On this page you can get acquainted with how the PPP model is laid out and how it can work for you as a way to approach your teaching.  The various stages involved will be explained and examples will be provided throughout the article.  You will be introduced to the principle ideas & terminology, look at two lesson plans applying those ideas and have a second more detailed explanation of the different stages and how they work together.

There are four sections on this page to help you get orientated:
—Section A:  Introduction / Outline of the basic lesson plan
—Section B:  A brief look at a PPP lesson plan
—Section C:  A review and an example for a PPP lesson plan on vocabulary
—Section D:  A deeper look and an example for a PPP lesson plan on grammar

INTRODUCTION                       

I have had a great number of requests from new teachers and teachers with a few years of experience to help them with their lesson planning.  In this article we are going to look at the PPP model.  There are many ways one can approach preparing a lesson plan and teaching a language, and the PPP is one such model.  It is frequently used in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) / TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification courses because it is very practical and lends itself well to many concepts that can enhance a student’s learning (such as having a flow to the class or emphasizing the inclusion of progressive activities that successively prepare the student to become a more independent language user).

There are some minor variations of the model, depending on whose version you come across.  Different academies and even different trainers within the same academy might emphasize some elements more than others or see them done in slightly different ways.  That is fine.  We can learn from different perspectives.  The view I take is to first understand the model, and then adapt it to your situation.  Some ways one could make such modifications will be looked at later in this article, but first it is best to become acquainted with what it is and how it works.

We’ll look at the basic structure and then go through it a second time, looking a little more deeply into its elements, going through each stage step by step.  We’ll also cover what many people have difficulties with – either in understanding the model or challenges they have when trying to apply the concepts behind the model.  We’ll also look at some examples and throughout the article there will be many suggestions and tips that might be helpful to you.

I know many teachers come from a background where their role is frequently one as a lecturer and some of the concepts will be a little foreign to them.  And there are other teachers, perhaps new to the field, or with only a little or limited experience.  To all of you I recommend patience.  As a teacher trainer myself, I have seen on countless occasions many eager teachers wanting to get a better grasp on the concepts, and for most, it is a struggle that has to be gone through.  For many there is no easy and fast way to get to that understanding.  It is a process and different elements become clearer as one accumulates hands-on experience applying the concepts in the classroom.  It may only take a half dozen or so challenging lesson plans to work through before it begins to make some semblance of sense, or it may take many more.  Even for those who get through it relatively quickly, it will take several years before one can feel more fully in control of lesson planning and what it involves.  This is good to keep in mind, and to keep in perspective.  The goal should be to begin to understand the model better, appreciate its potential, and then play with it to suit your own needs.

And a final word before we begin.  Lesson planning is not an exercise in isolation.  The theories behind it, the materials and activities that become part of it, the suggestions and the models one can follow, all have to deal with the inevitable:  that it is only a plan and whatever shape it takes, it is to be used in the classroom.  The classroom is the acid test.  It is the reality that the teacher and the students face.  It is normal to be surprised, especially when you are trying out new things.  You will have good classes and you will have classes or parts of classes that don’t go over well.  This is something that all teachers experience.  You learn much from the less positive experiences and it helps you better anticipate what could happen when you consider different options in your planning.  Generally speaking, it is a good idea to go into class with a plan you feel comfortable with, but be prepared to adapt to the ongoing circumstances if there are unexpected developments.  With more experience, which includes those ‘less successful moments’, you get better at anticipating what could happen and have a greater repertoire available to deal with those developments.  If you ever have the opportunity to observe a very good teacher in action, you can bet she or he has had many ‘bad’ classes along the way, and has learned how to learn from them.

So then, let’s have a look at one way a person could approach lesson planning, shall we?

You can see a skeleton outline with ten different empty boxes.  To the right of that image are ten different titles that are to be placed in those boxes.  Without necessarily knowing what those titles might mean, see how many you can place correctly into the boxes.  The goal isn’t to get them all correct.  The goal is to take a little time to consider what these titles might mean.  Consider the order and the relationships they might have with one another.

If you think it’s too difficult or if you want to see you’re on the right track, click on #1 box to see it partially completed.  (Then after seeing these hints, you can try to fill in the rest.)

When you are ready to see the answers click on #2 box.

A copy of this outline (with added details) will be given a little later in the article

This is the basic outline of the PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) model and the order it usually follows.  We are now going to have a closer look at what those titles refer to.

Before setting up your lesson plan, think clearly on what your objective or objectives are.  This will affect all your future decisions as your lesson plan begins to take shape.  What is it exactly that you would like your students to learn and can you write your objective in a way that you can see if you were successful or not?

For example:  By the end of the class the students will be able to use the new vocabulary they learned in the class while making plans to go on a holiday together.

And that vocabulary should be clearly stated somewhere, before the class begins.

Using the PPP model, we’ll look at 3 principle parts of the lesson plan and some of the stages within them:

1 – The Context (the Theme)
2 – The Input
3 – The Language Focus

All of these parts are influenced directly by what your objectives are.

The Context is you basically setting the scene.  You want to get the students engaged from the beginning.  You set the scene (context or theme) that will run through the entirety of your class, or that part of the class that this lesson plan is covering.  And you introduce that theme with something that resembles a ‘warm-up activity’.  Maybe you want to talk about ‘being on holiday’ and show the students a few pictures of people having fun doing activities often associated with vacations.  You get the students to describe the photographs and perhaps comment on whether or not they have done similar things on their holidays.

The Input is you providing the students with a text of some sort.  That text could be a reading text, a listening, or a video to watch.  If your main objective is for the students to understand and use some particular vocabulary or a grammar point, then that language should be included in the text to some degree.  Imagine that in today’s lesson you want the students to be familiar with vocabulary associated with going on holiday (ex: pack, book a room or flight, etc).  The video, audio listening or article to read will include some of that language.  That specific language you want the students to learn (the target language) is not your present concern, however.  Right now you want them to read an article about the theme and your goal is for them to become acquainted with the contents of the article (such as who went on holiday, when did they go , was it a good holiday? etc).

Before you give the students the article, you want to prepare them for the first reading task.  In this model, the rule of thumb is that the students do the reading with an objective (task) in mind.  Maybe you show them a picture that is included in the article and you ask them to predict what the article is about.  The students discuss this for a few minutes, they tell you their predictions, and you write them on the board.

Now you give them the article.  Tell the students to read very quickly to see which prediction, if any, is close to the general idea of the article.  For example:

a– they had a wonderful holiday     b-they had a terrible holiday     c– their holiday was okay, but nothing special

The idea is to skim through the article to get a fast overview, just a quick general idea of the contents of the article.  The students are not to worry about the meaning of each new word or even of a particular sentence or paragraph or two.

In this second input task, you give the students a few questions so they can focus on understanding some key concepts about the article.  Again, they don’t have to understand each and every word or idea in the text, but you are checking to see if they understand those ideas that you feel they should know.

You want them to reach a better understanding of the contents of the text, especially how it relates to the theme you introduced in the context warm-up activity.  This task is a development of the theme for today’s class, not a look at any grammar or vocabulary you may later want them to learn.  Make the task in such a way that short answers are required (true or false, or single word answers, for example).  The students look at the questions and understand the task.  Then they read the text this second time to try and answer the questions.  This should also be a fairly brief task, as they are scanning the text for specific information.  When they are done or you tell them so (for example when they have reached the end of a time limit you previously set), they can check their answers in pairs and later you go over their answers.

From this part of the class on, the teachers and the students will be concentrating on a particular element or set of elements.  The idea is that the teacher helps the students become aware of what that target language is and any key points they should know about.  Then the students practice that language with greater confidence and autonomy.

If it is a grammar point such as a verb tense, then those key points could be focusing on the form (how to construct a verb in that tense such as have been working) and what situations to use it in.  If the language focus in on vocabulary and not grammar, it could be a set of words united by one theme (ex: family members – aunt, cousin, nephew, etc or work-related – call a meeting, delegate responsibility, conduct an interview, etc) or how to manipulate words into different forms (predict, predictable, unpredictable).

