Staging an IELTS Lesson

(TESOL Ideas--IELTS, Lesson Planning)
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[This was a worksheet I made discussing the staging of an IELTS lesson for a revised version of my workshop on IELTS.  The CELTA staging framework (which I use as a point of contrast) are HERE. ]

Receptive Skills (Reading and Listening)
For receptive skills, I don’t think the CELTA staging framework fits the IELTS class.  On the actual exam, no one will set the context for the student, no one will pre-teach the vocabulary, and there is no opportunity for gist listening.  (Students can do a gist reading if they want, but they have to teach themselves how to do it.  No one will give them a gist question).

So I often use Test-Teach-Test instead.

Test
Give students a section from a reading or listening practice.  Have them attempt it, and then check their answers with the partner.
I then usually put the correct answers on the board, and have students self-check.  (This avoids embarrassing students who get the wrong answer).  Then students have some time to discuss the answers with a partner, and figure out why these are the correct answers.  (For listening exercises, I give the students a written transcript at this point). Then class feedback consists of the students explaining to me why these were the correct answers (e.g. where they were in the text, what were the synonyms, what were the distractors).
Next students are put into groups and discuss what they found difficult about the test.  (i.e. if they got something wrong, why did they get it wrong).  During class feedback, groups tell me what was difficult, I put the problems on the whiteboard, and then we discuss possible strategies and solutions.

Teach
Introduce a subskill or strategies for a task-type.  Do controlled practice with it.
Controlled practice often means using very short passages.  For example, when practicing True/False/Not Given, instead of having to read a long passage, students are given only one or two sentences and a T/F/NG question related to that one sentence.

Test
Students complete another practice test section.  Compare answers and feedback as above.

Exam Rules
Also, at some point in the lesson, there is a game (board race, treasure hunt, quiz game) to focus the students’ attention on the rules and strategies for this section of the test.


Productive Skills (Writing and Speaking)

For productive skills, I find that the CELTA framework can actually transfer very well to the IELTS class.  (See backside for Productive Skills CELTA framework).
I make some small additions.

For the model text section of the CELTA framework, I usually give the students the question in advance of the text, and we brainstorm strategies for answering it before I give them the model.  e.g “Here is a question for Writing Task 2.  With your partner, think of 3 reasons to agree, and 3 reasons to disagree.”

With the writing especially, I try to have some sort of game/activity involved in re-constructing the model text.  e.g. put the sentences in order, match the discourse markers to the blanks, match the topic sentences to the paragraphs, put the paragraphs in order, etc.  These can also be turned into running dictations or treasure hunts.

The “focus on the useful language” section of the CELTA framework can be used to focus on a variety of things--grammar and lexis, but also structure and content.  (But not all in the same lesson of course.)

At some point in the lesson, I add in an extra stage that focuses on the exam rules and useful tips and strategies.  I try to make this into a game (e.g. board race, treasure hunt, quiz game)