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It has been proven that the more interesting the lesson, the higher the motivation and effectiveness of learning English. In this regard, there are three general types of classes: frontal, group and individual.

Frontal exercises

Frontal lessons are those in which the teacher gives new information to the students, the students listen, and then ask questions at the end of the lesson. The whole process is based on a monologue and a visual presentation of information. Usually this is not the most exciting type of lesson, but there is a frontal lesson option that can be considered an exception: an excursion.

For example, an English lesson on animals could be taught at a local zoo; the teacher can name each animal and give it short description, depending on the level of knowledge of the class. To keep children more interested, the teacher can assign group assignments. For example, at the end of the excursion, each group should talk about their favorite animal ().

You can also use an interesting book as a basis for the lesson. Such, for example, as the popular book “Funny English Errors and Insights: Illustrated”. This book contains 301 examples of funny mistakes in English made by schoolchildren, journalists, parents and even teachers.

You can read the mistakes to the class, and if someone doesn't understand what the humor is, you or one of the students can explain it to them. A child will learn a lesson much better if it is presented in the form of a joke.

Group classes

Group activities usually involve competition or teamwork. This type of class is recommended for advanced levels. An example of an interesting lesson in this case would be a theater competition, where each group chooses a play or a fragment of it.

Each group must make their own costumes and be as creative as possible in the decorations and implementation of the plot. You can suggest a specific theme, such as Halloween, the works of Shakespeare, or even a television series.

Another example is gaming litigation. Here the characters in the book can serve as a basis. One group of students may defend the character's actions, while another may condemn them; another may be the jury, and the teacher may be the judge. Have groups of “defenders” and “prosecutors” discuss their arguments, and then one or two speak and argue the group’s point of view.

The jury must listen to the parties and reach a verdict, and the judge will direct everything that happens. You can use classics like Charles Dickens's Great Expectations as a basis (and consider, say, whether Miss Havisham's actions are fair), as well as films or television series.

Individual lessons

Individual lessons depend on the level of each student. It is important not to impose anything in them, but only to give advice and offer interesting material for work so that it stimulates the child - for example, homework structured in game form, or analysis of interesting text for advanced levels.

Interesting lessons English is not difficult to conduct, their only requirement is that they must be creative and stimulate knowledge of the language.

What interesting English lessons do you know or have practiced?

We are used to thinking about how to make a lesson useful: how to plan it so that everything is done in time? How to clearly explain a new topic? How to work it out effectively? But no less attention should be paid to making the lesson interesting. No matter how much useful material we have not prepared, the student will learn it much faster and better if he is involved.
Here are some strategies you can use to make any lesson and any topic interesting.

1) Warm-up

The beginning usually sets the tone for the entire lesson. So if you want your lesson to immediately engage your student, start with an interesting warm-up, such as a game.

2) Games

This is the most effective method interest the student, and at the same time work new material. Games on any lexical or grammatical topic can be found on ESL sites and in various collections, such as Grammar Games and Activities And Vocabulary games and activities. By the way, adult students love games no less than children.
A practical and interesting task that does not require additional materials- role-playing game . This task is more complex than just discussing the topic. It requires the student to actively participate, act and creative approach, and therefore full attention.

3) Songs

Music is great for language learning. Words set to a rhythm are remembered faster. In addition, the song usually uses the same grammatical tense. Find out from the student what musical styles and groups he likes. By singing phrases from his favorite songs, he will quietly learn new vocabulary and master the necessary grammatical forms.

4) Stories

Present new grammar or vocabulary to the student in story form. For example, if you are studying the topic “ Past Continuous/Past Simple”, you can start: “Yesterday, while I was going to work by the underground, a man came into the carriage and sat down opposite me. He had a monkey in his lap. The monkey was wearing jeans and a yellow jacket”(by the way, this is true story). Such a presentation of the topic will be much more interesting for the student than: “Right, today we are going to study the difference between Past Continuous and Past Simple.”

5) Communication

In any task, include an element of Speaking, because for most students this is the most interesting aspect of learning a language. Even if you need to do an exercise like fill in the gaps, discuss with the student the photo that goes with the exercise or the most interesting sentence in it. Any task can always be “diluted” with the help of communication.

6) Changing tasks

Never turn a lesson into a lecture. Even students with good concentration will find it difficult to listen to a monologue in a foreign language for 20 minutes. In addition, modern students are accustomed to quickly changing from one type of activity to another and to an interactive form of learning. Therefore, to keep it interesting, alternate the type and duration of tasks. Also, always prepare tasks that involve communication and active participation of the student. It is better to leave written exercises for homework.

