Designing effective lesson plans

1. Designing effective lesson plans EDSE 4115/6116

2. A good lesson plan does the following… • Specifically states what students will do during the duration of the lesson. • Describes students’ activities that contribute in a direct and effective way to the lesson objective. • Describes how students will be assessed to determine if the objective has been met. • Uses materials that are specific to the actual described learning activities. • Designs instruction that engages the students and is efficient for the level of intended student learning. • Guides the teacher (any teacher, not just the one developing the lesson plan) in organizing the material for the purpose of helping students achieve intended learning outcomes. • Is specific, detailed and precise. • Communicates !

3. The lesson Plan: Required components • Independent practice • DETAILED Sequence of Activities • Accommodations/Modifications • Materials • Related URLs • Technology Connections • Lesson Title • Student Profile • Duration • Objectives • Standards • Essential Questions • Anticipatory Set or “Do Now” • Prior Knowledge • Modeling • Check for Understanding • Guided practice • Closing

4. Lesson title • This is very simple…Give your lesson a title/name. • Examples: • Poetry from WWI • Adjectives and Pronouns • Character Analysis

5. Student profile: Know your students • How many students are expected for the lesson? • Number of students with special needs. • Subject Area • Grade level

6. Duration • How long will this lesson last?

7. Objectives: The purpose of the lesson • The purpose of today's lesson… • Why the students need to learn it. • What they will be able to "do“ as a result of the lesson? • How will they demonstrate learning/understanding?

8. The following objectives fail to meet at least one of the 4m criteria: • Students will appreciate drama from different time periods. • Students will create a collage about “tone.” • Students will identify similes, metaphors, foreshadowing, and personification in poetry. • Students will view scenes from the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird.

9. Standards • What standards of performance are to be expected? • The students should be informed about the standards of performance. • Standards: an explanation of the type of lesson to be presented, procedures to be followed, and behavioral expectations related to it, what the students are expected to do, what knowledge or skills are to be demonstrated and in what manner. • Georgia Performance Standards: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Pages/Default.aspx

10. Essential Questions • Essential questions help provide focus and coherence for units of study. • Good essential questions are open-ended yet focus inquiry on a specific topic. • Essential questions are non-judgmental, but answering them requires high-level cognitive work. • When developing essential questions, determine the theme or concept you want students to explore. • Sample essential questions: • Whose America is it? • What is one definition for “the American Dream?” • What are the characteristics of a good thesis statement?

11. Anticipatory Set: “Do Now” • A short activity or prompt that focuses the students' attention before the actual lesson begins. • The “Do Now” will help enhance your lesson. • Used when students enter the room or in a transition. • Examples include: • A hand-out given to students at the door • Review question written on the board • Problems on the overhead • Journal entry • A short story • A puzzle • A picture • A Riddle

12. “Do Now” Criteria • 1. It's short- It's the introduction, not the lesson. • 2. It yields- It will quickly get you to instruction, not down a side alley. Something that is clever but doesn't actually serve the lesson will only waste your time. • 3. It's energetic and optimistic- You dwell on what is great about Shakespeare, or multiplication or the bill of rights, not what is hard, or confusing or difficult, unless that is what makes it great.

13. Prior Knowledge • The vocabulary, skills, and concepts the teacher will impart to the students - the "stuff" the kids need to know in order to be successful.

14. Modeling • Once the material has been presented, the teacher uses it to show students examples of what is expected as an end product of their work. • The critical aspects are explained through labeling, categorizing, comparing, etc.

15. Check for understanding • Checking for understanding is done periodically throughout the lesson. • Depending on feedback from students this may or may not change the pace of the lesson. • Don’t be surprised if you need to go back and reteach or revisit a previous part of the lesson. • Determination of whether students have "got it" before proceeding. • It is essential that students practice doing it right so the teacher must know that students understand before proceeding to practice. • If there is any doubt that the class has not understood, the concept/skill should be retaught before practice begins.

16. Guided practice • The teacher leads the students through the steps necessary to perform the skill . • An opportunity for each student to demonstrate grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher's direct supervision. • The teacher moves around the room to determine the level of mastery and to provide individual remediation as needed.

17. Independent practice • The teacher releases students to practice on their own. • It’s a reinforcement activity. • It may be home work or group or individual work in class. • It can be utilized as an element in a subsequent project.

18. Closing • Those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring a lessor presentation to an appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring things together in their own minds, to make sense out of what has just been taught. "Any questions? No. OK, let's move on" is not closure. Closure is used: • To cue students to the fact that they have arrived at an important point in the lesson or the end of a lesson. • To help organize student learning. • To help form a coherent picture, to consolidate, eliminate confusion and frustration, etc. • To reinforce the major points to be learned...to help establish the network of thought relationships that provide a number of possibilities for cues for retrieval. Closure is the act of reviewing and clarifying the key points of a lesson, tying them together into a coherent whole, and ensuring their utility in application by securing them in the student's conceptual network.

19. Detailed sequence of activities • This is where your lesson is put in order. • Number/list the procedures of the lesson based on what you identified on the previous slides. • Be as detailed as possible so anyone looking at your lesson plan will know what to expect…even if your lesson changes upon delivery. • You may block activities in time chunks or simply list the steps- either way be specific and detailed.

20. Accommodations/Modifications • Specify how you will differentiate your lesson in order to meet the needs of all learners. • This goes along with knowing your students. • Refer to your “Student Profile” to assist you in filling in this section.

21. Materials • Detailed list of all required materials needed for the lesson. • List any useful or necessary URL’s that will help to enhance your lesson.

22. Technology connections • What kind of technology can you use in your lesson?