LESSON
PLANS




LESSON PLANS

DEVELOPING A LESSON PLAN

HOW TO MAKE A LESSON PLAN

LIST OF LESSON PLAN SUBJECTS

LESSON PLANS LINKS



BACK TO TOP



SECTION 1



LESSON
PLAN




A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description
of the course of instruction for one class. A daily
lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class
instruction. Details will vary depending on the
preference of the teacher, subject being covered,
and the need and/or curiosity of children.

There may be requirements mandated by the school
system regarding the plan.

A well-developed lesson plan reflects interests and
needs of students. It incorporates best practices
for the educational field.

The lesson plan correlates with the teacher's
philosophy of education, which is what the teacher
feels is the purpose of educating the students.






BACK TO TOP



SECTION 2



DEVELOPING
A
LESSON
PLAN




While there are many formats for a lesson plan, most lesson plans
contain some or all of these elements, typically in this order:



Title of the lesson

Time required to complete the lesson

List of required materials


List of objectives, which may be behavioral objectives (what the student
can do at lesson completion) or knowledge objectives (what the student
knows at lesson completion)

The set (or lead-in, or bridge-in) that focuses students on the lesson's
skills or concepts—these include showing pictures or models, asking
leading questions, or reviewing previous lessons

An instructional component that describes the sequence of events that make
up the lesson, including the teacher's instructional input and guided
practice the students use to try new skills or work with new ideas

Independent practice that allows students to extend skills or knowledge on
their own

A summary, where the teacher wraps up the discussion and answers questions

An evaluation component, a test for mastery of the instructed skills or
concepts—such as a set of questions to answer or a set of instructions
to follow

Analysis component the teacher uses to reflect on the lesson itself —such
as what worked, what needs improving

A continuity component reviews and reflects on content from the previous
lesson


A well-developed lesson plan reflects interests and needs of students.
It incorporates best practices for the educational field. The lesson
plan correlates with the teacher's philosophy of education, which is
what the teacher feels is the purpose of educating the students.



Lesson Plan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesson_plan



BACK TO TOP



SECTION 3



HOW TO
MAKE A
LESSON
PLAN




Making an effective lesson plans takes time, diligence, and an understanding
of your students' goals and abilities. The goal, as with all teaching, is to
motivate the students to take in what you are teaching and to retain as much
as possible. Here are some ideas that will help you get the most out of your
class.




Method 1 of 3:

Creating the Basic Structure



1. Know your objective.

At the beginning of every lesson, write your lesson plan goal at the top.
It should be incredibly simple. Something like, "Students will be able to
identify different animal body structures that enable eating, breathing,
moving, and thriving." Basically, it's what your students can do after
you're done with them! If you want to do a bit extra, add how they might
do this (through video, games, flashcards, etc.).

•If you're working with very young students, you may have more basic aims
like "Improving reading or writing skills." It can be skill-based or
conceptual. See the related wikiHow on how to write an educational objective
for more specific information.



2. Write your overview.

Use broad strokes to outline the big ideas for the class. For example, if your
class is about Shakespeare's Hamlet, your overview might include covering where
in the Shakespearean canon "Hamlet" resides; how factual the history described
might be; and how themes of desire and subterfuge might relate to current events.

•This depends on the length of your class. We'll cover about half a dozen basic
steps to any lesson, all of which should be included in your overview. You're
welcome to have more, however.



3. Plan your timeline.

If there's a lot to cover in a fixed amount of time, break your plan into sections
that you can speed up or slow down to accommodate changes as they happen.
We'll use a 1-hour class as an example.

•1:00-1:10: Warm up. Bring class into focus and recap yesterday's discussion on
great tragedies; relate it to Hamlet.

•1:10-1:25: Present information. Discuss Shakespearean history briefly, focusing on
his creative period 2 years before and after Hamlet.

•1:25-1:40: Guided practice. Class discussion regarding major themes in the play.

•1:40-1:55: Freer practice. Class writes single paragraph describing current event in
Shakespearean terms. Individually encourage bright students to write 2 paragraphs,
and coach slower students.

•1:55-2:00: Conclusion. Collect papers, assign homework, dismiss class.



4. Get to know your students.

Identify clearly who you are going to educate. What is their learning style (visual,
auditory, tactile or a combination)? What might they already know, and where might
they be deficient? Focus your plan to fit the overall group of students you have in
class, and then make modifications as necessary to account for students with
disabilities, those who are struggling or unmotivated, and those who are gifted.

•Odds are you'll be working with a pile of extroverts and introverts. Some students
will benefit more from working alone while others will thrive in pair work or in groups.
Knowing this will help you format activities to different interaction preferences.

•You'll also wind up having a few students that know just about as much as you do on the
topic (unfortunately!) and some that, while smart, look at you like you're speaking
Neptunian. If you know who these kids are, you'll know how to pair them up and divide
them (to conquer!).



5. Use multiple student
interaction patterns.


Some students do well on their own, others in pairs, and yet others in big groups. So long
as you're letting them interact and build off each other, you're doing your job. But since
each student is different, try to allow opportunities for all types of interactions. Your
students (and the cohesion of the class) will be better for it!

•Really, any activity can be manipulated to be done separately, in pairs, or in groups. If
you have ideas already mapped out, see if you can revamp them at all to mix it up. It often
just encompasses finding more pairs of scissors!



6. Address a variety of
learning styles.


You're bound to have some students that can't sit through a 25-minute video and others who
can't be bothered to read a two-page excerpt from a book. Neither is dumber than the other,
so do them a service by switching up your activities to utilize every student's abilities.

•Every student learns differently. Some need to see the info, some need to hear it, and
others need to literally get their hands on it. If you've spent a great while talking,
stop and let them talk about it. If they've been reading, come up with a hands-on activity
to put their knowledge to use. They'll get less bored, too!




Method 2 of 3:

Planning Out the Stages



1. Warm them up.

At the beginning of every class, the students' brains aren't primed yet for the content.
If someone just started explaining open heart surgery, you'd probably be all, "Woah, woah.
Slow down. Go back to "take the scalpel."" Ease them into it. That's what the warm up is
for -- it not only gauges their knowledge, but it gets them into your groove.

•The warm up can be a simple game (possibly about vocab on the topic to see where their
current knowledge lies (or what they remember from last week!) or it can be questions, a
mingle, or pictures used to start a conversation. Whatever it is, get them talking. Get
them thinking about the topic (even if you don't explicitly say it yet).



2. Present the information.

That's just about as straightforward as it gets, huh? However your format, you need to
start with the information presented. It could be a video, a song, text, or even a concept.
It's the very core the entire lesson is based on. Without this, the students will go nowhere.

•Depending on your students' levels, you may have to go pretty bare bones. Think about how
far back you need to go. The sentence "He put the coat on the rack" makes no sense if you
don't know what "coat" and "rack" mean. Give them the very basic concept and let the next
lesson (or two) cultivate it.

•You may find it useful to flat out tell the students what they'll be learning. That is,
give them your objective. You can't make it any clearer than that! That way, they'll walk
away knowing what they learned that day. No two ways around it!



3. Do a guided practice.

Now that the students have received the information, you need to devise an activity that
allows them to put it into action. However, it's still new to them, so start off with an
activity that has training wheels. Think worksheets, matching, or using pictures. You
wouldn't write an essay before you do a fill-in-the-blank!

•If you have time for two activities, all the better. It's a good idea to test their
knowledge on two different levels -- for example, writing and speaking (two very
different skills). Try to incorporate different activities for students that have
different aptitudes.



4. Check their work and
assess their progress.


After the guided practice, assess your students. Do they seem to understand what you've
presented so far? If so, great. You can move on, possibly adding more difficult elements
of the concept or practicing harder skills. If they're not getting it, go back to the
information. How do you need to present it differently?

•If you've been teaching the same group for a while, odds are you know the students who
might struggle with certain concepts. If that's the case, pair them with stronger students
to keep the class going. You don't want certain students left behind, but you also don't
want the class held up, waiting for everyone to get on the same level.



5. Do a freer practice.

Now that the students have the basics, allow them to exercise their knowledge on their own.
That doesn't mean you leave the room! It just means they get to do a more creative endeavor
that lets their minds really wrap around the information you've presented to them. How can
you let their minds flourish?

