How to Build a Lesson
Plan
A lesson plan
is an instructional planning tool utilized by the teacher, administrators,
parents and other educational professionals. The assignments that you prepare
for this course will all have to be documented with a lesson plan.
They should minimally contain the following sections, which serve the purposes
specified:
-
Objective(s)
An action statement - what
the student will be able to do as a result of the lesson (from the course
curriculum or teacher developed)
-
Standard(s) of Learning
Designates correlation with
specific Standards
of Learning (from SOL that is for the course or related to what
is being covered in the course - e.g. an English SOL applies to other courses
as well)
-
Materials
Provides a list of all required
equipment, instructional materials and supplies (developed by teacher)
-
Activitie(s)
Specifies what will be done
by the students in the lesson (from curriculum guide or teacher developed)
-
Procedure
Provides "detailed descriptions"
of the specific activities that will be conducted to support the lesson
objective(s) (Teacher developed outline or narrative format)
-
Assignment(s)
Lists outside work (homework)
that will be performed by the student to support the objective(s) (teacher
developed, or from course text)
-
Evaluation
Describes the method evaluation
that will be used to assess student progress (could be from course text,
curriculum materials, or teacher developed)
The format
required by individual schools will vary wildly. Schools run the
gamut from very strict and specific requirements to very loose and open
conditions for lesson planning, but all require teachers to maintain plans.
This can be a powerful tool for the conscientious teacher, allowing you
to document your approach to the instruction that you present. Upon
reflection you may find that the planning you do helps you to solve problems
with pacing student learning and modifying the presentation of content
to fit the needs of a particular class.
Example Kindergarten Lesson
on Alphabet
Recognition
Example Eighth Grade Lesson
on Determining
the Sugar Content of Chewing Gum