The Amco Class

The Amco Class
Amco believes that, in order to maintain a communicative approach, every class should
be based on the interaction of the students and the teacher, as the main element in the
language acquisition process. Actions, timing, and spatial considerations have to be very
dynamic. All the activities in a session must foster different skills, develop multiple
intelligences, combine strategies and rhythms, vary the use of space in the classroom,
and keep students as active, centered, and motivated as possible.
Watch the video below to learn more about an overview of the Amco Class.
Lesson Sequence
The Amco Class has the same general lesson cycle every session. This is to ensure that
research-based strategies are used in the delivery of the lesson’s content. Content
without a proper lesson cycle will not result in learning!
The basic class has five parts with different objectives:
1. Daily Routine
2. Pre-Activity
3. Activity
4. Post-Activity
5. Cool Down
Depending on which subjects you will see throughout the session, you may have one or
multiple cycles of Pre-Activity, Activity, and Post-Activity, as shown in the images below.
One-Cycle Lesson Multiple-Cycles Lesson
It doesn’t matter how many cycles your class has, each session will always begin with the
Daily Routine and end with a Cool Down.
Detailed Lesson Sequence
As discussed previously, a Daily Routine is essential for setting the stage of

language learning. It is a ten-minute activity that begins the lesson each day. This is
where the switching process occurs in students’ brains and helps them adjust to a
fully English environment. In every lesson you will find two of each of the following
activities:
● Growth Mindset Reflections: discussing the growth mindset quotes in the

book, and other activities that promote resilience
● Language Functions: practicing a language concept in an authentic way
● Current Events: getting students talking and sharing opinions about real
topics in their school and community
● Emotional Intelligence: deepening students understanding of themselves
and others
● The Daily Routine should be student-led, and is run by the Teacher Helper,
an assigned role that should change throughout the year.
This is an activity that The teacher explains the Students complete the
generates interest in what activity or concept, and lesson sequence by
the students will learn or then guides students sharing their work,
practice today. It should through the steps to creating a final product, or
also activate any prior completing the proposed completing an individual
knowledge students have activity. activity that assesses their
of the subject. comprehension of the
concept.
This is a 5-minute routine to end the class session. It should be a reflection on the
day overall and a moment to check in with students about how they have felt
about class today. Every class chooses to have a different Cool Down Routine, and
some choose to change it frequently. Here are a few suggestions:
● What did you learn today? With a graphic organizer like a KWL Chart, or with
the help of a Thinking Routine, have students discuss what they have
learned today and what they would still like to learn.
● Feedback: This is a great opportunity to talk in a gentle way about things
that were done well today and any potential areas of improvement. This not
only means English concepts, but more importantly how well students
followed rules and expectations. Make sure to speak in a general sense
rather than calling out individual students, and talk more about the positive
than the negative. Invite students to do the same.
● 60 Seconds: Randomly choose 5 students to each talk for 60 seconds about
what they accomplished today and how they feel about it.
● Clean Up: Get the class ready for the next session through teamwork.
Parts of the Amco Class
Daily Routine
Including a Daily Routine at the beginning of the class makes students feel secure and
sets the mood for a positive learning experience. Students know what is coming and
what to do. Daily routines help students feel safe and confident because they
understand what is happening, what to expect, and how to react.
The time dedicated to a Daily Routine allows us to:
● establish the beginning of the English lesson, fostering the language switching
process
● set students’ moods, to help them enjoy the class
● provide a secure, stable, and trustworthy environment.
● build character, boost self-esteem and empathy
● improve oral communication
Daily routines must include systematic activities and strategies. They must be carried out
at the beginning of the workday, and they must have enough variation so they do not
become boring to students. Also, the teacher should not be the only one who gives the
Daily Routine. Rather, students should be encouraged to lead the Daily Routine. A
different student can be chosen randomly per day, or can be in charge of an entire week.
For the youngest students, this might take some time and practice, but having a Teacher
Helper is extremely helpful. You’ll see that in no time, your students will be able to do it!
The Daily Routine should always include:
● Greeting every student in a loving and caring way.

● A safe space to express how they feel, what happened before getting to school,
the day before, etc.
● Talking about events from the previous day or that morning, which provides
mental structure and security.
● A review of basic concepts like time, weather, location, numbers (days of the
week, each student’s place in the classroom, number of missing students, etc.)For
older students, you can add more complexity by asking them to share local or
international news, facts or additional information about something related to
the topics they learned in the previous session, etc.
Suggested Daily Routine Sequence:
● greeting
● calendar and date
● special announcements of the day: birthdays, designated helpers, etc.
● weather
● attendance
● Teacher’s Choice: We provide activities in the planning that correspond to
important topics like Growth Mindset, Current Events, Emotional Intelligence, and
Language Functions. You are free to use these activities, or customize this
component of your Daily Routine!
Each teacher’s creativity determines how significant learning is. That is why we
recommend including varied resources in your Daily Routine such as music, a special
character, and any other thing that can make students ease into the Switching Process.
Pre-Activity
This is when the teacher thoughtfully introduces the theme or concept to be taught
during a given session. It should generate interest in what the students will learn or
practice in class. It should also activate any prior knowledge students have of the
subject.
Activity
This is when the teacher guides students to consolidate knowledge and practice the
concept. Students should always be encouraged to produce English, in order to increase
the students’ communicative competence. Activities should:
● Place students in a situation in which they need to speak English.

● Foster students’ motivation and interest while considering their previous
experiences, to make learning more meaningful.
Post-Activity
This is when students apply and review the knowledge they acquired in the session
through quick activities that challenge them to demonstrate what they have learned.
Cool Down
This 5-minute routine ends the day, allowing students to reflect upon what they have
learned. Some cool down activities you can implement in your classroom are:
● reflect on what students learned in class

● ask students to self-assess their performance in class
● have students think about how they can improve on something
● have students
● share studying tips

The Amco Class

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Amco Class

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Amco Class

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Amco Class

The basic class has five parts with different objectives:

One-Cycle Lesson Multiple-Cycles Lesson

Detailed Lesson Sequence

As discussed previously, a Daily Routine is essential for setting the stage of

● Growth Mindset Reflections: discussing the growth mindset quotes in the

Parts of the Amco Class

The time dedicated to a Daily Routine allows us to:

The Daily Routine should always include:

● Greeting every student in a loving and caring way.

Suggested Daily Routine Sequence:

● Place students in a situation in which they need to speak English.

● reflect on what students learned in class

You might also like