Grammar and vocabulary are the two most common areas of language focus but pronunciation and functional language can also be.  Pronunciation could include difficult sounds for the students, intonation patterns and how words can be connected together when spoken (ex: “What are you doing?” – “Whacha doin?”).  Functional language is a set of expressions and sometimes tendencies to use certain grammatical structures in a certain situation (for a particular function).  Here are two such functions:
1- asking for and giving directions (functional language: go straight two blocks, turn left // use of imperatives)
2- speaking on the phone (functional language: May I speak to X, please?, Could you take a message, etc)

The language focus is what you want your students to work towards learning and using better.  It is clearly defined in your class objectives and all three stages in the rest of the lesson plan are dedicated to that end.  The three stages of the language focus are Presentation, Practice and Production, each with one or more activities.

This is where you clearly present what it is that you want them to focus on and to learn.  In the Context and Input stages, you are orientating the students to the theme, but you are not having them do exercises with the target language until this or the Practice stage.  In this stage you may want to have the students look at the text again for different examples of vocabulary associated with travelling or being on holiday.  Maybe you ask them to find two examples of theme-related verbs and three examples of related nouns in the first paragraph.  You dedicate one part of your whiteboard or blackboard (or virtual board) to those two lists (or other lists as you see appropriate).  With clear titles you begin the lists of verbs and nouns associated with travelling on holidays.  Here is an example of how you could organize your board.  The vocabulary that is on your list stated in the objectives will appear here, whether through eliciting from the students or providing it yourself.  (Note the extra space to the right of the vocabulary.  This is prudently reserved for other issues that may come up and you may need that space to illustrate or explain something.)

Now you are entering the area that you want to focus on.  You could have simply done this at the very beginning of the class and done away with the Context and the Input stages, but through dedicating a short time to these two previous stages, the students are better orientated to the general situation and are more likely to participate.  It is also easier for them to get involved in the direction you wish them to focus on.  The key idea of those two previous stages is to invest a short time only in them.  If your main focus is on grammar or vocabulary, most of the time in your lesson should be dedicated to the PPP (Presentation, Practice & Production) activities and not a long time to the Context or Input stages.

In the Presentation stage, you elicit or provide all the target language you want them to focus on and all the relevant details you feel they should know.  That is to say, everything you want the students to know for today’s class, not everything that is known about it in general.  Don’t go overboard on the details or complexity.  Find something achievable for that group of students.  You can go through the pronunciation, the form (verb, adjective or noun, for example; maybe opposites like unpack), the spelling, and of course, the meaning.

Now that the students are aware of the target language, you want to have them begin using it.  Perhaps they might have some confusion of the meaning or use the wrong form at times (maybe using the noun form when they should be using the verb form).  Usually the Practice stage has more than one activity where the students apply what they have just learned in the Presentation stage.  The first activity in this stage could be matching the word with its definition or a gap-fill; something to check that they understood the basics sufficiently.  The subsequent Practice activities continue to develop the students’ understanding and proficiency, and hopefully, confidence in using that target language.

Generally speaking the first Practice activities are very structured with the teacher actively monitoring, guiding, correcting and commenting.  The activities progressively wean the students to become more independent of the teacher so they can use the target language with little or no help and in situations which are more ‘free’ in that they aren’t simply doing exercises that focus in on the form.  If the coming Production activity is speaking about something using the target language, then some of the Practice activities should include freer speaking to help prepare the students for that future activity.  Some examples of Practice activities in the middle or at the end of this stage could be students in pairs make a list while deciding what to pack for an overnight visit with a friend,  a week stay with the same friend or a four-day camping trip.

This is the test to see if they can do a Production activity autonomously, without the aid of the teacher.  In the Presentation and Practice stages, you have been eliciting and correcting and guiding them, but in the Production stage you want them to speak on their own, without your help.  Set up a task like going on a business trip for the following week to an exotic city in a country with a different climate.  Have them discuss what might be a good idea to pack on that trip.  This time they don’t have a handy page in a coursebook to refer to, nor the teacher prompting them if they forget how to say an item.  They work it out together.  If they make mistakes, then take note of them, but don’t correct them during this activity.

When the students have completed the activity, go over some of the points you want to bring to their attention.  Tell them what they were doing well, so they can continue doing that, and to feel that although speaking English is difficult, they can do (some) things well.  Tell them what can be improved and suggest how.  And now would be a good time to deal with some of the mistakes they made while speaking in the Production activity.  Don’t attempt to correct everything.  Focus on any target language they didn’t use correctly and if that isn’t too much, you could include a few other references like pronunciation, singular/plural forms or verb tenses, for example.

You could also make a comment or two about their preparations, like “Wow.  You guys sure pack a lot for just a short time.”  “I admire how you can travel with just a minimum of things.  I would definitely pack more things.”

And that’s it.  A brief introduction to each of the stages.  Now we’re going to do another kind of matching exercise.

Without looking back, see if you can fill in the names of each of those stages based on the explanations and types of examples given.  Write the titles of those stages in the boxes.

You can use the visual clues to help you remember the names and the titles as well as the descriptions to the right of the boxes.  If it you find it hard to read the text on your device, you can click on the boxes below to help you see it in sections.

When you’ve done what you can, scroll down to confirm your answers.

When I show this PPP model to trainee teachers, they seem to have some understanding of it, saying the key words at the correct times when I check for their understanding.  The same thing happens in the classroom.  The students and I get through a presentation of some point and they seem to have a decent idea.  Then I get them to try to apply it.  If I try to jump to a Production-type activity, they normally won’t be able to do it, or do it well.  There has to be some practice and we work through some of the issues together until it is clearer and more familiar to them.

With you looking at this page on my website, I won’t be able to sit with each of you personally as we go through your initial lesson planning, talk about possible changes to it, see it in action as I observe your class, then have a lengthy discussion period where we go through the finer points of both the lesson plan and its execution.  Then do it all again a half dozen more times with the same number of different lesson plans to go through, classes to observe and feedback sessions that follow them.  With some luck and a lot of hard work, some trainees begin to get a truer grasp of what it’s all about after the third or fourth session.  We don’t have that luxury here, but then again, you don’t have the pressure to pass an intensive course in a very short time.  You can experiment and progress at your leisure and you don’t have to feel the pressure of another observing you.

I do strongly suggest continuing with this article until the end, especially if this is fairly new to you.  For some people it’s information overload, so if you are feeling that, take a break for a while and come back later.  For others, they think they got it all, but when they try to apply it, they get more than a little lost and/or they really aren’t putting it into practice like they think they are.

Let’s take a quick review of some of the terminology and after that see how those stages can translate into a practical lesson plan.

This is the area of focus.  Maybe it’s vocabulary, but keep it clearly defined.  It’s not just ‘vocabulary’.  It’s a core of essential vocabulary around the theme of symptoms of minor sicknesses (cough, sneeze, etc) or word-formation (changing adjectives to adverbs by adding ‘ly’ as well as looking at irregular examples).  It could be grammar, but that, too, should be clearly specified, such as using the present continuous for future arrangements.  This is the specific part of the language or language usage that you want the students to learn more about and to use.

This is what you want to be achieved in the class.  It often includes a grammar or vocabulary point and two or more skills (reading, listening, writing & speaking).  A convenient formula that usually helps you define it is….

By the end of the class, the students will (should) be able to ______________________ (you will fill the target language such as use some of the phrasal verbs learned in class) while speaking about _______________________(you fill in the theme of the class such as raising children).

This is the very first activity.  You introduce the theme of the class through a warm-up activity, engaging the students.  That means that the theme should be interesting to the students as well as getting them involved, such as speaking about it or exploring it in some way.  That theme will run through the coming listening or reading, the presentation and later in the practice and production stages.

A reading, listening or video that relates to the theme (and probably contains at least some of the target language in it).  The focus of the Input is to reinforce the theme and get the students exploring it further.

This is the major part of the class / lesson plan where you present the target language, have the students practice it, and later they try to include it in a production activity (normally speaking).

The teacher officially introduces the target language to the students in this stage of the class.  As much as possible, the teacher involves the students as the form, pronunciation and important concepts are looked at.  This can also include looking at examples in the previous text from the Input stage.

