You are teaching back-to-back classes leaving you very little time to prepare, but you still want to be a good teacher. We know what it’s like to be overworked and so do Laurel Pollard and Natalie Hess, authors of Zero Prep. If every now and again you simply do not have time to plan a lesson, fear not. That’s where Zero Prep comes in to save the day. This book can help you plan a lesson on the fly without ever planning.
This book is filled with great activities to use in the classroom without much prep work required. The book is aimed at beginner students but don’t worry; this isn’t just a book filled with silly games like Musical Chairs and Duck Duck Goose. Zero Prep has around 100 pages of activities that meet actual learning objectives. The activities in Zero Prep aren’t just there to fill time until your class is done. Each activity aims to really teach your students various language skills.
"This isn’t just a book filled with silly games like Musical Chairs and Duck Duck Goose. Zero Prep has around 100 pages of activities that meet actual learning objectives."
This book includes many routine activities that can be implemented in the classroom over and over again. These routine activities focus on reading, dictation, action, and song to help your beginner students to understand and internalize the language. Since beginner students have a limited vocabulary to work with, these routines help your students to grow a solid foundation and to move ahead in their language learning journey. These routine activities can also be integrated into your daily lessons even when you do have time to prep.
Zero Prep also includes helpful activities such as ice breakers to get your students to know one another and build classroom camaraderie. Some activities even train the students to point out their own errors in order to be more effective learners.
Much of Zero Prep is aimed at groups, but you can actually apply many of the activities to individual lessons as well. As a teacher, this is a great resource to have for those days when you aren’t sure exactly sure what you are going to do. Rather than just waste the day playing games that really don’t teach much, the book makes full use of your class period even when you don’t have the time to plan a thorough lesson.
This book is not suitable for direct student use; it is simply a book to help teachers by providing “no plan” lessons plans. While every teacher of beginner students should keep a copy of Zero Prep on their bookshelf, always remember this book is really only to be used in a pinch. As a teacher, you cannot fully rely on this book. You will have to use other books and teaching methods in your classroom
