encourages teamwork and competition
between teams so is engaging and motivating for learners.
Procedure
1. Write a list of at least 3 categories on the board in a grid like so:

Letter
Jobs Animals Adjectives

M

K

2. Tell the students they will be working in pairs/groups to think of a lexical item for each category
beginning with a certain letter. You could give them an example to demonstrate eg ‘M’
mechanic/monkey/mischievous.
3. Tell the students that the aim of the game is to be the quickest to write 1 word per category.
When they’ve done so, they must raise their hand. The winning group gets to choose the
next letter and gets a point.
Chinese whispers
Activity Warmer
Objective To practice listening for detail
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources white board and pens

This activity is useful for encouraging learners to listen for detail. Chinese whispers also draws
learners’ attention to features of connected speech eg. weak sounds. This becomes shortened and
often lost in a game of Chinese whispers.
Procedure
1. Arrange the students in a circle.
2. Give the student at the end of a circle a pen and explain that the class will be whispering a
sentence and he/she will need to write the sentence on the board at the end of the activity.
3. Whisper a short sentence or question to the first student. They then whisper the sentence to the
second student and so on until the last student hears the sentence and writes it on the board.
4. Once the sentence is written on the board, analyse what went wrong with the message during
the game e.g. are articles missing? Focus on features of connected speech if appropriate.
Variation
Warmer - Once learners get familiar with this activity, you can vary it by sending 2 whispers in
different directions. Students can also think of whispers to send around the class too.
Coins
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice speaking despite distractions
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources A coin per student

This activity is useful for practising speaking despite distractions which mirrors real-life spoken
interactions. The activity encourages fluency as students have to think of 2 different things at the
same time, not just focus on speaking only.
Procedure
1. Arrange the students in pairs.
2. Ask each student to find a coin or something similar.
3. Tell the students that they are going to have a conversation with each other and need to keep the
conversation going. You can give them the topic of the conversation or allow them to choose.
However, while they are speaking, they also need to try to steal their partner’s coin. They get 1
point per coin steal.
4. Ask learners to hold out their hand palm-down in front of them and place the coin on the top of
their hand.
5. Students then start their conversation, keeping the conversation going while also trying to steal
their partner’s coin.
6. The activity lasts for a certain amount of time and the students with the most coin steals per pair
win.
Variation
Filler - This could easily be used as a filler to provide a change of focus.
Describe the picture
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice story-writing
Target Language Narrative Tenses, Present Continuous
Length 10 Minutes
A large picture or a series of smaller
Resources
pitures, white board

This activity is useful for practising narrative tenses or Present Continuous for actions in progress
now. This activity appeals to creative students and visual learners.
Procedure
1. Arrange the students in small groups.
2. Put a large picture or a series of small pictures on the board.
3. Tell the students that they have 10 minutes to write a short story about the picture or pictures.
Encourage learners to be creative. For lower level learners, you could ask them to write a series
of sentences about the pictures rather than a story.
4. Give students approx. 8 mins to write their story.
5. Ask students to read the stories and vote on the best story.
Variation
Warmer – Instead of pictures, you could just write a few previously learned words on the board and
ask learners to incorporate these into a story.
Filler – This activity could easily be used as a filler to practise narrative tenses.
Describe Yourself
Activity Warmer
Objective To practice listening for detail
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources white board and pens

This activity is useful for revising adjectives of personality. This can be used as an effective ‘get to
know you’ activity with a new class to learn the students’ first names..
Procedure
1. Arrange the students in a circle.
2. Tell the students to think of an adjective of personality which best describes them but must start
with the first letter of their name. You can give them an example using your own name eg ‘kind
Kevin’, ‘lovely Laura’
3. Ask the first student to introduce themselves eg ‘Hello, I’m mysterious Maria’. The next student
then introduces themselves but also repeats the first student’s introduction eg ‘Hello. I’m young
Yoko, this is mysterious Maria’. In this example, the third student would introduce themselves
then introduce Yoko and Maria and so on.
4. The teacher is the last person to introduce themselves and must repeat all the students’ names
and adjectives.
Variation
Warmer – For a larger class, you could encourage students to mingle and introduce themselves to as
many people as possible. The teacher then tests the learners to see how many people can remember
certain learners’ adjectives.
Filling a hand
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To get to know eachother
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Paper and pen per student

This is a fun icebreaker activity and would work well with a group of students who need to get to know
each other better. Example: at the start of a course.
Procedure
1. Arrange students in pairs.
2. Ask learners to draw around their partner’s hand.
3. Ask learners to ask each other a series of personal information questions. They then need to write
the answers to these questions in the hand print example: How many brothers and sisters do you
have? 3
4. Once students have written answers to at least 6 questions in the hand print, the hand prints are
collected by the teacher and distributed randomly to different students.
5. The students mingle with their new hand print and try to find its owner asking students questions
to find matching answers example: ‘how many brothers and sisters do you have?’.
Variation
Warmer – Instead of just answers to the questions, students could write a short summary of their
conversation in the hand print eg ‘I’m 16 years old…..who am I?
Find Someone Who
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice asking for information
Target Language Target Language Question forms
Length 10 Minutes
Resources A pre-prepared worksheet
This is a well-known EFL icebreaker activity which works well with a group of students who need to
get to know each other better e.g. at the start of a course.
Procedure
Hand each student a worksheet like the one below:
Find someone who... Name
1.
2.
3.
You can change the questions on the sheet to suit your student’s age, learner level and interests.
Suitable questions could include: find someone who likes chicken/can juggle/has been to France and
so on. A maximum of 10 questions is generally sufficient. If appropriate quickly review the question
forms the students need to use e.g. ‘Find someone who likes chicken’ question = do you like chicken?
Students need to mingle and ask different students the questions and get a different name for each
question. The winning student is the first to complete their sheet.
Variation
Filler - this activity can be used to practise specific grammatical forms e.g. present perfect. Students
could also write their own questions.
Find Your Partner
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To revise collocations, to mix students up
Target Language Collocations
Length 3-5 Minutes
Resources Pre-prepared Collocations on paper slips

This is a useful way of mixing students up before carrying out a pairwork activity. This appeals to
kinaesthetic learners as the activity involves movement and mingling.
Procedure
1. Prepare a set of two halves of collocations on slips of paper.
2. Give each student one half of a collocation and tell them they need to mingle with their
classmates to find a partner with the other half of the collocation. Suitable half collocations could
be ‘fish and’ ‘chips’. With more advanced students you could use sentence halves. e.g. ‘I was
watching television’ ‘when the phone rang’.
3. Once each pair has found each other, ask them to sit down as a pair.
4. Quickly check the collocations once all students have finished.
Variation
Filler - this activity can be used to practise specific grammatical forms e.g. ‘I was watching television/
when the phone rang’. Once pairs have found each other, you could ask them to think of alternative
endings to their sentence headers e.g. ‘I was watching television/when the lights went off.
The difference between a beginning teacher and an
experienced one is that the beginning teacher asks,
“How am I doing?” and the experienced teacher asks,
“How are the children doing?”
~Esmé Raji Codell
Hot Potato
Activity Warmer
Target Language Vocabulary
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Ball

This is a fun way of revising vocabulary and can easily be adapted to different learner levels.
Procedure
1. Tell students that you are going to do an activity to practice word associated with the previous
word e.g. synonym or antonym. You could give a few examples e.g. ‘elephant’, ‘big’, ‘small’, ‘pea’
etc.
2. Say a word then throw the ball to a random student. The student must think of a word as quickly
as possible (eg within 5 seconds) before passing on the ‘hot potato’ to another student.
Variation
Warmer – for more advanced students you could ask learners to think of words that are not
associated with the previous word e.g. ‘elephant’, ‘computer’. Students can then challenge and give an
argument to say how the two words could be contacted e.g. you could have pictures of an elephant
on a computer.
I Spy
Activity Warmer
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This is a fun way of revising vocabulary and can easily be adapted to different learner levels.
Procedure
1. Tell students that you are going to think of an object that can be seen in the classroom or outside
the window. You will give them the first letter of the word and they must guess the word. For
example, ‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with c’
2. The student who guesses correctly then becomes the spy and repeats the activity.
Variation
Warmer - For more advanced students, you could carry out an I Spy simulation. Ask learners to
imagine they are in a different setting e.g. a desert then carry out the I Spy game encouraging
learners to guess vocabulary items they can see in these settings. Example: ‘I spy with my little eye
something beginning with C’ = ‘camel’
I Went to the Shops
Activity Warmer
Level Pre-Intermediate (B1)+
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This is a fun way of revising vocabulary and appeals to learners who enjoy memory games.
Procedure
1. Arrange students in a circle.
2. Tell students you are going to revise vocabulary and also play a memory game.
3. Start the activity by saying ‘I went to the shops and bought..’ plus a lexical item e.g. ‘bananas. The
first student repeats your sentence but adds another item e.g. ‘I went to the shops and bought
bananas and crisps. The second student then adds another lexical item e.g. ‘I went to the shops
and bought bananas, crisps and sandwiches’.
Variation
Warmer - This can be adapted to practice adjectives for personality e.g. ‘my grandmother’s
cat is a kind cat’, ‘my grandmother’s cat is a kind, smelly cat’.
Interview by Proxy
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective Freer speaking practice
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This is a useful activity to use with a class that already knows each other but is new to the teacher.
This activity appeals to creative students.
Procedure
1. Ask students to write some questions to ask the teacher. The teacher chooses a student and asks
him/her to sit or stand at the front of the class. The teacher informs the class that this student
is now you and will be answering the questions as if they were you. If possible, try to choose a
stronger or more confident student for this task.
2. The students ask the ‘teacher’ their questions and he/she must answer as if they were the teacher
e.g. ‘Are you married? Yes, I am. Encourage the student to be creative. They do not need to tell
the truth. In fact, it is more fun if they do not.
3. Once the initial interview by proxy has taken place, ask the interviewed student to choose a
fellow student. The new student then pretends they are the original student and the activity
repeats with the new student answering as if they were the original student.
Variation
Warmer - this could be adapted to practice specific language.
Example - present perfect, in the same format example ‘Have you ever ridden a horse?’.
Intro Star
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To get to know eachother
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Whiteboard, pens, and paper

This is a useful activity to use with a class that already knows each other but is new to the teacher.
Procedure
1. Draw a simple 5-sided star on the board and write 5 pieces of information on the board about
yourself e.g. a name of a family member, an important date and so on.
2. Students must ask questions to find out the significance of the information you have written
e.g. ‘Is Simon your husband?’ or ‘Is red your favourite colour?’ Once students have guessed all
your information correctly, tell them they are going to carry out a similar activity in small groups.
Students draw a 5-sided star in their noteboaks and 5 pieces of information.
3. In small groups (3-4), students look at each others’ stars and ask questions to find out the
significance of the information each learner have written down.
4. In a short feedback session, ask a few learners to tell the class some interesting information they
learned from someone in their group e.g. ‘Maria has 2 cats’.
Variation
Warmer – Instead of writing 5 words, students could write 5 sentences in answer to 5 questions e.g.
‘My favourite hobby is playing the guitar.’ Students then need to ask additional questions to find out
more information eg ‘What kind of music do you like to play?’, ‘How long have you been playing the
guitar?
Liar! Liar!
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Objective Freer speaking practice
Target Language Present perfect for experiences/past
simple for past events
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Pen and paper per student

Procedure
1. Tell the students to write 3 sentences about 3 experiences or past events. 2 of the sentences
must be true and 1 must be a lie.
2. Students mingle and read their 3 sentences. Fellow students need to ask additional questions to
see if they can work out which sentence is a lie.
Variation
Warmer – this can also be used as a get to know you activity with learners writing 3 pieces of
personal information. Classmates need to guess which one is a lie.
Filler – in three’s, students choose a lie event or experience that is true for one person in their group
e.g. ‘I’ve eaten snake’. Each student needs to write a convincing story to convince the rest of the class
that this is their experience. Each student reads their story and gets asked questions by the class. The
class needs to choose which student is telling the truth i.e. is this their life experience?
Making Pizza
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Target Language None
Objective A physical NLP inspired activity to start
the class on a high
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This activity is inspired by the application of NLP in EFL and the principle that the body and mind
are connected. The idea is that a physical activity at the start of the class can encourage the mind
to work more effectively. The activity appeals to kinaesthetic learners, this activity involves physical
contact between students, care must be taken when using this activity with certain cultures.
Procedure
1. Tell the students they are going to have a physical warm-up activity before class. Tell the students
to stand up and in pairs front to back. One student is going to make pizza and the other student is
the pizza.
2. Describe the process of making pizza and encourage students to mime these actions on their
partners backs e.g. kneading the dough – knead your partner’s back, pour onthe tomato sauce –
circular motions on your partner’s back and so on.
3. Students then switch places and repeat the activity.
Variation
Warmer – there are a number of NLP-inspired activities that can be used in class. These include
touching your left leg with your right hand and vice versa to encourage connections between
different sides of the body and mind.
Tongue Twisters
Activity Warmer
Age Teens/Adults
Target Language Pronunciation of certain words
Objective To practice pronunciation of difficult
sounds
Length 5-10 minutes
Resources Whiteboard and pens

This is a fun way of practising certain phonemes which may be difficult for learners.
Procedure
1. Divide the class into small teams.
2. Write a tongue twister on the board and chorus it a couple of times with the whole class. Suitable
tongue twisters include ‘She sells sea-shells on the sea shore’
3. Give students time to practise the tongue twister in small groups. Ask students at random to
stand up and repeat the tongue twister. The student who says it the fastest with the fewest
mistakes is the winner.
Variation
Filler – you could adapt this further for advanced learners by using a short nonsense poem from
Lewis Carroll or a similar poet.
Section 2
FILLER
ACTIVITIES
Filler Class Activity
Back to the Board
Activity Filler
Age Teens/Adults
Target Language Lexical sets
Length 10 Minutes
Resources Pen & paper per pair/group

Procedure
1. Organize students in pairs or small groups. Ask learners to write the letters of the alphabet down
the left hand side of a piece of paper.
2. Introduce the topic eg jobs, adjectives etc. and ask learners to think of one lexical item per letter.
For Example, if the topic is ‘jobs’, learners can write ‘artist’, ‘baker’, ‘chef’. Give learners a time
limit e.g. 7 minutes. Students should aim to write 1 lexical item for as many letters as possible.
3. The winning team is the team with the most correct lexical items for the most letters.
Variation
Filler – this activity can easily be used as a vocabulary recycling activity for vocabulary learned in
previous lessons.
Cooler – this activity could be adapted into an oral recycling activity at the end of the lesson to
letter.
43 www.premiertefl.com • info@premiertefl.com
Blockbuster
Activity Filler
Age Teens/Adults
Length 15-30 Minutes
Resources Prepared Blockbuster board

This is based on the quiz game ‘Blockbusters’, popular on UK/US television in the 1980s, in which
a board is prepared with letters representing words and phrases. It is competitive in nature and
involves all students. It can easily be adapted to all learner levels. Once you have prepared a blank
‘Blockbuster’ board, this can be used time and time again.
Procedure
1. Prepare a Blockbuster board like the one below plus a list of vocabulary items. Write the first
letter of the vocabulary items in each hexagon.

