An effective lesson plan demonstrates how a teacher creates objectives for their students and measures how those objectives are mastered. Creating a lesson plan begins with aligning your curriculum with your syllabus and then narrowing the focus to determine which objectives you want your students to meeting within a specific unit of study.
Strong lesson plans are the foundation of an efficient classroom environment for both the instructor and the students. Lesson plans contain several components that can fit into one of three categories: What am I teaching? How am I going to teach it? How will I assess what the students have learned?
Most lesson plans follow a universal structure for instructors to implement essential learning across different curriculum.
Set goals
Create an overview
Manage timelines
Execution
Set goals- Determine which objectives will be addressed within a specific unit of time. Set objectives and ensure action verbs are used that are appropriate for the students’ cognitive level (refer to lectures from Week 3 for objectives)
Create an overview- Having an overarching idea of what you want to teach in a unit plan allows you to determine what essential questions will be addressed, which resources will be used throughout the unit, and which vocabulary words of skills need to be front-loaded prior to beginning individual lesson plans within the unit.
Manage timelines- Duration is a key feature of lesson planning. Formative and summative assessments can be implemented to allow a teacher to determine if a lesson objective needs to be re-taught or revisited within a unit
Ways to execute a well-developed lesson plan- Once goals are set, you will need to address how you will instruct your students and assess their levels of mastery. Students can be audio learners, visual learners, kinesthetic learners, or a combination of all three. It is important to differentiate instruction in a lesson through activities that engage learners and pique their interests.
Keeping in mind that educators are working with a tech-savvy generation, lesson plans that integrate technology engage students’ activity. Technology can be implemented in the classroom in a variety of ways that make learning a more demonstrative and interactive endeavor.
What are key components of a lesson plan?
All lesson plans share several basic tenets that apply universally, regardless of grade-level or content area. Every lesson should contain a clear beginning, middle and end.
Beginning- Goals are introduced
Middle- Students use modeling, guided practice, and active engagement strategies to meet objectives
End- Students’ mastery of the objectives are assessed
A basic format for a lesson plan structure includes:
Title of lecture, content area, and grade level for whom the lesson is written
An overview of how the individual lesson falls under the umbrella of the overall program
Teacher-specific objectives that narrow the focus of the standards specific to your content area and curriculum
Materials and resources used in the lesson, including any integrated technology
Vocabulary words specific to the lesson and learning objectives
Formative assessments used to track students’ progress towards meeting the objectives
While this format serves as a lesson planning guide, it is important to recognize that lesson plans can look different from subject to subject. Lesson plans should be customized depending on the grade level, whether students are at an advanced or remedial level, or any other factors that can help impact students’ abilities to better retain subject matter.
