Structuring Teaching Units and Learning Objectives

1.4. Teaching Units

The entire plan for a group of students contains a series of basic elements that we call teaching units, lesson plans, or Units of Work. It is very difficult to set a guideline or a proposal for the best way to organize a unit of work; however, in that sense, it should be clear that some elements must be specified:

• Topic & Title
• Learning Objectives
• Contents
• Methodology
• Activities
• Assessment

2. Criteria for Sequencing Contents and Objectives

The new legal framework considers CONTENTS divided into four different blocks. This does not imply an order; it may be an organizational criterion.

Content Sequencing Parameters

To sequence contents, it may be useful to choose a content organizer following some parameters:

• The type of text
• The channel
• The type of comprehension
• The speaker
• The level of correction
• The use of verbal and non-verbal communicative strategies
• The need for help from the teacher, from other schoolmates, from the dictionary, from reference books...

Student-Related Criteria

Apart from the criteria belonging to the logic of our subject, other criteria are related to the evolutionary moment of the students:

• Previous knowledge
• Greater or lesser dependency on the context
• Expressive needs
• The maturity of the pupil

Objectives and Legislation

Regarding OBJECTIVES, we should also look at the legislation since it forms the basic corpus for outcomes. It is also stated in our law the minimum requirements for the entire stage and the duty for our profession to adapt and set the aims for the different cycles. For that, and as a new concern in the RD. 1513/2006, EIGHT BASIC COMPETENCES are established to lead the development of any teaching. The achievement of these should be understood as prior when designing our planning.

3. Selecting Methodology for Learning and Evaluation Activities

-Activities constitute the core of any lesson. Teaching and learning a second language should be based on a series of tasks, as proposed in recent and serious research (Task Based Learning/Approach).

The first idea we should take into account is that lessons should be planned carefully. A possible general outline for this purpose may be:

1. Starter
2. Learning Objectives
3. Main body
4. Plenary