Seventy-two students, fourteen textbooks and an inflation lesson

Lesson objective: by the end, learners can distinguish demand-pull from cost-push inflation and apply both to two pieces of Ghanaian evidence.

Phase 1 - Starter data puzzle (5 min). Write on the board a three-line 'market basket' table (cooking oil, transport fare, sachet water) with prices 'two years ago' and 'now'. Pairs compute the percentage change for one item. Why: no textbook needed, every learner can contribute, and it makes inflation concrete before the term is defined.

Phase 2 - Input with board notes (10 min). Define inflation; draw the two-cause frame on the chalkboard: demand-pull (too much spending chasing too few goods) and cost-push (fuel, transport, imported inputs, exchange rate). Learners copy a six-line skeleton - this replaces the 14 textbooks.

Phase 3 - Group task (12 min). Nine groups of eight, each with a hand-written manila card (cost: 4 cards from GH¢20). Four groups get demand-pull evidence cards (e.g. salary increases, credit expansion, festive demand); five get cost-push cards (fuel price rise, cedi depreciation raising imported input costs, poor harvest). Each group writes a one-sentence causal chain and nominates a reporter.

Phase 4 - Report and correct (8 min). Three groups report; teacher records the chains on the board in two columns and corrects the common error of confusing 'price rise' with 'inflation'.

Phase 5 - Exit ticket (5 min). Slips of paper: 'Name one cause of inflation in Ghana and explain it in one sentence.' Collected at the door.

Justification: group work cuts dependence on 14 books to near zero; manila cards are reusable across the double track; the phone is a backup only, so no lesson collapses if data runs out; the exit ticket gives assessment evidence for the monitoring visit.

In-lesson assessment

1. Targeted questioning with a seating chart. Cold-call by name, not by hands up, so the confident few do not dominate. Keep a tally of who has spoken this week.
2. A quick whole-class check after Phase 2: three statements on the board ('a rise in fuel prices', 'a rise in salaries across the economy', 'a rise in the price of one good only'), hands or coloured cards for demand-pull / cost-push / neither.
3. Group reporter check in Phase 4: listen for the words 'cost' and 'demand' in the causal chain - this is the success criterion, not the length of the sentence.
4. Exit ticket as the main written evidence: three short prompts (define, classify one cause, explain one effect). With 72 slips, mark by scanning for the success criteria rather than full correction: sort into 'secure', 'confused between causes', 'does not distinguish inflation from a price rise'.

After the lesson (10–15 minutes)

• Count the three piles and record the proportions in the scheme of work.
• Choose two or three anonymous slips per pile to read aloud at the start of the next lesson as 'what good looks like', avoiding names so no learner is shamed.
• Plan a 7-minute re-teach for the largest misconception group, plus a short extension task for the secure group.
• File the tallies and the exit-ticket counts as evidence for the monitoring visit, since they show assessment informing planning, not just coverage.
• Keep the class register of oral contributions so quiet learners (including the repeaters) are deliberately drawn in next time.

Hearing-impaired learners

1. Move them today, not next term. Seat them in the front row, on the side of the room with better light, able to see her face and the board. This costs nothing and is the single biggest change.
2. Face the class when speaking; never talk to the board. Keep the mouth visible; do not stand in front of a window.
3. Write every instruction and every task on the board or a manila card before speaking, so the task survives if speech is missed.
4. Use a buddy system: a neighbouring learner copies the notes with carbon-free duplication if possible, or shares the exercise book at the end of the lesson.
5. Use visual structure: the two-column board table of causes is itself a visual organiser; reproduce it as a card the group can keep.
6. Check understanding through written exit tickets rather than oral responses only, and ask the school's special needs coordinator (or the district special education officer) for support - a documented referral is part of her duty, not an admission of failure.

Repeaters

1. Different entry point, not a different topic: give them the classification task first (sort the evidence cards) so they rebuild the concept before writing.
2. Pair each with a learner who is secure and give them the reporter role in at least two groups - responsibility raises engagement.
3. Diagnose the earlier failure: ask each of the six to write on the back of the exit ticket what confused them last year; use the answers to shape the re-teach.
4. Avoid public labelling: never announce 'repeaters' as a group.

Learners without textbooks

• The board skeleton plus the group card becomes their record; allow them to photograph the board only if the school permits phone use for learning, otherwise provide a handwritten summary card produced from the GH¢20 budget.