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How to Present a Lesson Plan

First days are always exciting, and expectation builds up about the contents of the task ahead, especially if you’re starting a class as a student or professor. This interaction will be significant because it will establish and define the subjects to be covered and the set of expectations flowing from the instructor towards the audience. 

Perhaps you are ready to begin your career as a teacher and need some guidance; otherwise, you are a seasoned instructor searching for a refresher in your program. No matter which of the above you represent, the truth of the matter is that you are probably seeking a better way to introduce the subjects you’ll be teaching to your students. 

What is a lesson plan? 

A lesson plan will be the set of subject matter materials you will be teaching during a specific timeframe. The lesson plan should be an index that students can constantly consult to understand better the parts of the learning journey they will go through during each session. 

Teachers and professors should have a lesson plan template that happens in every session. This is different from a syllabus because, in the latter case, the whole curriculum of the program will be laid out; however, for each lesson, there should be one individual lesson plan example to guide the instructor in the set timeframe. 

When building the materials for the class or lesson’s attention, it’s always essential to share elements like the purpose or rules that guide the learning process . This article will explore the best way to present a lesson plan and drive a learning session successfully from the instructor or professor’s view. 

How to write a lesson plan 

Education nowadays guides different sorts of students and target specific learning needs. Therefore, it’s important and relevant to understand how lesson plans can change and be varied to truly implement the best learning path for your students. Once you have this part figured out, the next step is to understand how you will transmit the information and use a PowerPoint Presentation to simplify creating and presenting a lesson plan to your students. 

Lesson plans will comprise several different sections that will clarify the first questions students can have: How long will the course be? Will it be an online course ? What will be the main objectives? Which subjects will be discussed along with the class? 

1. Introduction 

As the lesson begins, it’s essential to place a brief yet descriptive introduction about what the session will cover. A good practice is to create a catchy title for each lesson to have an overall understanding of the information they will be receiving.

Example: Digital Marketing Basics: Industry background, historical review years 1980-2010. In this session, we will cover the birth of digital marketing, including all the touchpoints that shaped today’s industry. 

2. Audience

If your class is a one-time-only or recurring session, or even a blended learning journey, it’s essential to explain to your students who this class is for; this will allow them to calibrate their expectations about the matter to be taught ahead. 

Example: This lesson is directed to professionals who work in traditional marketing, business owners, or communication specialists seeking to have a profound understanding of how digital marketing came to be. 

3. Lesson Objectives 

This piece is critical because it will allow the students to assess the intention of each lesson. When thinking about the objectives, it’s vital to consider the acquired skills we expect our students to have at the end of the class. Like any other goals in life or business, each one should be actionable and measurable, meaning after each class, students should be able to use what they have learned and put into action the concepts. 

Example : Understand and be able to create a timeline framework of reference to explain the story of the Internet.

4. Materials 

Suppose the lesson requires using any specific materials, physical or not, including any software or hardware necessary. In that case, it´s important to list or include within the lesson plan so students can set clear expectations on what they might require. This is particularly important if the session you will be delivering requires them beforehand to bring anything. 

Example : 

• Computer 
• Scratch paper 

5. Learning Activities 

We´ve covered all the logistics by this point; however, now we need to start sharing the actual activities during the lesson. Ideally, this is a play-by-play of how each activity will guide the lesson towards the already established objectives. To add the list of learning activities that will be helpful for your students, take into account how all of them align with each goal and the requirements students need. 

Make sure that you add variety to the activities that you are proposing, go ahead and research trends of how many other teachers or professors, students will appreciate your search to engage them in learning. 

Also, consider how much time they will take so that you can note it in the next section. 

• Create a timeline on the wall with the most important moments of digital marketing history, including creation of social media, mainstream of email, etc.

Time periods

Pairing each learning activity with a specific timeframe will be useful both for instructors and students. Make sure you calculate a reasonable amount of time for each activity and list it within the lesson plan so everyone can set correct expectations. Assigning time slots for each exercise will also help students and teachers stay on track with the lesson and not waste valuable time invested in learning.

Example : Creation of a timeline – 45 min

How to present a lesson plan 

We have now listed the components of the lesson plan structure, everything looks beautiful in the draft, but now we need to start planning how we will present the program to the students. This part is challenging because you have to choose a template that makes sense for you and will be helpful for your students to understand.

A PowerPoint presentation is a great way to showcase all the contents of the lesson plan, however, the trick is to decide how you want to structure it.

Lesson Plan Design

By this point, you’ve structured a lesson plan template that can go through any test. Nevertheless, creating the materials to accompany it can be a key in the commitment generates between the students and the professor.

Design and Style

Before adding any text to your presentation template , think about the requirements you have: Does the academic institution where you work require the use of logos? Do you have to follow any visual guidelines? This might be important for the cohesiveness of your presentation.

It’s essential to think about how you would like to present the lesson plan. You may want to keep it simple and have a 1 pager and talk through it to understand your students fully, or perhaps you need to create one full presentation where every slide will be a relevant piece of information. Let’s explore this a bit further. 

One Pager Lesson Plan 

If your style is more towards simplicity, this is a great solution: succinct, minimalistic, and straight to the point. You can complete a one-page lesson plan with bullets of the relevant data and send it out to students. A great advantage of this format is that you can either send it as a PDF or even as a single image (JPG or PNG), exporting it directly from PowerPoint. 

One significant advantage is that your students will only have to check for one source by choosing this simple format when revising the lesson during the class or afterward. 

Several pages lesson plan 

Almost like a syllabus, a more extended presentation will include several slides so you can include the information in different formats. 

For example, you can use the first slide to include the lesson title; afterward, a new slide can define the purpose or introduction of the lesson. In the upcoming slides, you can include materials, contents, and even ad charts or similar to explain how grades will be affected by each lesson’s assignments on the upcoming slides. 

Text in the presentation 

It’s always good to follow the reliable practices of presentations and include the necessary information without overwhelming students. Don’t add an excessive amount of text to one slide; actually, make sure that every piece of data is helpful for students to plan their time both during and after class. 

However, if you will be sending out the presentation to your students before reviewing it, consider that they will be using it for their reference to follow through with your lesson. So make sure all the information is easy to read and accessible. 

Additional elements 

Learners of all sorts have become increasingly visual, so don’t be afraid to add infographics, images, photographs, icons or any other elements to make your lesson plan presentation more appealing visually. 

Final Words 

Remember the lesson plan presentation will be the first approach your students will have with the subject matter. Take your time, enjoy the process, and create comprehensive and attractive lesson plan slides that will inspire your students to have thoughtful and deep learning. 

1. 1-Slide Lesson Plan PowerPoint Template

Create a simple and minimalist one-pager lesson plan for your academic uses, course planning, and even as student handouts, with this eye-catching PowerPoint template. 

Use This Template

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How to Create an Effective Lesson Plan Presentation?

A significant first step towards creating a great lesson plan presentation is vital to any teacher who wants his lesson to make an impact on the learners. It does not matter if you are starting a new topic or revising what was taught before, a proper and effective lesson plan helps keep order in your classroom and make your learners meet the learning outcomes set for them. This lesson plan presentation guide outlines steps to the presentation process such as basic components of the presentation, some useful tips, and more importantly the advantages of incorporating modern technologies such as smart whiteboards.

Why Lesson Plans Matter ?

To appreciate what is explained in the subsequent sections on how to go about the lesson plan, there is a need to first establish why the lesson plan is central to teaching.

1. Enhanced Classroom Management

It is noticed that when there is a well-structured plan the management of the classroom becomes easier. Of course, when you define the objectives and methods in advance, you can think through possible difficulties in their achievement and select the proper teaching approaches then. Such preparation helps to always keep the focus and efficiency in learning especially, when teaching in the classroom, hybrid or virtual space.

Tip: To achieve a more professional look and feel, education professionals use free PowerPoint templates that enables them to create neatly laid out slides with appropriate graphics in support of the learning goals.

2. Student Success

Organization of lean content ensures that the students enjoy and understand the lessons being taught. Proper setting of goals and especially the way the different activities are laid down increase chances of student success. As a result, motivation and performance improve if students are able to see an easier plan of what is expected of them in terms of learning and accomplishment.

3. Teacher Effectiveness

Lesson plans therefore play an important role in the development and assessment of teachers’ professionalism. It’s a tool for evaluating all your teaching approaches and in case of an evaluation, it acts as a record of planning and preparation. Furthermore, they are useful for future lessons and can be developed further when the students’ feedback and learning results are taken into consideration.

4. Effective Student Assessment

Lesson plans also make it easy to give a proper assessment based on the student’s performance. When assessments are made in tune with the lesson objectives, the result obtained can better depict the students’ understanding and learning process. This alignment proves useful in developing formative and summative forms of assessments that can include quizzes and tests, and assignments among others based on the lesson-learning objectives.

First of all, it is vital to define what a lesson plan is and secondly, it is important that one is able to come up with the lesson plan well and clearly.

A lesson plan contains several factors which need to be followed. Here’s a step-by-step guide to developing an effective lesson plan:

1. Introduction

Begin with engaging the class in the topic or subject to be taught. This segment should also give a brief of what is going to happen in the lesson as well as pave the way for the day’s lesson. Design a captivating and informative title that will make one want to stick through the lesson and a brief minute summary reflecting what the student will be taught.

2. Lesson Objectives

Determine behaviorally the goals of the lesson. Such objectives should be clear and specific, easily quantifiable, and productivity-oriented. You have to specify what you would like the students to know and what they should be able to do by the end of the particular lesson. That is, rather than say, ‘Students will learn about photosynthesis’, be more specific and write ‘Students will be able to explain the process of photosynthesis and its relevance to plant life.

3. Learning Activities

Explain what actions will be beneficial to accomplish the goal and objectives of the lesson. E-mail: A teacher uses e-mail to communicate with the students, share lesson content, and complete other assessments In terms of the learning objectives, e-mail is very helpful in a way that it helps the teacher put across a lesson plan or content in a lesson as well as help complete with other forms of assessments. Include strategies of teaching that implement the use of group discussions, experiments, exposures to ICT, and multimedia aids to crack the code because of learner differences.

Another set of useful tools for improvement of the learning process is teaching PowerPoint templates It is worth to mention that there are special teacher PowerPoint templates for educators who can find there ready-made layouts that can be helpful, while creating the lessons.

4. Practice and Application

Encourage the students to apply what they have learned in practical problems where necessary. This may be an individual or group assignment in which students are encouraged to demonstrate knowledge of the content taught in class. Practice activities aid in the reinforcement of what has been learned, and do provide some as to as to how the students understand the material that has been taught.

5. Assessment

Explain how you are going to assess whether or not the students have grasped well what you are teaching them. Some of the techniques could be question and answer sessions, writing down answers, or even displaying some actions. Make sure that when you are giving the assessments they correspond to the objectives of the lesson and that they enable you to have an overall view of the students’ performance.