•It all depends on the subject at hand and the skills you want to use. It can be anything
from a 20-minute puppet making project to a two-week long dalliance with the oversoul
in a heated debate on transcendentalism.



6. Leave time for questions.

If you have a class with ample time to cover the subject matter, leave ten minutes or so at the
end for questions. This could start out as a discussion and morph into more probing questions
on the issue at hand. Or it could just be time for clarification -- both will benefit your
students.

•If you have a group full of kids that can't be paid to raise their hands, turn them amongst
themselves. Give them an aspect of the topic to discuss and 5 minutes to converse about it.
Then bring the focus to the front of the class and lead a group discussion. Interesting points
are bound to pop up!



7. Conclude the lesson concretely.

In a sense, a lesson is like a conversation. If you just stop it, it seems like it's left hanging
in mid-air. It's not bad...it's just sort of a strange, uncomfortable feeling. If time allots for
it, sum up the day with the students. It's a good idea to literally show them they've learned
something! •Take five minutes to go over concepts for the day. Ask them concept-checking
questions(not introducing new information) to reiterate what the both of you have done and
gained from the day. It's sort of a full-circle type of thing, bookending your work!




Method 3 of 3:

Being Prepared



1. If you're nervous,
script it out.


New teachers will find solace in scripting out a lesson. While this takes way more time than
a lesson should, if it would help you, do it. It may ease your nerves if you know exactly
what questions you want to ask and where you want the conversation to go. •As you teach, do
this less and less. Eventually, you'll be able to go in with practically nothing at all. You
shouldn't be spending more time planning and writing out than you are delivering! Just use
this as an initial training device.



2. Allow for wiggle room.

You've written out your timeline to the minute, right? Fantastic -- but know that's only really
for reference. You're not going to say, "Kids! It's 1:15! STOP EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING."
That's not really how teaching works. While you should try to stick to this plan within reason,
you'll need to allow yourself some wiggle room.

•If you find yourself running over, know what you can and cannot scratch. What must you cover
in order for the children to learn most? What is just fluff and time killers? On the other side
of the coin -- if you have time left over, have another activity in your sleeve to pull out if
need be.



3. Over-plan the class.

Knowing that you have plenty to do is a much better problem than not having enough. Even though
you have a timeline, plan on the underside. If something might take 20 minutes, allow it 15. You
never know what your students will just whiz through! •The easiest thing to do is to come up with
a quick concluding game or discussion. Throw the students together and have them discuss their
opinions or ask questions.



4. Make it so a substitute
could understand.


On the off chance something happens and you can't teach the lesson, you'll want to have a plan
someone else could understand. The other side of this is if you write it in advance and forget,
it'll be easier to jog your memory if it's clear.

•There are many templates you can find online -- or ask other teachers what format they use. If
you stick to one it'll be better for your brain, too. The more consistencies, the better!



5. Form a back-up plan.

In your teaching career, you're going to have days where students whiz through your plan and leave
you dumbfounded. You'll also have days where tests got moved, half the class showed up, or the video
you had planned got eaten by the DVD player. When this day rears its ugly head, you gotta have a
back-up plan.

•Most veteran teachers have a handful of lesson plans under their belt that they can whip out at any
time. If you had a particularly successful lesson on Punnett squares, keep that material for later.
You can turn it into a different lesson with another class about evolution, natural selection, or
genes depending on the next class' ability. Or you could have a lesson on Beyoncé up your sleeve
(think the civil or women's rights movement, progression of pop music, or just a music lesson for
a Friday afternoon). Whichever.




Tips


•After the class ends, review your plan and how it worked in
actuality. What will you do differently next time?

•Preview new material with the students and give them their study goals
a week or two in advance.

•Be prepared to divert from the lesson plan. Plan how to guide the class's
attention back to you when it wanders.

•Remember to match what you are teaching with your state or local school
district standards.

•If lesson plans aren't your thing, consider the Dogme teaching method. It
involves no textbooks and allows the students to take control.

•Be clear that you will expect them to respond to questions in class by a
certain date.



