This article introduces my preferred structure for English Language and Literature lessons, and offers practical examples of activities that you can use in your classes. These are the guidelines that I follow in most of my lessons available on hanplans.com.
Planning lessons requires creativity, but is also about following a simple recipe. Without a plan and a structure, a lesson can seem to be going nowhere despite hours of work. When this happens, it’s important to view the lesson as a series of connected elements. I use the following structure:
- Starter
- Teach Time
- Study
- Success Criteria
- Activate
- Assess
- Plenary
While this structure is perhaps more elaborate than other structures you may have come across, it’s become my new standard. Not only will it break down your planning into manageable “chunks”, but it reduces “teacher talk time”, will allow you to gauge whether your students are meeting learning outcomes, and is bound to impress any external observers.
Download a free lesson plan template here
This template can help you to design your own lesson based on this structure.
1. Starter
This is a short activity or game that will engage your learners and introduce the lesson topic in an interesting way. You are far more likely to get the class’s attention if their interest is piqued within the first five minutes. Remember, this (short!) part of the lesson is about fun, not new material. Starters are also an opportunity to find out how much the students already know about the lesson topic.
Example activity: Word tennis. Split your class into two teams. Take turns pointing at members of each team, and ask them to give an example that fits the theme of the lesson (e.g. words that start with capital letters, verbs, famous people). Each time a team member takes longer than five seconds to think of a word, or repeats a word that has already been said, award the opposing team a point. When all class members have taken a turn, tally the points.
2. Teach Time
Begin by sharing your objectives for the lesson. After all, how can students be expected to meet targets that they don’t know exist? Then, introduce any new material by using a “student led” activity. The strongest activities tend to be those that require students to work out some of the new material for themselves. Make sure to discuss the correct answers at the end.
Example activity: Information Jigsaw. Give each pair of students a set of cards. On half of the cards, write down any new terms and their definitions (e.g. “Adverb: a word that describes a verb”), and on the other half, give examples of each of these terms (e.g. “He ate his cereal slowly”). Ask students to match the examples with the terms/definitions. This activity introduces lots of new information, and requires students to demonstrate their understanding. This activity works especially well for topics like: figurative language; parts of speech; new vocabulary lists, and types of conjunctions.
3. Study
During this part of the lesson students practise their new skills and confirm that they have understood the new material correctly. I often employ cooperative learning techniques that allow students to teach and assess their peers.
Example activity: Round Robin Lists. In groups of four, ask students to write a list of examples related to the lesson topic. Each member of the team takes a turn to add one word to his or her group’s list, helping one another if necessary. Once one round has been completed, students share their examples with the class. If mistakes arise, discuss them as a group.
4. Success Criteria
At this point in the lesson, it can be tempting to give students an assignment and let them get on with it. Before you do that, however, it is important that students know exactly what they should be aiming for when they begin their assignment (i.e. success criteria). An example of a success criteria table is given below. Ideally, students should be given a copy of this success criteria to help them revise.
Example activity: Success Criteria Table. When I create success criteria, I list the major skills expected of my students, and offer them examples of three different “levels” of marking criteria (e.g. A-C grades). I always stress that all students should be aiming for the top level. These charts can, and should, be based upon your local curriculum. Adding a simple mark scheme can help your learners to peer assess later in the lesson. Here is an example of success criteria that you might use after teaching a class on descriptive writing techniques:
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Zooming
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Appealing to Senses
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Descriptive Detail
|
3 Points
| I “zoomed” in at least two details in my writing so that the reader could visualise both the big picture and the details of my scene. I linked these two segments smoothly. | I gave the reader enough information so that they could imagine how the scene I was describing might look, smell, feel, sound or taste. My writing appealed to at least three senses. | I focused on writing about the details of my scene rather than writing a plot-driven text. I maintained the reader’s interest without writing a narrative piece. |
2 Points
| I included some description of the wider scene before focusing on the details. | As above. I appealed to at least two senses. | I included lots of detail but my writing may have started to sound more like a list than a descriptive piece. |
1 Point
| I did not use the “zooming” technique”. | I only described how my scene might look to an observer. | I simply wrote a list of all of the things that I could see and did not include finer details. |
Download a free success criteria template here
5. Activate
Give students a short individual assignment (ten to fifteen minutes long) that will put their new knowledge to work. Ask students to refer to their success criteria as they work.
Example activity: Writing task. In a writing or composition class, you might give students a (short!) essay or story to write. In the past, I have asked students to “Write a well known fairytale as a different genre”, or “Rewrite this poorly written email using formal English”. If you are teaching a grammar lesson, you could ask your students to write a short passage on a given topic, including three underlined sentences that demonstrate a given grammar rule.
6. Assess
Peer- and self- assessment can be valuable learning tools and can reduce marking loads. The success criteria can now serve for assessment. Ask students to give both formative and summative feedback when assessing others.
Example activity: Peer Assessment. Students exchange their assignments with a partner. They use the success criteria to tally the number of points that their partner has attained (summative feedback). They also provide one “What went well...” comment and one “Even better if...” comment (formative feedback).
7. Plenary
The plenary activity is an opportunity for you to gauge class understanding. You could employ a simple “thumbs up, thumbs to the side, thumbs down” approach to determine student confidence. I, however, find that this can lead to embarrassment and insincere answers. I generally prefer a more private plenary activity.
Example activity: Ask students one final question about the lesson topic. Students write down their answer on a small piece of paper, with their names written at the top. After you have collected the slips, reveal the correct answer and explain. If you have collected a number of incorrect answers, you can later follow up.
