what is the purpose of assignment in lesson plan

A survey conducted by the Associated Press has revealed that around 58% of parents feel that their child has been given the right amount of assignments. Educators are thrilled that the majority has supported the thought of allocating assignments, and they think that it is just right.

However, the question arises when students question the importance of giving assignments for better growth. Studies have shown that students often get unsuccessful in understanding the importance of assignments.

What key purpose does an assignment have? They often question how an assignment could be beneficial. Let us explain why a teacher thinks it is best to allot assignments. The essential functions of assigning tasks or giving assignments come from many intentions. 

What is the Importance of Assignment- For Students 

The importance of the assignment is not a new concept. The principle of allocating assignments stems from students’ learning process. It helps teachers to evaluate the student’s understanding of the subject. Assignments develop different practical skills and increase their knowledge base significantly. As per educational experts, mastering a topic is not an impossible task to achieve if they learn and develop these skills.  

Cognitive enhancement 

While doing assignments, students learn how to conduct research on subjects and comprise the data for using the information in the given tasks. Working on your assignment helps you learn diverse subjects, compare facts, and understand related concepts. It assists your brain in processing information and memorizing the required one. This exercise enhances your brain activity and directly impacts cognitive growth. 

Ensured knowledge gain   

When your teacher gives you an assignment, they intend to let you know the importance of the assignment. Working on it helps students to develop their thoughts on particular subjects. The idea supports students to get deep insights and also enriches their learning. Continuous learning opens up the window for knowledge on diverse topics. The learning horizon expanded, and students gained expertise in subjects over time.      

Improve students’ writing pattern 

Experts have revealed in a study that most students find it challenging to complete assignments as they are not good at writing. With proper assistance or teacher guidance, students can practice writing repetitively.

It encourages them to try their hands at different writing styles, and gradually they will improve their own writing pattern and increase their writing speed. It contributes to their writing improvement and makes it certain that students get a confidence boost. 

Increased focus on studies 

When your teachers allocate a task to complete assignments, it is somehow linked to your academic growth, especially for the university and grad school students. Therefore, it demands ultimate concentration to establish your insights regarding the topics of your assignments.

This process assists you in achieving good growth in your academic career and aids students in learning concepts quickly with better focus. It ensures that you stay focused while doing work and deliver better results.         

Build planning & organization tactics

Planning and task organization are as necessary as writing the assignment. As per educational experts, when you work on assignments, you start planning to structurize the content and what type of information you will use and then organize your workflow accordingly. This process supports you in building your skill to plan things beforehand and organize them to get them done without hassles.   

Adopt advanced research technique

Assignments expand the horizon of research skills among students. Learners explore different topics, gather diverse knowledge on different aspects of a particular topic, and use useful information on their tasks. Students adopt advanced research techniques to search for relevant information from diversified sources and identify correct facts and stats through these steps.  

Augmenting reasoning & analytical skills 

Crafting an assignment has one more sign that we overlook. Experts have enough proof that doing an assignment augments students’ reasoning abilities. They started thinking logically and used their analytical skills while writing their assignments. It offers clarity of the assignment subject, and they gradually develop their own perspective about the subject and offer that through assignments.     

Boost your time management skills 

Time management is one of the key skills that develop through assignments. It makes them disciplined and conscious of the value of time during their study years. However, students often delay as they get enough time. Set deadlines help students manage their time. Therefore, students understand that they need to invest their time wisely and also it’s necessary to complete assignments on time or before the deadline.  

What is the Importance of Assignment- Other Functions From Teacher’s Perspective: 

Develop an understanding between teacher and students  .

Teachers ensure that students get clear instructions from their end through the assignment as it is necessary. They also get a glimpse of how much students have understood the subject. The clarity regarding the topic ensures that whether students have mastered the topic or need further clarification to eliminate doubts and confusion. It creates an understanding between the teaching faculty and learners. 

Clarity- what is the reason for choosing the assignment 

The Reason for the assignment allocated to students should be clear. The transparency of why teachers have assigned the task enables learners to understand why it is essential for their knowledge growth. With understanding, the students try to fulfill the objective. Overall, it fuels their thoughts that successfully evoke their insights. 

Building a strong relationship- Showing how to complete tasks 

When a teacher shows students how to complete tasks, it builds a strong student-teacher relationship. Firstly, students understand the teacher’s perspective and why they are entrusted with assignments. Secondly, it also encourages them to handle problems intelligently. This single activity also offers them the right direction in completing their tasks within the shortest period without sacrificing quality. 

Get a view of what students have understood and their perspective 

Assigning a task brings forth the students’ understanding of a particular subject. Moreover, when they attempt an assignment, it reflects their perspective on the specific subject. The process is related to the integration of appreciative learning principles. In this principle, teachers see how students interpret the subject. Students master the subject effectively, whereas teachers find the evaluation process relatively easy when done correctly. 

Chance to clear doubts or confusion regarding the assignment  

Mastering a subject needs practice and deep understanding from a teacher’s perspective. It could be possible only if students dedicate their time to assignments. While doing assignments, students could face conceptual difficulties, or some parts could confuse them. Through the task, teachers can clear their doubts and confusion and ensure that they fully understand what they are learning.   

Offering individualistic provisions to complete an assignment 

Students are divergent, and their thoughts are diverse in intelligence, temperaments, and aptitudes. Their differences reflect in their assignments and the insight they present. This process gives them a fair understanding of students’ future and their scope to grow. It also helps teachers to understand their differences and recognize their individualistic approaches.  

Conclusion:

You have already become acquainted with the factors that translate what is the importance of assignments in academics. It plays a vital role in increasing the students’ growth multifold. 

TutorBin is one of the best assignment help for students. Our experts connect students to improve their learning opportunities. Therefore, it creates scopes of effective education for all, irrespective of location, race, and education system. We have a strong team of tutors, and our team offers diverse services, including lab work, project reports, writing services, and presentations.

We often got queries like what is the importance of assignments to students. Likewise, if you have something similar in mind regarding your assignment & homework, comment below. We will answer you. In conclusion, we would like to remind you that if you want to know how our services help achieve academic success, search www.tutorbin.com . Our executive will get back to you shortly with their expert recommendations. 

• E- Learning
• Online Learning

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*

Comment * NEXT

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

You May Also Like

10 Simple Python Projects for Beginners to Build Confidence

From Zero to Hero: Learning Python Through Online Resources

Real-World Java Projects to Enhance Your Portfolio and Skills

Challenges of Doing Calculus Homework & How You Can Overcome It? 

Math Homework Help- Guidance to Excel in Math Learning

Online homework help, get homework help.

Get Answer within 15-30 minutes

Check out our free tool Math Problem Solver

About tutorbin, what do we do.

We offer an array of online homework help and other services for our students and tutors to choose from based on their needs and expertise. As an integrated platform for both tutors and students, we provide real time sessions, online assignment and homework help and project work assistance.

Who are we?

TutorBin is an integrated online homework help and tutoring platform serving as a one stop solution for students and online tutors. Students benefit from the experience and domain knowledge of global subject matter experts.

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 start thinking like an educator.  That means you can identify the learning objective(s) in your lesson.

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:

Set of 70 Metacognitive Question Prompts

Want a creative and thoughtful way to close out your lesson? Besides being a useful formative assessment to find out what your students know, metacognition is an opportunity for students to self-manage their learning and deepen their thinking.

Featured Articles

How to Revamp Five Routine Class Activities for High Student Engagement

Three Simple Ways to Boost Engagement in Any Lesson

New Teacher Evaluations: Minor Mistakes vs. “Red Flags”

Three Classroom Policies and Procedures You Need to Consider

Why and How You Should Be Randomly Calling On Your Students

New Teacher Self-Care: A Practical Plan You Can Start Tomorrow

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.

