Main Types of School Lessons

The criteria for classification:

1. Is there presentation as a separate stage of the lesson?

2. Does the lesson have one chief goal or two?

3. Is the lesson focused on developing basic skills or functional skills?

Types according to these criteria:

1. A grammar class with the stage of presentation

2. A grammar class without the stage of presentation

3. A vocabulary class with the stage of presentation

4. A vocabulary class without the stage of presentation

5. A grammar + vocabulary class (double-focused) – if there is a presentation – only to one aspect

6. A lesson focused on teaching a monologue

7. A lesson focused on teaching a dialogue or general discussion

8. A lesson focused on teaching “close” (=observational) reading

9. A lesson focused on scanning and searching reading

10. A listening + speaking class

11. A listening + reading class

12. A double-focused class, developing both a basic skill and a functional one

The connections or ties between the tasks of a lesson

No task should be “hanging loose” (all tasks we do during the lesson should come in handy in the final tasks – you should time the class carefully and you shouldn’t introduce the new vocabulary within the final minutes). It is true when the class is double-focused a chain of connected tasks may be dropped for some time, but only to join another chain however short in at least one final task.

• Determination (соподчинение) - the previous task is always simpler than the next and helps the learners to cope with it. This arrangement best answers the philosophy of a snow-balling lesson in which each successive task has one new challenge. Tasks connected by determination can never change their place. If you start a revision class with a phonetic drill (separate words) and then you put them in sentences – pronunciation helps to cope with the following task. Each new task is a means to an end. This arrangement is ideal, but unfortunately it is not always possible, though determination may form a kind of “backbone” of the lesson. When explaining things we have to consider different aspects (word order, m-ng, ..) and them we have to give 2-3 tasks, which belong to the same level of difficulty and which can often change places, which are related to the same language phenomenon, but which do not help each other at all. That’s why we call them “constellation”. Whenever you make use of constellation it is vital to bring the constellating tasks together – unification. The unifying task makes equal use of the results gained in the previous constellated tasks.

Which things go together? Use articles where necessary - dog, cat, tea, meat, jam, cake, desk, knife, map, pen, book

Will you use the active or passive voice when translating the sentences? Теперь дома строятся за полгода. Солдаты построились по команде. Шесть делится и на два и на три. Он делится всем со своими друзьями.

Give the third form of these verbs: take, bring, buy. Then give back translation.

Open the brackets and use the right tense form and voice.

• Overlapping (пересечение) – tasks belong to the same level of difficulty and can change places. But they are truly related, by a common skill, intellectual operation, they need not be specially unified, but they may just as well be.

Special questions, transformation

Listen and express your surprise: I found a gold ring yesterday. – What did you find?

Ask me to specify the information: I came home very late yesterday. – When did you come home? (Link 4, the same skill)

Listen to 2 different opinions and agree with either paraphrasing it: A mobile phone is no luxury. – I also think one can’t do without a cell phone (paraphrasing)

Read the utterances and say how many opinions are expressed. Group them according to the opinions. (John spends money left and right. John is a miser. It never occurs to him to save up for a rainy day).

We use it at the stage of practice to ensure a sufficient amount of drill and at the same time to avoid monotony. It also makes the end of the lesson more flexible, resilient (упругий). To be at ease about timing the class you can finish it with 2 or more overlapping tasks. If the students do one of the tasks it is sufficient. The aim of the lesson will have been achieved. Besides they get break of freedom in preferring this or that option to start with. Sometimes you can offer one of the remaining tasks for homework.

• Inclusion – it is somewhat akin to determination. Perhaps it can even be treated as a kind of determination. Here the previously done task is done again by another student as part of a more comprehensive (всеобъемлющий) task.

Listen to the text in order of understand the essence of scientific theories and … (set three questions you’d like to ask …)

Read the text about the Olympic games and find all the facts which prove that Olympic games have always promoted peace. Look through the text again and find all the information which shows why the Olympic games are so popular.