After the students have a basic introduction to the target language, they have to use it in a series of activities which help them gain a better understanding of how to use it.  The teacher is often actively involved, guiding them along the way but self-learning and group work are frequently part of this stage.   Usually the first Practice activity or two is very structured so the students can get more familiar with how it is formed and how it works.  Later Practice activities get the students to use the target language in a freer way, such as in mini-conversations or speaking situations where the students have to interact and what they say isn’t always so predictable.  The teacher also participates less to encourage more student independence.

The students have to ‘produce’ the language on their own.  This is usually in the form of speaking, but could also be writing.  In the final activity of this PPP model, the teacher is not involved other than setting up or explaining the task the students have to do.  Plus, the students have to be participating in a dynamic, ongoing conversation (or debate or role-play, for example) rather than simply following a formula like Student 1 asks a question and Student 2 responds or somebody reading a text they wrote previously.

After the Production stage, the teacher gives back feedback on how well they carried out that last activity as well as possibly bringing up a few points that came up during the class.  The students might also give feedback such as communicating how they felt about the last activity or the class.

LESSON PLAN EXAMPLE

Much of this was already covered in Section B, but it doesn’t hurt to have it all together in the form of an actual lesson plan with the practical focus of looking at what activities could be done for each stage.  Some details have been added to complete the example although the pictures and actual listening are described but not provided.  The idea is to simply see (in a sketched out form) what can be done in a concrete lesson plan.  The language focus of this lesson plan is on vocabulary.  (A more detailed lesson plan, complete with accompanying materials, will focus on grammar in Section D.)

By the end of the class, the students will be able to use some new vocabulary related to activities while on holiday (see list below in Target Lanuguage) in a conversation about that theme.

Vocabulary related to holidays organized into 3 groups:
Verbs/verb expressions:  pack, unpack, book a room or flight, go sightseeing, buy souvenirs
Nouns:  customs control, tour guide, entrance fee
Adjectives:  breathtaking, dirty, friendly, unfriendly, crowded, terrific, terrible

Elementary level  (third month into course)
12 adult students
60 minute class 3 times/week

Theme:  Holiday activities
●Show students 4 pictures of people doing different things on holidays
(sightseeing, relaxing somewhere, trekking, trying out new food)
●Get the students to describe what they see and to comment if these are activities they like to do while on their holiday

Listening:  A 4-minute dialogue of two friends comparing their last holiday.

●Which person had a good holiday and who didn’t?

●Circle the items in the list that each person did on holiday.

(The students are given a list of items, perhaps categorized for quick referencing.  Pronunciation and meaning of the words on that list is elicited / provided before the students are asked to do the task of circling those that they hear.)

●Make a table on the board for vocabulary related to holidays.
3 columns: verbs/verb expressions  //  nouns  //  adjectives     (leave space for other work)
●Write one example of each:  go sightseeing  //  customs control  //  breathtaking
●Make sure students know the meaning and pronunciation
●Tell students to look at the second paragraph of the audioscript (the dialogue they heard written out) and find at least two more examples for each column.
●Students compare answers in pairs and later tell teacher.  Teacher adds to list on board.
●Teacher elicits more vocabulary using mime/gestures (ex: for packing), definitions and synonyms (ex: explaining what a tour guide does), or describing the situation (ex: see if the students know the word ‘crowded’).
●Teacher goes over all the vocabulary, looking at meaning, word form (verb, noun or adjective; negative forms or opposites), and pronunciation
●Teacher asks a few students randomly about some of the vocabulary covered
ex: What’s the opposite of ‘pack’?  What can you book? 

●Give students a handout with a matching exercise  (left column is the target language and the right has the descriptions, definitions and synonyms)
●Students do it individually, compare answers in pairs, then teacher goes over it with class

●Reassign new partners to work in pairs.  Student #1 can look at the handout from the previous exercise and communicates the meaning of the word.  Student #2 has to say the word (but can’t look at the handout).
●After one minute, change roles.

●Students do a gap-fill in a two-paragraph text.  There are 8 missing words, all from the target language list except one, which has to be taught.  Students do the task and the answers are corrected.

●Students are placed into groups of three or four. One person is in a ‘hot seat’ where the others ask her or him questions about her or his last holidays. Each line of questions must follow this pattern:

(NOTE: a line of questions is a number of questions focused on one theme such as ‘the beach’ or ‘packing’.)

There are at least two questions from the questioners:
●1- The first question contains a word from the target language list
ex:  Was the beach crowded?             Or        ex:  What did you pack for your last holiday?
●2- The second question is a follow-up question that can be asked by another person
ex:  How many people were there?     Or        ex:  Do you normally pack a lot?
●3- Encourage the students to not only ask questions, but also to make comments (That’s interesting.  Wow.  Really?) and to volunteer information about themselves while still speaking about crowded beaches, for example.  In other words, start off with some questions but let it develop into a mini- or semi-conversation.

●4- When no more questions or comments can be made with that line of questions, continue asking the person in the hot seat more things about the theme (her or his last holiday), but with a new line.
ex: What did you pack for your last holiday. (as before, the question contains a word from the target language list)
●5- Follow that question up with more (ex:  Do you normally pack a lot?) and continue the sequence of #1-3.

●Write the prompts for this direction on the board using simplified language to help the students stay on task.  For example:
1-Ask question with new vocabulary
2-Make follow-up questions
3-Make comments and more questions

●Model with one group before telling everyone to start.

●New groups of 3 or 4
●Tell students to imagine that they are meeting after class and are enjoying a coffee together and speaking about their best holiday.  Encourage people to volunteer information, ask questions, and yes, sometimes include some of the target language if they remember to.
●Once they start speaking, teacher goes off to side of the room or casually monitors each group without intervening (no participation of any kind).

●Teacher makes a comment stating that she/he liked many of those holidays and perhaps asks a follow-up question or two to somebody.
●Teacher writes a few words on the board that came up in one group’s conversation that might be interesting for all the class to know.
●Teacher refers to a few mistakes that were made (incorrect usage of vocabulary or a few minor grammar mistakes) and elicits the correct usage and perhaps why it is correct.
●Teacher writes on the board a few words that were mispronounced and gets the whole class to repeat them.
●Teacher ends the class by saying how well they are making progress in their speaking and reminds them that their composition is due next class.

Remember we want to make a clear definition of your aims for your lesson plan.  Some teachers’ objectives can be confusing at times because they are stated in a way that is far too vague.

There are different kinds of objectives.  For example:

Consider your PERSONAL AIMS:

Is there something you want to focus on in your teaching, like working on giving more concise instructions or eliciting more from your students rather than simply you lecturing them most of the time?  Then deliberately look over your lesson plan as you are developing it and also when you’ve finished so you can work out how to deal with those issues when you are actually teaching the class.  Can you work those personal aims directly into some key places in your lesson plan?  Keep those personal aims to only one or two for each lesson plan.

AIMS FOR EACH ACTIVITY in a single lesson plan           

For every activity you do, whether it is for 30 seconds or 15 minutes, you should have an aim for it.  Why did you plan for that activity, and why that particular way?  What is it you hope to achieve by doing it in that way?  Is it really necessary, or is it just because it’s a time-filler or because it appears in the student book?  How can each and every activity contribute to your lesson plan, making your class richer and more efficient?  Look at each activity to determine if it really helps the students to more completely achieve the objectives you have set.  If you think that students might not be well prepared to do one of the activities, perhaps you can add an extra activity just for that purpose, to give them an opportunity for further practice.

AIMS FOR YOUR STUDENTS FOR THIS PARTICULAR CLASS (OR THIS PART OF THE CLASS)

This is the general aim but you still want to define it as clearly as possible.  “Do a reading” is not really an objective. – it’s simply listing an activity.  Try to think a little ‘scientifically’ in that you want to word your objective in a way that you can test it.  You want to see if the aim can be successfully achieved, or to what degree it was achieved.  If everyone simply reads something, there is no way of really knowing what, if anything, they got from doing that activity.

As you can see, it is possible to have different objectives, and that is fine, but you don’t want to have too many.  Keep them to a minimum and spend your efforts on making them achievable.  Besides making them realistic, you want them clearly defined before you enter the classroom so you can better prepare your activities and materials accordingly.  If the objectives are clearly defined, then during the class you can see how they are being met, which is also helpful for you after the class if you wish to reflect on it further.

Here are a few different examples with a grammar point in mind.