6. Reflection

Add a scaffold that would include a focus on grouping or partnering students, cooperative learning strategies, and experiences to ponder on the lesson learned. That is why at the end of the lesson, it is useful to identify what seemed effective, and what can be further reworked. It also assists in modifying educators’ future lesson plans or their approach toward the students in class.

Final Thoughts

Creating an effective lesson plan presentation is a fundamental aspect of successful teaching. By following a structured approach and incorporating modern technology, you can enhance the learning experience for your students and achieve your educational goals. Remember, a well-prepared lesson plan not only benefits your students but also supports your growth as an educator. Embrace the tools available to you, and continue refining your lesson planning skills to provide impactful and engaging lessons.

By taking these steps, you will ensure that your lessons are not only informative but also engaging, paving the way for a successful teaching experience.

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Pramod Malnatchi is an experienced content strategist with over 3 years of active practice. He excels at using his broad experience to provide clear, concise, and interesting data-driven content in different niches. With his skills in PowerPoint presentations and Google Slides, Pramod is capable of making an idea visually interesting in terms of presentation. He ensures the quality and accuracy of information in every project by doing thorough research and consulting with experts in the field.

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Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning

Stiliana milkova 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).

To be effective, the lesson plan does not have to be an exhaustive document that describes each and every possible classroom scenario. Nor does it have to anticipate each and every student’s response or question. Instead, it should provide you with a general outline of your teaching goals, learning objectives, and means to accomplish them. It is a reminder of what you want to do and how you want to do it. A productive lesson is not one in which everything goes exactly as planned, but one in which both students and instructors learn from each other.

Additional Resources

Video clips of GSIs at the University of Michigan actively engaging students in a practice teaching session: https://crlte.engin.umich.edu/engineering-gsi-videos/ 

Plan the First Day's Session: How to create to a lesson plan for the first day of class:  http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/pre-semester-intro/first-day-plan/

Fink, D. L. (2005). Integrated course design. Manhattan, KS: The IDEA Center. Retrieved from https://www.ideaedu.org/idea_papers/integrated-course-design/

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Top 10 Teacher Lesson Plan presentation templates

Having a Teacher Lesson Plan template is crucial for educators as it provides a structured and organized approach to delivering lessons. Teachers, tutors, and instructors across various educational levels and subjects benefit from using these templates. Utilizing a presentation template, like the examples below, streamlines the process of creating visually appealing and engaging content, allowing educators to focus on the quality of their instruction and save valuable time.

What makes a good Teacher Lesson Plan?

• Clear objectives: Clearly outline the goals and learning outcomes for the lesson, ensuring that students understand what they are expected to achieve by the end of the session.
• Engaging visuals: Incorporate relevant images, graphics, and multimedia elements to capture students' attention and enhance their understanding of the subject matter.
• Logical structure: Organize the content in a coherent and easy-to-follow manner, breaking down complex topics into smaller, manageable sections for better comprehension.
• Interactive activities: Include opportunities for students to actively participate in the learning process through group discussions, hands-on exercises, or problem-solving tasks.
• Assessment methods: Provide a variety of assessment tools, such as quizzes, assignments, or projects, to evaluate students' progress and understanding of the lesson content.

1. Tome's Teacher Lesson Plan Template

Easily organize and execute educational lessons with the Tome's Teacher Lesson Plan Template , perfect for educators aiming to structure their sessions effectively. This template is ideal when preparing detailed lesson plans that align with course objectives, facilitating student engagement and learning.

• Slides: Guides for lesson structuring, engaging questions, and student involvement.
• Format: Available online via Tome app, exportable in PDF or PowerPoint format.
• Pricing: Free to use on the Tome.app.

2. Space Illustrative Lesson Plan for High School PowerPoint and Google Slides Template

The Space Illustrative Lesson Plan for High School Template captures the vastness of space in an educational format, perfect for high school and college astronomy units. Use it when the lesson's aim is to explore celestial phenomena and foster scientific curiosity.

• Slides: Engaging and themed visuals to complement space-related lessons.
• Format: Available in PowerPoint and Google Slides formats.
• Pricing: Free to download.

3. STEM Elective Subject for Middle School - 7th Grade: Principles of IT, Cybersecurity and Engineering Template

STEM Elective Subject for Middle School Template is ideal for introducing students to the basics of IT, cybersecurity, and engineering, best used in middle school STEM curricula.

• Slides: Includes 3D illustrations and various educational resources.
• Format: Available in Google Slides format.

4. Global Education PowerPoint Template Template

Global Education PowerPoint Template is suited for presenting global educational concepts and multicultural learning experiences, great for broadening students' worldviews.

• Slides: Features vibrant colors and interactive design elements.
• Format: Compatible with PowerPoint.
• Pricing: Specific pricing information is not publicly available. Users may buy the template through a subscription at SlideModel.

5. Kimok Science Doodles Style Lesson Template - Daily Learning: STEM Infographics

Kimok Science Doodles Style Lesson Template makes science subjects approachable and fun, ideal for daily STEM lessons that encourage interactive learning and creativity.

• Slides: Doodle-style graphics and STEM-focused infographics.

6. 1-Slide Lesson Plan PowerPoint Template

The 1-Slide Lesson Plan PowerPoint Template simplifies the educational planning process, ideal for teachers needing a quick overview of daily or weekly educational objectives.

• Slides: A single slide for a concise lesson summary.
• Format: Available in PowerPoint format.

7. Math lesson PowerPoint and Google Slides Template

Math Lesson PowerPoint and Google Slides Template offers a vibrant and engaging approach to math lessons, perfect for educators looking to make math fun and accessible for students.

• Slides: Colorful and math-themed design to enhance learning.
• Format: Available in both PowerPoint and Google Slides formats.

8. Lesson Roadmap Presentation Template

Lesson Roadmap Presentation Template is great for outlining the journey of a lesson or unit, helping educators plan and communicate the path of learning effectively.

• Slides: Customizable for different educational needs.
• Format: Available for Google Slides, PowerPoint, and Canva.

9. Biology Subject for High School: Stem Cells Presentation Template

Biology Subject for High School: Stem Cells Presentation Template is designed for high school biology lessons, especially effective for topics on stem cells and advanced biological concepts.

• Slides: Rich in scientific illustrations and content.

10. Simple 5-Step Timeline Concept for PowerPoint Template

The Simple 5-Step Timeline Concept for PowerPoint Template is perfect for educators and professionals needing to outline processes or timelines clearly and concisely.

• Slides: Features a straightforward 5-step timeline design.

Create the best presentations with Tome!

As an educator, you're always looking for ways to create engaging and interactive lesson plans that capture your students' attention. With Tome , you can effortlessly craft polished presentations that not only look great on any screen but also incorporate AI tools to help you express your ideas quickly and effectively. Our platform is designed to assist you in developing structured starting points for compelling presentations, integrating web references, and ensuring your finished output is both captivating and clear.

Whether you're teaching a science class or a history lesson, Tome's versatility allows you to create immersive and interactive experiences for your students. By transforming your existing documents into polished presentations, you can elevate your lesson plans and make learning more enjoyable for your students.

Ready to see how Tome can enhance your lesson plans? Sign up for free and start shaping your ideas with Tome today.

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How to Create an Effective Lesson Plan Presentation

Regardless of the subject or content you’re teaching, having a lesson plan in place prepares you for class by offering detailed guidelines for the session. The lesson plan doesn’t have to be lengthy or complex—it just needs to include elements about what you’re teaching, the method of presenting this material, and what objective and goals you wish your students to achieve as part of the curriculum.

Why Lesson Plans Are Important

It’s crucial for teachers to prepare their lessons in advance and implement the best teaching approaches. Attending a session without a lesson plan can be counterproductive for both students and teachers. Without the right preparation beforehand, classes can end up being unproductive or confusing.

Below are a few reasons why you should consider lesson planning:

Lesson Planning is Handy for Classroom Management

Developing the lesson plan from the learning objectives provides flexibility in adapting to different teaching methods and classroom management techniques. For instance, hybrid or online classes require a different delivery approach from the traditional classes, which means making modifications to any existing plans. With the right foresight and plan in place, classes can stay on topic and effective. Such circumstances underscore how crucial lesson plans are in ensuring that the class runs smoothly, regardless of the learning environment.  

Lesson Planning Creates Student Success

Various studies have shown that students benefit immensely from and appreciate well-structured lessons. Thus, success is more likely when students engage and show interest in the material being taught. Using a curriculum guide, teachers can develop valuable lesson plans based on specific objectives and goals (what’s intended for students to learn). 

​​Lesson Planning Is Central to Teacher Success

Teachers’ success is, to some extent, pegged on students’ success. Besides that, the documents you develop as part of the lesson planning process are often part of your assessment by school administrators. What’s more, as you advance your teaching career, your lesson plans serve as a repository for your expanding body of knowledge. Thus, the significance of lesson planning cannot be overlooked when it comes to advancing your career as an educator.

Lesson Planning is Vital in Student Assessment

Lastly, lesson plans turn the learning sessions into clear objectives for students and a way to gauge their understanding of the subject matter. One notable benefit of the lesson plan is tailoring the assessment to a particular objective while considering students’ specific needs. You can use common assessment methods such as quizzes, tests, and homework assignments.

How to Write a Lesson Plan

Lesson plans include different sections that clarify questions students might have about the subject on hand. What are the lesson objectives? What subjects will be covered during the session? How long will the course take?

• Introduction – As the lesson commences, it’s good to have a concise yet vivid introduction about what the lesson will cover. The ideal practice is to create a memorable title for every lesson to create a general understanding of the learning material students will be interacting with.
• **Lesson Objectives –**This section is critical as it allows the students to ascertain each lesson. When it comes to objectives, it is crucial to consider the acquired skills you expect the students to gain by the end of the session. Each objective should be measurable and actionable; meaning after every session, students should be able to apply what they’ve learned.
• Learning Activities – This should be a detailed account of how each activity will lead the class to achieve its predetermined goals. To create valuable activities, consider how each learning activity fits each objective, and the requirements students need.
• Practice – Practices are primarily intended to assess students’ comprehension of the material and aid in memorizing what they have learned in class. Therefore, it is crucial to include this in the lesson plan so that assessments can always be done at the appropriate time.

Today, lesson planning has been made less time-consuming and easier, thanks to smart whiteboards for the classroom . A digital whiteboard like the Vibe Board Pro provides unmatched performance that shows you know your craft and are way ahead of the pack.

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How Smart Whiteboards Simplify Lesson Plan Creation and Presentation

Not only does using a smart whiteboard make learning accessible , it’s also a great way of enhancing and enriching your lesson plans with interactive activities for the class. Smart whiteboards function as a touch screen for all; during class sessions, you and your students can use it as a digital whiteboard to create a space where students’ engagement, knowledge, and teamwork are appreciated.

