Planning Effective Lessons

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Module 9

Think of a lesson you taught this week that did not go well. It was bad!

Write yourself some notes about

that lesson.

Does this sound familiar?

“ I just follow the curriculum.”

“I’ve been teaching so long that I don’t need to plan. I’ve done this all before.”

“I was watching a program on television and I thought the kids might want to learn about that.”

“I never really plan my lessons; they just come to me when I’m on my way to work. A lot of times the best lesson plan pops into my head just as I’m entering the classroom.”

When a teacher has designed a unit to teach the standards, the most critical pieces of that unit are the individual lessons.

Wanda’s translation: You can have a beautiful set of standards and benchmarks and a wonderful sounding unit but if your lessons aren’t effective, the students aren’t going to learn.

Turn to your neighbor…

You may find it helpful to look at:

Hunter Lesson Plan Blank

and/or

Lesson Plan form with notes

No. This format is not required for submission to me. It is just for your information.

Start with your unit

What benchmarks are you going to assess in this unit? Now decide which of these benchmarks you are going to address during this lesson.

Why Instructional Objectives?

Better instruction occurs

More efficient learning results

Better evaluation occurs

Students become better self-evaluators

Does this remind you of anything we talked about Saturday?

Cited in Classroom Teaching Skills

Objectives Have Their Detractors

Writing good instructional objectives requires a lot of work and expertise.

Some say using instructional objectives hampers the process of individualizing and humanizing education.

Some say the use of instructional objectives curtails spontaneity and decreases the teacher’s flexibility.

Some say using instructional objectives leads to trivial learning outcomes.

Good objectives are student oriented.

What the student is expected to do, not what the teacher will do

S = To read at least 250 words per minute with no less than 80 percent comprehension

T = To show students proper eye movements for scanning material

Good objectives describe learning outcomes.

Outcomes; not activities

Outcome: Label the parts of a flower

Activity: Study the diagram of a flower in your book

Good objectives are clear and understandable.

Explicit!

Expressly stated, not implied

Clear: List, in writing, the Presidents of the United States

Not so Clear: Know the Presidents of the United States

Verb and Object

Good objectives are observable.

Be careful about verbs.

Can you observe

“know?”

“understand?”

How about

“predict?

“locate?”

Your Turn

Anticipatory SetAn activity that brings mental focus (activates the

neural programs necessary) to the upcoming learning activity.

What’s the big deal?

The beginning of any class or lesson is the prime time for that learning.

Why do I need one?Focus student attention on the lesson

Create an organizing framework for the ideas, principles, or information which is to follow

May hook into and bring forward students’ past knowledge and experiences, which facilitates the acquisition of that day’s learning

May provide diagnostic information about what students know and can do

Stimulate student interest and involvement in the lesson

Key Ideas

Students are actively involved

Relates to objectives

Even better if it is interesting

Did I have an anticipatory set for this morning? What was it?

Did it help you focus on what we are going to be doing and direct your attention away from things that might have happened this morning?

Your turn

Thoughts about Learning Opportunities

There will be overlap between some of these areas.

A key is that these are delivered in small, ordered steps, between which students practice with new knowledge by talking, writing, or both.

These “periodic thinking reviews” give students a chance to process their learning by drawing conclusions and making inferences.

More Thoughts…

The teacher should talk for no more than 5 minutes before giving students an opportunity to process new information. (Silver, Strong, and Perini)

Teacher Input

What information will you provide for students?

How will you provide this information?

Modeling

What examples will you provide?

Maybe you will work some problems.

Maybe you will give them exemplars for a well written paper.

This may overlap with teacher input.

Your turn….

Guided PracticeWhat/How will the students practice?

Remember those small steps. This leads to more frequent practice. Not just practice at the end of the lesson.

Key to making it guided practice is that the teacher observes and guides their work. He/She is not sitting at his/her desk.

Frequently effective if done in pairs or small groups.

Independent Practice

Will students practice independently?

Product

What, if anything, will your students produce as a result of this lesson?

Essay?

Poster?

Poem?

Model?

How will you know if they know?Checking for Understanding

Formative Assessment

Between each step in the lesson

Effective Techniques for Checking for Understanding

Signaled Answers

Choral Responses

Sample Individual Response

Individual Private Response

What have you used effectively? Turn to your neighbor.

Closure

Draw attention to the end of a lesson or lesson segment

Help organize student learning

Consolidate or reinforce the major points to be learned

“Closure is the skill of reviewing the key points of a lesson, of tying them together into a coherent whole, and finally, of ensuring their use by anchoring them in the student’s larger conceptual network.” Cooper

The Remainder

Good but not as necessary

Notes for Sunday

If you are willing to share information, including PPT about your Facet, send it to me and I’ll put it on the wiki.

Submit everything at once.

Make sure I know if it is from two people.

Late work – Don’t do it!s