By the end of the class the students will (should) be able to

1. use the past continuous while speaking about what they did last weekend.
2. understand what a phrasal verb is, learn a few new phrasal verbs, and use them while speaking about romantic relationships
3. understand the difference between the first and second conditional and use them both in different work situation role-plays of negotiating shared responsibilities

When the students are doing the final Production activity at the end of the class, they should be using the target language as defined in this objective.  All the stages prior to the Production activity are preparing the students to be able to try to carry out the activity well, and without the aid of the teacher.

You may have noticed that there is a recommendation to clearly identify the target language in the objective and to place it in a context (theme) for a Production activity.  Here is a model you can follow:

The target language is clearly defined in a way that the teacher (or another observer) can see if it is being produced by the students while exploring that theme.  If the target language is vocabulary, then provide that list so one knows what the major focus is on.

As we go through all the stages of this lesson plan about a grammar point, we are going to keep two things in mind:
1- The objective is for the students to use the past continuous in their speaking
2- in the context of speaking about last weekend.

This is both the theme that is running through your class from the beginning to the end, and a reference to the very first activity you do to get things started.  It is recommended to state the context right in your objective for the class.

Example:  By the end of the class the students will (should) be able to use the past continuous while speaking about what they did last weekend.

The text you choose in the Input, be it for listening or reading, reflects this theme.  As much as possible the examples you refer to in your presentation, the exercises and activities you have in your practice stage, and certainly in how you construct your production activity, all should reflect this theme.

In the initial activity, you want to stir up your students’ interest in the theme as you introduce it via pictures, a very short video clip, showing some realia or having them discuss some topic.  Some institutions refer the Context or Theme stage as the Engage stage because you want to engage your students in an active way right at the start.  That means you are not speaking about yourself or other themes, unless the students are interested in that theme and perhaps asking you a lot of questions.  You can participate, but typically the focus is on them getting involved.

An example:  Show some pictures of what you and your friends were doing last weekend.  Get the students to describe what they see and maybe ask you some questions.

NOTE:  The target language (ex:  past continuous) may or may not appear in the Context activity.  And if it’s for a low level group who in theory has never encountered the structure before, then they clearly should not be expected to use it.  The target language will be introduced later in the Presentation stage.  It will probably (should) appear in the Input as well, but not as part of the tasks.  The target language will be part of the background in the Input.  It is simply embedded in the reading or listening.

Other examples of a Context speaking activity we could use in this lesson plan:
–The weekends are not for working, in theory.  What are some things you can do on the weekends?
–What do you like to do on the weekends?

Again, we are simply setting the scene or orientating the students to the theme of recreational activities during the weekend.  We are not trying to get them to use the past continuous or showing them anything about that structure.

Some schools of thought recommend that there should be an intermediate activity (sometimes labelled as the ‘Introduction’) between Context and presenting the Gist activity in the Input stage.  Quite often, though, it is expedient simply to say something along the lines of, “In a few moments we are going to do a listening.  Based on the pictures we have looked at, what do you think the listening will be about?”

I agree with the idea that having a smooth transition between the stages and activities adds to the good feeling of having a class well planned and executed.  If there is an abrupt change, the flow won’t be so broken with some words as suggested above, linking the last activity with the one about to happen.  Still, sometimes a teacher feels it is important to better prepare the students for that coming text in the Input stage by having another activity.

Besides encouraging a smoother link between the Context activity and the first Input task, the Introduction activity could have other uses.  For example, imagine the reading, listening or video is at a level higher than the class has, but you still want to use it for various reasons.  You may want to have a brief activity looking at some of the key but troublesome vocabulary they will encounter.  Perhaps the ideas might be a little complex in the input text, or foreign to the students, as in certain customs and cultural tendencies.  An activity would be well-placed to bridge that gap and to help orientate the students to what is coming.

The Context activity could be to elicit what the students like to do when they’re on holidays.  Imagine the reading is a brief account of what happened to two friends while they were on holiday in an exotic country.  The Introduction activity could be to tell the students the name of that country (or another country that would be equally exotic to them) and in groups decide what they might like to do if they went there on holiday.  (The students still don’t know anything about the reading.)  Or to speculate how the people there might like to enjoy their holidays or free time.

What is important when deciding what to do for an introduction-type activity is that it contributes to making a smoother transition from the Context to the Input and if necessary, prepares the students for the coming Input activities.  If you feel that an Introduction activity is not really necessary because of time constraints and/or because the transition from the Context directly to the Input isn’t such a big jump, then an Introduction activity isn’t warranted.  You can merely introduce the reading verbally.  For example, “Okay.  Now that we’ve spoken a little of what we like to do on holidays, we’re going to read about two friends visiting a strange new country for the first time.”  Then the teacher would give the instructions to the Reading for Gist activity.  That simple sentence would serve as a transition to the reading.

One last example.  If the theme for the class is to be speaking about last weekend, then the Context activity could be describing some pictures depicting activities which could be done during the weekend.  Imagine the reading (or listening or video) will be about some distant family member from another country spending last weekend with the family and they showed their visiting relative how they do things in their country.   You could set up an Introduction activity where students would brainstorm and speculate on similarities and differences between the two cultures’ weekend activities.  That intermediate activity will help make that transition into the Input stage smoother and easier.

This is the part of the class where you introduce a reading, listening or video that reflects the theme.   That theme was presented in the Context activity (and possibly in an Introduction activity if you had one in your lesson plan) and will be part of the text.  For the purposes of this article, ‘text’ refers to what the students read (such as an excerpt from a book or an article from a magazine), listen to (such as a song or dialogue recording) or watch (such as a video on YouTube or an excerpt from part of a movie).  The Input stage is where the students receive the text and are asked to carry out some tasks that deal with its theme and contents.  The target language (in this case: past continuous) is not part of these tasks.

In the PPP model with a language focus (typically grammar or vocabulary), there are usually two tasks given in the Input part of the class:
1) Reading for Gist
2) Reading for Specific Information

There are other possible types of tasks that could be done, such as reading for comprehension, but they are often better suited to another model (like the PWP model where the stages are Pre-, While- and During the reading or listening).  In the PPP model, the major focus is on the language (usually grammar or a particular group or type of vocabulary), not on specifically developing the students’ reading or listening skills.  Because of that premise, less time will be spent on the input, be it reading, listening or viewing a video.  That means not many tasks or many questions to answer for any one task.  The input is still important to the PPP model because it reinforces the theme that is running through the class and it provides examples of that target language in action.  The students can see how it is used in that reading, listening or video.  The text in the input can be used later in the Presentation or Practice stages to analyze that usage in some way, or be used in other tasks such as changing or adding to the contents, for example.

Some people think that the gist activity can be done by having the students do the listening, video or reading first and then ask them to tell you what it is about.  In theory that would still cover at least some of the GIST criteria – determining what the overall contents is about.  I, for one, though, prefer not to do it that way for three reasons.

One, the students tend to take a much longer time trying to work out the meaning of the text as well as focusing on some of the vocabulary and perhaps difficult grammatical structures.  You want them to do a quick, almost ‘glance’ of the text if it’s a reading and simply get the drift of it.  If the text might be fairly difficult for them to handle, then your question would be very general (ex: Is it an excerpt from a science fiction novel, a technical manual or book on philosophy?)  The students can feel good that they are or possibly are capable of doing the task.  If they have to understand everything in a difficult text, they might feel demoralized.

Another reason I prefer that they don’t have to come up with an answer that requires some explanation of what they think the text is about is that it involves skills other than simply identifying the gist of something.  The students may be able to identify something in general (depending on the question you create), but they may not be able to articulate why.  Some students may not have good summarizing skills, for example, and that might be what you are asking them to do.

And the third reason is that I usually prefer the students go into the reading or listening with a clear task already in mind.  They have to read the text in such a way that they can complete the task – to answer the question I gave them beforehand.  If they have to decide if the person is happy or upset about his/her stay in the hotel, then they approach the text in that way.