While the smart whiteboard aids in making your lesson more engaging, interactive, and educational, you as the teacher can still customize your teachings to what you want them to be. This helps in foiling any hitches in your lesson presentation and makes switching from one topic to another seamless.

Below are more specific ways how smart whiteboards make your lesson plan presentation better:

Take Advantage of Built-in Templates

Once you invest in a smart whiteboard, make sure to take advantage of the wide variety of built-in lesson planning templates. You can use these templates to improve lesson plans while leveraging the technology associated with smart whiteboards. Even better, these templates can be easily customized for every lesson plan and cover different subject matters, allowing you to create new lesson plans without always starting from scratch quickly. How cool is that?

Organize and Present Lesson Plans Better

Smart whiteboards combine the power of the traditional whiteboard and a TV/projector into one hub, allowing you to write on the board while concurrently projecting it to the classroom. This allows you to conduct lesson plan presentations on a larger scale while also letting students see what’s going on.

For instance, if you’re presenting on an extensive topic involving multiple subtopics, a smart whiteboard will help you walk students through each subtopic with ease. Begin with the presentation divided into primary or main sections, highlight key definitions, and add infographics and videos to ensure that every student understands the tiniest detail.

Additionally, you can get students involved in the lesson plan presentation by asking questions, polling them on key points, or allowing them to follow along on their tablets or laptops.

Record Lesson Plan Presentations

Another benefit of using smart whiteboards in the classroom is that a lesson plan presentation can be recorded and accessed long after the session is over. This allows your students to access the material on their own time.

Final Words: Creating a Lesson Plan Presentation

Lesson plan presentation offers students the first interaction with the material they will learn. Take your time, appreciate the process, and create an attractive and comprehensive lesson plan that will encourage your students to have deep and thoughtful learning experiences. Even better, all of this can be made easier with smart whiteboard technology. Leave the spiral notebooks and sticky notes at home. A smart whiteboard is all you need.

What is the presentation stage in lesson planning?

Presentation is usually the core of the lesson plan. During this stage, theteacher introduces the topic and the key subject matter the students need to master. Presenting with smart whiteboards is exceedingly easy and less time-consuming.

What are the 5 steps in lesson planning?

The five steps are:

• Objective: A learning concept or objective is introduced.
• Warm-up: Revise the previous lesson
• Presentation: Present the material using suitable tools and techniques.
• Practice: Students try to apply what they have learned.
• Assessment: Evaluate whether the objectives were achieved

How does lesson planning help teachers?

Planning lessons in advance allows teachers to arrive at class each day prepared to introduce new concepts and facilitate engaging discussions rather than improvising as they go. In other words, without a lesson plan, teachers may be left scrambling, making students lose interest in the material to be learned.

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The Four Main Parts of a Lesson Plan Made Simple

by Brad Melsby – updated January 23, 2024

What is a lesson plan and why do you need one?

The world of education is full of (too) many lesson plan templates and styles.  As you develop as a teacher, you’ll naturally grow into a more detailed lesson plan format.  Your school or district may require a different format or style of lesson plan.  Whatever your situation, it’s most useful for newer teachers to focus on the four main parts of a lesson plan.  These four elements are essential to your early success in the classroom. 

Your lesson plan is the roadmap for how the class period will be organized.  In the lesson plan, you identify what will be taught, how it will be taught, and by what method you plan to see if students learned it.  Without a structured lesson plan, a class period can quickly lose focus or direction.

In this article, we’ll focus on the four main parts of a lesson plan.

The Four Main Parts of a Lesson Plan

Lesson component #1: identify the learning objectives.

Ask yourself: What new concepts, knowledge, or skills do I want my students to learn today?  

When I chat with new teachers about how their class is going, I sometimes hear them say, “We’re doing the Roman Empire right now” or “We’re doing fractions today.”   I get that the word “doing” in this context is just an expression.  

But I also remember the realities of being a new teacher.  In my first year or two, my goal was to “fill the period” with academic activities.  Surely if we are doing something, the kids will learn.  Right?  

“Doing” does not necessarily equate to learning.

For many new teachers, a major evolution is to focus less on “filling the period” — although unstructured class time is rarely good — and more on your learning objective(s).

Check out the sample learning objectives below. Notice how the addition of learning objectives shifts the focus away from the topic (“We’re doing the Roman Empire”) to the students and their skill acquisition.     

Here are a few sample learning objectives:

• At the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify and explain six causes of World War II.
• By the end of the lesson, students will be able to apply the rules of the Order of Operations to evaluate algebraic expressions.
• Students will be able to categorize types of animals into the correct classes with a graphic organizer.
• By the end of the reading lesson, students will be able to identify the rising action, climax, and falling action on a plot diagram.

Learning objectives force the teacher to think strategically.  How can you best support the students in achieving the objective? What instructional or learning activities will best fit the objective?  Clear learning objectives are arguably the most important part of a lesson.

Lesson Component # 2: The Lesson “Hook”

Ask yourself: How will I introduce the topic? How can I get students interested in the topic?

A lesson introduction should:

• Provide brief context and background information on the topic while engaging interest
• Create excitement or interest.  Compel the class to want to know more about the topic
• Explain the relevance of the topic to the larger unit or course 
• Provide a clear link between today’s objectives and the student’s prior knowledge

Your students likely possess a wide variety of personal experiences and knowledge.  As a result, it’s helpful to use the introduction to gauge prior knowledge or misconceptions about the topic. 

A few strategies for introducing the lesson:

Tell a personal story, analyze a relevant image or song, watch a video clip, provide a real-world connection or example, or present a probing challenge or question. 

Lesson Component #3 : The Learning Activities

Ask yourself: What will the students do to achieve the lesson objective?  

In a general sense, the learning activities can be divided into two parts: Guided Practice and Individual/Group Practice.  This is sometimes referred to as the gradual release of responsibility method: I Do, We Do, You Do.

Guided Practice (I Do, We Do): Here, the teacher explains and models the learning activity while answering clarifying questions.  Guided practice then allows students to participate in the learning activity under supervision and with direct feedback from the instructor.  

From a teacher’s perspective, guided practice is a key form of formative assessment.  Teachers use guided practice to determine whether students are ready to complete the activity without scaffolded support.  

Individual/Group Practice (You Do):  Students complete the learning activity.  In guided practice, students learn with the steady support of the teacher.  Individual/group practice is the time for students to demonstrate proficiency on their own.  Independent practice can include homework assignments.   

Lesson Component #4 : Assessment and Closure

Ask yourself : How can I know if the students have met the learning objective of the lesson?

Lesson closure gives teachers the chance to briefly conduct one final review of the lesson and check to ensure that the intended student learning has occurred.

Go back to your original lesson objectives.  Create questions to ask students that address your learning goals.  You can place those questions on a homework assignment, an exit ticket , a quiz, or simply ask the questions in the form of a discussion.

Teachers use the assessment from today’s lesson to inform tomorrow’s lesson plan . 

What questions or confusion came up that need clarification? What if anything do I need to reteach?  What key concepts from today’s lesson will be useful to build on during tomorrow’s lesson?

Related resource:

Featured articles.

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Brad has taught history at the middle and high school levels for 19 years, almost exclusively in American public schools.  He holds a master’s in educational technology and is passionate about elevating the status of professional educators.

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Create Your Course

How to build a lesson plan (+ templates), share this article.

So you’ve got a great course topic , you’ve built a course outline to help you deliver, and now you’re all set to start your first lesson plan.

When it comes to building an online course that delivers, you need to be strategic about your lessons. Each lesson plan is a building block that ladders up to your overarching course goals.

Let’s talk about how to build a lesson plan that hits home.

Or grab them here for google docs or word!  

Skip ahead:

What does a good lesson plan look like? 

5 steps for building a lesson plan from scratch .

A well-designed lesson plan has seven key elements: 

Class objectives 

Objectives, at a basic level, are what the lesson sets out to achieve — think of them as your North Star. Objectives communicate three key things:

• Why students need the lesson
• What they’ll be able to do at the end of the lesson
• How they’ll demonstrate knowledge. 

Say one of the lessons in your social media course is “choosing the right channels.” In that case, your objective could be: At the end of this lesson, students will be able to compare different social media channels and choose the one that best aligns with their content goals. 

Teaching and learning are more effective when all the stakeholders understand the purpose of the lesson. When anyone veers off the track, they can easily realign themselves with the North Star.

Hook is what grabs the attention of your students. It is usually a statement surfacing the problem they are having — which is why they signed up for your course in the first place. This is your chance to prove that you understand their problem and can solve it. 

Back to our previous example, the hook could be a story about a creator who switched channels and finally got traction on social media after trying for many years. Or you could share data around how social channels affect how much money creators make.  

Learning activities 

Here, you spell out everything the lesson entails — from class activities and instruction time to independent work time and even assessments. Everyone involved needs to know what the lesson covers so they can prepare ahead of time. 

Again, referring to our earlier example, the learning activities might look like this: 

• Worksheets 
• Instructor-led sessions
• One Q and A session at the end of the class 
• Independent work time (which doubles as assessment) 
• Class discussions 

Learn more: Blended learning and scheduled class activities  

Timeline shows the duration of each activity in the lesson. More than showing how long the class will take, assign time limits to the different sessions within each lesson, including assessment, main instruction, breaks, and student participation. 

Build in a buffer between each session to take care of any unforeseen issues. Say you want to spend 15 minutes on a class presentation; assign 20 minutes to it instead. 

Having a realistic lesson timeline helps you stay on track, making sure you have enough time to cover all the key areas of your lesson. 

This is where you highlight what students need to make the most of your class — to set them up for success. The last thing you need is for your course to lose credibility because a particular student wasn’t sufficiently equipped for it. 

Maybe they need to complete a foundational course first to bring them up to the level of knowledge required for the lesson. Or they need access to certain tools and equipment. Tell them all about it here. 

For a social media class, for instance, students must have active accounts and maybe a certain number of followers. 

Closure is how you wrap up the class. It typically involves a recap of the key points covered in the lesson and a quick review of the class objectives. 

The instructor might ask reflective questions such as “What was the most challenging part of the lesson for you?” or “What would you like to learn more about in this topic?” Or ask students to create a mind map of the key points covered in the lesson.

At this point, students and instructors can reflect on the lesson activities at the end to see if they met their goals. Students can also ask last-minute questions before the final assessment. 

Assessment 

This is the parameter for measuring how well a student understands what they’ve learned in a particular lesson. It helps the course instructor assess students fairly. 

The assessment can take several forms. One might administer a summative test — like an end-of-class quiz. Or conduct a survey with open-ended questions at intervals to gauge students’ knowledge. 

Whichever method you choose, make sure you inform students ahead of time so they prepare adequately for it. 

Before you begin

Before you dive into lesson planning, start with a few key questions to determine the goal of your lesson. As the topic expert, the breadth of this course content is clear in your head, but your students are still figuring it out as they go along. 

