Lesson+Planning

At International House Rome we use the above template for lesson plans on the CELTA course. A sample is also provided above. An evaluation sheet should be used to reflect on your own teaching immediately after having taught and this is in your course handbook.
 * [[file:Lesson plan Template 2016- Sample.doc]]
 * [[file:Lesson plan Template 2017- Blank.doc]]

Please remember to also include the following sheets when **teaching grammar or vocabular**y with your lesson plans:
 * [[file:Vocabualry LA Sheet-Sample-CELTA- Oct 2016.docx]]
 * [[file:Vocabulary LA Sheet-BLANK- CELTA- Oct 2016.docx]]
 * [[file:Grammar Analysis Sheet July 2017- Sample.docx]]
 * [[file:Grammar Analysis Sheet July 2017- Blank.docx]]

=Lesson planning-the TOP TEN:=

Lesson planning can be a very difficult part of CELTA as it can take up a lot of your time. Every teacher has their own strategy which works for them but a few general points to remember are:
 * 1) Your overall aim needs to be **appropriate to the learners** you are teaching. So, teaching a high-level group the present perfect continuous ('Who's been eating my porridge?') from Goldilocks and the 3 bears may be linguistically challenging but it certainly wouldn't be appropriate for their cognitive level
 * 2) Keep your **overall aim in mind at every step** of the planning process. Ask yourself how each task, activity or instruction is helping you achieve your overall aim
 * 3) Word your overall aim as follows **'By the end of the (LESSON TIME LIMIT) the learners will be able to (CLEAR EVIDENCE OF LEARNING: discuss/use item X/write etc.) in the context of (CONTEXT-who/where/why/what/when/how)'.**
 * 4) Ensure that you **have a context** and if you are struggling with that, **at least, have a text** where the language you want to teach occurs naturally.
 * 5) Try planning from a **spidergram or mindmap** first. Throw all your ideas around the overall aims and then be selective in plotting these into a more standard plan using the template above.
 * 6) Some people find it very useful to **plan backwards**. Starting from the final activity which shows that your aim has been achieved work backwards and this will also help you with your stage-aims.
 * 7) A recurring issue is timing. Candidates often struggle with meeting their aims in a 40-minute lesson. Be realistic and ensure that the activity which shows that you have achieved your **main aim is implemented no later than three-quarters of the way in your plan**!
 * 8) **Don't spend hours browsing the web** for a perfect picture. If you want to use the Olympics as a topic draw 5 interlinking rings on the board, don't print off multiple pages of different Olympic sports, for example!
 * 9) Try and **limit handouts to a manageable number**- can't learners copy from the board rather than have a blank table on a handout, for example?
 * 10) **Use the course book**! Check the related **teacher's book** for ideas. Check **workbooks or CDroms** for material on the item or area you want to focus on.
 * 11) **Take notes on your plan in real-time** so that you can change less successful moments when you **edit the plan for future use**!

__**Tips on writing lesson and stage aims:**__

© M.Horrigan 2013

__**Some useful material for planning:**__
 * [[file:229667_TKT_Practical_Lesson_Plan_TemplateV2.doc]]...you should NOT use this template on the CELTA but you may find it works for you long-term!
 * Have a look at the action points section on this wiki and in particular, the tasks related to [|lesson planning].
 * Have a look at Jo Kaconga's helpful [|videos on lesson planning here]

__**Further reading:**__ https://cambridgecelta.org/2016/04/06/celta_planning/