Carter Packard

I often like to begin my lessons with visual aids that establish the context of the lesson. I will encourage students to guess what the lesson will be about and ask them to share their thoughts about the subject. The next steps depend on the particular aim of the lesson, so if I were, for example, delivering a reading lesson, we would begin with a quick gist reading of the text along with a short task. We would discuss the answers and then move on to a reading for detailed understanding along with a longer task. More time would be allotted to this, and after the time is up, we would check the answers, discuss any discrepancies, and finally move onto a follow-up speaking task. The students would have the opportunity to respond to the content of the text, describing related personal experiences or expressing their opinions on the subject. After the students have shared their thoughts, it's time to end the lesson by giving feedback on their language use and make any corrections of their speech that would be useful to the student.

I understand the importance of making space for the students to speak; it is not beneficial for the student when I lecture for the majority of the time of the lesson. What is most important is that the students are given the opportunity and time to generate the target language. This strategy is backed by extensive research that demonstrates that students retain the target language best when they are the ones speaking.