2. Divide the class into 2 teams and tell the students that one team needs to answer questions
correctly making a line from top to bottom and the other team needs to go from left to right.
3. Team A chooses a square and says ‘Can I have a clue for ‘C’, please?’ The teacher reads a clue
describing the vocabulary item starting with C e.g. ‘It’s a 4-legged pet’. If the team answer
correctly e.g. ‘cat’, they own this hexagon. If not the other team can steal the hexagon by
guessing correctly.
4. The activity continues until one team creates a line of correct answers.
Carry on the Story
Activity Filler
Objective To practice syntax and punctuation
Target Language Any
Resources None

This is a fun activity which appeals to creative learners. It can easily be adapted to all learner levels.
Procedure
1. Arrange the students in a circle. Tell the students that they are going to tell a story but are
going to add 1 word per student at a time. Start the story with a single word e.g. ‘yesterday’. The
student to your left then adds a word, the second student adds a word and so on. For example,
‘yesterday’, ‘I’, ‘saw’. Students can opt to add a punctuation mark instead of a word e.g. ‘comma.’
2. The activity continues until the students have built a short story.
Variation
Filler – to make this activity more challenging you can ask learners to create a never-ending
sentence, encouraging learners to incorporate sub-clauses, conjunctions and descriptive words. This
stretches more advanced learners, especially if you introduce a penalty for students who use ‘full-
stop’.
Change Places
Activity Filler
Target Language Lexical sets or grammatical structures
Objective To practice vocabulary or grammatical
structures
Length 5-10 minutes
Resources None

Procedure
1. Organise students in pairs or small groups. Arrange the students in a circle. Remove 1 chair so all
the students are seated and you, as the teacher, are standing.
2. Tell the students that you are going to say a statement. If the statement is true for them, they
must stand up and sit in a different circle. For example, ‘change places if you are wearing jeans.’
All students wearing jeans must change places. The student left without a chair is ‘it’ and must ask
the next question.
3. The activity continues until most students have had a change to be ‘it’.
Variation
Filler – for lower level students, you can use this activity to practise vocabulary items such as
clothing e.g. ‘Change places if you are wearing jeans’. For higher level students you can use it to
practise structures such as present perfect for experiences e.g. ‘Change places if you’ve been to
France’.t
Charades
Activity Filler
Target Language Lexical Sets
Objective To practice vocabulary or grammatical
structures
Length 5-10 minutes
Resources None

This is a fun activity which involves movement, appealing to kinaesthetic learners.
Procedure
1. Tell learners that they will be practising vocabulary or grammatical structures by miming then
guessing the word or sentence. Present continuous lends itself very well to this activity e.g. ‘I’m
eating an apple’. You may wish to demonstrate.
2. Ask 1 student to come to the front of the class and give them a slip of paper with a lexical item or
sentence written on it.
3. Students mime the word or sentence. Others students guess.
4. The student to guess correctly wins and is asked to do the next charade. The activity is repeated.
Variation
Filler – The activity can be adapted by asking learners to draw on the board or giving them the option
to draw or mime.
Filler – if you have a larger class, this activity would work better in groups rather than whole class so
students have more opportunities to mime.
Consequences
Activity Filler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To write a short story
Target Language Narrative tenses
Resources A sheet of paper per student

This is a fun writing activity which appeals to creative learners.
Procedure
1. Give a sheet of paper to each student. Explain that they will be writing a simple story following a
set pattern:
2. (Name of Boy) met
3. (Name of Girl)
4. In (Place)
5. He said to her
6. She said to him
7. And the consequence was…
8. Give a simple example of a story using the above format. Explain that the students should write
the first line only, then fold the paper down so no-one can read what has been written.
9. The paper is then passed to the next student who writes the next part of the story then
10. passes to the next student. This continues until all the stories have been completed.
11. The students then read all the stories and vote on the best one.
Variation
Filler – the activity can be adapted by using different sentence headers.
Dice Story
Activity Filler
Objective To aid fluency and practice listening skills
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Dice

This is a useful activity to practise fluency and appeals to creative students.
Procedure
1. Write on the board ‘Tell a ………. story’
2. Funny
3. Happy
4. Love
5. Frightening
6. Sad
7. Recent
8. Students either come up to the front individually or work in small groups.
9. Students take it in turns to throw the dice and tell the appropriate story.
10. Encourage students to tell a creative, rather than a true story..
Variation
Filler – you can use this activity to practise vocabulary by assigning each number a category
eg. 1, jobs. Students roll the dice and have to say a vocabulary item in the category
assigned to the number on the dice.
Five Things Game
Activity Filler
Objective To practice vocabulary
Target Language Vocabulary items
Resources Prepared categories, pen & paper per team

This is a useful activity to revise and recyle vocabulary. This activity involves competition so is
motivating for learners.
Procedure
1. Think of a few categories or groups of lexical items and prepare these on slips of paper. For
example, ‘Things made of Leather’. Divide your class into 2 large teams and give each team a
category. Tell students they have a few minutes to write down 5 items for their category. Tell
students the other team will try to guess what they have written down so they should avoid
writing down obvious items. For example, for ‘things made of leather’, ‘bag’ is an obvious answer
while ‘watch-strap’ is less obvious.
2. Once students have written 5 items for their category, Team A challenges Team B to guess
the items they have written down. Team B has 30 seconds to guess as many items as they can.
If they guess an item Team A has already written down, it is crossed off the list. Team A gets a
point for each unguessed and correct item on their list. The process is repeated with Team B
challenging Team A.
3. The whole process is repeated again with different categories.
Variation
Filler – As an alternative pairwork activity, all students get the same category and get points
for any items other students haven’t written
Fortunately, Unfortunately
Activity Filler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice telling stories or anecdotes
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This is a creative, story-telling activity which appeals to creative learners.
Procedure
1. Arrange students in a circle. Tell students that they are going to tell a story in which good things
and bad things happen, using the words ‘fortunately’ and ‘unfortunately’. You can give them a
simple example e.g. ‘Fortunately, she had a day off work to go to the beach.’ ‘Unfortunately, it
started raining.’ ‘Fortunately, she had an umbrella’…
2. Start the story off with a starter sentence. The next student says ‘Unfortunately….’ The next
student carries the story on using ‘Fortunately,…’ and so on.
Variation
Filler – This activity can be adapted by using other linker words and constructions e.g. conditional
clauses.
Plan for Success
Some tips to help you feel
confident and prepared:
Go over rules on the first day: before starting class, know how you’ll handle bathroom
breaks, cell phones in class, etc. On the first day, go over your expectations with your
class so everyone’s on the same page.
Use your voice

Your tone and volume have a lot of power. A loud, clear voice can help students stay
engaged in your lessons. But a loud, stressed voice will convey nervousness. Keep your
tone calm, and remember, the way you use your voice will influence everything!
Build Rapport
When students respect you, you’ll see a big difference in their behavior. But respect
goes two-ways in the classroom, so show an interest in getting to know your students,
and ask them how their day is going. When you forge individual connections, it really
makes a difference.
Find your allies

The allies are the students who will help quiet their friends down when you’re trying to
get the group’s attention - a big help!
Get advice: Reading different blogs and articles will set you on the right track.
Minimal Pairs
Activity Filler
Level Level Elementary (A2)+
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice pronunciation
Target Language Phonemes
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a useful activity to practise pronunciation of similar phonemes.
Procedure
1. Think about a minimal pair to exemplify the difference between 2 phonemes. For example, ‘ship’
and ‘sheep’ Drill the difference in pronunciation between the two words and label both words with
the appropriate phoneme.
2. Ask learners to write down as many words as they can with the two sounds. Write some good
examples on the board and use these examples to provide further practice for learners.
Variation
Filler – As an extension activity, ask learners to prepare a short dialogue using some of the words
written on the board. Students practise these dialogues, containing examples of both phonemes.
Noughts and Crosses
Activity Filler
Age Teens/Adults
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a useful activity to revise vocabulary and is very simple.
Procedure
1. Draw a large Noughts and Crosses grid on the board. Have a list of vocabulary related questions
in mind. Divide your class into Teams A and B. Team A is ‘noughts’ and Team B is ‘crosses’. Tell
them the aim of the game is to create a line of 3 noughts or crosses to win.
2. Team A chooses a square and must answer the question correctly to claim the square. For
example, ‘something made of leather’. Team B then chooses a square and answers a question and
the activity continues.
3. The team who has a line of 3 noughts or crosses is the winner.
Variation
Cooler – this game can be easily adapted into a quick test to revise grammar and vocabulary learned
in the lesson. For example, ‘tell me a synonym of ‘smile’ we read in the reading passage’ etc.
Personal Association
Activity Filler
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a useful activity to revise vocabulary in a personalised, memorable way.
Procedure
1. Think of a lexical set of vocabulary items you wish learners to revise. Think of an appropriate
object students can draw. Students will then write the lexical items within this object. For
example, for a lexical set of words related to crime, students can write the words into a picture of
a house.
2. After students have drawn their object, slowly read out the list of items, then ask learners to
write them in the relevant part of their object. Students then discuss why they wrote their items
where they did in their house e.g. ‘I wrote ‘fraud’ in the study because this is mostly done on the
Internet’. Students retain the picture to use as a memory tool.
Variation
Filler - as an alternative pair work activity, all students get the same category and get points for any
items other students haven’t written.
Cooler – this activity could be adapted into an oral recycling activity at the end of the lesson to
letter.
Pictionary
Activity Filler
Age Teens/Adults
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Slips of lexical items, pen and paper set

This is a useful activity to revise vocabulary.
Procedure
1. Think of a lexical set of vocabulary items you wish learners to revise. Prepare these on slips of
paper.
2. Divide learners into small groups and give each group a set of the slips of paper. Each group has a
large piece of paper. A member of the group takes a slip of paper and has 30 seconds to draw the
lexical items for other members of the group to guess. The member of the group who guesses
correctly then takes a turn.
3. The winner is the group member who guesses the most items correctly.
Variation
Filler – as an alternative, learners can choose whether they wish to draw or mime the lexical item.
Question Mill Drill
Activity Filler
Objective To revise spoken fluency
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Slip of paper and pen per student

This is a simple but effective activity to practise spoken fluency.
Procedure
1. Arrange students in a circle. Students are given a slip of paper each. They are asked to write down
a question they would like to ask everyone in the group. Encourage learners to ask open rather
than closed questions, answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ Example. ‘What’s the strangest dream you’ve
ever had?’ Students ask the question that they wrote to the student on their right.
2. Once they have asked the question, the slip of paper is passed to the student who has answered
the question and this student asks the next person. Students continue the activity asking
questions then passing the question on while also being asked questions with the slip of paper
passed on to them to ask to the next person.
3. The activity continues until learners get their original question back.
Variation
Filler – As an alternative, learners can ask questions designed to practise their vocabulary e.g. ‘Tell
me something made of leather.’
Revision Tennis
Activity Filler
Resources Vocabulary to test, whiteboard & pens

This is a simple but effective activity to revise vocabulary.
Procedure
1. Draw a simple tennis court on the board. Tell students they are going to play a game of ‘tennis’
with learners asking and answering questions to gain paints. If a question is answered correctly, it
is likened to a tennis player hitting the ball.
2. If a question is answered incorrectly, it is likened to a tennis player missing the ball and their
opposing team gets the point. Points are scored as per tennis. The teacher has a list of vocabulary
to test. Team A ‘serves’ to Team B. Team B is asked a question e.g. ‘Tell me a job starting with
C’ and needs to answer correctly to ‘return the ball’. If a team is unable to answer or answers
incorrectly, the other team gets the point.
3. The team to win the game of tennis is the winner.
Variation
Filler – Other sports can be used which may appeal to your learners e.g. football which a
team getting a goal if the other team is unable to answer a question.
Running dictation
Activity Filler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice listening for detail & writing
Target Language Any
Resources A short text cup on slips of paper, blu-tac

This is an effective activity to practise listening for detail as well as writing. The activity promotes
teamwork and involves movement which appeals to kinaesthetic learners.
Procedure
1. Prepare a short text cut up on slips of paper. Jumble the slips of paper and stick the pieces of
paper in different parts of the classroom using blu-tac.
2. Divide the learners into small groups. Tell learners that one member of the team will be writing
the text and other members of the team will be finding the slips of paper, memorising the
sentences then relaying these to the writer who must write these down.
3. After all sentences have been written down, the team works together to order the text.
Variation
Filler – Instead of a text, questions related to the topic could be written on slips of paper.
After carrying out the running dictation activity, groups then ask and answer the questions
together.
Scrabble
Activity Filler
Objective To practice spelling
Target Language Any
Resources A scrabble set or laminated sets of letters

This is an effective activity to practise spelling and general vocabulary revision. The activity can be
adapted really well for all levels including C2.
Procedure
1. For small groups, bring in a scrabble set. For larger groups, prepare a set of laminated letters per
group as per scrabble. Tell students that they will play a game of scrabble.
2. They are given 7 letters and the learner who can place down the longest word starts off the game.
The next person adds a word as per scrabble rules.
3. The game continues as per scrabble rules.
Variation
Filler – for higher level learners, you can play the full scrabble rules, assigning points to different
letters. Advanced learners often enjoy playing scrabble as an extended activity from time to time.
Filler – scrabble letters can be used as a fun way to practise spelling. The teacher says a word and the
quickest team to place the appropriate scrabble tiles together to create the word is the winner.
Songs and Music
Activity Filler
Objective To practice written or spoken fluency
Target Language Any
Resources A scrabble set or laminated sets of letters

This is an effective activity to practise written or spoken fluency, appealing to creative learners.
Procedure
1. Songs and music can be used effectively to stimulate learners and encourage written and spoken
fluency. You could prepare a playlist or CD of appropriate tracks to use with your classes for
different reasons. Play different pieces of music and elicit different feelings from learners.
2. Ask learners to write a story or statements about how the music makes them feel. for example, a
ballad could be used to elicit a sad atmosphere, dramatic or eerie film music to generate ideas for
a frightening story and so on.
Variation
Cooler – ask learners to choose a favourite song or piece of music. Students play the music and tell
the class why they like it. Students discuss the piece of music or song.
Section 3
COOLER
ACTIVITIES
Cooler Class Activity
Air Word
Activity Cooler
Objective To practice written or spoken fluency
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Songs and music

This is a simple, fun activity to revise vocabulary. The activity involves movement which appeals to
kinaesthetic learners.
Procedure
1. Ask students to write down a list of words they learned in the lesson.
2. Put students in pairs and ask them to stand back to front. Student A writes a word on Student B’s
back with their finger. Student B has to guess the word. The students swap places and Student B
writes on Student A’s back.
3. The activity continues until students have revised their vocabulary items.
Variation
Cooler – the activity can also be done to practise stress patterns of certain words with learners
tapping the stress patterns on each other’s backs and guessing the vocabulary items.
Anagrams
Activity Cooler
Objective To practice spelling
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a simple, fun activity to practise spelling.
Procedure
1. Note down a list of vocabulary items students have learned in the lesson or previous lessons.
2. Write anagrams of the words on the board eg ‘lion’ as ‘nlio’.
3. Students work in pairs to work out the anagrams.
4. The quickest pair is the winner.
Variation
Cooler – Ask learners to challenge each other by writing out their own anagrams.
Bingo
Activity Cooler
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a simple, fun activity to practise vocabulary.
Procedure
1. Ask learners to draw a simple bingo grid on their paper and explain the rules of bingo. Students
write vocabulary items they have learned in the lesson in the grid, one vocabulary item per
square. The teacher calls out vocabulary items learned in the lesson. Each student puts a cross in
the relevant square when they hear one of the vocabulary items they have written on their grid.
Learners can either get a line or a full house i.e. all their vocabulary items are called out.
2. The learner to shout ‘bingo’ is the winner.
Variation
Cooler – students could do this activity in groups with learners taking it in turns to call out
one word.
Crossword
Activity Cooler
Resources A prepared crossword per student

This is a fun activity to practise vocabulary.
Procedure
1. Give each pair of students a prepared crossword. You can either create the crossword yourself,
find an authentic crossword or use crosswords in published ELT materials.
2. Crosswords can also be created by going to the website www.puzzlemaker.com.
3. Students work together to complete the crossword.
Variation
Cooler – students could also create their own crossword at www.puzzlemaker.com to challenge other
learners.
Diary
Activity Cooler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice freer writing
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources A notepad per student

This is a useful activity to practise freer writing.
Procedure
1. Students can be encouraged to write a regular diary entry each week. This is useful for additional
writing practice. Students have a writing pad or section of their exercise devoted to diary writing.
Students write a regular diary entry each week in class. You can encourage learners to write more
diary entries during the week for additional writing practice.
2. If possible, collect the diaries and provide written correction for the learners the following day.
Variation
Cooler – students could complete a class blog rather than a written diary.
Experts
Activity Cooler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice syntax
Target Language Any
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources 3 chairs at the front of the class

This is a useful activity to practise syntax.
Procedure
1. The teacher places 3 chairs at the front of the class and asks 3 students to come to the front of
the class and sit on the chairs. The class is told that these students are experts on a certain topic
eg. animals. The rest of the class needs to think of some questions they can ask the experts. The
experts think about the type of questions they may ask. The teacher explains that the experts are
only able to answer one word at a time in order.
2. The experts are asked a question and answer by saying one word at a time. For example, the
question could be ‘How do you milk a cow?’ The experts then answer one word at a time eg.
You-need-to-get-a-stool.
Variation
Cooler – this activity could be done in teams with each team adding a word.
Hangman
Activity Cooler
Objective To practice vocabulary and spelling
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a useful activity to practise vocabulary and spelling.
Procedure
1. The teacher prepares a list of topics relevant to the age, level and interests of the learners.
The teacher tells the learners that they are going to do a speaking activity in which they are
challenged to talk about a topic for 1 minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation. You may
need to explain these terms carefully to lower level learners. 1 learner will speak while the others
listen and can challenge if they think the learner has hesitated, repeated themselves or deviated.
If the challenge is upheld, they must continue speaking. The person speaking at the end of the
minute, wins a point.
2. The teacher nominates a student to start speaking and gives them a topic. Other learners listen
and challenge if they can.
3. The activity continues with different topics and the learner with the most points at the end of the
activity wins.
Variation
Cooler – challenge higher level learners with more complex topics to help learners practise speaking
at length and give opinions.
Just a Minute
Activity Cooler
Level Intermediate (low B1)+
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice extended speaking turns
Target Language Any
Resources A prepared list of topics

This activity is based on the popular BBC Radio 4 panel game in which contestants are challenged to
talk about a subject for 1 minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Procedure
1. The teacher thinks of some vocabulary items learned in the lesson. The teacher writes a line
to represent each letter of the word on the board. Students call out letters. If the letter is in
the word, the teacher writes the letter in the space it appears in the word. If the letter is not in
the word, the teacher starts constructing a gallows and a hanging man, one line per incorrectly
guessed letter.
2. If the students guess the word before the picture of the hanging man and gallows is drawn, the
students win. If they fail to guess, the teacher wins.
Variation
Cooler – students can take it in turns to challenge learners with hangman. They can do this as a
whole class or group activity
Lesson Review
Activity Cooler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To practice extended speaking turns
Target Language Any
Resources A prepared list of topics

This is a useful activity to encourage learners to review their own progress and set learning goals. It
can also help to give the teacher some informal feedback on their lessons.
Procedure
1. The teacher asks learners a series of questions designed to help learners assess their own
progress. For example, ‘which lessons did you find the most difficult?’ ‘Which skill would you like
more practice in?’
2. Students complete the questions and set themselves 3 learning goals. The teacher takes in the
pieces of paper and discusses these with each student over subsequent lessons.
Variation
Cooler – students can also discuss their reviews with other students and the class can decide on skills
and language they would like more practice in as a group.

