how to write assignment in lesson plan

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• Creating Lesson Plans

How to Build a Lesson Plan: Templates, Requirements, and More

Last Updated: April 7, 2024 Fact Checked

Sample Lesson Plans

Constructing a lesson plan, adjusting your lesson plans efficiently, presenting the lesson, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by César de León, M.Ed. and by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure . César de León is an Educational Leadership Consultant and currently serves as an Assistant Principal for the Austin Independent School District in Austin, TX. César specializes in education program development, curriculum improvement, student mentorship, social justice, equity leadership, and family and community engagement. He is passionate about eradicating inequities in schools for all children, especially those who have been historically underserved and marginalized. César holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Biology from Texas State University and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas at Austin. There are 20 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,841,973 times.

As a teacher, developing a thoughtful lesson plan is an essential part of your job. Not only do your lesson plans lay out everything you’ll do in a given class, but they can be shared with subs to complete your lessons when you’re out sick, and administrators can use them to provide feedback and monitor your classroom. While writing a lesson plan may seem like a daunting task at first, take it from a former teacher that they’ll soon become second nature. In this article, we’ll walk you through what you need to include in each lesson plan, show you how to use your lesson plan to make you a better teacher, and walk you through what a class might look like based on your plans.

Things You Should Know

• A lesson plan outlines what you’ll teach in a given lesson and provides justification for why you’re teaching it.
• Every lesson plan needs an objective, relevant standards, a timeline of activities, an overview of the class, assessments, and required instructional materials.
• Overplan in case your lesson ends early and tailor your plans to suit the needs of your students.

• An example of a good objective might be, "Students will be able to analyze nonfiction texts by performing a close reading on a historical document."
• Most teachers will use Bloom’s taxonomy when choosing their objective verb.
• Teachers often abbreviate “Students will be able to” with “SWBAT” on their lesson plans.
• Many teachers start with the objective then work their way out from there, choosing class activities last. This is called “backmapping” and it’s the most widely accepted lesson organization style around today. [2] X Research source

• Our previous objective aligns nicely with the CCSS R.L.8.2, which reads “Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text…”
• A handful of states, including Florida, Virginia, and Texas, refuse to adopt common core. They have their own state standards.
• If you’re still in school to become a teacher, you may not have specific standards you need to cover just yet.
• Many schools will allow teachers to cover the objectives in whatever order they’d like so far as they cover all of them. Some schools will map out the standards to cover in their curriculum, though.

• For example, if your class is about Shakespeare's Hamlet , your overview might be “Introduction to Hamlet . Historical context, biographical info, and preliminary information. We’ll cover the folio, character list, and assign reading roles. Start Act 1 if time allows.”
• A single overview may get you through multiple classes, so you may find yourself copy and pasting the same overview into multiple plans. That’s totally okay!

• 1:00-1:10: Warm up . Bring class into focus and recap yesterday's discussion on great tragedies; relate it to Hamlet .
• 1:10-1:25: Present information. Discuss Shakespearean history briefly, focusing on his creative period 2 years before and after Hamlet.
• 1:25-1:40: Guided practice . Class discussion regarding major themes in the play.
• 1:40-1:55: Freer practice. Class writes single paragraph describing current event in Shakespearean terms. Individually encourage bright students to write 2 paragraphs, and coach slower students.
• 1:55-2:00: Conclusion. Collect papers, assign homework, dismiss class.

• Formative assessments are instructional tools. They’re anything you use to check if students are learning so you can adjust your lessons. Examples include: class discussions, teacher questions, pop quizzes, group work, surveys, and self-reflections.
• Summative assessments are how you prove a student learned something. They occur at the end of lesson arcs, units, or sections. Examples include: tests, quizzes, essays, presentations, and final projects.
• All summative assessments (outside of tests and quizzes) have rubrics, which are the set of standards you’re judging students on. You do not need to include your rubrics in the lesson plan, but you should be making rubrics.

• You might list textbooks, worksheets, novels, calculators, or whiteboards. If you need to borrow a TV or need a link to a specific YouTube video, include that, too.
• Skip the basic school supplies every student needs. You don’t need to mention pens, pencils, etc.
• Need a worksheet or special materials for a class but don’t want to spend super long making them from scratch? Check out Teachers Pay Teachers . Seasoned educators sell their instructional material to other teachers for cheap!

• Over time, you’ll need to do this less and less. Eventually, you'll be able to go in with practically nothing at all!

• If you find yourself constantly running over your schedule, know what you can and cannot scratch. What must you cover in order for the children to learn most? What is just fluff and time killers?

• Odds are you'll be working with a pile of extroverts and introverts. Some students will benefit more from working alone while others will thrive in pair work or in groups. Knowing this will help you format activities to different interaction preferences. [11] X Research source
• You'll also wind up having a few students that know just about as much as you do on the topic and some that, while smart, look at you like you're from another planet. If you know who these kids are, you can plan accordingly.

Joseph Meyer

Effective teaching strategies consider a student's individual strengths. Tailoring instruction to a student's existing skills and encouraging collaborative activities can improve a student's outcome. Recognizing diverse learning styles allows for a stronger approach, fostering potential in all learners.

• Really, any activity can be manipulated to be done separately, in pairs, or in groups. If you have ideas already mapped out, see if you can revamp them at all to mix it up.

• Every student learns differently. Some need to see the info, some need to hear it, and others need to literally get their hands on it. If you've spent a great while talking, stop and let them talk about it.
• You will likely have some students with IEPs, or Instructional Educational Plans. These are legal documents for students with special needs that require specific instructional adjustments.

• The easiest thing to do is to come up with a quick concluding game or discussion. Throw the students together and have them discuss their opinions or ask questions.

• Avoid using shorthand or acronyms that only you’ll be able to understand.

Eric McClure

"It helps if your backup lesson plans are very easy to find and clearly labeled as substitute plans. If there are any handouts, print those out ahead of time as well. This is the kind of thing that’s easy to overlook early in the year, but trust me—you’ll need a day off at some point and when you do, you won’t want to come in just to drop off lesson plans."

• The warm up can be a simple game (possibly about vocab on the topic to see where their current knowledge lies (or what they remember from last week!). Or, it can be questions, a mingle, or pictures used to start a conversation. Whatever it is, get them talking and thinking about the topic.

• Go over the objective at the beginning of class! Always let your students know why they’re doing what they’re doing.

• This is often explained by teachers as “I do, we do, you do.” In other words, you show them how to do it. Then, the whole class does it together. Finally, the students do it on their own.
• If you have time for two activities, all the better. It's a good idea to test their knowledge on two different levels -- for example, writing and speaking (two very different skills). Try to incorporate different activities for students that have different aptitudes.

• If you've been teaching the same group for a while, odds are you know the students who might struggle with certain concepts. If that's the case, pair them with stronger students to keep the class going.
• You don't want certain students left behind, but you also don't want the class held up, waiting for everyone to get on the same level.

• It all depends on the subject at hand and the skills you want to use. It can be anything from a 20-minute puppet making project to a two-week long dalliance with the oversoul in a heated debate on transcendentalism.

• If you have a group full of kids that can't be paid to raise their hands, turn them amongst themselves. Give them an aspect of the topic to discuss and 5 minutes to converse about it. Then bring the focus to the front of the class and lead a group discussion. Interesting points are bound to pop up!

• Assign and hand out any homework at the end of the class.

• Don’t worry if lesson planning feels really unfulfilling and pointless to you. A lot of new teachers think they feel like busy work at first—especially when classes don’t go as planned. Luckily, once you finish one year of teaching, you’ll have a full year’s worth of lessons to use! [24] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Lesson plans typically cover a single class period, although a more complex lesson may require 2-3 days to get through. A single lesson plan may also bleed over into multiple classes if there’s a fire alarm, some behavioral issue that requires attention, or you have to modify your schedule due to a school-wide event. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1

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• ↑ https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/5-tips-improve-your-lesson-plan
• ↑ https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/why-the-csu-matters/graduation-initiative-2025/co-requisite-mathematics-summit/Handouts/Backmapping_example_and_template.pdf
• ↑ https://drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/how-to-write-a-lesson-plan/
• ↑ https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/cnm/cresource/q4/p16/
• ↑ https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/Formative-Summative-Assessments
• ↑ https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~slm/AdjCI/Lessonplan/Elements.html
• ↑ https://awildsurmise.medium.com/improving-teaching-scripting-5950e1d15f54
• ↑ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/511257/Eliminating-unnecessary-workload-around-planning-and-teaching-resources.pdf
• ↑ César de León, M.Ed.. Educational Leadership Consultant. Expert Interview. 11 November 2020.
• ↑ https://onlineprograms.ollusa.edu/ma-in-counseling/resources/learning-styles-of-introverts-and-extroverts
• ↑ http://www.auburn.edu/~nunnath/engl6240/seating.html
• ↑ https://teach.com/what/teachers-know/learning-styles/
• ↑ https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/pacing-lessons-for-optimal-learning
• ↑ https://www.chalk.com/introduction-to-lesson-planning/why-lesson-plan/
• ↑ https://www.edutopia.org/blog/having-an-off-day-josh-stock
• ↑ https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/teaching/teaching-how/chapter-2-teaching-successful-section/running-class
• ↑ https://readingrecovery.clemson.edu/home-2/reading-comprehension/lesson-structure/guided-practice/
• ↑ https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/knowing-subject/d-h/free-practice
• ↑ https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/engaging-students/using-effective-questions
• ↑ https://www.tefl.net/elt/ideas/younglearners/finishing-preschool-english-lessons/

About This Article

If you need to make a lesson plan, start by creating a timeline based on the length of the class or the school day. As you get to know your class throughout the year, try to tailor your lesson plan to their strengths. For instance, some groups might learn better by taking notes during a lecture, while others might benefit more from group discussions or worksheets. Try to include several different activities during each class period so the kids don’t get bored, and also to appeal to the different learning styles in the classroom. Read on for sample lesson plans and more tips on how to budget your time! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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30 Lesson Plan Examples for Every Grade Level and Subject

Lots of ways to prepare for top-notch learning.

Lesson planning: Most teachers either love it or hate it. Either way, it’s something every teacher has to spend at least some time doing, so it’s worth learning to do well. Whether you’re a brand-new teacher or an experienced educator looking for some new ideas, these lesson plan examples offer inspiration for every subject and every grade level.

Lesson Plan Sections

Preschool lesson plan examples, elementary school lesson plan examples, middle and high school lesson plan examples.

Many lesson plans include some or all of the following sections.

• Objective : These should be specific and measurable. Often they align with Common Core or other learning standards.
• Materials: List any items you’ll need, including worksheets or handouts, school supplies, etc.
• Activities: This is usually the longest section, where you’ll lay out what the lesson and its activities look like. Some teachers write these in great detail. Others include just an overview to help them plan.
• Assessment : How will you assess your students’ learning? This could be a formal assessment or something simple like an exit ticket.
• Differentiation : Describe how you’ll vary the level of difficulty for students at all levels, including any enrichment for early finishers.

Some people think preschool is just playtime, but pre-K teachers know better! Here are some of the ways preschool teachers plan for their lessons.

Weekly Lesson Plan

Weekly preschool lesson planning helps you plan each day and ensure you’re tackling all the most important skills.

Learn more: Pre-K Weekly Lesson Plan

Pre-K Theme Lesson Plan

If you like to plan by theme, try a template like this. It includes space for a variety of activities that fit your topic.

Learn more: Pre-K Theme Lesson Plan

Alphabet Letter Lesson Plan

If you’re focusing on a new letter of the alphabet each week, try lesson planning like this. You can see the week at a glance, including all the materials and books you’ll need.

Learn more: Alphabet Letter Lesson Plan

Centers Lesson Plan

Your centers need some planning too! Whether you change them out weekly, monthly, or as needed, use plans like these to stay prepared.

Learn more: Centers Lesson Plan

Weekly Unit Lesson Plan

Adding pops of color and a few images can make it easier to locate the lesson plan you’re looking for in a snap.

Learn more: Weekly Weather Unit Lesson Plan

Since elementary teachers tackle multiple subjects every day, their lesson plans might look like a general overview. Or they may prepare more detailed lesson plans for each topic to help them stay on track. The choice is up to you.

Weekly Overview Lesson Plan

Don’t be afraid to write out your lesson plans by hand! A side-by-side setup like this lets you see a whole week at once. We love the use of color to highlight special things like fire drills.

Learn more: Elementary Weekly Overview Lesson Plan

Unit Lesson Plan

Planning out a unit helps ensure you cover all the important topics and meet your learning objectives.

Learn more: Unit Lesson Plan

Yearlong Schedule

Planning a whole year may seem daunting, but it can show you where you’re going to need to stretch a unit and where you can circle back and review. Mrs. D from Mrs. D’s Corner has ideas on how to structure a yearlong lesson plan using Google Sheets.

Guided Math Lesson Plan

This example on adding three numbers together can be altered to fit any math lesson plan.

Learn more: Guided Math Lesson Plan

Art Lesson Plan

While these are elementary art lesson plan examples, you can easily use this style for teaching art at upper levels too.

Learn more: Art Lesson Plans

Special Education Lesson Plans

Lesson planning for special education looks different than general classroom lessons in that the lessons have to cover specific IEP goals and include lots and lots of progress monitoring. The Bender Bunch starts each lesson with independent work (read: IEP practice) and then heads into mini-lessons and group work.

Learn more: Special Education Lesson Plan

Interactive Read-Aloud Plan

Interactive read-alouds take some careful planning. The Colorful Apple explains how to choose a book, get to know it, and get ready to teach it. Once you’re in the book, sticky notes may be the best lesson-planning tool you have for marking questions and vocabulary words you want to point out to students.

Learn more: Interactive Read-Aloud Plan

Social Studies Lesson Plan

Including images of your anchor charts is a great idea! That way, you can pull one out and have it ready to go in advance.

Learn more: Social Studies Lesson Plan

5E Lesson Plan for Elementary School

The 5Es stand for Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaborate, and Evaluate. This type of lesson planning can be helpful for students as they work through each of the 5Es related to the topic you’re studying.

Learn more: 5E Lesson Plan for Elementary Math

Science Lesson Plans

If you like to plan your lessons in more detail, take a look at this elementary science lesson plan example.

Learn more: Science Lesson Plan Template

Reading Group Lesson Plan

Lots of elementary schools have differentiated reading groups. Use a template like this one to plan for each one, all on one page.

P.E. Lesson Plan

Gym teachers will love this lesson plan idea, which includes directions for playing the games.

Learn more: PE Lesson Plan

Music Class Lesson Plan

Plan out the skills and songs you’ll need for a meaningful music class with a lesson plan like this one.

Learn more: Music Class Lesson Plan

At the middle and high school levels, teachers often need more detailed plans for each class, which they may teach multiple times a day. Here are some examples to try.

Google Sheets Lesson Plans

Google Sheets (or Excel) is terrific for lesson planning! Create a new tab for each week, unit, or class.

Learn more: Google Sheets Lesson Plan

Handwritten Lesson Plan

Some people really prefer to write things out by hand, highlighting important parts and making notes as they go. You can always convert this kind of plan to a digital format later if you need to.

Learn more: Handwritten Lesson Plan

Weekly History Plan

This example shows how you can plan out a week’s worth of lessons at once, and see the entire week all in one spot. This example is for history, but you could use this for math, ELA, or social studies too.

Learn more: Weekly History Plan

Outline and Pacing Guide Lesson Plan

A pacing guide or outline works for both you and your students. Share it at the beginning of a unit to let them know what’s ahead.

Learn more: Outline and Pacing Guide

5E Lessons in Middle and High School

5E lesson plans (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaborate, Evaluate) are great for middle and high school as well. This example is for science, but you can use the 5E structure across all lessons.

Learn more: Middle and High School 5E Lesson Plans

Sticky-Note Lesson Plan

At some point, you’ll know what students are doing each day, you’ll just need some reminders for questions to ask and key points to cover. The nice thing about using sticky notes for lesson planning is if you get ahead or behind schedule, you can move the entire sticky-note lesson to another day. ( Find more ways to use sticky notes in the classroom here .)

Learn more: Sticky Note Lesson Plan

Backwards Planning Lesson Plan

If your school uses backwards planning, you’ll be thinking about the outcome first and working back from there (rather than forward from an activity or task). Backwards planning lesson plans are intensive, but they’re also something you can use over and over, modifying them slightly for each group of students you have.

Learn more: Backwards Planning Lesson Plan

Visual Arts Lesson Plan

Detailed lesson plans take longer to prepare, but they make it easier on the day (especially if you wind up needing a sub).

Learn more: Visual Arts Lesson Plan Template

ELL or World Language Lesson Plan

Whether you’re teaching English-language learners (ELL) or a world language to English speakers, this lesson plan style is perfect.

Learn more: ELL/World Language Lesson Plan

Music Lesson Plan

Use a lesson plan like this for choir, orchestra, band, or individual music lessons.

Learn more: HS Music Lesson Plan

Blended Learning Lesson Plan

If your instruction includes both computer-based and in-person elements, this lesson plan idea might be just what you need.

Learn more: Hot Lunch Tray

One-Sentence Lesson Plan

This kind of lesson planning isn’t for everyone, but the extreme simplicity works well for some. Describe what students will learn, how they will learn it, and how they’ll demonstrate their knowledge.

Learn more: One-Sentence Lesson Plan

Need more help with lesson planning? Come ask for ideas in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook !

Plus, check out ways to make time for more creativity in your lesson plans ..

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Guides & Templates

How to write a lesson plan in 5 simple steps: a recipe for success, craft effective lesson plans effortlessly. learn to set objectives, design activities, and use templates for engaging student learning. streamline your teaching today.

Teachers and tutors face unique challenges when addressing the needs of their students. They must engage them while maintaining rigor, challenge them while meeting their individual learning needs, and provide them with unique lessons that meet predetermined standards and objectives. It’s a tall order. 

So, how do educators write a lesson plan that does all of these things without occupying all of their time? They copy each other!

This article discusses five key steps in creating an effective lesson plan, guidelines for structuring a lesson plan, and resources and templates to help you write the most engaging activities for your students.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel whenever you write a lesson and teach effectively. You just need a reliable method and the right resources.

Before You Start: Planning for Lessons

Before writing a lesson plan, you must know your lesson's why, what, when, who, and how. What objectives are you measuring, and how will students show you what they understand? Who are the students who need to access this lesson? How are you going to deliver the lesson? And when do you anticipate the task will end?

To write a lesson that responds to these questions, you must focus on these essential curriculum components. 

• Set clear, measurable objectives
• Identify the appropriate teaching strategies
• Prepare necessary materials and resources
• Create a detailed timeline
• Include differentiated instructions
• Incorporate assessment methods

Have a rough idea of how you envision each component coming together, and list the objectives and core competencies students will demonstrate. Once you have your objective, you will build your lesson plan around it.  

Step 1: Define the Objective

You must have a clear learning objective before you even start to plan lessons. You can access standards through your State’s Department of Education, or another educational body, as a reference. Once you know what standards you want to address, you will write a learning objective for the lesson.

Some techniques to help you write a quality objective include the following:

• Make your objective SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-sensitive).
• Use action verbs like demonstrate, identify, argue, or explain.
• Make sure the objective is student-centered.
• Keep it concise (one sentence).

These examples show what a polished objective looks like.

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to identify the main topic and two supporting details in a paragraph and share their written response with a partner. 

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to correctly apply the order of operations to solve math problems that include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by creating and responding to student-generated problems. 

• By the end of this lesson, the student will demonstrate their understanding of a monarch butterfly’s lifecycle by creating a diagram, or other creative representation, to illustrate each stage of a monarch’s life.

Each of these objectives is concise and follows the SMART outline. They are also broad enough to allow for differentiation. For example, a student with dysgraphia may decide to make a video or record a podcast about the lifecycle of a butterfly. 

Step 2: Design the Instructional Materials

Different components make up a comprehensive lesson plan. Once your objective is lined out, you must plan the activities and gather or create your instructional materials.

Instructional materials may include any of the following:

• Visual aids
• Handouts or shared files
• Learning technology: digital whiteboards, software, web resources
• Manipulatives 
• Supplemental reading or videos
• Supplies (utensils, glue, paint)

The learning supplies you choose will depend on the learning objective and the standards you want your students to demonstrate. Writing the objective first is essential in writing a lesson plan because it steers every following step. 

Step 3: Map the Lesson Activities

To maximize student learning and engagement, sequence your lesson’s activities so students have enough time to complete them but not so much time they become bored. Having a variety of activities throughout the lesson that call on different learning styles will help engage each student throughout the lesson. 

Pro tip: Break your lesson into four key sequences and determine the pacing or time you want to allow for each.

Generally, each lesson should include the following activities:

Opening/Bell Ringer

Get your students engaged with a brief activity to activate their brains and start thinking about what they will learn that day. A bell ringer activity could be a question that students respond to in a journal, a quick game or riddle, or a problem they solve with a partner. This activity should be short (5 minutes) and lead to the main activity of the lesson.

Instructions and Main Activity

After you wrap up your bell ringer, you will go over your lesson’s objective and give any instructions or background information for your main activity. Remember to differentiate your instruction and allow for several pathways to completion. You will also set any expectations and answer student questions. Your introduction and instructions shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.

Most of your time will be spent on the main activity of your lesson. The pacing will vary depending on the time needed to gather materials and clean up. If your lesson will take more than one day, allow enough time at the beginning and end of each session to allow for this. Your main activity should conclude with enough time to accommodate your formative assessment and lesson wrap-up.

Formative Assessment

This is where you check in with students to see what they understand from the lesson. It allows you to gauge where your students are with the material so you can determine your next course of action. Your options span a wide range of delivery methods and multimedia options. We will explain this more in the next step.

Before having students move on from a lesson, allow 2-3 minutes to reflect at the end of the task. This could be done with another journal entry or a quick survey at the end of the lesson.

Step 4: Determine Formative Assessment Method

Finding creative, student-centered ways for students to demonstrate their learning is vital to engagement and inclusion, so don’t breeze over this with a worksheet or written quiz. At the end of a unit, you will then have a more formal summative assessment.

Some formative assessment options include the following:

• Note Catchers
• Illustrate an Important Scene
• Think-Pair-Share
• Write a letter to…
• Teach it to the class (or a partner)
• Interactive game
• One minute essay

Deciding which formative assessment to use comes down to understanding your students and how they engage best with a subject based on their age, interest level, and learning styles. 

Pro tip: Avoid falling into the trap of using the same type of formative assessment for every lesson. While it may be easier to get into a routine and stick with it, students will be more engaged with variety. It also allows different strengths to shine through. 

Step 5: Review and Revise

Reviewing and revising a lesson plan before and after you implement it is essential. You want to ensure that it is clear enough for a substitute teacher to follow without your help. It should also explain where to access all materials and resources for future reference.

Have a colleague or instructional coach review your lesson plan and provide brief feedback to get started. You can return the favor to a colleague and improve both lesson plans. You can also ask a colleague or coach to sit in on the lesson and make observations. Note any hiccups when you deliver the lesson and revise the lesson plan based on what you learned. It may seem time-consuming now, but you can use it again and share it with other teachers, saving much time in the long run.

Lesson Plan Templates and Resources

If you are pressed for time and don’t want to write an entire lesson plan from scratch, you can use several helpful teaching websites with templates and complete lesson plans. While many of these sites require membership to access all resources, they have been vetted and used by real teachers. 

Edraw is a graphic diagramming and mind-mapping software with free templates you can download and share. This could work with helping write a lesson plan or creating visual supports and presentations for a lesson. Find their lesson plan template here . 

Teachers Pay Teachers

Teacher Pay Teachers is a one-stop shop for all things lesson planning. Resources, lesson plans, and templates are created and used by teachers, which they then share through the platform. It is an excellent resource for teachers and tutors, and you can make extra money sharing your lessons and templates with other educators.

You can find this lesson plan template here .

Study.com uses standard lesson plan formats to create templates teachers can use in their classrooms. Their templates include standards, objectives, materials, activities, and extensions. While you will need to create an account to gain access to all of their templates and resources, there is a wealth of time-saving resources available.

Teachers and tutors do not have to sacrifice all of their free time to write engaging lesson plans. With helpful resources, tips, and templates, the task is easier to complete, and you will start to build your own library of lesson plans to choose from. 

Following the five essential steps to write an engaging lesson plan and utilizing teacher-vetted resources is the best way to create lessons loved by students with a little more time and your sanity intact. 

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Learn how to create a behavioral coaching plan with this template. Perfect for professionals who want to help their clients reach their goals!

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Creating Lesson Plans

There are many approaches to writing lesson plans. Some instructors develop their plans independently from scratch, while others borrow plans from a shared curriculum. Some carefully write out all the details for their lesson, while others use a brief outline. Your approach to writing lesson plans will depend on various factors: how well you know the material you're teaching, how long you've been teaching, the kinds of teaching you've done, and the students you expect to have in your class. There is no single formula for writing lesson plans, but this guide will help you think through some of the processes that other instructors have found valuable to their own lesson planning.

Guidelines for writing lesson plans:

Consider Your Destination

Sequence your objectives, know your time frame.

• Create Activities to Meet Your Objectives

Check for Understanding

Sample lesson plan format.

• Citation Information

When creating lesson plans, always keep your destination in mind. Where do you want students to end up? If you're planning daily activities, think about how these activities connect to the larger goals for the course. Ask yourself, how will each activity prepare students for the upcoming portfolio assignment? Assuming that your assignment sheets accurately reflect the course goals, use them at the beginning of each unit to determine:

• What is the overall goal for this assignment? What is the assignment asking students to do?
• What knowledge do students already have that will help them meet the goals for writing this assignment?
• What skills and concepts will students need to meet the goals for this assignment?

From these questions, create a list of smaller objectives to use as stepping stones for your destination. If you are planning writing assignments for student portfolios, your list of objectives may include:

Portfolio 1 - Objectives for Teaching Summary/Response

• Students will think about their purpose, audience and context for writing.
• Students will use critical thinking skills and critical reading strategies to become better writers.
• Students will practice writing academic summaries.
• Students will practice writing different types of response.
• Students will learn to develop a claim and support that claim with reasons and evidence.
• Students will learn to value revision through workshops and other peer review activities.

While sequencing your objectives, consider how each one builds off another. How might one objective prepare students for learning another? If reading critically helps students summarize an argument, you might address your critical reading objective before teaching summary.

Also, think about what your students know. Given the information they already have, which objectives would be best met at certain points in the unit? Will simpler objectives work better at the start of a unit? Will more complicated objectives make clearer sense to students after some basic objectives have already been met?

Finally, determine how your sequencing of objectives will best meet these goals and requirements for the upcoming assignment.

While sequencing your objectives, be aware of the amount of time allotted for each portfolio. Based on the overall goals for the portfolio, determine how much time you will need to spend addressing each objective. Keep in mind that a single lesson will address only one or two objectives. Some of these goals will be easily met, while others will present a challenge for students. You may decide to build in extra time to review concepts that are more challenging.

Try to be flexible, but remain within a reasonable time frame. Spending three days on one essay may be too much (even if students are thrilled by the subject matter). One strategy to help you keep up your pace, is to utilize outside resources such as the CSU Writing Center or online tutorials. The Writing at CSU home page contains plenty of online resources as well. Use these resources to compliment discussions and save you some time in class.

Below is an example for how you might organize your sequence and time frame for the first student portfolio:

Portfolio I - Sequence and Time Frame for Objectives:

• Students will begin to think about their purpose, audience and context for writing. (day 1)
• Students will use critical thinking skills and critical reading strategies to become better writers. (day 2)
• Students will practice writing academic summaries. (days 3 - 4)
• Students will practice writing different types of response. (days 5 - 6)
• Students will learn to develop a claim and support that claim with reasons and evidence. (day 7)
• Students will learn to value revision through workshops and other peer- review activities. (day 8)

Develop Activities to Meet Objectives

Once you've sequenced your objectives within a given time frame, the next step is to create activities that will help students meet each objective. Decide which activities are most relevant to your desired objectives. Take the time to revise existing activities and to create new ones that meet the needs of your class. You may also combine activities or eliminate some that seem less related to your objectives.

Two questions that you should always keep in mind when constructing activities are: "What do my students already know that will help them meet a desired objective?" And, "What activities will best help students meet a desired objective?"

Below is an example illustrating how you might design activities to meet a particular objective:

Objective: Students will use critical thinking skills and critical reading strategies to become better writers.

Activities:

• Define critical reading and provide a list of strategies on an overhead (this is useful because many students do not know what critical reading is).
• Model critical reading strategies (show students how to implement critical reading strategies).
• Have students practice critical reading strategies with their homework.
• Ask students to respond to an in class writing, describing their experience with the critical reading assignment. Have them speculate as to how this process of critical reading will influence their own writing. As a group, discuss the connection between reading and writing.

Just as you did with objectives, you'll need to create a sequence and time frame for your activities. Which activities should come first? How much class time will each activity take? Planning this out ahead of time will help you create smoother transitions between activities and it will help you connect your activities to larger, writing-related objectives.

The final step in planning lessons is to make time for assessing students' learning. How will you check to see that students understand the new concepts you're teaching? When will you revisit the material that they didn't quite grasp?

Intervention along the way can help you learn what students are struggling with. Many instructors collect homework once a week, or assign quizzes and short writing exercises to assess their students' progress. Conferences and e-mail exchanges are other effective means for gauging students' understanding.

Depending on what you learn from using evaluative measures, you may need to revise your lesson plans. If students' homework indicates that they're having trouble summarizing main points, you may spend the first fifteen minutes of the next class reviewing this concept. Addressing such struggles early on will help students face the more challenging objectives that follow.

Just as you did with objectives, you'll need to create a sequence and time frame for your activities. Which activities should come first? How much class time will each activity take? Planning this out ahead of time will help you create smoother transitions between activities, and help you connect your activities to larger, writing-related objectives.

Course: Date: Materials needed: Class Announcements:

• Class Objectives: Write out the goals or objectives for class. Try to limit these to one or two things.
• Connection to Course Goals: Describe how your daily objectives connect to the overall course goals.
• Anticipatory Set: Sometimes referred to as a "hook." Use an informal Writing to Learn (WTL) exercise, a question, a quote, or an object to focus students' attention at the start of class. This activity should be brief and directly related to the lesson.
• Introduction: Write down what you'll need to inform students of the daily goals and class procedures. Be sure to explain how these procedures relate to students' own writing.
• Procedures: List your activities, including any discussion questions and transitions along the way.
• Conclusion: Describe the objective for the lesson and point students forward by connecting your objective to their own writing.
• What to do Next Time: Leave space in your plan to reflect on the lesson and suggest future changes.

Also see the guide on Planning a Class for help with writing introductions, transitions, and conclusions.

Eglin, Kerry. (2008). Creating Lesson Plans. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/teaching/guide.cfm?guideid=96

• Lesson Title
• Grade Level
• Subject or Topic
• Preparation
• Instructional Plan or Teaching Sequence
• Differentiation
• Homework/Assignments
• Additional Notes

Tips for How to Write a Lesson Plan for English

Tips for how to write a lesson plan for maths, tips for how to write a lesson plan for science, tips for how to write a lesson plan for art, tips for how to write a lesson plan for physical education, how to create a lesson plan.

Introduction

Free template.

Steps to Creating an Effective Lesson Plan

1. lesson title.

a. Reflect the Content

B. be engaging, c. be specific, 2. grade level.

a. Grade or Age Group

B. prior knowledge, c. appropriate content, d. cognitive development, recommended for you, 3. subject or topic.

a. Clear Identification

B. alignment with curriculum, c. relevance, d. conciseness, 4. duration.

a. Time Allocation

B. realistic estimate, c. flexibility, d. alignment with schedule, e. include breaks, 5. objective.

b. Measurability

C. alignment, d. realistic expectations, e. relevance, 6. materials.

a. Comprehensive List

B. specifics, c. preparation, d. availability, e. accessibility, 7. preparation.

a. Advance Planning

B. timeline, c. resources, d. checklist, e. contingency plans, 8. instructional plan or teaching sequence, 1. introduction of chapter and topic.

2. Content Presentation

3. Activities and Exercises

4. Assessment

9. Differentiation

a. Understanding Student Diversity

B. inclusive strategies, c. accommodations, d. extensions, e. grouping, f. assessment flexibility, 10. homework/assignments.

a. Assignment Description

C. due date, d. resources, e. grading criteria, 11. reflection.

a. Observations

B. challenges, c. student engagement, d. assessment of learning, f. adjustments, g. next steps, 12. additional notes.

a. Clarifications

B. special considerations, c. reminders, d. alternative approaches, e. references, f. next steps, bonus content.

Sample Lesson Plan

Bonus: tips for crafting subject-specific lesson plans, unlock exclusive content – sign up now.

Focus on Core Skills

• Identify the key language skills you want students to develop, such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
• Align lesson activities with specific language goals to ensure a comprehensive approach.

Incorporate Literature

• Integrate literary works that resonate with your students to make the learning experience more engaging.
• Encourage critical thinking and analysis through discussions about themes, characters, and plot structures.

Include Creative Writing

• Devote time to creative writing exercises that allow students to express themselves.
• Provide constructive feedback to nurture their writing skills and foster a love for language.

Clearly Define Objectives

• Specify the mathematical concepts and skills students should grasp by the end of the lesson.
• Break down complex topics into manageable learning objectives.

Utilize Visual Aids

• Integrate visual representations, charts, and diagrams to enhance understanding of mathematical concepts.
• Encourage students to create their visual aids to reinforce learning.