Here are 4 activities that could work as Gist tasks:
1) Predicting the general contents of the text before they read it is often a good activity.  They base their predictions on an easy prompt supplied by you (such as basing it on the Context activity).  For example, “Okay.  We’ve talked about this picture.  I am now going to give you a reading.  What do you think it’s about?”  And you write in note form those predictions on the board.
2) Give three titles (you make them up yourself beforehand) and the students have to choose the most appropriate one
3) Show three or four pictures and the students select the one which most closely matches the text
4) Categorize the text in some way.  (You may or may not wish to give them options such as angry, happy or disappointed,  or  science-fiction, historical novel or romantic comedy.)

If you give options (like 3 titles to choose from), decide on how challenging you want to make them.  You don’t want them to be so obvious it almost isn’t necessary to read the text, but not so difficult that they would need a PhD to work out a possibly acceptable answer.

Remember that the Gist task is given BEFORE the students hear, read or watch.  This is sometimes confusing for teachers because the task is given before the reading, listening or watching.  In other words the instructions for the task are explained before the students receive the input.  Once they receive the text, the students read or listen with the task in mind.  They don’t blindly read or listen and are then asked to do something.

NOTE:  For the purposes of showing the PPP model in a certain light, this and other recommendations are quite clearly stated to do things in a certain way.  However, if a teacher is very familiar with the PPP model and has objectives for his/her students that require activities to be constructed out of the model, that would not only be fine, but commended as well.  Following the model is recommended until one reaches a good understanding of it.  Then breaking the rules can be done with greater knowledge and direction.

Also remember that the GIST task is one that should be done quickly.  Students shouldn’t spend a long time working through much of the text and its language.  Usually there is just one gist question, like
Where did the conversation take place?   a) in a restaurant     b) in a shop     c) in an office

Or

How did the customer feel about the service?    a)  happy     b) surprised     c) angry     d) depressed
(Choose the MOST APPROPRIATE option)

Or

Select the best title for the article:
a) Thanksgiving, again          b) My family get-together          c) An important cultural event

There might be some reasons to justify all three titles, but after reading or listening to the text, one should stand out much more.

In summary you basically want to follow this procedure:
1- Assign the task to the students before they start reading or listening
2- Students quickly go through the reading text, or they listen to the audio or watch a video with the main idea of answering that question.
3- -optional- Students could discuss with a partner what the answer could be
4- Teacher confirms correct answer, possibly asking students to justify why that one and not the others

As the Gist task, the typical procedure is to give the questions or task BEFORE they do the reading or listening a second time.  They approach the input with that task in mind and should ignore other issues (such as troublesome vocabulary or structures).

You want the questions to be short answer, easily confirmed.  Think of the students quickly scanning through the text with their finger, looking for that passage that mentioned which day of the week the cruise ship left the port of one particular city.  These are not reading comprehension questions where they have to work out inferred ideas or opinions , or deduce what probably happened.

If you are doing a grammar or vocabulary focused lesson, as is this case, you want to keep this and the previous activities (in the Context and Input stages) short.  So don’t have complicated questions or ones that require a long time to go over.  Maybe four to eight short answer questions should do.  Do try to cover a few key elements that bring out a few basic points in the text, and/or select some items that can be fairly easily found.

Ex:  Which day did she go to the gym?   ________   (the text stated it was the day after her Wednesday exam)

Ex:  Did everyone go to the party?   ________ (it was stated in the text that everyone but John went)

Ex:  Which city did they visit first?     a) Yazd          b) Tabriz          c) Shiraz          d) Esfahan

It’s a good idea to have your students justify the answers.  Maybe have them check their answers first with a partner and then randomly call on the students to answer the questions and say why they think that answer is correct.  This doesn’t have to take a long time but can be useful in a number of ways.  For example, students don’t often like to be called upon to answer questions in class, especially if they are not sure of what to say.  Working in pairs first will help their confidence and in their learning from each other.  When you are monitoring the students checking their answers together, you will gain some insight as to what some problematic or easy areas might be.  If Student A had difficulty but Student B explained the answer very well to him/her, then you might consider asking Student A to later say his/her answer and why they chose it.  They are better prepared and will feel better about being able to successfully contribute to the class.

The number of questions is not very important but a half dozen or so is a ballpark figure, depending on the length of the text, the points you want the students to look at, and how much time you want to dedicate to this task.  Keep them close-ended (short answer or yes/no rather than open-ended where they have to give a long, more involved answer).  Your questions serve to highlight a few key points of the contents in the text, such as what happened in the story.

The Context and Input establish the theme and provide some background to that scene in different ways.  Now that the students have been ‘orientated’, they are ready for the main thrust of the class: the target language.  In this particular example for a lesson plan, you want the students to begin considering what is involved with the past continuous verb tense.

There are three stages in the students’ development in their proficiency of using the target language which comprise the language focus phase:  Presentation, Practice and Production.  There can be more than one activity for each stage, and it is quite often the case for the Practice stage.

If the idea is to partially review grammar that they have been exposed to before (perhaps earlier in the course or in a previous course) and to build onto that understanding, then you can elicit examples from the Input text or direct the students’ attention to some.

If this is the first time they are dealing with the structure, you could still refer them to an example or two in the text and elicit its form, for example.

The Presentation stage is you taking the responsibility of showing them what they need to know in order to successfully complete your objectives and the Production activity.  But that does not mean you will be doing all or even most of the talking.

Plan out beforehand how you want to use your boardwork, what you want to present and how, in what order, how you could involve the students in different parts of your presentation, and how you can check their understanding during and after your presentation.

For example, if you decide to focus on the form first, you could ask the students to find an example in the first paragraph of the reading they did in Input.  Then you write on the board in big clear letters:  THE PAST CONTINUOUS

Below that you could ask a student to repeat the example she found and have her write it on the board below your title.  You could ask another student how many words are used in that verb tense and a third what kind of words  those two words are (auxiliary ‘be’ in the past and the present participle or –ing form of the verb).  If they don’t know what you want from them, you could prompt them in different ways, providing clues.  Quickly auxiliary plus VERBing is written below the example and students are asked to find the two remaining examples in that first paragraph, one of which is with the auxiliary were, and the other is with was.  You could elicit how one could decide which auxiliary is appropriate (was or were?) to use, guiding them to come up with
she / he / it / I       +     was       +      VERBing
we / they / you      +    were      +      VERBing

You could strengthen this idea by asking how this form differs from the present continuous, both in form and in function (what situations would somebody use this verb tense).

You then look at the negative forms (he wasn’t eating // we weren’t watching TV) as well as WH and YES/NO questions and answers (WH Question:  What were they doing?  They weren’t doing anything special.  //  YES/NO Question:  Was she reading?  Yes, she was.  No, she wasn’t.), eliciting and guiding the students to ‘discover’ the answers on their own.  With each new elicitation or discovery, you complete the model on the board you wish to show your students as a convenient reference.

Past continuous could be used in a variety of different situations, so you would focus on only one or those that you wish the students to concentrate on, and make sure the concepts are clearly presented.  Maybe a visual timeline (Example 1) would help, matching two different applications of the past continuous to the concepts represented by that timeline.  Then a gap-fill of two or three sentences (Example 2).  Have the students tell you the answers and you question them again, checking their understanding of the form and the concepts.  You leave the references on the board because you know you will need to go back to them from time to time during the different practice activities.

Example 1:

NOTE:  If you’re not doing a review (if it’s the first time you are presenting the past continuous to the students), you would probably prefer to present only one or two of the above ideas.

NOTE: The numbers assigned to the different concepts/uses of the past continuous listed above are only for the purposes of clarity in referencing them in this article.  The numbers and order do not reflect any common standard or serve any other function, nor do they suggest that the concepts should be taught in that order.

Example 2:

Examples of gap-fill in Presentation where you guide/prompt the students so they better know about the form (how to construct the past continuous), the concepts being shown and what is expected of them:

1) What _____ you doing at 11 o’clock last night?    I ______ watching YouTube videos.
2) The phone _______________ (ring) while I ________________ (take) a shower.

With your comprehension checks to see if they have a reasonably good understanding, and with the modeling of how to do the gap-fill exercise, you feel the presentation stage is over and have the students complete the first Practice activity.  You monitor them continuously and if you feel that they are not getting it, go back to the Presentation stage, perhaps in a different way (either inspired from the moment and the students’ difficulties, or with a pre-planned activity that might help clear things up).  You could also try to get the students who you think understand help those students who haven’t understood it yet.