Lexical Sets
Activity Cooler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To revise and increase vocabulary
Target Language Vocabulary - lexical sets or collections
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a quick, simple activity designed to revise and increase vocabulary. It requires minimal
preparation so is a good activity to have up your sleeve if your lesson is running shorter than
expected.
Procedure
1. The teacher notes down some vocabulary items used as synonyms for more common words.
For example, synonyms of walk are stagger, toddle, mince and strut. The teacher collects 4
vocabulary items for 4 different categories, eg. ways of walking, drinking, talking and eating. The
teacher draws a grid on the board as below with the 4 common words as column headers. The
teacher writes the synonyms of all 4 common words on the board in a jumbled manner.
2. Students have a few minutes to work together and decide which synonyms match which
common words. After checking the answers, students explain the difference between the
synonyms to each other. If time, students can add more synonyms to each category.
Walking Drinking Talking Eating

Making Plans
Activity Cooler
Age Teens/Adults
Objective To encourage freer speaking
Target Language Future forms, functional Language
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This is a very simple activity requiring no preparation. Though simple, it is effective, as it generates
very natural discussion between learners.
Procedure
1. The teacher asks learners to think of their plans after the lesson or at the weekend. Students
discuss their plans together in small groups or as a mingling activity. If appropriate to your group,
ask learners to see if they can arrange something to do as a class.
2. In feedback, focus on correct use of functional language for future plans if appropriate.
Variation
Warmer – as a follow-up, students discuss what they actually did afterwards in the next lesson. Did
anything change?

Memory Game
Activity Cooler
Objective To revise vocabulary & memory training
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Some familiar objects or pictures

This is a simple activity designed to train the learners’ memories which will help with
language learning.
Procedure
1. The teacher puts a number of familiar objects on a tray or puts some pictures on the board.
Students have a few minutes to look at the objects or pictures and try to remember as many
as they can. The objects and pictures are removed and learners need to write down as many as
they remember in pairs. The pair who remember the most words are the winners. The teacher
discusses the importance of memory training to help learners remember vocabulary items.
Variation
Cooler – The teacher writes previously learned vocabulary on the board jumbled up. Learners do the
memory activity as above then discuss how they remembered the vocabulary items. Did they link the
words to other related vocabulary items, for example?

Odd One Out
Activity Cooler
Objective To revise vocabulary & memory training
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources A list of vocabulary items

This is a simple activity designed to train learners to group vocabulary in lexical sets.
Procedure
1. The teacher prepares a list of vocabulary items in groups of 4. 3 of the items are linked but 1
lexical items is the odd one out. For example, in the example below, ‘nibble’ is the odd one out as
the other words relate to ways of walking. Toddle, nibble, stagger, strut.
2. Learners work in pairs to spot the odd one out in each groups of lexical items. Learners also
describe why the lexical item is the odd one out.
Variation
Cooler – challenge the learners to write their own ‘odd one out’ groups to challenge other learners.

Simon Says
Activity Cooler
Level Beginner (A1)+
Objective To revise vocabulary through TPR
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources None

This is a simple activity ideal for young learners and low level learners in particular. It tests vocabulary
through the use of TPR.
Procedure
1. The teacher asks learners to stand up and simply explains that they will be doing an activity in
which they will do a series of actions. They must listen carefully and only do the action if it is
preceded by ‘Simon says’ or ‘The teacher says’ or ‘(Your name) says’.
2. The teacher gives learners instructions like ‘Simon says hold up your hand’. Learners who do the
actions not preceded by ‘Simon says’ are out and must sit down.
3. The last learner or learners remaining standing at the end of the activity or lesson are the winners.
Variation
Cooler – challenge the learners to give instructions in turns so the activity is more student-centred.

Sing a Song
Activity Cooler
Objective To practice phonological features
Target Language Features of natural speech
Length 5-10 Minutes
Resources Song lyrics

This activity works well with learners who enjoy singing and with whom you have built up a rapport. It
naturally works well with younger learners.
Procedure
1. Lyrics to songs previously used in class are kept in a file. If you have access to a computer and
projector, you can also play music or show music videos which will encourage learners to join in.
You could also use karaoke sites or videos with subtitles. Ask learners to choose a song they would
like to sing at the end of the class. Sing the song together. If appropriate, assign different parts of
the song to different learners.
2. After singing, have a discussion about the song and/or draw learners’ attention to phonological
features of natural speech.
Variation
Cooler – with learners who are reluctant to sing, you can print out song lyrics and distribute different
lyrics to different learners. Play the song and ask learners to stand up or hold up their slip of paper
when they hear their song lyric. This encourages learners to listen for detail.

Spelling Game
Activity Cooler
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is a simple activity to practise spelling.
Procedure
1. Arrange learners in small groups. Give each group a set of Scrabble letters or alphabet cards. The
teachers says a word and learners must work together to spell the word using their tiles or cards.
2. The first team to spell the word correctly the quickest gets a point.
Variation
Cooler – with higher level learners, describe rather than say the word. Learners then need to guess
the word and then spell it, which is more challenging.

Story Time
Activity Cooler
Length 5-10 Minutes

This is an engaging activity using authentic or graded materials to practise listening skills, increase the
learners’ exposure to English and encourage prediction skills.
Procedure
1. Choose a suitable story or video appropriate for the level, interests and age of your learners.
2. Read 10 minutes of the book or show 10 minutes of the video clip at the end of the lesson.
3. Before reading/showing the book/video, ask learners questions to review the story so far.
4. Ask learners to predict what is going to happen next.
5. Read/show the book/video for 10 minutes then review your learners’ predictions.
6. Were they correct? What do they think will happen next?
Variation
Cooler – with higher level learners, encourage learners to read/watch the rest of the story/
video clip for homework. You can then discuss the story in class.

We’re here to help you have the best experience and become the best teacher.
Don’t hesitate to contact our team to find out more about our additional teacher resources. We’d love to hear from you!
Check out our reviews here:
01273 782869 (UK) - (415) 800-3961 (US) - 024 81816 (ROI)
CALL FOR FREE ON WHATSAPP

+353 83 8722 855 (9am – 5pm GMT/BST Mon-Fri)
117 www.premiertefl.com • info@premiertefl.com www.premiertefl.com • info@premiertefl.com 118

CHAPTER 3
STARTING OUT
Read the following comments from teachers in training about

their experience observing classes.
Teachers in training say…
• I saw myself grow as a teacher when I observed my colleagues.

• From every class I observe, I get something I can do in my own
lessons.
• I always get nervous when I am being observed, no matter what
the observer does to put me at ease.
• I have a cooperating teacher who tells me “Just sit back and
observe” but I do not know what to observe!
• I do a lot of observation in my teaching practice, but I never discuss
this information with anyone so, what is the use of observing?
• The best observation I participated in was during my teacher
preparation course. My supervisor met with me to discuss the
plan and based on that we agreed on areas for her to observe me.
After the class we took time to discuss what went right and what
went wrong.
• I love observing my colleagues and the school I work for insists
that we do that. There is so much I learn every time I go observe
others teach! And my colleagues feel the same when they come
and observe me.
Do you identify with these comments? Why? Why not?
67
CHAPTER 3
WHAT IS OBSERVATION?
One definition of observation states that it is “the action or process

of attentively and intentionally looking at something, things, a person or
people in order to gain information.”
Observation is arguably the richest and most powerful learning
tool for teacher development. It provides models of lessons and
examples of student and teacher behaviors, which can be analyzed,
detailed and compared. Sometimes what we observe validates our own
teaching, sometimes it confirms what we do, not what we want to do
in the classrooms and sometimes it provides models that we may want
to emulate.
By the time we arrive in our teacher education course, we are
expert observers of teaching and we have spent tens of thousands
of hours looking at good and bad teachers during the whole of our
schooling career. In fact, Lortie (1975) discovered that the tens of
thousands of hours spent observing teachers in our role as students
create an “apprenticeship of observation,” that is, our own definition
for good and bad teaching. This construct has relevant and powerful
influences on our development as teaching professionals as we tend
to define “good” and “bad” in terms of what helped us learn best,
and not necessarily, what might help our students learn best. Hence,
these preconceptions may constrain our repertoire of approaches to
teaching and pose the risk of limiting the impact of our teaching on our
students’ learning. Ironically, by engaging in professional observation
of teaching and learning, we can begin to counteract the negative
influences of this construct
Whatever the outcome of any observation, there are myriad
benefits and now with the advent of the Internet we can watch many
varied types of lessons with ease online. Possibly, this is not quite as
beneficial as being in the actual classroom but it is still beneficial.
Along with being able to observe models, activities, and
behaviors in class that we may or may not adopt in our own teaching,
observation helps us to engage with the lesson we are observing
from a participatory perspective. In other words, we can see lessons
through the eyes of our students, something which is difficult to do
when actually teaching. This means that we can observe how lesson
68
CHAPTER 3
planning and teacher behavior impact student motivation and learning.

From these observations we can hypothesize why certain activities and
behaviors have the results that the teacher expected or why they did
not. Therefore, although the very word observation appears to imply
a passive activity of simply watching, the act of observation is in fact
highly active. It involves constantly processing what goes on in the
classroom, which is a complicated organism with a cast of characters,
a context and an array of materials and situations. Our ability to “read”
the classroom is fundamental to help develop our awareness of these
components and how they interact with one another develop not only
in someone else’s class but ultimately our own. Very often, when we
observe others, we are really looking at ourselves in the classroom.
BEGINNING TO OBSERVE: THE SILENT PHASE
Wanjryb (1992) described observation in initial teacher education as

akin to the Silent Period described by Burt, Dulay and Krashen (1982) “The development of
during which language learners are exposed to language but not the skills of observing
obliged to produce language. Similarly, observers are able to witness is integral to the
process of professional
what goes on in the classroom without the responsibility of having
decision-making in
to attend to teaching the lesson itself. This is important so that the
which teachers are
process of observing is unhindered so that teachers can fully witness constantly involved.”
and experience the lesson. Being in the classroom, in and of itself,
appears to be a fairly simple task. However, as mentioned previously, (Wajnryb, 1992,
p. 15)
it is a highly active process, involving many skills such as noticing,
recording, processing, analyzing and responding. In many ways,
we can claim that observation is both a skill and an art.
REASONS FOR OBSERVATION
There are many situations that require observing or being

observed in the classroom. Each situation will bring with it various
motives for observation. For example, in our profession it is common
for practicum supervisors to observe student teachers and for student
teachers to observe their peers during their teacher education
69
CHAPTER 3
classes. After graduating, we are exposed to an even greater variety

John Fanselow defines of observation: teachers observe their colleagues, Directors of Study
classroom observation observe classroom teachers on a regular basis and also, school owner
as essential because observe their faculty member.
it allows teachers to
In each case, the motivation and expectations for the observation
recognize unconscious
patterns in their differ. The practicum supervisor observes to help the teacher-in-
culture of instruction, training develop; colleagues teaching may observe each other as part
particularly in of a peer coaching scheme; the Director of Studies may observe in
what pertains order to ensure that the teacher is teaching in line with the ethos of the
unexamined practices school; and the school owner may observe to assess the teacher’s skills
and ingrained are in line with the expectations of the teacher’s contract.
assumptions about
Each observation scenario differs and each impacts the teacher
how talk and learning
being observed in a variety of ways, not all of which are positive. In this
take place.
chapter, we focus on observations for development purposes because
the focus of the book is on teacher learning and development.
Observations can create a lot of anxiety for the teacher being
Maingay (1988)
divides lesson observed, the students in the class and in some cases the person
observation into four observing. What can occur is what is known as the observer’s paradox
categories: – all of the participants in the observation, from the students to the
teacher teaching the lesson, do not act as they normally would. This
• observation for
potentially renders the whole experience of little use. Observer’s
training,
• observation for paradox is more frequent in situations where observation is being used
development, to evaluate the teacher, as when a boss or director uses observation to
• observation for give teachers a grade or ranking, or to renew their contract. However,
assessment, and it is not uncommon also during teacher training. Eventually, we have
• observer to acknowledge that it will all depend on how the observation is
development. conducted, why the teacher is being observed and, most importantly,
what is being looked at. The more we get used to an “open door
policy” regarding our classroom, and the more frequently we engage in
collaborative observation practices the easier, and more authentic the
observations become.
Notice that the physical presence of a third party observer is
not the only situation when observer’s paradox may happen. Even
observations conducted via a camera can prompt it. In Chapter 2,
we recommended you film your lessons in order to counteract the
isolation typical of teaching. One of our colleagues engages in this
practice frequently. He puts a camera at the back of the class and films
70
CHAPTER 3
DIRECTED OBSERVATION
Contact a colleague and arrange to go into his/her classroom.
1. Meet the teacher prior to the lesson and discuss with him/her how he/she feels about her/his own
teaching. Ask him/her to identify something that she/he would like you, as an observer, to focus on.
Note that this is an extremely important part for ‘framing’ observation. Ensure that the conversation
is clearly directed and gives you a clear understanding of what the teacher would like you to ‘see’.
2. Based on the contents of the discussion, design an observation task, which focuses on the aspect
of teaching that the teacher talked about.
3. Observe the lesson and complete your task.
4. Organize a post-lesson feedback session with the teacher during which you provide feedback - use
your observation task as a guide for the discussion.
One of the most useful ways in which we can support

our own development is to film or record our classes.
It may feel uncomfortable at first but as one Summary and
teacher told us, “once you have watched your conclusions: Pre-
your observation
film three times, you remove your inhibitions
takeaways conference
and see the film for what it is, a means to
view yourself, your motives, and hone your
craft.”
Whether we are observing ourselves, Lesson
Post-
or others, we generally engage in a series observation
observation
/ Data
of actions that form part of what we can call conference
collection
an observation cycle. Figure 3.1 presents
our own version of the observation cycle we
Reflection
involve our student teachers in. Notice how and Analysis
this observation cycle is also supported by the
reflective practice cycle we discussed in the previous Figure 3.1 – The observation cycle
chapter.
Before you continue reading think: How does this description of the cycle above reflect your own
experience of observation so far?
75
CHAPTER 3
We consider that all stages in this cycle are fundamental in order

to make observation truly effective. Over the years, we have developed
specific ways of working with the stages of the cycle, and what we
share here is but one version of the many versions you may hear
teachers use to describe it. However, notice that our implementation of
the cycle is aligned with how we propose you plan your lessons, assess
your students and develop professionally. You will read more about this
in further chapters.
THE OBSERVATION CYCLE IN ACTION
We start with a conversation with the person to be observed in order

to get a good idea not only of what it is that we are going to observe, but
also to gain enough background about the lesson so that we do not make
the mistake of working from our own assumptions (e.g. the apprenticeship
of observation) but from the actual needs of students and teachers.
The pre-observation conference

When we are working with beginning teachers or teachers-
in-training, we like to use a “map” that guides our pre-observation
conference. This series of steps is shared with the colleague we are going
to observe and includes five distinct steps (Diaz Maggioli, 2012), each
oriented toward gaining a deeper insight on the lesson we are going to
observe. As you move on in this book, you are going to see how these
five steps target a particular “habit of mind” that we believe permeates
all teaching action.
1. Start with the end in mind – we always start by discussing what the
learning objectives for the lesson are. These learning objectives,
couched in terms of student outcomes, will be the ones we will
use to assess the effectiveness of the lesson.
2. Specify success indicators – discuss how you and/or the person
observed will know that the learning objectives have been attained.
3. Anticipate approaches – Ask the person to be observed to “walk”
you through their lesson. Ask questions if there are things you
76
CHAPTER 3
do not understand. We have found that this step acts as a mental

rehearsal of the lesson and helps both observed and observer
gain clarity about (and even propose some changes to) the
original lesson plan.
4. Establish a personal learning focus – tell the person to be observed
what you want to learn from observing the class. Make sure
to ask them whether they want you to observe anything in
particular.
5. Evaluate the process – we like to end the pre-observation conference
by evaluating how this particular stage of the observation cycle
has helped us prepare for a more focused observation. Make sure
you take notes of what you discuss in this step as it will be useful
during the post-observation conference.
The actual observation

The next step in the cycle involves the actual observation of the
lesson and the gathering of data. Our proposal for a kind of observation
that is directed, rather than improvised in the spur-of-the-moment entails
the creation of an instrument ahead of time to guide what is observed.
This data-gathering instrument need not be a complex tool. Some
observers use standardized observation forms, others use checklists, and
still others take “ethnographic” notes (i.e. they write down everything
that you see happening). Along the book, we have incorporated various
tools for directed observation that you will use and be able to adapt for
your own professional development in the future.
Reflection and analysis

After the lesson is over and before engaging in the post-observation
conference, it is useful to take some time individually to reflect about the
lesson. Here the person who has been observed may use the observation
task or instrument to analyze what, in his or her view went well and what
did not, while we do the same.
The post-observation conference

