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Lesson Plans
Purposeful planning for your BSL lessons
Lesson Plans
Effective lesson planning is crucial to ensure that your lessons are well-organised, engaging, and meet the learning objectives for your students. A good lesson plan helps you stay focused, manage time, and address the diverse needs of your learners.
Key Elements of a Lesson Plan
Purpose: This is done at the start of a course to check students’ BSL skills and knowledge.
How to Use: Helps you understand what students already know so you can focus on areas they need to improve.
1. Learning Objectives
Define clear, measurable goals for what your students should achieve by the end of the lesson.
Example 1: “Students will be able to demonstrate proper sign for basic emotions like ‘happy’, ‘sad’, and ‘angry.’”
Example 2: “By the end of the lesson, students will be able to introduce themselves in BSL using appropriate greetings and phrases.”
2. Materials and Resources
List all the materials, resources, or tools you’ll need for the lesson (e.g., handouts, videos, flashcards, BSL apps).
Example: “Flashcards with greetings, video clips of BSL conversations.”
3. Lesson Structure
Organise your lesson into manageable chunks, with time allocated for each activity.
Example:
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Warm-Up/Engagement (5-10 minutes): Brief activities to get students focused and introduce the topic.
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Main Teaching (20-30 minutes): Direct instruction on new content, including explanations, examples, and student practice.
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Activity/Practice (15-20 minutes): Practical activities where students apply what they’ve learned (e.g., role-playing, pair work).
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Closing (5-10 minutes): Recap and feedback, provide homework or further practice recommendations.
4. Teaching Activities
Provide engaging, interactive activities that support the lesson objectives. Activities could include pair work, group work, role-playing, or using multimedia to practice signing.
Example: “Students work in pairs to practice signing and answering simple questions about emotions.”
5. Assessment Methods
Consider how you will assess students’ understanding during the lesson. Use formative assessments like quizzes, group activities, or informal observation.
Example: “During group work, I will circulate and observe students to see if they use the correct signs.”
6. Differentiation
Plan how you will adjust the lesson for students with different learning needs. For example, provide visual aids, offer additional support, or provide extra practice for more advanced learners.
Example: “For students who struggle with hand coordination, I will offer slower demonstrations and use physical prompts.”
7. Reflection
After the lesson, reflect on what worked well and what could be improved. This will help you plan for future lessons.
Example: “Students struggled with facial expressions for emotions—need to focus more on this in the next class.”
Lesson Plan Template
Looking for support with lesson planning? We’ve created a simple, editable Lesson Plan Template that you can use for your BSL teaching.
You can download and adapt the template to suit your lessons – whether you’re focusing on BSL features, language development, or cultural context.
The template includes space to plan key areas such as:
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Lesson Title
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Learning Objectives
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BSL Features / Language Focus
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Materials Needed
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Lesson Structure (with timed activities)
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Activities and Methods
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Assessment Strategies
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Reflection and Review
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Reflection: Notes on what went well and what to improve for next time
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Review: Brief summary with learners to consolidate learning
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Use our template to create clear, structured lessons that support your learners and your teaching goals.
Click below to download or make a copy of the template and start planning!
Tips for Effective Lesson Planning
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Set clear, achievable goals for each lesson. Make sure your students know what they are expected to learn.
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Be flexible: Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Be prepared to adapt and adjust activities based on the needs of your class.
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Incorporate a variety of activities to keep lessons engaging. Use multimedia, real-life scenarios, and group activities to practice signs.
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Include time for review to reinforce key points and correct any mistakes students might be making.
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End with a recap: Summarise the key points of the lesson at the end to help students retain the material.
Example Lesson Plans
Share example lesson plans based on different topics and student levels (e.g., beginner, intermediate, advanced). This gives teachers a starting point for creating their own plans. For instance:
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Beginner Level Lesson Plan: Introduction to Basic Signs (Greetings and Introductions)
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Intermediate Level Lesson Plan: Understanding BSL Grammar (Sentence Structure)
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Advanced Level Lesson Plan: Deaf Culture and Storytelling in BSL
