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This unit focuses on the most effective methods for constructing lesson plans: Engage, Study & Activate (ESA). ESA is a wonderful format because it focuses on increasing student talk time and making the class more student-centered (and less teacher-centered). It is also the most flexible framework of all the various teaching methods, which means a teacher can adapt it to suit the needs of the class/time frame.
The Engage Stage: The purpose of the Engage Stage is to warm the students up, to get them talking on a subject using language they already know. This is NOT the time to teach new material or give correction/feedback. Interesting activities (memory games, introductory prompts, word linking).
The Study Stage: The purpose of the Study Stage to focus on how language is constructed. A nice way to start this stage is with elicitation, which is a form of prompting students to share what they already know on the language point (grammar, vocabulary etc). Then, the teacher presents the language point. Exercises, often worksheets, are given; and once the students have finished, they are reviewed/corrected/explained together as a class.
The Activate Stage: This is the time in the class when the students get to put the new language point to use in the form of an activity, such as role plays, communication games, debates (for advanced levels) and story writing. The teacher also encourages the students use any and all language they know.
There are variations of ESA (the Straight Arrow approach), such as Boomerang and Patchwork. The key is that all lesson should begin with an Engage portion and finish with an Activate portion. How many times the teacher uses different Study and Activate stages is up to him/her based on class needs/class time/class objectives.
Additionally, this unit reviews the types of feedback that students receive. Always start by giving the student the opportunity for self-correction. Of course, this requires the teacher to ensure the student understands where there is a mistake for this approach to be effective. If he/she cannot correct him/herself, then allow other students to help. If they can't, then the teacher can step in to give feedback. This is especially important when the class is participating in an activity where accuracy is the focus.
Ultimately, I found these to be the most informative and helpful sections of Unit 3.