Incorporate Real-World Applications

• Relate mathematical concepts to real-life situations to demonstrate their practical relevance.
• Design activities that challenge students to apply mathematical principles in problem-solving scenarios.

Hands-On Experiments

• Prioritize hands-on experiments to make scientific concepts tangible.
• Ensure safety measures are communicated and followed during practical sessions.

Use Multimedia Resources

• Integrate videos, simulations, and interactive tools to supplement theoretical explanations.
• Appeal to various learning styles by incorporating a multimedia approach.

Encourage Inquiry-Based Learning

• Foster curiosity and critical thinking by structuring lessons around inquiry-based activities.
• Guide students to ask questions, formulate hypotheses, and conduct investigations.

Creative Expression

• Prioritize activities that allow students to express their creativity through various art forms.
• Provide opportunities for experimentation with different materials and techniques.

Art History Exploration

• Explore different art movements and styles to broaden students' understanding of artistic traditions.
• Discuss the cultural and historical context of famous artworks.

Skill Progression

• Design lessons that focus on the progressive development of motor skills and physical abilities.
• Incorporate activities that cater to various fitness levels and interests.

Team Building and Sportsmanship

• Integrate team sports and cooperative activities to promote teamwork and sportsmanship.
• Emphasize the importance of fair play and positive attitudes in physical activities.

Pre-Primary Teacher

Assistant teacher, primary teacher, post graduate teacher, head of department, format of a stellar lesson plan with samples, how to create a lesson plan, different types of lesson plans, common mistakes in lesson plans, wrapping up, good news, frequently asked questions.

Yes, lesson plans can be adapted by adjusting the complexity of tasks, modifying resources, and considering the developmental stages of students. Flexibility is key in catering to various grade levels.

Depending on the subject, you can integrate technology by using educational apps, interactive presentations, or online resources. Ensure that technology enhances the learning experience without being a distraction.

Let's consider a high school Biology lesson about cellular processes. Instead of a traditional lecture, you decide to leverage technology to make the topic more interactive. You introduce an educational app that allows students to explore virtual cells, witness cellular activities, and even simulate experiments. To learn more on how to integrate technology into your classroom, watch this masterclass for free !

Reflection is key. After the lesson, consider what worked well and what could be improved. Collect feedback from students and be open to adjusting your approach based on their responses. Read this blog on Reflection in Teaching to gain insights to practice reflection in your teaching process.

While it's important to have a plan, flexibility is crucial. Be prepared to adapt based on the needs of your students, unexpected class dynamics, or if an activity is taking more or less time than anticipated.

While formats may vary, a typical lesson plan includes above mentioned sections like objectives, materials, procedures, assessment, and closure. The key is clarity and organization to guide effective teaching.

Stay calm and be adaptable. Have a few backup activities or quick engagement strategies on hand. Establish clear classroom expectations to minimize disruptions. Let's say you're in the middle of explaining a complex math concept, and suddenly there's a loud noise from the hallway that grabs everyone's attention. Instead of getting flustered, take a moment to address the distraction calmly. You might say, "It seems like there's a bit of noise from the hallway. Let's all take a deep breath and refocus on our learning.”

It's possible to use existing lesson plans as a template, but tailor them to suit your teaching style, students, and classroom dynamics. Personalizing the content will make it more effective for your students.

Encourage open communication with students and colleagues. Seek feedback on the clarity of instructions, engagement level, and overall effectiveness. Continuous improvement is a key aspect of teaching.

Simran Agarwal

Simran is a writer here at Suraasa and has formerly worked as a Teacher. She is passionate about learning and making a difference through her words.

The Four Main Parts of a Lesson Plan Made Simple

by Brad Melsby – updated January 23, 2024

What is a lesson plan and why do you need one?

The world of education is full of (too) many lesson plan templates and styles.  As you develop as a teacher, you’ll naturally grow into a more detailed lesson plan format.  Your school or district may require a different format or style of lesson plan.  Whatever your situation, it’s most useful for newer teachers to focus on the four main parts of a lesson plan.  These four elements are essential to your early success in the classroom. 

Your lesson plan is the roadmap for how the class period will be organized.  In the lesson plan, you identify what will be taught, how it will be taught, and by what method you plan to see if students learned it.  Without a structured lesson plan, a class period can quickly lose focus or direction.

In this article, we’ll focus on the four main parts of a lesson plan.

Lesson Planning Simplified: The Four Main Parts of a Lesson Plan

Lesson component #1: identify the learning objectives.

Ask yourself: What new concepts, knowledge, or skills do I want my students to learn today?  

When I chat with new teachers about how their class is going, I sometimes hear them say, “We’re doing the Roman Empire right now” or “We’re doing fractions today.”   I get that the word “doing” in this context is just an expression.  

But I also remember the realities of being a new teacher.  In my first year or two, my goal was to “fill the period” with academic activities.  Surely if we are doing something, the kids will learn.  Right?  

“Doing” does not necessarily equate to learning.

For many new teachers, a major evolution is to focus less on “filling the period” — although unstructured class time is rarely good — and more on your learning objective(s).

Check out the sample learning objectives below. Notice how the addition of learning objectives shifts the focus away from the topic (“We’re doing the Roman Empire”) to the students and their skill acquisition.     

Here are a few sample learning objectives:

• At the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify and explain six causes of World War II.
• By the end of the lesson, students will be able to apply the rules of the Order of Operations to evaluate algebraic expressions.
• Students will be able to categorize types of animals into the correct classes with a graphic organizer.
• By the end of the reading lesson, students will be able to identify the rising action, climax, and falling action on a plot diagram.

Learning objectives force the teacher to think strategically.  How can you best support the students in achieving the objective? What instructional or learning activities will best fit the objective?  Clear learning objectives are arguably the most important part of a lesson.

Lesson Component # 2: The Lesson “Hook”

Ask yourself: How will I introduce the topic? How can I get students interested in the topic?

A lesson introduction should:

• Provide brief context and background information on the topic while engaging interest
• Create excitement or interest.  Compel the class to want to know more about the topic
• Explain the relevance of the topic to the larger unit or course 
• Provide a clear link between today’s objectives and the student’s prior knowledge

Your students likely possess a wide variety of personal experiences and knowledge.  As a result, it’s helpful to use the introduction to gauge prior knowledge or misconceptions about the topic. 

A few strategies for introducing the lesson:

Tell a personal story, analyze a relevant image or song, watch a video clip, provide a real-world connection or example, or present a probing challenge or question. 

Lesson Component #3 : The Learning Activities

Ask yourself: What will the students do to achieve the lesson objective?  

In a general sense, the learning activities can be divided into two parts: Guided Practice and Individual/Group Practice.  This is sometimes referred to as the gradual release of responsibility method: I Do, We Do, You Do.

Guided Practice (I Do, We Do): Here, the teacher explains and models the learning activity while answering clarifying questions.  Guided practice then allows students to participate in the learning activity under supervision and with direct feedback from the instructor.  

From a teacher’s perspective, guided practice is a key form of formative assessment.  Teachers use guided practice to determine whether students are ready to complete the activity without scaffolded support.  

Individual/Group Practice (You do):  Students complete the learning activity.  In guided practice, students learn with the steady support of the teacher.  Individual/group practice is the time for students to demonstrate proficiency on their own.  Independent practice can include homework assignments.   

Lesson Component #4 : Assessment and Closure

Ask yourself : How can I know if the students have met the learning objective of the lesson?

Lesson closure gives teachers the chance to briefly conduct one final review of the lesson and check to ensure that the intended student learning has occurred.

Go back to your original lesson objectives.  Create questions to ask students that address your learning goals.  You can place those questions on a homework assignment, an exit ticket , a quiz, or simply ask the questions in the form of a discussion.

Teachers use the assessment from today’s lesson to inform tomorrow’s lesson plan . 

What questions or confusion came up that need clarification? What if anything do I need to reteach?  What key concepts from today’s lesson will be useful to build on during tomorrow’s lesson?

Related resource:

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Brad has taught history at the middle and high school levels for 19 years, almost exclusively in American public schools.  He holds a master’s in educational technology and is passionate about elevating the status of professional educators.

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How to develop an effective lesson plan

Developing an effective lesson plan is a fundamental skill for teachers, serving as a compass guiding the teaching journey. In education, where structure meets creativity, a well-thought-out lesson plan is the key to unlocking meaningful learning experiences. This blog explores the art and science of creating lesson plans that transcend the ordinary, offering a roadmap for teachers to navigate the complexities of the classroom. From setting clear objectives to incorporating engaging activities and fostering adaptability, we delve into the essential elements that make lesson planning an art form. As we journey through the process, we'll uncover strategies for resource management, time allocation, and aligning assessments with instructional goals. Join us in exploring pedagogical craftsmanship, where the blueprint for effective teaching unfolds, providing educators with the tools to inspire and empower their students. Whether you're a seasoned educator or just starting your teaching adventure, this blog is your guide to mastering the intricacies of crafting lesson plans that resonate with learners and elevate the teaching experience. Want to find the easiest way to create a lesson plan for any lesson in your curriculum? Click here and start using g BrightClass.

1. Lesson Title

The lesson title serves as a concise overview of the topic or concept. It should be clear and engaging and indicate the lesson's content. A well-crafted title captures students' attention and provides a framework for the lesson's purpose.

2. Learning Objectives

Clearly defined learning objectives articulate what students are expected to know, understand, or be able to do by the end of the lesson. These objectives should employ measurable verbs, such as "analyse," "evaluate," or "solve," ensuring that educators can assess students' mastery of the material. Well-formulated learning objectives guide instructional design and help focus on the essential aspects of the lesson.

3. Materials

Listing necessary materials is crucial for effective lesson implementation. This includes textbooks, handouts, technology tools, and other activity resources. Materials should align with the learning objectives, support diverse learning styles, and cater to the overall engagement of students. Adequate preparation of materials ensures a smooth lesson flow and minimizes disruptions.

4. Introduction

Developing an effective lesson plan hinges on a well-structured introduction that sets the tone for the entire session. The initial 5-10 minutes are critical in engaging students and establishing clear learning objectives.

Engagement:

To captivate students from the outset, employ diverse engagement strategies. Real-world examples, thought-provoking questions, or interactive demonstrations immediately connect the lesson and students' everyday experiences. By tapping into their curiosity and sparking interest, educators lay the groundwork for an attentive and receptive learning environment.

Objectives:

Clearly articulating learning objectives is essential for providing students with a roadmap for the lesson. These objectives should be succinct, specific, and measurable, conveying precisely what students are expected to achieve. By transparently communicating the lesson's goals, educators provide a sense of purpose, enabling students to understand the relevance of the content. This clarity focuses students' attention and facilitates self-assessment as they progress through the lesson.

5. Main Activities

Developing the main activities segment of an effective lesson plan requires meticulous planning and a commitment to diverse instructional strategies.

Detailed Procedures:

Within the 30-40 minute timeframe, provide a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of the main activities. This involves clear instructions for each lesson segment, ensuring seamless transitions between activities. Educators facilitate understanding and maintain a structured learning environment by breaking down complex concepts into manageable chunks.

Varied Activities:

To cater to students' diverse learning styles, incorporate various teaching methods. Utilize hands-on activities, group work, class discussions, and technology-based tools. This variety caters to different preferences and ensures the lesson remains dynamic and engaging. Educators enhance comprehension and retention by appealing to multiple senses and learning modalities.

Differentiation:

Recognizing and accommodating diverse learning needs is paramount. Differentiation involves supporting struggling learners and offering extension activities for those who grasp concepts quickly. Scaffolding, additional resources, and targeted interventions create an inclusive environment where students can succeed at their own pace. This proactive approach acknowledges the individuality of learners and promotes an equitable learning experience.

6. Closure:

Developing an effective closure for a lesson plan is vital in consolidating learning and ensuring that students leave with a clear understanding of the key concepts.

In the final 5-10 minutes, a concise review of the key points and concepts reinforces the learning objectives. By summarizing the main ideas, educators help solidify the information in students' minds. This reflective process aids in connecting the dots between various components of the lesson, promoting a holistic understanding.

Assessment:

To gauge student comprehension, incorporate a brief assessment during the closure phase. Exit tickets, quick quizzes, or informal questioning provide valuable insights into whether the learning objectives have been met. This immediate feedback informs educators and students about the effectiveness of the lesson, allowing for adjustments in future instruction.

Assigning relevant homework that aligns with the lesson's content ensures continuity beyond the classroom. Reading is a valuable reinforcement tool, allowing students to practice and apply newly acquired knowledge. Carefully crafted homework assignments should be manageable, purposeful, and directly linked to the learning objectives, extending the learning experience beyond the classroom walls.

Wrapping Up

Effective lesson plans are a nuanced blend of pedagogical artistry and strategic planning. This blog has illuminated the crucial elements essential for creating impactful lessons. The lesson title acts as a beacon, offering clarity and purpose, while precise learning objectives serve as a guiding roadmap for educators and students. Materials thoughtfully chosen and aligned with objectives are pivotal in facilitating engagement. The structured introduction engages students and communicates goals transparently, setting the stage for learning. The main activities segment emphasises meticulous planning, varied instructional strategies, and differentiation to meet diverse learning needs. This approach ensures an inclusive learning environment. The closure phase solidifies key concepts, assesses understanding, and extends learning through purposeful homework assignments. By implementing these strategies, educators navigate the complexities of the classroom, fostering an environment where meaningful learning experiences inspire and empower both teachers and students. This blog serves as a concise yet comprehensive guide for educators, regardless of their experience level, in creating lesson plans that make a lasting impact.

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How To Write A Lesson Plan in 6 Easy Steps

Written by Victoria Hegwood

• Teaching Strategies

• 6 Steps to building an effective lesson plan
• Step 1: Identify your learning objectives
• Step 2: Work with your grade level team
• Step 3: Design your learning activities & content
• Step 4: Determine how you will assess knowledge
• Step 5: Adapt & modify according to students’ needs
• Step 6: Review & edit
• The importance of a high-quality lesson plan
• Frequently asked questions

Everybody knows that just about everything in life goes better when you have a plan. And, of course, the classroom is no exception. 

An effective lesson plan is a fundamental aspect of successful teaching, enhancing the learning experience for students of all levels.

While there are many methods to use when making a lesson plan, this article will outline six straightforward steps for developing engaging and purposeful lesson plans. If you’re looking to promote student learning and equip your students with the best tools to succeed, read on!

These six steps provide a foundation for building a great lesson plan. As you get more familiar with the six steps, you may find that you tweak them to better serve your students. But here are the fundamentals to start with.

The first step in any lesson plan is to identify the end goal. You will want to identify clear and measurable learning objectives so that your learning plan is very focused. 

Clear objectives state exactly what you want your students to achieve by the end of the lesson.

After identifying these objectives, you should double-check that they are both aligned with curriculum standards and appropriate for the students' grade level. 

Finally, you should make sure that there are ways to make achieving the objectives fun and engaging. 

The next step in building a good lesson plan is to collaborate with your grade level team to ensure that everyone is on the same page with their teaching strategies , materials, and assessment methods.

By collaborating with other teachers, everyone can share insights on effective teaching practices and exchange ideas to improve the overall educational experience for students.

You may even discover ways to coordinate your lesson plans with colleagues and lessen the workload for everyone. And by sharing worksheets or other materials, students across different classrooms will receive the same educational experience. 

The third step is to develop a well-structured outline for your lesson that encompasses an introduction, instruction, practice and assessment components .

You should also make sure to organize the content in a way that makes the most sense to students. It should be easy to follow and be presented in a clear way.

Next comes choosing an engaging and relevant learning activity . Ideally, this activity will cater to various learning styles and capture your students’ interest. By keeping them engaged in the lesson, this activity will create a better learning experience.

While we most often think of tests as the way that we assess students’ knowledge, there are lots of other options for assessing learning. Depending on your learning objectives and teaching styles, you may use quizzes, discussions, or projects as assessment tools. 

It should be clearly specified when and how these assessments will be administered. You could choose to do it during the lesson or at the end of the lesson.

It is incredibly important to ensure that your assessments not only focus on rote memorization but also deeper comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Tip: Consider using game-based platforms like Prodigy Math to deliver assessments that help take the anxiety out of testing in your students.

While it’s important to spend time before a lesson prepping and preparing, it’s just as important to be flexible and willing to adjust on the fly. While teaching your lesson, you should continuously monitor students' understanding and engagement during the lesson. 

If you notice that they don’t seem to be getting a concept, spend a little more time on it. If they all seem to be bored with an activity quicker than you thought they would be, just move on to the next thing. 

Have a plan to differentiate your instruction to accommodate the different learning styles and abilities in your classroom. 

The best lesson plan will have adaptations to maximize each students’ learning experience. Consider the various teaching styles, like game-based learning , that may hold your students’ interest while teaching them effectively.

Even if you thought that you made the best lesson plan possible, there are likely some points that you will see could be improved at the end of the school day. 

Take time after teaching a lesson to reflect on what worked well and what didn’t go as great. Make notes and tweaks while everything is fresh in your mind. 

