Lesson Plan Structure

Purpose (Content)
Identify what the content to be taught is, the basic information you want to teach in this
lesson.
Example: This lesson is designed to give students information about our first President of
the United States, George Washington.
Your turn:

Targeted Audience
To whom will you be teaching this lesson? Third graders? College students? Adult
learners?
Example: This lesson is designed for ninth graders.
Your turn:

Prerequisites
Indicate what the learner must already know or be able to do in order to be successful
with this lesson.
Example: In order to complete this lesson, students need to know how to add two digit
plus two digit problems, and how to "carry" from the ones to the tens column".
Your turn:
Time
What is the suggested time allotment for this lesson?
Example: This lesson is expected to take between 30 and 45 minutes.
Your turn:

Objective
An objective is the focal point of a lesson plan. It is a description of an intended learning
outcome and is the basis for the rest of the lesson. It provides criteria for constructing an
assessment for the lesson, as well as for the instructional procedures the teacher designs to
implement the lesson. Without a behavioral objective, it is difficult, if not impossible, to
determine exactly what a particular lesson is supposed to accomplish.
What precisely do you want the learner to acquire? This needs to be stated clearly in
observable and measurable terms. The parts of an objective are:
1. Conditions (a statement that describes the conditions under which the behavior is to be
performed). Examples of conditions include:
♦ Upon request the student will…….
♦ Given (some physical object such as an assignment) the student will…….
2. Verb (an action word that connotes an observable student behavior). Verbs (action) have
to be observable and measurable. Examples of verbs include:
♦ students will identify, define (verbs)…..
♦ students will classify, solve (verbs)…..
♦ students will locate, interpret, reproduce, (verbs)
3. Criteria (a statement that specifies how well the student must perform the behavior).
Criteria are a set of descriptions that describe how well the behavior must be performed to
satisfy the intent of the verb. Examples of criteria include:
♦ ……with 80% accuracy (criteria)
♦ ….identify all (criteria) major rivers in the United States

Example Objective: Following the completion of this activity (condition), students will be
able to write (verb) prime numbers to 50 in less than five minutes (criteria).
Your turn:
Materials
What is needed to teach this lesson? All materials and equipment to be used by both
educator and learner need to be listed.
Example: Materials include three large sheets of paper, markers, and article entitled
"Learning in Groups".
Your turn:

Instructional Procedures
Students understand, learn, and retain information from lessons that are meaningful to
them. In order to make these lessons meaningful, the way you teach the lesson needs careful
consideration. Instructional procedures involves a description of what you will do in teaching
the lesson, how you will introduce the lesson to students, actual teaching techniques, and how
you will close the lesson. Includes specific things learners will do during the lesson.

1. Introduction: How will the lesson be introduced to learners? Use an activity that focuses the
learners' attention before the actual lesson begins. May include a variety of techniques such
as a brief review of previous material, an anecdote, a question asked of learners, or
discussion of a recent event related to the current material.
Example: The educator will have two sentences written on the board. As students enter
the room, learners will be directed to the sentences and asked to make corrections on a blank
sheet of paper. The class will briefly discuss the sentence corrections.
Your turn:

2. Teaching Procedures: This section allows you to list the teaching strategies you will use.
Just as there are countless topics to teach, there are countless ways to teach content.
♦ Be very specific about your strategies, considering the ways students learn best.
♦ Consider sharing lesson objective with students.
♦ Indicate how you will transition from one activity to the next
♦ Include questions to be asked. Refer to Blooms Taxonomy (included) for assistance in
determining different levels of questions.
♦ Include how students will be involved in the learning process - what activities will students
participate in, and at what level of involvement? Students may be doing individual work or
some level of group work activities.
Example: none suggested due to a wide range of instructional procedures.
 Your turn:

Closure
How will you close the class or lesson? Consider this section as a short wrap-up or
review of the lesson.
Example: "Today we have learned about ten of the elements on the periodical table.
Who can name one of them?" (Call upon all students until ten elements are identified).
Your turn:

Assessment
How do you plan to assess if students have learned the content taught? Assessment is tied
directly to the objective. It is important that the educator assess mastery of the objective and at
the knowledge level the material was taught. A few ideas for assessment may include informal
observation during the lesson, work completion, questioning techniques (refer to Bloom's
Taxonomy), projects, or formal (test, quiz)
Example: Prior to the end of class, students will be given 1/2 sheet of paper and asked
the following question: "The three most important things I learned today are…."
Your turn:

A final component of assessment involves self-assessment. This frequently occurs after

the lesson has been presented, but can also occur as the lesson is unfolding.
♦ What were the strengths of this lesson?
♦ Did you meet your objective?
♦ Consider the weaknesses and how you can improve for next time
♦ Make notes and use for further reference
Example: varies
Your turn: