Remember, the well-taught lesson is a thing of beauty! It shows your commitment
to the expectation of learning by the students and sends you on your instructional
trip with a thoughtful roadmap.
| Element |
Description |
| Duration |
The timing of the lesson plan is very important. The teacher should estimate
length of time the activity will take. |
| Learner
Outcomes /
Benchmarks |
Before the lesson is prepared, the teacher should have a clear idea
of learner outcomes (benchmarks) to be addressed each day. Ask the question,
“What specifically should the student be able to do, understand,
and care about as a result of the teaching today?”
As the plan unfolds, the teacher must consider possible adaptations,
i.e. extensions/accommodations/differentiations of the lesson plan. This
will include modifying the lesson plans for students with individual and
specific needs. Using various instructional models such as Bloom’s
Taxonomy (examples of this model are included in the Forms for downloading
section), Bernice McCarthy’s 4-mat, or Howard Gardner’s MI
is necessary for differentiating plans and for addressing various learning
styles and student ability. |
| Transition |
Equally as important, is the pacing of the lesson plan. The teacher should
consider the logistical issues that will arise as students move from one
activity to another. Behavioral expectations and procedures must be established
and practiced in order that students know what is expected of them as they
are involved in and move from one activity to another. |
| Standards |
The teacher needs to know what standards of performance are to be expected
and what type of lesson is to be presented, procedures to be followed, and
what students are expected to do. State and Content Standards should be
included here. |
| Daily
Materials
Needed |
The teacher will need to list, from the Unit Materials listing, those
materials that are pertinent to this particular daily lesson. |
| Anticipatory
Set |
This puts the students in a receptive frame of mind. It addresses the
motivation for the lesson. How will the students become enticed to become
active learners? The anticipatory set includes enduring understandings and
essential questions in order to activate the learners' previous knowledge
so that new learning can take place. |
| Pre-
Assessment |
This is based upon the final assessment and what you hope students will
know and be able to do at the end of the daily lesson. Teachers must develop
a repertoire of various assessment strategies and vary them accordingly.
The final unit must include the specific assessment documents/tools. |
| Teaching
the Lesson |
Teaching the lesson includes three parts: input, modeling, and checking
for understanding. During input the teacher provides the information through
lecture, videos, etc. Once the material has been presented, the teacher
uses it to show students examples of what is expected as an end product
of their work. Finally, the teacher determines whether or not the students
have “got it” before proceeding. If students to not appear to
have grasped the material, re-teaching may be necessary. |
| Guided
Practice /
Instructional Strategies |
This is the opportunity for the student to demonstrate grasp of new learning
by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher’s direct
supervision. The teacher moves around the room to determine the level of
mastery and to provide individual help if necessary. |
| Post-
Assessment |
Assess the post-instructional accomplishments of the learners and calculate
student-by-student, or for full classroom, or for a selected group of students
the growth in learning achieved. |
| Closure |
List those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring
a lesson presentation to an appropriate conclusion. The three purposes of
closure are to cue students to the end of a lesson, to help organize student
learning, and to help form the big picture for the student by reviewing
key points. |
| Independent
Practice |
Once students have mastered the content or skill, it is time for reinforcement
practice. It should be provided on a repeating basis. It may be in the form
of homework, group work or individual work in class. |
| Summarize, Evaluate & Reflect |
Summarize, interpret, and consider the gains in academic performance levels
of students in relation to where students were prior to instruction, the
context in which teaching and learning occurred, and the implications of
this analysis for one’s own professional effectiveness and development.
Reflection questions may include How did the class do as a whole? Based
upon the circumstances in which you were teaching, are there any conclusions
you can make? What would you do differently next time you teach this lesson?
What worked well? How did you utilize parental involvement and feedback?
Were all texts and additional resources appropriate? How have you personally
grown as a teacher from this lesson? |
Daily
Lesson Planning Template 
Tips
and Considerations: Note that unit and lesson
planning are like learning to drive; it's very difficult at first, but after
practice, it becomes habitual. After much practice and feedback, you will begin
to design your own format and develop abbreviations, etc. Good teaching is characterized
by good planning, you will always need to spend time planning your lessons.
Do lesson plans for each major preparation you teach. Your students deserve
quality from a professional. Consider the learning you had when you were taught
by someone who was unprepared.