Lesson Plan Format*

List the objectives (or outcomes) the lesson will teach. Phrase the objectives in specific terms using actions verbs, such as "demonstrate, list, recite, compose, recognize" etc. Strive for higher order thinking skills -- Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.

Illinois Learning Standards. List the Learning Standards this lesson fulfills.

The Learning Standards and the Objectives should overlap nearly perfectly!

Teaching Methods: List the teaching methods this lesson will employ -- for instance, lecture, cooperative learning, individual seatwork, or whatever. (For each individual activity, also list the method it employs.)

Review: Do a brief review of the previous lesson.

Preview: Give a brief preview of today's lesson, connecting this lesson with the previous ones and with the overall unit plan.

Statement of objectives: You should tell the students orally what they will know or be able to do by the end of the lesson. Write down on your lesson plan exactly what you are going to say, then go over it carefully to make sure it's right. Something like this:

"Today we’re going to learn how to . . . "

"By the end of the period, you should be able to name . . ."

Opening activity: This is what you're going to do or say to get the students settled down and paying attention to you. It can be something as simple as saying, "Okay, open your textbooks to page 49," but it's probably more effective if it is some actual activity that you do on a daily basis, like a five minute journal-writing, or something on that order. Whatever it is, it should be connected to what the day's lesson is about. Write it down on your lesson plan, along with how many minutes you want it to take.** You should also use this portion to activate students' prior knowledge (relate this lesson to their existing knowledge).

Assessment: Whether you do this in class, and how much time you spend on it, depends. Even if you're going to do the assessment at home, you should specify on your lesson plan what the activity is worth and how it will be graded. You should always tell the students ahead of time whether and how they will be graded on an activity. If the grading is going to be done in class, be sure to build in enough time to get it done and collected.

First activity: This is the actual teaching. Describe it and list the outcome(s) and learning standards it teaches; specify how much time will be devoted to it and what teaching method it employs. For example:

20 minutes: Students will work in small groups, composing a list of the five European countries with the highest per capita incomes in 1993 and the five with the lowest. I will assign students to groups of not more than four by having them count off. Each group will designate one person to write down the answers. (Remind them that all group members’ names need to be on the sheet.)

<Objectives: students will demonstrate ability to use an Atlas; students will demonstrate the ability to work in small groups.

Learning Standard 17A:  Locate, describe and explain places, regions and features on the Earth.>

Guided Practice: Madeline Hunter recommends that each activity be followed by a guided practice, during which you have the students demonstrate their understanding of what you have just taught. You would give them a practice problem and watch them/help them work through it, correcting their understanding as needed.

Independent Practice: Madeline Hunter recommends that each activity be followed by an independent practice, which may be independent seatwork in class or work assigned as homework. The problems assigned for independent practice should (a) be over what the activity covered and (b) similar to the guided practice problems.

Especially at the middle school level, it is advisable to have two short activities per class period -- about 15 to 20 minutes each. Generally speaking, the activities should be of varied types. If the first one, for instance, is group work, the second should probably not be group work; if one is oral, the other should be written; if one activity lets the kids get out of their chairs, the other should be seat work.

Review of what students should have learned from the activities. 3-5 minutes. You can do this with a Q & A session, or simply by telling them what they should have learned, or by asking them what they’ve learned, or by some kind of summary presentation.

Preview. 1-3 minutes. You should always save a couple of minutes at the end of the period to tell the students what the next day's lesson is and what materials they need to bring.

Enrichment activity. Enrichment is often outside the topic of the daily lesson, but not necessarily so. Its primary characteristic is that it goes beyond the boundaries of "standards" and ordinary learning. You should offer something enriching with each lesson. (This is what your textbooks probably have called "exploratory.")

Adaptations: Either here, or within your description of each activity, show the adaptations you would make for Special Needs students. Be comprehensive. I expect to see discussion of adaptations for at minimum LD, BD, ADHD, Sight-impaired, Hearing-impaired, Mobility-impaired, and ELL.

List of materials. Here, you should list all the materials you intend to use for the day's lesson -- include things like colored pencils, overhead projectors, videos, resource materials (books, pamphlets), and any handouts you would need or want to use in teaching this lesson.

*This on only one of many lesson plan formats. However, it is a good solid one that will work for you in virtually any school and classroom type. Though it is generally aimed at secondary teachers, it works just as well with elementary classes as with secondary. It is based in Madeline Hunter's work.

**It is often a good idea to use a Review of previous lesson as an opening activity, especially if the lesson is a carryover from the day before or uses skills developed in a prior lesson.