Short answer
Staging means organising the parts of a lesson so they build towards a useful outcome. Each stage should give learners something they need for what comes next: ideas, language, confidence, input, practice or a chance to use the language more independently.
In S06E19, Em describes a lesson on introductions and talking about work. Learners begin with job titles, discuss colleagues’ responsibilities, listen to examples, compare how introductions work across cultures and eventually share their own experiences.
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What do learners already know?
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Listen to the whole S06E19 discussion in our podcast episode guide here🔊.
The sequence matters because the final task is not arriving from nowhere. Earlier stages prepare vocabulary, ideas and models that learners can draw on later.
Good staging does not require a complicated plan. A simple sequence might be: activate what learners know, give useful input, focus on language, practise it, then create a freer task where learners make choices of their own.
Transitions also deserve attention. Learners should understand why they are moving from one activity to the next. A lesson can feel fragmented when every stage is interesting but nothing connects.
Reflection after the lesson is part of staging too. Em wonders whether her learners could have introduced themselves again after hearing the examples. That is exactly the kind of question that improves the next version of a lesson.
How do you know if a stage belongs?
Ask what the stage gives learners that they need later. If you cannot explain its purpose, the activity may be enjoyable but disconnected from the lesson’s main learning journey.
Our suggested classroom adaptation of the episode discussion.
Gav and Em suggest: The lesson-stage check
- ☐ What do learners already know?
- ☐ What input or model do they need?
- ☐ Where will they notice or practise the useful language?
- ☐ When will they use it more independently?
- ☐ Does each stage prepare them for the next?
- ☐ What would I change after teaching it once?
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