Keep a narrow focus for each lesson while keeping the bigger picture in mind – this will help your students build knowledge in context so they can use it independently and remember it forever!

• What do your students already know? This is back to what you’ve covered in previous lessons or what foundational knowledge you expect students to have. Do they have all the definitions they need to understand today’s topic? Are there any gaps you need to close before you dive in? That will be your starting point for this lesson.
• What do they need to learn today? Eyes on the prize here – keep your goal clear, or you’ll get lost along the way! Set yourself a single goal for this lesson: should students understand the formula for a unique value proposition, or should they be able to write a great cover letter? What single concept or skill do you want this lesson to impart to your students? Remember to keep it simple; if it’s too complex, you might want to consider splitting it into smaller lessons to avoid confusing your students with information overload.
• What’s the best way to lock it into place? Now that you’ve locked down the goal for today’s lesson, you can decide on the best way to deliver the information. Is this something best delivered through video, or is it better explained with text and diagrams? Could you represent this as an infographic? What practice activities would help your students lock in their newly acquired skills?

Related: How to do a training needs assessment

It’s not always about downloading your brain onto the page. You need to consider how you explain things so your students fully understand not only the new facts, but the context surrounding them – that’s the key to them being able to apply these new skills independently when the course is over. 

With the Thinkific course builder, you have so many teaching tools and resources at your disposal – use them in harmony with one another to give your students a dynamic learning experience .

Now that you’ve got those three guiding principles in mind, let’s put them to work in your lesson plan.

Set the stage

Begin each new lesson by setting the stage for your students. You can do this in three key steps:

• Take a brief moment to look back at what you covered in the last lesson,
• Give a high-level overview of what today’s lesson will entail, and
• Tell students the key skills or takeaways they will have conquered by the end of the lesson.

In particular, consider if any content from previous lessons is applicable to the new lesson. Never miss an opportunity to name-drop or draw examples from old content while introducing new material! It’s a great opportunity to help your students build context between what might feel like a confusing array of new facts. When you build bridges between old and new knowledge, it creates that lightbulb moment for students to see how all the pieces fit together.

This is more than just summarizing or expectation-setting – it’s a strategic educational principle. By reminding students of previous lessons, you help them draw connections between old and new content so they can understand how everything fits together. 

When you share the key touchpoints for today’s lesson, you set up a framework for them to contextualize everything that follows. If they know what the final goal is, they will naturally be more attuned to anything you say about those skills from that point onwards. This brief process at the beginning of each lesson provides anchors for students to shape their understanding throughout the rest of the lesson.

Explain new information

This is the main component of any lesson plan. When it’s time to introduce new content, make sure to do so clearly and simply. Explain new concepts in the most straightforward way possible. Consider your weakest student, and explain things with them in mind – even your strongest students will still benefit from that simplicity!

Be sure to use lots of examples to help students develop context with new information. One tip here is to use a mix of examples that draw from general knowledge and subject-specific knowledge. For example, you can and should give concrete examples grounded in the course subject matter; for more abstract concepts, however, it can be helpful to explain things using everyday examples that everyone can relate to. 

Related: The Ultimate List of Free Online Course Lesson Plan Templates

Consider using apples and oranges to explain abstract economic concepts, or using nursery rhymes to explain music theory. This doesn’t mean you have to come up with mysterious hypothetical examples like the ones you might have found on a high school math quiz – just look for everyday situations you can use to explain more difficult concepts, so your students can ground their new understanding in something familiar.

Students learn in a myriad of different ways – some through text, others through video, and still others through graphic design or activities like writing by hand. While explaining things clearly in a well-produced video or article is always a great place to start, consider using a variety of methods to make your lesson plan stick.

• Create an infographic to illustrate key points from the lesson
• Provide fill-in-the-blank notes so students can follow along with you and pay attention for key information queues
• Link key words and concepts to external articles or videos to provide students with additional learning resources
• Create a slide deck of key points that students can use as a review tool
• The sky’s the limit – if you can think of an alternative way to present your information, your students will benefit! The Thinkific course builder has a number of different content types to suit your needs, wherever the inspiration leads you.

Learn more about different learning styles and how to teach to them . 

Practice makes perfect

After introducing new material to students, it’s vital to give them an opportunity to put their new skills into practice . This is what helps them lock new information into their brains and build contextual links with other skills. It’s also an important tool to help students master the content from this lesson before they move on to the next – as they work through practice activities and find themselves stuck on particular concepts or tasks, it will become clear which aspects of the material they didn’t quite understand. That gives students a targeted opportunity to ask good questions or go back through the course material until they master that skill.

Even in an online course , there are a number of practice activities you can prompt students to use:

• Ask students to define key concepts and use them in a paragraph, so they have an opportunity to put things into their own words
• Suggest students rephrase concepts by converting your notes into questions, like those they might expect to see on a quiz
• If you have a community or online group, ask students to share their summaries or reflections with each other in a dedicated lesson thread

Related: 8 ways to make online classes more interactive  

Assessments

Sometimes, you also need to assess student knowledge. While you won’t do this for each and every lesson, it’s a helpful tool to check student understanding at important course milestones.

Thinkific’s course platform makes it easy to deliver student assessments with quizzes, exams, and assignments to put your students to the test, but you should keep future assessments in mind while you plan lessons. As you build a series of lessons, keep these questions in mind for future assessments:

• What facts and skills from this lesson are necessary for a student to succeed in this course?
• Are there any facts in this lesson that students need to be reminded of to make sure they stick?

Keep a running list of these answers as you build your lessons. By the time you reach a course milestone and you’re ready to build an assessment, you’ll already have a list of key questions to use in your quiz or assignment. By drawing questions from across a series of lessons, you help students build contextual links between different batches of information and end up with a more cohesive learning experience.

Get ahead with our free lesson plan template

Building a lesson plan from scratch is challenging and quickly gets complicated if it’s your first time. To help you, we’ve created a customizable template you can tweak to suit your needs fast. 

You’re well on your way to building a great course , with solid principles that help you deliver dynamic lessons to your students!

Put your learning into action with Thinkific:

This blog was originally created in August 2020, it has since been updated in August 2023 to become even more useful!

Jenny is a Content Marketer at Thinkific. A lifelong learner, she loves writing about anything from Byron to blockchain. Formerly from Cape Town, she now spends her spare time wandering Vancouver in search of the perfect coffee.

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• Creating Lesson Plans

How to Build a Lesson Plan: Templates, Requirements, and More

Last Updated: April 7, 2024 Fact Checked

Constructing a Lesson Plan

Adjusting your lesson plans efficiently, presenting the lesson, sample lesson plans, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by César de León, M.Ed. and by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure . César de León is an Educational Leadership Consultant and currently serves as an Assistant Principal for the Austin Independent School District in Austin, TX. César specializes in education program development, curriculum improvement, student mentorship, social justice, equity leadership, and family and community engagement. He is passionate about eradicating inequities in schools for all children, especially those who have been historically underserved and marginalized. César holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Biology from Texas State University and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas at Austin. There are 20 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,856,414 times.

As a teacher, developing a thoughtful lesson plan is an essential part of your job. Not only do your lesson plans lay out everything you’ll do in a given class, but they can be shared with subs to complete your lessons when you’re out sick, and administrators can use them to provide feedback and monitor your classroom. While writing a lesson plan may seem like a daunting task at first, take it from a former teacher that they’ll soon become second nature. In this article, we’ll walk you through what you need to include in each lesson plan, show you how to use your lesson plan to make you a better teacher, and walk you through what a class might look like based on your plans.

Things You Should Know

• A lesson plan outlines what you’ll teach in a given lesson and provides justification for why you’re teaching it.
• Every lesson plan needs an objective, relevant standards, a timeline of activities, an overview of the class, assessments, and required instructional materials.
• Overplan in case your lesson ends early and tailor your plans to suit the needs of your students.

• An example of a good objective might be, "Students will be able to analyze nonfiction texts by performing a close reading on a historical document."
• Most teachers will use Bloom’s taxonomy when choosing their objective verb.
• Teachers often abbreviate “Students will be able to” with “SWBAT” on their lesson plans.
• Many teachers start with the objective then work their way out from there, choosing class activities last. This is called “backmapping” and it’s the most widely accepted lesson organization style around today. [2] X Research source

• Our previous objective aligns nicely with the CCSS R.L.8.2, which reads “Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text…”
• A handful of states, including Florida, Virginia, and Texas, refuse to adopt common core. They have their own state standards.
• If you’re still in school to become a teacher, you may not have specific standards you need to cover just yet.
• Many schools will allow teachers to cover the objectives in whatever order they’d like so far as they cover all of them. Some schools will map out the standards to cover in their curriculum, though.

• For example, if your class is about Shakespeare's Hamlet , your overview might be “Introduction to Hamlet . Historical context, biographical info, and preliminary information. We’ll cover the folio, character list, and assign reading roles. Start Act 1 if time allows.”
• A single overview may get you through multiple classes, so you may find yourself copy and pasting the same overview into multiple plans. That’s totally okay!

• 1:00-1:10: Warm up . Bring class into focus and recap yesterday's discussion on great tragedies; relate it to Hamlet .
• 1:10-1:25: Present information. Discuss Shakespearean history briefly, focusing on his creative period 2 years before and after Hamlet.
• 1:25-1:40: Guided practice . Class discussion regarding major themes in the play.
• 1:40-1:55: Freer practice. Class writes single paragraph describing current event in Shakespearean terms. Individually encourage bright students to write 2 paragraphs, and coach slower students.
• 1:55-2:00: Conclusion. Collect papers, assign homework, dismiss class.

• Formative assessments are instructional tools. They’re anything you use to check if students are learning so you can adjust your lessons. Examples include: class discussions, teacher questions, pop quizzes, group work, surveys, and self-reflections.
• Summative assessments are how you prove a student learned something. They occur at the end of lesson arcs, units, or sections. Examples include: tests, quizzes, essays, presentations, and final projects.
• All summative assessments (outside of tests and quizzes) have rubrics, which are the set of standards you’re judging students on. You do not need to include your rubrics in the lesson plan, but you should be making rubrics.

• You might list textbooks, worksheets, novels, calculators, or whiteboards. If you need to borrow a TV or need a link to a specific YouTube video, include that, too.
• Skip the basic school supplies every student needs. You don’t need to mention pens, pencils, etc.
• Need a worksheet or special materials for a class but don’t want to spend super long making them from scratch? Check out Teachers Pay Teachers . Seasoned educators sell their instructional material to other teachers for cheap!

• Over time, you’ll need to do this less and less. Eventually, you'll be able to go in with practically nothing at all!

• If you find yourself constantly running over your schedule, know what you can and cannot scratch. What must you cover in order for the children to learn most? What is just fluff and time killers?

