Generic Lesson Plan Template

Discipline/subject: Grade level: Approximate length of lesson: Topic:

The topic of the lesson identifies the new content, skills, and/or strategies which students will learn or the content, skills, and/or strategies which the students will practice or review.

Rationale:
Justify the teaching of these concepts or skills. In other words, why is it important that students learn/practice these concepts, skills, or strategies? Attempt to make real-world connections, where possible. Motivate the material.

Instructional Objectives:
Instructional objectives should be given as measurable performances tied into your conceptual material. They should be listed in terms of grade-level appropriate language. I encourage you to initially consider using a Magerian (behavioralist) approach. Examples from across topics: Students will be able to: Sort (classify) materials as conductors vs. non-conductors with 90% accuracy. Explain how to create a closed circuit with a parallel connector. Explain the refraction of light with a prism and demonstrate how to filter selected colors. Order (seriate) various insulators from best to worst and explain why. You may have one or more learning statements in a lesson. Use bullet format (see above) to make it easy for you (and others) to see. You may also have objectives that relate to helping students understand various processes (two examples from science are to improve skills in measuring or observing). List these also in bullet form. Examples: Students will be able to effectively use an oscilliscope Students will distinguish the distinction between observations in science and inferences

MA Curriculum Frameworks:
List any relevant strands from the appropriate Massachusetts Curriculum Framework (relevant topic strands for your grade level). Use bullet format. (for light): Physical Sciences Grades 3 5, #12: Recognize that light can be reflected, refracted, and absorbed

Materials:
List all materials to be used in the lesson by the teacher and the students. Be a thorough as you can be. Use bullet format.

Procedure:
(delete this next paragraph after reading it). The procedure is the set of instructional steps that constitutes the heart of the lesson. Though there are many forms, a suggested method involves three parts initiation, development, and closing. Each part must spell out exactly what you are doing and be detailed enough that anyone could take your plan and teach from it. Be very explicit! And..recognize that although you will be very detailed here, it does not mean that you wont depart slightly from your plan. Teaching requires flexibility as well as planning!

Initiation: (approx. time)

The initiation is arguably the most important part of the lesson. Its purpose is twofold, 1) to capture the students attention and interest and 2) to help students be prepared to learn and focus on the topic of study. This can be done by reminding students of earlier lessons or experiences. Initiation often involves activating students thinking finding out what they already know. Somewhere in your initiation you should indicate how you plan on finding out what the student(s) already know about your topic

Development: (approx. time)

This section contains a series of activities through which students will be able to achieve the objectives set for the lesson. These activities should be presented sequentially and logically so that each activity flows and connects to another. All parts of the development must fit together to form a cogent learning experience. Plan on this section requiring approximately one to two pages to complete for a 50-minute lesson. Make sure that you provide in your lesson plan suggested questions to help students achieve a deeper understanding of the content Refer to your handout for questioning techniques to help you think beforehand what types of questions you will ask. The Key: You need to plan before the lesson what type of questions you will ask. I expect to see these in bullet form. Example: What do you think would happen to the temperature if the color was black instead of yellow?

Closing: (approx. time)

The closing, which shouldnt take much time, allows you to wrap up the lesson and to find out what students have understood from the lesson. It is most beneficial when it is more student-led than teacherdirected. In other words, you should ask students what they have learned rather than tell them what they were taught. Further, you should attempt to avoid closure activities that emphasize the recollection of facts, like a jeopardy game. While these type of activities may have positive attributes, in science it reinforces a negative stereotype that science is a bunch of facts to be memorized!

Assessment Measures:
Describe how you will determine which students have met your goals/objectives. What evidence will you collect to assess student attainment of goals and objectives? These may consist of written exercises, oral presentations, teacher interview of students, or observation.

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Diagrams / Illustrations to Teach Concept(s):

Here you should place diagrams or illustrations that help to demonstrate the concept or concepts concerning your subject. You may wish to freehand draw these and annotate them accordingly. A suggestion is to do this last, after you have completed the other portions of your lesson plan. This way you will be able to create sufficient space (see below under Attachments)

Sources: Attachments:
You should attach (use next page in word) any supportive materials. For example, if you have special set up requirements, create an attached page that discusses them. Also attach any tables, charts, etc. that you plan to use during the instruction.

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