Think of a continuum going from the Presentation stage right on up to the Production stage.  The Presentation stage is where the students are orientated to what they need to know about the target language.  It is in the Practice stage where they begin to apply those concepts in an increasingly proficient manner, simple at first leading to incorporation in speaking near the end.

Remember that the students are involved in the Presentation stage and this participation helps guide and prepare them for the Practice activities.  The Practice activities typically begin with the simpler, more mechanical exercises where they practice one or more specific points.  Here are some examples:

The main idea is to focus on one or two ideas brought up in the Presentation.  If there are many subtle concepts it might be prudent to have one exercise looking at a couple of those concepts, another exercise looking at other concepts and perhaps a third integrating them all.  You want the students to gain confidence in their skills as they become more familiar with the target language.

Sometimes you discover that an exercise doesn’t go over well because the students are not completely prepared for it.  Of course it is better if you can anticipate this and adapt the exercises appropriately beforehand.  Still, it is a fact that students struggle in their learning and it is not possible to guarantee success in every endeavour by following magic formulas.  Sometimes those difficulties surface during an activity and this can be seen in a positive light.  With good guidance a teacher may be able to increase the students’ awareness of those difficult elements and their motivation to resolve them.  One way to do this is to introduce a new Presentation activity focusing on those issues and how they may be solved or dealt with.

Subsequent Practice activities would reflect those issues and reinforce the solutions and confidence as the students apply the ideas and participate in those activities.

With this idea of a continuum and a series of progressive activities, let’s return to the beginning of the Practice stage as described in our lesson plan for having the students learn about the past continuous.  Fresh from the recently finished presentation, have the students apply what they have learned in the examples modeled in the gap-fill in the Presentation and have them work out in pairs how to complete more sentences in a handout or in their workbook.  This could be the first activity in the Practice stage.  They can check their answers with people on either side of them, and then you go over the answers with them, so they feel comfortable that everything is in the correct place.  While monitoring them doing the activity, you may have noticed a mistake or two, so you could elicit from them some reminders or pointers to keep in mind.

After the first practice activity, maybe you feel they have a clear enough idea when to use the past simple and when to use the past continuous.  If not, you can make a quick Presentation stage activity to go over the basics again, eliciting where you can.

Then have them do another activity, deciding which form to use.  For example, the students are given a new set of sentences and they have to decide whether the verbs in each case should be past simple or past continuous (as shown in the second sentence in Example 2 in the Presentation).  Be careful to select or create items in your exercise that directly reflect what you want your students to focus on.  If an item is ambiguous (both forms could be correct) or an item is touching on other concepts you don’t want to deal with, it is best to avoid these complications.  The students do the exercise individually this time, then check their answers with a partner, and you go over it with them.

At the end of the class you want them to do a Production activity, which involves some free or freer type of speaking.  This is a big jump from simply doing an exercise or two on paper.  It is now time for a third Practice activity (remember the continuum idea where you are building them up to speak on their own for a while, hopefully using the structure occasionally in their speaking).  To get them speaking in the Practice stage, you could have them ask questions and answer them in pairs, modelling a couple examples to help them get the idea.

Imagine you want the students to have a good working idea of the past continuous using Concept 5 in their final speaking production activity.  After presenting a gap-fill practice activity for Concept 5, many students are not prepared to suddenly use that structure in spontaneous speaking.  So then, think of a way that you can get the students to practice the target language in their speaking first.  For example, do a simple question-answer speaking activity using the structure:

1) Put students into pairs so they know who they are going to be asking after they prepare their questions
2) Model and/or elicit / write on the board a few examples first before the students begin writing.
3) Students individually prepare a number of questions (ex: at least four, or give them a time limit of 3 minutes) to ask their partner later.  Monitor what they’re writing and give them help when needed.
4) Tell the students that they are now going to speak in pairs.  Have Student 1 ‘interrogate’ Student 2 for 1 minute or the length of time needed to ask the questions.  Fast finishers can improvise a few other questions.  When you feel the time is right, have the students change roles.

“What were you doing at 9 o’clock yesterday morning?”    “I was eating breakfast.”
“Were you watching TV after supper?”    “No, I was doing my English homework.”

If it is the first time the students are learning the past continuous, your students are at a very low level.  It might be good to have them do WH questions only in one activity (asking and answering) and YES/NO questions/answers in another activity later on.  If they catch on fast, or if it is more of a review, you could mix the two.  In either case, for a low level, it is probably a good idea for them to prepare the questions first by writing them out.  You monitor to make sure they have the right idea.  Then they apply those questions in that speaking activity.

This is still not a Production activity.  They are doing a lot of preparing and receiving a fair amount of guidance.  Plus it is not so ‘free’ or spontaneous.  It is quite controlled.  It is true they can create their own questions, but it is simply a question – answer routine.

After they do this first speaking practice activity and you give them some feedback (about what they’re doing well, give some suggestions, and perhaps a correction or reminder or two), have them do another speaking practice activity.  Remember you want to better prepare the students for the production activity.  Soon I will provide two more ideas of what you could do next.

One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want your students to learn and apply in speaking all the different possible concepts of the past continuous in one speaking activity.  One is usually enough, but sometimes if the students are catching on fast (or if they have had prior exposure to the concepts/structures), you may want to add one more.  This has the benefit of making the speaking richer and of expanding the possible directions the conversation may take.  However, this is not recommended in the very first presentation of the structure or if the students appear to require more practice.  Generally speaking, it is better for students to practice each concept individually first.  Later, and if it seems reasonable to ask the students to attempt more than one in a single conversation, then you can.  For example,

Students add Concept 3 to Concept 5 in their speaking

Sometimes one concept or structure can provide a good stepping stone to introducing another.  For example,

What were you doing at six o’clock yesterday evening?            I was jogging in the park.

Here we are starting off with the recently practiced Concept 5.  From this point we could apply Concept 3:

Did you see anything suspicious (while you were jogging)?

One way to approach this is earlier in your Presentation stage you might only focus on Concept 5 and have the students practice it as suggested above.  Then add a new Presentation Stage just for Concept 3.  The form of the verb tense is the same so it would be a brief new presentation.  You would focus on the new concept or the new situations that this form can be used in.  If you feel it prudent, the students could do a practice activity using examples just for Concept 3.  Then you could continue with an integration of the two, maybe with a short presentation of that integration.

Remember that this speaking Practice activity would occur after presenting Concept 3 and having the students do at least one written exercise (a gap-fill, make corrections, transformation, etc).

If you emphasize the point of view of the person asking the questions is like a detective, you can continue with more questioning:

Did anything unusual happen while you were jogging?

Here you want the students to think of the situation as the past continuous and consider a different (and shorter) action or event happening during that situation.  Model as you did in the previous activity and have them practice in pairs.  Note that some verbs (state or stative verbs) don’t lend themselves to being used in the –ing form, so there could be parts of sentences that depict the situation but are not in the past continuous form.

Did anything unusual happen while you were at work that afternoon?
(NOT: Did anything unusual happen while you were being at work that afternoon?  — ‘be’ is one of the state verbs.)
For those state verbs (verbs which describe a state or condition more than an action, such as be, understand, have for possession) you have to use the past simple form and not the past continuous.

For a low level group, you don’t have to teach every little aspect that might influence the application in some way.  One good thing about controlled practice activities (written or spoken, including reading, listening or video input) is that you can keep the students focused on what you think is appropriate for them at that moment.  If other elements surface, feel free to tell them that those aspects will be looked at in a later point in their learning (either in the current course or at some future level).  If you attempt too much, the students will get confused and frustrated and you won’t be able to reach your original objectives.

We’re not done with the Practice stage yet.  We can still build further, helping the students not only prepare for the coming Production activity, but also on how to develop their language skills and understanding of the target structure.  The previous speaking Practice activity can be repeated, perhaps with new partners to add an element of freshness, and be upgraded to a higher level of complexity.  This can be done by adding a few more details.  For example:

What were you doing at ten o’clock last night?             I was watching TV.

What were you watching?
Do you always watch TV at night?
Were you alone?
What did you do after that?
And after that?
Why did you…. / Why were you ….?
What kind of ….?

