The Basics of a Good Lesson Plan

A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of a course of instruction. It is sometimes called the learning trajectory for a lesson. A teacher develops a lesson plan to guide the learning. Details of the plan will vary depending on the teacher, school, and district.

Lesson Plans include the goal, or objective, the method, or procedure, and some sort of measurement of how well the goal was reached.

Lesson plans are detailed and include step-by-step- instructions. creating a lesson plan means that the teacher has to set goals for learning, develop activities, and determine the materials that will be used.

The basic components of a lesson plan for middle and high school students are the following:

The set, or introduction, to the lesson. This is the part where the teacher tells the students what they will be learning. Sometimes, the teacher will motivate the students in this part of the lesson, but the main point of the set is to let the kids know what you want them to know by the time that the class is over.

I always have my students write quietly, either freewriting or to a prompt, for ten to fifteen minutes. Because I teach writing, I always allow time for students to write in class. It would seem silly otherwise. 

I encourage students to share their writing with their elbow partners. This part of the lesson takes only five minutes and involves everyone.

I teach minilessons, short and to the point focused skills and strategies lessons. I do not spend more than five minutes on my lesson as the class is about what the students are doing, not what I'm doing.

After the lesson, the students do different types of writing exercises to practice the skill or strategy. This is a great time for informal assessment.

As part of my daily minilesson, I always include a read aloud from a mentor text. Good writers must be exposed to good writers.

My students always finish with a writing assignment that is due the next day.

What are the benefits of a good lesson plan?

It helps you to stay on track.

It helps to prepare for every step of the lesson.

It provides guidance for a substitute.

It helps save time if you recycle your lesson plan.

It helps you achieve your objectives.

It helps you to think in an organized manner.

It inspires you to improve future lessons.

The set outlines what the students will be learning. It provides continuity from previous lessons. It alludes ot familiar concepts and vocabulary. It helps you gauge the level of collective background knowledge of the subject. It activates the students' knowledge base.

One of the first things that you must do is outline your learning objective or objectives. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself when you are determining your objectives:

What is the topic of the lesson?

What do I want my students to learn?

What do I want them to be able to do or understand by the end of class?

What do I want them to take away from this particular lesson?

Once you have determined your objectives, you must decide on what learning activities you will do to teach the lesson. You must decide on the most important concept that you want the students to grasp.

Develop a creative introduction to the topic to stimulate interest and encourage thinking. You can use a variety of approaches to engage students. My personal favorite is the teacher read aloud.

My go-to book for read aloud ideas is The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.

Prepare several different ways of explaining the lesson. You might use visuals, analogies, or real-life experiences. 

You should plan to check for understanding to make sure that students know the material. This will be important for future lessons.

Common Formative Assessment: A Toolkit for Professional Learning Communities at Work 

by Kim Bailey is a wonderful resource for teachers.