A plan is a working document for the teacher and evidence of thinking for an observer or trainer. It must show what learners will achieve, how each stage moves them towards it, and what could go wrong.
Components
| Section | What it contains | Common fault |
|---|---|---|
| Class profile | Level (CEFR), number, ages, L1s, strengths, needs, what they did last lesson | Generic ("motivated learners") |
| Main aim | One outcome learners can be seen achieving by the end | Describes the teacher or a topic |
| Subsidiary aims | Skills or language that support the main aim | Five of them: the lesson has no focus |
| Personal aim | One teaching behaviour the teacher is working on | Missing on training courses |
| Assumptions | What learners already know or can do | Not stated, so the lesson starts too high |
| Target language analysis | Meaning, form, pronunciation, CCQs for each item | Form only |
| Materials | Source, adaptation, copies | Missing references for copyright |
| Stages | Name, stage aim, time, interaction, procedure | Procedure without stage aims |
| Anticipated problems | Meaning, form, pronunciation, task, class management, with solutions | "Ss may not understand" with no solution |
| Board plan | Layout of the board at the end of the lesson | Absent: board becomes a mess |
Writing aims
Main aims are learner outcomes, specific to this lesson and checkable at the end.
| Weak | Why | Better |
|---|---|---|
| To teach the present perfect | Teacher action | By the end, learners will be able to talk about life experiences using present perfect + ever/never |
| Ss will understand phrasal verbs | Not observable; too broad | Learners will be able to use six phrasal verbs for travel problems in a role play at a hotel reception |
| Reading about the environment | A topic, not an aim | Learners will have practised reading for gist and specific information in a news article about plastic waste |
| Speaking | No outcome | Learners will have developed fluency in a discussion about flexible working, using phrases for agreeing and disagreeing |
Language aims use "will be able to + use/produce". Skills aims often use "will have practised/developed + sub-skill + in the context of" because one lesson rarely changes ability measurably.
Observable verbs: use, produce, ask and answer, describe, compare, identify, find, order, match, summarise, negotiate, write, give, explain. Avoid: understand, know, learn, be aware of, appreciate.
Stage aims
Every stage has an aim that says why it exists, from the learners' side:
- Lead-in: "to generate interest in the topic and activate vocabulary about travel"
- Pre-teach vocabulary: "to remove lexical barriers to the gist task"
- Gist task: "to give learners practice in reading for gist"
- Clarification: "to clarify the meaning, form and pronunciation of used to"
- Controlled practice: "to give learners accurate practice of the form"
- Freer practice: "to give learners fluency practice using the TL in a personalised context"
- Feedback / delayed error correction: "to correct key errors from the freer task"
Interaction patterns
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| T-Ss | Teacher to whole class |
| Ss-T | Learners report to teacher |
| S-S | Pairs |
| Ss-Ss | Groups or mingle |
| Ind | Individual work |
Vary the pattern every one or two stages. Teacher-fronted time above 40% usually means learners are not practising enough; on CELTA-style courses teacher talking time (TTT) is a constant feedback point.
Timing
- Stage times add up to the lesson length, with 2-5 minutes of flexibility for a 60-minute lesson.
- Mark one stage as "flexi" (can be shortened or dropped) and have an extension task for fast finishers.
- New teachers underestimate setup, instructions and feedback; add one to two minutes per task.
- A single stage longer than 20 minutes usually needs splitting or an interaction change.
Anticipated problems
Write each problem with a concrete solution:
| Area | Problem | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Ss confuse used to with be used to | CCQ: "Does she do it now?"; timeline on the board |
| Form | Ss add -ed to irregular verbs (goed) | Irregular verb list on the board; drill |
| Pronunciation | Ss pronounce -ed as an extra syllable in walked | Three-column /t/ /d/ /ɪd/ sorting task |
| Task | Ss finish the reading early | Extension: write two more questions for their partner |
| Class management | Odd number of learners | One group of three; teacher does not pair up |
academic-english-eap-course-planner
Plan English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses: pre-sessional, in-sessional, foundation, IELTS preparation and discipline-specific EAP, with syllabus strands (academic reading, lecture listening and note-taking, essay and report writing, paraphrase, summary and synthesis, referencing and plagiarism, seminars and presentations, academic vocabulary, critical thinking), a 10-week pre-sessional outline, exit assessment, IELTS-CEFR alignment and academic style (formality, hedging, cohesion, reporting verbs). Estimates study hours and weeks to close an IELTS gap from overall or per-skill scores (IELTS rounding, minimum per skill, priority skills, feasibility before a deadline), and checks learner texts for contractions, informal words with academic alternatives, unhedged claims, 'you', And/But/So starts, rhetorical questions and missing citations.
actfl-proficiency-curriculum-mapper
Map world language curricula to the ACTFL framework: proficiency levels (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Distinguished with sublevels), functions, contexts, text types and accuracy, proficiency vs performance, the three modes of communication (interpretive, interpersonal, presentational), the 5 Cs World-Readiness Standards, backward-designed thematic units with Integrated Performance Assessments, typical programme targets and FSI time estimates. Looks up approximate ACTFL-CEFR-ILR equivalences with what each level can do, and checks a unit map for missing modes, rehearsed skits mislabelled as interpersonal, translation or word lists as interpretive tasks, and units without an integrated performance assessment.
adult-literacy-esl-lesson-builder
Build lessons for adult ESL learners who are developing literacy (LESLLA learners: pre-literate, non-literate, semi-literate, literate in a non-Roman script): learner profiles and sensitive initial assessment, principles (oral language first, known to new, systematic phonics with adult-relevant text, repetition, classroom skills, respect for experience), a lesson routine (oral warm-up, review, new grapheme, blending, segmenting, decodable text, writing, functional literacy, Language Experience Approach), a phonics sequence for adults, sight words, functional literacy targets (forms, signs, medicine labels) and portfolio assessment. Checks whether a reading text is decodable with the letter-sound patterns and sight words taught so far, catching untaught digraphs, listing non-decodable words with the untaught part, and suggesting the most useful next patterns.
authentic-material-lesson-adapter
Turn authentic material (news articles, podcasts, videos, songs, menus, timetables, adverts, social media posts, forms, infographics) into language lessons by grading the task rather than the text. Selects texts for interest, relevance, exploitability, coverage, cultural load and rights; finds the 4-6 words to pre-teach, words to gloss on the page and words learners can ignore, plus names and cultural references to explain, with reading time by level; and builds a lesson shape (lead-in, pre-teach, gist or scanning, graded detail task, language focus on chunks and register, response) with task ideas per material type and level from A1 to C1. Covers copyright, fair dealing and fair use, Creative Commons and attribution.
can-do-statement-writer
Write and review can-do statements for language courses, units, lessons and learner self-assessment, CEFR or NCSSFL-ACTFL style: action (observable verb) + text or situation + level-specific conditions, learner ('I can') and descriptor ('Can') versions, progressions of one activity from A1 to C1, and coverage of reception, production, interaction and mediation. Includes a verb bank by mode and level and condition and text-type banks. Lints statements for teacher-centred phrasing, knowledge instead of use (learn, know, understand the passive), missing context, two skills in one statement, vague quality words, grammar items as outcomes, overlong statements and missing modes in a set.
cefr-aligned-syllabus-builder
Build language course syllabuses aligned to the CEFR (A1-C2, plus levels, Companion Volume 2020): entry and exit levels, guided learning hours and course length (with an L1-distance adjustment), syllabus type (topic, functional-notional, task-based, skills-based, multi-strand), unit-by-unit can-do outcomes, grammar from a core inventory by level, vocabulary, functions, pronunciation, balance of reception, production, interaction and mediation, recycling and assessment points. Checks a syllabus for units without can-do statements, core grammar for the level not covered, items above the course level, skills missing from most units and units with no vocabulary or functions.