If you teach the same grade each year, store the lesson plan (and its improvements) away for the next year. Or share it and what you learned with your fellow teachers for feedback and collaboration. 

The value of a high-quality lesson plan can’t be overstated. 

High-quality lesson plans ensure that the key components of what you want your students to learn are emphasized. By focusing your efforts, students will make measurable progress in their understanding of the material.

Effective lesson plans also offer engaging activities and strategies that capture students' attention and maintain their focus throughout the lesson. The last thing you want is students thinking about lunch or their after-school activities during the math lesson!

Additionally, well-planned lessons prevent wasted time in the classroom. With a clear structure, teachers can maximize class time and cover more content in the limited time that they get with students. 

Particularly in high school, where the subject matter becomes more complex, a high-quality lesson plan is even more important. It ensures that students receive a well-rounded education and the opportunity to grasp the main points of each lesson, supporting their overall academic success.

Lesson Plan FAQs

Can i use lesson plan templates to build my lesson plans.

Yes, lesson plan templates can be a great tool to structure your lessons effectively. Templates provide a framework for organizing your weekly lesson objectives, activities, and time frame.

Templates help maintain consistency. If you plan to be gone for some reason, a template can make it easier for substitute teachers to follow the plan. 

You can also personalize templates to suit your learners' needs and tailor the lesson to their prior knowledge and abilities.

Here are some free lesson plan templates to get you started!

How can I adapt my lesson plan to accommodate different learning styles and abilities?

You should consider employing various teaching strategies to address diverse learning styles, such as visual aids, worksheets, and hands-on activities. Not every student learns the same way, so we shouldn’t teach every student the same way.

If you aren’t sure where your students are at or how the lesson may need to be tweaked for them, consider giving a formative assessment . This could be a quiz and discussion that gauges student understanding and lets you know how to adjust your teaching approach.

What are the 5 parts of a lesson plan?

A lesson plan typically consists of an introduction, instruction, guided practice, independent practice and a conclusion .

Letting these 5 parts guide your structure ensures that essential content is covered while maintaining a balanced flow of activities throughout the class time.

How should I measure my student’s academic success?

Student learning can be measured through formative assessments , which occur during the lesson, and summative assessments , which evaluate learning at the end of the lesson or unit.

These assessments can take various forms, such as quizzes, handouts, and assignments. Whatever method you choose will help you gauge student understanding and guide your instruction.

How can I make my lesson plans more interactive and student-centered?

The ability to craft a fantastic lesson plan is essential for every teacher, but it can take time and practice to hone this skill. However, armed with the knowledge and steps from this article, you’ll be creating engaging and effective lesson plans in no time. Keep the end goal and your students in mind and your lesson plans will be amazing!

If you’re looking to add more engaging activities to your lesson plan, Prodigy is a great option. Prodigy works on math and English skills that are right on par with curriculum and grade standards – all while being lots of fun. 

The intuitive algorithms adjust the content to meet your students exactly where they are and give them extra practice in areas where they need it. It’s easy to see how each student is performing through the teacher dashboard and its reports.

And best of all, teachers and schools get access to Prodigy at no cost!

See how it works below!

Make learning fun, adaptive and insightful

There's no cost to you or your students and Prodigy is fully aligned with state standards for grades 1-8 math and grades 1-6 English.

Other Lesson Plan Resources

See our other lesson plan resources below:

• 1st Grade Lesson Plan: “More” and “Less”
• 2nd Grade Lesson Plan: Number Patterns and Skip Counting
• 3rd Grade Lesson Plan: Borrowing in Subtractio n
• 4th Grade Lesson Plan: Calculating Perimeter, Area, and Volume
• 5th Grade Lesson Plan: Mental Multiplication
• 6th Grade Lesson Plan: All About Quadrilaterals
• 7th Grade Lesson Plan: Angle Hunt and Classroom Design
• 8th Grade Lesson Plan: Understanding Sampling Techniques
• English Lesson Plans
• Reading Lesson Plans

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Blog Education 27+ Easy-to-Edit Lesson Plan Examples [+ Writing Tips]

27+ Easy-to-Edit Lesson Plan Examples [+ Writing Tips]

Written by: Alice Corner Dec 07, 2023

Lesson plans are the best way to deliver an effective and engaging lesson. Lesson plans also help keep you on track to ensure that your learners hit their goals and targets, in line with your course curriculum.

But sometimes in the high-pressure world of education, it can be difficult to find the time to create inspiring lesson plans on your own. This is the time to enlist the help of a lesson plan maker and lesson plan templates .

I’ve gathered together 28 of the best lesson plan examples for all grade levels that you can use to ensure your lessons are insightful and inspiring.

Click to jump ahead :

What is a lesson plan?

• What are lesson plan sections

How to write a lesson plan?

English lesson plan examples, history lesson plan examples, middle school lesson plan examples, kindergarten lesson plan examples, high school lesson plan examples, preschool lesson plan examples, math lesson plan examples, elementary lesson plan examples, art lesson plan examples.

• Science lesson plan examples

Simple lesson plan examples

Elearning lesson plan examples.

• Simple lesson plan format

How to present the lesson plan

A lesson plan is a document that outlines the content of your lesson step-by-step. It’s a list of tasks that your students will undertake, to help guide your teaching.

Lesson plans are usually printed or saved as PDFs for teachers to use. You can make your own with a lesson plan template .

What are lesson plan sections?

Lesson plans primarily include a schedule of activities that you will deliver in the lesson. Some lesson plans also include additional sections for more thorough planning.

A general format of a lesson plan can be like this :

• Lesson activities
• Lesson materials
• Lesson objectives
• Lesson goals
• Lesson feedback

1. Objectives: know your destination

When writing a lesson plan, start by outlining the learning objectives—what you want your students to take from the session and work backward. Having clear and specific goals helps you plan activities for a successful lesson.

2. Welcome to the hook: make ’em want to learn

Start with an engaging “hook” to capture your students’ attention and make them eager to learn more. This could be a thought-provoking question, an interesting fact, or a surprising tidbit.

Apply a top-down method: plan on a course level the lessons you’re going to include and then go deeper and think about the activities you would like to include in each lesson.

3. Step-by-step: outlining the activities

Now that your students are hooked, it’s time to get down to business. Work on exercises or projects you would like your students to take on. These should serve two important purposes: allowing your students to apply the knowledge they learn in class and allowing you, the teacher, to assess students’ understanding of the materials.

This might include direct instruction (i.e., when you teach the material), guided practice (working together as a class), independent practice (students work on their own) and group activities.  Think about the best way to engage students and make sure you include a variety of these activities besides just tests or exams, like quizzes, group discussions, group projects and so on.

Example: If your objective is teaching persuasive writing, your steps might look like this:

• Explanation of persuasive writing techniques and purpose
• Guided practice: analyzing persuasive texts as a class
• Independent practice: having students create a persuasive argument on a given topic
• Group activity: Debating the different arguments in teams

Remember the old adage: “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.” 

4. Check for understanding: keep ’em on track

It’s not uncommon for students to zone out (we’ve all been there), so it’s crucial to regularly check if they’re on track. This means asking questions throughout the lesson and encouraging your students to reflect on the material.

Once you’ve got all these noted down, you can start arranging all the lessons and activities in a meaningful and logical order as well. This applies to the activities within a single lesson too. Answer these questions:

• How much time do you have for the whole lesson?
• What do you plan to start and end the lesson with?
• How much time do you have for each activity?
• If you still have time after all the activities are done, what are you planning to do?
• If you run out of time, what activities are you planning to drop?

As you plan your lesson, keep in mind that not all students learn at the same pace and in the same way. Tailor your activities and materials to accommodate different learning styles, skill levels and interests. This could mean offering choice in assignments, providing extra support for struggling learners, or challenging high-achievers with extended tasks.

Creating an English lesson plan is the best way to keep track of all the learning strands and activities that are needed for learning success.

Imagination, drama, romance and tragedy. English lessons have it all. But they can also be complicated to teach, with many moving parts to any one lesson. 

Like you’ll see in the English lesson plan examples below, creating engaging activities to a strict time schedule is perfectly possible with enough planning.

Use your lesson plan to schedule each activity by the minute

Any teacher will know the feeling of reaching the end of your material with 10 minutes left in the lesson.

Avoid running short (or running over!) in your lessons by planning down to the minute. The English lesson plan example below measures out timings for each activity so you finish perfectly on time. 

You can use a timer on your interactive whiteboard , or get students to time themselves. Scheduling is a great skill to incorporate into any lesson plan.

Creating a history lesson plan is essential for a successful session no matter if you’re teaching the near past or the ancient history.

Using common teaching resources such as timeline infographics , or imaginative play and learning are exciting ways to make your History lesson plans exciting.

Prepare for history lessons with a history timeline infographic

Teaching history effectively and engagingly relies on the teacher’s ability to bring the past back to life. For some students, mentally visualizing history can be difficult. A timeline infographic is a great way to teach historical events.

When planning your history lesson, make sure you have all of your timelines sorted. You can either prepare your history timelines in advance or get the students to create their own history timeline as part of the lesson activity.

Venngage has a whole range of timeline infographic templates that are easy to customize. 

Want to learn more about how to create a timeline infographic ? Check out the video below:

Use themes and historical events to enrich your lesson planning

When planning your history lessons, look for topical themes or historical events that you can anchor your lesson plan around.

In the lesson plan example below, the teacher is using Black History Month as an anchor point for their students’ learning.

Teaching the historical significance of Black History Month and engaging students in related learning activities throughout February is a great way to contextualize current affairs. There are plenty of resources online to help create your Black History Month lesson plans.

Related Reading: Looking for other global holidays and events to theme your lessons on? Check this Ultimate List of Holidays .

When creating middle school lesson plans, like in the templates and examples below, it’s important to focus on success and simplicity.

Middle school is a time for make or break for many learners. Skills that they learn in middle school carry them through life and it can be a huge weight to carry. But teaching middle school can also be incredibly rewarding. Here are some tips to help you create an effective middle school lesson plan:

Make note of what success looks like in your lesson plan

In teaching, quite often the end goal is not for the students to just arrive at the correct answer, but to understand the process of getting there. Having this mentality in your mind whilst lesson planning is an excellent way to ensure your students are learning effectively and that you are maximizing your teaching impact.

Add a section to your lesson plans as to what success looks like for you and your students like in the Middle School lesson plan template: 

Color code your lesson plan for ease of use

Colors can be a great differentiator in content and color-coding your lesson plans is a great way to make information pop. In this lesson plan example, each day has a different color which makes planning and evaluating much easier.

Related Reading: What Disney Villains Can Tell Us About Color Psychology

Creating a kindergarten lesson plan involves similar principles to those used for preschoolers but with a bit more structure and focus on foundational academic skills.

We all know that meme “teaching kindergarten is like using a blender without a lid”. Staying organized is super important and having thorough easy-to-follow kindergarten lesson plans is one way to make sure your teaching stays on track. 

Use themes to help plan your Kindergarten lessons

Help your kindergarteners embrace learning by using themes to plan their education. Themes are a great way to work through lots of different learning activities under one thematic umbrella.

This kindergarten lesson plan example uses St Patrick’s Day as its thematic anchor and bases Math, Art, Science and more off of one common theme. 

Make your lesson plans easy to skim

We’ve all been in a spot when our mind goes blank and we need to quickly refer back to our lesson plan. Especially if you’re interviewing or teaching in front of others.

By making your lesson plans easy to skim, you can quickly regain your train of thought and continue conducting a successful lesson.

In the sample lesson plan below the teacher has used simple blocks, checklists and icons to help ensure their lesson plan is easy to understand at a glance.

Creating a high school lesson plan involves a more structured approach, as students at this level are typically engaged in more advanced academic subjects.

Ensuring that your High School lesson plans account for success and reinforcing skills is one way to deliver the best education for your learners.

Include indicators of skill in your high school lesson plans

In high school, lesson plans tend to be more advanced. In the high school lesson plan example below, the teacher has included a section for indicators of skill. 

Indicators of skill are a great way to measure your students’ understanding of a topic and can be used to help inform your planning and teaching. Add two or three skill indicators into your lesson plans to ensure you know how to identify which students may need additional support from you in teaching.

You can also scroll back to the Math lesson plans section for more ideas on high school lesson plan templates.

Remember how I mentioned you should include timelines in your lesson plan? Well, for a high school lesson plan, you can include a timeline template like this one to make sure your students understand all the dates required for their school project:

Creating a preschool lesson plan involves careful consideration of the developmental needs and interests of young children. Shaping young minds is a rewarding experience, but it can sometimes feel like juggling too many balls at once.

With so many different essential key skills to teach, using a thorough Preschool lesson plan is important for making sure that your learners progress stays on track.

Break your Preschool lesson plans into learning sections

Preschool curriculums can be complex, covering multiple areas of crucial childhood development.

Help visualize each of these areas in their own right by creating a preschool lesson plan that takes a broad overview.

By breaking your lesson plan into learning sections, like this Preschool lesson plan example, you can get a glance at all elements of your students learning at once.

Get an overview of your week with a weekly lesson plan

A weekly lesson plan works great for preschool education planning, as it helps you identify and build lessons around common themes or goals. In the lesson plan template below, weeks have been broken down into different areas of focus.

Use icons in your Preschool lesson plan

Using icons is a great way to communicate visually. Icons are easy to understand, especially when you’re skimming a document. 

Take this lesson plan template for example, not only do the icons help communicate the lesson themes, they also make the lesson plan example super engaging and fun.

Using icons can also be a great way to help students who struggle with non-visual learning. For more ways to improve your lesson accessibility, check out this guide to creating a Color Blind Friendly Palette .

Creating a math lesson plan involves careful planning and consideration of various elements to ensure effective teaching and learning. Check out these lesson plan ideas for math tutors for writing the best math lesson plan, as well as some templates you can edit.

Use pops of color in your lesson plans

Just because your lesson plan tackles a complex subject doesn’t mean it has to be boring. In this lesson plan example a mint green color has been used to help break up the design. You could color code different subjects or units if you have multiple classes to teach.

Break your lesson plan into sections to make it easy to follow

Being properly prepared for any eventuality in your lesson starts with good planning. By using sections, like in the lesson plan example below, you can cover all of your bases. 

When lesson planning, consider the following:

• Lesson discussion questions
• Activity options for multiple group sizes
• Lesson notes or feedback

In this math lesson plan activity, the teacher has thought through all of the needs of their class.

Think outside the box when lesson planning

When lesson planning, the world, or at least the internet, is your Oyster. Instead of just teaching vocabulary, use scavenger hunts, word searches, or story activities. 

Try picking a new activity and building your lesson around that. In the lesson activity example below, Merriam-Webster has a dictionary scavenger hunt that will keep students engaged and entertained throughout your English lesson.

Highlight your lesson objectives at the top of your lesson plan

Your learning objectives should guide your lesson planning, not the other way around.

In this sample lesson plan that focuses on analyzing a film for an English class, the learning objectives are housed within the same section as the lesson plan overview, right on the first page:

If you want to learn how to write an actional learning objective , check out this post on learning objective examples .

When creating Elementary school lesson plans, you need to make sure that you’re keeping a good overview of many different subjects at once. 

Having a clear, easy to understand Elementary lesson plan, like in the examples below, is really important for making sure that all your learning objectives are being met.

Break your elementary lesson plans into day and subject sections

Elementary students will often be studying various topics and subjects at once and keeping an overview of this can be difficult. By creating a weekly lesson plan you can make sure that your students stay on track. 

In this lesson plan template, subjects and activity have been split across the days, with simple summaries of each section within the lesson plan. 

Include notes sections in your lesson plans

Planning a lesson is important, but reflecting on a lesson is essential. Adding notes sections to your lesson plans, like in this weekly lesson plan example, is a great way to remind yourself to evaluate as you go.

Evaluating yourself and your lessons can be a daunting task. Applying various evaluation strategies, such as a SWOT Analysis , is an easy way to give your evaluations focus.

When creating art lesson plans, use bright colors, patterns, icons and graphics to create a truly engaging visual art lesson plan, like in the examples below.

Art lessons lend themselves to creative and visual learning , so your Art lesson plans should be creative and visual as well.

Incorporate learning examples in your art lesson plans

Art lesson plans can be one of the most fun to create. Art as a visual medium lends itself to an exciting and decorative lesson plan. 

In the art lesson plan example below, the teacher has inserted visual examples to use during the lesson directly into their lesson plan. Collecting all of this information in one place means that you can quickly refer back to your lesson plan mid teaching. 

Be creative with your art lesson plan design

If you’re creating an art course, you’re probably a creative person. Why not let that creativity shine in your lesson plan templates?

Fun illustrations and patterns have been used in the lesson plan sample below to create a visually appealing lesson plan design.

When picking colors for your lesson plan design, some schools will need to be aware of color connotations. Certain colors should be avoided due to gang or rivalry associations. Some schools will also want to ensure that all materials produced fit within your school colors.