7) Creative homework

By the way, about homework. Of course, it also has to be “useful,” but that doesn’t stop it from being interesting. Give your student creative homework assignments that he or she will want to do. For example, if you are studying the past simple, ask him to prepare a summary of an episode of his favorite TV series. If you are studying the topic “Food”, ask him to create a menu for his own restaurant. Creative and interesting homework can be created for any grammar or vocabulary topic.

8) Flexible lesson plan

A plan is a necessary part of the lesson, and structure is the key to good results in your studies. At the same time, the lesson is much more interesting if the teacher knows how to adapt the plan to its course. Sometimes there comes a time when you need to deviate from the plan, for example, if the student really asked interest Ask about grammar or the text you are working with has affected him and requires discussion.

9) Personalization

Any topic can be made interesting if you connect to it personal experience student, his opinion or preferences. For example, if you are studying a topic Present Perfect, ask the student about his travel or work experience (e.g. Which cities have you visited? Where have you worked?). The same can be done with any lexical topic.

10) Update

At this point we will talk about how to make the lesson interesting for the teacher. Your lesson can only be interesting for your student if it is interesting for you yourself. With the help of new activities, strategies and methods, the same topic can be taught differently each time.

Interesting lesson = full attention of your student = quick and effective learning of the material = progress and pleasure from learning the language.

Good luck and interesting lessons!

Most of the tutors studied at a pedagogical university, where they were taught pedagogy, psychology and methodology. But studying and practicing are two different things, and when preparing for your first lesson, it seems that you were taught only theory, but not what you will need in practice. How to start a lesson? How to present the material? How to conduct a lesson so that it is memorable and effective? And by trial and error you have to find the answers yourself.

In this article I want to touch upon not only pedagogical, but also psychological part of the lesson, and everything written here will be true for students over 12 years old, since younger age I do not do.

How to teach a lesson: Beginning

I check and draw conclusions - the student must see and correct his mistakes ( myself! let him use his brains!), and for myself I note which topic can be considered completed, and what still needs to be repeated.

Now let's begin. And we start with productions goals. The student must know why he came to class! We told him why his day today would not be in vain, and now... we need to remember the pronunciation and meaning of the words that we went through? Brush up on your grammar? Practice sounds that the student can’t do? We have a great solution - phonetic exercise! We warm up our speech organs and remember how to speak English beautifully.

I'll bring you example: studied Present Simple and Present Continuous, and we need to understand the difference between them. Let's look short video, the student repeats the phrases spoken by the characters and explains the choice of this or that time ( link to video). This way we kill several birds with one stone: speech apparatus warms up, repeats grammar, and interest in the language increases - at school and university very few students see any visual aids except for the textbook.

A person remembers well what happened at the beginning and end, so it is important that the beginning of the lesson is interesting and the student knows that we have not just come to study - but to acquire certain knowledge, practice skills or consolidate skills.

If the structure of the lesson is planned listening (aid to introduce a new grammatical topic / consolidate the vocabulary covered / train listening comprehension / train the “Listening” part of the Unified State Exam), then the beginning of the lesson is the optimal time for it. Why? Because the student’s brain has not yet really tensed up - it has not been loaded with a new topic - which means that listening comprehension will best take place in the first part of the lesson.(If in doubt, do an experiment - give a hearing in different parts classes - and ask the student when it was easier for him!)

How to teach a lesson: middle

Here I enter either new vocabulary, or new grammar. I try not to take both in one lesson, because it is very difficult for a student, especially at a level below Intermediate (and the vast majority of such students). Up to this level, almost all topics are new to the learner, and many of them differ from our native Russian language.

I devote the rest of the lesson to consolidating new material.

N.B.: If a difficult grammatical topic is expected and the lesson lasts more than 60 minutes, after about 50 minutes of the lesson you can take a short break - play the guitar, offer tea and cake, and older students - alcoholic drinks. Just kidding =) But a pause needs to be made so that the student can rest a little and then swallow the English pill with renewed vigor. Watch a video, listen to a song by the student's favorite artist (again, one that fits into the lesson plan), read a fun article, or talk about a topic that interests you both.

Have you rested? There's still time to practice your skills! Reading, writing or listening. But the text for listening at this stage of the lesson should not introduce anything new (many incomprehensible words and grammatical structures), but only practice what has been learned in this lesson or earlier. It would be better if this part of the lesson was related to the material covered.

The student's attention here is slowly beginning to fade, and it is unlikely that you will be able to squeeze any new information into his tired brain.

How to teach a lesson: the end

By the end of the lesson, both you and the student are tired of each other and of English. Like anyone else good movie, the lesson should have a beautiful and memorable ending.

There are a bunch on the Internet gaming materials dedicated to grammatical and lexical topics(For example, ). I try to use them at the end of the lesson. For example, when we are studying the topic of conjunctions that introduce defining relative clauses, I write the words that I have recently studied with the student on cards, cut them, put them on the table with the blank side up, and everyone in turn draws out the word that they must explain, without naming themselves words, but using sentences starting with conjunctions who, which, that, when, where and whose.

And these are ready-made cards from the New English File Pre-Intermediate manual:

You can read more about the games in the lesson.

And at the very end, I ask the student to sum up what he learned, what was easy, and what requires more practice. Be sure to ask questions! You and I already know the language well and have forgotten First stage studying when the topic seemed complex, and the teacher could not understand how such simple material caused so many problems? Plus, there are students who sit with the same facial expression throughout the entire lesson, and you can understand what he understood and what he didn’t only by asking a direct, specific question.

So, the student himself told what he achieved in the lesson. If he misunderstood the purpose of the lesson or even finds it difficult to say what you were doing, this is a good reason for introspection - it means that you planned or explained something incorrectly.

That's all, all that remains is to give homework to consolidate the material covered, and say goodbye until the next lesson.

Depending on the level of the students, this question one way or another arises before every teacher. in English and, despite the fact that the need to minimize the native language in a foreign lesson is obvious, solving this problem requires some effort. Let's try to figure out how to make the most of English in an English lesson and not switch to your native language unnecessarily.

Firstly, to the teacherit is important to understand that no matter what stage of education the student is at, conducting lessons in a foreign language is not only possible, but also necessary: It is the constant use of English for solving educational issues, discussions, clarifying goals, as well as for games, comments, questions and assessments that is an indispensable condition for the development of language skills in students. If children get used to the fact that in an English lesson all conversations, answers, questions, as well as explanations and comments take place in English, you can expect that they will gradually become involved in this process and even early stage language learners will try to construct phrases in English.

An important concept in talking about the use of English in the classroom is the so-called. Teacher Talking Time (TTT), that is, the time of the lesson when the teacher talks. Of course there is also Student Talking Time (STT)– student talking time. Since it is obvious that it is the student who needs training and development of language skills in the lesson, his STT, “talking time,” should be maximized by reducing TTT, “teacher talking time.” Thus, the teacher faces a difficult task: to speak less and at the same time in English. And here are the means you can use to solve this problem.

Grade language – simplify your language and speak a little slower

Firstly, in order to speak English in a lesson with children who have just or recently started learning the language, everything you say must be simplified: use as much as possible the vocabulary that the children already know, as well as “international” words - something that sounds about the same in English as in Russian. This is an excellent and incredibly useful practice for you (later you will be able to switch to different levels automatically), and for students: you will speak to them in English, using what they already know, and unknown words children will get used to skipping or guessing (an incredibly useful strategy for using English outside of school).

For example, you need to give instructions for completing a task in pairs. Probably, turning to an English-speaking teenager, you can say: “Take your handouts and when you"ve read the task fill in the first column with information about your hobbies." It is unlikely, however, that the average fifth grader will understand such instructions.

You can simplify it like this:

Or, for example, a student asks the meaning of the word dangerous.

Instead of the unadapted “it is something that can harm you or cause problems,” you can simply say “it”s bad for you. Fire (draw fire on the board) is dangerous: ouch! (You can show how you pull your hand away.) Angry dog ​​(draw a dog’s face with bigger teeth on the board) is dangerous (point to the angry dog ​​and teeth). At some point in your explanation, someone in the group will definitely guess. Encourage students to come up with ideas, even if they are not entirely correct. Show with gestures that the student has almost guessed it and needs to try a little more. Praise everyone involved—not too much, but be sure to show that you appreciate their efforts.

Use gestures and pictures – use gestures and pictures

As you already noticed from the previous tip and its examples, gestures are an indispensable attribute of simplifying language. And this is absolutely natural, because in life we ​​often use gestures to reinforce what is being said. Of course, not every English teacher can portray an angry, toothy dog, but most common verbs and objects are not difficult to demonstrate. And what is difficult to depict is sometimes easy to sketch on the board: love looks like a heart, angry - like a smiley face with knitted eyebrows, and windy - like curls in which a couple of leaves are floating.

There are some gestures you will use quite often, and once children remember them, it will become a very handy tool. This way you can show the tense of the verb: past - show thumb behind your back, present continuous- show index finger in front of.

Plan and break down what you are going to say - plan in advance what you are going to say

Plan what you are going to say in advance: Most importantly, be sure to plan instructions for difficult or new tasks. First, state what needs to be explained. Then break it down into steps and think about at what point you will voice it. After that, simplify the text as much as possible.

For example, you need to explain to students how to play a game like Happy Families (this is a type of game where there are cards on several topics in a set and each player, having identified a topic for himself, collects it during the game by exchanging cards with neighbors). If you focus on the starting level of students, you can prepare the following explanation:

(Surely one of the children has already understood what game you are talking about, and happily duplicates you in Russian: nod and show that the guess is correct, but do not allow the discussion to be translated into Russian).

2. Each student takes 5 cards (slowly, say and show 5 with your fingers and pretend that you are taking the cards).

3. Hold your cards like this (raise your hand with the cards and show how to hold).

4. Student number 1 takes one card from student number 2 (again, take your time and show specific children who takes out cards from whom).

5. Now, student number 2 takes one card from student number 3... – and so on. Monitor the class to see if the children have understood the instructions or if it is better to repeat something again.

6. If you have 4 cards from 1 topic (speak slowly and show all the numbers on your fingers) – 4 birds or 4 animals – the game is finished, you are the champion!

Give examples and models – show yourself how to complete tasks

One of the most convenient ways avoid long and complex explanations, especially when it comes to instructions for a task, is a demonstration of its implementation. You can either do it yourself, simply by doing the first point of the exercise out loud, or ask someone who has already guessed it. For example, if you start solving a crossword puzzle, you can do this:

1. Let's look at the crossword (take the crossword and demonstratively look at it).

2. Read number 1 Across (turning your piece of paper or textbook towards the children, point with your finger which section you are reading from) – “This is something you wear on your head” (read the task out loud).

4. Okay? Now you finish the rest. Make sure everyone understands and give the task. If one or two do not understand, repeat it to them again without distracting the others.

Use and display classroom language– use “lesson phrases” and make sure they are always visible to children

Classroom language, or “lesson phrases,” are the most common phrases that you and your students say in class.

Typically, the list looks something like this:

Sorry, I don't understand.

I don't remember.

What does ____ mean?

What's ___ in English?

Can you say that again, please?

Can I have _____, please?

Help me, please!

To ensure that children always use these phrases, you can write them and hang them on signs near the board, hand them out on printouts and ask them to paste them into notebooks, or simply write them on the board, take them apart and ask the children to copy them into notebooks.

Help learners say what they want– help students formulate English phrases

This is probably one of the easiest ways to switch the class to English: when a child says something in Russian and cannot formulate it in English, translate and ask him to repeat it. This is a good strategy because the student gets good model and actually pronounces it himself. This should not be done in the case of some long comments that are not related to the course of the lesson, but if necessary, the strategy is absolutely justified.

At the same time, teach schoolchildren to ask for a specific word that they do not know and formulate a phrase with it, nothing will always be absolutely correct.

An English lesson in which the native language is used minimally and only when necessary is not an ideal picture, but a joint work of students and teachers, without which the results in learning foreign language impossible. At the same time, trying various techniques and by analyzing your actions and the reactions of your students, you can establish an effective working atmosphere in your lessons and create an English-speaking environment in which students gradually develop their skills.

Good pre-winter day everyone!

Autumn is coming to an end, there is an incomprehensible snowfall outside, and your phone suddenly rings and, having picked up the receiver and getting ready to refuse to take out a loan or do a very necessary procedure in a beauty salon, you hear that someone is eager to learn a language, and certainly under your sensitive leadership.

What to do and where to run?

Let's try to figure out what to talk about on the phone and what to do on first lesson in English.

Phone conversation

I always try to discuss points that concern me over the phone in order to understand whether we can cooperate or not. And the answer will be negative if:
1) does not fit time or place conducting classes;
2) not satisfied price;
3) target the student’s learning does not coincide with my goals in teaching (for me, this is when a mother wants me and my child to do homework in English, or an adult declares that he will only talk, without tedious rules and memorization of words);
4) at the other end of the line they speak as if I have already done something must to the caller.

