contexts and marker sentences
Once you have established your concept you need to consider actual contexts or situations where the language is used. For
our lesson we need to think of a situation when a native speaker would use the present perfect with ‘for’ and ‘since’. It is
used when people talk about how long they have had their jobs or possessions. We do this, for example, when describing
our lives - so we can take a biography as our context.
Then you need to think of model or marker sentences that are good examples of the contextualised target language.
Marker sentences are used in the Study stage when presenting new language. They are shown to the students to illustrate
how to ‘make’ the language and if the context is clear, they show the students when and how it is used. A marker sentence
can be taken from almost any source. It could be from a listening or reading text, it could come from the students
themselves or the teacher can provide it. The main point is that the sentence is a natural and accurate example of the
target language.
Here are two possible marker sentences which we could use for our lesson. They draw on the experience of the teacher:
I’ve been a teacher for 15 years.
I’ve had a bic ycle since 1998.
Planning a lesson
Now that the initial planning is complete, it’s time to start looking at how to achieve these aims. We need to plan a series
of stages that will:
• Engage the students.
• Establish the context through which the new language can be introduced.
• Show the students the language.
• Give the students opportunities to practice and produce it themselves.
Before you read below why not think about the way that you would teach this same language point. How would you engage
the students? What kind of presentation and practice would you use in the study stage? And how could you activate the
students’ language use?
Starting a lesson
Every lesson has a beginning. And like the beginning of a book or a film, if it doesn’t interest the reader, viewer or in our
case, the student, then it may not be successful. The teacher should try to engage the students from the very start of the
lesson. A good way of doing this is through activities called warmers or ice-breakers.
Warmers were described in the first programme of Lesson Plan by trainer, Gareth Rees:
A warmer is a short activity that demands an active involvement from the students. We use warmers at the beginning of
lessons for a variety of reasons. Firstly and perhaps most importantly to get the students going at the beginning of the
day or the beginning of the lesson, to warm them up just like an athlete would warm up before their big race. Also it
gives the students a chance to switch on to using English, to get their brains ready to use a different language.
Here are the main features of warmers:
• A warmer should be an interesting activity to encourage the students to use English.
• Warmers are meant to be short activities, they should not be a dominant part of the lesson.
• Warmer activities do not necessarily have to be connected with the target language of the lesson. It is
possible to adapt many activities to suit your teaching point – but the main purpose of warmers is to get
the students ready to study and work in English.
• Warmers can often be adapted to provide revision, giving the students an opportunity to use previously
studied language.
Summary
To help, here’s a summary of the main considerations that have gone into the first stages of planning
our lesson:
• Language point Present Perfect with ‘for’ and ‘since’.
• Concept Talking about the duration of a continuing state or action.
• Context Biography (saying how long you’ve had a particular job or
possession).
• Possible marker sentences I’ve been a teacher for 15 years.
I’ve had a bicycle since 1998.
Once you have established your concept you need to consider actual contexts or situations where the language is used. For
our lesson we need to think of a situation when a native speaker would use the present perfect with ‘for’ and ‘since’. It is
used when people talk about how long they have had their jobs or possessions. We do this, for example, when describing
our lives - so we can take a biography as our context.
Then you need to think of model or marker sentences that are good examples of the contextualised target language.
Marker sentences are used in the Study stage when presenting new language. They are shown to the students to illustrate
how to ‘make’ the language and if the context is clear, they show the students when and how it is used. A marker sentence
can be taken from almost any source. It could be from a listening or reading text, it could come from the students
themselves or the teacher can provide it. The main point is that the sentence is a natural and accurate example of the
target language.
Here are two possible marker sentences which we could use for our lesson. They draw on the experience of the teacher:
I’ve been a teacher for 15 years.
I’ve had a bic ycle since 1998.
Planning a lesson
Now that the initial planning is complete, it’s time to start looking at how to achieve these aims. We need to plan a series
of stages that will:
• Engage the students.
• Establish the context through which the new language can be introduced.
• Show the students the language.
• Give the students opportunities to practice and produce it themselves.
Before you read below why not think about the way that you would teach this same language point. How would you engage
the students? What kind of presentation and practice would you use in the study stage? And how could you activate the
students’ language use?
Starting a lesson
Every lesson has a beginning. And like the beginning of a book or a film, if it doesn’t interest the reader, viewer or in our
case, the student, then it may not be successful. The teacher should try to engage the students from the very start of the
lesson. A good way of doing this is through activities called warmers or ice-breakers.
Warmers were described in the first programme of Lesson Plan by trainer, Gareth Rees:
A warmer is a short activity that demands an active involvement from the students. We use warmers at the beginning of
lessons for a variety of reasons. Firstly and perhaps most importantly to get the students going at the beginning of the
day or the beginning of the lesson, to warm them up just like an athlete would warm up before their big race. Also it
gives the students a chance to switch on to using English, to get their brains ready to use a different language.
Here are the main features of warmers:
• A warmer should be an interesting activity to encourage the students to use English.
• Warmers are meant to be short activities, they should not be a dominant part of the lesson.
• Warmer activities do not necessarily have to be connected with the target language of the lesson. It is
possible to adapt many activities to suit your teaching point – but the main purpose of warmers is to get
the students ready to study and work in English.
• Warmers can often be adapted to provide revision, giving the students an opportunity to use previously
studied language.
Summary
To help, here’s a summary of the main considerations that have gone into the first stages of planning
our lesson:
• Language point Present Perfect with ‘for’ and ‘since’.
• Concept Talking about the duration of a continuing state or action.
• Context Biography (saying how long you’ve had a particular job or
possession).
• Possible marker sentences I’ve been a teacher for 15 years.
I’ve had a bicycle since 1998.
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