Pin It on Pinterest

• https://twitter.com/New_Teach_Coach
• WordPress.org
• Documentation
• Learn WordPress

Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center

• Teaching Resources
• TLPDC Teaching Resources

How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments?

Prepared by allison boye, ph.d. teaching, learning, and professional development center.

Assessment is a necessary part of the teaching and learning process, helping us measure whether our students have really learned what we want them to learn. While exams and quizzes are certainly favorite and useful methods of assessment, out of class assignments (written or otherwise) can offer similar insights into our students' learning.  And just as creating a reliable test takes thoughtfulness and skill, so does creating meaningful and effective assignments. Undoubtedly, many instructors have been on the receiving end of disappointing student work, left wondering what went wrong… and often, those problems can be remedied in the future by some simple fine-tuning of the original assignment.  This paper will take a look at some important elements to consider when developing assignments, and offer some easy approaches to creating a valuable assessment experience for all involved.

First Things First…

Before assigning any major tasks to students, it is imperative that you first define a few things for yourself as the instructor:

• Your goals for the assignment . Why are you assigning this project, and what do you hope your students will gain from completing it? What knowledge, skills, and abilities do you aim to measure with this assignment?  Creating assignments is a major part of overall course design, and every project you assign should clearly align with your goals for the course in general.  For instance, if you want your students to demonstrate critical thinking, perhaps asking them to simply summarize an article is not the best match for that goal; a more appropriate option might be to ask for an analysis of a controversial issue in the discipline. Ultimately, the connection between the assignment and its purpose should be clear to both you and your students to ensure that it is fulfilling the desired goals and doesn't seem like “busy work.” For some ideas about what kinds of assignments match certain learning goals, take a look at this page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons.
• Have they experienced “socialization” in the culture of your discipline (Flaxman, 2005)? Are they familiar with any conventions you might want them to know? In other words, do they know the “language” of your discipline, generally accepted style guidelines, or research protocols?
• Do they know how to conduct research?  Do they know the proper style format, documentation style, acceptable resources, etc.? Do they know how to use the library (Fitzpatrick, 1989) or evaluate resources?
• What kinds of writing or work have they previously engaged in?  For instance, have they completed long, formal writing assignments or research projects before? Have they ever engaged in analysis, reflection, or argumentation? Have they completed group assignments before?  Do they know how to write a literature review or scientific report?

In his book Engaging Ideas (1996), John Bean provides a great list of questions to help instructors focus on their main teaching goals when creating an assignment (p.78):

1. What are the main units/modules in my course?

2. What are my main learning objectives for each module and for the course?

3. What thinking skills am I trying to develop within each unit and throughout the course?

4. What are the most difficult aspects of my course for students?

5. If I could change my students' study habits, what would I most like to change?

6. What difference do I want my course to make in my students' lives?

What your students need to know

Once you have determined your own goals for the assignment and the levels of your students, you can begin creating your assignment.  However, when introducing your assignment to your students, there are several things you will need to clearly outline for them in order to ensure the most successful assignments possible.

• First, you will need to articulate the purpose of the assignment . Even though you know why the assignment is important and what it is meant to accomplish, you cannot assume that your students will intuit that purpose. Your students will appreciate an understanding of how the assignment fits into the larger goals of the course and what they will learn from the process (Hass & Osborn, 2007). Being transparent with your students and explaining why you are asking them to complete a given assignment can ultimately help motivate them to complete the assignment more thoughtfully.
• If you are asking your students to complete a writing assignment, you should define for them the “rhetorical or cognitive mode/s” you want them to employ in their writing (Flaxman, 2005). In other words, use precise verbs that communicate whether you are asking them to analyze, argue, describe, inform, etc.  (Verbs like “explore” or “comment on” can be too vague and cause confusion.) Provide them with a specific task to complete, such as a problem to solve, a question to answer, or an argument to support.  For those who want assignments to lead to top-down, thesis-driven writing, John Bean (1996) suggests presenting a proposition that students must defend or refute, or a problem that demands a thesis answer.
• It is also a good idea to define the audience you want your students to address with their assignment, if possible – especially with writing assignments.  Otherwise, students will address only the instructor, often assuming little requires explanation or development (Hedengren, 2004; MIT, 1999). Further, asking students to address the instructor, who typically knows more about the topic than the student, places the student in an unnatural rhetorical position.  Instead, you might consider asking your students to prepare their assignments for alternative audiences such as other students who missed last week's classes, a group that opposes their position, or people reading a popular magazine or newspaper.  In fact, a study by Bean (1996) indicated the students often appreciate and enjoy assignments that vary elements such as audience or rhetorical context, so don't be afraid to get creative!
• Obviously, you will also need to articulate clearly the logistics or “business aspects” of the assignment . In other words, be explicit with your students about required elements such as the format, length, documentation style, writing style (formal or informal?), and deadlines.  One caveat, however: do not allow the logistics of the paper take precedence over the content in your assignment description; if you spend all of your time describing these things, students might suspect that is all you care about in their execution of the assignment.
• Finally, you should clarify your evaluation criteria for the assignment. What elements of content are most important? Will you grade holistically or weight features separately? How much weight will be given to individual elements, etc?  Another precaution to take when defining requirements for your students is to take care that your instructions and rubric also do not overshadow the content; prescribing too rigidly each element of an assignment can limit students' freedom to explore and discover. According to Beth Finch Hedengren, “A good assignment provides the purpose and guidelines… without dictating exactly what to say” (2004, p. 27).  If you decide to utilize a grading rubric, be sure to provide that to the students along with the assignment description, prior to their completion of the assignment.

A great way to get students engaged with an assignment and build buy-in is to encourage their collaboration on its design and/or on the grading criteria (Hudd, 2003). In his article “Conducting Writing Assignments,” Richard Leahy (2002) offers a few ideas for building in said collaboration:

• Ask the students to develop the grading scale themselves from scratch, starting with choosing the categories.

• Set the grading categories yourself, but ask the students to help write the descriptions.

• Draft the complete grading scale yourself, then give it to your students for review and suggestions.

A Few Do's and Don'ts…

Determining your goals for the assignment and its essential logistics is a good start to creating an effective assignment. However, there are a few more simple factors to consider in your final design. First, here are a few things you should do :

• Do provide detail in your assignment description . Research has shown that students frequently prefer some guiding constraints when completing assignments (Bean, 1996), and that more detail (within reason) can lead to more successful student responses.  One idea is to provide students with physical assignment handouts , in addition to or instead of a simple description in a syllabus.  This can meet the needs of concrete learners and give them something tangible to refer to.  Likewise, it is often beneficial to make explicit for students the process or steps necessary to complete an assignment, given that students – especially younger ones – might need guidance in planning and time management (MIT, 1999).
• Do use open-ended questions.  The most effective and challenging assignments focus on questions that lead students to thinking and explaining, rather than simple yes or no answers, whether explicitly part of the assignment description or in the  brainstorming heuristics (Gardner, 2005).
• Do direct students to appropriate available resources . Giving students pointers about other venues for assistance can help them get started on the right track independently. These kinds of suggestions might include information about campus resources such as the University Writing Center or discipline-specific librarians, suggesting specific journals or books, or even sections of their textbook, or providing them with lists of research ideas or links to acceptable websites.
• Do consider providing models – both successful and unsuccessful models (Miller, 2007). These models could be provided by past students, or models you have created yourself.  You could even ask students to evaluate the models themselves using the determined evaluation criteria, helping them to visualize the final product, think critically about how to complete the assignment, and ideally, recognize success in their own work.
• Do consider including a way for students to make the assignment their own. In their study, Hass and Osborn (2007) confirmed the importance of personal engagement for students when completing an assignment.  Indeed, students will be more engaged in an assignment if it is personally meaningful, practical, or purposeful beyond the classroom.  You might think of ways to encourage students to tap into their own experiences or curiosities, to solve or explore a real problem, or connect to the larger community.  Offering variety in assignment selection can also help students feel more individualized, creative, and in control.
• If your assignment is substantial or long, do consider sequencing it. Far too often, assignments are given as one-shot final products that receive grades at the end of the semester, eternally abandoned by the student.  By sequencing a large assignment, or essentially breaking it down into a systematic approach consisting of interconnected smaller elements (such as a project proposal, an annotated bibliography, or a rough draft, or a series of mini-assignments related to the longer assignment), you can encourage thoughtfulness, complexity, and thoroughness in your students, as well as emphasize process over final product.

