Word Choice and Lesson Planning

Writing a good lesson plan is not an easy task. But after the necessary instruction it becomes an acquired skill, not very different from the one required for the writing of any other formal text.

According to Byrne (in Özbek, 1995:43-46), writing means “transforming our thoughts into language”. In order to make sure that communication is effective and that the receiver understands the message, several aspects must be considered:

Raimes (1983) has categorized the components of any good piece of writing as: content, organization, grammar, syntax, mechanics, word choice, purpose, audience and the writer´s process. The interrelatedness among them is shown in the figure above. Let's try to analyze the requirements needed to produce a well-written lesson plan.

Outline After generating ideas about how your class will be organized, probably through a process of brainstorming, you should write an outline of your lesson plan. To do so, you must also know the objectives of your class (which should be written using the –to infinitive form in the plan) and the activities that you will do in order to develop them.

Knowledge Useful VerbsSample Question Stems Potential activities and products tell list describe relate locate write find state name What happened after...? How many...? Who was it that...? Can you name the...? Describe what happened at...? Who spoke to...? Can you tell why...? Find the meaning of...? What is...? Which is true or false...? Make a list of the main events.. Make a timeline of events. Make a facts chart. Write a list of any pieces of information you can remember. List all the.... in the story. Make a chart showing... Make an acrostic. Recite a poem.

Comprehension Useful VerbsSample Question StemsPotential activities and products explain interpret outline discuss distinguish predict restate translate compare describe Can you write in your own words...? Can you write a brief outline...? What do you think could of happened next...? Who do you think...? What was the main idea...? Who was the key character...? Can you distinguish between...? What differences exist between...? Can you provide an example of what you mean...? Can you provide a definition for...? Cut out or draw pictures to show a particular event. Illustrate what you think the main idea was. Make a cartoon strip showing the sequence of events. Write and perform a play based on the story. Retell the story in your words. Paint a picture of some aspect you like. Write a summary report of an event. Prepare a flow chart to illustrate the sequence of events. Make a colouring book.

Application Useful VerbsSample Question Stems Potential activities and products solve show use illustrate construct complete examine classify Do you know another instance where...? Could this have happened in...? Can you group by characteristics such as...? What factors would you change if...? Can you apply the method used to some experience of your own...? What questions would you ask of...? From the information given, can you develop a set of instructions about...? Would this information be useful if you had a...? Make a scrapbook about the areas of study. Make a paper-mache map to include relevant information about an event. Take a collection of photographs to demonstrate a particular point. Make up a puzzle game suing the ideas from the study area. Make a clay model of an item in the material. Design a market strategy for your product using a known strategy as a model. Write a textbook about... for others.

Analysis Useful Verbs Sample Question Stems Potential activities and products analyse distinguish examine compare contrast investigate categorise identify explain separate advertise Which events could have happened...? I... happened, what might the ending have been? How was this similar to...? What was the underlying theme of...? What do you see as other possible outcomes? Why did... changes occur? Can you compare your... with that presented in...? Can you explain what must have happened when...? How is... similar to...? What are some of the problems of...? Can you distinguish between...? What were some of the motives behind...? What was the turning point in the game? What was the problem with...? Design a questionnaire to gather information. Write a commercial to sell a new product. Conduct an investigation to produce information to support a view. Make a flow chart to show the critical stages. Construct a graph to illustrate selected information. Make a family tree showing relationships. Put on a play about the study area. Write a biography of the study person. Prepare a report about the area of study. Review a work of art in terms of form, colour and texture.

Synthesis Useful VerbsSample Question Stems Potential activities and products create invent compose predict plan construct design imagine propose devise formulate Can you design a... to...? Why not compose a song about...? Can you see a possible solution to...? If you had access to all resources how would you deal with...? Why don't you devise your own way to deal with...? What would happen if...? How many ways can you...? Can you create new and unusual uses for...? Can you write a new recipe for a tasty dish? can you develop a proposal which would... Create a new product. Give it a name and plan a marketing campaign. Write about your feelings in relation to... Write a TV show, play, puppet show, role play, song or pantomime about...? Design a record, book, or magazine cover for...? Sell an idea. Devise a way to... Compose a rhythm or put new words to a known melody.