• Odds are you'll be working with a pile of extroverts and introverts. Some students will benefit more from working alone while others will thrive in pair work or in groups. Knowing this will help you format activities to different interaction preferences. [11] X Research source
• You'll also wind up having a few students that know just about as much as you do on the topic and some that, while smart, look at you like you're from another planet. If you know who these kids are, you can plan accordingly.

Joseph Meyer

Effective teaching strategies consider a student's individual strengths. Tailoring instruction to a student's existing skills and encouraging collaborative activities can improve a student's outcome. Recognizing diverse learning styles allows for a stronger approach, fostering potential in all learners.

• Really, any activity can be manipulated to be done separately, in pairs, or in groups. If you have ideas already mapped out, see if you can revamp them at all to mix it up.

• Every student learns differently. Some need to see the info, some need to hear it, and others need to literally get their hands on it. If you've spent a great while talking, stop and let them talk about it.
• You will likely have some students with IEPs, or Instructional Educational Plans. These are legal documents for students with special needs that require specific instructional adjustments.

• The easiest thing to do is to come up with a quick concluding game or discussion. Throw the students together and have them discuss their opinions or ask questions.

• Avoid using shorthand or acronyms that only you’ll be able to understand.

Eric McClure

"It helps if your backup lesson plans are very easy to find and clearly labeled as substitute plans. If there are any handouts, print those out ahead of time as well. This is the kind of thing that’s easy to overlook early in the year, but trust me—you’ll need a day off at some point and when you do, you won’t want to come in just to drop off lesson plans."

• The warm up can be a simple game (possibly about vocab on the topic to see where their current knowledge lies (or what they remember from last week!). Or, it can be questions, a mingle, or pictures used to start a conversation. Whatever it is, get them talking and thinking about the topic.

• Go over the objective at the beginning of class! Always let your students know why they’re doing what they’re doing.

• This is often explained by teachers as “I do, we do, you do.” In other words, you show them how to do it. Then, the whole class does it together. Finally, the students do it on their own.
• If you have time for two activities, all the better. It's a good idea to test their knowledge on two different levels -- for example, writing and speaking (two very different skills). Try to incorporate different activities for students that have different aptitudes.

• If you've been teaching the same group for a while, odds are you know the students who might struggle with certain concepts. If that's the case, pair them with stronger students to keep the class going.
• You don't want certain students left behind, but you also don't want the class held up, waiting for everyone to get on the same level.

• It all depends on the subject at hand and the skills you want to use. It can be anything from a 20-minute puppet making project to a two-week long dalliance with the oversoul in a heated debate on transcendentalism.

• If you have a group full of kids that can't be paid to raise their hands, turn them amongst themselves. Give them an aspect of the topic to discuss and 5 minutes to converse about it. Then bring the focus to the front of the class and lead a group discussion. Interesting points are bound to pop up!

• Assign and hand out any homework at the end of the class.

• Don’t worry if lesson planning feels really unfulfilling and pointless to you. A lot of new teachers think they feel like busy work at first—especially when classes don’t go as planned. Luckily, once you finish one year of teaching, you’ll have a full year’s worth of lessons to use! [24] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Lesson plans typically cover a single class period, although a more complex lesson may require 2-3 days to get through. A single lesson plan may also bleed over into multiple classes if there’s a fire alarm, some behavioral issue that requires attention, or you have to modify your schedule due to a school-wide event. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/5-tips-improve-your-lesson-plan
• ↑ https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/why-the-csu-matters/graduation-initiative-2025/co-requisite-mathematics-summit/Handouts/Backmapping_example_and_template.pdf
• ↑ https://drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/how-to-write-a-lesson-plan/
• ↑ https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/cnm/cresource/q4/p16/
• ↑ https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/Formative-Summative-Assessments
• ↑ https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~slm/AdjCI/Lessonplan/Elements.html
• ↑ https://awildsurmise.medium.com/improving-teaching-scripting-5950e1d15f54
• ↑ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/511257/Eliminating-unnecessary-workload-around-planning-and-teaching-resources.pdf
• ↑ César de León, M.Ed.. Educational Leadership Consultant. Expert Interview. 11 November 2020.
• ↑ https://onlineprograms.ollusa.edu/ma-in-counseling/resources/learning-styles-of-introverts-and-extroverts
• ↑ http://www.auburn.edu/~nunnath/engl6240/seating.html
• ↑ https://teach.com/what/teachers-know/learning-styles/
• ↑ https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/pacing-lessons-for-optimal-learning
• ↑ https://www.chalk.com/introduction-to-lesson-planning/why-lesson-plan/
• ↑ https://www.edutopia.org/blog/having-an-off-day-josh-stock
• ↑ https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/teaching/teaching-how/chapter-2-teaching-successful-section/running-class
• ↑ https://readingrecovery.clemson.edu/home-2/reading-comprehension/lesson-structure/guided-practice/
• ↑ https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/knowing-subject/d-h/free-practice
• ↑ https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/engaging-students/using-effective-questions
• ↑ https://www.tefl.net/elt/ideas/younglearners/finishing-preschool-english-lessons/

About This Article

If you need to make a lesson plan, start by creating a timeline based on the length of the class or the school day. As you get to know your class throughout the year, try to tailor your lesson plan to their strengths. For instance, some groups might learn better by taking notes during a lecture, while others might benefit more from group discussions or worksheets. Try to include several different activities during each class period so the kids don’t get bored, and also to appeal to the different learning styles in the classroom. Read on for sample lesson plans and more tips on how to budget your time! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Blog Education 28 Lesson Plan Examples for Every Classroom

28 Lesson Plan Examples for Every Classroom

Written by: Alice Corner Dec 07, 2023

Lesson plans are the best way to deliver an effective and engaging lesson. Lesson plans also help keep you on track to ensure that your learners hit their goals and targets, in line with your course curriculum.

But sometimes in the high-pressure world of education, it can be difficult to find the time to create inspiring lesson plans on your own. This is the time to enlist the help of a lesson plan maker and lesson plan templates .

I’ve gathered together 28 of the best lesson plan examples for all grade levels that you can use to ensure your lessons are insightful and inspiring.

Click to jump ahead :

English lesson plan examples

History lesson plan examples, middle school lesson plan examples, kindergarten lesson plan examples, high school lesson plan examples, preschool lesson plan examples, math lesson plan examples, elementary lesson plan examples, art lesson plan examples.

• Science lesson plan examples

Simple lesson plan examples

Elearning lesson plan examples.

Creating an English lesson plan is the best way to keep track of all the learning strands and activities that are needed for learning success.

Imagination, drama, romance and tragedy. English lessons have it all. But they can also be complicated to teach, with many moving parts to any one lesson. 

Like you’ll see in the English lesson plan examples below, creating engaging activities to a strict time schedule is perfectly possible with enough planning.

Use your lesson plan to schedule each activity by the minute

Any teacher will know the feeling of reaching the end of your material with 10 minutes left in the lesson.

Avoid running short (or running over!) in your lessons by planning down to the minute. The English lesson plan example below measures out timings for each activity so you finish perfectly on time. 

You can use a timer on your interactive whiteboard , or get students to time themselves. Scheduling is a great skill to incorporate into any lesson plan.

Creating a history lesson plan is essential for a successful session no matter if you’re teaching the near past or the ancient history.

Using common teaching resources such as timeline infographics , or imaginative play and learning are exciting ways to make your History lesson plans exciting.

Prepare for history lessons with a history timeline infographic

Teaching history effectively and engagingly relies on the teacher’s ability to bring the past back to life. For some students, mentally visualizing history can be difficult. A timeline infographic is a great way to teach historical events.

When planning your history lesson, make sure you have all of your timelines sorted. You can either prepare your history timelines in advance or get the students to create their own history timeline as part of the lesson activity.

Venngage has a whole range of timeline infographic templates that are easy to customize. 

Want to learn more about how to create a timeline infographic ? Check out the video below:

Use themes and historical events to enrich your lesson planning

When planning your history lessons, look for topical themes or historical events that you can anchor your lesson plan around.

In the lesson plan example below, the teacher is using Black History Month as an anchor point for their students’ learning.

Teaching the historical significance of Black History Month and engaging students in related learning activities throughout February is a great way to contextualize current affairs. There are plenty of resources online to help create your Black History Month lesson plans.

Related Reading: Looking for other global holidays and events to theme your lessons on? Check this Ultimate List of Holidays .

When creating middle school lesson plans, like in the templates and examples below, it’s important to focus on success and simplicity.

Middle school is a time for make or break for many learners. Skills that they learn in middle school carry them through life and it can be a huge weight to carry. But teaching middle school can also be incredibly rewarding. Here are some tips to help you create an effective middle school lesson plan:

Make note of what success looks like in your lesson plan

In teaching, quite often the end goal is not for the students to just arrive at the correct answer, but to understand the process of getting there. Having this mentality in your mind whilst lesson planning is an excellent way to ensure your students are learning effectively and that you are maximizing your teaching impact.

Add a section to your lesson plans as to what success looks like for you and your students like in the Middle School lesson plan template: 

Color code your lesson plan for ease of use

Colors can be a great differentiator in content and color-coding your lesson plans is a great way to make information pop. In this lesson plan example, each day has a different color which makes planning and evaluating much easier.

Related Reading: What Disney Villains Can Tell Us About Color Psychology

Creating a kindergarten lesson plan involves similar principles to those used for preschoolers but with a bit more structure and focus on foundational academic skills.

We all know that meme “teaching kindergarten is like using a blender without a lid”. Staying organized is super important and having thorough easy-to-follow kindergarten lesson plans is one way to make sure your teaching stays on track. 

Use themes to help plan your Kindergarten lessons

Help your kindergarteners embrace learning by using themes to plan their education. Themes are a great way to work through lots of different learning activities under one thematic umbrella.

This kindergarten lesson plan example uses St Patrick’s Day as its thematic anchor and bases Math, Art, Science and more off of one common theme. 

Make your lesson plans easy to skim

We’ve all been in a spot when our mind goes blank and we need to quickly refer back to our lesson plan. Especially if you’re interviewing or teaching in front of others.

By making your lesson plans easy to skim, you can quickly regain your train of thought and continue conducting a successful lesson.

In the sample lesson plan below the teacher has used simple blocks, checklists and icons to help ensure their lesson plan is easy to understand at a glance.

Creating a high school lesson plan involves a more structured approach, as students at this level are typically engaged in more advanced academic subjects.

Ensuring that your High School lesson plans account for success and reinforcing skills is one way to deliver the best education for your learners.

Include indicators of skill in your high school lesson plans

In high school, lesson plans tend to be more advanced. In the high school lesson plan example below, the teacher has included a section for indicators of skill. 

Indicators of skill are a great way to measure your students’ understanding of a topic and can be used to help inform your planning and teaching. Add two or three skill indicators into your lesson plans to ensure you know how to identify which students may need additional support from you in teaching.