The post-observation conference is another crucial conversation
from which we can derive highly relevant learning. Again, we suggest
the following steps, inspired by the work of Costa and Garmston (1994).
77
CHAPTER 3
These authors suggest that the post-observation conference is a crucial

learning moment in any observation cycle and posit that it can be best
undertaken if the observer works as a cognitive coach and using the
agenda of the teacher observed. They propose five distinct steps in any
post-observation conference:
1. Summarize your impressions of the lesson – the first step involves

both parties in presenting to each other their overall impression
on how the lesson evolved and worked. The idea here is to
provide a space that would help both parties synchronize their
views about what has just happened and prepare for further
discussion. We recommend that the observer and observed
spend some time discussing both: what worked and what
didn’t work.
2. Analyze the causal factors that contributed to success and problems –
we saw before that a lesson observed is a structured event where
many things can happen. A second step in the post-observation
conference has the two colleagues explore why things worked
or did not work, i.e. what caused the successes and the learning
opportunities in that particular lesson.
3. Co-construct new learning about teaching – the next step involves
working out, together, what has been learned from analyzing the
causal factors of the positive and negative aspects of the lesson.
This is a true learning moment for both the observer and the
observed. Think about the various motives for observation we
discussed in this chapter and how this particular moment can
act as a catalyst for new learning for all the roles we discussed.
4. Commit to applying the new learning – one of the reasons why
we observe experienced teachers is so that we can eventually
do the same in our own classrooms. The chance of working
with a more experienced colleague discussing new learning
stemming from the observation also acts as a preparation for
the application of that learning. We must come up with a clear,
intentional plan of application of the new learning so that
transfer of new teaching knowledge and skills can occur, first-
hand.
78
CHAPTER 5
WHY IS PLANNING IMPORTANT?
A good lesson must be planned. Even when experienced teachers

do not write out a lesson plan and seem to “improvise” a lesson, that
lesson has been carefully thought off. The excellent lesson happening
through spontaneous decision-making does not exist. During initial
teacher education, it is fundamental that teacher learners practice writing
plans for all the lessons they teach so that they can develop the habits of
mind of an experienced instructor: one who has a thorough command
of the content, the pedagogy and the students, is able to anticipate how
the lesson will evolve and be prepared for the unexpected.
Hence, lesson planning is a key teaching skill because:
• it is one of the key traits of being a professional teacher. Students

expect their teachers to be prepared and, if you are not, students
can tell! Hence, planning is one way of getting respect from your
students.
• it helps you maximize the impact of your teaching approaches
and materials. When you are planning, you are carefully
considering your teaching situation: your students, your space,
the materials and the time available. In this context, planning
gives you the opportunity to tailor your lesson to the needs of
your students and of your teaching reality.
• it helps in your professional development. When you sit
down to plan a lesson you engage with theory and practice
by carefully thinking about what you are going to teach, and
how you are going to teach it. In the process, you review key
ideas you may have encountered in theory, carry out small-
scale experimental practice projects (as when you try out a
new activity) and reflect on the impact that your teaching may
have on your students’ learning.
• it helps you avoid trouble. When you plan, you generally anticipate
potential problems that may arise, as well as ponder on potential
solutions to those problems. If you have a strategy to deal with
potential problems ahead of time, you are well prepared.
130
CHAPTER 5
A well-planned lesson is also important for students. They know

when a lesson has been planned and when it has not. Planning is
important for students because:
• it shows them that the teacher cares for their learning.
• it conveys respect for their time and effort.
• it makes learning easier as a well-structured lesson is easier to
follow and understand.
• it provides students a model of well-organized work that they
can imitate.
Throughout the history of teaching, there have been various

models for planning lessons and each has had its merits and limitations.
Also, each form of planning has contributed some element to the
improvement of teaching. Hence, it is important to be aware of these
models in order to better understand how we go about the process. In
the next section, we are going to discuss two popular planning models
and then, present our own.
Madeline Hunter’s 7-step Lesson Plan Template
In 1984, educator Madeline Hunter proposed seven steps that every

lesson should take into consideration.
1. Review – every lesson should start with a review of the

previous class or of relevant concepts that students have
already encountered and which will be useful in today’s lesson.
2. Anticipatory set – this is a moment in the lesson during which
the teacher gets the class ready by providing a motivating
activity to hook the learners into the topic, as well as to activate
specific areas of the students’ background knowledge.
3. Objective – next, the teacher clearly communicates to students
what the objectives for the lesson are. Objectives state what is
expected of learners as a consequence of having participated
in the lesson. They also highlight the relevance that the contents
of the lesson will have for students’ learning in general.
4. Input and modeling – once objectives have been understood by
students, the teacher provides input on the topic of the lesson.
131
CHAPTER 5
This can be done through modeling, demonstration, or telling.

Modeling, in particular, makes salient for students what is expected
of them in terms of performance by the end of the lesson.
5. Checking understanding – the teacher introduces activities
aimed and making sure that students have understood the input.
6. Guided practice – once understanding has been ascertained,
students engage in a sequence of controlled activities during
which they will manipulate the contents of the lesson in order
to master them.
7. Independent practice – finally, the teacher engages learners in
activities that make evident whether or not they can use the
new knowledge independently.
These steps depict a direct teaching sequence, one which is very

much based on a transmission model. The goal of this kind of lesson
organization is for students to master the content, i.e. show they can
apply what the teacher has taught them to academic tasks successfully.
While we advocate for a more student-centered approach to lesson
planning, Hunter’s model has interesting elements. To start with, by
focusing on reviewing prior teaching at the start of the lesson, teachers
can make sure that students become aware of the flow of the course.
Additionally, starting from where the students are (both through the
anticipatory set as well as through communicating the objectives to students)
is a move that puts the students at the center of the learning process.
Gagné’s “9 Events of Instruction”
Gagne, Briggs and Wager (1992) in the fourth edition of their

classic text on education, provide a re-elaboration of Hunter’s model.
Their framework includes nine distinct steps that are self-explanatory:
1. Gain students’ attention.

2. Inform learners of the objectives of the lesson.
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning.
4. Present a stimulus.
5. Provide “learning guidance” (through presentation, demonstration
or modeling).
132
CHAPTER 5
6. Elicit performance (practice).

7. Provide feedback.
8. Assess performance.
9. Enhance retention and transfer.
Notice that although this planning framework contains many items

in common with Hunter’s the end goal is not mastery, but retention
and transfer. Nevertheless, we see that in this model the learners are
engaged from the beginning by some sort of motivating activity, they
are informed of the objectives of the lesson so that they gain a sense
of direction, and their background knowledge is activated before
presenting the new concepts. The rest of the lesson follows a similar
path as Hunter’s because this one, too, is a planning framework that is
best suited to a transmission-style kind of teaching.
WHERE TO BEGIN
As we have seen, there are myriad opinions about lesson plans

and planning. For many teachers, planning is an arduous and time-
consuming affair. As one teacher told us: “I feel like I am never finished
with the planning process.” For others, a plan feels restrictive and
constrictive and many, if not all of us, can relate to the last comment.
We have all hastily scribbled down notes, desperately printed out
handouts from the Internet and generally been rushed to get to
class with only an economical idea of what will happen. However,
ultimately a lesson plan is only a piece of paper, a guide, maybe an
ideal. Once in class, a multitude of variables impact how the plan-on-
paper is executed. Some of these variables include: the time available,
the pace of the lesson, the disposition and readiness of our students,
“Teach the learners
and a whole host of unexpected events that may happen (for example, not the plan”
your lesson plan is based on a listening selection and when you get to
school there is no electricity!). (Scrivener 2011,
Whatever happens we need to keep in mind, as Scrivener said p.123)
“we teach the learners not the plan” (Scrivener, 2011, p.123). Changes
will always need to be made to our plans once we enter the classroom
and, to a certain extent, we will be able to make all these changes
133
CHAPTER 5
because one of the critical components of planning is prioritizing,

i.e. knowing what is important to cover, what is less important and
what might need to be expanded or even removed from the process.
In other words, a good plan is constructed with flexibility in mind and
“invites possibility rather than attempting to constrain it” (Norman,
2011, p. 55). In practice, this means that the construction of the
plan contains certain points that are similar to “folds” on a piece of
paper– they can either by flattened so that an activity is completed in
its entirety or partly folded so that an activity is reduced in some way,
usually in terms of the amount of time allotted to it, or completely
folded in which case the activity or task is dropped from the procedural
plan altogether if necessary.
Whatever happens in class, the plan is usually the result of a
complicated process of decision-making that involves prioritizing,
estimating, assessing, guessing, reflecting and evaluating. This
process is the true value of planning because it is where synergy is
reached between the teacher’s actions and their students’ learning.
In its simplest, most practical form, the process can be subsumed
as a series of questions aimed at understanding how our students will
work, how they will interact with and react to our materials, how they
will interact with one another, how they will receive new information,
what resources (conceptual and material) they will need to be able to
achieve the learning objectives, the space and time that we will need
to fill, and any difficulties that they may face with any or all of the
above, which could impede learning. Some of the questions we may
ask ourselves when sitting down to plan a lesson, among many, many
others, include:
• What do I want to teach?

• Is it relevant? Why?
• How will I introduce the new materials?
• Are they interesting?
• How long will the activities take?
• Are they fun?
• How do I organize interaction in class?
• Should the students mingle or sit down for the activities?
• Which text should I use?
134
CHAPTER 5
• Do I have enough materials?

• Who should work with whom?
• Will this work?…
and so forth.
The list of questions we ask is long and sometimes leads to less

important questions being asked alongside critical questions. For
example, consider the difference between asking:
‘What am I going to teach?’ and ‘Should the students mingle or sit down?’
We have to be careful not to ask questions about the small
details and get entangled in them before the larger questions have
been addressed. Here is a shortlist of some “big” questions:
• What am I going to teach?

• What do the students need?
• How will I know the students achieved the learning objective?
• What difficulties may the learning objectives present?
• How will I teach it?
• How will I make sure students are able to apply this to real life
situations?
KNOWING THE CONTEXT
Before we begin to look at how to plan in more depth, we need to

ensure that we are aware of our context and the various components
that impact any plan and its execution. We will need to consider:
• the students,
• the materials,
• the length and structure of lesson times,
• the classroom and its resources including whiteboard/
blackboard size position, teacher’s desk and students’ desks
When learning how to plan, it is useful to turn these issues into

questions so as to guide our planning. Here are a few examples.
135
CHAPTER 5
SPACE
• How big is your classroom? Where is the black/whiteboard?
• What is the seating arrangement?
• Is it easy for students to move around the classroom?
• Is there enough space to carry out whole class role-plays or are the
desks in rows with little room for full class movement?
• Is there anything you could do to the classroom to optimize its use?
For example: If you have little whiteboard space, could you use a
flip chart to give you more board space?
• Do you need to put posters up to make the space look more inviting?
Remember: every little change you make to the classroom environment is dynamic and may have a big
impact on both your learners and your lessons. Experiment organizing the classroom in various ways.
STUDENTS
• Who works best with whom?
• What type of activities do the students appear to like?
• How soon is it into a lesson before you start to see their attention
wander and their concentration wane?
• What do they need to work on?
TIME
• How long are lessons?
• When are the breaks?
• How long do certain activities usually take?
• Do students arrive on time?
• Who are the usual latecomers?
• Who are the early finishers?
• Who takes the longest amount of time to finish tasks and who
takes the least amount of time?
MATERIALS
• What is the course syllabus?
• Do you have set materials to cover?
• How much material do you have to cover per lesson?
• Are the materials interesting, useful, relevant?
• Do they match your students’ needs?
• What do you need to do to make them relevant for your students?
• Do you feel the curriculum is attainable?
• How can you ensure that each lesson aim is manageable?
136
CHAPTER 5
In the following diagram the components mentioned above inform

the design of our lesson plans, and each one interacts with the others
to either help and support, or hinder the attainment of the objectives.
So, the greater awareness we have of each component the more likely
we are to plan successful lessons.
SPACE TIME
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
MATERIALS PEOPLE
Figure 5.1 – Factors impacting the outcomes of our lessons
STAGES IN PLANNING
Both Hunter’s and Gagné’s steps were based on the most recognized
model for both curriculum and lesson planning: Tyler’s Rational-Linear
approach (1949), which involves the following prescriptive steps that
must be taken in this particular order:
1. Set the learning objectives.

2. Select the content to be taught to achieve the objectives.
3. Select learning experiences and materials to suit the objectives
and the contents.
4. Organize learning experiences to ensure effective instruction.
5. Specify the means of evaluation of the objectives.
137
CHAPTER 5
As it can be clearly seen, this model is also based on a transmission

view of teaching, where the voice of the learner is seldom heard.
Surprisingly, and besides its limitations, this model was (and it still is)
very popular among educators and curriculum planners alike. In our
opinion, Tyler’s rationale is not conducive to student-centered, active
learning, as it focuses too much on the instructor’s decision-making
and sees learning as a natural consequence of teaching. We know
that learning is not a linear process, but a messy one, with leaps and
involutions, and that every person needs to learn at their own rhythm.
It is not surprising then, that more recently, many have argued,
including Yinger (1980), that Tyler’s rationale is outdated and
inadequate. Among the reasons for this assertion is the fact that for
many teachers, lesson planning is not necessarily linear. These authors
defend the position that “the majority of teachers think of planning
lesson objectives as a second thought, the first is focused on activities
and resources” (Yinger, op.cit., p.110). We are sure that many of you can
identify with this point and we will return to it and expand on it later
in the unit. But before we do that, let us advance an alternative to the
models we have seen that can act as a workable improvement on the
past. This more contemporary model is the one that many language
teachers engage in when planning their lessons.
Stage One: Specification of the learning objectives and
designation of specific, observable evidences that these objectives
have been achieved.
This includes considering students’ needs, the curriculum, learners’
ability and the time designated for the lesson. It also means beginning
the planning process by looking at the end of the lesson first and asking:
What will the students actually be able to do as a result of my teaching?
In other words: What will my students take away from today’s lesson?
Additionally, we must ask ourselves: How will we know that the
objectives have been attained? This last question is crucial as it helps us
focus on what our learners should actually be able to do at the end of
the lesson. This knowledge helps us build lessons in a backward fashion
(McThige and Wiggins, 2007) starting from the students’ actual potential
and building our teaching from there.
138
CHAPTER 5
Stage Two: Anticipation of how the lesson objectives will play out
during the actual lesson
This includes considering the difficulty or the challenges that the
lesson objectives will present to students as well as what you, as a
teacher, will need to do in order to help students meet the challenges
that the objectives might present them. This stage is about planning
those scaffolds (temporary support that we give students so that
they move along the learning process) that will ascertain that students
actually achieve the lesson objectives.
Stage Three: Selection and ordering of activities and tasks aimed

at achieving the lesson objectives.
This includes considering the contours of how learning is supposed
to happen in the classroom. For example, we might consider how much
practice will be necessary to reinforce new language, what the logical
order of tasks should be, what patterns of interaction would favor
students development the most and how much time will be necessary
for each activity.
Stage Four: Second phase of anticipation

This includes looking at the challenges the procedural plan will
present for both the students and the teacher and how to address
them. The focus at this point is on the actual execution of the lesson
including which instructional tools will be used (e.g. how we will use
the whiteboard or blackboard), the actual teacher language we will use
to give instructions and set up activities, how we will promote smooth
transitions from one activity to the next, the type and quality of questions
we will ask, and how we will bring the lesson to a close.
What should be evident from the above is that, to us, anticipation

plays a large part in the planning process as a whole. This is because it
moves planning from a simple process of selecting activities to one in
which we engage with learning itself. For this process to be successful
we will need an awareness of our students’ needs and capacities (which
we should have gathered through our needs analysis) as well as an
awareness of our own teaching repertoire, the materials and the lesson
139
CHAPTER 5
objectives. Consider, in the following illustration of the planning process,

how you would relate to what we have proposed.
Stage 1
Selection Stage 2
of learning Stage 3
Anticipation of
objectives and
the difficulties or Stage 4
observable Selection and
challenges that
evidence that the ordering of
the objectives will Anticipation of
objectives have learning tasks and
present. challenges to the
been achieved. activities.
procedural plan
and decisions
about the
execution of the
plan.
Figure 5.2 – A learner- and learning-centered planning process
QUALITIES OF A GOOD LESSON PLAN
Any plan needs to get students from one point of learning or

awareness to another. This involves synthesizing a particular piece or
pieces of information and creating a map that steers the students and
us to the desired pre-specified destination: the learning objectives. For
this to be productive, we need to consider the most direct and efficient
route without unnecessary diversions or deviations. Some deviations
support learning and are useful; these are often called ’teachable
moments’ and occur frequently in lessons. In contrast, other diversions
may detract from the learning objectives and create a convoluted,
less than efficient route leading to difficulty of learning and an over-
challenging, uncomfortable experience for both students and teachers.
Three key words are often used to describe effective plans: clear,
erudite and logical.
Clear: students and teachers need to have a clear understanding
of both the lesson objectives and the rationale for the procedural plan.
In other words, students need to engage in the lesson at a metacognitive
level and understand how each activity or task aids in achieving the
lesson objectives and how these lesson objectives contribute to their
goal of becoming proficient in a second or foreign language.
140
CHAPTER 5
Erudite: plans that are over packed with activities, content to

be learned, movement, varying interaction patterns and so forth are
usually unwieldy and exhausting for both the teacher and students.
An important consideration when planning, is knowing how both you
and your students are going to navigate all the activities and tasks you
want to do and teach. Simplicity may be easier for the teacher and the
students. We will speak more on this later.
Logical: procedural plans that are constructed with stages
that build on one another progressively and logically usually ensure
that learners can follow the lesson and progress as the lesson itself
progresses. The antithesis of this is a lesson plan that jumps with little
logic from one activity to another and as a consequence loses the
students in the process. We will expand on this when we discuss the
procedural plan.
THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
As we have already seen, mapping a logical route to an objective

“To begin planning
means first of all knowing what the lesson objective or objectives are. by imagining what
To do this, we must think about what the students should be able to students will be able
do, say or be more aware of at the end of the lesson, and to actually to do when they walk
visualize this. Picture an average student in your class and think about out of the door really
what that specific person should be able to do as a consequence of helps to focus the
your teaching. Try to imagine what exact words they would use as process and clarify
objectives.”
answers to the different activities you are proposing. This kind of focus
brings the ideas down to the real plane and can help you anticipate Roshii Jolly
approaches that you would otherwise not be aware of. Ask yourself:
What will be this particular student’s takeaway? and What evidence
will I require in order to measure that they have indeed taken it away?
It may feel counterintuitive to begin with the end of the lesson rather
than the beginning, and it is certainly very tempting to begin by finding
a fun, interesting task, topic or piece of material. However, it is essential
your focus initially be on what is being learned in a lesson rather than
what is happening during a lesson.
To this end, many teachers word their objectives as follows: “By
the end of the lesson, students should be able to…” We use the modal
141
CHAPTER 5
“should” rather than “will” because, as we have discussed before, a

lot can happen during the lesson resulting in the objective not being
attained. Although this may seem simple nomenclature, it trains us as
teachers to maintain our focus on the students’ performance in the
language by end of the lesson and thus, on actual learning.
Another way of beginning to develop this habit of mind about
anticipating the end result is to couch the objectives using the ABC
formula. This is generally given to beginning teachers as a method for
crafting the objective. In this formula A stands for the audience (all the
students/most students/ half the class/ etc.), B stands for the behavior
(i.e. what we expect them to be able to do, know or be aware of) and
C stands for the conditions under which they will demonstrate the
behavior (individually/in pairs/in groups/orally/ in writing, etc.). Let’s
look at one example of this:
“By the end of the lesson, all students should be able to use the colloquial
A B
expressions taught in class in short dialogs during pair work.”
C C
Although useful, it is not always necessary to write such detailed

objectives. We recommend you use the formula because it is a good
memory aid and it actually makes you think about the objective
from the point of view of the learners and their learning. However,
the important issue about objectives is that they should clearly and
unambiguously indicate what students’ performance at the end of the
lesson should be like.
As an example, let’s look at the following objectives. Which do
you think are the clearest and why?
1) Students should be able to start and keep conversations in English;

Students should be able to use some connected speech.
2) Students should be able to listen to a song and complete a cloze
activity.
3) By the end of the lesson:
i) students should be able to discuss global warming and recent
findings according to the article read prior to the class.
142
CHAPTER 5
ii) students should be able to effectively agree and disagree with

others’ opinions on controversial topics.
iii) students should be able to give their own opinions following an
agreement or disagreement in order to maintain the conversation.
iv) students should be able to utilize new keywords/expressions and
information learned from a video to discuss global warming and
other controversial topics.
v) By the end of the lesson, students should have practiced the
present simple for habitual actions (verbs include live, work, like)
and reviewed the use of the auxiliary verb ‘do’ for question and
negative forms.
The first lesson objective is vague; it is difficult to understand

exactly what needs to happen in the lesson in order to achieve the
objective. There is no indication as to the conditions and reference to
the behavior is too broad (“keep a conversation,” but we may wonder,
How long? On which topic? Who with?).
The second objective is clearer in terms of what is going to happen
in class although completing the cloze does not constitute a learning
objective. It is simply one of the activities (the C in our formula above)
that may help achieve the learning objective of developing listening
skills.
In the last four sets of objectives, the teacher is very precise about
what is going to be taught in the lesson and provides a clear guideline
for the lesson. Unfortunately, multiple objectives are listed and this may
be overwhelming for both the teacher and the students. Being aware of
how much can realistically be taught in one class period is critical not
only to learner success but also their motivation. Ask yourself: How
many new lexical items are in my lesson, how many new language
structures do I plan to present? Do I want students to actively use the
new language or simply obtain a passive awareness? How difficult is the
language I plan to present? In this respect, we often tell out teachers in
training “Less is almost always more.”
143
CHAPTER 5
As one of our former students explained:
“For me, less is more applies in different ways to different aspects of

my teaching. It applies to both the planning and the teaching stages.
It applies to becoming overwhelmed by the wealth of materials and
by the desire to create my own perfect materials so that I end up
being bogged down in the planning stage with too many choices.
While planning, with my natural tendency to want to cover a topic as
completely as possible, and with my compulsion to attend to every
detail and work out every fine point, I can easily lose sight of the
objectives and the students.”
It is tempting to plan a lesson full of wonderful content. However,

“Learning a second
language is a input is only useful if there is sufficient time for students to both
long and complex process and use it. They need enough time to be able to begin to make
undertaking. Your it their own, and ample chances to interpret it in their own framework
whole person is of understanding.
affected as you This requires a greater concentration on actual content, less
struggle to reach content and more on practice. It is also useful to consider here that
beyond the confines of
learning any language is exhausting both physically and mentally. A
your first language”
lesson that is overly challenging can be-demotivating. Indeed, it is not
H.D. Brown (2007, difficult to reconcile learner success and increased motivation. When
p.1) learners can evidence their own success they feel more encouraged and
motivated. If they cannot evidence their own learning demotivation
soon follows.
Success is the best Therefore a lesson plan needs to have success in mind rather
motivator. than a language or skills goal to reach. Success by design means being
realistic about our expectations for each lesson, planning along the
contours of your students’ concentration levels and making learning
appear to be easy. It also means providing sufficient time for students
to practice their skills and the language.
Let’s take a pit stop and look at the following key words:
Motivating, anticipation, lesson objectives, realistic, erudite, clear, logical, teachable moment
Look at each word and consider where and why it was mentioned in the text.
144
CHAPTER 5
QUALITIES OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES
From what has been mentioned so far, as well as from your own thoughts about what we have
written, take a minute to note down what the traits of effective and efficient learning objectives
should be.
Now read the following and check to see if your list matches ours.
You may have more than this, in which case email us!
• Relevant
Learning objectives should be relevant to the students’ needs and
their use of English. For example, if the students use English in their
workplace, which is a bank, should some of the class content include
banking terms?
• Useful
This trait takes into account the students’ context, for example if the
students live in New York, would it be useful to teach them colloquialisms
such as ‘What’s up?’ because they will hear them frequently?
• Realistic
As we have already mentioned, the desire to plan every aspect of
a piece of language or a mountainous list of lexical items often leads
to a cumbersome and unrealistic amount of information for students
to try to scale.
• Authentic
In one of the descriptors of a lesson plan at the beginning of
the unit, a teacher-in-training stated that a lesson should contain
‘prototypical examples.’ She was referring to examples of target language
and the need for them to be examples that are used in authentic
communication. Authentic also refers to the actual language students
should be able to use in communication as a result of our teaching.
• Teachable/learnable
It is easier to consider the concepts of teachability and learnability
through examples. Consider the ease of conveying the meaning of
145
CHAPTER 5
the following: “oblique,” “obscure,” “embarrassed” and “ashamed” in

the same lesson. They are all difficult and elusive concepts which are
difficult to convey and difficult to grasp. You may decide to ‘remove’
them from a lesson rather than attempt to teach them. In order to make
this judgment, you need to anticipate the difficulty they present, the
easiest and most effective way to present them and the amount of
time they could potentially take in a lesson. If something appears too
complicated the lesson objectives may need to be streamlined, broken
down or removed.
ANTICIPATION
At the risk of sounding depressing, we believe that we should

spend more time focusing on what can go wrong with a lesson plan
than on what can go right. This is mostly because the classroom
environment is an ever-changing one, where unexpected situations
happen all the time. Hence, it is important that we prepare for the
unexpected by thinking ahead of the problems.
Once you have created precise learning objectives and you
have a clear idea of what you expect learners to achieve as a result
of your teaching, you should consider what potential difficulties these
objectives may present for all students in general, as well as for specific
students in particular. One colleague of ours described this stage in
lesson planning as planning preemptive measures.
Let’s see how this process can evolve. First, let’s look at the
following learning objective:
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to understand and use
the function “Speculating about unreal situations” by using the second
conditional, example: “If I were rich, I would buy a new house.”
Next, let’s consider this shortlist of questions we might ask

ourselves:
• Is the meaning conceptually difficult?
• Is the form of the target structure confusing, for example, why
is ‘were’ in the structure after I, rather than ‘was’?
146
CHAPTER 5
• Is any part of it contracted for example ‘I would’ to ‘I’d.’

• What issues might may pose difficulty at the phonological level?
This stage allows you to walk in the students’ shoes and see the
language from their point of view. It also helps you appreciate what
the students really need to cover in a language lesson. Engaging in this
questioning arms you with methods to resolve the problems because,
for every challenge we forecast, we need to consider how we will deal
with it if and when in corps up in class. Our anticipation must cover
all our fronts, and we should consider even how we might circumvent
the problem. Many certificate-level teaching courses break potential
problems down into four broad areas:
Appropriate use - Why is the register of the language
important? In the case above we might want to highlight to
students that ‘was’ as in “If I was rich…” is permissible in spoken
American English even though this would be seen as colloquial.
Meaning - how and where the language realistically
lives (what functions are achieved by the use of this particular
language). This information stems from the pragmatic level of
language and must be made clear to students so that they do not
incur in sociolinguistic mistakes.
Pronunciation – are there tricky sounds in the sentence?
How does the sentence sound when spoken at natural speed?
Remember that pronunciation is not simply about the students
being able to be understood when using the language, but also
being able to understand the language when they hear it.
Form - the construction of structure may pose difficulties
to students if it requires syntactic moves that are not present in
the students’ L1. For example, Spanish speakers tend to omit the
subject when speaking or writing in English because they transfer
that practice from their L1. Students need to understand that the
omission of the subject is possible in Spanish because the verbs
one declination per person, which is not the case in English.
These areas will help you to focus on, and break down, what may
cause problems for the students; they provide you with a framework
for analyzing language as well as for prioritizing what needs to be dealt
with in class and what might not. It also informs the procedural plan
147
CHAPTER 5
and creates modes of instruction for learners to efficiently navigate

complex grammar, lexical items and skills work.
PROCEDURAL PLAN
The procedural plan or rather the route to your destination is made

up of two parts: what you want to do in class and why you want to do
it (the rationale). The two go hand in hand. Why you plan activities in a
certain order or specific instructional techniques depends on your own
understanding of how language learning occurs, which has most likely
been influenced by myriad experiences including your own learning
experiences as a language learner.
One point of reference that is useful to clarify how we think about
and articulate our teaching rationale and understanding of learning is
Bloom’s taxonomy. This is a framework, which identifies different levels
of learning from lower order thinking skills to higher order thinking
skills. It provides a taxonomy, which describes learning and a tool for
us to consider what is occurring during learning experiences.
The diagram below depicts the revised version of the original
taxonomy. As it can be seen, the organization is hierarchical and also
sequential, as each of the lower strata are contained in the upper ones.
For example, in order to understand something, I first need to remember.
In order to apply it, I need to both, remember and understand it, and
so forth. What we propose as the use of this taxonomy is to ensure that
the lower order thinking skills are developed before the higher order
thinking skills but also, that we do not trivialize learning by considering
that beginning and elementary students are incapable of applying higher
thinking skills because their language proficiency is low. For example,
young children can create their own vocabulary games in English even
if they have only learned the language for a short period of time. In
order to design, for example, a board game to practice vocabulary,
children will need to remember the words, understand them, be able to
use them (application) and then, they will think about which words are
more important or difficult thus analyzing and evaluating before they
come up with a board game they can all play.
148
CHAPTER 5
This in many ways speaks to a word we have already mentioned:

‘logicality.’ While it is true that in a plan certain activities or learning
events should not happen before others because each one builds on (or
‘scaffolds’) the next one, we can challenge students to progress towards
higher order skills use by providing suitable preparation for each task.
Creating
Evaluating
Analyzing
Applying
Understanding
Remebering
Figure 5.3 – Anderson, Krathwhol, et.al. (2001) Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain
A very typical procedural lesson plan is the so called, P P P

model. This means: presentation, controlled practice, freer practice. As
you may have surmised already, this planning sequence is not unlike
those of Hunter or Gagné. P P P is fundamentally a very logical
planning sequence with which to introduce language that students
have not seen before, particularly at beginning level or when we need
to re-teach language students failed to learn.
First the new language is presented in context. The teacher then
checks meaning, pronunciation, and usually the form before setting or
leading activities that practice the language in a controlled manner and
focus mostly on accuracy. Finally, the students practice the language
freely through communicative activities whose focus is on fluency. We
will discuss lesson plan patterns later on in this book in more detail;
however for now, it is key to consider the ordering of activities and
what each activity can achieve in terms of learning. Again, logicality is
key. The PPP pattern makes sense for example in that the flow of focus
moves from accuracy to fluency. It might not always be appropriate
but, at this point, it is a good idea to consider why this is a tried and
149
CHAPTER 5
trusted lesson planning pattern that countless teachers use around the
world on a daily basis.
While a P P P planning sequence appears logical for teaching
or reviewing language, other planning patterns are also popular for
dealing with lessons that involve developing the language skills (reading,
listening, writing, speaking). The chart below illustrates the differences:
SKILLS FOCUSED LESSONS

LANGUAGE FOCUSED LESSONS
Instructions Rationale
A presentation stage A lead in prediction A lead in about the topic
activity of the text.
A checking of understanding stage
A series of gist questions Focus on text structure
A clarification stage and form through sample
Rereading text.
A controlled practice stage
Detailed questions Students writing their own
A freer practice stage
Rereading text.
Assessment
Assessment Assessment
Table 5.1 – A comparison of language-based and skills-based lessons
In later units we will see that there are various alternatives to these
planning patterns. However, for the time being, let us consider these
as the “default” settings for planning language and skills lessons. Not
only are these patterns systematically taught in initial teacher education
courses around the world, they also figure prominently in most language
teaching textbooks. Perhaps they are so popular because they give
teachers a sense of security and predictability in terms of their students’
learning. This fact notwithstanding, we must acknowledge that they also
pose limitations on that learning. We will see how to counteract these
limitations further on in the book.
Each stage in our lessons also has an explicit objective. These
objectives build incrementally to ensure that the students’ learning is
supported. For example, before students practice language, they should
have at least some idea of its use and meaning; therefore, the students’
understanding should have been checked.
A useful analogy when planning lesson procedures is to consider
the process as if you were walking. This idea came from the observation
150
CHAPTER 5
of a lesson in which the teacher seemed to be randomly jumping from

one activity to the other without a suitable transition or bridge between
the various activities. The jumps were huge and numerous, and many
of the students were left along the wayside, in a confused daze. Instead,
it might have been more useful and accurate for the teacher to actually
visualize the lesson as steps, each step that you make touches the
next: heel to toe and so forth. This ensures that you plan for links or
connections between activities and realize a logical flow of events. In
addition, students should also be able to recognize how the lesson holds
together (i.e. how it is cohesive) and how the connections between each
activity aid this cohesion.
During the activity and task selection process, each activity should
be evaluated and unpacked in order to gleam from it what it has to
contribute to the overall plan. Here is where thinking about why we are
incorporating each activity helps us in the process. It is very common
nowadays for many teachers to “plan” a lesson by searching to the topic
they want to teach on the Internet and download ready-made lesson
plans and materials. We should remember these were not prepared with
our students’ needs in mind and can prove more harmful than useful.
That is why we advocate for a designer approach to lesson planning,
particularly at the procedural level, and we encourage you to follow our
advice.
Ideally, for every activity we include in our plan, we should write
an individual objective. After we have finished planning the procedure,
we can look at the various objectives and see if the flow naturally and
build upon one another in a logical, productive sequence. Unless we
consciously do so, the selection of activities and tasks may feel haphazard
and unfocused, and with the amount of materials now available online,
even overwhelming.
To paraphrase a famous passage in George Orwell’s Animal Farm,
bear in mind that “not all materials are created equal and certainly some
are more equal than others” when it comes to placing them into your
plan. It may feel tempting to print materials form the Internet because
the title states that they practice the Present Perfect, but we might then
find ourselves in class with an unwieldy piece of material that does not
match the students’ needs or the overall lesson objective. Unpacking
any activity prior to the lesson ensures that your selection is appropriate
151
CHAPTER 5
for your students. By unpacking we mean, editing, adapting, in some

cases rewriting it to fit our students, and then ensuring that the students
will understand what they need to do and why they are doing it. The
following questions are useful to help frame the various activities we
want to implement in the procedural plan:
• How does this activity help my students learn?

• Is it just a fun activity or does it contribute to the flow of my lesson?
• How am I going to transition into this activity?
• Will the objective be clear to the students?
• What will the interaction pattern be during this activity?
• How should I give instructions to this activity?
• Will the students have the requisite language to be able to complete
the task? If not, what do I need to do in class to help with this?
• Do I, as teacher, know how I am going to monitor and assess the
activity?
• How am I going to give feedback on the activity?
These questions help to plan the execution of the procedure in our

lesson and help us to consider and evaluate how we are going to reach
the expected outcomes. They also provide an opportunity to circumvent
a certain amount of the unexpected from happening and, if and when it
does happen, to have suitable strategies to deal with it.
A SAMPLE LESSON PLAN
The following lesson plan is divided into two distinct sections:

a) a cover page where we unpack our design intentions at the level
of learning and teaching. We call this the intentional plan.
and
b) a specification of the lesson moment-by-moment. We call this
the procedural plan
Take some time to look at the plan and consider:
• How clear the objectives are.
• How well the plan has been anticipated.
• How logical the procedural plan is.
152
CHAPTER 5
Beginners’ class
Monday 2-4pm (120 mins)
Class Description: This class is made answer the questions or express what they
up of 8 students (one woman the rest are like.
men – this is not tough on her as she is Solution: Cut initial pair work short and omit
outgoing and full of fun- she can hold her ‘like’ in the initial part of the lesson.
own with any of them!) – they all work in the
restaurant business: waiters, busboys, pasta Problem: Is Obama memorable?
chefs, pastry chefs) The age range is 18-25 Solution: Will ask sts. to introduce their own
– fairly young. All students work long hours. famous character during the game. Obama
Two start at 3 am daily. All are extrinsically is memorable but is he relevant to them?
and intrinsically motivated. Many have They are interested in current events so will
described learning English as difficult. They try.
frequently use L1 I class.
Problem: Second part of question forms
Objectives: By the end of the lesson, adds a lot of language
students should have practiced the present Solution: Allow for plenty of pair work
simple for habitual actions (live, work, like) activities to provide ‘space’ for the students
and reviewed the use of the auxiliary do for to use/practice the language. This will
question and negative forms after which provide me with the time to keep running
they should be able to describe a famous diagnostics to see when the camel’s back
person of their choice to a peer when breaks. I will be able to teach 1:1 during pair
working orally in pairs. work.
Timetable fit: followed on from Thursday’s Problem: Students may want to use adverbs
lesson re: daily routines and a review of of frequency or may need them
the auxiliary ‘do.’ The evidence at the end Solution: Will not overtly teach them unless
of that lesson indicated that they needed necessary, allow students to use them if they
more repetition of the structure with special know them.
attention on the third person ‘s’.
Problem: Students may forget the third
Anticipated problems and possible person ‘s’ when talking about actions about
solutions other people
Problem: Initial test may be overloaded i.e. Solution: Will diagram the language on
students may not be able to ask questions the board and use flashcards to show
correctly or have enough language to conjugation of the verb and highlight the
153
CHAPTER 5
form again during a pronunciation activity. Problem: Students may omit auxiliary ‘do’ in
Will use different colored markers on the the question form or add it to the response
board ad point to the ‘snake’ on the wall. sentence.
Solution: Will do a lot of repetition, count
Problem: Student may confuse meaning of form off on fingers highlighting how many
habitual action words are in each sentence and show
Solution: Use timeline and show repetitive structures on board
activity in the past, present and future. Will
review my routine. Problem: Energy may drop
Solution: Will watch the attention levels and
Problem: Students may omit third person ‘s’ change to game at end if necessary. Will
ending acknowledge how hard they are working
Solution: Use phonemes to show sound and give out candy.
differences and show snake.
BOARD PLAN:
I live He lives
Work works
Like likes
Am is
What DO you do? What DOES he do?