Evaluation Useful VerbsSample Question Stems Potential activities and products judge select choose decide justify debate verify argue recommend assess discuss rate prioritise determine Is there a better solution to... Judge the value of... Can you defend your position about...? Do you think... is a good or a bad thing? How would you have handled...? What changes to... would you recommend? Do you believe? Are you a... person? How would you feel if...? How effective are...? What do you think about...? Prepare a list of criteria to judge a... show. Indicate priority and ratings. Conduct a debate about an issue of special interest. Make a booklet about 5 rules you see as important. Convince others. Form a panel to discuss views, eg "Learning at School." Write a letter to... advising on changes needed at... Write a half yearly report. Prepare a case to present your view about...

Audience Remember that a lesson plan is written to be presented to an authority in the subject, either a teacher educator or the director of an institution who acts as an observer of the class, so it must fulfill all the expectations required for a formal piece of writing. In addition, a lesson plan shows much more than the organization of a lesson; it shows the writer’s clarity of mind and inner beliefs about teaching and learning. Therefore, you must make sure that your ideas are transmitted in the clearest and most effective way.

Vocabulary In order to achieve clarity in the expression of the language, it is important to select suitable vocabulary connected to the methodology of teaching a foreign language. Thus, instead of writing: “the teacher will ask the students to make sentences related to their daily routine,” you should write: “the teacher will elicit sentences about the students’ daily routine.”

 Another means of achieving clarity and preciseness is through the detailed description of the activities to be done in the class. Take this statement: “we will do exercise 5 from page 22,” without any other specification as to the type of exercise is not an appropriate way of stating an activity. A more precise way of expressing this can be: students will do a completion exercise in which they have to complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.  You should also try to obviate general terms like: “Students will discuss about pollution” and replace them by more specific ones like: “students will analyze the effects of pollution on the ground, water and air of our planet.”

Organization Paragraphs must be coherently and cohesively linked to each other. Adverbial phrases of time and effect like “first, second, next, so that, in case that” should be used in order to achieve cohesion. Examples can be introduced by transitional words or phrases like: “for instance, for example or to illustrate”. Coherence may be attained through parallel structures repeated throughout the plan like “the teacher will…” construction. In order to organize the information in the paragraphs, the ideas can be described following a pattern that goes from a general description of an activity to a more specific one, related to the tasks required to be performed in it, for example: “Students will listen to a reporter speaking about the dangers of global warming. First the students will listen to the excerpt and the teacher will check general comprehension through oral questions. Then, students will listen to the tape again will choose the correct answer related to specific information given in the extract.

Other aspects to take into consideration Punctuation and spelling must be carefully observed, and for this purpose, dictionaries should be consulted frequently. Formal language is mainly impersonal, so avoid personal subjects like “I “ or “we” and use more detached ones like “ the teacher”. The use of the passive voice combined with the active voice gives also a sense of formality. Say “Students will be shown some pictures” rather than “I will show some pictures to the students”. Moreover, passive voice, emphasizes concern for the object of your actions (the students), or the actions themselves, and not the teacher who is the subject performing the action. Contractions must be avoided. To write your lesson plan use simple future (“will”) to show your “intention” to develop a course of action.

Conclusion Audience Formal Writing Teacher Educator or School Director Audience.Organization in paragraphs with a detailed description of activities..Arrangement of information from general to specific. Cohesion: through connectors and adverbial phrases of time..Coherence: through parallel structures Clear and Effective Lesson Plan Tone:not authoritarian and student- centered Neat and computer written presentation -Use of future “will”. -Passive Voice combined with active -No contractions -Embedded questions -Impersonal subjects -English word order -Subject verb agreement.Vocabulary connected to methodology..Avoid general terms Objectives: -to infinitive

Bibliography Harmer, J. (2007) How to teach English. Pearson Education. Murphy, R. (1998) English Grammar in Use. Cambidge University Press. Özbek, N. (1995) “Integrating Grammar into the Teaching of Paragraph Level Composition” in Forum, volume 33, number 1 (p.43-46) Sellen, D. (2000) Grammar World. S.B.S Publishing.

Let's practice! Look at the following lessons and create an appropriate lesson plan for each. Be ready to share your LP with your classmates and discuss.