Lesson plan

A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction or "learning trajectory" for a lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the needs of the students. There may be requirements mandated by the school system regarding the plan. A lesson plan is the teacher's guide for running a particular lesson, and it includes the goal (what the students are supposed to learn), how the goal will be reached (the method, procedure) and a way of measuring how well the goal was reached (test, worksheet, homework etc.).
While there are many formats for a lesson plan, most lesson plans contain some or all of these elements, typically in this order:
According to Herbart, there are eight lesson plan phases that are designed to provide "many opportunities for teachers to recognize and correct students' misconceptions while extending understanding for future lessons." These phases are: Introduction, Foundation, Brain Activation, Body of New Information, Clarification, Practice and Review, Independent Practice, and Closure.
A well-developed lesson plan reflects the 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.
Secondary English program lesson plans, for example, usually center around four topics. They are literary theme, elements of language and composition, literary history, and literary genre. A broad, thematic lesson plan is preferable, because it allows a teacher to create various research, writing, speaking, and reading assignments. It helps an instructor teach different literature genres and incorporate videotapes, films, and television programs. Also, it facilitates teaching literature and English together. Similarly, history lesson plans focus on content (historical accuracy and background information), analytic thinking, scaffolding, and the practicality of lesson structure and meeting of educational goals. School requirements and a teacher's personal tastes, in that order, determine the exact requirements for a lesson plan.
Unit plans follow much the same format as a lesson plan, but cover an entire unit of work, which may span several days or weeks. Modern constructivist teaching styles may not require individual lesson plans. The unit plan may include specific objectives and timelines, but lesson plans can be more fluid as they adapt to student needs and learning styles.
Unit Planning is the proper selection of learning activities which presents a complete picture. Unit planning is a systematic arrangement of subject matter. "A unit plan is one which involves a series of learning experiences that are linked to achieve the aims composed by methodology and contents," (Samford). "A unit is an organization of various activities, experiences and types of learning around a central problem or purpose developed cooperatively by a group of pupils under a teacher leadership involving planning, execution of plans and evaluation of results," (Dictionary of Education).
Criteria of a Unit Plan
Lesson planning is a thinking process, not the filling in of a lesson plan template. A lesson plan is envisaged as a blue print, guide map for action, a comprehensive chart of classroom teaching-learning activities, an elastic but systematic approach for the teaching of concepts, skills and attitudes.
The first thing for setting a lesson plan is to create an objective, that is, a statement of purpose for the whole lesson. An objective statement itself should answer what students will be able to do by the end of the lesson. The objective drives the whole lesson plan; it is the reason the lesson plan exists. The teacher should ensure that lesson plan goals are compatible with the developmental level of the students. The teacher ensures as well that their student achievement expectations are reasonable.
The following guidelines were set by Canadian Council on Learning to enhance the effectiveness of the teaching process:
Creating a reliable lesson plan is an important part of classroom management. Doing so requires the ability to incorporate effective strategies into the classroom, the students and overall environment. There are many different types of lesson plans and ways of creating them. Teachers can encourage critical thinking in a group setting by creating plans that include the students participating collectively. Visual strategies are another component tied into lesson plans that help with classroom management. These visual strategies help a wide variety of students to increase their learning structure and possibly their overall comprehension of the material or what is in the lesson plan itself. These strategies also give students with disabilities the option to learn in a possible more efficient way. Teachers need to realize the wide range of strategies that can be used to maintain classroom management and students. They should find the best strategies to incorporate in their lesson planning for their specific grade, student type, teaching style, etc. and utilize them to their advantage. The classroom tends to flow better when the teacher has a proper lesson planned, as it provides structure for the students. Being able to utilize class time efficiently comes with creating lesson plans at their core.
Assignments are either in-class or take-home tasks to be completed for the next class period. These tasks are important because they help ensure that the instruction provides the students with a goal, the power to get there, and the interest to be engaged in rigorous academic contexts as they acquire content and skills necessary to be able to participate in academic coursework.
Experts cite that, in order to be effective and achieve objectives, the development of these assignment tasks must take into consideration the perceptions of the students because they are different from those of the teacher's. This challenge can be addressed by providing examples instead of abstract concepts or instructions. Another strategy involves the development of tasks that are specifically related to the learners' needs, interests, and age ranges. There are also experts who cite the importance of teaching learners about assignment planning. This is said to facilitate the students' engagement and interest in their assignment. Some strategies include brainstorming about the assignment process and the creation of a learning environment wherein students feel engaged and willing to reflect on their prior learning and to discuss specific or new topics.
There are several assignment types so the instructor must decide whether class assignments are whole-class, small groups, workshops, independent work, peer learning, or contractual:
These assignment categories (e.g. peer learning, independent, small groups) can also be used to guide the instructor's choice of assessment measures that can provide information about student and class comprehension of the material. As discussed by Biggs (1999), there are additional questions an instructor can consider when choosing which type of assignment would provide the most benefit to students. These include: