As you embark on your journey to become an online English teacher, you might be wondering how to plan a teaching lesson. Lesson planning for an online English class is fun and allows you to use your creativity.
This post will cover the essential elements of a good online English lesson plan, as well as a few sample lessons you can use in your own classroom!
If you’ve taken your TEFL course with a reliable company, or if you’re teaching English online with big-name online English teaching companies like VIPKID and Magic Ears, they’ll offer you with lesson plans and curriculum.
However, you might find yourself working for a company that doesn’t offer this support. That’s alright though, with a little practice, and after reading this article, you’ll be able to write an engaging lesson plan in your sleep!
Innholdsfortegnelse
How to plan an online English teaching Lesson Plan
Topics You Can Cover in an online Lesson
Components of a good online teaching Lesson Plan
Sample online English Lesson Plans
Beginner sample Lesson: Colors
Intermediate sample Lesson: My favorite Foods
Final suggestions To Remember
How to plan an online English teaching Lesson Plan
Creating and executing your online teaching lessons will go much smoother if you are prepared.
Winging it for 25 minutes in front of the video camera won’t be very fun for you or your students, so make sure you have the following components to your lessons.
Good lessons usually have:
One main objective which outlines what the student will be able to do by the end of the lesson
Key vocabulary words that will be taught to the student
Target sentence frames that the students will be able to use in context
Plenty of opportunities for the student to practice speaking
Visual and audio elements to enhance understanding
Lesson Objectives
When I was teaching in a conventional classroom, I typically wrote the lesson objectives for the day on a sticky note and stuck it to my computer. This helped me make sure I wasn’t getting sidetracked throughout the class.
You can use the same technique with an online teaching lesson. write the objective as an “I Can” statement from the student’s perspective on a sticky note and stick it onto your computer.
For example, if you wanted to instruct the student how to introduce themself, you might write: “I can introduce myself to the teacher and tell my age and where I’m from.”
Throughout the lesson, reference this main objective to make sure your conversations are pointing the student to this outcome.
☞ SEE ALSO: working As A VIPKID Teacher: An Insider’s Review
Dry Erase Board
A dry-erase board is helpful for creating visual aids during your online teaching lesson. before the lesson, you can write essential vocabulary words and target sentence frames on the board.
If you’re feeling really creative, you can write the essential vocabulary words for the lesson in one color and write the target sentence frames in another color.
Dry erase boards help you reach much more types of learners and give students a reference point they can use throughout the lesson until they are confident they have mastered the material.
Props and visual Elements
As you create your online teaching lesson plan, think about which visual teaching aids you can incorporate. numerous props can be found just by looking around your house. You’ll also want to have an interesting teaching background for your students to see.
For example, if you’re teaching a lesson about food, dig through your cupboards to find some relevant snacks, fruits, and vegetables you can show your student.
If you’re teaching a lesson about clothing, get a few clothing items from your closet to show the student.
It’s also valuable to have a set of ABC flashcards. try to get a set that has illustrations for each letter because you can use these pictures to instruct other concepts.
I found a pack of ABC flashcards that had animals for each letter at the dollar Store. I use them all the time for teaching letters and teaching animals.
☞ SEE ALSO: 15 Pros and Cons Of Being An online English Teacher
Audio Elements
Depending on the age of your students, audio elements can also be valuable in enhancing an online teaching lesson. songs and video clips can demonstrate concepts in a way that reading can’t.
Just remember that if you plan to use a song or video, download it before the lesson time and make sure you can pull it up quickly.
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Topics You Can Cover in an online Lesson
Depending on the level of your student, the possibilities for what topics to cover in your lessonmight feel endless. below are some common English concepts that you could consider covering.
Vocabulary Words
Teach students helpful and common vocabulary words. focus on pronunciation and make sure the student repeats the word at least three times.
You can also have the student practice by reading definitions of essential vocabulary words and by spelling their vocabulary words.
Speaking and conversation Skills
This is one of the most essential parts of an English lesson! many students take classes because they want to be able to converse naturally in the language.
Ask the student simple, open-ended questions whenever possible to encourage them to speak independently.
One way to appropriate students if they answer with one-word answers is to say the full sentence you’d like them to say, then pause and cup your hand to your ear indicating that you’d like them to repeat.
Grammatikk
Grammar skills can be taught to much more advanced online English students. Cover topics like verb usage and verb tenses to propel student understanding.
To instruct grammar, using verb charts is a terrific start! A easy one looks like this for the verb [to have].
jeg har
Du har
He/She/It has
Vi har
Du har
De har
After you’ve evaluated this chart with the student and read some practice sentences together, encourage the student to practice independently.
One way to help students practice their new grammar skills is to make a worksheet with a word bank and sentences that you can hold up to the camera. For example, the worksheet might have has and have written at the top. Below, write the following sentences:
He ____ a ball.
I _____ a yellow hat.
She _____ three apples.
Have the student read the sentences and verbally fill in the appropriate word, have or has.