How to Make a Lesson Plan
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Lesson-Plan



How to Create
a Lesson Plan
for Elementary School

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Lesson-Plan-for-Elementary-School




BACK TO TOP



SECTION 4



LIST
OF
LESSON
PLAN
SUBJECTS




Arts and Humanities
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/arts/

Health
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/health/

Holidays
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/holidays/

English Language Arts
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/language_arts/

Literature
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/literature/

Math
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/math/

Music Education
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/music/

Physical Education
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/physical_ed/

Science
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/science/

Social Studies
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/history/

Web Quests
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/computing/web_quests/

World Languages
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/languages/

Emergency Plans For Teachers
http://www.teach-nology.com/gold/new/emergencylessons.html

Worksheets Club
http://www.teach-nology.com/gold/worksheets.html

Instant Worksheet Maker
http://www.teach-nology.com/platinum/



Your Favorite Lessons:


Phonics
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/language_arts/phonics/

Reading
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/language_arts/reading/

Vocabulary
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/language_arts/vocab/

Weather
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/science/earth_sciences/weather/

Writing
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/language_arts/writing/



BACK TO TOP



SECTION 5



LESSON
PLANS
LINKS




ALI Units of Practice
http://ali.apple.com/ali/uops.shtml

Ed Helper
http://www.edhelper.com/

Elementary Lesson Plans
http://teachers.net/lessonplans/grades/elementary/

Elementary Lesson Plans
http://www.elementary-teacher-resources.com/elementary-lesson-plans.html

English to go
http://www.english-to-go.com/

English Grammar
http://www.grammarmechanics.com/

Free Astronomy Curricula
http://www.digitaliseducation.com/curricula.html

Free Lessons
http://www.crf-usa.org/lessons.html

Free Lessons for History,
Government, Civics Teachers

http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/page.aspx?pid=461



BACK TO TOP



Free Lesson Plans
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplans.jsp

Free Lesson Plans
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/

Free Lesson Plans
http://www.peacefulsolution.org/curriculum/products/sample_lessons.html

Free Lesson Plans
http://www.teachercreated.com/lessons/

Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
http://www.forlessonplans.com/

Free Technology for Teachers
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

iCivics
http://www.icivics.org/

K12 Lesson Plans
http://www.k12lessonplans.com/

Learning Through Listening
http://www.learningthroughlistening.org/

Lesson Planning
http://resources.opened.io/plan-lessons/

Lesson Planning
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/lesson-planning



BACK TO TOP



Lesson Plans and Activities
http://k6educators.about.com/od/lessonplanheadquarters/

Lesson Plans.com
http://www.lessonplans.com/

lesson plan 101.com
http://ww2.lessonplan101.com/?folio=435329566&bkt=10279&gkwrf=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wikihow.com%2FMake-a-Lesson-Plan

Lesson Plans for Teachers
http://www.lessonplans.com/

Lesson Plan Library
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/index.cfm

Lesson Plans Page
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

School Express.com
http://www.schoolexpress.com/

News English Lessons
http://www.newsenglishlessons.com/

Performance Education
http://www.performance-education.com/

Teachable Moment
http://www.teachablemoment.org/

Teach HUB
http://www.teachhub.com/

Think Finity
http://www.thinkfinity.org/

Writing Lesson Plans
http://www.education.msu.edu/te/Elementary/Current-Students/Writing-Lesson-Plans.asp



BACK TO TOP



Mendeley
https://www.mendeley.com/?interaction_required=true




Facts mgt
https://factsmgt.com/




ESchool
Today

http://www.eschooltoday.com/




Cronodon
https://cronodon.com/index.html




BACK TO TOP



Edutopia
https://www.edutopia.org/




Fact-Checking
https://www.poynter.org/category/fact-checking/




E-Answers
http://e-answers.adec.edu/




EDUCATE
YOURSELF

http://educate-yourself.org/




BACK TO TOP



BIG
THINK

https://bigthink.com/




Creatrix
Magazine

http://www.creatrixmag.com/




ANY
DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN

https://anydifferencebetween.com/




Know it
all.org

http://www.knowitall.org/




BACK TO TOP



CHILD INDEX

EDUCATION INDEX


HOME

E-MAIL