If everything suits us, we agree on the place and time of the first lesson. I warn you that the purpose of the first meeting There will be a determination of your language level, it is free and lasts about 40 minutes. You need to take a notepad and pen with you.
I’ll also learn how a student can determine his or her level of knowledge in order to know what level of material to prepare. As a rule, adults assess their capabilities quite adequately, while with schoolchildren one cannot be sure of anything.

It happens that parents say: “We’ve been studying with a tutor for two years, but she can’t study with us anymore, so we turned to you,” I prepare A2 level materials, come to class - and the child can barely read, and say he can’t do almost anything... The student feels embarrassed for not meeting my expectations, his mother sees his discomfort and also begins to worry... It’s a stupid situation, I usually try to encourage him in every possible way to smooth out this moment, otherwise after the first meeting there will be an unpleasant impression.

First meeting

If the first lesson is at a student’s place, I always leave early and try to dress more formally in order to make good impression, it determines the opinion of the teacher for a long time. When we get to know each other better, we can wear torn jeans and a T-shirt...

We made an impression, let’s proceed directly to the lesson:

1. We start the meeting with dialogue. I have never seen a single student who cannot speak English at all. Before the conversation, I tell you to speak English as they say, without being afraid of making mistakes. If he doesn’t understand or doesn’t know something, let him speak Russian.
   I ask standard questions: How are you? The name of? Where do you study/work? What does he like to do in free time? If I see that I am coping well, I ask about the purpose of the study and wishes for conducting classes in English; if not, in Russian. (Accordingly, if there is a schoolchild in front of me, I ask this question to the parents, who always sit next to me during the first lesson).
2. Next I give vocabulary and grammar test(about 20 questions), for about 5 minutes. (If the student is an adult, I can email him before the meeting so as not to waste time in class.
   It is better to save the results in a separate folder specifically dedicated to students. For what? If it comes up during training popular phrase“We’ve been studying for six months now, but I don’t feel like I’ve made any progress in learning the language,” show every time I hear it. This is especially popular among Unified State Examination students; recently one wrote me a sample for 86 points (versus 72 points six months ago), and still the same song: “I know the language worse than before”...
3. While I'm reviewing the test, I give a small text for reading-comprehension, with post-text tasks for speaking and ideally - with listening, where the ending of the story is written (for example, for adults I like the text about the hotel with a ghost from lesson 6B New English File Elementary).

After all the manipulations, I say what the student’s level is (as a rule, the dialogue-test-text repeats the same thing in unison, but there are also cases when the student understands what he read and writes the test well, but he can’t say almost anything and understands poorly by ear ), and which textbook and why we will choose. When choosing a textbook, I focus not only on the level of knowledge, but also on the tasks assigned to us.

At the end, I ask you to once again express any wishes for conducting classes and, for my part, I warn you that:

• at cancellation of class(sick, work, urgent matters) must be reported 24 hours in advance. If a lesson is canceled more than three times in six months right before the lesson, I transfer it to prepayment and increase the price. If I cancel a lesson (due to my or a child’s illness), we can reschedule it at the student’s request for the weekend or a window in my schedule;
• at unfulfilled homework (more than three times in six months) we break up. I don't believe in progress without independent work. I can make an exception for adults, who may not do their homework for one lesson and we chat with them the entire lesson, but for the second they do double the amount;
• raise the price I won’t study for a year (unless, of course, my goal changes - I suddenly want to pass the exam), and if I decide to promote from the next school year, I will report this three months in advance;
• if the student has something don't like it during the lesson, you want to focus on some type of activity or any other doubts arise - all complaints are accepted and considered.

Results

It's just great if you have a business card with coordinates. It looks professional and makes it clear that you take your business seriously. I keep wanting to make one for myself, I even came up with a design, but I just can’t get around to it.

Over time, at the first meeting, it becomes clear whether the person is serious. This helps to avoid that feeling when you allocated a place in the schedule, prepared for classes, tried to captivate and entertain... and after a vacation or vacation it disappears irrevocably, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste in your soul.

I don’t want to end the article on a sad note, so I’ll say that the percentage of students who go nowhere is small - two students left me in a year. When I remember our first meetings, I understand that I wouldn’t waste time now. The first one said bluntly over the phone, “Your place is expensive,” but still started studying, the second one told me every lesson: “I like everything, I’m ready to study and do everything,” and also disappeared after the holidays.
There are much more of those who come by word of mouth, so look at everything philosophically - “when one door closes, another certainly opens.”
Everyone New Year's mood and good luck!

P.S. I am writing about the first lesson with those who are going to prepare for the Unified State Exam or Unified State Exam.