Next are a few elements to avoid in your assignments:

• Do not ask too many questions in your assignment.  In an effort to challenge students, instructors often err in the other direction, asking more questions than students can reasonably address in a single assignment without losing focus. Offering an overly specific “checklist” prompt often leads to externally organized papers, in which inexperienced students “slavishly follow the checklist instead of integrating their ideas into more organically-discovered structure” (Flaxman, 2005).
• Do not expect or suggest that there is an “ideal” response to the assignment. A common error for instructors is to dictate content of an assignment too rigidly, or to imply that there is a single correct response or a specific conclusion to reach, either explicitly or implicitly (Flaxman, 2005). Undoubtedly, students do not appreciate feeling as if they must read an instructor's mind to complete an assignment successfully, or that their own ideas have nowhere to go, and can lose motivation as a result. Similarly, avoid assignments that simply ask for regurgitation (Miller, 2007). Again, the best assignments invite students to engage in critical thinking, not just reproduce lectures or readings.
• Do not provide vague or confusing commands . Do students know what you mean when they are asked to “examine” or “discuss” a topic? Return to what you determined about your students' experiences and levels to help you decide what directions will make the most sense to them and what will require more explanation or guidance, and avoid verbiage that might confound them.
• Do not impose impossible time restraints or require the use of insufficient resources for completion of the assignment.  For instance, if you are asking all of your students to use the same resource, ensure that there are enough copies available for all students to access – or at least put one copy on reserve in the library. Likewise, make sure that you are providing your students with ample time to locate resources and effectively complete the assignment (Fitzpatrick, 1989).

The assignments we give to students don't simply have to be research papers or reports. There are many options for effective yet creative ways to assess your students' learning! Here are just a few:

Journals, Posters, Portfolios, Letters, Brochures, Management plans, Editorials, Instruction Manuals, Imitations of a text, Case studies, Debates, News release, Dialogues, Videos, Collages, Plays, Power Point presentations

Ultimately, the success of student responses to an assignment often rests on the instructor's deliberate design of the assignment. By being purposeful and thoughtful from the beginning, you can ensure that your assignments will not only serve as effective assessment methods, but also engage and delight your students. If you would like further help in constructing or revising an assignment, the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center is glad to offer individual consultations. In addition, look into some of the resources provided below.

Online Resources

“Creating Effective Assignments” http://www.unh.edu/teaching-excellence/resources/Assignments.htm This site, from the University of New Hampshire's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,  provides a brief overview of effective assignment design, with a focus on determining and communicating goals and expectations.

Gardner, T.  (2005, June 12). Ten Tips for Designing Writing Assignments. Traci's Lists of Ten. http://www.tengrrl.com/tens/034.shtml This is a brief yet useful list of tips for assignment design, prepared by a writing teacher and curriculum developer for the National Council of Teachers of English .  The website will also link you to several other lists of “ten tips” related to literacy pedagogy.

“How to Create Effective Assignments for College Students.”  http:// tilt.colostate.edu/retreat/2011/zimmerman.pdf     This PDF is a simplified bulleted list, prepared by Dr. Toni Zimmerman from Colorado State University, offering some helpful ideas for coming up with creative assignments.

“Learner-Centered Assessment” http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/learner_centered_assessment.html From the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo, this is a short list of suggestions for the process of designing an assessment with your students' interests in mind. “Matching Learning Goals to Assignment Types.” http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/How_to/design_assignments/assignments_learning_goals.html This is a great page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons, providing a chart that helps instructors match assignments with learning goals.

Additional References Bean, J.C. (1996). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fitzpatrick, R. (1989). Research and writing assignments that reduce fear lead to better papers and more confident students. Writing Across the Curriculum , 3.2, pp. 15 – 24.

Flaxman, R. (2005). Creating meaningful writing assignments. The Teaching Exchange .  Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008 from http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/pubs/teachingExchange/jan2005/01_flaxman.pdf

Hass, M. & Osborn, J. (2007, August 13). An emic view of student writing and the writing process. Across the Disciplines, 4. 

Hedengren, B.F. (2004). A TA's guide to teaching writing in all disciplines . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Hudd, S. S. (2003, April). Syllabus under construction: Involving students in the creation of class assignments.  Teaching Sociology , 31, pp. 195 – 202.

Leahy, R. (2002). Conducting writing assignments. College Teaching , 50.2, pp. 50 – 54.

Miller, H. (2007). Designing effective writing assignments.  Teaching with writing .  University of Minnesota Center for Writing. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008, from http://writing.umn.edu/tww/assignments/designing.html

MIT Online Writing and Communication Center (1999). Creating Writing Assignments. Retrieved January 9, 2008 from http://web.mit.edu/writing/Faculty/createeffective.html .

Contact TTU

• Resource Collection
• State Resources

Access Resources for State Adult Education Staff

• Topic Areas
• About the Collection
• Review Process
• Reviewer Biographies
• Federal Initiatives
• COVID-19 Support
• ADVANCE Integrated Education and Training (IET)
• IET Train-the Trainer Resources
• IET Resource Repository
• Program Design
• Collaboration and Industry Engagement
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Policy and Funding
• Program Management - Staffing -Organization Support
• Student Experience and Progress
• Adult Numeracy Instruction 2.0
• Advancing Innovation in Adult Education
• Bridge Practices
• Holistic Approach to Adult Ed
• Integrated Education and Training (IET) Practices
• Secondary Credentialing Practices
• Business-Adult Education Partnerships Toolkit
• Partnerships: Business Leaders
• Partnerships: Adult Education Providers
• Success Stories
• Digital Literacy Initiatives
• Digital Resilience in the American Workforce
• Landscape Scan
• Publications and Resources
• DRAW Professional Development Resources
• Employability Skills Framework
• Enhancing Access for Refugees and New Americans
• English Language Acquisition
• Internationally-Trained Professionals
• Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship and Civic Participation
• Workforce Preparation Activities
• Workforce Training
• Integrated Education and Training in Corrections
• LINCS ESL PRO
• Integrating Digital Literacy into English Language Instruction
• Meeting the Language Needs of Today's English Language Learner
• Open Educational Resources (OER) for English Language Instruction
• Preparing English Learners for Work and Career Pathways
• Recommendations for Applying These Resources Successfully
• Moving Pathways Forward
• Career Pathways Exchange
• Power in Numbers
• Adult Learner Stories
• Meet Our Experts
• Newsletters
• Reentry Education Tool Kit
• Education Services
• Strategic Partnerships
• Sustainability
• Transition Processes
• Program Infrastructure
• SIA Resources and Professional Development
• Fulfilling the Instructional Shifts
• Observing in Classrooms
• SIA ELA/Literacy Videos
• SIA Math Videos
• SIA ELA Videos
• Conducting Curriculum Reviews
• Boosting English Learner Instruction
• Student Achievement in Reading
• TEAL Just Write! Guide
• Introduction
• Fact Sheet: Research-Based Writing Instruction
• Increase the Amount of Student Writing
• Fact Sheet: Adult Learning Theories
• Fact Sheet: Student-Centered Learning
• Set and Monitor Goals
• Fact Sheet: Self-Regulated Learning
• Fact Sheet: Metacognitive Processes
• Combine Sentences
• Teach Self-Regulated Strategy Development
• Fact Sheet: Self-Regulated Strategy Development
• Teach Summarization
• Make Use of Frames
• Provide Constructive Feedback
• Apply Universal Design for Learning
• Fact Sheet: Universal Design for Learning
• Check for Understanding
• Fact Sheet: Formative Assessment
• Differentiated Instruction
• Fact Sheet: Differentiated Instruction
• Gradual Release of Responsibility
• Join a Professional Learning Community
• Look at Student Work Regularly
• Fact Sheet: Effective Lesson Planning
• Use Technology Effectively
• Fact Sheet: Technology-Supported Writing Instruction
• Project Resources
• Summer Institute
• Teacher Effectiveness in Adult Education
• Adult Education Teacher Induction Toolkit
• Adult Education Teacher Competencies
• Teacher Effectiveness Online Courses
• Teaching Skills that Matter
• Teaching Skills that Matter Toolkit Overview
• Teaching Skills that Matter Civics Education
• Teaching Skills that Matter Digital Literacy
• Teaching Skills that Matter Financial Literacy
• Teaching Skills that Matter Health Literacy
• Teaching Skills that Matter Workforce Preparation
• Teaching Skills that Matter Other Tools and Resources
• Technology-Based Coaching in Adult Education
• Technical Assistance and Professional Development
• About LINCS
• History of LINCS
• LINCS Guide
• Style Guide

TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 8: Effective Lesson Planning

Planning ahead to identify a course of action that can effectively help learners reach their goals and objectives is an important first step in effective instruction. Lesson planning communicates to learners what they will learn and how their goals will be assessed, and it helps instructors organize content, materials, time, instructional strategies, and assistance in the classroom.

About Effective Lesson Planning

Planning ahead to identify a course of action that can effectively reach goals and objectives is an important first step in any process, and education is no exception. In education, the planning tool is the lesson plan, which is a detailed description of an instructor’s course of instruction for an individual lesson intended to help learners achieve a particular learning objective. Lesson plans communicate to learners what they will learn and how they will be assessed, and they help instructors organize content, materials, time, instructional strategies, and assistance in the classroom. Lesson planning helps English as a second language (ESL), adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), and other instructors create a smooth instructional flow and scaffold instruction for learners.

The Lesson Planning Process

Before the actual delivery of a lesson, instructors engage in a planning process. During this process, they determine the lesson topic (if states have implemented content standards, the topic should derive from them). From the topic, derive the lesson objective or desired results —the concepts and ideas that learners are expected to develop and the specific knowledge and skills that learners are expected to acquire and use at the end of the lesson. Objectives are critical to effective instruction because they help instructors plan the instructional strategies and activities they will use, including the materials and resources to support learning. It is essential that the objective be clear and describe the intended learning outcome. Objectives can communicate to learners what is expected of them—but only if they are shared with learners in an accessible manner. Instructional objectives must be specific, outcome-based, and measurable, and they must describe learner behavior. Heinich, Molenda, Russell, and Smaldino (2001) refer to the ABCD ’s of writing objectives:

• A udience – learners for whom the objective is written (e.g., ESL, ABE, GED)
• B ehavior – the verb that describes what the audience will be able to do (e.g., describe, explain, locate, synthesize, argue, communicate)
• C ondition – the circumstances under which the audience will perform the behavior (e.g., when a learner obtains medicine from the pharmacy, he or she will be able to read the dosage)
• D egree – acceptable performance of the behavior (i.e., how well the learner performs the behavior)

Learner assessment follows from the objectives. Based on the principles of backward design developed by Wiggins and McTighe (1998), instructors identify the lesson objective or desired results and then decide what they will accept as evidence of learners’ knowledge and skills. The concept of backward design holds that the instructor must begin with the end in mind (i.e., what the student should be able to know, understand, or do) and then map backward from the desired result to the current time and the students’ current ability/skill levels to determine the best way to reach the performance goal.

The WIPPEA Model for Lesson Planning

The WIPPEA Model, an acronym that stands for W arm-up, I ntroduction, P resentation, P ractice, E valuation, A pplication, is a lesson plan model that represents a continuous teaching cycle in which each learning concept builds on the previous one, serving as an instructional roadmap for instructors. The WIPPEA lesson plan model is adapted from the work of Hunter (Hunter, 1982). This six-step cyclical lesson planning approach has learners demonstrate mastery of concepts and content at each step before the instructor proceeds to the next step. In the following list, TEAL Center suggestions for incorporating each of these elements are included in italics.

Warm-up – Assesses prior knowledge by reviewing previous materials relevant to the current lesson. Introduce an activity that reviews previously learned content (e.g., for a vocabulary lesson, the warm-up may be a quick matching exercise with words previously learned and their definitions), and also include an activity that focuses on the topic to be taught.

Introduction – Provides a broad overview of the content and concepts to be taught and focuses the learners’ attention on the new lesson. Introduce the purpose of the lesson by stating and writing the objectives for learners and discussing the lesson content and benefits by relating the objective to learners’ own lives. Assess learners’ prior knowledge of the new material by asking questions and writing learners’ responses on a chalkboard or flip chart.

Presentation – Teaches the lesson content and concepts. Create an activity to introduce the concept or skill (e.g., introduce new vocabulary by asking learners to work in groups to identify words related to taking medications) and then introduce information through a variety of modalities using visuals, realia, description, explanation, and written text. Check for learner understanding of the new material and make changes in lesson procedures if necessary.

Practice – Models the skills and provides opportunities for guided practice. Introduce a variety of activities that allow learners to work in groups, in pairs, or independently to practice the skills, concepts, and information presented. Integrate technology into activities as available.

Evaluation – Assesses each learner’s attainment of the objective. Include oral, aural, written, or applied performance assessments. For example, ask learners to fill in the blanks on a cloze activity using the four medicine warning labels that were discussed in class. For lower level learners, provide a word bank at the bottom of the worksheet. Omit the word bank for more advanced students.

Application – Provides activities that help learners apply their learning to new situations or contexts beyond the lesson and connect it to their own lives. Choose activities that learners can relate to or have expressed concern about. For example, have learners read the label of a medication they or a family member may use at home to make certain they understand the meaning of the words on the label. Gather feedback from learners in follow-up classes and help them assess what additional support, if any, they may require.

The following graphic integrates the WIPPEA process with backward design in a lesson planning wheel. In this cyclical approach, teachers assess prior knowledge, provide a broad overview of the content/concepts to be taught, introduce vocabulary, teach content/concepts, check comprehension, combine the content and vocabulary through guided practice, evaluate student performance, and provide an application activity. Instructional strategies vary depending on the lesson content and skill areas and the needs of the learners.

Planning for differentiated instruction requires various learner profiles to inform the process (See TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 5. on Differentiated Instruction). Students demonstrate mastery of concepts/content in each step before the teacher proceeds to the next step.

The relationship of the objective to the evaluation keeps the lesson focused and drives instruction. By keeping the end in mind (backward design) and creating the evaluation activity at the beginning of the lesson, the teacher has a clear destination for the lesson and a roadmap to get there. Instructors can then select materials and activities that will best prepare students to successfully complete the evaluation activity in the lesson. The process is repeated for each learning objective. Lesson planning is an ongoing process in which instruction flows from one objective to the next. This cyclical process is repeated for each learning objective.

How Does Lesson Planning Benefit Learners and Instructors?