Notice that most of the questions are now in the past continuous and past simple tenses, not just one form.  Plus, other verb tenses could temporarily enter (such as Do you always…?), which frequently happens in real conversations.  People can explore brief tangents but return to the principle focus.  Or by asking other kinds of questions, they can get a richer perspective on the theme of interest.  This is what you want your students to do in the speaking Production activity later on.  In this speaking Practice version, you are free to encourage, direct, correct and offer any kind of guidance that will help them become stronger users of the language.

If I have time and I see the need for it (which is quite often), I like to include what I call a ‘dress rehearsal’ activity.  The dress rehearsal is very similar if not identical to the Production activity but because it is conveniently placed in the Practice stage, the teacher can intervene and guide.  It should be stated very clearly here that the ‘dress rehearsal’ is not officially part of the PPP model.  It is only my recommendation as a suggested final Practice activity if the teacher has time for it and feels it is useful.  

Imagine the students have gone through a series of activities earlier in the Practice stage and seem to be ready for the Production activity.  I set the dress rehearsal activity up by giving them clear instructions and they begin speaking in small groups about what they did yesterday.  They can ask any questions they like and answer them the way they want.  But some groups continue with a simple question – answer routine despite my instructions explicitly stating that I would like them to have a conversation about what they did yesterday.  So I stop the activity mid-stream and elicit or emphasize that it is preferred that they develop their answers by giving further details, and others participate too by making follow-up questions or adding comments of their own.  Imagine it is a real conversation.  Maybe, too, some are not using the past continuous or some using it a little incorrectly, like every sentence must be in the past continuous.  I remind them of what to do, and we try it again.  It works better this time.

You may not always have time in your class for a dress rehearsal, but I have found it very useful on many occasions.  If your dress rehearsal is so successful that it was a Production activity in its own right, you might be tempted to do away with the originally planned Production activity.  I still highly recommend carrying it out as well, if not in that class, then in the next one.  We’ll talk more about the Production activity in the next section.

A lot was mentioned in the Practice stage.  Here are a few key takeaways to think about:

1- Do more than one activity in this stage.

2- The activities help the students understand and use the structures.  The Practice activities are there to help the students understand the target language presented in the previous stage (Presentation) and to have the students begin using it themselves.  This contributes greatly to their awareness of how it works when they have to use it.  It also increases the likelihood of them using it in the future.

3- The teacher actively guides and helps the students.  It is normal that students need time and experience before they can begin to feel comfortable in using the new structures.   As they progress through the Practice activities, they should feel more confident in their understanding and usage.  The teacher guides them through the activities and elicits what they should know when there are doubts.

4- Be prepared to present one or more points again.  Returning to a Presentation stage is not a bad thing.  Often students are in a much better position to appreciate those key elements after having attempted to use the structure in some Practice activity.  Highlight those difficult areas, and elicit what you can from the students so they can ‘discover’  how to use that structure well.  Then give the students a new Practice activity so they can apply what has just been placed into their attention.  If it is complicated (for example more than one area of difficulty), keep those initial Practice activities simple and focused on one aspect each.

5- Think of a continuum from recognition of basic points about the target language to production of the structure near or at the end of the Practice stage.  Generally speaking, the activities are progressive in their demands, beginning with confirmation of understanding of the basic key points raised in the Presentation stage.  Later activities in this stage become more open-ended in that the students create their own sentences or use the structures in a more personalized way.  The last activity/activities include freer speaking opportunities where the target language is one part of a greater interaction.  (For example, “Ask three follow-up questions, one of which is using the past continuous.”)

6- Prepare the students for the Production activity.  It is recommended that the final activity/activities resemble or prepare the students for the coming Production activity.  If the production skill is speaking, then the students should be using speaking in at least one of the Practice activities, preferably more than one.  If the students have to speak in a certain way such as responding to questions or contributing comments & perspectives in the Production activity, it is recommended that there is a Practice stage activity that reinforces this.  If the students have difficulties with the expectations, for example, then the teacher has the opportunity to address them while they are still part of the Practice stage.

The dress rehearsal will likely be very similar to the final Production activity except that the former gives you the flexibility to jump in if needed, be it providing slight guidance or stopping everything momentarily while you bring something to their attention.  To make the Production activity not an exact replica of the previous dress rehearsal (if everything went smoothly), you can make some changes by

a) changing the groups (for example new pairs)
b) changing ‘yesterday’ to ‘last weekend’ or any other minor changes
c) having them change roles if roles had been used in the dress rehearsal

Completing the Production activity will help you feel good that you have brought the students through all the stages and you are in a better position to see how well you have met your original objectives for the class.  The students are happy too, because they are not only assimilating some aspects of the English language for a better understanding, they have direct experience that they can see and reflect back on, confirming that they can use the language without the direct aid of the teacher.  (Yes, they had all that preparation beforehand, but the final task was carried out without the teacher’s intervention.)

When the teacher intervenes by guiding, correcting, prompting, interacting with the students, even if it’s head nodding and the like, it’s still a Practice-type activity.  You want them to speak without you in the picture.

If in the last Practice activity you feel that they are not ready for the Production, then you add on additional practice which can help strengthen those areas you feel necessary.  The students may be almost ready but may need one more practice run to feel confident about it.  You could change the groups around or add minor variations and do it one last time spiced with any reminders or prompts that would guide them.  Perhaps you might try not intervening in that last Practice activity, or certainly keep it to a bare minimum.  And when they are done, you can give them some positive feedback.  Now they’re ready for the Production activity.

Remember the objective set for the lesson plan was to have the students use the past continuous while speaking about last weekend.  There was a warmer to introduce the students to the theme of activities to do in your free time (Context).  There was an Input stage where the students received a listening or reading that further developed the theme and had some examples of the target language embedded (although the students didn’t actively study them or were asked to use them yet).  The Presentation stage was to show them officially everything that they needed to learn in today’s class.  That includes the form, pronunciation (ex: ‘were’) and when (what situations) to use it.  In the Practice stage they did different exercises and activities to show that they know how to use the form and say the words correctly (or reasonably so – allowing for some mistakes.  (Depending on the complexity of the grammar point and how familiar they are with it, many of those mistakes will hopefully become easier to correct, such as they wasn’t studying to they weren’t studying.)  In the Practice stage, they begin to apply the concepts they learned or were exposed to in the Presentation stage.  The Practice stage is also the link between Presentation and Production.  Usually there are a number of activities that gradually prepare the students for the Production activity.  In an officially observed class, your objective in your lesson plan would reflect how you plan on getting your students to progress to that final activity, and to have your students try to use the target language while speaking.  In a normal regular unobserved class, you have more flexibility.  If the students aren’t ready for ‘production’, then you will likely postpone the Production activity for another day, after more Practice and possibly Presentation activities in the next class or two.

There are different elements that are characteristic of the Production stage.  These are the two that many new teachers have difficulty understanding:

1) The teacher does not intervene after setting up the speaking activity.  As mentioned above, this includes gestures or a few occasional brief words when students look to you for confirmation or direction.

2) Even if you don’t intervene, it still is not a Production activity if students are following a formula and their interaction is limited, especially because they are following a fairly strict structure like a question – answer routine.   Another example of a non-Production activity is to have them read aloud some previously prepared written sentences in an earlier Practice activity.  It would help if the students are placed into groups and the others have to respond to the prepared sentence just spoken, but this would still be a Practice activity.  Writing some sentences, perhaps even doing other activities where students practice responding to them in some ways all help them be better prepared to enter the later Production activity where they should be engaging in a dynamic ongoing conversation.  You can give instructions encouraging the students to include the target language before they start having that conversation.  However, no prompting (even an occasional cough or tapping on the board by the teacher) is to be done once they start.  You want your students to fly from the nest on their own, without the constant presence and guidance of the teacher.  If they make some mistakes along the way, then fine.  Let them make their mistakes.  It is important that they are prepared for the task and that they try to do it on their own.  After the Production activity, you can give them some useful feedback.

Sometimes it’s difficult for teachers to stay out of the picture during the Production activity and they want to jump in when there is an awkward silence or students are making tons of mistakes.  If the teacher does participate or lead in any way, then that element of independence is lost and the activity begins to take on more characteristics of one done in the Practice stage.  When the teacher does notice something (good or bad) during the Production activity, the teacher can take note of it and bring it up in this Feedback session.  Obviously if the students have no idea of what they should do or how they can go about it, then the Production activity would have to be stopped.  (This is why the dress rehearsal idea can work very nicely in preparing the students for the Production activity.)

