WHAT IS A LESSON PLAN??

So what is a lesson plan anyway? II you're a relatively new teacher or someone who is thinking
about becoming one, you've probably heard the term and you may even have a vague idea oI
what it is, however you may also have misconceptions as well. First, let's talk about what a
lesson plan is not.
O test While there may be questions on it, the questions are meant to elicit responses
Irom your students. They aren't meant to test knowledge aIter all, they haven't learned
anything yet.
O A homework assignment gain, this may be part oI a lesson plan. In Iact, as you'll see
as you learn more about them, this is a vital part oI any good lesson plan, but a homework
sheet by itselI is not a lesson plan either.
O An exact document Probably the most common mistake that new teachers make when
they try to write their Iirst lesson plan is that they assume it should have some kind oI
exact Iormula. This is reminiscent oI a book that was once put out providing "lesson
plans" Ior Jewish studies. The book had speciIic questions to ask. Then it would say,
"The person you are speaking to will say this in response." It was laughable because it
was so wildly inaccurate in the real world, but the author honestly believed what they
were writing was not only accurate but helpIul.
lesson plan is:
O A well thought out document. It takes time to write a good lesson plan and any teacher
who tries to throw something together a Iew minutes beIore class is just asking Ior
trouble.
O A guide, but only a guide. good lesson plan gives you rough outlines oI how a lesson
in your classroom should go. It suggests ways oI approaching the problem oI teaching
students about a particular subject and allows Ior enough Ilexibility to give the teacher
the chance to make up her own mind about what to use and not to use.
O A fairly detailed document. good lesson plan will also include a lot oI details,
including inIormation on possible problems and possible solutions that may come up
during the course oI a lesson. It also has step by step instructions to show what to teach
and when.
Someone out there is probably saying to themselves right now, okay, so I get the basics oI what a
lesson plan is and isn't, but could you show me the details? bsolutely! In short, a lesson plan
consists oI Iive main parts. These will be explained in more detail in Iuture articles, but in short
they are: "
. im: The title oI your lesson plan, usually in the Iorm oI a question, such as "What was
the war oI ?"
. Motivation: Something to get the students excited. It could be a question, Ior example,
"How would you Ieel iI someone invaded the country and burned down the White
House?"
3. Plan: Step by step instructions to introduce the subject.
4. Homework or Independent Work: This one is pretty selI explanatory.
5. Follow up: What will you do in a Iuture lesson to reenIorce the lesson?

Home ~ Teacher Resource ~ Lesson Plans ~ How Do You Write Lesson Plan?
7.
Writing a lesson plan is both complicated and easy. It's complicated because there is no one perIect way to write a
lesson plan, but it's also easy because you know yourselI and what works Ior you in a classroom. s we said in a
previous article, a lesson plan has Iive major points (there are others, as you will see in a Iuture article, however
these are basic core that any lesson plan must have). Let's look at each one and explain the why and the how oI
writing them.
Aim: This is usually in the Iorm oI a question and is oIten written as a question. Some teachers take this to the
extreme and write everything in the Iorm oI a question. For example, some teachers will write a lesson plan where
they review material Ior the test and write as the aim, "How can we achieve high test scores?" While this may be in
keeping with the technical rules oI a lesson plan, this is one oI those times when a teacher must be Ilexible and
simply oIIer a more coherent title. There is nothing wrong with a non question title, such as "Test review." One
teacher I know likes to write the aim Ior his tests as "high test scores."
That said, an aim should ideally be a question. The reason is curiosity. Seeing a question makes us want to answer it.
That's why television shows and books are so successIul. They work by making you ask questions who killed the
maid? (answer: the butler did it!). Children in a classroom are no diIIerent. They need to have a question to answer
in order to get themselves interested. However, that's only the beginning.
Motivation: This is one the trickiest things Ior teachers to come up with. You want something that will grab kids
attention and get them to think. The motivation could be anything. It could be a leading question which shows why
they should care about the question in your aim, it could be a demonstration (Ior example, a science teacher might
show her students what happens when you combine Mentos with Diet Cokey or a math teacher might show oII a
cool math trick). This is very much up to you. Find what works Ior you and writing your lesson plan will be easy.
Plan: OI all the parts oI the lesson plan, this is by Iar the easiest Ior teachers to do since this is exactly what you
signed on Ior to instruct. Here, you lay out step by step exactly what you will talk about in your lesson plan. The
science teacher might discuss what her students are actually eating when they chew on a Menots candy and what
they're drinking when they have a can oI Diet Coke. The math teacher might show exactly how that cool math trick
is done and why it's got applications Ior other math problems he wants to show.
Independent Practice: Independent practice is a tricky part oI writing a lesson plan and one we'll revisit throughout
this series. It shouldn't just be a rehash oI what the kids learned in school that day. Instead, it should ideally be
something to help them remember the material and expand on it.
Follow up: This part oI the lesson plan is usually Iairly short. Basically, it's what you plan to do next. The science
teacher might build on the Diet Coke and Mentos Ior example and show what happens to a rusty nail in Coke, asking
the students why that is. math teacher might show how the previous lesson can be built on to do even more
complex math equations.