Use colors and patterns in your art lesson plan designs

As well as colors, patterns can be used, like in this art lesson plan example, to create interest in your lesson plan design. 

Picking a patterned but simple background is an easy way to add depth to any lesson plan design.

Science l esson plan examples

Planning a science lesson can mean anything from experiments to monitoring or diagramming and labelling.

Following a template, like in the science lesson plan examples below, can help make sure that your science lessons run smoothly.

Provide a space for reflection in your science lesson plan

Whilst a lesson plan is a place to schedule your activities, it can also be a great document to refer back to when planning future sessions. Adding a reflection section in your science lesson plan can be a great way to add notes about what worked and what didn’t within your lesson, for future reference. 

Break projects down into sections of deliverables

If you’re conducting a difficult lesson, such as a hands-on science project, it can be handy to help yourself and your students by outlining expectations. A checklist can be a great way to make your science lesson plan as effective as possible.

In this lesson plan example, the deliverables have been broken into easy-to-follow checklists.

Use illustrations to bring your lesson plan templates to life

Your lesson plans should inspire you, not bore you! Using illustrations is a great way to bring your lesson plans to life. 

In this sample lesson plan, the teacher has used colorful and playful illustrations to reflect the content of the lessons.

Creating simple lesson plans involves breaking down the content into manageable components and incorporating straightforward activities.

Sometimes simple is best—especially when it comes to lesson planning. When you’re panicked mid-teaching, having a simple and straightforward lesson plan that you can take a quick glance at it can be invaluable. 

Keep your lesson plan simple for stressful situations

When performing under pressure, staying simple is usually the best option. Using a clean and modern lesson plan design is one way to ensure that you can stay focused on what matters: teaching. 

Simple doesn’t have to mean boring, though. Using good design principles and following one or two graphic design trends means that your simple lesson plan template can still look smart.

Use an icon to help differentiate different subject lesson plans

Icons are an easy way to differentiate your lesson plans by subject or topic. In the lesson plan example below, a large book icon has been used at the top of the page so that you can quickly see that this is an English lesson plan.

You could use an icon for each subject you teach, or use icons to tell a story . You could even replace the icon with a photo of your lesson materials!

Use an action plan approach in your lesson planning

In the simple lesson plan example, the tasks in the lesson plan have been labeled as an “action plan” . By keeping the lesson plan design simple, the focus is really on the content of the lesson plan.

Creating an action plan when teaching your lessons is a great mindset for creating engaging lessons and proactive teaching.

When creating eLearning , distance learning, remote learning, digital learning lesson plans—basically, anything outside the usual classroom setup—always be ready for its own set of unique challenges.

Engaging learners from behind a screen, or creating lessons that can exist outside of a traditional classroom environment can be difficult. But proper eLearning lesson plans can help you navigate non-traditional learning environments.

Break your eLearning lesson plan into activities or subjects

With so many people shifting to remote or digital learning keeping track of all of your separate subjects can be difficult. Creating an eLearning lesson plan that is broken into smaller chunks, with space for each topic, is an easy way to keep learning on track.

In this eLearning lesson plan example subjects are color coded and broken into small blocks.

For more examples of eLearning lesson plans, check out this post on course design templates .

Looking for more eLearning resources?

• 7 Ways to use eLearning Infographics
• Digital Learning Communication Resources  
• What is an Infographic?
• 10 Types of Visual Aids for Learning

Use a daily schedule when learning remotely

Learning remotely can be a big change for both teachers and students. One way to keep your learning on track is with an easy-to-follow daily schedule. Using a daily schedule as a lesson plan, like in the example below, is one way to maintain a routine during difficult times.

As well as scheduling within your lesson plan, you can also create a calendar to help keep your students on track.

Allow time for creativity and fun in your lesson plans

One of the biggest benefits of eLearning, Remote Learning and Digital Learning is that you can stray from the confines of a traditional classroom. 

Giving students the opportunity to explore topics creatively can be one way to engage your learners in difficult times. Every student will have a different learning style and by scheduling structured creative learning activities you can ensure that your entire class has the opportunity to thrive.

Simple lesson plan format you can use

Though there are a several lesson plan types and no one format can be used for all lessons, the basic lesson format is always a good starting point.

This format covers the basics of teaching – say a little bit, do a little bit . The important part here is to provide input in a way that enables learners to see the structure and sequence.

You should format it this way:

• Lesson purpose: What you want students to learn or know about?
• Input : Specific information you want students to know.
• Activity : Used to get students to manipulate information from input.

Informing students on what they’ll be learning or doing keeps them more engaged and on track. So, it’s always a good idea to share your lesson plan by writing a brief agenda on the board or telling students explicitly what they will be learning and doing in class.

By doing this, you help students not only retain knowledge better but understand the rationale behind in-class activities.

To sum up: Use a lesson plan template to write an actionable and easy-to-follow lesson plan

Writing a lesson plan from scratch can be difficult, which is why Venngage has created tons of lesson plan templates you can edit easily. You can also draw inspiration from the different lesson plan examples in this post to customize your lesson plan template.

Simply create a Venngage account, pick the template you want and begin editing. It’s free to get started.

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How to Create a Lesson Plan

No matter what content or subject you’re teaching, knowing how to create a lesson plan prepares you for class by providing a clear outline for the day. Your lesson plans don’t need to be complex or lengthy — they just need to contain elements about what you’re teaching, how you’re going to be teaching this material, and what goals and objectives you want your students to meet as part of the curriculum.

Regardless of the sections within a lesson plan, each class you teach should build on the previous lesson and move seamlessly into the next. Of course, it’s easier creating a lesson plan that flows from class to class when you know what goes into building one!

4 Advantages of Writing a Lesson Plan

In any class, there are going to be things that you can’t predict. But the more prepared you are, the easier it will be to adapt to the unexpected so you can effectively teach and respond to your students. Here are some of the main benefits of making a lesson plan ahead of time:

1. Inspire personal confidence

Having a good lesson plan lets you stay in control of the class and the lesson. As your confidence comes across to students, you’ll find it easier to keep them focused and on track.

2. Evaluate your own lessons

Lesson plans allow you to evaluate your own teaching performance as you compare your methods with the plan you’ve prepared. This is a good way to make adjustments to your teaching style and techniques.

3. Organization

Lesson plans help you think in an organized manner, visualizing each step of the outline as you work from one concept to the next. A disorganized class presents too many opportunities for students to get off task and misbehave.

4. A guide for substitute teachers

With a lesson plan guide, substitute teachers will know exactly what your students are learning that day, making it easier for them to stay on track to meet any curriculum objectives that are set for your class.

How To Make a Lesson Plan Engaging

While there’s no instruction manual on how to develop a lesson plan, there are some important components that go into building each one. 

Every lesson that you build is an entire segment that you create to teach your students something new. As you build a lesson it’s important to keep all your students in mind and ask the following essential questions before you begin:

Who are your students?

In order for you to figure out how to write a lesson plan, you must get to know your students. This may seem silly—of course, you know who your students are . . . right? Before you can write an effective lesson plan, you need to really know your students. This includes information such as their interests, abilities, how they work independently and in groups, any special needs that may require lesson tweaks, and their backgrounds.

What do your students already know?

Knowing your students’ prior knowledge of a subject can help you plan lessons. If you’ve been building lesson plans all along to follow a curriculum, you’ll already know what you’ve previously presented to your students; this allows you to continue with the flow.

What’s the best way to get them to learn?

Determine the best ways to get your students to learn. Younger students may do well with a lot of interactive teaching, while older students may prefer that some material is explained with a lecture and slideshow. After the first few classes, you’ll have a better idea of how to keep your students engaged.

You can break down the teaching techniques that you can use in your lesson plan into:

• The types of students you have in your class. Think about their interests, experiences, and times that they seem most engaged in the classroom.
• The type of learning and goals you’re aiming for. As an exercise, fill in this blank: “By the end of today’s class, I’m hoping my students will have learned or be able to ___.”
• The resources, materials, and teaching environment that are available to you, such as a dedicated room; field trip opportunities (including a virtual field trip!); or selected readings, videos, and other media.

Steps to Building A Lesson Plan

Once you’ve identified the components that need to go into teaching a class, you’re ready to use these eight steps on how to build a lesson plan: 

1. Identify the objectives

To build a lesson, you first need to identify the objective(s). What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the period? Are there specific things that your students should know or be able to do? Make the goal specific. If you’re teaching younger students, a lesson objective may be that they’re able to identify animals that live in the rainforest after reading a chapter about animals in Brazil. For older students, this goal may involve learning how to solve a specific type of algebraic equation.

2. Determine the needs of your students

With this particular lesson, are you introducing new material or reviewing what you’ve already taught in a previous class? At the start of the class, be sure to let students know what to expect so they can stay focused on meeting your objectives. When reviewing material, some of your students may need more encouragement than others. Identifying these needs in your lesson plan will help you prepare.

3. Plan your resources and materials

Make a list of the resources and materials you’ll need to teach this lesson. Think about writing materials, paper, manipulatives, art supplies, and anything else that students may need to complete the lesson. Don’t forget to include technology resources in your plan when appropriate, like computers, apps, or educational websites.

4. Engage your students

What’s the point of a lesson if your students aren’t engaged? You want them to be interested in what you’re teaching. As you prepare a lesson plan, you need to find ways to get them interested in what this lesson is all about. Give them an outline of what you’re going to be presenting. Then, introduce the subject more informally. For example, if you’re teaching students a formula, try deriving it from scratch to build their intuition for where it comes from. Or, if you’re discussing certain historical events, try to draw parallels between those and current events so students can relate to the material.

5. Instruct and present information

Once you’ve set the stage for what you’ll be teaching, it’s time to present the information to your students. This is the time to instruct and use whatever resources you’ve included in your lesson plan. Involve your students in the process whenever possible so they’re engaged. For example, you could plan for most of the lesson to take place in pairs or small groups, or when having whole-class instruction, look for ways to facilitate class-wide discourse and involve student volunteers.

Whether it’s reading from a book, using props such as blocks for younger students, or displaying graphics on the screen for older students, it’s all about presenting information and concepts in a meaningful way.

6. Allow time for student practice

After teaching new material, leave time for students to practice. There are three practice methods that, when worked in order, are a good way to reinforce what you’ve just taught:

• Guided practice: With a guided practice, you’re taking students back through what they’ve just learned, letting them add their own input as they gain confidence with new information.
• Collaborative process: With partners or in a group, the collaborative process is all about students talking with their peers as they explore new concepts. Circulate among your class and offer additional instruction or help when needed.
• Independent practice: After the collaborative practice, it’s time for students to practice what they’ve learned on their own. Adapt independent practice according to the material just presented, such as using worksheets or having students write a short essay.

7. Ending the lesson

Finish the lesson with a quick wrap-up. Do a brief overview of the lesson, including the main concepts the class learned. Ask students to identify the key ideas as a refresher, and leave them with a preview of the next lesson so they know what to expect.

8. Evaluate the lesson

Did you achieve your learning objectives? Provide students with the opportunity to show they know the material by using a short quiz or formative assessment. Depending on the results, your next lesson plan may include a review of information before moving on to new material.

For the final step on how to make a lesson plan, you'll need to use a template. You can find many teacher lesson plan templates online. You could even ask your colleagues to share their format! 

This article was adapted from a blog post initially developed by the education technology company Classcraft, which was acquired by HMH in 2023. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.

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How to Develop an Effective Lesson Plan: Everything You Should Know

While you cannot control everything that happens in the school day, a solid lesson plan provides teachers with a clear path for instruction and increases student achievement. Lesson plans can include a single activity or span a whole unit- teachers can determine what is best for their students.

Steps for Making an Effective Lesson Plan

Lesson plans are classroom blueprints that teachers use to increase student engagement and achievement. While they do not have to be lengthy or complicated, the following components are crucial when crafting effective lesson plans.

1. Determine the Learning Outcome

Begin with the end in mind. The learning outcome, sometimes called a learning target or objective, communicates what students should know and be able to do by the end of the lesson.  Further, all resources, tasks, and activities should be aligned to the learning outcome. These objectives should be attainable, measurable, and clearly articulated from the course standards.

Effective educators communicate the learning outcome to learners at the beginning of the lesson using student-friendly language.  It is beneficial to create a routine in which students internalize the learning outcome and set a specific goal for the lesson. This practice involves the learner in the process and encourages them to be active participants in their learning.

2. Differentiation and Resources

As teachers develop lesson plans, incorporating the unique characteristics, experiences, and learning styles of their students is essential. Crafting learning tasks and curating resources that build on student strengths and background knowledge increases engagement and achievement by allowing learners to make connections and understand the relevance of the content.

Learning tasks and materials should be challenging, yet comprehensible. This means differentiating the varying levels of understanding for all students. Hence, a diverse approach that uses traditional and technological activities that includes group and individual tasks. This ensures well-rounded instruction and prepares students for situations beyond the classroom.

3. Sequencing Lessons

Here are some things to consider when preparing the sequence of your lessons:

• Begin the lesson with a 'hook' to get students’ attention. Some examples are videos, ice breakers, or an interesting review of previously learned material.
• Plan student-centered tasks in which learners are actively engaged in the lesson.
• Speak clearly and concisely as well as include gestures, visuals, and examples.  This will improve comprehension for visual and tactile learners as well as English language learners.
• Incorporate formative assessments throughout the lesson to diagnose student attainment of the learning outcomes and drive instruction.
• Use modeling and multiple examples.
• Ask open-ended questions as well as allow time for students to ask questions.  This improves understanding and increases student agency in the learning process.
• Scaffold the content. A gradual release approach keeps students interested without overloading them too quickly.

4. Create a Realistic Timeline

Limit your lesson to the most important concepts or ideas of a specific standard or standards as a long list of learning objectives is unrealistic.  Utilizing the information below will create a lesson plan with realistic and attainable outcomes.

• Realistically estimate how long each activity will take. It’s important to understand that lessons don't always go as planned.
• Incorporate a review of material learned in previous lessons to activate prior knowledge that will be important in this lesson.
• Plan an extra activity or discussion question in case your students finish something early or if you have time left over.
• Be adaptable. Instead of adhering to the initial strategy, be willing to change any lesson plan to meet the needs of your students and concentrate on what appears to be more effective in terms of student engagement and comprehension.

5. Lesson Closure

Every lesson plan should include time for proper closure.  This is a great time for students to reflect on what they learned and allows the teacher to determine the best plan moving forward. Below are some options for an effective lesson conclusion:

• Use the sentence starter "Today we discussed" and have students write or discuss the end of the sentence.
• Ask students to help summarize the essential elements as part of their participation.
• Provide an exit ticket in which students explain what they learned or ask a question for the next lesson.

Keep in mind that your students have unique needs and learning styles. At times students require additional resources or support to truly achieve the determined learning outcomes. Finally, lesson plans are not only for the classroom teacher and students, they should be adaptable so that a substitute teacher can follow them in case you are absent.

Final Thoughts

Lesson plans that accommodate student interests and learning styles make a difference in student achievement and engagement. When crafting a lesson plan, avoid overloading the lesson with too much content.  Consider that a lesson plan can be extended beyond one day, if necessary.

Empower and encourage student feedback on lessons, activities, and assignments throughout the year. Track the components that elicited the strongest feedback to repeat or replace as necessary.  By establishing strong routines and facilitating relevant learning tasks, a lesson plan is a powerful tool for keeping students engaged in the classroom.

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5 Essential lesson planning tips using instructional design

Lesson planning is truly the artistry of teaching. Learning how to write a lesson plan takes practice to discover what works best for you and your students. Often lesson plans are downgraded to mere outlines of planned activities, but when an instructional design is folded in, they become the source of truth for crafting engaging learning experiences in the classroom. Whether you’re a first year teacher or a seasoned educator, this blog will provide the essential tips you need to lesson plan effectively and efficiently.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these standards-aligned activities and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

How do you write a lesson plan?

Lesson plans outline what to do before the lesson, during the lesson, and after the lesson. The basic components of a lesson plan should include learning objectives, standards, materials, class time, sequence, and assessments. There are many different templates or models for effective lesson planning, with elements that may differ depending on philosophical approach or school-wide adopted techniques. Yet before diving into mapping out a lesson, you may want a refresher on sound instructional design strategies.

What is instructional design?

Instructional design goes far beyond the mere production of a lesson plan or its accompanying teaching aids. Instructional design includes the goals for student learning and the methodology for achieving such goals, all while keeping in mind how individuals best engage in their learning journey. While teaching as a discipline is founded in science, its magic is in the artistry that educators add. As author and educator Mark Van Doren said, “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”

Yet as with any artistic venture, there is no hard and fast template for creating really engaging experiences. When it comes to the classroom, we have some tried and true models based on theory, research, and practice, but the best teachers add their own flavor to such classroom recipes to transform learning experiences for each and every student. Instructional design is no small task, but this is the beauty and challenge for educators daily.

