Lesson Planning Articles and Information

ESL/EFL Articles- Lesson Planning

Articles for the English Teaching Community

How to Turn a Pile of Leftovers Into a GREAT Preschool Lesson

How often have you, a preschool (or home/family day care) teacher, been in this situation? Your preschoolers have gone for the day; the collages they made today are on display; and you're ready to leave. You're a great preschool teacher - tomorrow's lesson plan is done. You've got a great preschool game and activity for your circle time.
10 Steps To Developing A Quality Lesson Plan

This guide is not meant to be the one and only way to develop a lesson plan; however, it is going to provide you with at least some good methods to start with. A general overview highlights the key points of creating a useful and working lesson plan.
Practice is Soooo Boring!

Are your students loathe to practice as much as they should? OK, you can stop laughing and pick yourself up off the floor now. I know it wasn't the brightest question. But I asked it to make a point, of course.
Moon Phase Lesson Plan for Elementary-Age Students

Understanding the phases of the moon can be a tricky concept for a child in elementary school. There are many different aspects of the phases of the moon that children should learn. A moon phase lesson plan should be educational, yet fun so the students can better understand the lesson they are taught.
Secrets to Writing a Winning Science Fair Project Report

First you found a killer science project idea, then you did a great science project. Now, you've got to write it all up to compete in your science fair. Your written report is the single most important part of any science fair project. A well-written report can make a pathetic project look pretty good, and a good project look exceptional.
New Teachers - You Need Long Term Lesson Plan Goals - A New Teacher Lesson Planning Checklist

New teachers often put in 12-16 hour days during their first year of teaching. Since so much of lesson planning depends on what happened during the previous lessons, it's difficult to plan a lesson too much in advance. But there are long and short term strategies that new teachers can easily use to help them cope in their first year before teaching takes over their lives.
Narration - The Best Way to Learn

Nine year-old Elizabeth sits quietly listening as her mother reads from a well-written book on natural science. Mother reads a paragraph or two, and then asks Elizabeth to tell in her own words what was just read. The child eagerly relates the content of the paragraphs, often using some of the same expressive language as she has just heard.
Special Education Teachers - Creating a Good Lesson Plan For Your Students

Among teachers, one particular group in this profession deserves to be recognized more than the others - they are the special education teachers - specialized teachers who work with students of special needs that not every teacher is able to teach. If you are one of these teachers this article is to help you create a lesson plan for your students.
How to Time Manage Your ESL Class
If you are an ESL teacher you probably know how difficult it can be to write a good plan for your ESL class. Very often we come to class and soon get really frustrated because the plan that we have prepared does not seem to work. Or it doesn't work with this particular group of students.
Playing Games in English

Twenty years ago when my son was small, I would play English games with him in an attempt to raise him bilingually. He really liked those games, and when he outgrew them, I used them in my elementary school classes. I was amazed to see how enraptured Japanese youngsters were with English games.
15 criteria for good groupwork organisation

15 criteria for good groupwork organisation
Choosing Good Classroom Icebreakers Or Team Building Activities

If you're a teacher, trainer, or group facilitator of some sort, you probably know the value of a good icebreaker game or activity. It serves many purposes and yields valuable benefits for the group.
Teaching Without Paper

In January of 2008 I was asked by Lorelle van Fossen to write a post for Edublogs Magazine. I had a short humorous post about a broken copy machine and my frustration. I added a few touches here and there and had my guest post for the online mag.
K12 Lesson Strategies - Three Easy Tweaks

Today the K12 education world has tons of experts analyzing and measuring infinite nuisances. There are plenty of learning theories old and new. Students face a raft of assessments to supposedly measure what they have learned or are capable of learning. Yet, every school day the fact remains, there is a teacher in a classroom - doing the trench work.
K12 Project Based Learning - Five Best Resources

Project Based Learning (PBL) provides opportunities for students to collaborate on specific tasks to resolve one or more challenges. The effort is driven by asking questions that feed the investigative processes where students do some level of research to collect data and then draw conclusions by summarizing what they found.
Edutainment: Could video games and social networking make better learners?

Despite calls that the Scottish education system has slipped in recent times, thanks to the former Musselburgh deputy head teacher, Ollie Bray, the country is at the forefront of a move within schools to incorporate more video games and the internet as a means to make students learn better. So how does edutainment work?
Differentiated Instruction Activities Don\\\'t Have to be Time Consuming

One of the more common complaints about differentiating instruction is the amount of prep-time that is involved. Let's face it, teachers simply don't have enough time to prepare that many different lessons for each one of their classes. However, there are many low-prep differentiated instruction activities that teachers can use that will help teachers meet the needs of all of their students.
Popular Movies - Teach English Online Using Scenes From YouTube

Websites like YouTube have given us the capability of quickly and easily embedding videos into our own sites, blogs and through links. A great way to make teaching English online more creative, is to use this resource with students of any level as an online teaching tool. There are lots of different ways to deliver an online lesson using video.
What\\\'s the Trick to Teaching Vocabulary to English Language Learners?

There are four stages in acquiriring new words: The learner notices the new word (with help) The learner learns to recognize it (with help) The learner recognizes it on his/her own The learner can both recognize and produce it
Teacher Tips - 10 Ways on How to Plan a Student Centered Lesson

You hear snippets of student conversation in the hallways or perhaps during lessons. You chuckle with them or to yourself. Maybe you even make a comment to them that's agreeable. No doubt - this kind of scenario strengthens the teacher-student relationship and class dynamics.
Teachers - Five Great Games and Activities For You to Get to Know Your Students

Now that the new school year is fast approaching, it's important that teachers get to know their new students, students get to know their teacher and students get to know each other. During my 30 plus years of teaching I have used several classroom activities as a fun and non-stressful way to get the school year started on the right foot.
Preschool Theme Lesson Plans

Preschool themes are not essential for a successful preschool lesson, but they do help bring everything together and keep students engaged in learning. For that reason, preschool themes are highly encouraged to help teachers save time and energy in their planning.
Lesson Planning Tips For New Teachers

By asking a mentor, you are likely to learn ideas and tips that may be helpful to you in future lesson planning.
Creating Engaging Units of Study For Your Students - Developing Background Knowledge

Activating, developing, and building upon students' background knowledge is essential for learning to take place. How do you develop and build upon your students' experience and previous learning? Considering this question is a key part of your unit planning.
How to Create and Use an Internet Scavenger Hunt in the Classroom

An internet scavenger hunt is a fun way to get your kids and students learning while they are surfing the Web. Here are 5 easy steps to creating your own unique online hunt about a particular theme or state standard of your choosing.