Guidelines for Lesson Planning
Developing well-prepared and thoughtful lesson plans is one of the most important aspects of instruction. With a well-planned "road map," teachers can set clear learning objectives and then provide students with learning experiences and resources necessary for reaching those outcomes.
Although each school district typically offers its own lesson plan outline, most are similar. Review the items below for key components to keep in mind when developing your own lesson plans:
- Goals/Objectives
Good lesson plans begin with identifying your goals and objectives. What knowledge, skills, and/or dispositions do you want your students to possess as a result of your lesson?
- Individual Differences
Whom will you be teaching? Grade level? Readiness levels? Interests? Special needs? Learning styles?
- Materials
What materials will I need? How will materials be distributed, managed, collected, and replaced (if necessary)?
- Time and Space
How much time do I have? In what ways can I arrange the classroom space to better accommodate the lesson?
- Prior Knowledge
What do your students already know? Are you going to need to address students' misconceptions?
- Instructional Strategies
What teaching methods will work best to achieve the objectives given this group of students?
- Assessment
How will I know students have achieved the objectives? Which type of assessment is most appropriate for this lesson or project? Traditional testing? Performance assessment? Self- or peer assessment? What is my scoring rubric?
The World Wide Web offers an abundance of high quality classroom activities in all academic subject areas. Visit the links below for examples of exemplary lesson plans and projects:
Education World: Lesson Planning Center
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/
These lessons are continuously updated with activities that reflect current events and are archived by subject area.
PBS Teacher Source
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/
Offers 3,000 standards-based lesson plans.
Discovery School Lesson Plans Library
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/index.html
Provides lesson ideas in a broad range of traditional and non-traditional subject areas, including contemporary studies, economics, and forensic science.
The Kennedy Center: ArtsEdge Teaching Materials
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teaching_materials/artsedge.html
Offers standards-based K-12 curriculum units, lesson plans, activities that integrate the arts into academic subject areas.
Scholastic: Lesson Plans and Activities
http://teacher.scholastic.com/resources/index.htm
In addition to lesson plans and projects, this site offers instructional tools to create a classroom Web page and a teacher planning calendar.
Teacher Vision: Lesson Plans
http://www.teachervision.com/tv/curriculum/lessonplans/index.html
Browse the lesson plan archive by topic, theme, or grade level.
Smithsonian Institute Lesson Plans
http://educate.si.edu/lp/lp_fs.html
Features educational materials that emphasize inquiry-based learning with primary sources and museum collections. Photographs and reproductions, lesson plans guidelines, and links to other online resources are provided.
TEAMS Electronic Classrooms
http://teams.lacoe.edu/
Offers numerous resources, including lesson plans, information for beginning teachers, and links to online libraries.
National Geographic: Education
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/
Provides lesson plans and projects with extensive supplemental materials, including printable maps, online adventures, and digital and audio files.
Apple Learning Interchange: K-12 Education
http://ali.apple.com/
Specifically, the "Units of Practice" link takes you to a collection of teacher-submitted lesson plans in all subject areas.
The George Lucas Education Foundation
http://glef.org/index.html
Includes ideas for integrating multiple intelligences, Problem Based Learning, and educational technology into classroom lessons and projects.
MarcoPolo
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/
This educational clearinghouse connects its lessons and projects to national standards and provides links to state standards. Most activities are embedded with links to relevant online resources and supplemental materials.
