The Six Step Lesson Plan

A Framework For Developing Lesson Plans

Step 1 Goals and Objectives

What are the essential questions that will be covered in this lesson? What are the skills or knowledge conveyed? What are the inferences drawn from facts Refer to your Unit backward design and add the specific goals and objectives for this lesson

Step 2 Motivation = Set the Stage

The Motivation activities will provide a necessary plan toward a basic understanding of the issues involved in lesson plan. Before beginning a unit of material, ascertain what the student knows about t he subject matter to be covered. This should be done in a non-graded, non-judgmental, nonthreatening manner. After determining what the student knows, introduce the major concepts that will be covered.

Step 3 The Presentation

Presentation activities are designed to further enhance understanding. In addition to lecturing, the teacher contributes by utilizing manipulatives, visuals, graphic organizers, and various modes of interaction between students. In addition to reading the text and listening to the teacher's lecture, the student takes responsibility for his learning by participating in group-work and sharing his understanding with others.

Step 4 Application
Application activities will lead the students to appreciate the overall themes and ideas in lesson. In order to create further understanding, the student must go beyond rote memorization and demonstrate real-world application of the newly-learned information. This process requires "higher-level critical-thinking skills" which result in ideas generated by the student rather than ideas presented by the teacher or by the text.

Step 5 Evaluation
Good instruction includes checking for student learning. This can be informal--questions that ask students to tell you what they know about the subject now--or formal--tests, worksheets, project presentations, oral reporting, etc.

Step 6 Closure
This gives students the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned, which is important for retention. Summarize what has been learned. Relate it to previous learning. Tell them what they will learn next. Give homework assignments.

Getting Students Motivated

In the first stage of the lesson, students' prior knowledge about a concept is probed. Typical into activities include: Review what they already know. The use of content-related visuals. Reaction journals. Vocabulary previews. Free association or visualization exercises, The end goal of this stage is for students to gain an entree into the topic, recognize the depth of their own prior knowledge, and be better prepared for the new content materials they are about to encounter.

More Set Up
Do you need to build vocabulary? Should you stimulate curiosity or empathy? Is there some background information you can give about the ideas or people in the reading? Should you talk through the article in advance and overview or highlight key concepts? Can you relate material from previous assignments to the new material?

Presentation & more.

In the second step, students encounter the new content, relating it to their discussions of the concepts during the set up stage. This may entail expanding their knowledge base with new facts, ideas, or opinions. Activities that are typically found in this lesson stage include: Demonstrations vocabulary expansion Examples & samples text completion exercises information gap tasks (such as jigsaw reading). The end goal of this stage is for students to practice new skills while demonstrating their comprehension of the basic concepts.

Ask yourself the question: How will your presentation help your students experience and interpret the material?

Relate story/text to personal experiences Record questions to discuss with the group (individual or groups/teams can create questions) Record examples of special or pleasing uses of language, imagery, or character/story development Dramatization Visualization Illustrations Discussion

Keys to Application
In the final stage of the framework, students further demonstrate their comprehension by creatively applying their new knowledge. Such application may take several forms:
Application

of the knowledge to personal experience,to an example, to a real life problem The end goal of this stage is for students to demonstrate both conceptual and skill mastery, and to provide a forum for practice.

More Application

Can they share any new insights or thoughts

theyve had about the material? (individual or group/team) Can students work in groups or teams to think beyond the material, and take further actions? (any applications for new knowledge in the class environment, and/or in the school or community?) Are there extra credit opportunities to offer as enrichment that can meet individual interests or needs?

Motivation Checklist How are you introducing the material? Is your anticipatory set engaging? Does it create interest? Have you posted an agenda for the day? Have you stated the objectives of the
lesson/unit?

Have you given an outline of the unit? Have you stated how you will assess their
learning?

Presentation Checklist Are you reviewing the previous lesson before

you begin a new one? Have you repeated your expectations? Are processes clearly outlined? Are you reinforcing key ideas? Are students practicing new material as they learn it? Do students understand common mistakes and misconceptions about the material? Can students put new learning in context with previous learning?

Application Checklist
Do students see the practical application of the
material?

Have students completed homework that

requires all the material?

Have students received feedback that guides

them in clarifying their understanding?

Can students meet expectations on an

assessment?

Tools for Presenting

real objects and materials manipulatives (drawings, posters, brainstormingclusters, graphs, tables, maps, props, multimedia presentations, storyboards, storymaps) visuals (study-prints, text book-illustrations, overhead-projected prints, reproductions of paintings, and documents) graphic organizers (matrices, Venn diagrams, and webs) opportunities for interaction between all individuals in the classroom (creating a skit and acting it out, co-operative learning, collaborative learning, and student-generated stories based on personal experiences)

Summary
Where are they going?
How will they get there? How will they know when they get there?