5 Lesson planning tips for teachers using instructional design

1. start with backward design.

When it comes to instructional design, many teachers are tempted to jump into a fun activity they saw in action or read about; there’s loads of inspiration posted daily from our “edu-celebs” in the blogging and social media worlds. However, according to researchers Wiggins and McTighe, starting with a backward design is best. Backward Design is a fundamental concept in instructional design.

In their book, Understanding by Design , Wiggins and McTight outline that backward design consists of three sequential stages. First, you must set your overall learning goals and identify the desired results of your instruction; your eyes are on the end goals. Then, you work backward to determine what evidence you will want to see to know that these goals have been met. Only lastly should you plan and craft the learning activity or experience. In traditional lesson planning, it can be hard to rein in the creativity and enthusiasm around a good idea.

Likewise, often thinking about an assessment comes at the end of the lesson, a final step. However, by keeping the end in sight first, kids will be more engaged, and their knowledge becomes more transferable. Your systematic approach to and sequence of scaffolded lesson plans will yield better student outcomes . If you’re incorporating frameworks like the 5E Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate), the backward design approach can also be helpful.

Once you have results in mind, Nearpod can be utilized within your lesson design by leveraging the Nearpod reports as part of acceptable evidence and then drilling down into some of the interactive features and activities, such as Draw It or Drag and Drop , to support the lesson’s overall learning goals and objectives. Also, consider how to write a lesson plan using these tips on Nearpod. The corresponding lessons can be curated, organized, and housed within a lesson library.

2. Incorporate effective assessments

Speaking of goal setting and “acceptable evidence,” it is helpful to have a refresher on the types of assessments to continually weave into your lessons for daily instruction. While there are many ways to break down assessments, four common types are Diagnostic, Formative, Interim, and Summative.

Diagnostic Assessments

Consider how you can use diagnostic assessments to better understand where your students are starting — a snapshot or baseline if you will.

• What prior knowledge do they have (from school or home)?
• What is the breakdown of understanding amongst your whole class?
• How does the data inform my planning?

Formative Assessments

Weave formative assessments throughout your lesson plan model — these in-the-moment checks for understanding that can inform how you need to revise your plans for the following lesson.

• Which concepts did students grasp?
• Where are there gaps in their understanding?
• Which students need extra reinforcement before moving forward?
• What adjustments do I need to make?

Interim or Benchmark Assessments

Designed for larger groups of students, like school or district-wide, interim or benchmark assessments provide insight into the group’s progress toward said goals at set intervals in a given time period.

• What patterns are emerging?
• Where are there significant gaps?
• How can you shift resources to meet needs?

Summative Assessments

As its name suggests, summative assessments are more conclusive in terms of reviewing performance at the end or after learning has occurred, but remember, assessments are really a reflection of how well the subject matter was taught — not the student’s capabilities. If a summative assessment falls short of expectations, then educators should reflect on their methods.

• How did it go overall?
• Were goals met?
• How does this data guide the next steps?

Other types of evaluation that are often referenced fall into the categories of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessments. However, these are another nut to crack in another article due to the politicized nature of such standardized testing .

Use Nearpod for embedded formative assessments

Nearpod has 9 formative assessments you can add to make your lesson interactive while providing you with real-time insights into student learning. With Nearpod, you can use tools such as the Quiz feature to check for student understanding. Also, you can understand the whole group’s understanding using a Poll. Additional interactive assessment tools you could use are Matching Pairs and Drag & Drop, or add a bit of competition with Time to Climb . Consider weaving in open-ended techniques during assessments with activities like Draw It or Open-Ended Questions. Find many pre-existing assessment ideas in Nearpod’s activity banks . Reports allow access to real-time student data that can be analyzed.

3. Include lesson objectives for students

Depending on how educational institutions are structured, standards are designed to help set expectations about what students should know and by when. However, standards can vary based on philosophies as well as literal location. However, standards can be a guiding force when setting goals and designing assessments. Then you, as the teacher, can craft the more practical student learning objectives at the lesson level.

SWBAT Model

So with standards in mind, goals articulated, and assessments top of mind, now it is time to articulate the lesson-based evidence you are looking for. We call these practical statements student learning objectives or intended learning outcomes. This is a crucial element for learning how to write a lesson plan. One common student-centered way to frame them is the SWBAT model: Students will be able to …

Following this phrase, you can then bullet a handful of concrete objectives for your students when planning a lesson. But the catch is that the learning objectives need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Results-oriented, and Time-bound. With such detail, learning objectives can help guide both the teacher’s instruction and the student’s learning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

One way to hone and tweak learning objectives to strengthen them is to incorporate Bloom’s Taxonomy, which provides a framework for encouraging higher-order thinking . Bloom’s Taxonomy emphasizes a hierarchy of skills and levels of mastery that can be tied to action verbs. Take a moment to reflect on the difference between these two learning objectives:

• EXAMPLE 1: Students will be able to understand figurative language.
• EXAMPLE 2: Students will be able to identify two examples of figurative language within Langston Hughes’ poem, What happens to a dream deferred? by the end of class.

Notice how the specificity of example 2 comes in with the strong action verb, the quantifiable measurement, and the timeframe? Revised learning objectives mean no gray areas! Take a couple of your own learning objectives or pull some from shared lesson plans. Dissect them a bit to evaluate their efficacy. Are they framed as SMART learning objectives? Can you revise them to be stronger, SMARTer learning objectives?

Explore the lesson library

To see how others tackle student learning objectives (and then align with rich activities), filter through Nearpod’s lesson library of thousands of lessons using the standards-based and grade level search function. Every Nearpod lesson is created with a focus on quality content . Don’t forget that you can save any existing lesson and modify it to meet your students; needs. Change the wording, add new content, media, or resources, plus enhance with more Nearpod interactive activities.

4. Design lessons that capture students’ attention and focus

These learning objectives often appear at the top of lesson plans. There are many designs or models of lesson plans, and preference comes down to the educational philosophies that you (or your district) believe in.

Madeline Hunter Model of Mastery Learning

One common, time-tested format that you can ground yourself in and then modify as needed is The Madeline Hunter Model of Mastery Learning , sometimes referred to as the direct instruction model. Dr. Hunter believed that all lesson plans should encompass seven elements:

• 1. Objectives/standards
• 2. Anticipatory Set
• 3. Input/Modeling
• 4. Checks for Understanding
• 5. Guided Practice
• 6. Independent Practice* 
• 7. Closure*

* C an sometimes be interchanged

Anticipatory Set

Many have shifted these elements or called them by another name. For instance, you may use an anticipatory set or call it a warm-up activity, a sponge, or a connection to prior knowledge — but all of these concepts are designed to hook and focus the students’ attention and give them autonomy to consider what they already know about a given subject and what else they may want to learn about it. Similarly, some reframe the idea of modeling or direct instruction, guided practice, and independent practice into the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) Model of I DO, WE DO, YOU DO to incite learner independence.

Explore and evaluate how other educators design their teaching plans. Consider adopting the model to lesson plan templates that works best for you (and your district) to engage students the most! Also, consider how to write a lesson plan with reflection notes at the bottom to observe what worked well and not so well over the years. This reflective practice will make lesson planning for teachers an iterative process based on your students’ needs, not your planbook.

In addition to viewing Nearpod’s library as an ideas bank, where you can modify and customize existing lessons for your classroom, you can create your own content slides on Nearpod. As a start, each slide could address one of the seven elements of an individual lesson plan. Remember that you can organize these lessons into folders to share with an administrator for lesson review or with colleagues when team teaching.

5. Edtech adoption

Last but not least, thoughtful edtech adoption really does make your job easier if your goal is maximizing your time to engage students to own their own learning journey. However, using technology for teaching and learning is much different than using technology in our everyday lives.

Dr. Ruben Puentedura has shared his popular SAMR model, a framework we can use to evaluate the purpose of using educational technologies. Too often, devices and tools are mere substitutions for age-old practices. And while substitution can be a first step, we should consider edtech as an integral part of our instructional design. He suggests challenging ourselves to move from mere enhancement through Substitution and Augmentation to transformation through Modification and Redefinition .

• Substitution : Does the task require technology? How might it be enhanced with technology?
• Augmentation : How might technology be an essential component of this task? How is the task improved?
• Modification : How might the technology transform the learning experience? How is the task significantly changed?
• Redefinition : How can technology allow for the creation of new tasks or opportunities? How are the learning goals redefined to something that wasn’t possible before?

Another model that is helpful schoolwide and across teaching teams is TPACK . TPACK encourages us as educators to think of where the intersections of our expertise lie and how we might focus on fortifying the less strong areas through thoughtful professional development and collaboration. TPACK focuses on three complex, intersecting kinds of knowledge: Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge. This visual model shows the resulting seven areas, with the epicenter being a melding of all — TPACK. Many educators feel confident about their pedagogical and content experience and experiences but less so around the technology. With such introspection, schools can set meaningful professional growth opportunities for the coming school year to enhance all instructional design efforts. Technology no longer becomes just an add-on, a reward, or a thorn in our sides; it has become an essential element of today’s teaching and learning.

Teachers and students alike can leverage the creation side of Nearpod, serving a myriad of needs through multimedia integrations, interactive activities, and formative assessment tools. Nearpod supports educators in designing effective instruction that elevates student learning.

Now it’s time to create your lesson plan

Instructional design and lesson planning is a craft that deserves to be revisited and revised year over year as new methodologies and trends emerge. When learning how to write a lesson plan, take a moment to reflect on your own philosophies and how those align with your school’s. Consider how each lesson can address and meet the diversity of needs found in your classroom environment. Ask yourself how your pedagogy is based on sound research, yet is uniquely yours. And continue to be that lifelong learner we all as educators hope to cultivate in our students.

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

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How to Write a Lesson Plan

Tips for Creating a Successful Lesson Plan

What does a lesson plan include, sample lesson plan template.

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As you know, there's more to writing a lesson plan than simply picking out a topic and selecting a worksheet or two to reinforce it. Preparing thorough, effective lesson plans includes a thoughtful and detailed write-up for introducing, teaching and reinforcing a concept. As you begin planning, it's important to be able to state your objectives. If you can't identify those, then it's going to make the other components of lesson plans much harder to execute.

In general, each lesson plan should include:

The first thing you need to identify is the group of students you're planning the lesson for. If you're an elementary school teacher, you most likely only have one group of students to plan for. But a middle or high school teacher may have several different groups and grade levels of students. Identifying which group you're preparing for, as well as their specific academic, emotional, personal, social or physical needs is the first step to outlining an effective lesson.

Once you have identified the students your lesson is intended for, then you need to set up the topic you plan to teach. Identify any district and/or state objectives it meets and what your students should be able to take away from the lesson once it's complete. This is also the place to figure out how this topic ties in with past ones and what review you might need to do to improve your students' ability to comprehend and retain the new information you present.

3. Where and When?

Teachers need to be strategic about the order in which they introduce certain concepts. Look at previous lessons, as well as topics you want to cover in the future, and then decide how to arrange them. The classroom setup should also be a consideration when you're planning to introduce a new concept. Ask yourself if the topic is better covered with the class as a whole or with students broken into small groups. While a large-group setting certainly allows you to address more students simultaneously, breaking the class into groups allows you to provide more personalized instruction that targets each student's specific needs. At this point, you'll also need to determine if you'll be taking the students to another academic space, such as a computer lab or the school library, to complete the lesson. If you do opt to take your students elsewhere, don't forget to factor travel time to and from the classroom into your plans.

When you ask yourself why you are teaching this specific lesson, the answer should be deeper than just "because my district told me to." You should make sure you have a detailed understanding of why the topic you're covering is important for your students to learn and how it will help them in their studies in the future. If possible, communicate this to your students. Having practical applications can be a great teaching tool.

How do you plan to accomplish the lesson you're planning? This is a good place to think through any materials you'll need for the lesson, homework you'll assign and ways to tie this lesson into others you've taught previously. Don't forget to make copies of any worksheets you'll need and submit requests for additional materials in advance to avoid being stuck with a roomful of students and no lesson to execute.

Lesson plans may vary slightly among teachers and school districts, but there is a basic lesson plan format you can follow as you are planning. New teachers tend to stick to lesson planning outlines more closely than their experienced counterparts, but even seasoned teachers can benefit from reviewing lesson planning basics to keep their plans fresh and relevant.

1. Warm Up/Introduction

The beginning of your lesson should always be reserved to review material from the previous lesson, and then tie it into that day's new concept. Allow 10-15 minutes for this portion of the lesson, but beware — this is the point in the lesson where many teachers are tempted to stand in front of the class and begin lecturing. No matter how good your students are, they will start to tune you out if you're droning on and on. Incorporate ways for them to engage with you as you explain the material and always try to introduce new concepts by describing how they may be relevant to your students.

2. Direct Instruction

At this stage of the lesson, you'll be teaching the identified concepts to your students. This part of your lesson will depend slightly on what topic you're covering, but the basic idea is that this is where your students will soak in the concepts you've identified for that day. Don't be afraid to incorporate diagrams, charts and other age-appropriate visuals to explain what you're trying to teach. This is also an excellent time to have students work hands-on. Have them do some practice math problems or read a poem by the poet you've just introduced, for example Or, if you're working on something like balancing chemical equations, have students volunteer to come up to the front of the class and ask their peers to help them solve the equation by calling out instructions.

3. Practice

At this stage of your lesson plan, it's time to move from introducing a concept to showing that your students are beginning to grasp it. For example, if they are reading a poem, then ask them to answer a series of questions or even write their own poem mimicking the style of the poet you're discussing. If they are working on a new math concept, move from the practice problems they worked on together and start on a more involved set of problems or worksheets — done in pairs or small groups. This is also the time to incorporate any learning-based games or group activities relevant to the lesson. The amount of time you allow for this phase of the lesson will depend on the amount of time you have left before class ends, or you move on to another subject. Don't skimp on this phase of your lesson plan. Giving students time to ask questions and master a concept is essential to successful teaching. This is also the point in your lesson where you should plan to interact with students to observe how they're grasping the material. Ask questions, observe the work they're doing and carefully identify any hangups or issues you might need to tackle — either during that class or in your review time during the next class.

It's always a good idea to plan five to 10 minutes to review at the end of class, but this tends to be the most fluid portion of your lesson plan. If your "Production" activities take longer than expected, you may not have time to review what you've learned that day. On the other hand, if the "Production" activities don't take as long as you intended, it's nice to know you have something else to fill up the last few minutes before class ends. If you run out of time for review, then you can just incorporate that into your introduction for the next class, since you'll most likely start out your next lesson with a review anyway.

Don't Skimp on the Details!

As you are crafting your lesson plans, there's no such thing as too much detail. Always make sure your plans include:

• Relevant page numbers from the textbook you plan to use.
• New vocabulary you plan to introduce — including definitions or page numbers where those definitions can be found.
• Detailed directions for each activity you plan, including any worksheets or materials you'll need.
• Estimates of how long each activity will take.
• Homework assignments, including due date and notes about whether the assignments will be reviewed in a future class.

This is a lot of detail to include in your planning, but it's that detail that's going to set you up for success. Your students will be more likely to grasp the concepts you're teaching, and it shows that you have carefully and intentionally thought through the lessons and concepts you plan to teach your students. It also helps you to be more prepared for class. If you know that you need copies of a worksheet, then you can plan time in your day to head to the copier. If you know you'll need copies of a particular poem that's not included in a students' textbook, you'll have time to track down copies online or in the school's library.

Lesson Planning Tips

As you're formulating your lesson plans, it may be tempting to create bulleted lists or write in a "language" only you can understand. After all, who's really going to be reading your lesson plans? And, even if someone else is reading them, won't they be able to just ask you questions about something they don't understand? When it comes to creating a thorough plan, it's just not that simple.

Before you're tempted to take short-cuts, there are a few things to remember as you're planning.

1. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Detail

While we hope for the best, sometimes an emergency comes up. Your lesson plans should be written out in enough detail that a substitute or administrator could read and understand them if you weren't there to explain what you wrote. Avoid abbreviating things or making obscure notes. Instead, write out clear and concise objectives and make notes of all teaching aids and learning materials you plan to incorporate into your lesson.

2. Create an Outline

Even the best plans can get off track, so have a basic outline to refer back to. It is important to be able to be spontaneous in the classroom, but having a plan makes sure that you, and your students, stay focused.

3. Write out a Script

If you're new to teaching, it can be easy to get nervous when you stand in front of your students for the first time. In fact, the first few months of school — or even the first year — may find your stomach in knots as you start your lessons. As you're planning, write out exactly what you want to say to your students about the day's lesson. Create questions you want to ask your students, as well as questions you think they may have about the material. Then, write out the answers to those questions as well. We're not suggesting that you stand in front of your students and read verbatim from your planning book, but it can be helpful to keep it close so that you can refer to it if your nerves get the better of you.