Where DO you work? Where DOES he work?
Where DO you live? Where DOES he live?
What DO you like to do in What DOES he do in his free time?
your free time?
I DO NOT LIKE
154
CHAPTER 5
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON

Time Interaction Procedure Procedural Objectives
5 mins S<>S Pairs introduce themselves to one To begin/continue to develop
another (review). community and rapport with the new
group
10 -15 T<>Ss Introductions – allow time for sts to Review previous lesson and continue
mins arrive to focus on scaffolding language
Introduce myself: I am…I work in…I
live in…. I like…..I don’t like hot
weather with visuals.
5 mins T<>Ss Focus on verbs: live, work, and like. This is language that the students
Use flashcards to show work, like etc. will need in the following activity-
Contrast pronunciation of live vs. like scaffolding.
10-15 mins S<>S Pairs to discuss job, live, likes Test how much the sts already know
10 -15mins
T<>Ss Each pair feedback to the class Focus on language needed for
correct question form- scaffolding to
the next activity
Focus on questions forms: Clarify/circumvent potential problem

Where do you live? with auxiliary
What do you do?
What do you do in our free time?
Highlight auxiliary ‘do’ To demonstrate how language is

naturally said.
Show answer on the board and show Review language and allow student
that auxiliary is absent to experiment with new structures.
Commit structures to memory
Repetition of question form, and allow students to practice
highlight pronunciation and aspects anonymously – this should build
of connected speech motivation.
Back to Back Dictation Add variety to class and again create

Followed by a mingle activity using certain amount of anonymity.
questions
155
CHAPTER 5

10-15 T<>Ss Put a picture of Obama on the board. Create a memorable context-
mins Ask sts who he is; elicit his job, where he focus on form, pronunciation and
lives, his children etc. Highlight the third meaning.
person ‘s’ Focus on pronunciations which may
also reinforce the form
T<>S Highlight pronunciation of /s/, /iz/ and
/z/ (third person s endings) Commit language to memory and
Repetition of works, lives, focus on accuracy
10 mins S<>S Pairs discuss Obama and review

language presented- change pairs to Allow pairs to practice using
elongate activity and practice time language – sts experiment using
the language and possibly use
10-15 T<>Ss Introduction of question forms in third question forms
mins person ‘s’:
Elicit: Provide sts with language needed
Where does she/he live? to talk about other people.
What does he/she do?
When does he/she
Repetition of question forms
Commit language to memory and

10/15 T<>Ss Elicit what happens to auxiliary and third focus on form
mins person ‘s’ using post-its. Ask student to
stand up and come close to the board. Highlight auxiliary usage
Point to each part of question. Mix up
post -ts and ask students to sort the
sentences out. Focus on form and prevent
problems with auxiliary (see
15 mins S<>S Put students into pairs to think of one anticipation)
famous person from their countries. Ask
them to write names on post its. Collect
in post-its and stick one name to one Fun use of language which should
student’s back in each pair. Each pair has ease any fatigue and concentration.
to find out who is on their back by asking Also, introduce the students’
questions. Do this repeatedly. Finish by cultures into class – ask them to
writing my own for the class to guess. discuss someone that they like.
Remind students of overall aim of
15 mins T<>Ss Correction- say a few sentences which are eh lesson and allow them to walk
incorrect based on game and ask each out having achieved.
pair to correct also ask whole group
End with repetition.
156
CHAPTER 5

10-15 S<>S Students think of one person close Students personalize the language
mins to them and describe them – q and a and use it in contact with a clear
(pairs) need and use.
T monitors and corrects
10 -20 Ss<>Ss
mins Possible:
Change the energy in the class
Game- sts given names of famous by allowing the students to move
people- mingle and describe the person around also provide an activity
Student think of own people and write which should be fun
them on slips of paper- repeat the
10-15 T<>S activity To go over any issues that need
mins ironing out and to review the lesson
Teacher goes over corrections, reviews
the language on the board i.e. Question
and answer forms in first person and
question and answer forms in third
10 mins S<>S person Test students’ existing knowledge
of language.
Likes/don’t like- Review like question form
and introduce verbs. Give handout one
per pair, should say what each verb is.
10 mins S<>S Use the language in context and
Students have to say which one they personalize it.
like/don’t like
10 mins S To focus on the written form and
Students write down three things about provide a balance with the other
themselves using the verbs activities.
Would you change anything about the plan? If so, what would you
change? Why?
TRANSITIONS
One important consideration when walking into any classroom is

that the students have not seen our lesson plan; therefore, they do not
know what is going to happen or the rationale behind the plan. Making
sure that the lesson is transparent to the students can help relieve
some of the students’ stress and help them to engage in the lesson on a
157
CHAPTER 5
metacognitive level that not only helps them to learn but to understand
how to learn. This can be done by explaining the objectives at the
beginning of the class and planning your own language in class so that
you incorporate instructions and the rationale for activities.
Many teachers write the lesson objectives on the board at the
beginning of the lesson; some teachers hesitate to do this because they
feel it takes away from the surprise of the lesson. However, consider
the lesson from the students’ points of view. Given that our students
are usually not teachers or educators and, therefore, do not have a
strong sense of learning pedagogy or the course curriculum, they
need support to concentrate on the lesson objectives rather than try to
decipher them. Writing out an outline of the plan (or, if you are teaching
very young learners drawing it – for example use a clef to mean “song,”
two heads to mean “pair work,” a pencil to mean “drawing,” etc.) or the
objectives helps learners engage in the lesson as a learning process.
We must remember that learning a new language can be
intimidating and having access to the plan on the board gives students
both, a sense of security and also a sense of progress, if you tick the
various activities as you cover them. The plan can also be used as an
effective closure.
One of us likes to devote 5 minutes of each lesson to asking
students questions about what was learned and they have to indicate
where in the plan they did so. This technique acts as a revision as
well as closure, it helps the teacher and students assess the degree
of attainment of the lesson objectives and finally, it provides students
with a takeaway, as they are able to reflect on what they have actually
learned. This is a particularly effective way of making sure that young
learners have something to tell their parents when they ask “What did
you learn today in English class?” As many of you may know from
experience, in general, younger learners tend to say what they “did” but
not what they “learned,” whereas the default answer a teenage student
often gives is “Nothing.” So, making them aware of the takeaways from
our lessons also helps build community and understanding of why we
are together. In short, it is not enough for teachers to recognize how to
achieve lesson objectives; the students also need to know them so that
they become aware of their own learning process.
158
CHAPTER 5
One of us once asked a group of teachers-in-training whether they

found beauty in the subtlety of a lesson plan. By this she meant whether
overt instruction supported the learners and learning. We invite you to
reflect on this and consider what works for you as a learner: does it
help you to know what the teacher has planned. You may want to ask
your students the same question.
Finally, we want to highlight that writing the “schedule for the
day” on the board and discussing objectives with students is also a
useful tool for the teacher in that it helps you manage your transitions.
A skillful and swift progression from one activity into the next does not
only provide a smooth flow for the lesson, but contributes to a sense
of achievement and aids the students in making sense of our teaching.
Let’s take a moment to walk into a classroom and compare these
two sets of instructions:
1. Teacher: “Right, everyone get into pairs to complete the sentences on

the worksheet”
2. Teacher: “Right, work with the person next to you to complete the
sentences. Let’s see how the sentences are made.”
The wording is only slightly different but, in the second set of

instructions, the rationale behind the task is evident i.e. to understand
and familiarize the students with the form of a specific grammar
structure. In the first, the learners are not told why they are doing the
activity and thus are not engaged in the learning process. Similarly,
look at the following transitions:
1. Okay have you finished exercise one? Let’s go over the answers and
do the next activity.
2. Okay, have you finished exercise one? Did it help you to remember
the new grammar forms? Let’s do the next activity, which should help
us to use the language a little more but this time in conversation.
Again, the second transition helps elucidate why the teacher

planned the activities the way he or she did. How much can be
explained to the students will depend on their age and level but even
159
CHAPTER 5
at the lower levels and with very young learners you can use words
such as “remember,” “write,” “read,” or “use” to help illustrate the aim
of each task. Even though this could be categorized under classroom
management, as opposed to lesson planning, it is a vital part of our
lesson design. Thinking through what we are going to say helps take
the plan off the page, and provides rehearsal time. One teacher-in-
training told us:
“I am able to ensure that I have covered all of the bases that need
to be covered and ensured that there is a balance of skills in my classes
between listening, reading, writing and speaking and how much I am
speaking and how much the students are speaking.”
LESSON RHYTHMS AND “CAN DO”
As has already been mentioned, learning any language is not an

easy endeavor and has the potential to end up in demotivation and
attrition. Therefore, anything teachers can do to make the experience
more motivating for students is a positive step. This may simply mean
adding a game to the end of a lesson so that the last thing the students
remember about the lesson is fun. Alternatively, we can try incorporating
160
CHAPTER 5
topics that we know are of interest to the students (because we asked

about this in our needs analysis), or ensuring that lesson plans are
designed so that they calibrate energy levels and attention.
In any learning experience there are peaks and valleys of students’
concentration and energy levels. For example, when students enter the
class they may be attentive but need time to adjust to being immersed
in a language other than their L1 because they may have just finished
work or school and need time to reset their thinking to an all-English
period of time. One technique that has worked very well for us to
counteract this feeling of disorientation is the “DO NOW!” activity. We
make sure to arrive in the classroom before our students and before
writing the schedule for the day, we write the instructions for a short
activity that students do as soon as they enter the classroom. It need not
be anything lengthy or complicated. Examples of DO NOW activities
are: “Open your book and find five adjectives that describe X in lesson
Y” or “Write three questions you would like to ask the character in
Unit X.” The idea is for students to settle down, and turn their minds
into English. At the classroom-management level, DO NOW activities
also help teachers settle down into the room and wait for latecomers
(particularly in classes involving adult learners who may come from
work) without wasting valuable lesson time.
Often, teachers plan ‘warmers’ at the beginning of the lesson that
do just that, warm up the students, relax them, give them a period of
adjustment during a low stakes activity and prepare them for the lesson
ahead. These activities can follow from the feedback to the DO NOW
activity and could also be as simple as talking about the day, the week
or sharing one interesting, unusual or fun thing that recently happened.
They act as an introduction to the topic of the lesson and help activate
students’ background knowledge about it.
Very often these activities are done in pairs or groups instead of
individually or in front of the class to allow students to work with as
little stress as possible, or feeling that the activity is a performance as
opposed to a simple warming activity.
At the end of the lesson, when students feel tired and are possibly
beginning to lose concentration and focus, teachers may add a cooler
to the lesson, before reviewing the takeaways for the day. This works
very similarly to the warmer in that it is possibly dislocated from the
161
CHAPTER 5
lesson content, fun, low-stakes and aimed at ensuring the students

leave the lesson with a good feeling. It could be a game, a pair work
speaking activity about something dealt with during the lesson, or a
brief mingling activity in which students stretch their legs and interact.
The aim of both coolers and warmers is to address the needs
of students and the various feelings and emotions that they can incur
over the journey of a lesson such as frustration levels, confusions,
clarity, feelings of accomplishment, boredom, waning attention spans
these combine to create the rhythm of the lesson. For example, the
content of the lesson may be challenging and consequently confuse
and tire the students. To address this and alleviate rising frustration,
students complete a “CAN DO” activity, which is basically any type
of activity, which is relatively straightforward and simple, in other
words all of the students ‘can do’ it. For instance, repetition is one such
activity that all of the students, irrespective of their level or ability can
usually experience success with. It need not be more than repeating
a sentence first at normal volume, then shouting it, then whispering
Having predictable
it. Or, you may want to turn this sentence into a chant to add some
patterns in place
physical and rhythmic accompaniment to the words. Imagine this
allows teachers to
spend more time scenario, after students have plowed through a particularly tricky gap
in meaningful fill, teachers add a rhyming chant or a simple substitution drill using
instruction. some of the language in the exercise they have just completed, in order
to lift energy levels and infuse the students with renewed confidence.
-Scholastic.com
Similarly, if the students have come to the end of a reading activity and
found it difficult, teachers may want to add a pair work activity in which
students share one or two thoughts about the reading, or talk about a
setting or a character they liked. If the “CAN DO” presents a challenge,
the aim behind it has failed. Arguably “CAN DO” activities may not
add substantially in terms of content to our lessons, but they do lead
to a feeling of success that, in turn, means a raise on motivation. For
this reason they are critical to plans and should be woven throughout a
lesson. Indeed, looking at the rhythm of the lesson means being aware
that the plan facilitates learning, which is a process.
Before we move on to other considerations, we should also
stress the need for variety to keep lessons interesting and our students
interested. All teachers, over time, develop predictable patterns
of classroom behavior. We develop a particular liking for certain
162
CHAPTER 5
techniques or procedures or we trust on the effectiveness of certain

materials and use them over and over again. With these recurring
patterns we may unknowingly be making our lessons also predictable
and routinary for our learners. Hence, it is fundamental that when we
draft the procedural plan we purposefully incorporate some form of
variety to the lesson.
Things that we may vary include:
• Pace – make sure your lesson takes up speed when students

find things easy and give them time when they find something
difficult. Make your timing flexible according to your learners’
needs.
• Organization – incorporate individual, pair and group work.

Vary the way you pair and group students and make sure some
of the pair and group activities include movement and not just
sitting at a desk.
• Mode – balance written (reading and writing) and oral

(listening and speaking) work.
• Difficulty – always plan some extra activities for early finishers

that pose a challenge for them. For late finishers, have some extra
work ready that may supplement what they need to learn without
disrupting the flow of the class. We generally make cards with
these activities and put the correct answers on the back of the
cards for self-correction.
• Mood – vary the mood in your lesson. Include light and fun
activities along serious and profound activities in every lesson. Do
not let one mood monopolize the whole lesson.
• Stir-settle – by the same token, plan activities that enliven and

excite students (games, competitions, singing songs) to raise their
level of engagement and motivation, and make sure you alternate
these with activities that calm them down.
163
CHAPTER 5
WHAT CAN GO WRONG WITH A PLANNED LESSON?
These are comments made by a teacher after a class that did not
go as planned. Many of the problems could have been prevented if the
teacher had planned the lesson in a slightly different way. As you read
the teacher’s self-assessment, consider why they may have occurred:
1. The students were lively at the beginning of the class but their energy
levels waned in the middle and the end.
2. I ran out of time, I didn’t get to my practice activities!
3. The students got frustrated with the content. They couldn’t
understand.
After some thoughtful reflection and a long conversation with her

mentor, here is the observer’s interpretation of the possible causes for
the problems and potential solutions that may have worked:
1. The students’ energy level wanes.

Maybe too much time was allotted to one activity. Possibly, the pacing
within the lesson was incorrect. Use a ‘stand up and stretch activity’ to
re-enliven the students (literally ask the students to stand up and move
a around the room for a few minutes in order to re-energize them).
Sequence activities, which are active and less active carefully. It is not a
good idea to ask your students to move around the classroom for long
periods of time but equally it is not a good idea to ask them to do sit
down activities for the entire duration of the lesson. Consider the age of
your students: if they are younger learners there attention span may be
fairly short, mix up their lessons with kinesthetic and sit-down activities.
Possibly look at your plan and reflect on how long you were talking
during the lesson. Lastly, consider how it feels to be working in a foreign
language for any length of time: it is tiring.
2. Students get frustrated.

The lesson may have been too difficult for the students. Consider varying
the level of activity difficulty within your plan, mix up easy and difficult
tasks so that students feel encouraged at varying points within a lesson
because they are able to do the activities and are more likely to feel
164
CHAPTER 5
encouraged to tackle more difficult tasks. It is useful to experiment with

‘’CAN DO’ endings to the lessons. In other words, placing an activity
at the end, which you know the students can achieve easily in order to
end the lesson on a high note and motivate the students to keep coming
back to lessons.
3. Not enough time!

