Forty-Five Minutes and Eighteen New Words
A newly qualified teacher is planning a 45-minute lesson for 24 eight-year-olds who have had two years of English. The topic is 'At the Zoo'. Her plan is: (1) introduce 18 new animal words with flashcards - 15 minutes; (2) play a new board game in groups of six - 15 minutes; (3) sing a new song with eight unfamiliar lines - 10 minutes; (4) set the workbook page for homework - 5 minutes. She owns one set of 18 flashcards, one board game, and has no dice and no counters. She has never used the game or the song with a class before. The lesson is being observed. In the previous lesson on the same topic the class finished seven minutes early and became noisy.
1. Identify the planning weaknesses in this lesson, referring to the specific details given, and state the likely consequence of each.
Read the worked answer
Lexical load. Eighteen new items in one lesson is far beyond what eight-year-olds will retain; the likely consequence is that almost none are secure, and the fifteen minutes produce recognition of the flashcards rather than usable words. A realistic target is six to eight items, recycled later in the lesson.
A materials bottleneck. One set of 18 flashcards shown by the teacher means 24 children are spectators. One board game for 24 children in groups of six means only six can play at a time - twenty children are idle for fifteen minutes. Without dice or counters, the game as designed cannot run at all.
Untried activities in an observed lesson. Both the game and the song are new to her and to the class; in an observed lesson this stacks risk on risk, because she cannot predict how long the rules take to establish.
Unrealistic song stage. Eight unfamiliar lines in ten minutes, as a first encounter, will produce mumbling; songs need several exposures before they are a language activity rather than a performance.
No transitions, no recycling, no production. The four stages are four islands. Nothing revisits the eighteen words, and there is no stage where children use them to say anything of their own.
No contingency. Given that the previous lesson finished seven minutes early, this plan has no spare activity and will end in the same noise.
2. Rewrite the lesson as a sequence of stages with timings and interaction patterns, keeping the zoo topic and the materials she actually has.
Read the worked answer
1. Warmer - recycling, 5 min, whole class / mingle. Children name animals they already know; teacher writes them up. Establishes what is known and gives the new words somewhere to attach.
2. Presentation in two sets, 8 min, whole class, standing. Six words first (flashcards plus mime and sound), children repeat and respond physically ('show me the elephant'). Then a second six. Twelve items maximum, presented in digestible chunks with a change of mode between them.
3. Practice, 8 min, pairs. Pairs use the flashcards: one hides a card, the other guesses. All 24 are active with the single set because the cards circulate hand to hand rather than being held at the front.
4. Game, 10 min, groups of four to six. Teacher demonstrates the rules with one group in front of the class first - two minutes - then groups play. Improvise dice: numbered cards, a spinner drawn on paper, or 'move one space / two spaces' cards. Clear signal for stopping.
5. Song, 6 min, whole class. Only if time allows, and introduced as a listen-and-join-in-with-actions activity, not as a new text to be learned.
6. Plenary and homework, 5 min. Three children say one animal sentence; workbook page set with a model done in class.
Plus a named spare activity (e.g. a quick 'animal or not?' picture round) to absorb the seven minutes this class is known to run early. Transitions are planned: a countdown, a hand signal, and a stated instruction for what to do with materials before moving on.
3. 'A lesson plan should be a flexible framework, not a script.' Show how this case illustrates that principle, and what the teacher should write down to make her plan flexible.
Read the worked answer
The plan here is close to a script: four fixed blocks, fixed durations, a fixed order, and no alternative if a block fails. When the game cannot run because there are no dice, or when the eighteen words do not stick, a script has nothing to offer - the teacher improvises under observation, which is the worst time to improvise.
A framework, by contrast, states the aim and then offers more than one route to it. For this lesson the written plan should include:
- Stage aims, not just activity names - so if an activity is dropped she knows what still has to be achieved.
- A core and an optional element: stages 1–3 and 6 are essential; the song is optional.
- Contingency notes: what to cut if running late (the song), what to add if running early (the spare picture round).
- Anticipated problems in the plan: 'only one game set - demonstrate with one group, others watch'; 'no dice - use number cards'.
- Interaction pattern and grouping written next to each stage, because how children are grouped is a planning decision, not an improvisation.
With that written down, the deviation is planned rather than a failure.