This is, of course, a wide ranging topic area and there are going to be many variations according to the different nature of lessons and the topics covered. However having said that let’s aim for a few basics around which you can structure things.
On a Primary timetable the basic lesson time is about 45 minutes – it may be slightly over that for Maths and Literacy but these are structured differently so we will look at them separately.
Basic lesson structuring
Lessons can be simply broken down into 2 categories
- A single lesson on a particular topic
- A lesson that forms part of a series of lessons. (a curriculum focus…see planning)
Single lessons
This is an approximate structure and timing for this sort of lesson – if this is a one-off lesson then don’t forget to assess the children’s prior knowledge early in the lesson. In reality it may not affect your teaching plan but you should know the baseline.
- Teacher will start with an introduction about the area to be looked at and why.
- The class basic knowledge should be assessed to find a baseline from where to start.
- A series of questions should be asked / set / written that the class is going to find out about (10 mins to this point)
- The teaching part of the lesson takes part. (15 mins)
- The children will probably have a practical side to the lesson to reinforce, consolidate and apply what they have learnt ( 10 – 15 mins)
- The class as a whole will finalise and summarise the lesson together and address the initial questions asked. (5 mins)
Lessons in a series
Because these lessons are in a series leading towards a topic focus then as a teacher you are building each lesson onto the next. The lessons will follow on from each other, gradually extending and expanding both knowledge and skill factors in the children.
This feature must therefore be taken into account at the start of each lesson.
- Recap by the teacher on the position so far….this may be just the last lesson, or it may summarise the last few lessons. (5 mins)
- The teacher, through this, is able to very quickly assess the progress and consolidation.
- Dependant on the learning progress, either revision/clarification teaching can be done before moving forward. (variable…see below)
- The new learning area from within the “focus” can now be introduced, with links to past learning identified. (15 – 20 mins)
- Children’s practical side to the lesson (15- 20 mins)
- Review and revision session to end the lesson (5 mins)
As part of this process the Teacher is assessing progress by re-capping on the past lessons of the series. It is important at this stage that he/she is confident that the children are ready to progress within the focus. If this is not the case then there is NO POINT in delivering new information – it is a case of re-visiting what has already been taught and ensuring the class has a firm grasp of the subject.
Lets now look at Maths and Literacy and see in what ways they are different.
Maths and Literacy have slightly different approaches and there is still a legacy from the failed Maths and literacy hours that remains.
Maths
The timing for maths lessons is still generally 1 hour.
I used to split my maths lessons into a short focussed 15 minute teaching time and a 45 minute lesson time.
In the 15 minutes at the start of every maths lesson we used to learn the smaller maths topics such a basic money or telling the time. They are not major enough maths topic areas to cover as full lessons and so benefit from short sharp visits every day ….
In order to mix things up slightly and avoid day after day on the same thing it is a good idea to teach “maths number” for 2 days a week and “maths topic” 2 days a week. This avoids boredom for both the class and you and keeps thing a little more active especially as most of the larger maths topics will involve practical work.
So a maths lesson would look something like this…
- Quick recap, practice and extension on short maths topic…..(15 minutes)
- Main maths focus either number or topic area – recap and teacher assessment before introducing new elements (15-20 minutes)
- Children’s work to consolidate and practice (15-20 minutes)
- Class summary / and or main points reminders (5 minutes) – its good if you can include this at the end of the lesson however I wouldn’t worry about it if time runs out!
Literacy
Literacy has probably seen the most changes away from the disastrous Literacy hour.
Instead of the hour spent on literacy it is now divided into the core elements, which to be honest, were there before the literacy hour was introduced!
These elements can be of varying time depending on what they are – and can be between 30 minutes to an hour .
The components now split out of literacy are usually these…
- Comprehension
- Grammar – spelling, punctuation etc (a lot of emphasis on this now it is included as a test unit)
- Writing…fictional, non fictional and all varieties
- Speaking and listening
- Phonics and reading
- Handwriting (although you should not include this in Literacy times)
All these need to be addressed in your teaching and depending on your timetabling structure, will require different amounts of time. Keep an eye on your “Curriculum balance” times and make sure that your total time for literacy does at least reach the required total but does not massively overspend at the expense of other subjects.
So that gives you a very basic outline of lesson timing and structure. If you base your teaching around these lines then you won’t go far wrong. As you become more experienced, then of course you will naturally integrate your own style and approaches as your teaching becomes more confident. However if you looked at it in detail you would probably find that the basic “core ” structuring is still there.
Just one thing to end with – never be afraid to end a lesson if things really aren’t working…either the children just don’t understand things or there are too many distractions (workmen etc) …if the situation arises then finish the lesson and do something else. You can always return to things another time when the situation is better.
Hope some of this helps
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Charles