In our previous post, we introduced you to the idea of lesson frameworks.
Now that you have a general overview, we can look more closely at how the structure of a particular framework progresses and what purpose each stage within it serves.
So let’s go step-by-step into how to teach a flawlessly-structured, communicative grammar lesson using the test-teach-test framework.
First, Though- What are We Teaching?
Ok, we’ve taken the very first step in our planning and established the type of lesson we want to teach: grammar. But as you may imagine, setting out to simply teach a “grammar” lesson is far too general. We need to narrow it down. Way down. Remember the old adage, It’s better to teach a lot about a little rather than a little about a lot? This is absolutely the case when it comes to planning and teaching successful English lessons. So we’ll need to choose a particular tense or structure to focus on in this grammar lesson. For the hypothetical lesson we’re planning now, let’s go with the present perfect tense.
In case you aren’t familiar with it, the present perfect is the “have done” structure. For example:
I have seen that movie three times.
I have never been to Paris.
He has lived in New York his whole life.
Note that whatever grammar we’re setting out to teach is called the target language of the lesson. So for this lesson, our target language is the present perfect tense.
And now that we know what we’re teaching, we can set about planning how to teach it.
Stage 1: The Lead-in
The Lead-in determines the direction of your lesson.
A lead-in is the initial stage of any successful lesson. The purpose of the lead-in is to introduce the context of the lesson and to get the students interested in what you’re about to teach. Keep in mind that the target language, or particular grammatical structure you’re teaching, is not the context. The context is of this lesson is not the present perfect. The context is just the topic or theme of the lesson; in other words, it’s a more interesting package in which to wrap and present the grammar.
To determine the context, I need to think about situations in which using the present perfect is appropriate. For example, we often use the present perfect to talk about general life experiences or events that occurred at an unspecified time in the past.
There are a lot of directions in which I could go with this, but traveling jumps out as a theme in which there are a lot of opportunities for the present perfect to come up.
-I’ve been to Budapest.
-You have? I haven’t! I’ve been to Prague, though.
So the topic I’ll set for this lesson is “travel experience.” That’s my context.
Now that we know the context of the lesson, what do we do with that? Remember, our goal here is not only to establish context but also to get the students engaged in it. Here’s a fool-proof strategy for doing just that:
A successful lead-in gets the students talking.
1. Pose a direct question (related to the context) to the class.
“Who likes to travel? Which countries or cities have you visited?”
2. Give an example.
“For example, I really like to travel, so I have visited many different places in the world. Recently, I traveled to Canada and I spent a week in Quebec City with some friends.”
3. Let the students discuss. Put the students in pairs and allow them to have a two-minute discussion about the question you posed.
“Now tell your partner where you have traveled.”
4. Get some feedback. After the pair discussion, nominate a few students by asking them to report back to the class on what their partner said.
“Ok, good job, everyone. Anastasia, what did Marek tell you? Where has he traveled?”
Want to know why this works? Check out this post all about lead-ins.
Stage 2: The Diagnostic Test
Up to this point in the lesson, the students don’t even need to know this is a grammar lesson. For all they know, we’re just talking about traveling.
The diagnostic test is when we first present the target language to the students. We do this by giving them a short worksheet or exercise that tests their ability to use the target language- in this case, the present perfect.
This could be a fill-in-the-blank exercise, a choose-the-correct-option exercise, a match-the-sentence-halves exercise… anything where each question has a clear correct answer so that we can assess the students’ initial ability to use the grammar accurately.
Here are a few examples of what the diagnostic test could look like:
An actual diagnostic test should probably be a bit longer than this; five or six questions would be more appropriate. The examples above are just to give you an idea of what the format could look like.
The purpose of this exercise is to get a sense of what the students already know about the grammar we’re planning to teach. You’re “testing” their current ability to use the grammar in order to “diagnose” their level of confidence with it. So it’s important that you don’t start teaching them anything about the grammar until after they’ve done this exercise. That way, you can get an accurate read on their knowledge at the beginning of the lesson. Don’t panic if they don’t get all of these questions correct- in fact, it’s almost better that they don’t! This proves the need for your lesson.
