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.
Here’s an example of a possible warmer for our class:
A good warmer to do is the ball game which can be used to revise many language items. As we’re going to be
presenting the present perfect with ‘for ‘and ‘since’, we can use it to revise the part participle of irregular verbs. Take a
ball into the classroom and get the students sitting or standing in a circle if possible. Don’t worry if you don’t have
enough space you can still play the game if they remain at their desks. Throw the ball to a student and say the
infinitive of a verb. When the student catches the ball he or she should say the past participle and then throw the ball
back to you. Continue for a short time in this way until you’ve been through all the irregular verbs that you want to
practise. This activity will have engaged the students and got them using some of the language that comes up later in
the lesson.
Boo Tumber, teacher and teacher trainer - Lesson Plan, Programme 1
This is a very simple activity which engages the students by the introduction of the physical element of catching and
throwing a ball.
Using a warmer is an excellent way to start a lesson. There are many different kinds of activity. See page 30 for more ideas
and examples.
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.
Here’s an example of a possible warmer for our class:
A good warmer to do is the ball game which can be used to revise many language items. As we’re going to be
presenting the present perfect with ‘for ‘and ‘since’, we can use it to revise the part participle of irregular verbs. Take a
ball into the classroom and get the students sitting or standing in a circle if possible. Don’t worry if you don’t have
enough space you can still play the game if they remain at their desks. Throw the ball to a student and say the
infinitive of a verb. When the student catches the ball he or she should say the past participle and then throw the ball
back to you. Continue for a short time in this way until you’ve been through all the irregular verbs that you want to
practise. This activity will have engaged the students and got them using some of the language that comes up later in
the lesson.
Boo Tumber, teacher and teacher trainer - Lesson Plan, Programme 1
This is a very simple activity which engages the students by the introduction of the physical element of catching and
throwing a ball.
Using a warmer is an excellent way to start a lesson. There are many different kinds of activity. See page 30 for more ideas
and examples.
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