4. Make Copies

Even the most organized of teachers can misplace their planning book. If you prefer to do planning at home in the evenings or over the weekends, make a copy of your planning pages to take home and leave the original on your desk. This is also helpful in case you have to call in sick at the last minute and an administrator has to scramble to find a substitute to cover your class.

5. Don't Wait to Plan

Each week brings its own craziness, and it can be tempting to put off lesson planning until the weekend. But then life happens —you get busy, and on Sunday night, you find yourself scrambling to plan the week ahead. Save yourself the stress and make a point to start planning for the next week on Wednesday or Thursday. At this point in the week, you should have a good idea of where your students will be the following week and what objectives you'll need to cover.

6. Know What's Expected of You

Some principals or department heads want to view their teachers' lesson plans every week. If this is the case for you, it can — and should — impact the content of your lesson plans, as well as your timeline for completing them. Don't get caught unaware. Make sure you always know what your administration's policies are. You can always ask around, too. Other teachers are a great resource when it comes to knowing what the administration expects and how to make sure you're keeping yourself in their good graces.

7. Make it Fun

Your students will be more engaged if they are having fun and enjoying themselves. In fact, research by Judy Willis suggests that fun is not just beneficial to learning but, by many reports, required for authentic learning and long-term memory.

One of the best gifts a teacher can give their students is careful, thoughtful planning. When you take the time to write out detailed lesson plans that consider your students' abilities and needs, you are setting them up for success. Staying organized as a teacher also helps you encourage your students to stay on track and organized themselves. Many students today struggle with balancing schoolwork, sports teams, clubs and other personal commitments. Even if they are bright, intelligent kids, they can quickly become overwhelmed — and an overwhelmed student isn't going to be able to perform at their full potential. When you're an organized teacher, you can free yourself up to help your students be more organized as well.

One of the best ways to  encourage students to stay organized  is with a Success By Design student planner. Our planners can be customized for teachers! We have special teacher inserts such as lesson planning pages, grade books, and other teacher resource pages. These inserts can be added to any of our planners! In this modern world of tablets and smartphones, students may be tempted to keep their assignments in a digital calendar, but studies have shown that the act of writing is a vital part of language and cognitive development. It can also result in  better retention and comprehension of information .

Whether you're looking for planners for one student or for custom spiral-bound planners for an entire school, Success By Design can provide high-quality products that will get your students on track to achieve their goals. For more information or to get your order started,  contact us online  or call (844) 263-0872.

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Home » Lesson Plans » Set The Right Goals—Writing A High-Quality Lesson Plan’s Objective

Set The Right Goals—Writing A High-Quality Lesson Plan’s Objective

We’ve all heard students say, “ I’ll never need this in my life .” 

Teacher, forgive them, for they do not know what they are saying. They don’t know how hard you’ve worked on your lesson plan and how much thought you need to put into each lesson plan’s objective.

It’s you who knoweth the true value of preparation. You get that entering the classroom without a clear understanding of what you need to accomplish before the bell rings may cause things to go south—fast. 

But how can you be sure that the goal of your lesson is indeed well-written and precise enough? We’ll show you how to do this and give you both good and bad examples to ensure your lesson objectives never miss the mark.

Source: @musiena via Twenty20

What Should Your Lesson Plan Objectives Look Like?

A lesson plan objective should give you a clear and concise idea of what you want to achieve with a lesson. You’ll write the rest of the lesson plan to help you accomplish your objective.

Think of it as a lighthouse that helps you stay on course while navigating the treacherous waters of keeping the students’ attention alive and kicking. 

In practice, an objective is a sentence that needs to be S.M.A.R.T.:

• Specific 

The difference between a well-written and poorly defined objective is whether or not it hits all these boxes. If you can’t measure an objective, how can you know if you’ve achieved it?

An objective must provide answers to why, how, and when .

How To Write an Objective for a Lesson Plan—Bloom’s Taxonomy

The first step in writing an objective is choosing a measurable and specific verb. Depending on what you’re teaching and the age group you’re working with, you’ll need to choose an active verb that’s adjusted to your students’ abilities. You need to have lower expectations when writing a lesson plan for first and second graders than you would with high school students .

According to Bloom’s taxonomy , there are six levels of learning:

• Remembering
• Understanding

These levels are arranged in a specific hierarchy, meaning that you need to start from the first one and go forward. You can’t use a kindergarten lesson plan and expect the students to provide a critical evaluation of the provided information.

Source: @olgakhorkova via Twenty20

Verbs To Use in a Lesson Plan Objective

Every level of learning has an appropriate set of active verbs that you can use to write a measurable objective. You need to avoid verbs such as know, understand, appreciate, learn, be familiar, analyze , and others that don’t express a result you can quantify and assess.

Check out the table below to see some examples of verbs that you can use for each level of learning:

Note that some verbs can appear in different stages of learning. For instance, you can ask students to compare information in comprehension, analysis, and evaluation stages, but the level of comparison needs to be more advanced as your students progress through Bloom’s pyramid of learning.

The ABCDs of Writing Objectives for Lesson Plans

Apart from choosing an appropriate verb, the rest of your lesson plan objective also needs to be written in line with the S.M.A.R.T. acronym. A well-thought-out objective covers every aspect of the lesson and answers every question regarding your lesson plan .

You can refer to the ABCD checklist to ensure you hit all the necessary points within your objective. The ABCDs of writing a lesson plan objective are as follows:

• Audience —Who is the objective for? You should aim your objective at students and not yourself
• Behavior —What will students achieve? Use a measurable and specific verb to show what students will gain after completing a lesson
• Condition —How will students show their improvement? You should define the exact conditions under which they will need to demonstrate their knowledge, skill, or attitude
• Degree —How well should students be able to perform? This element of the objective defines the minimum criteria that students need to fulfill to reach the goal

For more context, here’s an example of a well-written objective split into its ABCDs:

Source: @cloudyew via Twenty20

Lesson Plan Objective Examples

A lesson plan objective depends on a variety of factors, including grade, subject, and students’ learning abilities. Another important factor is the lesson plan’s scope, i.e., whether you’re using a weekly lesson plan template or you want to plan an individual lesson instead.

If you’re struggling to come up with a specific, measurable, and time-bound objective, go through these examples to see what a well-written objective should look like:

• After reading From Caterpillar to butterfly students can draw a diagram of a butterfly life cycle in a graphic organizer
• Students can name all parts of a compass rose accurately after learning the song about cardinal directions
• After the lesson about the Pythagorean theorem, students are able to solve eight out of ten geometry problems using the theorem
• Students can contrast Poe’s tone with that of another Romantic author in a short essay after reading The Tell-Tale Heart

Bad Examples of Objectives in a Lesson Plan

Great objectives use active verbs that you can quantify easily and say with certainty whether the wanted action has been completed or not. Bad objectives are too vague and don’t tell what students need to do, when they should do it, and how. They usually don’t focus on a single behavior but list out several at the same time.

To make sure you don’t make the same mistakes, check out the examples of what your lesson plan objectives shouldn’t look like:

• Enjoy speaking Chinese
• After the lesson, students will be familiar with the American law
• Students will learn about lakes
• Students will understand the process of photosynthesis
• By the end of the lesson, students should write a summary , recall parts of the story orally, and predict what will happen next in the story
• By the end of the course, students will have a deeper appreciation of literature in the 20th century

Struggling With Your Lesson Plans? Use a Ready-Made One

Nobody becomes a teacher to get bogged down in filling out administrative forms and lesson plan templates . If you write your own lesson plans, you might spend hours staring at an empty sheet of paper, trying to think of every single detail you need for your lesson. 

The good news is that you can find ready-made lesson plans online. The not-so-good news is that there are plenty of poorly written resources out there (especially free ones). So, how do you find a good one?

You can find thousands of lesson plans online for every grade, from preschool to high school, covering various subjects, such as math , physics , and life studies . The catch is that the majority of these websites charge per download and offer a preview that doesn’t give enough information about a lesson plan.

You need to spend hundreds of dollars each year to go through lesson plans that are ultimately unusable. A large portion of these plans don’t meet curriculum standards, don’t have clear, well-defined objectives, and don’t take into account various learning styles.

The only way to avoid spending money on useless lesson plans is to avoid being charged per download. You don’t walk into a classroom with a collection basket and go from one student to another before you start teaching, either.

Source: GIPHY

Teach Simple—Unlimited Teaching Materials for Teachers by Teachers

Teach Simple is a subscription-based platform that offers high-quality teaching materials for teachers of all subjects and grades. You no longer have to go from one website to another with your fingers crossed that the first lesson plan you download is miraculously a good one.

Our materials are made by teachers with hands-on experience in classrooms who know the requirements for a well-planned lesson. Here’s a preview of the materials you can find on Teach Simple:

• Reading Comprehension: Using Graphic Organizers To Identify Main Ideas
• How To Write a Book Report: What Is a Book Report?
• Will & Going To | Upper-Intermediate Lesson Plan
• Setting Targets Lesson Plan | Business English Level 2
• Major and Minor Political Parties
• Telling Time, Elapsed Time Math Notebook
• Advanced Reading and Writing Skills
• Time and Money
• 100 Elementary Math Workouts and Practical Teaching Tips
• Multiplication and Division | Academic Workbook
• Brainy Acts With Analogies: Logic Activities

You’ll be able to download as many materials as you want and not spend one extra dime on them.

You can sign up for free with our 30-day trial . Use this period to download hundreds of lesson plans without any cost.

Why Use Teach Simple

You no longer need to browse through various websites and make a complete mess out of your browser bookmarks. Teach Simple will give you access to all materials that you need.

Our platform offers unique advantages to our subscribers:

• Unlimited downloads —Most websites charge up to $15 per material. After your trial ends, you’ll only have to pay an affordable subscription fee. You’ll be able to download every material available without taking out your credit card again
• High quality and standard alignment —Teach Simple ensure that our materials meet official curriculum requirements and important quality standards. One teacher creates, and another teacher reviews every material that gets published
• Resource diversity —With Teach Simple, you’ll be able to enrich your classes with various resources, such as lesson plans , flash cards , games , activities , e-books , and worksheets . Lesson plans alone cover all kinds of topics and subjects for different grades—from science topics appropriate for preschoolers to English language classes for foreign students of all ages
• Revenue sharing —Teach Simple knows the challenges that come with being a teacher. That’s why 50% of our monthly revenue goes back to our contributors
• Special resources —Online materials often neglect students that require special attention or skills that are not strictly academic. Teach Simple is different. You can use our platform to find various materials for speech therapy , social-emotional learning , and various life skills

How To Use Teach Simple

Teach Simple’s platform is super easy to use. When you visit our website, you can choose materials by subject, grade, and type. For a more fine-tuned search, use numerous useful filters on the left side of your screen. For instance, you can easily find spelling lesson plans for third graders or flash cards made for kindergarten math lessons . If you have a specific keyword in mind, the platform’s search bar will help you find it right away. Stop wasting your time and money on dozens of websites that make you sift through mediocre materials in hopes of stumbling on gold. Sign up for Teach Simple and get ready for your class without sacrificing your free time.

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What Your Lesson Plan Template Should Look Like

How to spot high-quality 1st grade lesson plans and where to find them.

Last Updated on August 2, 2023 by Teach Simple

Lesson Plan Step #8 - Assessment and Follow-Up

Measuring Whether Students Have Met the Learning Objectives

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In this series about lesson plans, we're breaking down the 8 steps you need to take to create an effective lesson plan for the elementary classroom. The final step in a successful lesson plan for teachers is Learning Goals, which coming after defining the following steps:

•   Objective
• Anticipatory Set
• Direct Instruction
• Guided Practice
•   Closure
• Independent Practice
• Required Materials and Equipment

An  8-step lesson plan is not complete without the final step of Assessment. This is where you assess the final outcome of the lesson and to what extent the learning objectives were achieved. This is also your chance to adjust the overall lesson plan to overcome any unexpected challenges that may have arisen, preparing you for the next time you teach this lesson. It's also important to make note of the most successful aspects of your lesson plan, to ensure that you continue to capitalize on strengths and continue to push forward in those areas. 

How to Assess Learning Goals

Learning goals can be assessed in a variety of ways, including through quizzes, tests, independently performed worksheets, cooperative learning activities , hands-on experiments, oral discussion, question-and-answer sessions, writing assignments, presentations, or other concrete means. However, it's important to remember that you may have students who better display their mastery of a topic or skill through non-traditional assessment methods, so try to think about creative ways you can assist those students in demonstrating mastery.

Most importantly, teachers need to ensure that the Assessment activity is directly and explicitly tied to the stated learning objectives  you developed in step one of the lesson plan. In the learning objective section, you specified what students would accomplish and how well they would have to be able to perform a task in order to consider the lesson satisfactorily accomplished. The goals also had to fit within your district or state educational standards for the grade level.

Follow-Up: Using the Results of the Assessment

Once the students have completed the given assessment activity, you must take some time to reflect on the results. If the learning objectives were not adequately achieved, you will need to revisit the lesson in a different manner, revising the approach to learning. Either you will need to teach the lesson again or you'll need to clear up areas that confused several of the students.

Whether or not most students showed understanding of the material, based on the assessment, you should note how well students learned different parts of the lesson. This will allow you to modify the lesson plan in the future, clarifying or spending more time on areas where the assessments showed the students were weakest.

Student performance on one lesson tends to inform performance on future lessons, giving you insight into where you should take your students next. If the assessment showed the students fully grasped the topic, you may want to proceed immediately to more advanced lessons. If understanding was moderate, you may want to take it slower and reinforce the takeaways. This may require teaching the entire lesson again, or, just portions of the lesson. Assessing different aspects of the lesson in greater detail can guide this decision. 

Examples of Types of Assessments

• Quiz: a short series of questions with right and wrong answers that may not count towards a grade.
• Test: a longer or more in-depth series of questions that probes for more understanding of the topic and may count towards a grade.
• Class discussion: rather than a quiz or test that is scored, a discussion helps identify understanding. It's important to make sure all students are able to demonstrate mastery here, so that no one is lost in the shuffle. 
• Hands-on experiment: Where the subject matter is appropriate, the students apply the lesson to an experiment and record the outcomes.
• Worksheet: Students fill out a worksheet, especially for math or vocabulary lessons, but it also could be developed for many topics.
• Cooperative Learning activities: Students work in a group to solve a problem or have a structured discussion.
• Illustrations or Graphic Organizers : These can include Venn diagrams, K-W-L (Know, Want to Know, Learned) charts, flow charts, pie charts, concept maps, character traits, cause/effect diagrams, spider web, cloud chart,T-chart, Y-chart, semantic feature analysis,fact/opinion chart, star chart, cycle chart, and other appropriate graphic organizers. Often the subject will determine which works best as an assessment tool.

Edited by Stacy Jagodowski

• How to Write a Lesson Plan
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Guided Practice
• Topics for a Lesson Plan Template
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Independent Practice
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Closure and Context
• Components of a Well-Written Lesson Plan
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Direct Instruction
• Lesson Plan Calendars
• 3 Real World Exit Slips for Formative Assessment
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Objectives and Goals
• Write Lesson Plans
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Anticipatory Sets
• Short and Long Vowel Lesson Plan
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Lecturing
• Using Bloom's Taxonomy for Effective Learning
• Writing Prompts for 7th Grade

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3 Steps to Writing Better Lesson Plans

The secret to writing great lesson plans is ensuring that the objective, assessment, and instruction are closely aligned.

In my first months as a social studies teacher, I struggled each time I sat down to plan lessons for the upcoming school week. When I opened my laptop each weekend, I spent hours at a time trying to figure out a basic class period. I could not understand how lesson planning seemed so easy to my more experienced colleagues. As I progressed through my first school year—daunted, determined, and eager to improve—I began to learn valuable teaching strategies and engaging student activities to fill my lesson plans. This was a formative time in my development as an educator—but I had yet to learn the most critical component of lesson planning.

Now, as an instructional supervisor, I often see first- and second-year teachers planning the same way I did: properly structured lessons. Engaging and sometimes even innovative lessons planned for the class. Nonetheless, more often than not, the objective, class instruction, and assignments are not aligned. 

Learning how to align assignments and assessments with goals and instruction took some time for me. I had yet to grasp the integral concept of backward design, otherwise known as starting at the end. On top of that, I needed a clear understanding of (1) the relationship between each of these components and (2) the benefits of congruent instruction. Well-aligned lesson objectives, instructional activity, and assessment yield a more concise, focused, and ultimately meaningful standards-based lesson. Simply put, congruent instruction proactively answers the question, “Why are we doing this?” If you are seeking to strengthen your planning process and looking to align your lesson design, here is a great way to get started.

3 STEPS TO better-aligned LESSON PLANS

1. Determine the end goal of the lesson. Drafting a well-aligned plan means resisting the urge to start the planning process by pinpointing a great lesson activity or teaching strategy. As a novice teacher, this was one of my biggest challenges. 

Congruence begins with the objective, or starting with the end in mind. Still, while it may seem simple, identifying the objective of a lesson should begin with two key questions about content and skill: “What do the students need to know,” and “What do the students need to know how to do?” The answers generated in this exercise create the goal for the class in the allotted time of the class period. 

