FORMAT FOR LESSON PLAN
I.
AIMS/GOALS/OBJECTIVES/CONCEPTS The actual statement of objective may be focused on the expected outcome, the process, or the concept to be explored. You may consider the following categories as you plan the learning experience:You can see that it may not be appropriate to include objectives in all four categories in each lesson. Over the span of a unit, you will certainly want to include variety of objectives. In some cases, you may not have a specific behavioral objective you would like to meet for that lesson, but rather you have broad goals that do not have behavioral outcomes or concepts to be explored.
You should also reference the Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) objectives that correlate with your lesson objectives. You might use parenthetical notation such as (S-A.13) to indicate that your objective includes the QCC Science objective A.13 for selected grade.
II. PROCEDURES
A. Focus/Review: Exploration During focus/review you will relate previously learned material and/or experiences to the lesson you are about to teach. In doing this, you will give the students a purpose for listening and also focus their attention on the activities ahead. The more you know about the students’ backgrounds, interests, and previous learning experiences, the stronger the links you can provide to what you are about to teach.In a science lesson, this is where students surface prior ideas and alternative conceptions, allowing them to discuss and then explore materials in such a way that it may stimulate disequilibrium. What questions will you ask to surface prior experience, guide student observations, and cause students to engage in science processes and thinking skills?
B. Lesson Activity: Explanation and Expansion
This is a continuation of your focus/review. It is a listing of processes and activities that you will guide the students through in order to build the concepts you want them to learn. Perhaps they will listen and watch as you model a procedure. You might have them read and respond in writing to a text. They could represent the concept visually. You might have students draw a conclusion individually, share with a buddy, then with a quad, and finally discuss as a whole class. For those who finish early, what do you have planned? Possible strategies that you might use include demonstration, discussion, roleplay, simulation, discovery, cooperative groups, direct instruction, scientific investigation, etc. You might also combine some of these strategies.In a science lesson, this is where you interact with the students to invent the concept, as students share findings and ideas from their explorations. You might help students process this information, challenge their ideas, introduce scientific ideas and language, and attach meaning to a science concept.
In a science lesson, students might also have the opportunity to apply the concept in problem-solving applications. Connections to other science and integration across disciplines might occur, along with reflective writing and discussions.
As you plan this portion of the learning experience, keep in mind what you will be doing, and also what the students will be doing. For example: will they be sitting with nothing in front of them for 30 minutes? If you were their age, what would you do in that situation? You can see that with careful planning on your part, you might lessen discipline problems that could occur and more actively engage the students in the experience.
Appealing to Multiple Senses. Activities in this plan include variety to appeal to different learning preferences/senses and multiple intelligences. Example:
| Visual (art, photographs, film, video, slides, power point) |
| Auditory (music, voice on tape, sound effects) |
| Kinesthetic (body movement, hands-on manipulations, dance) |
| Taste & Smell (if applicable) |
C. Assessment: Evaluation
Assessment is a clear statement of how the teacher will determine that the students are moving toward achieving the objectives (formative assessment) or have achieved the objective(s) stated in the lesson plan (summative assessment). How will you determine progress toward achieving the objectives for each lesson? You might consider a checklist where you record checks for accomplishment of certain tasks; anecdotal records might be appropriate also.
What questions will you use to help children reflect on their developing understandings and their changes in ideas? You should have some physical evidence (written or other) at the end of your lesson that reflects student understanding of concepts and/or processes of science.
D. Closure
How will you bring the lesson to a close?
III. RESOURCE/MATERIALS
The materials and resources you need to carry out the lesson should be listed here.
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