Instructors and learners benefit from thoughtful lesson planning. It provides a framework for instruction, and it guides implementation of standards-based education. Lesson planning establishes a road map for instructors of what has been taught and what needs to be taught. It allows them to focus on one objective at a time and communicate to learners what they will learn in each lesson. Because lessons incorporate ongoing assessments that determine how well learners understand concepts and skills, instructors are able to make mid-course changes in instructional procedures or provide additional support to learners. Additionally, the practice and application components of the lesson help learners use the new skills and knowledge in educational and other settings, thus promoting generalization and relevance.

Barroso, K., & Pon, S. (2005). Effective lesson planning, A facilitator’s guide . Sacramento, CA: California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project, American Institutes for Research.

Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J., & Smaldino, S. (2001). Instructional media and technologies for learning (7th ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Hunter, M. (1982). Mastery teaching . El Segundo, CA: TIP Publications.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Authors: TEAL Center Staff

Adapted from CALPRO Professional Development Module, Effective Lesson Planning, by Barroso, K. & Pon, S. (2004). AIR: Sacramento, CA.

About the TEAL Center: The Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL) Center is a project of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), designed to improve the quality of teaching in adult education in the content areas.

Create Your Course

How to build a lesson plan (+ templates), share this article.

So you’ve got a great course topic , you’ve built a course outline to help you deliver, and now you’re all set to start your first lesson plan.

When it comes to building an online course that delivers, you need to be strategic about your lessons. Each lesson plan is a building block that ladders up to your overarching course goals.

Let’s talk about how to build a lesson plan that hits home.

Or grab them here for google docs or word!  

Skip ahead:

What does a good lesson plan look like? 

5 steps for building a lesson plan from scratch .

A well-designed lesson plan has seven key elements: 

Class objectives 

Objectives, at a basic level, are what the lesson sets out to achieve — think of them as your North Star. Objectives communicate three key things:

• Why students need the lesson
• What they’ll be able to do at the end of the lesson
• How they’ll demonstrate knowledge. 

Say one of the lessons in your social media course is “choosing the right channels.” In that case, your objective could be: At the end of this lesson, students will be able to compare different social media channels and choose the one that best aligns with their content goals. 

Teaching and learning are more effective when all the stakeholders understand the purpose of the lesson. When anyone veers off the track, they can easily realign themselves with the North Star.

Hook is what grabs the attention of your students. It is usually a statement surfacing the problem they are having — which is why they signed up for your course in the first place. This is your chance to prove that you understand their problem and can solve it. 

Back to our previous example, the hook could be a story about a creator who switched channels and finally got traction on social media after trying for many years. Or you could share data around how social channels affect how much money creators make.  

Learning activities 

Here, you spell out everything the lesson entails — from class activities and instruction time to independent work time and even assessments. Everyone involved needs to know what the lesson covers so they can prepare ahead of time. 

Again, referring to our earlier example, the learning activities might look like this: 

• Worksheets 
• Instructor-led sessions
• One Q and A session at the end of the class 
• Independent work time (which doubles as assessment) 
• Class discussions 

Learn more: Blended learning and scheduled class activities  

Timeline shows the duration of each activity in the lesson. More than showing how long the class will take, assign time limits to the different sessions within each lesson, including assessment, main instruction, breaks, and student participation. 

Build in a buffer between each session to take care of any unforeseen issues. Say you want to spend 15 minutes on a class presentation; assign 20 minutes to it instead. 

Having a realistic lesson timeline helps you stay on track, making sure you have enough time to cover all the key areas of your lesson. 

This is where you highlight what students need to make the most of your class — to set them up for success. The last thing you need is for your course to lose credibility because a particular student wasn’t sufficiently equipped for it. 

Maybe they need to complete a foundational course first to bring them up to the level of knowledge required for the lesson. Or they need access to certain tools and equipment. Tell them all about it here. 

For a social media class, for instance, students must have active accounts and maybe a certain number of followers. 

Closure is how you wrap up the class. It typically involves a recap of the key points covered in the lesson and a quick review of the class objectives. 

The instructor might ask reflective questions such as “What was the most challenging part of the lesson for you?” or “What would you like to learn more about in this topic?” Or ask students to create a mind map of the key points covered in the lesson.

At this point, students and instructors can reflect on the lesson activities at the end to see if they met their goals. Students can also ask last-minute questions before the final assessment. 

Assessment 

This is the parameter for measuring how well a student understands what they’ve learned in a particular lesson. It helps the course instructor assess students fairly. 

The assessment can take several forms. One might administer a summative test — like an end-of-class quiz. Or conduct a survey with open-ended questions at intervals to gauge students’ knowledge. 

Whichever method you choose, make sure you inform students ahead of time so they prepare adequately for it. 

Before you begin

Before you dive into lesson planning, start with a few key questions to determine the goal of your lesson. As the topic expert, the breadth of this course content is clear in your head, but your students are still figuring it out as they go along. 

Keep a narrow focus for each lesson while keeping the bigger picture in mind – this will help your students build knowledge in context so they can use it independently and remember it forever!

• What do your students already know? This is back to what you’ve covered in previous lessons or what foundational knowledge you expect students to have. Do they have all the definitions they need to understand today’s topic? Are there any gaps you need to close before you dive in? That will be your starting point for this lesson.
• What do they need to learn today? Eyes on the prize here – keep your goal clear, or you’ll get lost along the way! Set yourself a single goal for this lesson: should students understand the formula for a unique value proposition, or should they be able to write a great cover letter? What single concept or skill do you want this lesson to impart to your students? Remember to keep it simple; if it’s too complex, you might want to consider splitting it into smaller lessons to avoid confusing your students with information overload.
• What’s the best way to lock it into place? Now that you’ve locked down the goal for today’s lesson, you can decide on the best way to deliver the information. Is this something best delivered through video, or is it better explained with text and diagrams? Could you represent this as an infographic? What practice activities would help your students lock in their newly acquired skills?

Related: How to do a training needs assessment

It’s not always about downloading your brain onto the page. You need to consider how you explain things so your students fully understand not only the new facts, but the context surrounding them – that’s the key to them being able to apply these new skills independently when the course is over. 

With the Thinkific course builder, you have so many teaching tools and resources at your disposal – use them in harmony with one another to give your students a dynamic learning experience .

Now that you’ve got those three guiding principles in mind, let’s put them to work in your lesson plan.

Set the stage

Begin each new lesson by setting the stage for your students. You can do this in three key steps:

• Take a brief moment to look back at what you covered in the last lesson,
• Give a high-level overview of what today’s lesson will entail, and
• Tell students the key skills or takeaways they will have conquered by the end of the lesson.

In particular, consider if any content from previous lessons is applicable to the new lesson. Never miss an opportunity to name-drop or draw examples from old content while introducing new material! It’s a great opportunity to help your students build context between what might feel like a confusing array of new facts. When you build bridges between old and new knowledge, it creates that lightbulb moment for students to see how all the pieces fit together.

This is more than just summarizing or expectation-setting – it’s a strategic educational principle. By reminding students of previous lessons, you help them draw connections between old and new content so they can understand how everything fits together. 

When you share the key touchpoints for today’s lesson, you set up a framework for them to contextualize everything that follows. If they know what the final goal is, they will naturally be more attuned to anything you say about those skills from that point onwards. This brief process at the beginning of each lesson provides anchors for students to shape their understanding throughout the rest of the lesson.

Explain new information

This is the main component of any lesson plan. When it’s time to introduce new content, make sure to do so clearly and simply. Explain new concepts in the most straightforward way possible. Consider your weakest student, and explain things with them in mind – even your strongest students will still benefit from that simplicity!

Be sure to use lots of examples to help students develop context with new information. One tip here is to use a mix of examples that draw from general knowledge and subject-specific knowledge. For example, you can and should give concrete examples grounded in the course subject matter; for more abstract concepts, however, it can be helpful to explain things using everyday examples that everyone can relate to. 

