TeachingEnglish
Lesson menus
Submitted by TE Editor on 7 July, 2009 - 21:27
I always put a menu on the board before my classes. This describes the main stages of the lesson and the focus of each, and gives page numbers and details of homework. My learners thus know as much about the structure of the day’s class as I do – I feel this is important. With new groups, I spend five minutes explaining the menu of the day, and if there is time I refer back to it at the end of the class – this is useful both as a review tool, a chance for my learners to ask questions, and motivating, as it gives the learners a real sense of accomplishment.
By Paul Kaye
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I agree that it is important for students to know what is going to happen at the lesson. I'm just wondering how that lesson menu looks and how long it takes to prepare it. I'm trying to do a similar sort of thing but also looking for more entertaining forms (like using pictures or symbols, etc.), so the idea of lesson MENUs could be really useful.
I'm interested in your choice of words... lesson 'menu'?
Do you have options that Ss can pick and choose from?
(I'm asking because I think it would be great if it did - and that makes 'menu' a great choice of words)!
Paul, would you share an example of such a menu please? I think this is a great idea, but would love to see an example..
TE Team
I think what Paul's suggesting includes details on activities or tasks that the teacher plans to do in the lesson. That might be, for example, a discussion or revision of an area of language.
I've seen teachers who give very detailed menus, practically including each stage of the lesson. I think a lot depends on the kind of class you're teaching, but I actually prefer to get students to 'write the menu' as they see it at the end of the lesson - it can be motivating, as Paul says, and also quite revealing.
Hi Paul,
I too firmly believe that it is better for students while in the process of learning English to get involved in the lesson providing as much of their own self as they can, and it is the teacher's job to make them feel as knowledgeable about the lesson as they can be! We know that we as teachers create lesson plans and get ready for each and every lesson, and that students do not create the class, so why not as least make the structure of that day's lesson available to them at the beginning of the class? I agree with your idea of 'lesson menus' (I like the term that you gave!) as I spend several minutes as an introductory part to the lesson with a discussion of the following 90 minutes (this is how long classes at the University where I work at last). A couple of sentences ago I said that students do not create the class itself, and I feel I must expand on this a little more so that you won't misunderstand me: it is a fact well-known that teachers are actually the creators of the lesson plan (usually done at home!), but this doesn't imply that students are not at any point asked about what they want to include in the lesson. Yes, students do participate in the creation of the lesson plan because the teacher must consider everybody's specific learning style, but ultimately it is the English teacher who should be the lesson-mover.
So as not to move away from the main topic we are discussing, I would like to add that sometimes the flow of the lesson might not be as we had previously so meticulously planned, and we might even like to leave a little room for the element of surprise. This is why in my classes it's not a habit of mine to write the 'menus' on the board, but I just briefly expand on the main points that will be covered in class that day without going into too much detail because as I said students might engage in longer conversations and discussions than had been planned by the teacher. This is why we should always 'have an ace up our sleeves' and try to be ready for every moment in the classroom that might sidetrack our planned lesson.
Best, Aneta Naumoska
I need an example for this menu please. It is very nice and important.
If I have your comments right, Aneta, I fully agree:
I imagine, you could still board a 'menu' beforehand. Again, I like the idea of 'options' for Ss (of varying degrees depending on Ss' age - I usually teach adult learners), though, so could a menu look like this:
Topic: When I was a Teenager.
In this menu, there are 8 clear steps, that the teacher has thought about carefully and hopes to follow. Steps 3 and 6 have options (Step 3: listen to the cassette or ask the teacher; Step 6: a grammar gap-fill, a phrases gap-fill, or feedback on the Ss language used in Steps 4 & 5). Depending on the timing in class the teacher could have Ss choose one or more options from each. Usually one, and they choose when they get to that stage, not at the beginning of the lesson. Steps 5 & 8 are kept a secret (for different reasons) by putting in question marks.
In my example, it's a kind of Task Based Lesson, in which:
What do you think? Would it work?
Does this reflect your way of thinking Aneta?
Is this similar to your menus Paul (or Rob)?
Hi,
Thanks heath for summarizing my thoughts on lesson menus in several bullet points! Those are exactly my suggestions regarding menus in classes!
In fact, I also appreciate it that you gave an example of what such a menu should look like in real life situations, so regarding what students should be told before the class starts I think that your menu for the topic 'When I Was a Teeager" is informative enough for students. Afterwards, you put the flesh on the bones (on the structure of the 8-point lesson), so what you did in the following part was create a lesson plan of the topic, and in a detailed way expand on all the points. When preparing for classes, when I create a lesson plan, I usually don't write whole sentences, rather just jot down the main points that must be mentioned and explained in class. I also like the fact that after each explanation of the tasks, you added the value of that task and the reason for its success. This is exactly what I do with every lesson too. I consider myself as a person who when told to do something, always tries to do the best and to fulfill expectations. In this case, when creating lesson plans I tend to overexpand on explanations, which at times seems unnecessary because they are for my eyes only! Thus, I like your conciseness when explaining.
As a suggestion, why not add a point or two at the end regarding the possible difficulties during the lesson that students might need to overcome. Teachers are there to be facilitators, but also in a way they should even try to predict the hard points students might stumble over.
You say that "Step 8 is completely unrelated to the overall lesson and it is just a fun activity that acts as a bit of a 'warmer' between two rather long lessons, to keep up Ss attention levels. It's kept a secret in order to add to the level of 'fun' with a bit of an element of surprise." However great this idea with the warmer sounds, I really don't agree with a warmer being put at the very end of a lesson. Students know when the lesson is coming to an end, and if you say that you are going to finish off that day's lesson with something fun, then they won't take anything you say after that seriously! I always give an ice-breaker at the very beginning of the class (before starting with grammar or anything else that I have planned), and at least one warmer somewhere in the middle of the lesson, but that is up to me, when I notice that they don't seem to have much concentration and are not listening carefully to me. I use it as a smooth glide to the following exercise. In my opinion, it's not useful to give a warmer at the end, since students will start talking in their native language, while at the same time getting ready to run out the classroom door and putting their books in their backpacks! :)
I hope I have helped you!
Aneta, Macedonia
"I like your conciseness when explaining." :) Thanks. Lack of being concise is one of my flaws... I have to write and re-write and re-write again on forums like these. I'm glad it worked for once, and I was really happy to see your comment on it.
As for the 'warmer' bit, I agree with you.
In trying to demonstrate what a menu could potentially include I wasn't really thinking about what I personally would. And 'warmer' was a bad choice of wording, because I couldn't think of a more accurate term. I actually intended the menu to be the first of a pair of lessons over 3 hours and that 'warmer-like-activity' was to re-energise the Ss before the next 90mins, similar to your, "one warmer somewhere in the middle of the lesson, but that is up to me, when I notice that they don't seem to have much concentration". Just a bad example, because 3 hour lessons are rare, sorry.