You can also scroll back to the Math lesson plans section for more ideas on high school lesson plan templates.

Remember how I mentioned you should include timelines in your lesson plan? Well, for a high school lesson plan, you can include a timeline template like this one to make sure your students understand all the dates required for their school project:

Creating a preschool lesson plan involves careful consideration of the developmental needs and interests of young children. Shaping young minds is a rewarding experience, but it can sometimes feel like juggling too many balls at once.

With so many different essential key skills to teach, using a thorough Preschool lesson plan is important for making sure that your learners progress stays on track.

Break your Preschool lesson plans into learning sections

Preschool curriculums can be complex, covering multiple areas of crucial childhood development.

Help visualize each of these areas in their own right by creating a preschool lesson plan that takes a broad overview.

By breaking your lesson plan into learning sections, like this Preschool lesson plan example, you can get a glance at all elements of your students learning at once.

Get an overview of your week with a weekly lesson plan

A weekly lesson plan works great for preschool education planning, as it helps you identify and build lessons around common themes or goals. In the lesson plan template below, weeks have been broken down into different areas of focus.

Use icons in your Preschool lesson plan

Using icons is a great way to communicate visually. Icons are easy to understand, especially when you’re skimming a document. 

Take this lesson plan template for example, not only do the icons help communicate the lesson themes, they also make the lesson plan example super engaging and fun.

Using icons can also be a great way to help students who struggle with non-visual learning. For more ways to improve your lesson accessibility, check out this guide to creating a Color Blind Friendly Palette .

Creating a math lesson plan involves careful planning and consideration of various elements to ensure effective teaching and learning. Check out these lesson plan ideas for math tutors for writing the best math lesson plan, as well as some templates you can edit.

Use pops of color in your lesson plans

Just because your lesson plan tackles a complex subject doesn’t mean it has to be boring. In this lesson plan example a mint green color has been used to help break up the design. You could color code different subjects or units if you have multiple classes to teach.

Break your lesson plan into sections to make it easy to follow

Being properly prepared for any eventuality in your lesson starts with good planning. By using sections, like in the lesson plan example below, you can cover all of your bases. 

When lesson planning, consider the following:

• Lesson objectives
• Lesson materials
• Lesson discussion questions
• Activity options for multiple group sizes
• Lesson notes or feedback

In this math lesson plan activity, the teacher has thought through all of the needs of their class.

Think outside the box when lesson planning

When lesson planning, the world, or at least the internet, is your Oyster. Instead of just teaching vocabulary, use scavenger hunts, word searches, or story activities. 

Try picking a new activity and building your lesson around that. In the lesson activity example below, Merriam-Webster has a dictionary scavenger hunt that will keep students engaged and entertained throughout your English lesson.

Highlight your lesson objectives at the top of your lesson plan

Your learning objectives should guide your lesson planning, not the other way around.

In this sample lesson plan that focuses on analyzing a film for an English class, the learning objectives are housed within the same section as the lesson plan overview, right on the first page:

If you want to learn how to write an actional learning objective , check out this post on learning objective examples .

When creating Elementary school lesson plans, you need to make sure that you’re keeping a good overview of many different subjects at once. 

Having a clear, easy to understand Elementary lesson plan, like in the examples below, is really important for making sure that all your learning objectives are being met.

Break your elementary lesson plans into day and subject sections

Elementary students will often be studying various topics and subjects at once and keeping an overview of this can be difficult. By creating a weekly lesson plan you can make sure that your students stay on track. 

In this lesson plan template, subjects and activity have been split across the days, with simple summaries of each section within the lesson plan. 

Include notes sections in your lesson plans

Planning a lesson is important, but reflecting on a lesson is essential. Adding notes sections to your lesson plans, like in this weekly lesson plan example, is a great way to remind yourself to evaluate as you go.

Evaluating yourself and your lessons can be a daunting task. Applying various evaluation strategies, such as a SWOT Analysis , is an easy way to give your evaluations focus.

When creating art lesson plans, use bright colors, patterns, icons and graphics to create a truly engaging visual art lesson plan, like in the examples below.

Art lessons lend themselves to creative and visual learning , so your Art lesson plans should be creative and visual as well.

Incorporate learning examples in your art lesson plans

Art lesson plans can be one of the most fun to create. Art as a visual medium lends itself to an exciting and decorative lesson plan. 

In the art lesson plan example below, the teacher has inserted visual examples to use during the lesson directly into their lesson plan. Collecting all of this information in one place means that you can quickly refer back to your lesson plan mid teaching. 

Be creative with your art lesson plan design

If you’re creating an art course, you’re probably a creative person. Why not let that creativity shine in your lesson plan templates?

Fun illustrations and patterns have been used in the lesson plan sample below to create a visually appealing lesson plan design.

When picking colors for your lesson plan design, some schools will need to be aware of color connotations. Certain colors should be avoided due to gang or rivalry associations. Some schools will also want to ensure that all materials produced fit within your school colors.

Use colors and patterns in your art lesson plan designs

As well as colors, patterns can be used, like in this art lesson plan example, to create interest in your lesson plan design. 

Picking a patterned but simple background is an easy way to add depth to any lesson plan design.

Science l esson plan examples

Planning a science lesson can mean anything from experiments to monitoring or diagramming and labelling.

Following a template, like in the science lesson plan examples below, can help make sure that your science lessons run smoothly.

Provide a space for reflection in your science lesson plan

Whilst a lesson plan is a place to schedule your activities, it can also be a great document to refer back to when planning future sessions. Adding a reflection section in your science lesson plan can be a great way to add notes about what worked and what didn’t within your lesson, for future reference. 

Break projects down into sections of deliverables

If you’re conducting a difficult lesson, such as a hands-on science project, it can be handy to help yourself and your students by outlining expectations. A checklist can be a great way to make your science lesson plan as effective as possible.

In this lesson plan example, the deliverables have been broken into easy-to-follow checklists.

Use illustrations to bring your lesson plan templates to life

Your lesson plans should inspire you, not bore you! Using illustrations is a great way to bring your lesson plans to life. 

In this sample lesson plan, the teacher has used colorful and playful illustrations to reflect the content of the lessons.

Creating simple lesson plans involves breaking down the content into manageable components and incorporating straightforward activities.

Sometimes simple is best—especially when it comes to lesson planning. When you’re panicked mid-teaching, having a simple and straightforward lesson plan that you can take a quick glance at it can be invaluable. 

Keep your lesson plan simple for stressful situations

When performing under pressure, staying simple is usually the best option. Using a clean and modern lesson plan design is one way to ensure that you can stay focused on what matters: teaching. 

Simple doesn’t have to mean boring, though. Using good design principles and following one or two graphic design trends means that your simple lesson plan template can still look smart.

Use an icon to help differentiate different subject lesson plans

Icons are an easy way to differentiate your lesson plans by subject or topic. In the lesson plan example below, a large book icon has been used at the top of the page so that you can quickly see that this is an English lesson plan.

You could use an icon for each subject you teach, or use icons to tell a story . You could even replace the icon with a photo of your lesson materials!

Use an action plan approach in your lesson planning

In the simple lesson plan example, the tasks in the lesson plan have been labeled as an “action plan” . By keeping the lesson plan design simple, the focus is really on the content of the lesson plan.

Creating an action plan when teaching your lessons is a great mindset for creating engaging lessons and proactive teaching.

When creating eLearning , distance learning, remote learning, digital learning lesson plans—basically, anything outside the usual classroom setup—always be ready for its own set of unique challenges.

Engaging learners from behind a screen, or creating lessons that can exist outside of a traditional classroom environment can be difficult. But proper eLearning lesson plans can help you navigate non-traditional learning environments.

Break your eLearning lesson plan into activities or subjects

With so many people shifting to remote or digital learning keeping track of all of your separate subjects can be difficult. Creating an eLearning lesson plan that is broken into smaller chunks, with space for each topic, is an easy way to keep learning on track.

In this eLearning lesson plan example subjects are color coded and broken into small blocks.

For more examples of eLearning lesson plans, check out this post on course design templates .

Looking for more eLearning resources?

• 7 Ways to use eLearning Infographics
• Digital Learning Communication Resources  
• What is an Infographic?
• 10 Types of Visual Aids for Learning

Use a daily schedule when learning remotely

Learning remotely can be a big change for both teachers and students. One way to keep your learning on track is with an easy-to-follow daily schedule. Using a daily schedule as a lesson plan, like in the example below, is one way to maintain a routine during difficult times.

As well as scheduling within your lesson plan, you can also create a calendar to help keep your students on track.

Allow time for creativity and fun in your lesson plans

One of the biggest benefits of eLearning, Remote Learning and Digital Learning is that you can stray from the confines of a traditional classroom. 

Giving students the opportunity to explore topics creatively can be one way to engage your learners in difficult times. Every student will have a different learning style and by scheduling structured creative learning activities you can ensure that your entire class has the opportunity to thrive.

To sum up: Use a lesson plan template to write an actionable and easy-to-follow lesson plan

Writing a lesson plan from scratch can be difficult, which is why Venngage has created tons of lesson plan templates you can edit easily. You can also draw inspiration from the different lesson plan examples in this post to customize your lesson plan template.

Simply create a Venngage account, pick the template you want and begin editing. It’s free to get started.

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Home » Lesson Plans » Five Most Important Parts Of A Lesson Plan

Five Most Important Parts Of A Lesson Plan

How often do you have the feeling that you are entering a classroom without having a clear idea of what you are going to talk about for the entirety of the lesson? Nothing is slower than a classroom clock when you’ve got nothing else to say and the lesson needs to last for 20 more minutes.

In teaching, as in every other profession, preparation is key, and a solid lesson plan is the main tool you need to feel sure you’ll keep your class’ attention throughout the lesson.

The only way to prepare for the class and keep your students engaged and open to learning through the entirety of the lesson is to plan it properly. The question is, what should lesson plans include? We’ll go over every essential part of a lesson plan and show you how to write a lesson plan that will stop you from stressing over your classes.

Five Key Components of a Lesson Plan

Lesson plans are a teacher’s strongest tool and a way of ensuring that their lesson sticks to the intended trajectory—they help you plan exactly what you’re going to talk about, how you’re going to do it, and for how long. 

Thankfully, being a teacher no longer means going into a classroom, regurgitating textbook material you know by heart, and handing out tests every other week. You have much more freedom than that, and you should use it. Learning is important, and the best way to make your students gain new knowledge and implement new skills is to make learning fun .

This, of course, depends on the subject and the grade you’re teaching. Preschool lesson plans will focus on having fun and playing games much more than high school plans .

At the same time, you don’t have as much freedom when planning your math lessons as compared to art lesson plans.

