Building a full lesson from one English workbook

When you’re only given minimal resources and you have to create a lesson from an English workbook it can be overwhelming. Having an English book to work from can make it easy to get a bit lazy with the planning and just work from the book itself. The problem working from an English book is often they lack the kind of activities that make lessons fun and engaging.

To start with, instead of focusing on what your book says, use it as a guide only to create a larger plan for your class. Building your own curriculum based on your student needs is easier than you think. It just takes a little planning.

When you’re creating lessons from an English workbook start at the back. You’ll have your endpoint, where your students should be in the timeframe you’ll work with them. Then you can set your targets and milestones based on that.

Make sure you read the first post in this series: Building a lesson plan (infographic)

Take note of the information and the order

The guide gives you a good idea of what order the information should be taught in and it can give you some ideas for activities. But make sure you aren’t relying strictly on this.

Assess your students and you go and make sure you aren’t moving too fast or slow. Adjust your lessons based on student comprehension following the general order the book is in.

If you have to stay on a subject and add a lesson, you have the opportunity to do that when you create lessons from an English workbook by planning extra activities or approaching a topic from a different angle.

You have more freedom when building your own curriculum from resource material. You are able to adjust the speed and fill in the gaps better than if you have to follow a strict program.

Plan activities that match the order in the book

When planning your activities, make sure that they match the topics in your book and the order. If the unit you’re studying is on present continuous verbs, then you can plan all kinds of different material for in-class work then, set the activities within the book as homework. This is a great way to make sure students are keeping up with the lessons and you’re hitting all the required topics.

Remember when you’re planning to include the 3 main activities: Interactive, problem solving and assessment. A lot of times books will only provide an interactive element, such as fill in the blank activities or find the error. By creating your own lesson based on the book’s topics you can make sure you’re including the problem solving and assessment aspects as well.

Include the 3 learning techniques – interactive, problem-solving and assessment

It’s important to give students a complete lesson with all 3 elements to ensure their success as well as yours as the instructor. If learning a language were only about following instructions in a book, well, students can do that at home without the help of a teacher. It’s up to us to make sure our students are getting the best possible chance of success.

Students rely on teachers to learn and grow, a big responsibility for us. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming though. With a little practice, creating an effective lesson from limited resources is not only easy but also offers more freedom.