As explained above, the feedback is a way of addressing what happened in the Production task.  Corrections could be made, certain details, expectations or issues might be clarified, tips can be offered, reminders given and praise given on doing some things well.  This feedback need not be limited to the Production activity, but could also refer to the class as a whole, and the students’ progress in it.  It can be used as a good way to close the class, perhaps leading to informing the students about their homework.  And the feedback could come from the students as well at times.  Maybe the teacher could ask them how they felt the activity or class went over, what their doubts are about the target language or in using it.  Perhaps the students themselves can offer ideas on how they would like to practice the language more.

So then, if your original objective for the class is to learn about the form and two situations where one would use the past continuous while speaking about recent activities at home (last night, last weekend, etc), then your class plan could look like this:

LESSON PLAN EXAMPLE

As in Section C, after having a look at some details of each stage,a lesson plan on vocabulary was provided.  This lesson plan is focusing on grammar and each activity is working towards orientating the students to the theme and/or learning about the structure.  The activities reflect the ideas presented in those stages discussed above and provide a way to meet the objectives for those stages.  The students progressively work towards showing some proficiency in using the target language (in this case, the past continuous) in a final speaking activity.  The lesson plan could look like this:

●By the end of the class the students should be able to use the past continuous while engaging in a conversation about what they did last weekend.

●Show some pictures of people doing fun or relaxing things and students describe them (learning the relevant vocabulary such as the action verbs – reading a book, playing tennis, etc)

●Then the students ask the teacher questions to find out what s/he did last weekend or typically does on the weekend.  (It’s fine if the students don’t use the past continuous and they shouldn’t be expected to if they haven’t been taught it yet.  In fact, the past continuous isn’t part of the lesson plan until later in the Presentation stage)

●Write on the board 3 titles and tell the students they have to decide which one (A, B or C) is the most suitable for the reading.

●Give the students the reading and 60 seconds to complete the task.

●Ask the students to say their choice(s) and say why.  When all the choices have been gone over, tell them the correct answer.

●Give the students a handout with six sentences. All six sentences reflect what happened in the text they just read, but each sentence has one mistake. Students are asked to look at the example of the first sentence and make similar corrections for the remaining five.

NOTE: These mistakes reflect understanding the contents of the text, NOT any grammar errors.

Ex:  Julie went to the market on Saturday.   Friday

●Students complete task individually, compare answers with another student, then go over their answers as a class.

• Write on the board two sentences found in the first paragraph of the text.

Ex:  There was a lot of traffic.    Lots of people were going to the beach.

• Elicit the names of the two verb forms and write them above the examples.
• Elicit the structure of each. (regular verb in past simple form = verb + ED)
  (past continuous verb has 2 parts: be auxiliary in past + verb in ING form)
• Elicit how to create the negative forms and write those sentences on the board.
• Elicit how to create a WH question (and answer)
• Elicit how to create a YES/NO question (and positive and negative answers)
• Elicit when to use the past continuous. (Focus on Concepts 1 & 2 but accept others)
  You want the students to understand that they can use the past continuous form when describing a general situation happening in the past (ex:  It was raining yesterday), or when a particular action lasted for a period of time and you want to bring attention to that (ex: It was raining all night).

●Before continuing on to the Practice tasks, ask different students comprehension check questions, testing them on what they understand of what has been presented so far

• Give students worksheet. Explain exercise 1-1: There are 5 gap-fill sentences to complete, writing the past continuous form with the provided prompts.

Ex:  She __________ football yesterday.           (not play)

●Students do it individually, check in pairs, then go over answers with class

• Exercise 2 on worksheet. Students invent answers to respond to 6 WH and Yes/No questions.
  Ex: What were they doing?  __________ (They were sleeping. – for example)
  Was he studying?  (+) __________ OR (-) __________
  (Yes, he was.   OR   No, he wasn’t.)
  ●Model one or two examples first, before students start the exercise

●Students do exercise individually, check in pairs, then the answers are gone over.

Have the students ask you past continuous questions about your last weekend.  Encourage both WH & Yes/No questions.  Allow other questions too, like past simple and present simple, and if they make mistakes, guide them by eliciting the right form of question to ask or the key elements which would help them decide which form to use.

• Write on the board the following question and answer:
  What were you doing at ten o’clock last night? I was watching TV.
• Elicit if the action was for a duration (ex: for 3 hours), a description in general (ex: the sun was shining) or for an action happening (in progress) at a specific time in the past (Yes!)
• Point out that this is a different function (situation to use the verb tense). Ask students if there are any changes to the form in the question or answer. (No)
• Draw a time line (see Concept #5)
• Elicit or provide more WH questions:
  – – What were you watching on TV (at that time)?
  – – Who were you watching TV with (at that time)?
  – – What were you doing at 11:00 last night?
• And elicit some Yes/No questions:

– – Were you watching TV at 10:30?     (Yes, I was.  //  No, I wasn’t.)
– – Were you eating at 6:15?

●Students write questions to ask partner about last night (with specific times).
If students seem to be able to handle it, ask them to write two WH questions and two Yes/No questions.  If not, do 3 WH questions only.
●Teacher monitors and helps/guides when necessary.

●Students are placed into pairs.  One student is to ask a WH question, and the other answers it.  Model first with two students so they are clear on the task instructions.  Then students carry out the task and the teacher monitors.
●In the same pairs, students change roles.

●If only WH questions were done previously, then repeat tasks 2-1 and 2-2 but for Yes/No questions this time.

●Teacher goes into ‘hot seat’ role where students have to ask WH and Yes/No questions about what s/he was doing yesterday.
●Teacher points out that simply asking a list of unrelated questions soon exhausts the activity.  The students can enrich their speaking by
1) asking follow-up questions – not all of which have to be in the past continuous form  (ex: Do you do that every night?)
2) making comments – (ex: That’s interesting.  Me too.  I was doing that too.)
3) volunteering information about themselves – I don’t like to watch TV.  I prefer to do other things in my free time…..)
●Teacher chooses one student to be in the hot seat and the class asks that person about her/his day yesterday.  The teacher encourages follow-up questions, comments from the class, as well as volunteering information about themselves.

• Students are divided into groups of 3 or 4, one person in each group is in the hot seat, and they ask and speak about yesterday. (Some questions and sentences are in the past continuous, but many aren’t.) Teacher monitors.
  ●After a few minutes the teacher tells the students to select a new person for the hot seat.  Teacher monitors.

After a few more minutes teacher stops activity and addresses class, offering a little feedback (such as encouragement, advice and eliciting corrections to some mistakes).

• Students stay in the same groups. Rather than focusing on just one person who is in a hot seat role, tell them to imagine they are having a coffee together and a short conversation about what they did yesterday. Encourage the people to all participate, volunteer information, make comments and ask questions, including follow-up questions.
• Teacher monitors and prompts them as the students attempt to have a conversation for five minutes.

●At the end of the activity, teacher gives some feedback such as tips, recognition of what they were doing well, some corrections on mistakes made when using the past simple or continuous, and more encouragement for everyone to participate in the conversation.

• The teacher changes the groups so there are new members in each group.
• The students are told to do the same thing as before, only now the theme of their conversation is to talk about last weekend. They can find out how their weekends were similar or different, and if the weekend was unusual or like every other weekend.
• This time the teacher does not intervene and s/he tells them so. They will have up to 5 minutes to speak about the theme and the teacher will not be participating or helping in any way. It is up to them to maintain the conversation.

●The students engage in their conversations the best they can.

●As with the dress rehearsal, the teacher gives feedback in the form of corrections, tips and reminders, and pointing out what the students did well.

●The students have to write 150 words about what they did last weekend, including at least one example of the past continuous for Concept 1* and at least one example of Concept 5^*.

*NOTE: ‘Concept 1’ and ‘Concept 5’ are not the official names or numbers of these referenced situations.  They were only used for the purposes of this article.  They could very easily be called Situation 1 and Situation 2 or any other title that the teacher may prefer to use.