TLW Online English Classroom ~ File Plan Page ~

You may have noticed that there are no written lesson plans in the modules. The reason for this is that teachers and learners are expected to choose the lesson files they need to work on, and by doing so, more closely match lessons to learner needs. This means teachers and learners are encouraged to become aware of language needs together and build lessons that include appropriate content and that promote higher levels of communication.

You will find that the curriculum itself is a guide, much in the same way a textbook contains order and sequence. The main difference in the modular approach (this curriculum) and the textbook approach is that lessons are not set in stone. Student needs can change moment by moment and from day to day. Choose your lesson files in accordance with these changes. Record what you have done after each lesson and choose some files you would like to work on in the following lesson... Be aware of the effectiveness of each activity and plan future lessons accordingly. Also, make adjustments during the lesson if the situation calls for it... And most of all... Have fun!

File Planner format:

Click Here for the printable File Planner. Use this form to record file use and lesson objectives and outcomes.

Further notes:

The Lesson Planner is a lesson plan in action. You may wish to choose files before a lesson begins

and 'stay the course' in a more traditional approach to language teaching. On the other hand, you may

choose to begin with one file and proceed with a sequence of files related to how 'file one' transpires.

The following is a list of questions/criteria for choosing files, whether it be in the moment, or as a plan:

1) Student engagement with the activity: Do the students require more lesson structure (Nouns, Verbs,

Forms, Mixed Questions) or do they prefer less (Role Plays, Photo Talk, Actions, Pronunciation)?

2) Student use of form/syntax: Do they require attention to grammar (Verbs and Forms)?

3) Student understanding of conversation/dialog/discourse as a structure: Do they have a concept

of how people communicate effectively (Role Plays)?

4) Student collaboration in activities: Can they construct knowledge of the target language by using

English in collaboration with their peers and with the teacher (Photo Talk, Actions, Pronunciation)?

Of course, this is an incomplete list and teachers and program designers may have other criteria

(ways of making decisions) regarding the implementation of files and lesson plans (file plans). In

this curriculum, however, the choice of files IS the plan and the objectives and outcomes are variable to the

extent that the content of each file is variable. The 'Lesson Planner' above accommodates this approach.

We see language learning as a dynamic process (changing unpredictably over time for each leaner individually)

and therefore attempt to expand and even transform the traditional role of the lesson plan. The file plan can be

a moment to moment creation of teacher and students. Any file may be chosen at any given point in the lesson.

What transpires in the lesson itself is, optimally, an engagement with all the affordances/opportunities the

environment presents: teachers, learners, files, tools, interactions, scaffolds, feedback, repairs, jokes, laughs,

stories, ideas, pictures, books, and any other objects or things tangible or abstract... We hope that these files

allow you to participate in the language and in the lessons with a continual sense of wonder and excitement.

TLW—April, 2009.

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The Language Works (TLW)
Curricular Approach

Date

Class

Lesson Files

Objectives

Outcomes