Writing a Lesson Plan
Components of a Lesson Plan
Kagan and Tippins describe the function of this form of writing to, "help student teachers (a) meet immediate personal needs, like finding a sense of direction; (b) collect and organize materials; and (c) aid memory during presentation" (qtd. in Clark and Yinger 479). The Education Department at the University of Richmond further elaborates on the parts of a Lesson Plan. Each lesson should include:
How to Begin Writing a Lesson Plan
Think about the different learners in the classroom. Refrain from gravitating only towards the instructional techniques that worked for you in school.
Consider using the concept of Backwards Design. Before beginning the writing process, you should first determine what specific content or skills you wish the students to master at the end of the lesson. Then, think about what activities will lead students to this end goal.
How to Write Objectives in Lesson Plans
The key to writing objectives is to begin with a verb. DO NOT use verbs such as Learn, Understand, Discuss, Explain, or Review, as these do not specify exactly how students will demonstrate their knowledge. There is more than one way to Learn or Understand a concept. DO use specific action verbs that will explain exactly what the students will be doing during the lesson.
A Few Good Examples of Lesson Plan Objectives
A Few Bad Examples of Lesson Plan Objectives
How to End a Lesson Plan
Compare your objectives with the formative and summative assessments. The assessments should evaluate if students accomplished the learning objectives.
Why is it Important to have the Skills to Write a Lesson Plan?
As with any other subject, writing forces students to use their own critical thinking skills. As one student remarks in Sommers and Saltz's case study on College Freshman, "Writing lets you think and shows you how you think about thinking" (130). Analysis through writing is important for learning in any department, but writing Lesson Plans is the only way to prepare for the culminating experience of Student Teaching.
Previous Lesson Plans may be able to be used during your semester of Student Teaching. Even more so, the writing process supports teachers to create a clear, logical, and sequential order for instruction. This ensures that teachers present material in a way that builds upon prior concepts.