Most of us plan too much due to the concern that we will run out of
material; however, ‘less is more’ - something we have promised that we
will keep repeating is possibly one of the most important things to keep
in mind when teaching. Students can only process a certain amount;
therefore, one needs to be very aware of how much content there is in
a lesson and to have realistic aims for students and yourself. It is easy
to find a theme or a topic or a language structure and watch it grow
before our eyes and get intimidated by how much we need to cover.
Break down language and lessons carefully and know that you do not
need to do everything in one lesson.
There are many more things which may go wrong in a class and
that force us to stray away from our plan. Alternatively, things may
have gone wrong because we stuck to the plan too strictly. This is
one of the main challenges of teaching, but it is an exciting (albeit
frustrating at times) one. Reflecting on each lesson and as we have said
before, keeping a journal, help you to navigate your own successes
and failures, although, the word failure is not a word we subscribe to, a
better way of looking at failures is ‘opportunities to learn.’
A check off list for a lesson longer than 2 hours:
Lesley developed this checklist to help her planning of longer

lessons. Her ideal longer lesson:
1. is balanced: speaking, listening, reading, writing are all

integrated.
165
CHAPTER 5
2. is also balanced in terms of types of activities- not all sitting

down, not all standing up, not all literacy based, not all reading, or
all oral. This is to consider energy levels as well as difficulty levels.
3. includes some type of intercultural piece – even if this is only:
‘How would you say this in your language?’
4. covers all bases: Have I dealt with meaning and use,
pronunciation, appropriacy and form?
5. is inherently logical and cohesive.
6. has smooth transitions between activities
7. helps learners develop their own learning strategies.
8. balances the ratio of TTT and STT
9. exhibits flexibility: Where are the creases in my lessons (i.e.
flexibility to do more or less of something)?
10. offers the teacher ample opportunities to provide corrective
feedback
11. includes DO NOW, WARMERS and COOLERS (such as CAN
DO activities).
12. is well planned, including the potential boardwork
13. includes variety as the teacher is aware of her class routines
(reading a piece of news, a vocabulary word game, homework
etc.
14. makes the objectives clear at the beginning and reviews them
at the end of the lesson.
There are probably more but these are generally the main issues
we think about when we plan.
CONCLUSION
In this chapter we looked at lesson planning from different angles

and emphasized various conditions that successful lessons have when
they are well planned. Eventually, we acknowledged that anticipating
potential hurdles both at the conceptual and the procedural levels is a
must if we are to plan a lesson that is focused on the students and their
learning. Lesson planning is a skill and, as such, it takes time to learn
166
CHAPTER 2
Along that process, we consider what could go right and wrong

Donald Schön (1983)
identified two kinds of largely based on previous experiences. In that respect, we have
reflection. Reflection- expectations about our efficacy in the classroom, based on our past
in-action – happens performance.
while teaching as Additionally, during the lesson, things change: an activity takes
we assess and act on longer than expected, students find the material easier or more
decisions in class; and challenging than expected, and a myriad of other such events that are
reflection–on-action
impossible to systematically predict. Hence, while we are teaching, we
– done either before
continually reflect and adapt our plans to suit the emerging changes
or after class, when
we plan, assess and that our interaction with students may provoke. In other words we think
evaluate the lesson. on our feet.
Once the lesson is over, we look back at how the lesson went.
We consider what worked, what was effective or ineffective and
hypothesize why our expectations and the actual lesson maybe did not
match. Again, this is reflection. For most of us, it is natural to reflect in
an effort to process our classroom experiences. However, in order for
reflection to be productive, we need to ensure that it leads to useful and
usable insights or takeaways, which inform future lessons. In other
words, we look back in order to move forwards.
Let’s look at a Lesson

Consider a lesson that you have recently taught or seen. Answer the following questions to help
frame your reflection:
1. How do I feel about the lesson overall?
2. Describe one incident in class that made you feel the above.
3. What evidence do I have that the lesson objectives were attained?
4. What was happening at the end of the lesson?
5. What would I do differently?
6. What would I do again?
7. What did I learn from this lesson (or what is the learning takeaway)?
IT’S ALL IN THE QUESTIONS

Why did we ask the above questions? When we first walk out of
a lesson, we have an overall impression of the lesson and how it went.
We often use the words: “Good,” “It went well,” “It was okay,” “It was
a disaster” or “It was not how I expected.” This initial reflection is not
48
CHAPTER 2
usually more than a few words and often based on a feeling, as opposed
to fact or evidence.
The first question above is an obvious one to ask but not that
useful or insightful. It only helps us process a personal reaction, at the
level of feelings. However, we need to dig deeper into the actual lesson
events, hence the second question. This question requires that we trawl
over the events of the lesson and select one incident or critical incident
(Farrell, 2008) to examine. Farrell argues that it is often only one event
or ‘critical incident’ that provides the greatest insights into overall
lessons. At this point, a few things occur, we begin to objectify the
lesson and slightly disengage from the reflective process on a purely
personal level. It is no longer simply about how we felt the lesson
went, but about the evidence that we can gain from real classroom
occurrences. We begin to look at these events in terms of what we can
learn from them and prioritize those, which are the most important or
useful.
The next two questions, questions three and four, probe further
into this idea. The subtle shift in these questions is that the focus is
removed from solely teacher actions to integrating students’ behaviors
also. This forces us to look at the lesson through the students’ lens.
This is not a minor detail, on the contrary. The ultimate purpose of
teaching is to promote effective, quality learning for all students, and
putting them and their learning process at the center of our reflection
is a fundamental trait of a reflective practitioner.
The final questions frame reflection as a means for development,
growth, and change, which is why reflective practice is critical and
ultimately can be equated to learning. As Wallace (1991, p. 54) states
“fruitful change is extremely difficult without reflection.”
Growth means change and change means taking risks, stepping
from the known to the unknown. However, growth is not easy. We all
have to ask ourselves: Am I open-minded enough to reflect?
John Dewey posited that in order for teachers to reflect effectively,
they need to be openminded, have an open heart and take responsibility.
“Reflective thinking as a distinction from other operations

to which we apply the name of thought involves (1) a state of
doubt, hesitation, perplexity, mental difficulty, in which thinking
49
CHAPTER 2
originates, and (2) an act of searching, hunting, inquiring, to find

material that will resolve the doubt, settle and dispose of the
perplexity.” (Dewey, 1933, p. 12)
As mentioned previously, and as it can be seen from the quote

above, engaging in reflection is not easy. It is doubtful that any of us
“Expertise resides in
the practices of the truly appreciates being in a ‘state of doubt’ or ‘mental difficulty’ both
teacher.” of which imply discomfort and the necessity for effort and time,
something which is in short supply for most teachers. In addition,
Zeichner and Liston what compounds the difficulty is that the subject we are reflecting on
(1996, p. 6)
(teaching) is a highly personal and personalized endeavor. It is rooted
in our belief systems, which may have developed over many years and
may have been influenced and fostered by several factors including:
our favorite teachers, our favorite classes and our own learning styles
and preferences. We are attached to our beliefs and may find it difficult
to move away from them. There is a certain amount of vulnerability
generated when we are asked to question our own teaching. As a
consequence, we naturally have a tendency to think about lessons in
a way that suits what we are able to process or what we want to think.
In order for reflection to effect the changes in our development
that we expect to get from engaging in the process, egos and emotions
need to be set aside. This honest self-evaluation, a requirement of all
kinds of reflection, can be best described as meeting yourself.
In other words, you look at yourself and your actions completely
or, as Dewey described, with an ‘open heart’ rather than in the way the
wicked queen asked for feedback: “Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the
fairest of them all?” The only thing the witch wanted to know was that
she was the fairest. The truth was not useful.
Being resistant to critically analyzing lessons usefully can lead
to teacher stagnation, ‘routinization’ (not trying new things in our
lessons) and the adoption of what van Manen described as a “narrow
doctrinaire perspective” (van Manen, 1977, p. 206). As one of our
teachers in training admitted during feedback to a practicum class
‘Because of my natural stubbornness, I did my assignments, as ever,
but I was less inclined than I should have been to be as thoughtful as I
could and should have been.’
50
CHAPTER 2
This may not be the only problem: we can also be too critical,
or hypercritical, of our own classroom. When this happens we are
not only undermining our teaching but also our confidence and self-
esteem. There has to be a middle ground in order for us to develop as
teachers and create a healthy practice of reflection.
Beginning by acknowledging that reflection is an integral part
of teaching and teacher learning is a fundamental first step. This
should validate the practice, ensure that it is an ongoing process, and
underscore the fact that teachers are constantly striving for genuine
understanding (Loughran, 2002) of the students, of themselves, of
the context and the material. Every lesson is an opportunity to learn
something. From every lesson the students and we can gain a useful
takeaway, or point of learning, which provides information for future
lessons. As Dewey told us, “reflection converts action that is merely
appetitive, blind, and impulsive into intelligent action” (1933, p. 17).
For this reason, reflection is a practice.
Look back at the text to see where these keywords were mentioned:
OPEN MINDED CHANGE ROUTINIZATION
RESPONSIBILITY TAKEAWAYS CRITICAL INCIDENTS
Review them and consider how they relate to your teaching and lessons
THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICE CYCLE
As we have explained so far, reflection does not come naturally

to professionals. It is a painstaking process at the beginning and soon
it becomes a fundamental tool for teachers’ growth and development.
Various authors have tried to conceptualize the process. In our
experience, whenever we have engaged in reflection, it has been as a
consequence of finding dissonances between our teaching intentions
and the students’ actual learning in class.
The first thing that happens is that we try to fully understand
what went wrong or not according to plan (WHAT?). We then look
51
CHAPTER 2
for potential causes or reasons (WHY?) and these generally give us

additional information about the situation (WHAT ELSE?). Using all
that information, we try to come up with a useful solution (HOW?),
which we plan and try out in class. Sometimes, that solution works.
Other times it does not work and we need to go back to our repertoire
of potential solutions and we try things out again (WHAT NOW?).
The following diagram depicts the way we have been engaging in
reflection. However, notice that this is not the only way the process
can be depicted. As we say above, this is the way we have been
engaging in reflection.
DEFINE
identify a
problem within
a lesson
IMPLEMENT
HYPOTHESIZE
Consider what
what caused
solutions can now
the problem?
be systematically
what could
adopted Reflective resolve it?
in class. Practice
Cycle
REASON
TEST what additional
trying out factors may
the proposed impact the
solutions. problem and its
solution?
Figure 2.1 - The Reflective Learning Cycle
52
CHAPTER 2
Can you think of an issue or problem that occurred in a class that you recently taught or observed?
Possibly a student dominated the class, and you found it difficult to use the student’s energy
effectively, or maybe you had difficulty conveying the meaning of a language structure that had
appeared straightforward before the lesson but once in the lesson seemed to unravel. Try to follow
these steps in thinking about the problem. How do you feel following these steps?
1) Define the problem.
2) Consider what caused it.
3) Consider whether your actions helped or exacerbated the problem.
4) Think of possible alternatives to address the problem in the future.
5) Test out one or two of your proposed solutions in class.
6) Once you have experimented with a few solutions, consider how successful you were in tackling
the problem and which proposed solution was most effective.
What you have just engaged in was an example of a reflective

practice cycle: noticing a problem, investigating possible causes of According to
Pennington (1992, p.
the problem and experimenting with possible solutions. This type of
5), “reflection makes
reflective practice is purposeful, directed and facilitates a dynamic
teachers confident
working relationship between you, the material and the students. and self-motivated.”
Richards (1991, p. 5) states that the process “involves conscious recall
and examination of the experience as a basis for evaluation and
decision-making, and as a source for planning and action.” This cycle
adheres to the principle that “experience plays a central role in the part
of the learning process” (Kolb, 1984, p. 20) and encourages teachers
“to view problems from different perspectives” (Loughran,1996,
p. 4). A useful summary of these points could be that meaning, and
consequently learning, are born out of experiences.
53
CHAPTER 2
TOWARDS EVIDENCE-BASED REFLECTION
One thing to keep in mind is that reflecting for reflection’s sake

is an unproductive endeavor. Many times, the source of reflection we
have is merely a hunch or an intuition. This is because teaching can
be a solitary business. When we are in the classroom, we are with
our students but there is generally no one to guide us or to see and
comment on what is happening other than ourselves. In the reflective
practice cycle we have just described, a fundamental element—the
sources that triggers a cascade of reflective actions—is some concrete
evidence that a change is needed. Because generally we are our own
resource in the classroom, we need to use assists in order to gather
useful, concrete evidence to guide our reflection. These assists include
our students, the record of our work on the whiteboard, filming our
lessons and reviewing our plans after the lesson has been taught. All
of these assists can provide rich insights and help to further explore the
actual execution of the lesson.
Filming or audio recording our classes

It is easy to forget everything that happened or to miss critical
incidents once the lesson is over. Filming or audio recording lessons
provides a record of what actually occurred and was said in class; in
other words, we have evidence on which we can reflect. Consider this
teacher in training’s comment after using video to help her examine
her class:
“The Wonder of Video: The good, the bad, the ugly and the ‘eh-
not so bad.’ It is invaluable to watch videos of others teaching but even
more so of ourselves. It really keeps you honest. Once over the initial
shock of our appearance, a visual record of a lesson provides insight
into our teaching techniques, our comportment and our behavior
towards students. By seeing myself in the first video, I realized my
lesson plans were not well sequenced and I needed to prepare myself
better for the class.”
54
CHAPTER 2
Additionally, we can transcribe our own or the student’s language in

order to further investigate our classes. Doing this can help us understand
how we communicate with students, how many opportunities for
communication we give them and also, more importantly, which the
areas of our interaction with students that need to be rethought are.
Reviewing the Whiteboard/Blackboard
A teacher trainer once said that you could judge how clear or logical
a lesson has been by looking at the white or blackboard. This might be a
slight exaggeration but what we can do once we have finished teaching,
and the students have left the room, is ask ourselves the following
questions:
• Is the learning objective evident from what is written on the

board?
• Is the board logically planned? Is it cluttered?
• Have I used the board as a notepad for myself or as a learning
tool for my students?
• Does it look as though this was a lesson for the level of students
I had i.e. was the lesson level appropriate?
55
CHAPTER 2
These questions, prompt us to look at what the students were looking

at while we were teaching. It also gets us to consider whether the board
was cluttered, whether we packed the lesson too full of information and,
more importantly, what the students have written in their notebooks and
taken home as a record of the lesson. If the board is planned well, was
the lesson well executed? There is no clear-cut answer to this question.
Nevertheless, we should remember that what was left on the board is the
record of the lesson that students will use in order to review or study.
Hence, it should be properly planned and intentionally used.
Looking at Students’ Notebooks
Another source of evidence for reflection entails looking at what

students have written during our lesson. This will give us evidence of
how our intended plan actually played out in reality. At the end of a
lesson, ask one or two students to show you their notebooks. Look at
how and what they have taken notes on during the lesson. Ask yourself:
• Is the organization of the notes clear?

• Is the learning objective obvious?
• Will they be able to use these notes as a study guide at home?
56
CHAPTER 2
The answers to these questions will illustrate and evidence not

only the students’ ability to organize their own learning but also suggest
in part the clarity of your instruction. You may want to photocopy the
notebooks or take notes yourself on what the students saw as being vital
to note down and compare this to the actual lesson objectives. You may
also want to choose students’ notebooks from the two ends of the ability
range in your class, meaning you look at the student who is most able
in class and the one who is the least able. Again, you can compare what
each student has taken away from your lesson and reflect on whether or
not you have provided adequate supports at both ends as well as what
you should have done in order to support learning.
Asking the Students
During the term, you may want to institutionalize feedback sessions

with the students. These are points in the semester when you meet each
student, one on one, to check on how the students feel about the lessons
and their progress. You may want to weave into these discussions
questions about instructional techniques or overall clarity of lessons. You
may also want to ask the students to provide you with written feedback
using questions such as:
57
CHAPTER 2
• What did you like about this lesson?

• What did you not like about this lesson?
• What did you learn during this lesson?
• What homework will you do?
You may want to do this at the end of every unit, or at the end
of each semester. Additionally, you can use proactive assessment for
learning tools (see Chapter 11) such as one-minute papers, or exit slips
to gather information about every lesson, at the point of need.
We should remember that students might feel slightly uncomfortable
about noting down things that they did not like. Because of this, you will
need to navigate how best to question your particular groups of students.
The question that is possibly the most useful is what the students learnt
during the lesson. This will give you the greatest insight into whether
you accomplished the learning objective for the lesson, or not, and what
options you have when planning lessons.
Re-writing the Plan
As already mentioned, we reflect during lessons constantly and

make changes to the lesson accordingly. Therefore, the written lesson
plan and what actually happened in class may differ greatly. In order
58
CHAPTER 2
to understand the reason for these differences, once the lesson is over,
take out your plan again and add the changes that you made including
changes to the timing, extended or dropped activities, and so forth. These
changes will give you insights into your planning and your execution.
Additionally, you will be getting insights into your planning, your
execution and the pace of the lesson as experienced by the students. In
rewriting your plan, you will be able to analyze why a particular activity
needed to be dropped which should in turn inform future lessons.
A note to end on
As vital as it is to make reflection a practice, we must not fall into
routinized reflection-in other words reflecting because we know we
should. True, purposeful reflection has to impact teachers´ actions and
result in change.
Zeichner and Liston (1990, p. 167), question whether “teachers’
actions are necessarily better just because they are more deliberate or “Not all thinking
intentional.” This is a useful consideration. Reflection cannot simply about teaching
constitutes reflective
be something that happens after a class and ends there. It needs to be
teaching”
utilized and should result in action.
Zeichner & Liston
Along the same lines, Fendler (2003, p. 6) provides this interesting (1990, p. 167)
observation:
“Today’s discourse of reflection incorporates an array of

meanings: a demonstration of self consciousness, a scientific approach
to planning for the future, a tacit and intuitive understanding of
practice, a discipline to become more professional, a way to tap into
one’s authentic inner voice, and a means to become a more effective
teacher.”
SEEING REFLECTION IN PRACTICE
Read the following reflection on a lesson written by a teacher in

training. As you are reading, compare it to your own reflection and also
59
CHAPTER 2
consider how useful the following reflection is. What evidence is there
that this teacher is analyzing her lesson productively?
Overall, I feel pretty good about this lesson— at least better than
my previous one. I felt that by planning out the rationale and really
breaking down each aspect of the lesson helped out, so it does speak
volumes to the importance of lesson planning. I chose to use technology
again (and a great excuse to use my brand spankin’ new computer).
The use of the presentation not only helped scaffold the entire lesson
for the student, but also helped me organize my thoughts and see how
each macro and micro skill was being assessed and focused on. I think
the most successful part was scaffolding the vocabulary the way I did.
The students had fewer questions about the article because I pre-taught
the vocabulary. That was a big improvement for my class and I will
continue to use this strategy in all of my Hot Topics courses. I really
enjoyed the use of the PowerPoint. The whole problem now is getting
all of my students on the same article each week so I can just create
one presentation — I don’t have time to create four or five different
PowerPoints.
One thing that the lesson did fall short on was the amount of
fluency practice the student received. We could have kept going
because I didn’t have a class afterwards, but since they are paying for
40-minutes, they get 40 minutes. So, I did run out of time.
There are a few reasons why this teacher’s reflections are

constructive. Firstly, she looks at her lesson in sufficient detail and she
identifies specific areas that were both effective and ineffective. At the
beginning of her reflection, she identifies a few key points that made the
lesson “good.” Her initial, general reflection on this lesson includes these
positive aspects: the use of technology, scaffolding, and breaking down
each aspect of his lesson. She attributes the success of the organization
to the lesson to her planning; by so doing, she provides herself with a
tool to repeatedly use and build upon in order to maintain her success.
This is one of the takeaways. She identifies one negative point: the
lack of fluency practice, and muses on how best to deal with this in the
future presenting herself with one key area to work on. By doing this, she
60
The Teacher Trainer – Back Articles
Saved from: http://www.tttjournal.co.uk
Towards Reflective Teaching

by Jack C. Richards
Department of English, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong
Most teachers develop their classroom skills

fairly early in their teaching careers. Teachers
entering the profession may find their initial
teaching efforts stressful, but with experience
they acquire a repertoire of teaching
strategies that they draw on throughout their
teaching. The particular configuration of
strategies a teacher uses constitutes his or
her “teaching style”. While a teacher’s style of
teaching provides a means of coping with
many of the routine demands of teaching,
there is also a danger that it can hinder a
teacher’s professional growth. How can
teachers move beyond the level of automatic
or routinised responses to classroom
situations and achieve a higher level of
awareness of how they teach, of the kinds of
decisions they make as they teach, and of the
value and consequences of particular
instructional decisions? One way of doing this
is through observing and reflecting on one’s
own teaching, and using observation and
reflection as a way of bringing about change.
This approach to teaching can be described
as “Reflective Teaching”, and in this paper I
want to explore how a reflective view of
teaching can be developed.
What is reflection?
Reflection or “critical reflection”, refers to an activity or process in which an experience is recalled,
considered, and evaluated, usually in relation to a broader purpose. It is a response to past
experience and involves conscious recall and examination of the experience as a basis for evaluation
and decision-making and as a source for planning and action. Bartlett (1990) points out that becoming
a reflective teacher involves moving beyond a primary concern with instructional techniques and “how
to” questions and asking “what” and “why” questions that regard instructions and managerial
techniques not as ends in themselves, but as part of broader educational purposes.
Asking “what and why” questions gives us a certain power over our teaching. We could claim
that the degree of autonomy and responsibility we have in our work as teachers is determined
by the level of control we can exercise over our actions. In reflecting on the above kind of
questions, we begin to exercise control and open up the possibility of transforming our
everyday classroom life.
Bartlett, 1990. 267

How does reflection take place?
Many different approaches can be employed if one wishes to become a critically reflective teacher,
including observation of oneself and others, team teaching, and exploring one’s view of teaching
through writing. Central to any approach used however is a three part process which involves:
Stage 1 The event itself

The starting point is an actual teaching episode, such as a lesson or other instructional event. While
the focus of critical reflection is usually the teacher’s own teaching, self-reflection can also be
stimulated by observation of another person’s teaching.
Stage 2 Recollection of the event

The next stage in reflective examination of an experience is an account of what happened, without
explanation or evaluation. Several different procedures are available during the recollection phase,
including written descriptions of an event, a video or audio recording of an event, or the use of check
lists or coding systems to capture details of the event.
Stage 3 Review and response to the event

Following a focus on objective description of the event, the participant returns to the event and reviews
it. The event is now processed at a deeper level, and questions are asked about the experience.
Let us examine approaches to critical reflection which reflect these processes.
Peer Observation
Peer observation can provide opportunities for teachers to view each other’s teaching in order to
expose them to different teaching styles and to provide opportunities for critical reflection on their own
teaching. In a peer observation project initiated in our own department, the following guidelines were
developed.
1. Each participant would both observe and be observed

Teachers would work in pairs and take turns observing each other’s classes.
2. Pre-observation orientation session

Prior to each observation, the two teachers would meet to discuss the nature of the class to be
observed, the kind of material being taught, the teachers’ approach to teaching, the kinds of
students in the class, typical patterns of interaction and class participation, and any problems
that might be expected. The teacher being observed would also assign the observer a goal for
the observation and a task to accomplish.
The task would involve collecting information about some aspect of the lesson, but would not
include any evaluation of the lesson. Observation procedures or instruments to be used would
be agreed upon during this session and a schedule for the observations arranged.
3. The observation
The observer would then visit his or her partner’s class and complete the observation using
the procedures that both partners had agreed on.
4. Post-observation
The two teachers would meet as soon as possible after the lesson. The observer would report
on the information that had been collected and discuss it with the teacher (Richards and
Lockhart, 1991).
The teachers identified a variety of different aspects of their lessons for their partners to observe and
collect information on. These included organization of the lesson, teacher’s time management,
students’ performance on tasks, time-on-task, teacher questions and student responses, student
performance during pair work, classroom interaction, class performance during a new teaching
activity, and students’ use of the first language or English during group work.
The teachers who participated in the project reported that they gained a number of insights about their
own teaching from their colleague’s observations and that they would like to use peer observation on a
regular basis. They obtained new insights into aspects of their teaching. For example:
• “It provided more detailed information on student performance during specific aspects of the
lesson than I could have gathered on my own.”
• “It revealed unexpected information about interaction between students during a lesson.”
• “I was able to get useful information on the group dynamics that occur during group work”.
Some teachers identified aspects of their teaching that they would like to change as a result of the
information their partner collected. For example:
• “It made me more aware of the limited range of teaching strategies that I have been using.”
• “I need to give students more time to complete some of the activities I use.”
• “I realized that I need to develop better time management strategies.”
Longer term benefits to the department were also cited:
• “It helped me develop a better working relationship with a colleague.”
• “Some useful broader issues about teaching and the programme came up during the post-
observation discussions.”
Written accounts of experiences

Another useful way of engaging in the reflective process is through the use of written accounts of
experiences. Personal accounts of experiences through writing are common in other disciplines
(Powell 1985) and their potential is increasingly being recognized in teacher education. A number of
different approaches can be used.
Self-Reports
Self-reporting involves completing an inventory or check list in which the teacher indicates which
teaching practices were used within a lesson or within a specified time period and how often they were
employed (Pak, 1985). The inventory may be completed individually or in group sessions. The
accuracy of self-reports is found to increase when teachers focus on the teaching of specific skills in a
particular classroom context and when the self-report instrument is carefully constructed to reflect a
wide range of potential teaching practices and behaviours (Richards, 1990).
Self-reporting allows teachers to make a regular assessment of what they are doing in the classroom.
They can check to see to what extent their assumptions about their own teaching are reflected in their
actual teaching practices. For example a teacher could use self-reporting to find out the kinds of
teaching activities being regularly used, whether all of the programme’s goals are being addressed,
the degree to which personal goals for a class are being met, and the kinds of activities which seem to
work well or not to work well.
Autobiographies
Abbs (1974, cited in Powell 1985) discusses the use of autobiographies in teacher preparation. These
consist of small groups of around 12 student teachers who meet
for an hour each week for at least 10 weeks. During this period of time each student works at
creating a written account of his or her educational experience and the weekly meetings are
used to enable each person to read a passage from his or her autobiography so that it can be
supported, commented upon by peers and the teacher (43).
Powell (1985) described the use of reaction-sheets – sheets student teachers complete after a
learning activity has been completed – in which they are encouraged “to stand back from what they
had been doing and think about what it meant for their own learning and what it entailed for their work
as teachers of others” (p.46). I have used a similar technique in working with student teachers in a
practicum. Students work in pairs with a co-operating teacher and take turns teaching. One serves as
observer while the other teaches, and completes a reaction sheet during the lesson. The reaction
sheet contains the following questions. “What aspects of the lesson were most effective? What
aspects of the lesson were least effective? Would you have taught any aspect of the lesson
differently? Why?” The student who teaches also completes his or her own reaction sheet after the
lesson. Then the two compare their reactions to the lesson.
Journal Writing
A procedure which is becoming more widely acknowledged as a valuable tool for developing critical
reflection is the journal or diary. The goal of journal writing is,
1. to provide a record of the significant learning experiences that have taken place
2. to help the participant come into touch and keep in touch with the self-development
process that is taking place for them
3. to provide the participants with an opportunity to express, in a personal and dynamic

way, their self-development
4. to foster a creative interaction
• between the participant and the self-development process that is taking

place
• between the participant and other participants who are also in the process
of self-development
• between the participant and the facilitator whose role it is to foster such
development
(Powell, 1985, Bailey, 1990)
While procedures for diary keeping vary, the participant usually keeps a regular account of learning or
teaching experiences, recording reflections on what he or she did as well as straightforward
descriptions of events, which may be used as a basis for later reflection. The diary serves as a means
for interaction between the writer, the facilitator, and, sometimes, other participants.
Collaborative Diary Keeping

A group of teachers may also collaborate in journal writing. A group of my colleagues recently
explored the value of collaborative diary-keeping as a way of developing a critically reflective view of
their teaching (Brock, Ju and Wong, 1991). Throughout a 10 week teaching term they kept diaries on
their teaching, read each other’s diaries, and discussed their teaching and diary keeping experiences
on a weekly basis. They also recorded and later transcribed their group discussions and subsequently
analyzed their diary entries, their written responses to each other’s entries and the transcripts of their
discussions, in order to determine how these three interacted and what issues occurred most
frequently. They reported that:
Collaborative diary-keeping brought several benefits to our development as second language

teachers. It raised our awareness of classroom processes and prompted us to consider those
processes more deeply than we may otherwise have. Collaborative diary-keeping also
provided encouragement and support; it served as a source of teaching ideas and
suggestions; and in some sense it gave us a way to observe one another’s teaching from a
“safe distance”……
By reading one another’s diary entries, we were able to share our teaching experiences, and
we often felt that we were learning as much from one another’s entries as we were from our
own. Reading and responding to the entries led us back to our own teaching to consider how
and why we taught as we did.
These teachers observed however that
1. collaborative diary-keeping is more effective if the scope of issues considered is

focused more narrowly.
2. a large block of time is needed
3. participants must be comfortable in sharing both pleasant and unpleasant experiences

and be committed to gaining a clearer picture of their teaching and their classrooms.
Recording Lessons
For many aspects of teaching, audio or video recording of lessons can also provide a basis for
reflection. While there are many useful insights to be gained from diaries and self-reports, they cannot
capture the moment to moment processes of teaching. Many things happen simultaneously in a
classroom, and some aspects of a lesson cannot be recalled. It would be of little value for example, to
attempt to recall the proportion of Yes-No Questions to WH-Questions a teacher used during a lesson,
or to estimate the degree to which teacher time was shared among higher and lower ability students.
Many significant classroom events may not have been observed by the teacher, let alone
remembered, hence the need to supplement diaries or self-reports with recordings of actual lessons.
At its simplest, a tape recorder is located in a place where it can capture the exchanges which take
place during a lesson. With the microphone placed on the teacher’s table, much of the teacher’s
language can be recorded as well as the exchanges of many of the students in the class. Pak (1985)
recommends recording for a one or two week period and then randomly selecting a cassette for closer
analysis. This recording could be used as the basis for an initial assessment. Where video facilities are
available in a school, the teacher can request to have a lesson recorded, or with access to video
equipment, students themselves can be assigned this responsibility. A 30 minute recording usually
provides more than sufficient data for analysis. The goal is to capture as much of the interaction of the
class as possible, both teacher to class and student to student. Once the initial novelty wears off, both
students and teacher accept the presence of the technician with the camera, and the class proceeds
with minimum disruption.
Conclusions
A reflective approach to teaching involves changes in the way we usually perceive teaching and our
role in the process of teaching. As the examples above illustrate, teachers who explore their own
teaching through critical reflection develop changes in attitudes and awareness which they believe can
benefit their professional growth as teachers, as well as improve the kind of support they provide their
students. Like other forms of self-inquiry, reflective teaching is not without its risks, since journal
writing, self-reporting or making recordings of lessons can be time-consuming. However teachers
engaged in reflective analysis of their own teaching report that it is a valuable tool for self-evaluation
and professional growth. Reflective teaching suggests that experience alone is insufficient for
professional growth, but that experience coupled with reflection can be a powerful impetus for teacher
development.
References
Bailey, K.M. 1990. The use of diary studies in teacher education programmes. In J.C. Richards and D. Nunan (Eds), Second
Language Teacher Education (pp. 215-226). New York: Cambridge University Press
Bartlett, Leo. 1990. Teacher development through reflective teaching. In J.C. Richards and D. Nunan (Eds), Second Language
Teacher Education (pp. 2002-214). New York: Cambridge University Press
Bond, D.R. Keogh and D. Walker (Eds). 1985. Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning. London: Kogan Page.
Brock, Mark N., Bartholomew Yu and Matilda Wong. 1991. “Journaling together; collaborative diary-keeping and teacher
development”. Paper presented at the International Conference on Second Language Teacher Education, City Polytechnic of
Hong Kong, April 1991.
Pak, J. 1985. Find Out How You Teach. Adelaide, Australia: National Curriculum Resource Centre
Powell, J.P. 1985. Autobiographical learning. In Boud, et al. (pp. 41-51).
Richards, Jack C. 1990. The teacher as self-observer. In Jack C. Richards, The Language Teaching Matrix. New York:
Cambridge University Press (pp. 118-143)
Richards, Jack C. and Charles Lockhart 1991. Teacher development through peer observation. In press. TESOL Journal.
Schön, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Temple Smith

Teaching Practice III Dossier

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Teaching Practice III Dossier

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Instituto de Educación Superior

"José Eugenio Tello"

Instructor: Mariana Ortega

ABRIL MAYO JUNIO

JULIO AGOSTO SEPTIEMBRE

Unit 3 Teaching Grammar

Unit 5 Speaking and Writing

03 Coolers, Warmers and Fillers

Unit 8 Observation: Learning as a tool

Richards, J. C & Lockhard, C. (2007). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms

Classroom at work. What is a teacher. What is a

The many roles of the teacher.

THE MANY ROLES OF THE TEACHER

As we have seen so far, the teacher’s main task is to provide every

Macrofunction Role Examples of the role in action

You will have to be explicit about various things such

You will have to show some things to the class through

TEACHER AS You will have to give instructions to the class such as

Depending on the group, you may have to restore order

In this role, you may give your students a sense of

Instead of explaining and giving information you can

In this role, you will be listening to your students when

TACHER AS Again, when students are working by themselves or in

In this role, you give students comments on their

In this role, you will give students advice and support

By combining your knowledge of the various levels of language

In this first chapter we have explored the first steps we need to

Use of eye contact, gesture, and the voice.

Gower, R. Phillips, D., Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice:

Gower, R. Phillips, D., Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice:

What's lexis?. Lexis in the classroom.

Gower, R. Phillips, D., Walters, S. (2005). Teaching Practice:

Approaches to speaking. Communicative activities.

Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to English

Approaches to listening. The task-feedbacl circle.

Scrivener, J., (2011). Learning teaching- The Essential Guide to English

CO-CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE WITH LEARNERS

The term scaffolding was originally used in the field of education

To us, scaffolding is a form of intentional and meaningful

teacher activity Student activity

guided “we do it”

Collaborative “You do it together”

independent learning “You do it

Figure 6.1 - The progressive release of responsibility

The following description of each of these forms of interaction

Focused instruction – the most basic form of interaction

It is at this moment that we also provide students with information

engage students in reviewing prior knowledge. The tasks provided at

DIFFERENT NEEDS, DIFFERENT LESSONS

Why do learners attend English lessons? The answer to this

Two basic kinds of lessons may help teachers achieve these

A. LANGUAGE PRESENTATION LESSONS

a. For Beginners and Elementary students

Consider the following exchange:

Teacher: Look at this picture (holds up a picture of a desert) What is it?

Notice the way in which the teacher uses simple, or graded

In class we ask many questions in a variety of ways and for a

The teacher is holding a picture of a dog and a man.

If you notice, there is one possible answer to the teacher’s

What is the weather like in your country?

In order to be able to answer these questions, the students have

Open and closed Questions

closed questions: The answer is generally a “Yes” or a “no.”

open questions: require more elaborate answers.