Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

Please hand this to the observer at least 1 hour before the lesson begins, together with copies of materials used in the class.

Teacher: David Pickup

Class:IELTS Low 2Date:23rd July 2014

Time:13:05 14:20

Number of Students: 12Week number: 9Language Systems or Skills: academic writing

Main Aim(s) of lesson: (these should be written from the perspective of what the students will achieve by the end of the lesson.) Students will understand and be able to plan for an IELTS task 2 writing question Students will be able to generate ideas for an opinion essay.Sub Aim of lesson:

Students will practise discussing their ideas with their peers. Students will practise reading a short text (model essay) quickly and writing summaries. Students will practice identification of key words in question texts.

Personal Aim To improve classroom management and delivery of more challenging material in a more interesting waySyllabus Fit: (This needs to show what was learnt in previous lessons that this particular lesson will build upon and also how what the students learn today will be extended in future lessons. Also show why you believe the students need to learn what is being taught)The elective provides a comprehensive overview of the IELTS test for students of a lower level: this includes weekly exposure to a variety of reading, listening, writing and speaking tasks in accordance with the Academic IELTS exam. In addition, the elective aims to improve students skills related to these areas, alongside introducing students to some of the grammatical forms and vocabulary necessary to succeed in the IELTS test.

This week, students have planned and completed the writing of a task 1 writing task involving comparisons of tables, charts, and graphs. This introduced students to some more advanced ways of forming comparatives. Last week, students spent more than one lesson looking at linking words for a variety of purposes, particularly giving additional information and contrasting information. This lesson and the subsequent one will give students the opportunity to use this grammar/vocabulary in a test setting. Students have also recently practised reading for specific information from a text, and a True/False/Not Given task, and later this week will practise listening skills and further reading and speaking skills. Student Profiles:

Student NameStrengthsWeaknessesReasons for studying

Mohamed AljayfiliGrammarApplicationTaking IELTS exam

Mohamed AlghamdiVery low level

AbdulazizSpeakingWriting

FalehSpeaking; ReadingListening

Khawlah Grammar & ReadingListening

ZiyuanReadingListening

FawzanVery low level

ThasanneeReadingWriting

PanidaReadingWriting; Listening

KhaledSpeakingReading; Writing

AliWriting; GrammarSpeaking

SerajSpeakingWriting; Reading

MousaReadingGrammar

Anticipated Problems & Solutions (these are not necessarily related to the language point being taught but can also include such things as motivation, lethargy at time of day etc) Students have already completed a task 1 writing this week, and therefore may not be motivated by further writing practice. Emphasise the importance of writing to their overall IELTS score, and that they are going to experience a lot of writing in a short space of time in their tests. A lot of students have expressed a desire/demonstrated that they need to improve their writing score. Students may find the generation of ideas difficult, especially as they may not have thought about this topic beforehand. Group work at this stage should help alleviate this problem, along with grouping students as culturally diversely as possible in order to increase the breadth of possible examples. Students only need focus on generating half of the ideas and examples due to the nature of the exercise. Students may find the communication and noting of ideas difficult. Model examples beforehand.

Students may be unfamiliar with some of the language they encounter in the lesson, in the question and in the model text they read. This is inevitable when introducing IELTS material to lower levels. Encourage the use of dictionaries rather than translators if this arises, check carefully that the most important aspects have been understood.

Not all students may participate equally in the generation of ideas stage. Monitor groups carefully to ensure that all students are participating.

Lesson Aids:

IWB presentation including pictures for warmer Printed out copy of the IELTS question

Copy of the model answer

Copy of the paragraph plan

TimingStage AimsActivitiesInteraction

0 4 minsWarmer: introduce the topic and taskPicture speculation: Ss discuss what they can see in the pictures and what they have in common elicit that they are successful and ask how they are successful. Extend this by asking if they are a successful person and what makes someone successful.T-Ss; Ss-Ss; Ss- T

5 10 minsGenerate ideas and vocabularyAsk students to work in small groups to define success by listing as many ways to be successful as possible. Take brief feedback on boardT-Ss; Ss-T; Ss-Ss

11 15 minsIntroduce vocabulary pertinent to the Task 2 writing questionBoard question Can you measure success? and ask for Ss response. Focus on meaning of measure in this context; elicit as many examples as possible.T-Ss; Ss-T

16 20 minsSs to read and understand the question; practise identification of keywords.Ss read the question text and underline the keywords. Take feedback, ensuring Ss have understood the type of essay (opinion) and the main idea (how success is measured).T-Ss; Ss-text; Ss-T

21 30 minsSs form an idea of how the essay should be structured.Check Ss knowledge of structuring an IELTS essay by eliciting the basic outline of the essay. Board paragraph plan and ask Ss to fill in their copy with their ideas of the main points of each paragraph.Take feedback as class.T-Ss-TT- Ss; Ss-Ss; Ss-T

31 46 minsSs generate ideas and examples suitable for inclusion in the Task 2 writing essay.Split Ss into groups A and B, asking each to focus on opposing sides of the argument (i.e. measuring success through money/measuring success in other ways).Ss then complete the relevant section of their paragraph plan with their ideas. Monitor carefully and prompt as necessary.

Emphasise the importance of coming up with a wide range of examples.T-SsSs - Ss

47 57 minsSs compare and communicate ideas together to complete their plan coherently.Re-organise groups AB, and ask Ss to compare and communicate their ideas and examples to each other.Ss then complete the other half of their paragraph plan.

Take feedback as a class, using IWB to complete class paragraph plan including examples.T- SS; Ss-SsSs-T

58 62 minsSs are introduced to a model essay answering the same question they have planned, to check their work so far.Ss read the text quickly and write a note-form summary of the content of each paragraph.In feedback compare this to the class paragraph plan.T-Ss; Ss-textSs-T

63 70 minsSs exploit model text for language and structureAsk Ss to read the model essay to identify language points and consider their use. Explain any unknown vocabulary.Ss- textSs-T

71 75 minsSs finalise their paragraph plans ready for writing the essay.Give Ss the chance to amend their paragraph plans based on what they have encountered in the model textSs-text