Abstract
The planning of daily lessons involves a variety of components to deliver a successful lesson. This chapter will look at the integration of a daily lesson plan with a focus on how to write the objectives, essential questions, the integration of Bloom's taxonomy in lesson objectives and connecting objectives and essential questions to an assessment. An additional focus is placed on the components of the daily lesson plan looking specifically at the alignment of standards, accommodations for students' IEP and 504 plans, integrating interest approaches and lesson activities.
TopStructure Of A Daily Lesson Plan
There are numerous structures of a daily lesson plan. Lesson plans may be decided upon by the school district or the state, or preference may be decided upon by the individual teacher. Regardless, a daily lesson plan is an effective tool to keep the instructor on-track and prepared. The most common components across daily lesson plans are the following components: identification of the course, grade level, unit of instruction, daily lesson title, student learning objectives and/or essential questions, state and/or national standards, content of the lesson (concepts to be taught or investigated), identification of teaching strategies/activities, lesson summary/closure, reflection, and assessment of student learning (Phipps, et al. 2008).
Objectives/Essential Questions
All lessons that are taught must accomplish a purpose that improves the knowledge, skills, or competencies of the learners. To make sure that learners are comprehending and grasping the new content being taught, teachers use objectives and essential questions to ensure that students can move forward to the next lesson.
Therefore, teachers must ensure that their objects are written in a way that clearly explains the expectations of the lesson and the content that will be addressed. The use of both objectives and essential questions provide structure to any lesson and classroom setting. The use of either objectives or essential questions in your planning will vary based upon the district or school that you are employed in during your teaching tenure. Therefore, a need exists for all teachers to be able to properly construct and use both objectives and essential questions.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Lesson Activities: An organized set of activities which are designed to present a manageable piece of information to your learners.
Action Verbs: An action that is used to describe a verb, for example: describe, create, or illustrate. These are used at the beginning of every objective to describe the action a student will demonstrate at the end of a lesson.
Learning Objective: A statement written by a teacher that explains what a student will be able to do at the completion of a given lesson, unit, or course.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: A hierarchical system that classifies the order of learning levels from the simplest (bottoms of the triangle) to the most complex forms (top of the triangle).
Interest Approach: A learning activity that is used to focus a student's attention on the content that will be taught throughout a lesson and create engagement in the lesson activities.
Assessment: A method used to determine what content, skills, or knowledge a student has retained from a series of learning activities and lessons.
Standards: A learning measure that is written by a governing body to give teachers direction on what students should learn and be able to do at the completion of a course.
Individualized Education Plan (IEP): An individualized education plan that lays out the special education instruction, supports, and services a learner needs to make progress.
504 Plan: A plan developed at the school to customize a student’s learning environment to meet their specific needs.
Essential Questions: An open-ended question used to probe for deeper meaning and understanding of a concept or issue during a lesson.