An English action plan

A lot of people make resolutions at the beginning of a new year or when they start a new course/new part of a course. These ‘starts’ are always a good time for language learners to build new habits. 

The lesson starts with a brainstorming activity where the whole class come up with creative ideas for practising English. Learners read a model of one student’s action plan for learning English in the year ahead. At this point learners understand how even small English habits can form part of a more elaborate learning plan and that there are many fun activities they can do to improve their English. They also think about how a language-learning plan can be linked to other hobbies and interests. The lesson finishes with learners making their own action plan for the future months.

Another lesson connected to learning habits can be found here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-resources/teaching-secondary/lesson-plans/pre-intermediate-a2/class-journals

Lesson outcomes

All learners will:

• create a personalised English Action Plan
• practise speaking by sharing ideas about how to learn English
• practise going to + verb when describing learning plans

Materials

• Lesson plan 
• Student worksheet 
• Presentation 

Lead-in (5 minutes)

• Show slide 2 or write these questions on the board:
• How can we practise English?
• Why are routines and habits good?
• First, learners in small groups to discuss these questions. Allow L1 at this stage.
• Have an informal class discussion, encouraging learners to share their ideas. Accept any reasonable answers. Don’t error correct.

Class brainstorm (10 minutes)

• Show slide 3 or at the top of the board draw a speech bubble with this sentence: 

• I’m going to learn more English this year.

   

• Underneath the speech bubble draw a large square and then divide it into four smaller squares, adding the four headings: Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing. 

• Point to each heading in turn and suggest an example, saying the sentence aloud and then writing the short version (the one in brackets) in the square.

  Examples: Reading: I’m going to read my horoscope in English every day. (daily horoscope)

  Listening: I’m going to listen to a podcast once a week. (weekly podcast)

  Writing: I’m going to write (five) sentences about each day. (English diary)

  Speaking: I’m going to watch a short advert in English, repeating it line by line. (repeat adverts)

• Elicit one other idea for each square.

Group brainstorm (10 minutes)

• Put learners into groups of four or five. Remind learners of the structure going to + verb for fixed plans. To give learners confidence using this, drill (you repeat, they repeat) this in some short phrases (e.g., I’m going to use my mobile in English, we’re going to watch a series in English)
• Give them 5 minutes to copy the diagram onto a piece of A4 paper and to brainstorm more ideas. They should say each idea aloud and then write it under the correct heading. 
• Monitor learners as they build up their diagrams, encouraging them to find a similar number of ideas for each square. It might be easier to find ideas to practise listening than speaking, so give examples of how audio from videos and songs can be used as a model for practice and how learners can record themselves speaking.
• Nominate a speaker in each group to report back their ideas to the rest of the class. Add each new idea to the board.

An example action plan (10 minutes)

• Put learners into pairs. Work through slides 4-6 or/and give each learner a copy of the student worksheet. Ask them to look at part 1. This is an example, from an imaginary learner.
• Learners work with their partner to complete part one. First, they read the ideas, saying which skills are developed and giving their opinion about how easy or difficult each idea is. Then they work out which hobbies and interests the writer has. (possible answers: sport/basketball, cooking, music, history)

Making your own (10 minutes)

• Show slide 7 and/or ask learners to look at part 2 of the student worksheet.
• Learners follow the steps to create their own English Action Plans, using the model as a guide and sharing ideas to personalise the plan to their own hobbies and interests. 
• Note: These could be done on paper or online. If done on paper, make sure the learners store the action plan so they can refer to it later. If using a notebook, suggest the back page, so it is easy to find again. 

Follow up 1

• Don’t forget to return to the English Action Plan the following week. Leave aside 10 minutes of a lesson so that learners can think about then discuss the following questions in small groups:

  How many things can I tick off this week?

  Do I want to change anything?

  Do I know what I need to do next week?

• Show slide 6 to do this or write up the questions on the board. 
• Planning to make the English Action Plan a part of your routine will make learners more likely to stick to the routine.

Follow up 2

•  After a few weeks/a month, you could set an optional reporting task where learners share something in a group about one particular point on their plan.
• An example task could be to tell the group about something on their list. You could use the 3, 2, 1 model for sharing: Tell the group 3 things about what you watched/read etc, teach the group 2 words you learned, and tell them 1 reason it helped you.