The science behind Smart Lesson Generator: Making teaching easier with AI

Thomas Gardner
A woman on her laptop smiling and working
Reading time: 4 minutes

It's 6 AM on a Monday morning. Ms. Lopez wakes up early to prepare for the day ahead. She spends the morning reviewing lesson plans, making sure everything is ready for her students. By lunchtime, she is preparing for the afternoon, grabbing a quick bite between classes... but it doesn’t stop there. The school day finishes but Ms. Lopez stays late marking assignments. Finally, on Sunday night, she sits at her kitchen table, surrounded by papers, course books and lesson plans.

Does this sound familiar? You are not alone.

The challenge teachers face

In 2024, ɫèAV research found that76% of teachers spend at least one hour of their personal time on lesson planning each week, with 43% spending more than three hours. This is a lot of time that could be spent on other important tasks. Teachers need a solution that helps them plan lessons fast, is connected to their course books and is built by learning experts.

AI-powered lesson planning made simple
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Meet Smart Lesson Generator

Smart Lesson Generator is an AI tool that cuts the time that teachers spend on lesson planning.It uses AI to create activities in seconds based on the learning objectives, topics and vocabulary you plan to use.

Whether you're using ɫèAV courseware or designing your own lessons, this tool ensures that the materials match your curriculum and your students' skill levels.

How it works

There are key steps to generate activities with Smart Lesson Generator:

1. Selection: Teachers choose the type of activity they want to generate, such as a Lesson Hook, Vocabulary, Grammar, Conversation Starter, Reading Comprehension, or Exit Ticket. They then specify whether they are using ɫèAV courseware or a custom lesson plan. This flexibility allows teachers to tailor their approach to suit their unique classroom dynamics.

2. Generation: AI generates activities using a Large Language Model (LLM) based on the teacher's input. The content is then filtered through GSE checks to ensure it is at the appropriate level. This step is crucial as it ensures that the generated material is not only relevant but also pedagogically sound.

The role of the Global Scale of English (GSE)

Smart Lesson Generator is aligned to the Global Scale of English (GSE). This powerful scale, ranging from 10 to 90, is aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and provides detailed learning objectives for each proficiency level. The GSE ensures that the content generated by the Smart Lesson Generator is appropriately levelled.

Think of the GSE as a precise filter. It meticulously checks every piece of content to ensure it meets high standards. This means that the activities created are challenging yet achievable for students. With the GSE powering the Smart Lesson Generator, teachers can confidently deliver lessons that match their students' skill levels and help them progress.

Supporting English language teachers into the future with AI

The Smart Lesson Generator helps teachers create high-quality activities quickly, which allows them to spend more time focusing on their students. The tool also helps teachers develop personalized learning paths that enhance student progress and engagement, and is continually updated with input from ɫèAV's experts and teachers worldwide. All this means that you can confidently plan lessons, knowing that the Smart Lesson Generator is your reliable partner in your quest to nurture the minds of tomorrow.

Read the posts 'Maximise teaching time with Smart Lesson Generator'and 'Reasons to use Smart Lesson Generator'.

Learn more about the Smart Lesson Generator

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    Five ways to promote friendship in your English language classroom

    By Joanna Wiseman

    There is a strong link between well-being and friendship, which is just as accurate for children as it is for adults. that children with stable friendships are happier, more able to cope with stress, and have higher self-esteem. Moreover, too, and children who experience friendship adjust more easily to school and perform better academically. School friendships are also a valuable way of learning social skills like sharing, resolving conflict, and engaging with peers positively.

    Having friends is an important part of school life, and teachers can play a significant role in creating a positive classroom culture and helping children and young people to form friendships. How can you promote friendships between your students? Here are some ideas:

    1. Make friendship a central theme in your classes

    If there is an example of a good friendship in a book you are reading with students or in your lesson materials, draw your students’ attention to it. For instance, The Jungle Book is an excellent example of a story about friendship. Encourage your students to think critically about the friendships that they read about. You can ask questions like:

    • What are some things a good friend does?
    • What are the qualities of a good friend?
    • What words do you associate with friendship?

    By discussing friendship regularly in the classroom, your students will learn about the behavior and characteristics of being a good friend.

    2. Create opportunities for interaction

    You can create lots of opportunities for students to build friendships with one another during class time. Design activities that call for pair or group work, and include at least one or two in every lesson. Focusing on a common goal or problem is a great way to encourage your students to bond with one another.As a bonus, this collaborative way of working promotes important 21st century skills like communication and problem-solving.

    Another way of promoting friendships between different groups of students is moving them around. Adjust your seating plan regularly to ensure that all your students interact with and work alongside different classmates, to promote positive, friendly classroom vibes.

    3. Discuss and model good behavior

    Friendship is a social skill that children need to learn – and you can help by teaching them. Be explicit about exactly what you expect from them. Saying, “Be kind” is an abstract, vague concept that children might struggle to put into practice. Instead, give them concrete examples of behavior, such as:

    • take turns when playing
    • speak respectfully
    • share pens or other resources

    When you see a student engaging in these behaviors, draw attention to them and praise them.

    But to really convey the importance of school friendships and kind behavior, it’s not enough to tell them. As the teacher, you must model the behavior you’d like to see in your students. Be consistently positive and upbeat in your interactions with students, thank your learners when they offer help with something, and try to refrain from sounding impatient (even when you are!). All these steps will help to build a positive classroom culture where students feel secure, supported and happy.

    4. Help to navigate difficult situations

    Conflict is an inevitable part of school life, but you can help students to navigate arguments and other difficult situations in the classroom. If two students argue, you can help them to resolve it with the following steps:

    • Separate the students to give them time to calm down.
    • Have a conversation with them. Ask for their perspective on the conflict, and find out how their day has been in general. Sometimes, you can better understand a student’s reaction when you look at the bigger picture. Ask them how they feel, and how they could resolve the situation.
    • Bring the students together again to discuss things and find a resolution together. Reconciliation is the goal.

    Following these simple steps teaches children a framework for resolving conflict and gives them the tools to process strong emotions.

    5. Do some friendship-focused activities

    An excellent way to promote a positive classroom culture is to do friendship-focused activities with your students:

    You could do a Venn diagram activity, where students work in pairs to discuss and write down things they have in common and areas of difference. It’s good to pair students who don’t spend much time together for this activity.

    Another positive activity is a 'Honey Roast'. Give students enough squares of paper to have one for each of their classmates. Get them to write their classmates’ names on the paper, and then, on the other side, write down a compliment or something they like about that person, for example, “I like your handwriting”, or “You always use kind words”. Collect the pieces of paper and read out some nice examples to the class. Alternatively, give them directly to the students to read to themselves.