Source: @cafealternativo via Twenty20

Make sure to use an appropriate lesson plan template that will guide you through the planning process and leave enough room for various lesson plan components. Still, regardless of the grade or subject you’re preparing for, every lesson plan should consist of:

• Lesson plan objective
• Assessment methods

Lesson Plan Objective

Think of each of these sections as answers to certain questions. A lesson plan objective should provide an answer to the question, “ What’s the point of this lesson? ”

An objective should be a single sentence that’s clear and concise and offers a specific goal you’re trying to achieve with your lesson. When writing an objective, use the S.M.A.R.T. formula, i.e., try and make your objective:

There’s no point to a lesson if you don’t have a specific goal in mind and you don’t know how to judge whether the goal has been achieved or not. Take a look at the following examples:

Lesson Materials

Lesson materials are a part of a lesson plan that consists of a list of various items that represent an answer to the question, “What will I need to carry out my lesson?”

Think of every single element that you’ll need for your class. There’s no worse feeling than getting a bunch of 1st graders excited about drawing only to figure out you didn’t bring any crayons.

Lesson materials can include:

• Googly eyes
• Letter blocks
• Game pieces
• Board games
• PowerPoint presentations

Learning Activities

Learning activities represent the element of a lesson plan where you answer the question, “ How will students achieve the lesson plan objective? ” You should try to be as creative as your curriculum , standards, and lesson topics allow you to be. Don’t make your lesson into a one-sided lecture—try to be interactive and let students engage with the material you present to them.

Source: @elizabethL via Twenty20

The activities you use will depend on the grade and subject as well, but you should always strive to make your lessons playful. For instance, you can use the following activities:

• Play a crossword puzzle or Scrabble
• Draw your parents
• Build a bridge
• Get two students to play the optimist-pessimist game
• Play the think-pair-share game after reading an excerpt
• Play Bingo with simple math equations on the card
• Assign group projects about U.S. government branches

Assessment Methods

How will you judge whether you have achieved the lesson plan objective or not? By using appropriate assessment methods to gauge your students’ understanding of the lesson. 

You should plan how you’re going to evaluate whether students have gained new knowledge or learned a new skill to a satisfactory level. You can use good, old-fashioned tests, but you should try to diversify your methods and make your lessons less stressful for students.

Aside from a test, assessment methods include:

• Hands-on activities
• Writing assignments
• Group activities
• Individual and group assignments
• Presentations
• Class journal entries

Lesson Timeline

The last component of your lesson plan should provide an answer to the question, “ How are you going to use the allocated time ?”

Source: GIPHY

You should plan your schedule and make sure you leave enough space for every activity and assessment method you’ve listed. While your timeline should be detailed, make sure to leave some leeway as you can never know how much time some students will take to master new material.

One way to organize your lesson is to allocate time to the following sections:

• Get students’ attention
• Share the objective with students
• Recall prior learning
• Present new information
• Offer guidance
• Give feedback
• Assess students’ performance
• Enhance retention (i.e., let students apply the information to personal contexts)

Finding Ready-Made Lesson Plans Online

A lot goes into a lesson plan, and you need to be skillful and experienced in writing a lesson plan to make sure you don’t miss any important detail. Creating a lesson plan from scratch takes time and effort. Why do it by yourself if someone’s already done it for you?

You can find thousands of lesson plans online, both paid and free. The problem is, you can’t know which ones are good until you go through them thoroughly. Free lesson plans are worth as much as you pay for them, while paid lesson plans offer you only a small preview, and you have to pay the full price to download them.

You can end up spending hundreds of dollars on unusable lesson plans that don’t follow your curriculum, have vague objectives, and use repetitive and uninspiring learning activities.

The only way to avoid this is by finding a source of high-quality lesson plans and materials that doesn’t charge you per download.

Source: @annann_9 via Twenty20

Teach Simple—The Best Source for All Your Teaching Needs

Teach Simple is a subscription-based source of top-drawer teaching materials made for teachers by teachers. Every material we publish has been created and tested by teachers that contribute to our database. With Teach Simple, you can rely on resources that have been made by people who know what it’s like to walk into a classroom full of students whose wandering brains need taming.

When you sign up for Teach Simple , you’ll be able to make unlimited downloads of all materials that catch your eye without any additional costs. You can use our marketplace to find lesson plans for 2nd graders , kindergarten , ESL students , and various subject-specific ones like biology , social studies , foreign languages , and geography .

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Here's What You Need to Know About Lesson Plans

The best teachers use a simple, seven-step format.

Janelle Cox

• Assessments & Tests
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• M.S., Education, Buffalo State College
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A lesson plan is a detailed step-by-step guide that outlines the teacher's objectives for what the students will accomplish during the course of the lesson and how they will learn it. Creating a lesson plan involves setting goals , developing activities, and determining the materials that you will use.

All good lesson plans contain specific  components  or steps, and all essentially derive from the seven-step method developed by Madeline Hunter , a UCLA professor and education author. The Hunter Method , as it came to be called, includes these elements: objective/purpose, anticipatory set, input modeling/modeled practice, check for understanding, guided practice, independent practice, and closure.

Regardless of the grade level you teach, Hunter's model has been adopted and used in various forms for decades by teachers across the nation and at every grade level. Follow the steps in this method, and you'll have a classic lesson plan that will be effective at any grade level. It doesn't have to be a rigid formula; consider it a general guideline that will help any teacher cover the necessary parts of a successful lesson.

Objective/Purpose

Students learn best when they know what they are expected learn and why, says the  U.S. Department of Education . The agency uses an eight-step version of Hunter's lesson plan, and its detailed explanations are well worth reading. The agency notes:

"The purpose or objective of the lesson includes why students need to learn the objective, what they will be able to do once they have met the criterion, (and) how they will demonstrate learning....The formula for the behavioral objective is: The learner will do what + with what + how well." 

For example, a high school history lesson might focus on  first-century Rome , so the teacher would explain to students that they are expected to learn the salient facts about the empire's government, its population, daily life, and culture.

Anticipatory Set

The anticipatory set involves the teacher working to get students excited about the upcoming lesson. For that reason, some lesson plan formats actually put this step first. Creating an anticipatory set "means doing something that creates a sense of anticipation and expectancy in the students," says Leslie Owen Wilson, Ed.D. in " The Second Principle ." This can include an activity, a game, a focused discussion, viewing a film or video clip, a field trip, or reflective exercise.

For example, for a second-grade lesson on animals, the class might take a field trip to a local zoo or watch a nature video. By contrast, in a high school class getting ready to study  William Shakespeare 's play, " Romeo and Juliet ," students might write a short, reflective essay on a love they lost, such as a former boyfriend or girlfriend.

Input Modeling/Modeled Practice

This step—sometimes called  direct instruction — takes place when the educator actually teaches the lesson. In a high school algebra class, for example, you might write an appropriate math problem on the board, and then show how to solve the problem in a relaxed, leisurely pace. If it's a first-grade lesson on important sight words to know, you might write the words on the board and explain what each word means. This step should be very visual, as the DOE explains:

"It is important for the students to 'see' what they are learning. It helps them when the teacher demonstrates what is to be learned."

Modeled practice, which some lesson plan templates list as a separate step, involves walking the students through a math problem or two as a class. You might write a problem on the board and then call on students to help you solve it, as they also write the problem, the steps to solve it, and then the answer. Similarly, you might have first-grade students copy the sight words as you spell each out verbally as a class.

Check for Understanding

You need to make sure students understand what you have taught. One easy way to do this is to ask questions. If you're teaching a lesson on simple geometry to seventh-graders, have students practice with the information you just taught, says the  ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) . And, be sure to guide the learning. If students don't seem to grasp the concepts you've just taught, stop and review. For the seventh-graders learning geometry, you may need to repeat the previous step by showing more geometry problems—and how to solve them—on the board.

Guided and Independent Practice 

If you're feeling like the lesson plan involves a lot of guidance, you're right. At the heart, that's what teachers do. Guided practice provides each student a chance to demonstrate her grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher’s direct supervision. During this step, you might move around the room to determine your students' level of mastery and provide individual help as needed. You may need to pause to show students how to successfully work through problems if they are still struggling.

Independent practice , by contrast, can include homework or seatwork assignments, which you give to the students to complete successfully without the need for supervision or intervention.

In this important step, the teacher wraps things up. Think of this phase as a concluding section in an essay. Just as a writer wouldn't leave her readers dangling without a conclusion, so too, the teacher should review all key points of the lesson. Go over any areas where students might still be struggling. And, always, asked focused questions: If students can answer specific questions about the lesson, they likely have learned the material. If not, you may need to revisit the lesson tomorrow.

Tips and Hints

Always gather all needed supplies ahead of time, and have them ready and available at the front of the room. If you'll be conducting a high school math lesson and all students will need are their textbooks, lined paper, and calculators, that makes your job easier. Do have extra pencils, textbooks, calculators, and paper available, though, in case any students have forgotten these items.

If you're conducting a science experiment lesson, make sure you have all of the ingredients needed so that all students can complete the experiment. You don't want to give a science lesson on  creating a volcano  and find out once students are gathered and ready that you've forgotten a key ingredient like baking soda.

To ease your job in creating a lesson plan, use a  template . The basic lesson plan format has been around for decades, so there's no need to start from scratch. Once you figure out what kind of  lesson plan  you will be writing, then you can determine the best way to use the format to fit your needs.

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• Professional development
• Planning lessons and courses

Student presentations

In this article I would like to give you a few tips and some advice on what I've learned from helping students prepare and deliver presentations.

• Why I get students to do presentations
• Syllabus fit
• Planning a presentation lesson
• Classroom Management

Why I get students to do presentations Presentations are a great way to have students practise all language systems areas (vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening). They also build confidence, and presenting is a skill that most people will need in the world of work. I find that students who are good presenters are better communicators all round, since they are able to structure and express their ideas clearly.

• Presentation skills are extremely useful both in and outside the classroom. After completing a project, a presentation is a channel for students to share with others what they have learned. It is also a chance to challenge and expand on their understanding of the topic by having others ask questions. And in the world of work, a confident presenter is able to inform and persuade colleagues effectively.
• Presentations can also form a natural part of task based learning. By focussing on a particular language point or skill, the presentation is a very practical way to revise and extend book, pair and group work. The audience can also be set a task, for example, a set of questions to answer on the presentation, which is a way of getting students to listen to each other.

Syllabus fit Normally the presentation will come towards the end of a lesson or series of lessons that focus on a particular language or skill area. It is a type of freer practice. This is because the students need to feel relatively confident about what they are doing before they stand up and do it in front of other people. If I have been teaching the past simple plus time phrases to tell a story, for example, I give my students plenty of controlled and semi controlled practice activities, such as gapfills, drills and information swaps before I ask them to present on, say, an important event in their country's history, which involves much freer use of the target grammar point.