Home ~ Teacher Resource ~ Lesson Plans ~ What re The Major Things To Consider When Creating Lesson
Plan?

When writing a lesson plan, there are a Iew important things to take into consideration: "
Is it interesting? Let's Iace it you're likely speaking to an audience oI bored kids who want to be anywhere but in
your classroom. sk your selI, "What I want to be in the audience?" While you do have a curriculum you need to
cover, there are diIIerent ways oI covering that same curriculum.
a. You could Ior example oIIer a really boring speech explaining that the War oI was precipitated by the
embargo oI merican ships by the British navy and the impressments oI her sailors into the British Navy. You could
do that iI you wanted your students to Iall asleep and iI you wanted to sound like you were quoting an encyclopedia
that is. Or. . .
b. You could relate the war to things happening today. Show a video oI the Somali pirates who have disrupted
shipping lanes and taken people, including several mericans, prisoner. sk your students what they think oI that. Is
it scary? Does it sound like something that's right or a good thing? Then relate it back to the War oI . Paint a
picture Ior your students. "Imagine you're a sailor at 5 years old. Your ship has been boarded and you're being
herded like cattle by men with bayonets. You know you'll probably never see your Iamily again. You wonder iI your
country, the United States will be able to do anything to help you." Have the kids act it out themselves. Suddenly,
they're not just passively listening to an encyclopedia. They're living through history. nd they're actually engaged.
Does it cover the facts? It's possible to get too caught up in the drama oI a reenactment and to Iorget that you still
need to teach a lesson to your students. Make sure that you work in everything they'll need to know. OIten, you will
not be able to do this just according to what you think. Consider the Iollowing:
a. Does your school have standardized tests across departments? II so, you need to make sure you cover the same
material on your lesson plan that other teachers are covering. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how much your students
enjoy the lesson, they simply will not know what they need to know.
b. Do your students need to pass a State or National test? In New York State Ior example, high school students are
required to pass a test called the Regents Exam. It is administered by the New York State Board oI Regents and has a
speciIic curriculum your students must know.
Will it fit in your allotted time? s important as it is to create a meaningIul lesson Ior your students, it is equally
important to keep in mind that you will typically have just 45 minutes to get your point across. You should also
watch Ior these issues:
a. Getting settled. No teacher likes to waste time in class, but the reality is that it takes a Iew minutes Ior kids to get
settled and ready to learn. Make sure that you allow time in your lesson plan Ior this and make sure you have
something Ior them to do to get them settled quickly.
b. OII topic teachable moments. II you really want your students to get the most out oI your class, you need to
account Ior the unpredictable "teachable moments," when kids ask a great question which leads to a tangent. Just
don't get carried away with them.

Home ~ Teacher Resource ~ Lesson Plans ~ Common Mistakes When Making Lesson Plans

Every new teacher will be Iaced with the prospect oI preparing lesson plans Ior his or her classroom. Because oI this,
there are bound to be things you'll do wrong when writing a lesson plan. Fear not however. It's easy to spot the
mistakes early on and correct them. Here's are some common mistakes when making lesson plans:
O Planning too much. Don't squeeze an entire semesters' worth oI work into a single lesson. Realize that there
is a limit to how much you can teach in the 45 minutes you have available and be prepared to split lessons
into several parts iI there isn't going to be enough time to cover it all.

O eing too rigid: This section could just as easily be titled, expect the unexpected. In essence, when you write
a lesson plan, you need to leave yourselI enough Ilexibility so that your students will be able to ask questions
as needed and understand things in their own way. Don't insist that you must Iollow an exact structure iI
things don't go that way. Build Ilexibility into your lesson plans so that you can deal with the issues that may
arise.

