Education 410

Dave Clark - Seminar Instructor

Lesson Planning

Last week we discussed  several important roles that teachers play .  One significant role teachers play is motivating students to be interested in learning. A good teacher will present lessons in an interesting and organized manner.  A basic knowlege of lesson plan components is necessary before we can understand the part motivation plays in the learning process.

What is a lesson plan?

When you stand up in in front of a class to teach, how do you know what you will be teaching?  If you haven't thought about this question ahead of time, you will most likely do a poor job of teaching.  It is important that you have a plan.  Hence the name lesson plan.  The plan tells you what you as a teacher will be doing in the classroom when you teach.  Ideally a lesson plan structures the educational experience so that it produces maximum learning in all the students.

What are the components of a lesson plan?

Any plan has a structure.  The same is true with a lesson plan.  A lesson plan consists of different components. Most people agree on certain components, however there is little agreement regarding the specific structure of a lesson plan.  If you ask ten different teachers about the parts of a lesson plan, you may get ten different answers.  What follows are possible components of a lesson plan.  Some of them must be in a lesson plan, while others are considered by at least some people as being optional.  Components can be divided into parts which are done before, during and after instruction.

Before Instruction:

Description of the Learner - grade level and characteristics if applicable

Background of the Lesson - A brief description of what the students have been learning up to this point.

Pre-requisite Knowledge - Description of what students need to know prior to the lesson.

Objectives -  All lessons should have an indication of what is to be taught.  This should include outcomes or goals for the unit in general, as well as the standard that the unit is addressing.

Materials or Resources Needed  - Some lessons include a list of materials needed.  At a glance, the teacher can see what's needed for the lesson.

Pre-Assessment - Pre-assessment determines what students already know or feel about the subject matter or what skills the already possess.  KWL

During Instruction

Objective and Purpose - Letting students know what is to be learned is critical to the learning process.  It helps to organize the knowledge which is critical for learning.   By providing a purpose, it helps students see the relevance of learning which also helps students learn better.  Students begin to connect  what will be learned to what they already know.   Establishing those connections is what learning is all about.

Anticipatory Set - An anticpatory set is an activity which prepares and motivates students for learning.  Examples of anticipatory sets include asking students to relate a personal experience related to the objective of the lesson, asking students to list information from a previous lesson, asking students to react to a picture, or answer a question pertaining to the lesson.  An important thing that anticipatory set does is to grab the students not focused upon learning.  By having an activity related to what will be learned, it shifts their attention to the learning process. 

Anticipatory set can also establish a readiness or anticipation for what is to follow.  For it to do so,it must pique their interest.   Otherwise it might do the opposite and turn them off to the topic.

Some anticipatory set activities tie into what they have leaned already.  If so, it will help students practice and reinforce what they have already learned.  Some anticipatory set activities attempt to tie into the students' personal experiences.  By doing so, it can help students see the relevance of what they are learning.

Insturctional Input - During the lesson new information or skills must be conveyed to the student.  This can be done through a variety of methods, including direct lecture, video, computer, etc. One type of input that works effectively is modeling. 

Modeling - If the goal is writing essays, the teacher could provide examples of good and possibly not so good essays.  If the goal is solving problems, the teacher could demonstrate how to solve problem.  This component differs from the previous in that Instructional Input verbally conveys what is expected, while Modeling givies a demonstration of it.

Checking for Understanding - Checking for understanding helps the teacher determine what the students have learned.  It is evaluation.  It determines whether teachers need to provide additional instruction to the students. 

Guided Practice- Once students have learned knowledge or skills, they need to practiice them.  Initially, this should be done under the supervision of the teacher.  Hence the name guided practice.  You should not let students attempt to work on their own until you have given them sufficient guided practice.

Independent Practice Once students have achieved a sufficient degree of mastery under your supervision, they can then be let loose to work on their own.  This step is critical to assure the students can work idependently.  This step can involve the assignment of homework, class projects or cooperative learning groups.

After Instruction

Summative Evaluation - A the end of instruction, there is typically a task which students do to demonstrate that they have learned.  This could involve a test, a project or a demonstration. 

This weeks assignment...

1.  What components of a lesson plan do you feel are essential ?

2.  Write components that you would use to teach  a lesson of your choice.  Would you have extended activities? 

3.  Detail your anticipatory activity for teaching the lesson described 

    above. - have a minimum of two appeals in your plan