celta-course.com -- CELTA course lesson plans -- Abbi Freeman

Abbi Freeman

Tutor Vicki Anderson was impressed by Abbi's lesson. She felt it was very learner-centred and communicative, for a start, and agreed with Abbi's assessment that the lesson worked well because "the structure of the lesson certainly helped them to appreciate the language, organization and content needed".

Another thing Vicki particularly liked was that the lesson was motivating. Writing tasks can be something students will groan about (try saying "I want you to write me a composition" to a class of 15-year-olds and you'll see); but the idea of putting what they wrote on Amazon was one Vicki really liked.

Something to think about for subsequent lessons

As always, a tutor will spot a few things to think about and work on to improve in subsequent lessons - but that's part of the learning process.

One was the amount of vocabulary input Abbi provided. Vicki noted on her assessment form that Abbi needed to "provide a bit more input in the form of longer chunks of language typical in book reviews" (see " Teach chunks... ", sidebar).

In fact, Abbi herself had realised that maybe that was an area where her lesson could have been improved. "I didn't want to overload them with vocabulary" she said afterwards, "as they were only intermediate but, yes, maybe there were phrases like 'I couldn't put it down' that I should have provided."

Again, while there are always criticisms that one could make of any lesson, thinking about the lesson afterwards is an important part of the process of learning to teach - and the reason why you do teaching practice with observation and feedback on it.

Below, a selection of some of the other things Vicki picked out on Abbi's lesson:

Liked it

A nice relaxed start to the lesson, with lots of student involvement

Using an authentic book review for the material

The use of a glossary (seen in the image of the material) ensured that the vocabulary in the model review didn't get in the way or take up too much time

Very clear, well-organised board work, which focused not just on the language, but also on content and how a review is organised

Things to work on

On occasions the task the students had to perform was not clear

Always do an example, even when you think your instructions have been crystal clear

Vicki Anderson has been a tutor on CELTA courses since 1988 - that's around 75 CELTA courses in total, says Vicki!

Like all the tutors, she still teaches regular English courses herself, and really enjoys teaching adolescents. Vicki is also co-author of 3Sixty5.

Teach chunks, not just words

"Abbi needed to teach things like 'the plot was weak'," Vicki says. "And not just the word 'plot'," she adds.

Much of the language we use is made up of "chunks" like that, not isolated words, which we use in particular contexts.

"The main reason why I liked the book was that..." was another example Vicki gave when she talked about the lesson afterwards.

"It was also important to give them more in the way of words or phrases to say that they liked or disliked it," Vicki says. "Such as that 'the plot was too predictable or that 'it was a disappointing sequel'."

Lesson Plans

Abbi Freeman

Something to think about for subsequent lessons

Liked it

Things to work on

Lesson plans

Teach chunks, not just words