Related: The Ultimate List of Free Online Course Lesson Plan Templates

Consider using apples and oranges to explain abstract economic concepts, or using nursery rhymes to explain music theory. This doesn’t mean you have to come up with mysterious hypothetical examples like the ones you might have found on a high school math quiz – just look for everyday situations you can use to explain more difficult concepts, so your students can ground their new understanding in something familiar.

Students learn in a myriad of different ways – some through text, others through video, and still others through graphic design or activities like writing by hand. While explaining things clearly in a well-produced video or article is always a great place to start, consider using a variety of methods to make your lesson plan stick.

• Create an infographic to illustrate key points from the lesson
• Provide fill-in-the-blank notes so students can follow along with you and pay attention for key information queues
• Link key words and concepts to external articles or videos to provide students with additional learning resources
• Create a slide deck of key points that students can use as a review tool
• The sky’s the limit – if you can think of an alternative way to present your information, your students will benefit! The Thinkific course builder has a number of different content types to suit your needs, wherever the inspiration leads you.

Learn more about different learning styles and how to teach to them . 

Practice makes perfect

After introducing new material to students, it’s vital to give them an opportunity to put their new skills into practice . This is what helps them lock new information into their brains and build contextual links with other skills. It’s also an important tool to help students master the content from this lesson before they move on to the next – as they work through practice activities and find themselves stuck on particular concepts or tasks, it will become clear which aspects of the material they didn’t quite understand. That gives students a targeted opportunity to ask good questions or go back through the course material until they master that skill.

Even in an online course , there are a number of practice activities you can prompt students to use:

• Ask students to define key concepts and use them in a paragraph, so they have an opportunity to put things into their own words
• Suggest students rephrase concepts by converting your notes into questions, like those they might expect to see on a quiz
• If you have a community or online group, ask students to share their summaries or reflections with each other in a dedicated lesson thread

Related: 8 ways to make online classes more interactive  

Assessments

Sometimes, you also need to assess student knowledge. While you won’t do this for each and every lesson, it’s a helpful tool to check student understanding at important course milestones.

Thinkific’s course platform makes it easy to deliver student assessments with quizzes, exams, and assignments to put your students to the test, but you should keep future assessments in mind while you plan lessons. As you build a series of lessons, keep these questions in mind for future assessments:

• What facts and skills from this lesson are necessary for a student to succeed in this course?
• Are there any facts in this lesson that students need to be reminded of to make sure they stick?

Keep a running list of these answers as you build your lessons. By the time you reach a course milestone and you’re ready to build an assessment, you’ll already have a list of key questions to use in your quiz or assignment. By drawing questions from across a series of lessons, you help students build contextual links between different batches of information and end up with a more cohesive learning experience.

Get ahead with our free lesson plan template

Building a lesson plan from scratch is challenging and quickly gets complicated if it’s your first time. To help you, we’ve created a customizable template you can tweak to suit your needs fast. 

You’re well on your way to building a great course , with solid principles that help you deliver dynamic lessons to your students!

Put your learning into action with Thinkific:

This blog was originally created in August 2020, it has since been updated in August 2023 to become even more useful!

Jenny is a Content Marketer at Thinkific. A lifelong learner, she loves writing about anything from Byron to blockchain. Formerly from Cape Town, she now spends her spare time wandering Vancouver in search of the perfect coffee.

• 10 Instructional Design Models For Creating A Winning Online Course
• 10 Steps To Creating A Wildly Successful Online Course
• 5 Techniques to Create an Effective Online Course
• 5 Ways to Validate Your Online Course Concept
• How To Craft Magnetic & Compelling Learning Outcomes

Related Articles

The ultimate online course launch checklist (free guide + templates).

Get a checklist of everything you need to do before, during, and after you launch your online course to make sure it's a smash success.

How to Create a Sales Funnel to Sell Online Courses (Sales Funnel Template)

To sell your online course, you need a sales funnel. Here are 6 steps to creating an automated sales funnel that sells your online course 24/7.

Udemy’s Pricing Model: How To Use It To Your Advantage As An Online Course...

Udemy has made several changes to their online course pricing model over the years. Here's how you can use their price restrictions to your advantage (updated for 2020)

Try Thinkific for yourself!

Accomplish your course creation and student success goals faster with thinkific..

Download this guide and start building your online program!

It is on its way to your inbox

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.

Kerri Eglin. (2018). Creating Lesson Plans. The WAC Clearinghouse. Retrieved from https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/teaching/guides/lesson-plans/. Originally developed for Writing@CSU (https://writing.colostate.edu).

Assignments Matter: Making the Connections That Help Students Meet Standards

$23.16 member price join now.

What exactly is an "assignment" and why does it matter? How can educators ensure that their teaching meets the rigorous demands of the Common Core State Standards, so that all students are well prepared for college or careers?

Table of contents

Introduction

Part 1: Why and What

Why Assignments Matter

Part 2: In the Classroom

About the authors

Book details

Product no., 978-1-4166-1440-1, release date, member book, topics in this book, related books, to process a transaction with a purchase order please send to [email protected].

• CRLT Consultation Services
• Consultation
• Midterm Student Feedback
• Classroom Observation
• Teaching Philosophy
• Upcoming Events and Seminars
• CRLT Calendar
• Orientations
• Teaching Academies
• Provost's Seminars
• Past Events
• For Faculty
• For Grad Students & Postdocs
• For Chairs, Deans & Directors
• Customized Workshops & Retreats
• Assessment, Curriculum, & Learning Analytics Services
• CRLT in Engineering
• CRLT Players
• Foundational Course Initiative
• CRLT Grants
• Other U-M Grants
• Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize
• U-M Teaching Awards
• Retired Grants
• Staff Directory
• Faculty Advisory Board
• Annual Report
• Equity-Focused Teaching
• Preparing to Teach
• Teaching Strategies
• Testing and Grading
• Teaching with Technology
• Teaching Philosophy & Statements
• Training GSIs
• Evaluation of Teaching
• Occasional Papers

Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning

Stiliana milkova center for research on learning and teaching.

A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class time. Before you plan your lesson, you will first need to identify the learning objectives for the class meeting.  Then, you can design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates these three key components:

• Objectives for student learning
• Teaching/learning activities
• Strategies to check student understanding

Specifying concrete objectives for student learning will help you determine the kinds of teaching and learning activities you will use in class, while those activities will define how you will check whether the learning objectives have been accomplished (see Fig. 1).

Steps for Preparing a Lesson Plan

Below are six steps to guide you when you create your first lesson plans. Each step is accompanied by a set of questions meant to prompt reflection and aid you in designing your teaching and learning activities.

(1) Outline learning objectives

The first step is to determine what you want students to learn and be able to do at the end of class. To help you specify your objectives for student learning, answer the following questions:

• What is the topic of the lesson?
• What do I want students to learn?
• What do I want them to understand and be able to do at the end of class?
• What do I want them to take away from this particular lesson?

Once you outline the learning objectives for the class meeting, rank them in terms of their importance. This step will prepare you for managing class time and accomplishing the more important learning objectives in case you are pressed for time. Consider the following questions:

• What are the most important concepts, ideas, or skills I want students to be able to grasp and apply?
• Why are they important?
• If I ran out of time, which ones could not be omitted?
• And conversely, which ones could I skip if pressed for time?

