Speaking and Listening Lesson Plan: 40-Minute Strategy for Large S1 Classes in Rwanda

 

Are you teaching Senior 1 English with a big class? This post gives you a simple lesson you can finish in 40 minutes. It uses a short and friendly dialogue between Kajuga and Uwase at Amahoro friends Secondary School. Learners talk about school subjects like Agriculture, Math, Physics, History, and English. They also say how they feel in a new school. The steps below work in a normal Rwandan classroom with chalkboard, few papers, and limited time.

Lesson goal

By the end of this 40-minute lesson, learners can:

• listen to a short dialogue and find three facts (subjects, number of lessons, feelings),
• ask and answer about subjects using the present simple (“I like Math because…,” “How many lessons do we have?”),
• read aloud the dialogue in pairs with a clear voice,
• create a 4-line mini-dialogue about their favourite subjects.

This lesson fits a class of 40–50 learners and matches the Senior 1 unit My secondary school. You can also connect it to broader teaching goals like indicators of quality education.

Materials (low-cost, Rwanda-friendly)

• The dialogue on manila paper or the board.
• Subject flashcards: English, Math, Kinyarwanda, Physics, Agriculture, History, ICT.
• A simple timetable sample (e.g., “Physics—4 lessons, English—5 lessons”).
• Chalk/markers, a timer or phone.

Tip: Use local words and pictures: a school garden, cows and goats, a laboratory, a library.

40-Minute plan for big classes (40–50 learners)

0–5 min | Warm-up (whole class)
Greet the class. Say the day and aim: “Today we listen and speak about school subjects.” Show 6–8 subject cards. Ask: “Which subjects do you study at our school?” Learners call out answers. Write them quickly on the board.
Classroom trick: Use hands up and a simple rule—“Speak after your name is called”—to keep noise low. For more on making your lessons engaging, read Smart Classroom Strategies.

5–10 min | Pre-teach words (whole class)
Teach 5 key words from the dialogue: excited, frightened, lessons, engineer, public speaking. Use quick examples:

• “I feel excited on the first day.”
• “Some learners feel frightened.”
• Show two local pictures (garden with cows/goats, school farm). Ask: “What will they talk about?” Let learners guess with a partner for 30 seconds.

10–15 min | Listening 1: Gist (whole class)
Read the whole dialogue once with a clear voice (or ask two strong readers to act it). Ask only three gist questions:

1. Who is speaking?
2. Where are they?
3. How do they feel?
4. Learners answer chorally (together) to save time.

15–20 min | Listening 2: Detail (whole class → row teams)
Read the dialogue again. Ask four quick questions:

• Which subjects does Uwase like?
• How many Physics lessons per week?
• How many English lessons per week?
• What jobs do they want in the future?
• Have rows (or table groups) whisper the answer, then one learner from each row says it. Give a point to rows with correct answers to keep energy high.

20–27 min | Pair reading (pairs across the room)
Give or show the script. Model two lines with correct stress. Ask learners to form pairs (A and B). They read the dialogue once, then swap roles. Walk around and help.
Noise control: Use a hand signal. When you raise your hand, all learners raise a hand and finish the sentence. This brings the class back in 3 seconds. This supports teaching large classes effectively.

27–30 min | Sentence frames (board → pairs)
Write these frames on the board:

• A: What is your favourite subject?
• B: My favourite subject is ___ because ___.
• A: How many ___ lessons do we have?
• B: We have ___ lessons per week.
• Pairs write a 4-line mini-dialogue using the frames (fast drafting, no long writing).

30–35 min | Quick presentations (3–4 pairs)
Invite 3–4 pairs from different corners to perform their mini-dialogue. After each pair, the class gives “one star, one wish” (one good thing, one suggestion). Keep each performance to 30–45 seconds.

35–40 min | Review + Exit ticket
Ask 3 review questions from the dialogue (e.g., “Who wanted to be an engineer?”, “How many Physics lessons?”).
Then say: “Take 30 seconds. On a small paper or in your notebook, finish this sentence: My favourite subject is ___ because ___.” Learners hold papers up; you scan quickly to see who needs help next time.

Why this lesson works in Rwanda

• Local content: The dialogue mentions Agriculture, animals (cows and goats), and Physics—common in many Rwandan schools. Students feel the text is about their life.
• Time smart: Each step is short. You do listening, speaking, and reading in one period.
• Large-class friendly: Use choral answers, row points, and pair reading so every learner is active, even with 45–50 learners.
• Clear language: Sentences are short. Grammar target is present simple only.
• Equity: Call both girls and boys. Place shy learners in front. Pair a strong learner with a developing learner. For more context, visit Rwanda Education Board for the official English curriculum.

Assessment in 5 quick ways

1. Hands up for gist and detail questions (fast check).
2. While pairs read, use a small checklist: listens & answers, speaks clearly, uses sentence frame, works with partner.
3. Row points to see which groups followed and answered.
4. Exit ticket sentence shows understanding of “because” and subject words.
5. Keep 3–4 names for follow-up support next lesson.

Differentiation (support and challenge)

• Support: Give picture prompts (book, lab, farm). Let pairs plan in Kinyarwanda for 30 seconds, then speak in English. Provide the sentence frames on the board.
• Challenge: Ask fast finishers to add one more reason (“I like English because I read stories and I want to speak to visitors.”) or ask a new WH-question (When? Where? How many?).

Tips for classroom control with 40–50 learners

• Routines: “3–2–1 eyes on me,” claps, or hand raised.
• Space: If the room is tight, keep pairs shoulder-to-shoulder and avoid moving desks.
• Voice: Stand at the back for one reading round; it reduces side talk.
• Fair turns: Use a name jar (paper slips) so many learners get a chance across the week.

Homework (optional, 2–3 minutes to assign)

“Ask a family member about their favourite subject when they were in school. Write three simple sentences.”
Example: “My mother liked Kinyarwanda because she loved poems. She had five Kinyarwanda lessons a week. She felt happy in class.”

Final word

This lesson is short, active, and real. With simple tools and strong routines, you can reach the speaking and listening objective in one 40-minute period, even with 40–50 learners. Try it tomorrow, and tell us how it went. Thank you! Reference lesson structure adapted from the teacher’s plan for S1 English, My Secondary School.  

Want to see a lighter side of simple English reading? Visit our storytelling series When Hearts Whispers.

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