Planning a presentation lesson Normally a presentation lesson will have an outline like this:

• Revision of key language areas
• Example presentation, which could be from a textbook or given by the teacher
• Students are given a transcript or outline of the presentation
• Students identify key stages of the example presentation – greeting, introduction, main points in order of importance, conclusion
• Focus on linking and signalling words ('Next…', 'Now I'd like you to look at…', etc.). Students underline these in the transcript/place them in the correct order
• Students are put into small groups and write down aims
• Students then write down key points which they order, as in the example
• Students decide who is going to say what and how
• Students prepare visuals (keep the time for this limited as too many visuals become distracting)
• Students practise at their tables
• Students deliver the presentations in front of the class, with the audience having an observation task to complete (see 'Assessment' below)
• The teacher takes notes for feedback later

It is important that the students plan and deliver the presentations in groups at first, unless they are extremely confident and/or fluent. This is because:

• Shy students cannot present alone
• Students can support each other before, during and after the presentation
• Getting ready for the presentation is a practice task in itself
• When you have a large class, it takes a very long time for everyone to present individually!

I find it's a good idea to spend time training students in setting clear aims. It is also important that as teachers we think clearly about why we are asking students to present.

Aims Presentations normally have one or more of the following aims:

• To inform/ raise awareness of an important issue
• To persuade people to do something
• Form part of an exam, demonstrating public speaking/presentation skills in a first or second language

I set students a task where they answer these questions:

• Why are you making the presentation?
• What do you want people to learn?
• How are you going to make it interesting?

Let's say I want to tell people about volcanoes. I want people to know about why volcanoes form and why they erupt. This would be an informative/awareness-raising presentation. So by the end, everyone should know something new about volcanoes, and they should be able to tell others about them. My plan might look like this:

• Introduction - what is a volcano? (2 minutes)
• Types of volcano (5 minutes)
• Volcanoes around the world (2 minutes)
• My favourite volcano (2 minutes)
• Conclusion (2-3 minutes)
• Questions (2 minutes)

Classroom Management I find that presentation lessons pass very quickly, due the large amount of preparation involved. With a class of 20 students, it will probably take at least 3 hours. With feedback and follow-up tasks, it can last even longer. I try to put students into groups of 3 or 4 with classes of up to 20 students, and larger groups of 5 or 6 with classes up to 40. If you have a class larger than 40, it would be a good idea to do the presentation in a hall or even outside.

Classroom management can become difficult during a presentations lesson, especially during the final presenting stage, as the presenters are partly responsible for managing the class! There are a few points I find effective here:

• Training students to stand near people who are chatting and talk 'through' the chatter, by demonstration
• Training students to stop talking if chatter continues, again by demonstration
• Asking for the audience's attention ('Can I have your attention please?')
• Setting the audience an observation task, which is also assessed by the teacher
• Limiting the amount of time spent preparing visuals
• Arranging furniture so everyone is facing the front

Most of these points are self-explanatory, but I will cover the observation task in more detail in the next section, which deals with assessment. 

Assessment The teacher needs to carefully consider the assessment criteria, so that s/he can give meaningful feedback. I usually run through a checklist that covers:

• Level - I can't expect Elementary students to use a wide range of tenses or vocabulary, for example, but I'd expect Advanced students to have clear pronunciation and to use a wide range of vocabulary and grammar
• Age - Younger learners do not (normally) have the maturity or general knowledge of adults, and the teacher's expectations need to reflect this
• Needs - What kind of students are they? Business English students need to have much more sophisticated communication skills than others. Students who are preparing for an exam need to practise the skills that will be assessed in the exam.

I write a list of language related points I'm looking for. This covers:

• Range / accuracy of vocabulary
• Range / accuracy of grammar
• Presentation / discourse management- is it well structured? What linking words are used and how?
• Use of visuals- Do they help or hinder the presentation?
• Paralinguistic features

'Paralinguistics' refers to non-verbal communication. This is important in a presentation because eye contact, directing your voice to all parts of the room, using pitch and tone to keep attention and so on are all part of engaging an audience.

I find it's a good idea to let students in on the assessment process by setting them a peer observation task. The simplest way to do this is to write a checklist that relates to the aims of the lesson. A task for presentations on major historical events might have a checklist like this:

• Does the presenter greet the audience? YES/NO
• Does the presenter use the past tense? YES/NO

And so on. This normally helps me to keep all members of the audience awake. To be really sure, though, I include a question that involves personal response to the presentation such as 'What did you like about this presentation and why?'. If working with young learners, it's a good idea to tell them you will look at their answers to the observation task. Otherwise they might simply tick random answers!

Conclusion Presentations are a great way to practise a wide range of skills and to build the general confidence of your students. Due to problems with timing, I would recommend one lesson per term, building confidence bit by bit throughout the year. In a school curriculum this leaves time to get through the core syllabus and prepare for exams.

Presentations - Adult students

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Presentation Article

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

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Topic: Presentation Skills

As you can see in the slide (giving presentations)

Step into the world of presentations with this handy lesson! Students explore vocabulary for structuring presentations, read the text of a presentation and watch a video on how to communicate ideas clearly.

Presentation: putting skills into action

With this lesson plan, students practise giving a presentation in English by doing a lot of different speaking activities. The lesson is the third of the three-part series of lessons about delivering presentations. 

Moving through your presentation

With this lesson plan, students learn plenty of useful phrases for presentations in English. They also prepare presentation excerpts, and learn how to start a presentation. The lesson is the second of the three-part series of lessons about delivering presentations. 

How to nail that presentation

In this lesson about business presentations in English, students discuss presentation structures in depth, watch a video with tips on giving presentations, and learn useful words and phrases related to the topic. The lesson is the first of the three-part series of lessons about delivering presentations. 

The city of the future is here

With this lesson plan based on a video about Toyota’s city of the future students learn some useful language for presentations and then practise their presentation skills.

The chair that conquered the world

This lesson plan about the chair that conquered the world includes a variety of tasks for students to learn new vocabulary related to describing furniture design and practise their presentation skills. 

How do you like your milk?

In this lesson, students will learn advanced cooking verbs, discuss different types of milk and do an English class project.

Apple’s legendary keynotes

The objective of this lesson plan is to teach students some adjectives for describing products and show them a video analysing Apple’s legendary keynotes.

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What is ‘Presentation, Practice, Production’ (PPP)?

And how can i best use it in my classroom.

Presentation, practice, production (PPP) is a lesson structure, a way to order activities in your lessons.

Although quite old and heavily criticised over the years, PPP is probably the most commonly used lesson structure in teaching English to foreign learners today. It’s also still widely taught to new teachers and seen on initial teacher training courses like the CELTA and CertTESOL.

Most course books that you’re likely to use will structure their chapters in ways similar or the same as PPP, meaning that you’ll get a lot of exposure to this method.

As the name suggests, there are three stages to this lesson structure, which we’ll look at now.

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The ‘presentation’ stage

This is where the language is introduced, or ‘presented’ to the learners, usually by introducing a context or situation. For example, you could:

Tell or act out a short story or anecdote ( “I woke up this morning with a nasty cold… AHHH-CHOOO! I went to the doctor and…”)

Play a short audio clip

Show a clip from a movie or TV show.

Show objects you’ve brought in (e.g. newspaper cuttings, plane tickets, hobby materials)

The aim is to ensure students understand the context and get them thinking about it. You could elicit ideas or suggestions from students, get them to talk to each other about what they know or think about the situation, etc. This also helps them start to remember the language and vocabulary they already know about the topic (or ‘activate the schemata’, if you want the fancy term for it).

The ‘practice’ stage

The ‘practice’ stage is when students use the language in a controlled way. This stage is sometimes divided into two — a controlled practice and a freer practice. Again, among many things, you could get students to:

Drill sentences or sounds, chorally or individually.

Substitution drill in pairs

Sentence matching activities

Gap-fill exercises

Pair work asking and answering questions

The aim of this stage is accuracy . Error correction is important in this stage, so monitor the students closely and take time to correct errors immediately. A delayed error correction section after the activity would be useful for target language errors that seem to be common.

The ‘production’ stage

The ‘production’ stage is where the language is used more openly. Things like:

Communication tasks

Collaborative tasks

Discussion activities

The focus of this stage is using the language as fluently and naturally as possible , as students would do outside of the classroom.

Theory behind Presentation, Practice, Production

This is where PPP gets criticised. It started in the 1960s, and language learning theory has developed considerably since then. Academics who study second language acquisition get annoyed at how PPP doesn’t tick any of the boxes for how we’re supposed to learn a language and yet is still so widespread.

Some learning assumptions behind presentation, practice, production are:

Students should be told the grammar rules and then practice them (a deductive approach).

Language learning is a skill like any other and should be practised as such.

There should be a high level of teacher control, slowly handed over to learners as the lesson progresses.

Language is a series of items that can be learned in sequence.

The target language should be practised by removing unnecessary language to help focus.

All of these have been shown that this isn’t how we best learn languages (in fact, the opposite is largely true!).

However, it isn’t all bad. Here’s my opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of PPP:

It’s easy to learn for new teachers.

It’s very flexible.

It’s easy to plan for and has a logical progression.

It works for most types of classes, including larger classes.

Most course books use this or a similar method to structure their lessons and chapters.

Disadvantages

Research shows that it may not be the best way to teach/learn a language.

Weaker learners may overuse the target language from the practice session, so it sounds unnatural.

Learners may not know how to use the target language in different contexts.

It can be boring if used repeatedly for higher-level students.

Thoughts on Presentation, Practice, Production

Academics are often far removed from the classroom and the real world, studying the individual phenomenon in isolation.

I’ve often seen a light bulb moment for students whilst teaching PPP (although one could argue that it’s not strict PPP, and it’d be hard to isolate the teaching method from other variables). Teaching over a period of time with this method, you do see students improve. Consider also that it’s not done in isolation — you should be getting your learners to interact in English naturally and read extensively outside of class, for starters.

Presentation, practice, production works. Maybe not as well as something like task-based learning (TBL), but TBL takes longer to plan and implement, which becomes very difficult when your teaching hours are high.

Sure, so it might not be theoretically perfect, but it does work.

How to adapt the PPP method

Also, I believe it has evolved from the ‘traditional’ PPP approach described above. Here are some ways you can adapt the classic PPP structure:

Spend more time in the presentation stage eliciting.

Turn the deductive aspect of explicit grammar instruction into an inductive aspect (so learners have to figure out the patterns themselves).

Add collaborative tasks during the practice stage, which learners must use the target language to complete successfully.

Include meta-learning strategies so students can learn how to learn.

Include more incidental language throughout the class so learners hear language in a more natural context.

Change the final stage into a task, such as you’d find in task-based learning .

These changes turn PPP into something else, a blended approach that addresses many of the criticisms of PPP.

Other structures have sought to improve upon the model of PPP. Variants include ESA (engage, study, activate) and CAP (context, analysis, practice)

However, the simplicity of PPP and its notoriety have kept it the most widely used model. I doubt it’s going away any time soon.

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