(2) Develop the introduction

Now that you have your learning objectives in order of their importance, design the specific activities you will use to get students to understand and apply what they have learned. Because you will have a diverse body of students with different academic and personal experiences, they may already be familiar with the topic. That is why you might start with a question or activity to gauge students’ knowledge of the subject or possibly, their preconceived notions about it. For example, you can take a simple poll: “How many of you have heard of X? Raise your hand if you have.” You can also gather background information from your students prior to class by sending students an electronic survey or asking them to write comments on index cards. This additional information can help shape your introduction, learning activities, etc.  When you have an idea of the students’ familiarity with the topic, you will also have a sense of what to focus on.

Develop a creative introduction to the topic to stimulate interest and encourage thinking. You can use a variety of approaches to engage students (e.g., personal anecdote, historical event, thought-provoking dilemma, real-world example, short video clip, practical application, probing question, etc.). Consider the following questions when planning your introduction:

• How will I check whether students know anything about the topic or have any preconceived notions about it?
• What are some commonly held ideas (or possibly misconceptions) about this topic that students might be familiar with or might espouse?
• What will I do to introduce the topic?

 (3) Plan the specific learning activities (the main body of the lesson)

Prepare several different ways of explaining the material (real-life examples, analogies, visuals, etc.) to catch the attention of more students and appeal to different learning styles. As you plan your examples and activities, estimate how much time you will spend on each. Build in time for extended explanation or discussion, but also be prepared to move on quickly to different applications or problems, and to identify strategies that check for understanding. These questions would help you design the learning activities you will use:

• What will I do to explain the topic?
• What will I do to illustrate the topic in a different way?
• How can I engage students in the topic?
• What are some relevant real-life examples, analogies, or situations that can help students understand the topic?
• What will students need to do to help them understand the topic better?

(4) Plan to check for understanding

Now that you have explained the topic and illustrated it with different examples, you need to check for student understanding – how will you know that students are learning? Think about specific questions you can ask students in order to check for understanding, write them down, and then paraphrase them so that you are prepared to ask the questions in different ways. Try to predict the answers your questions will generate. Decide on whether you want students to respond orally or in writing. You can look at Strategies to Extend Student Thinking , http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P4_4.php to help you generate some ideas and you can also ask yourself these questions:

• What questions will I ask students to check for understanding?
• What will I have students do to demonstrate that they are following?
• Going back to my list of learning objectives, what activity can I have students do to check whether each of those has been accomplished?

An important strategy that will also help you with time management is to anticipate students’ questions. When planning your lesson, decide what kinds of questions will be productive for discussion and what questions might sidetrack the class. Think about and decide on the balance between covering content (accomplishing your learning objectives) and ensuring that students understand.

(5) Develop a conclusion and a preview

Go over the material covered in class by summarizing the main points of the lesson. You can do this in a number of ways: you can state the main points yourself (“Today we talked about…”), you can ask a student to help you summarize them, or you can even ask all students to write down on a piece of paper what they think were the main points of the lesson. You can review the students’ answers to gauge their understanding of the topic and then explain anything unclear the following class. Conclude the lesson not only by summarizing the main points, but also by previewing the next lesson. How does the topic relate to the one that’s coming? This preview will spur students’ interest and help them connect the different ideas within a larger context.

(6) Create a realistic timeline

GSIs know how easy it is to run out of time and not cover all of the many points they had planned to cover. A list of ten learning objectives is not realistic, so narrow down your list to the two or three key concepts, ideas, or skills you want students to learn. Instructors also agree that they often need to adjust their lesson plan during class depending on what the students need. Your list of prioritized learning objectives will help you make decisions on the spot and adjust your lesson plan as needed. Having additional examples or alternative activities will also allow you to be flexible. A realistic timeline will reflect your flexibility and readiness to adapt to the specific classroom environment. Here are some strategies for creating a realistic timeline:

• Estimate how much time each of the activities will take, then plan some extra time for each
• When you prepare your lesson plan, next to each activity indicate how much time you expect it will take
• Plan a few minutes at the end of class to answer any remaining questions and to sum up key points
• Plan an extra activity or discussion question in case you have time left
• Be flexible – be ready to adjust your lesson plan to students’ needs and focus on what seems to be more productive rather than sticking to your original plan

Presenting the Lesson Plan

Letting your students know what they will be learning and doing in class will help keep them more engaged and on track. You can 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. You can outline on the board or on a handout the learning objectives for the class. Providing a meaningful organization of the class time can help students not only remember better, but also follow your presentation and understand the rationale behind in-class activities. Having a clearly visible agenda (e.g., on the board) will also help you and students stay on track.

Reflecting on Your Lesson Plan

A lesson plan may not work as well as you had expected due to a number of extraneous circumstances. You should not get discouraged – it happens to even the most experienced teachers! Take a few minutes after each class to reflect on what worked well and why, and what you could have done differently. Identifying successful and less successful organization of class time and activities would make it easier to adjust to the contingencies of the classroom. For additional feedback on planning and managing class time, you can use the following resources: student feedback, peer observation, viewing a videotape of your teaching, and consultation with a staff member at CRLT (see also, Improving Your Teaching: Obtaining Feedback , http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P9_1.php and Early Feedback Form , http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/earlyfeedback.pdf).

To be effective, the lesson plan does not have to be an exhaustive document that describes each and every possible classroom scenario. Nor does it have to anticipate each and every student’s response or question. Instead, it should provide you with a general outline of your teaching goals, learning objectives, and means to accomplish them. It is a reminder of what you want to do and how you want to do it. A productive lesson is not one in which everything goes exactly as planned, but one in which both students and instructors learn from each other.

Additional Resources

Video clips of GSIs at the University of Michigan actively engaging students in a practice teaching session: https://crlte.engin.umich.edu/engineering-gsi-videos/ 

Plan the First Day's Session: How to create to a lesson plan for the first day of class:  http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/pre-semester-intro/first-day-plan/

Fink, D. L. (2005). Integrated course design. Manhattan, KS: The IDEA Center. Retrieved from https://www.ideaedu.org/idea_papers/integrated-course-design/

back to top

Contact CRLT

location_on University of Michigan 1071 Palmer Commons 100 Washtenaw Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2218

phone Phone: (734) 764-0505

description Fax: (734) 647-3600

email Email: [email protected]

Connect with CRLT

directions Directions to CRLT

group Staff Directory

markunread_mailbox Subscribe to our Blog

• Health Science
• Business Education
• Computer Applications
• Career Readiness
• Teaching Strategies

«  View All Posts

Lesson Plans | Classroom Planning

What Is a Lesson Plan and How Do You Make One?

• Share This Article

March 28th, 2024 | 9 min. read

Brad Hummel

Coming from a family of educators, Brad knows both the joys and challenges of teaching well. Through his own teaching background, he’s experienced both firsthand. As a writer for iCEV, Brad’s goal is to help teachers empower their students by listening to educators’ concerns and creating content that answers their most pressing questions about career and technical education.

Print/Save as PDF

A lesson plan is a teacher’s daily guide for what students need to learn, how it will be taught, and how learning will be measured.

Lesson plans help teachers be more effective in the classroom by providing a detailed outline to follow each class period.

This ensures every bit of class time is spent teaching new concepts and having meaningful discussions — not figuring it out on the fly!

The most effective lesson plans have six key parts:

• Lesson Objectives
• Related Requirements
• Lesson Materials
• Lesson Procedure
• Assessment Method
• Lesson Reflection

Because each part of a lesson plan plays a role in the learning experience of your students, it’s important to approach them with a clear plan in mind.

Let’s start with the first part of every lesson plan—the lesson objectives!

1. Lesson Objectives

Lesson objectives list what students will be able to do after completing the lesson.

These objectives let you easily tell if your lesson has effectively taught your students new concepts and skills.

It can feel overwhelming to pin down specific takeaways for a lesson. But when you break the process into steps, you can make lesson planning simple and effective.

First, it’s best to view your lesson objectives as goals for your class and students.