Keep in mind that, because of the “diagnostic” nature of this exercise, more than five or six questions is probably unnecessary. Again, the point of this stage is just to get an idea of what the students already know about the target language and what they need to learn. If they don’t know much, then asking them to do a twenty-question exercise isn’t going to help anything- it’s just going to make them feel frustrated and discouraged.
And one more tip: contrary to what you might think, there’s no need to announce the grammar itself as you hand out the diagnostic test. Instead of saying, “Now here’s a worksheet on the present perfect,” transition from the lead-in to the diagnostic test by using the context. “Here are some sentences about traveling. Fill in the blank in each sentence with the correct form of the verb in the parentheses.”
Allow the students to try this exercise on their own first so they have a chance to process what they know about the grammar. Then you can have them pair up and compare their answers with a partner before you go over the answers with the class.
Stage 3: Clarification
Get the example sentences on the board so you can provide visual clarification for the students.
Now that you’ve gone over the answers to the diagnostic test, you (and the students!) have a clearer idea of what they can already do with the grammar you’re about to teach them… and what they need to practice. From here, we move into the “teach” stage of our lesson: clarification.
Clarification is the stage in which you give the students all the information they need about the target language in order to use it correctly: meaning, form, and pronunciation.
The key to a smooth transition (and to getting the most out of your material) is to use the same sentences in your clarification stage as the ones on the diagnostic test. You won’t need to go over all of them- two or three should be enough. So let’s use the sentences from the diagnostic samples above:
They have already taken two vacations this year.
She hasn’t been out of the country yet.
I have visited all fifty states.
The first thing you’ll want to do is get these sentences on the board. You could write them up as you’re going over the answers to the diagnostic test. Leave some space above and below each sentence.
Now that you have your visual prepared, you can use these example sentences (which the students have already analyzed and worked with on the previous activity) to clarify meaning, form, and pronunciation.
For meaning, ask the students concept checking questions to help them understand why the present perfect is used here:
“They have already taken two vacations this year. Did the vacations happen sometime in the past? (yes). But do we know exactly when in the past the vacations happened? (no). Do they still have a chance to take more vacations this year? (yes).”
Write the parts of speech on the board as you elicit them from the students.
To clarify form, elicit the formula for the target language from the students. Again, use those same example sentences to do this. Ask the students what part of speech each word in the grammatical structure is, and as they answer, write this in a different color underneath the example sentence.
For pronunciation, model and drill the sentences on the board.
Stage 4: The Controlled Practice
The aim of the controlled practice is for students to practice accuracy with the grammar.
Now that you’ve taught the students the grammar, the controlled practice tests them again to see how they’ve improved. This activity can be similar in format to the diagnostic test, though a little bit longer and more complex/ involved.
Again, this can be a worksheet that requires students to fill in the blank or rewrite sentences in the target language. There should still be one correct answer to each prompt so that you can measure the students’ ability to use the grammar accurately. Like with the diagnostic test, allow the students to do this exercise independently first, so they have a chance to really think through their work. Then have them check their answers in pairs before you go over the answers as a class.
Stage 5: The Freer Practice
The aim of the freer practice is for students to practice fluency with the grammar.
The final stage of your lesson is where the students get to have some fun with the grammar. A freer practice is an activity designed to let the students practice the target language more fluently. This can be a spoken discussion or longer writing task, or something like a role play or communicative game. The idea here is that the students have much more freedom over the language they’re using. Your job in designing or choosing this activity is to make sure there is an opportunity for the grammar to come up, but not to force the students to use any particular structure.
Allow the students to work in pairs or small groups, and walk around to monitor while they participate in the activity. Remain unobtrusive at this point; remember the goal is for students to practice their fluency with the grammar, without being interrupted by corrections. After the activity, you can correct any mistakes that you heard on the board and get some content feedback by asking the students questions about their discussions.
Interested in learning more about lesson types and practice activities?
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