Personally, I like to reframe these questions from the students’ perspective:

“What do I need to know today?”

“What do I need to know how to do today?”

This may seem unnecessary. However, I find that engagement begins by planning with a view of the class from the chair of the children. Moreover, when the kids come into class and inevitably ask, “What are we doing today?” the teacher can quickly respond, “Ahem, what are we learning today? I’m glad you asked!” 

2. Identify or create the assessment.  Once there is a learning objective, the next question is, “How will I know when the students have met the goal?” In my first years as a teacher, even after I began to understand the importance of learning objectives, I consistently overcomplicated this question. However, the answer is not only straightforward, but also critical for the accurate assessment of student mastery.

For instance, if the social studies objective for students is to use primary sources to explain why the Declaration of Independence was written, you will know that students have met this goal when they can use primary sources to explain why the Declaration of Independence was written. It’s really that simple.

The key here is that the assignment(s), classwork, class activity you plan for this lesson must provide the student with practice and an opportunity to show you and themselves that they have met the goal of the lesson. If this is not so, the lesson is unaligned, and any assessment of what students are able to demonstrate actually has nothing to do with the standards-based objective. 

Using the previously mentioned goal as an example, the social studies class must get a chance to use primary sources to explain why the Declaration of Independence was written. Documentary clips about the writing of this document may provide great insight, but how will you use the video in congruence with the goal? A Socratic seminar on a polarizing and relevant topic may generate immense engagement, but how does this activity align with the learning objective? 

A better assessment might task the class with a writing prompt asking each student to make a choice supported by evidence from the primary source. The prompt should require students to (1) present the argument as a topic sentence, (2) include two to three textual references (direct quotations or paraphrases, both with citations) as evidence, and (3) provide an explanation of why each reference supports the argument. This alignment allows you as the teacher to make a focused, efficient, and accurate assessment of each student’s progress.

3. Plan the instruction. Now that there is a clear goal and understanding of how to assess the students, the next big question is, how will I teach this skill or content? 

For a new teacher, one way to begin planning instruction is to ask one last question from the students’ perspective: “What are the steps necessary for me to meet the goal?” A great way to frame these steps is by completing the assignment you have identified or created in the previous step of planning. There are three great benefits to this. As you complete the assignment, take note of the strategies you employ to do so. This becomes the crux of your instruction. Additionally, as you have already done what the students will do after you’ve taught the lesson, your feedback will be more concise and empathetic. Finally, by completing the assignment you chose or designed, you have an exemplar.

High expectations, engaging activities, and a sense of community are vital components of a classroom culture built to ensure student success. Yet, without congruent instruction, students may benefit from inclusivity, social and emotional support, and being challenged, while still never achieving mastery of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. If you begin designing lessons with a focus on the alignment of the learning objective, assessment, and instruction, you will improve your planning and ultimately become more effective in the classroom.

Introducing TeachCatalystAI

TeachCatalystAI is a professional teaching assistant tool designed to help teachers create lesson plan, teaching materials, and many more with ease. Our AI-powered tool will help you streamline your classroom management, making it easier to keep track of students, assignments, and behavior. Our AI-powered tools and templates are great and configured to make you effective in teaching.

Tips for Creating Lesson Objectives

Creating effective lesson objectives is a crucial part of educational planning that significantly impacts student engagement and learning outcomes. Utilizing the SMART criteria —Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—educators can formulate objectives that clarify expectations and enhance assessment practices.

Understanding the target audience and aligning objectives with educational standards are also vital steps that are often missed. As we examine these strategies in more detail, it becomes clear that the subtleties of crafting objectives can greatly influence the classroom environment.

Educators should consider various factors, such as student interests, learning styles, and available resources, to optimize their effectiveness in lesson planning .

Understand Your Audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for effectively developing lesson objectives . Gaining insight into student demographics allows educators to adjust their instructional strategies to accommodate the diverse needs of their learners. Recognizing aspects such as age, cultural background, and prior knowledge leads to a more responsive teaching approach, which ensures that all students feel valued and included.

Moreover, acknowledging different learning preferences plays a significant role in enhancing the educational experience. Some students excel in collaborative settings, while others thrive with independent work or hands-on activities. Identifying these preferences enables educators to design lesson objectives that cater to various learning styles, which fosters engagement and motivation among students.

Use SMART Criteria

One effective method for crafting clear and achievable lesson objectives is to apply the SMART criteria, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This structured approach ensures that your objectives are not only well-defined but also actionable, fostering meaningful learning experiences for your students.

Integrating effective social-emotional learning strategies can enhance the clarity and relevance of your lesson objectives by linking them to students’ emotional and social development.

Focus on Measurable Outcomes

Measurable outcomes play a crucial role in developing lesson objectives, as they establish a clear framework for assessing student progress and achievement. Focusing on measurable indicators enables educators to formulate objectives that support outcome-based assessment, leading to a more organized approach to teaching and learning.

Establishing measurable outcomes ensures that both educators and students have a clear understanding of expectations and success criteria. This clarity supports targeted instruction and allows for effective evaluation of student performance, ultimately enhancing the overall learning experience.

Align With Standards

Aligning lesson objectives with established standards is vital for effective teaching . Understanding the required standards and integrating relevant frameworks enables educators to ensure that their objectives fulfill educational expectations . This alignment fosters clear objectives that set expectations for students and guide lesson planning.

Using tools such as rubrics aligned with the standards can help in measuring student progress effectively. This approach not only enhances lesson planning but also contributes significantly to the overall learning experience, making it more relevant and impactful for students.

Understand Required Standards

Here are some significant points to consider when understanding required standards:

Understanding these standards not only supports effective lesson planning but also promotes a structured approach to teaching that benefits both educators and students.

Integrate Relevant Frameworks

Integrating relevant frameworks is crucial for ensuring that lesson objectives align with established standards , thereby enhancing the overall educational experience . The process begins with a clear understanding of the specific standards that dictate educational goals. Careful selection of frameworks that align with these standards allows educators to ensure that lesson objectives are not only pertinent but also effective.

The next phase involves integrating the selected frameworks into lesson plans in a seamless manner. This integration ensures that the frameworks align with both educational objectives and assessment strategies, resulting in a cohesive learning experience .

Assess Learning Outcomes

This approach not only enhances the educational experience but also promotes accountability and supports student growth, making it a vital aspect of teaching and learning.

Keep It Clear and Concise

The importance of clear and concise lesson objectives can be demonstrated through the following table:

Review and Revise Regularly

Moreover, establishing clear learning objectives enhances alignment with assessments and boosts student engagement. To support this ongoing development, consider the following strategies:

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Retro Report

Help Students Explore 9/11 and Its Aftermath

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Teaching about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks can provide your students with historical insights and foster critical thinking skills. Retro Report offers free lesson plans and activities designed to help students engage with the events of 9/11 from multiple perspectives. Find the resource collection here.  

1. 9/11 Heroes: Surviving the Biggest Attack on U.S. Soil

Laura McFarren, a Retro Report Ambassador in Derby, Kansas, posted on X: “ @RetroReport has a great 9/11 unit. I used it last fall and plan to use it again….packed full of primary sources.”

If you need a plan for teaching 9/11 on Monday that is wrapped in primary sources, this is perfect! Thanks @RetroReport for making this lesson plan easy and ready to use for teachers! https://t.co/m12rYaPCwz — Laura McFarren (@lauramcfarren) September 9, 2023

Thank you to @RetroReport for the 9/11 lesson. This engaging activity sparked amazing conversations. @BMSHistSchmitt pic.twitter.com/wa7ENoe78l — Anne Schmitt (@AnneSchmittBMS) September 11, 2023

Overview : Lesson Plan 1 focuses on  9/11 Heroes; Lesson Plan 2 considers the a ftermath of the attacks. Using primary sources and firsthand accounts, students will learn about the events from various perspectives. They will be asked to analyze how different types of primary sources contribute to historical understanding.

Recommended Subjects and Grades:

• Social Studies – U.S. History, Government/Civics
• Grades 6-12

Objective :

• Determine the advantages and disadvantages of relying on primary sources in conducting historical research.

Activities :

• Watch the film . Have students watch “ 9/11 Heroes: Surviving the Biggest Attack on U.S. Soil “an 11-minute video. Analyze it using different lenses: Editing, images, storyline/historical facts, and human behavior.
• Analyze political cartoons. Students will select and interpret political cartoons and explore their commentary on 9/11. The graphics are available in a slide deck. 
• Write a blackout poem . Have students read and analyze commentary pieces from The Miami Herald, ESPN and other sources to create a blackout poem reflecting on the events of  9/11.

2. Two Decades of War

Last year Dr. Shelina Warren, a Retro Report ambassador, shared her experience using these resources.

Thank you, @RetroReport , for providing lesson activities today as I used your video, 9/11 Heroes: Surviving the Biggest Attack on U.S. Soil. My students questioned, observed, & reflected. It's an excellent way to discuss & learn more about this historic event from the hero's lens pic.twitter.com/locYozF7hw — Dr. Shelina Warren, NBCT (@shelinawarren) September 11, 2023

Overview : This lesson explores the impact of the U.S. military response to 9/11, focusing on the war in Afghanistan and its consequences. Students engage in a Structured Academic Controversy to debate whether the U.S. should have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

• Social Studies – U.S. History, World History, Government/Civics
• Synthesize arguments from different viewpoints and advocate for a resolution to the controversy.
• Watch the film: Visit “ How the Military Response to 9/11 Led to Two Decades of War in Afghanistan “and have students watch the 11-minute film. Ask them to write down key events.
• Structured Academic Controversy : Form groups to explore opposing positions on the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, using the suggested articles to support their arguments.
• Consensus Building : Have students debate and attempt to reach a consensus on the essential question, crafting a consensus statement with supporting evidence.

3. The Sleeper Cell That Wasn’t

Overview : This lesson plan examines the case of Karim Koubriti, wrongly accused of being part of a terrorist sleeper cell after 9/11. It highlights issues related to justice and the impact of mistaken identity and false evidence.

Objective : 

• Analyze the implications of this case on the broader context of the government’s war on terror and on judicial integrity.
• Watch the film: Visit “ Wrongly Accused of Terrorism: The Sleeper Cell That Wasn’t. “Have students watch the 11-minute video and identify significant events.
• Investigation activity : Investigate the case details, discussing its impact on the accused and on broader legal practices.
• Analyze testimonials: Have students examine reports of Islamophobia and share their understanding of the treatment of Muslims and Arab Americans after 9/11.

4. The War on Terror and the Debate Over Torture

Overview : This lesson plan explores the U.S. military’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the war on terror, a phrase often regarded as synonymous with torture. Students evaluate different perspectives and historical events related to this issue.

• Grades 9-12

Objective : Examine events related to the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” and assess viewpoints on legal and moral concerns.

• Watch the film: Visit “ He’s the Only C.I.A. Contractor Convicted in a Torture-Related Case ” and have students watch the 13-minute video.
• Interactive timeline: Analyze a timeline of events and debates surrounding “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
• Drawing together perspectives: Have students write an article or essay evaluating different perspectives on the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

DAGMAR ROTHSCHILD is an education intern at Retro Report. She is an undergraduate at Georgetown, studying International Relations.

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What is the goal or purpose of Bible study? While there are a number of different ways to say it they all boil down to this: We study the Bible to discover the intended meaning of a passage of Scripture and apply it to our lives today.

It’s simple, but also not.

The “simple” is that we have a clear purpose. The “not” is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to getting there. That’s why different Bible study methods exist. 

• What Is a Bible Study Method?

A Bible study method is a framework that helps us understand and apply Scripture to our lives. Every method shares certain characteristics. They all incorporate observation, interpretation, application, and personal reflection. They all also place a different emphasis on one or another. Here are 6 methods we recommend:

• The Inductive Method
• The SOAP Method
• The TEXT Method
• The Verse-Mapping Method
• The Topical Study Method
• The Character Study Method

In addition to the methods listed here, you can also try using a Study Bible to help walk you through difficult passages and discover hidden meanings.

The Inductive Bible Study Method is a process by which you make observations of a passage and draw conclusions from those observations. The questions at the heart of this approach typically follow the five Ws (and one H) approach many of us learned in elementary school:

• Who (who is speaking; who is the intended audience; who is present in the moment, etc.)
• What (what is this passage about; what problem is this addressing; what is happening; what is being said; what commands need to be obeyed, etc.)
• When (when is this event taking place?)
• Where (where is this event taking place, where does it fit in the larger context of the book and Scripture?)
• Why (why is this message needed, why is it relevant today?)
• How (how does this change what I know about God and humanity; how do I apply this to my life so that I can live more faithfully as a follower of Jesus?)

Many popular Bible study methods are variations of this tried-and-true approach (including many on this list). It’s also important to note that an inductive Bible study doesn’t require asking all of these types of questions every time. All you need are the passages that help you to best understand the meaning of the message and apply it.

The SOAP Method is a proven and effective approach to Bible study built on four practices:

• Scripture , reading a passage and writing out 1­–2 specific verses by hand.
• Observation , asking questions of the text (who, what, where, when, how).
• Application , considering how you should respond to what you’ve read.
• Prayer , thanking God for what he’s shown you, and for his empowerment as you seek to live faithfully in light of what you’ve discovered in your time in the Word.

This method is at the heart of the Love God Greatly Bible . And best of all, SOAP can be used in in a verse-by-verse progression or in a topical study.

The TEXT Method is an accessible and memorable Bible study approach using four steps:

• T alk to God in prayer before you read.
• E ncounter God and humanity in Scripture as you reflect on two simple questions: what does this passage say about God, and what does it say about humanity?
• e X amine your heart, considering what needs to be confessed, added, taken away, or maintained as a follower of Jesus.
• T alk to God and others, thanking God for what he has shown you in Scripture, and sharing what he’s shown you with someone else.

This method was introduced in The TEXT , a Bible designed for teens, young adults, and new believers, and can be practiced in a verse-by-verse or topical approach.

The verse-mapping method of Bible study allows you to study the historical context, transliteration, translation, connotation, and theological framework of a verse in the Bible. After choosing a verse (or verses) to study, do the following:

• Write out your chosen verse(s).
• Write them in at least two other translations (remember, you can read a verse in multiple translations using Bible Gateway’s free tools ).
• Circle keywords to look up in the original languages and write down the definitions, synonyms, and root words.
• Explore the meaning and message of the verse or verses as you consider the people, places, and context involved, and make connections to other relevant passages and concepts in Scripture (the cross references in your Bible are ideally suited for this).
• Write a 1–2 sentence summary of what you learned and consider how you can apply it.
• The Topical Bible Study Method

As the name suggests, this method helps you to explore in-depth a specific topic or concept within Scripture. To put this method into practice, follow the following steps:

• Choose a topic you want to explore, perhaps a theological concept or aspect of how we’re meant to live as God’s people.
• Look up references to this topic (an exhaustive concordance is a helpful tool for this).
• Choose the verses you wish to study.
• Ask questions about the topic.
• Read the verses and see how they address your questions.
• Summarize your conclusions.
• Write out your application.
• The Character Study method

Similar to a topical study, this method focuses on a specific biblical character to learn about how God worked in and through that individual and apply what we discover to our lives. Character studies involve the following steps:

• Choose the biblical character you want to study.
• Find the relevant passages about him or her.
• Read your passages, and consult additional Bible study tools like Bible dictionaries, to learn everything you can about this character (the trustworthy questions who, what, when, where, and how will serve you well here).
• Find the application points for your life.
• Many Bible Study Methods to Reach One Truth

These different Bible study methods all share the same goal: they are designed to help you better understand and live out the truth of God’s Word. Try them all and see how they help you to know, love, and obey God daily.  

For more help studying the Bible, sign up for a free 14-day trial of Bible Gateway Plus and get access to dozens of resources designed to help you deepen you faith and knowledge — all for cheaper than a pack of highlighters.

Aaron Armstrong

Aaron Armstrong is a Marketing Director with Thomas Nelson Bibles and the author of multiple books, including I’m a Christian—Now What?: A Guide to Your New Life with Christ . As an adult convert, Aaron writes to engage those curious about Christianity, encourage new believers, and equip those coming alongside them. A Canadian living in America, Aaron serves as a preacher and small group leader at his local church. He and his wife, Emily, have three teenage children. To learn more, visit  aaronarmstrong.co . 

• Aaron Armstrong https://www.biblegateway.com/learn/author/aaron-armstrong/ A Question Can Be an Act of Faith 

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Are There Books Missing from the Bible? The Truth About the ‘Lost Books’

Paul’s superior path of love in 1 corinthians, guide to the kings and prophets of israel and judah [chart] , you feel stagnant, but god has a purpose for you , look at the book: ezra [infographic] , more like this related, 33 of the best study bibles for every type of reader [2024], what happens next: understanding christian eschatology and god’s plan for your soul.

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