Leseferdigheter
Reading skills can be practiced by showing the student sentences or a short reading passage. depending on the platform you’re using, you could also send your student a small reading passage a few days before the lesson so they can practice.
When the student is reading, make a note of words or phrases that are challenging. After the student finishes, review these words and phrases together by reading them correctly and having the student repeat.
Listening Skills
A fun way to practice listening skills is to show the student a short video or audio clip. After playing the clip 1-2 times, ask the student questions about what they heard.
Advanced Skills
If you instruct adult learners or much more advanced students, they might want to talk about topics like company English or interview skills.
Practice holding mock interviews and mock meetings with advanced vocabulary to allow your students to prepare for these situations.
☞ SEE ALSO: 10 things To know before becoming an online English Teacher
Components of a good online teaching Lesson Plan
I learned this lesson planning format when I was teaching science in a conventional classroom. even though I used these steps for science lessons, they apply well to online English lessons as well!
For each lesson you teach, you ought to plan to include each of these steps.
Engage (Warm-Up)
The first thing you want to do in your online teaching lesson is to engage the student by activating their prior learning. get their mind thinking in English and have them use their existing knowledge best away.
Engage activities are good warm-ups. You can play an English game, instruct a song, or have the student repeat a chant based on their level.
Explain (Teacher Does)
During the discuss stage, you’ll introduce your student to new material and vocabulary. If you’re teaching vocabulary words, pronounce them first and have your student repeat them. For much more advanced students, you can also instruct the implying of different words.
If you’re teaching grammar topics like verb tenses, introduce them to the student here. This is also a terrific time to pre-teach any challenging words or concepts in a reading passage.
Elaborate (We Do Together)
Give your students a chance to explore the material with your guidance. This could be a reading passage about the topic, a matching game, or a video that the student watches and describes.
During this phase, you ought to encourage the student to speak independently, but you can assist if they are struggling.
Evaluate (Student Does Independently)
At the end of the class, give the student a chance to show you what they’ve learned. This is an unguided practice where the student shows you that they can use the information theyhave learned independently.
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Sample online English Lesson Plans
It’s a bit simpler to understand how each of these steps work when you see them in practice.
So to demonstrate how these steps look in a real lesson, I’ve put together two lesson plans, one beginner and one intermediate, for you to use as an online lesson plan template.
These lessons are intended to be taught in a one-on-one environment and last about 25 minutes.
☞ See Also: Magic Ears Review: earn $26/Hour As An online Teacher
Beginner sample Lesson: Colors
Materials Needed: Index cards with the colors “red,” “yellow,” “blue,” and “green” written on them in the appropriate color. several small items and toys in those colors.
Objective: The student will be able to say the color of different items using complete sentences.
Vocabulary Words: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow
Target Sentence Frames:
Hvilken farge er det? Det er ____
What color do you see? Jeg skjønner _____
Engage
For beginner lessons, I like to engage prior English knowledge by asking the student some basic introduction questions in English. I would spend a few minutes asking “What is your name?” “Hvor gammel er du?” og hvor er du fra?”
Encourage students to respond in full sentences answers. For example, instead of just responding with their name, encourage the student to say, “My name is Sally.”
You can demonstrate this by saying the full sentence yourself and pointing to the student to indicate that they ought to repeat you. then ask the question again to give them the chance to use the full sentence.
Forklare
Show the student each flashcard one at a time. for each card, touch the color and say clearly the color word in isolation.
Point to the student to indicate that they ought to repeat after you. have the student repeat the vocabulary word several times.
Practice spelling the new word by demonstrating first, “R-E-D, Red.” have the student repeat 2-3 times.
Do this for each of the color words in the lesson.
Check for understanding by showing the student a flashcard, pointing to the color, and shrugging your shoulders to indicate that you want them to name the color.
For beginners, using a easy sentence like “What do you see?” also works well. The student ought to be able to name each color on the flashcard.
Repeat any colors that are challenging.
Utdype
Now it’s time to extend the vocabulary into full sentences. The student knows the colors, so now you’ll practice using the colors in sentences. Some good sentences to review are:
“What color do you see?”
“I see Green.”
“Hvilken farge er det?”
“Den er rød.”
To instruct full sentences, I like to have the target sentence frames written on my dry erase board in advancement so I can point to the reaction I want the student to give. Here’s how this looks in practice.
The teacher holds up a red flashcard and says, “What color do you see? I see red.”
The teacher points to the student, still holding red flashcard, “What color do you see?” then the teachers ought to cup a hand to the ear to indicate that the student ought to respond.
Practice these sentences for every color. Then, instruct the second sentence, “What do you see?” using the same system.
After the student had practiced both sentence frames for all four colors, it’s time to extend further.
Hold up a red toy or household object like an apple. Ask the student, “What do you see?”
At this stage, it’s alright to assist the student if they are struggling to come up with the full sentence. It’s also a good idea to hold up your dry erase board with the target sentence frames written down so the student can reference the appropriate response.
Practice hold