5.1  How do I create a lesson from the OpenWASH modules?

There is no set approach for delivering the content in a lesson. The structure of your lesson – what you teach, the materials that you use – is likely to depend on a range of factors in your institution.

However, the OpenWASH team believes that you will have the most success in using the materials if you do the following:

• Base each lesson on one study session. We have assumed a two-hour lesson time, so you may need to adapt this. For example, for one-hour lessons, you could split one study session into two halves, or you could select any particularly challenging or interesting parts and leave other parts for students to read outside the classroom.
• Make sure you are completely familiar with the material in the study session and have an understanding of how it fits into the module as a whole before the lesson.
• Consider what you want students to focus on during the teaching session and what you may want students to work on outside the lesson (either before or after the teaching session).
• Take sections of the core content and turn them into short talks lasting approximately 10–15 minutes. You probably need three or four of these short talks for a two-hour lesson. These will work best if there is an activity or exercise between each talk that will keep students engaged.
• Develop activities and exercises that relate the topics to your location and relate to the students’ own experiences. Incorporate these between your short talks on the core content.
• If you have the facilities, you could produce accompanying PowerPoint slides that you can put up on a screen, or give students handouts. Alternatively, make a list of the key ideas and concepts that you can write on a board and talk through in the class.