Planning a Lesson
When planning a lesson the following points should be taken into account:
- what children already know before the lesson
- what you want children to know on completion of the lesson
- how you intend to convey the knowledge for example:
audio or visual lesson: watching a documentary, reading about a topic, discussion, worksheets, webquests or internet based lessons
- How long will the lesson go for?
- How many children is the lesson intended for
- Are children likely to deviate from the subject? If so be prepared
- Will the material hold the interest of the child for the required time?
If not can it be divided into smaller parts to be completed over more than one lesson
- How will the intended outcome be evaluated?
Putting it into Practice
A lesson is primarily made up of five parts:Start by telling the children what they will be learning about and what you hope they will achieve on completion of the lesson.
Making your expectations clear in the beginning ensures everyone knows exactly what is expected.
Reaffirming what areas of the topic you have already covered, or clarifying what the children already know will assist in stimulating the child to want to learn more about the topic.
Start with the actual lesson, present the children with the worksheets, required books or other learning materials.
Guide the children to ensure they understand what it is about.
Allow time for the child to do any further research and complete any worksheets or assignments associated with the lesson.
How much do they understand of the topic?
Have the objectives outlined in part one been met? If not what else may be required to assist the child in meeting the objective.
Different types of assessment may include testing (either written or verbal), rubrics, or simply that all required work was completed to an acceptable level. Flashcards can be made for drills and notebooks for further reference
For printable "fill in the blanks" lesson plans see:
Blank Lesson Plan 1
Blank Lesson Plan 2
You may also like to check out the Verbs For Learning, a printable list of verbs which are helpful both in planning and in evaluating a lesson