O Planning too little: Sometimes, you plan a lesson, you go through the whole lesson, look at your watch and
realize you've got an extra 5 minutes leIt until class is over. Whatever you do, do not simply announce that
this is Iree time because the lesson is over and the kids can do what they want.
First, your kids will perceive you as unproIessional iI you can't properly plan a lesson and it will make it harder Ior
you to teach a lesson next time. Second, the next teacher to come into that room will hate you Ior getting the kids
riled up with so much Iree time.
Instead, plan some extra material you can teach or have the kids do when the lesson ends. II you don't use it, no
problem it can be incorporated into a Iuture lesson. However, iI you do Iind you need it, you'll be thanking your
lucky stars that you've got it ready. You might want to check out our "Title: Only 5 Minutes LeIt Lessons" Ior help
in these situations.
O Planning too far in advance: Some teachers love to plan their entire year and know that on February 7
they'll be teaching this lesson and on March , that lesson will be taught. While you may have broad strokes
planned, understand that each class will progress individually and in some cases, you may need to go slower
or Iaster to accommodate their needs. You should also look through the lesson you wrote months ago and
make sure it covers things that came up in class in the last couple oI days.
O Not planning in advance: There are some teachers who wander into a classroom Iive minutes beIore a
lesson and start writing out what they want to talk about while the kids are getting seated. This is just as bad
an idea as planning too Iar in advance. You need to walk into a classroom prepared to talk about your lesson,
knowing well in advance what you will cover. Think oI yourselI like a doctor. II you walked into a doctor's
oIIice expecting him to be prepared to examine you, how would you Ieel iI he Iirst calls his nurse to ask her
to bring him a stethoscope and tongue depressors. "Oh, and by the way nurse, I need some lollypops Ior my
patient while I get ready." Your students would expect nothing less Irom you than you expect Irom your
doctor. Give it to them.
What to Consider When Writing a Lesson Plan
First Steps
The Iollowing should be considered Ior lesson planning:
) Know who your students are. Know ability levels; backgrounds; interest levels; attention
spans; ability to work together in groups; prior knowledge and learning experiences; special
needs or accommodations; and learning preIerences. This may not happen as quickly as you
would like, but it is important Ior designing instruction that will meet the needs oI your students.
That's key in successIul teaching and learning!
) Know your content. It is important Ior you to research the subject matter that you will be
teaching. You should also utilize curriculum guides published by the state in which you teach
and the local school district that employs you. It is also a good idea to know the national
standards and state standards that drive curriculum in each subject area that you are responsible
Ior. You can visit web sites that are devoted to curriculum Irameworks and that will give you a
lot oI inIormation relative to your subject area. Technology.com has a large number oI links
that will help you to search Ior inIormation relative to the subject matter you are employed to
teach. One link that can help is as Iollows:
http://www.teachnology.com/teachers/subjectmatter/
3) Know the materials that are available to help you teach Ior success. Take and keep an
inventory oI the materials and resources that are available to you as a teacher. For example:
technology, soItware, audio/visuals, teacher mentors, community resources, equipment,
manipulatives, library resources, local guest speakers, volunteers, or any materials that can assist
you in teaching.
PIanning For Instruction
Content List the important Iacts, key concepts, skills, or key vocabulary terms that you
intend to cover. You can also prepare an outline with key learning outcomes. Remember to reIer
to your curriculum guides. State and national standards can be Iound at:http://www.teach
nology.com/teachers/standards/
Goals IdentiIy the aims or outcomes that you want your students to achieve as a result oI the
lesson you plan to teach. Goals are end products and are sometimes broad in nature. Goals relate
directly to the knowledge and skills you identiIy in part one: content.
3 Objectives IdentiIy the objectives that you hope your students will achieve in the tasks that
will engage them in the learning process. Objectives are behavioral in nature and are speciIic to
perIormance. Objectives tell what you will be observing in student perIormance and describe
criteria by which you can measure perIormance against. In many ways, objectives represent
indicators oI perIormance that tell you, the teacher, to what extent a student is progressing in any
given task. Instructional objectives can start with a "given" that describes a condition that enables
your students to perIorm any given task. "given" could be an activity, a speciIic set oI
directions, materials needed to perIorm a task, an assignment, or anything that sets up a condition
Ior students to engage in the task being observed and measured Ior perIormance. The heart oI the
objective is the task that the student is expected to perIorm. It is probably one oI the most
important parts oI the lesson plan because it is student centered and outcomes based. Objectives
can range Irom easy to hard tasks depending on student abilities.
3a Materials List the materials and resources that will be needed Ior the lesson to be
successIul. In this case, you should also list technology resources needed to achieve objectives.
4 Introduction Describe or list a Iocusing event or attention grabber that will motivate your
students to want to pay attention and learn about what you plan to teach. This will depend on the
ages and stages and oI your students and will rely on students' interests and backgrounds.
Remember, getting your students to attend and respond to your introduction will set the stage Ior
the rest oI the lesson.
5 Development Describe how you plan to model or explain what you want your students to do.
Modeling the learning behaviors you expect oI your students is a powerIul development tool and
provides demonstration that students can then imitate or practice on their own. During
development, models oI teaching are used to Iacilitate student learning. Models can include
direct instruction, inquiry, inIormation processing strategies, or cooperative learning strategies.
More inIormation on models oI teaching can be Iound on the Iollowing link:
http://www.teachnology.com/teachers/methods/models/
6 Practice List or describe ways in which you will provide opportunities Ior your students to
practice what you want them to learn. The more opportunities you provide, the better chance
they have to master the expected outcomes. These opportunities are inclassroom assignments or
tasks that give you, the teacher, the chance to guide and monitor progress. There are tons oI
activities that you can download Irom the net; Technology.com provides a comprehensive
source oI links to activities Ior all subject areas. Go to the Teacher Resources section oI the site
and click on lesson plans, quick activities, etc.
http://www.teachnology.com/teachers/
Independent Practice List or describe ways to provide opportunities Ior your students to
complete assignments to measure progress against the goal oI instruction. These assignments are
meant to give teachers the chance to determine whether students have truly mastered the
expected outcomes. Remember to only plan Ior tasks that you believe students can accomplish
without your guidance.
8 Accommodations- List or describe ways that you will diIIerentiate instruction according to
students' needs. This can include any curricular adaptations that are needed to meet special needs
students. For more on diIIerentiating instruction, go to:
http://www.teachnology.com/litined/diIinstruction/
For more ideas on serving the needs oI special education students, go to:
http://www.teachnology.com/teachers/specialed/
9 Checking For Understanding List or describe ways that you will check Ior understanding.
ssessment and ongoing Ieedback are necessary Ior monitoring progress. This can include
questioning, conIerencing, or journal writing/reIlection writing. Technology.com has a rubric
generator that can help develop a checklist Ior assessing ongoing student progress.
Go to: http://www.teachnology.com/webtools/rubrics/
Closure List or describe ways that you can wrap up a lesson. This can include telling
students the most important concepts that were covered in the lesson, asking them what they
thought were the key concepts (or what they learned), or preparing them Ior the next lesson
building upon what was presented. The key is to leave your students with an imprint oI what you
hoped to achieve in any given lesson.
Evaluation List or describe ways that you will assess or measure student success in
achieving the outcomes that you planned to reach. This can include a variety oI ways to evaluate
student perIormance. The Iollowing links can help:
http://www.teachnology.com/currenttrends/alternativeassessment/
http://www.teachnology.com/teachers/testing/
Teacher Reflection This section is to be completed aIter lesson. It represents what you
think worked, or what did not work, and why. It is meant to give you some insight into practice
and will hopeIully help you to make adjustments and modiIications where necessary.




Home ~ Teacher Resource ~ Lesson Plans ~ 5 Tips For Creating EIIective Lesson Plans

s we've said in other articles in this series, creating an eIIective lesson plan is actually a pretty easy and straight
Iorward process. It doesn't require you to be a rocket scientist (unless you are teaching a class on rocket science, in
which case it could be incredibly helpIul), however it does require you to think about what you want to accomplish
and to plan accordingly. ThereIore, here are Iive tips you need to know in order to create eIIective lesson plans:
O Think the lesson through in your head. Creating an eIIective lesson plan means exactly that planning.
Take the time to think about what it is you want to accomplish with this lesson plan and what your students
should know in the end. Some teachers actually include this as part oI their lesson plan and call it "result."
This is not really a necessary part oI a lesson plan unless you hope to oIIer your plans to others. That's
because you (hopeIully) know the result you want beIore you start. However, writing it out can sometimes be
helpIul iI you want to organize your thoughts.
O Plan for distraction. We've said this beIore, but it bears repeating. Think about questions that may come up
during class and be prepared to answer them. II you are discussing the chemical reaction that happens when
Mentos and Diet Coke are mixed, be prepared Ior someone to ask iI other common household items could do
the same thing. Be prepared also to warn your students why certain things should not attempted at home
(unless you enjoy irate parents calling to scream at you aIter their Persian rug was ruined by little Johnny
running an experiment in the living room).

O eep your eye on the clock. Time yourselI realistically so you know how long each part oI your lesson plan
is likely to take. Then add about 3 minutes to each section. This is simple logic. You are bound to have
things happen to distract you in class, whether it's the kid who shows up late and needs to make a show out oI
it, or the kid who is brainy and asks more complex questions than the rest oI the class is likely to understand
or care about. t the same time. . .

O Have three different end points built into your lesson. While it's important to make sure your material will
not overrun the clock, it's equally important not to end too early. The easiest way to do this is to have several
diIIerent end points. This way, you can keep an eye on the clock as you're actually teaching and you'll be able
to stop when you need to or continue on iI need be.
O Plan effective homework. We touched on this beIore. Homework should not be pure rote memorization.
Instead, it should stretch the child's imagination and make them really think about the lesson. Going back to
the Mentos and Diet Coke, have them look on the Internet to learn about other chemical reactions that may
happen when common household items are mixed. This will get them excited and reenIorce what the
learned in school.