StilianaMilkova

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).