One of the most popular goal-setting strategies is the  “SMART” criteria ,  which ensures goals are focused.

In the context of lesson planning, you can use the SMART criteria to determine your lesson objectives:

• Is the objective  specific ?
• Is the objective  measurable ?
• Is the objective  attainable  by all students?
• Is the objective  relevant  to your class and students?
• Is the objective  time-based to align with your syllabus?

For each objective, it’s important to start with an action that relates to what students should be able to do after the lesson. Depending on what topic you’re teaching and the level of knowledge your students have, these actions will vary.

For example, when teaching brand new concepts, you may define actions like  define, identify, explain , and  determine . However, if your lesson involves more advanced tasks, the objectives may include actions like  create, use, perform , or  measure .

To see these phrases in context, let’s look at examples that a computer teacher might choose when teaching Microsoft Word .

For an introductory lesson about Microsoft Word, objectives could be:

• Identify parts of the ribbon menu
• Determine methods of selecting text in a document
• Define fonts and font styles

In a more advanced class, objectives might include:

• Insert a document header
• Use document themes
• Add a page border

When creating your lesson objectives, keep in mind that it’s easier to measure student success when you have specific goals.

Once you’ve put your lesson objectives together, it’s time to tie them in with the next part of your lesson plan—the related requirements!

2. Related Requirements

Related requirements are  national, state, or school standards  that dictate what you need to teach in a class.

If you teach a CTE course you likely need to tie your lessons to  certification requirements  as well.

Every lesson you teach should help you hit those requirements. Listing them in your lesson plans helps you satisfy those requirements while focusing on the end goal of your class!

On top of that, some administrators require teachers to distinctly show how they will teach course standards in each lesson. If you put them on your lesson plans, you’ve got a quick reference to prove you’re on the ball!

When listing course standards or certification items on your lesson plan, it’s smart to use the exact organizational system found on your standards to make sure your class aligns.

If you don’t have the specific outline for your course standards, ask another teacher or your administrator where you can find them.

To get detailed certification requirements, check the certification provider’s website for an exam outline or test plan.

Laying out each lesson plan according to your requirements can be tedious work, but it will ultimately help you stay organized and aligned with what you’re supposed to teach!

3. Lesson Materials

The third section on your lesson plan is the list of materials that you need to teach the lesson and measure student outcomes.

This section prepares you to deliver your lessons every day. Without this list, you may accidentally forget to print an important document or sign out the shared laptop cart!

Common types of lesson materials include:

• Student handouts
• Visual aids
• Grading rubrics
• Activity packets
• Computers / Tablets

The list of materials for each lesson depends on what you plan to teach, how you’ll teach it, and how you’ll measure lesson objectives.

Because of this, many teachers compile their list of lesson materials in tandem with their lesson procedure!

4. Lesson Procedure

Your lesson procedure is an in-depth explanation of how the lesson will progress in the classroom.

The lesson procedure is essentially step-by-step instructions that walk you through everything from the time students enter the classroom until the bell rings at the end of the period.

It’s smart to be very detailed in this portion of your lesson plan. After all, there will be cases when another teacher or substitute needs to fill in for you!

When writing your lesson procedure, you need to choose the type of activities that will help students meet the lesson objectives.

To do that, you can answer a list of questions, including:

• How will you introduce the topic?
• What’s the best way to teach this information to your students?
• How can you incorporate problem solving and critical thinking?
• What real-life scenarios relate to this topic?
• Does this topic lend itself to group work?

It’s also a great idea to find out how other teachers address the topics in the classroom . You can do this by talking to coworkers, joining an online community, or searching for lesson ideas on educational blogs.

After writing out a rough draft of your lesson procedure, many teachers outline it according to a specific teaching strategy.

As an example, you might consider planning what exercise students will complete when they enter the class, how they'll proceed in learning the main content of the class period, and how you'll encourage students to reflect on what they've learned. You'll also want to plan how you'll reinforce learning at the end of class and in future class periods.

To accomplish these lessons, teachers use a variety of methods , from lectures to multimedia presentations, as well as both individual and group activities. Which methods you'll want to use will often vary depending on the type of material your teaching, the amount of time you have to cover it, and the particular knowledge and skills you want to emphasize in accordance with your standards.

Finally, you'll want to gauge if your students have achieved the lesson objectives through formative and summative assessments.

5. Assessment Method

The assessment method measures whether your students learned a lesson’s information and met your lesson objectives.

The methods listed on your lesson plan will most often be  formative assessments and vary from lesson to lesson.  To start, there are dozens of ways to measure student learning through formative assessments.

Some of the most common assessment options include:

• Hands-on activities
• Writing assignments
• Group presentations
• Class journal entries

In addition, your assessment method may be an in-class assignment or homework for students to complete prior to the next class.

When choosing your assessment method, it’s important to incorporate your lesson objectives.

If an objective was related to understanding a concept, consider an assessment that requires students to explain that concept. If an objective was for students to demonstrate a skill, design an assessment to confirm they can do that skill.

Also, while many assessments receive grades in a class, formative assessments don’t always need to be graded!

Ultimately, the purpose of this assessment is to measure how well your students learned a lesson’s material based on the way you presented information. This measurement will help you wrap up each lesson plan with the lesson reflection.

6. Lesson Reflection

The lesson reflection portion of a lesson plan encourages teachers to take notes on how to improve a lesson after it has been completed.

By this point, your lesson has clear objectives, a plan for teaching, and a way to assess student learning. But if you don’t critically consider whether you succeeded, you’re doing a disservice to your future students!

When completing your lesson reflection, ask yourself questions like:

• Did a part of the lesson take longer than expected?
• Was there a portion that students asked for a lot of help with?
• Did students breeze through the information with no problem?
• Were students engaged and interested in the lesson?
• Were the objectives met by most (or all) of the students?

Essentially, you want to note any part of your lesson that didn’t go as expected.

In addition, it’s smart to record ideas for improvement or adjustments in this section as well. That way, when you go to teach your lessons in the future, you have all of the information for improvement in one place!

Lessons Are Just the Beginning

Lesson plans are the first steps in creating a full-fledged curriculum for a class.

They dig into the details that ensure you teach the right information to your students at the right time, and they simplify your career by giving you a roadmap to follow each and every day.

But what about the big picture? This is one of the hardest parts of teaching for educators throughout the world. It’s not just the individual lessons that need your attention — it’s the class as a whole!

To do that, you need to create a curriculum.

A curriculum covers everything you need to teach an entire class. More than just a bunch of lesson plans, a comprehensive curriculum serves as a roadmap for teaching your course and setting each student up for success.

So where do you start? When you read about how to make a curriculum, you'll discover the key elements that make all the difference when building a complete course that will confidently meet your instructional standards.

Read the article and start building your ideal curriculum now: 

Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that he or she will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove her point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, he or she still has to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and she already knows everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality she or he expects.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Lesson Plan Step #8 - Assessment and Follow-Up

Measuring Whether Students Have Met the Learning Objectives

• Lesson Plans
• Grading Students for Assessment
• Becoming A Teacher
• Assessments & Tests
• Elementary Education
• Special Education
• Homeschooling
• B.A., Sociology, University of California Los Angeles

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

• Components of a Well-Written Lesson Plan
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Independent Practice
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Guided Practice
• Creating Effective Lesson Objectives
• Create Rubrics for Student Assessment - Step by Step
• How to Write a Lesson Plan
• Write Lesson Plans
• Topics for a Lesson Plan Template
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Closure and Context
• Accommodations for Students With Special Needs
• Here's What You Need to Know About Lesson Plans
• Movie Lesson Plan Ideas
• How Scaffolding Instruction Can Improve Comprehension
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Direct Instruction
• How to Avoid Common Mistakes When Writing Learning Objectives