Teaching ESL: Creating a Lesson Plan in 4 Steps

Teaching English as a second language requires a great deal of patience, and some careful planning. The purpose of any lesson in education is to teach something new to the learner. For the ESL teacher, it may be a new set of vocabulary, syntax or grammar. Whatever the subject, you as a teacher will need a guide to help with time management, keep the material organized and easy to understand. That is where the lesson plan comes in. But where, and how does a teacher begin to create a lesson plan? This article will give you a 4-step guide to lesson planning for ESL students.

1. Introduction, warm-up, revision

2. Presentation

3. Practice

4. Production

1. Introduction, warm-up, revision

Before putting your students directly to sleep by beginning a long lecture, it is best to complete a warm-up type exercise. If you plan on introducing a new lesson, take this as a good time to set the scene of the lesson. You can set the scene in a few ways: by asking your students to think about a certain topic, brainstorm on the whiteboard, play a game or review material from an older lesson. This will spark their interest right away. More importantly, it will help to get students thinking in the right direction, focus their attention, and prepare them for the lesson ahead. Regardless of the amount of time available for the lesson, this part of your lesson plan should only last for 5-10 minutes.

2. Presentation

The presentation part of the lesson is where the new material is well, you guessed it, presented. You can present the new material in various ways: a written text, a song, a dialogue on tape etc. In order to help students actually digest the new material rather than just swallow it, this portion of the lesson must be paired with clear explanations of the grammar, along with examples. It is highly recommended to show several clear and concise examples, in context. Before moving on to part 3 of the lesson, make sure students have some understanding of the material they just learned, as well as an understanding of it's meaning and proper use.

3. Practice

The practice stage of the lesson is where the student gets involved. The goal of the practice stage is that students use the material you presented in context. This is where the teacher provides activities/exercises for students. The teachers role in this part of the lesson is to manage students, and encourage them to use the new language by working in groups or pairs. The activities or exercises you'll want to prepare for this stage may vary: a short role-play, games, fill-in-the blanks, guided dialogue, information gaps, and problem solving activities are all some great ideas. The practice should focus on oral, reading and/or written skills. Upon termination, the teacher can collect these activities to grade and return, or review the answers in class together. This part of the lesson will take up the bulk of class time. It will serve to ensure students have a solid grasp on the material you had just presented. It's best to use a large range of practice activities to keep students intrigued and excited. Below are some helpful websites to add to your arsenal of teaching tools.

4. Production

Finally, the production part of the lesson. This is the fun part. This is the part of the lesson where the teacher should have minimal to no involvement. It gives students the chance to use their newly learned material freely and openly. The production activity can be done in a group, in pairs, or individually depending on what it is. As a group, they can gather to solve a solution to a problem, or they can pair off to act out a role-playing activity. In the end, the student should be able to achieve the goal's lesson: to express an understanding of language by using the new material in context, with minimal, if any, teacher interference.

Use this as a simple guide when planning a lesson for ESL students. Use the links provided as helpful resources. And please, leave a comment below.