How to Develop a Lesson Plan

We have received several questions regarding how to write a good lesson plan. We went ahead and asked our experts, did some research, and have included some tips and guidelines below. 

Then begin to think about each of the following categories which form the organization of the plan. While planning, use the questions below to guide you during each stage.

Goals

Goals determine purpose, aim, and rationale for what you and your students will engage in during class time.  Use this section to express the intermediate lesson goals that draw upon previous plans and activities and set the stage by preparing students for future activities and further knowledge acquisition.  The goals are typically written as broad educational or unit goals adhering to State or National curriculum standards.

What are the broader ives, aims, or goals of the unit plan/curriculum? 
What are your goals for this unit? 
What do you expect students to be able to do by the end of this unit?

ives

This section focuses on what your students will do to acquire further knowledge and skills. The ives for the daily lesson plan are drawn from the broader aims of the unit plan but are achieved over a well defined time period.

What will students be able to do during this lesson? 
Under what conditions will students" performance be accomplished? 
What is the degree or criterion on the basis of which satisfactory attainment of the ives will be judged? 
How will students demonstrate that they have learned and understood the ives of the lesson?

Prerequisites

Prerequisites can be useful when considering the readiness state of your students.  Prerequisites allow you, and other teachers replicating your lesson plan, to factor in necessary prep activities to make sure that students can meet the lesson ives.

What must students already be able to do before this lesson? 
What concepts have to be mastered in advance to accomplish the lesson ives?

Materials

This section has two functions: it helps other teachers quickly determine a) how much preparation time, resources, and management will be involved in carrying out this plan and b) what materials, books, equipment, and resources they will need to have ready.  A complete list of materials, including full citations of textbooks or story books used, worksheets, and any other special considerations are most useful.

What materials will be needed? 
What textbooks or story books are needed?

 (please include full bibliographic citations) 
What needs to be prepared in advance?

(typical for science classes and cooking or baking activities)

Lesson Deion

This section provides an opportunity for the author of the lesson to share some thoughts, experience, and advice with other teachers. It also provides a general overview of the lesson in terms of topic focus, activities, and purpose.

What is unique about this lesson? 
How did your students like it? 
What level of learning is covered by this lesson plan?

(Think of Bloom"s Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation.)

Lesson Procedure

This section provides a detailed, step-by-step deion of how to replicate the lesson and achieve lesson plan ives.  This is usually intended for the teacher and provides suggestions on how to proceed with implementation of the lesson plan.  It also focuses on what the teacher should have students do during the lesson.  This section is basically divided into several components: an introduction, a main activity, and closure.  There are several elaborations on this. We have linked to some sample lesson plans to guide you through this stage of planning.

·                 Introduction

How will you introduce the ideas and ives of this lesson? 
How will you get students" attention and motivate them in order to hold their attention? 
How can you tie lesson ives with student interests and past classroom activities? 
What will be expected of students?

·                 Main Activity

What is the focus of the lesson? 
How would you describe the flow of the lesson to another teacher who will replicate it? 
What does the teacher do to facilitate learning and manage the various activities? 
What are some good and bad examples to illustrate what you are presenting to students? 
How can this material be presented to ensure each student will benefit from the learning experience