Jacari lesson plan
I teach a 7-year old girl called Ayesha. Her 6-year old brother Azarhul sits in on the lessons
but they are at different levels so he doesn’t join in with everything.
Lesson aims and objectives
 To consolidate knowledge of the alphabet
 To consolidate knowledge of basic words
 To teach a few new words
 To do all this in a fun way!
Necessary preparation
 Prepare word cards of different levels (level 1 has 1 and 2 letter words, level 2 has 3
letter words) where the levels are distinguished by the colour of the writing
Materials required
 word cards
 stopwatch
 chocolate coins
 gold star stickers
 smiley face stickers
 book
 playing cards
Activities
Introduction
 Talk to Ayesha, ask her how her day/week has been, what she has learnt at school
etc.
 Explain what will be happening in the lesson and my aims for the lesson
Review of alphabet
 Get her to read the alphabet aloud.
 Get her to write the alphabet.
 Award gold stars for good efforts (and then wait for her to count how many she has,
which she does every time I give her one!).
 Get her to re-read or re-write any letters she has problems with (she commonly gets b
and d mixed up for example).
Main learning activities
I divide the main learning activities in my lessons into what I call a formal activity, and then
an informal activity, which is more fun. I try to structure the lesson so that the informal
activity consolidates what has been learnt in the formal activity in a fun way. This particular
lesson plan does this.
Formal activity
 Get Ayesha to read the level 1 and level 2 word cards aloud.
 For any she has problems with get her to say the individual sounds (if the word is
phonetic, which most are) and then try to put them together.
 For any she can’t do after this attempt, tell her the word and make her repeat it.
 Get her to re-read any she had problems with.

Award gold stars for good efforts.
Informal activity
 Line up the level 1 word cards on the floor. Place chocolate coins on every 5th word
card. Give Azarhul 1 minute to read as many as he can in order. If he comes to one
he can’t read he has to stop. Every time he reads a word card which has a chocolate
coin on it he can take the coin.
 Line up the level 1 and level 2 word cards on the floor. Repeat the procedure above
for Ayesha.
 Go over any words she had problems with.
 Repeat the procedure (with or without chocolate coins depending on how many she
gets the first time and how many I have – when I did this lesson she exceeded my
expectations and I ran out of coins!).
 Record the number of words read or time taken to read all the words (because she
exceeded my expectations she managed to read all the words) in her folder.
Book reading
 Get Ayesha to read a book, using the same principles as for reading the word cards.
 Write down any words she has problems with and go over them afterwards.
Rewards
 If she has done well award her a smiley face.
Game
 Play Snap, trying very hard to lose quickly so that the lesson doesn’t overrun!
When I did this lesson Ayesha (and Azarhul) seemed to be really enthusiastic and really
enjoy it. There are several reasons why I think this lesson was successful.
Some of the reasons are based on things I try to do in all my lessons.
I start off by talking to her, settling her down and explaining what is going to happen in the
lesson, and the aims, so she knows what to work for.
At the end I always read a book with her. This routine is a good way of measuring progress
and is a nice calm way to finish the academic work for the lesson.
After that I always play a game so that she has something to look forward to during the
lesson and a good memory of it at the end.
I emphasise both long-term and short-term repetition as I think this is a really good way of
getting knowledge to stick. At the beginning of every lesson I go over the alphabet (again a
good way of measuring progress), and during each task I always get her to repeat things she
has problems with.
I also think both long-term and short-term rewards are important. Short-term rewards are
important so that she is rewarded frequently and this encourages her. Long-term rewards are
also important as they give a bigger sense of achievement. During the lesson I award gold
stars for small tasks, and at the end of the lesson if she has done well I award a smiley face. I
have also promised her 10 gold stars if she manages to write the alphabet perfectly without
my help, which is my aim for this term. She is nearly there!
The chocolate coins in this lesson are a very good reward, because they are something
different and are actually something she can use a tangible (and edible) reward.
I also think the competition in this lesson helps make it a success. She was competing against
her brother, and then against herself, which seemed to be a big motivation to do well.
Recording her achievements means she can compete against herself again in a future lesson,
and also means that long-term progress can be measured.
The chocolate coin race was also very fun (for me as well), which was probably the main
reason for the success of the lesson.