DIRECT INSTRUCTION LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Submitted by: ______________________________________

I.              BEFORE THE LESSON

• What are the characteristics of your students (e.g. strengths, interests, multiple intelligence learning profile)?

• Are there varying levels of English language proficiency? If  so, what scaffolding and/or context cues may be needed (e.g. visual aids, graphs, hands-on activities)?

•  Briefly describe any students with unique learning needs who should be kept in mind as the lesson is designed.    Consider these students’ learning characteristics from a Multiple Intelligence perspective as you plan your lesson.

*Note that English Learners will need to be specifically taught the language structures they will be expected to use during a lesson whether it be in discussion or writing. They must also be taught to recognize the structures they will be reading as well as hearing during the class.  Attention should be called to the structures when they appear in instruction, discussions, reading and writing.

•    What prerequisite background information do students need to have to engage in this lesson?

•    What prerequisite skills do students need to have to engage in this lesson?

•    How is the lesson placed in context?  Where in the sequence of a unit or course of study does the lesson fall?

•    What are the instructional objectives? (Identify each differentiated, multi-level objective as a cognitive/academic, affective/social, psychomotor, and/or language objective.  If a cognitive/academic objective identify the level of complexity (i.e. Bloom’s taxonomy for each objective)

•    How do students demonstrate the instructional objectives?

•    What are the criteria for success?  How will learners know that they are successful?

•    What materials and resources are needed?

•    Identify any specific student groupings, room arrangements, and planning details that must be considered before delivering the lesson.

II.         OPENING THE LESSON: ANTICIPATORY SET

How will you provide an anticipatory set?  How will you open the lesson?

•Ready: How can you motivate (focus) the learners?  Something novel might capture their interest.

•Set: How can a discussion or activity activate students’ prior knowledge and past experiences (i.e. activate schemata) so as to give meaning to the lesson?  How will you let the learners know the organization for the lesson so they don’t wonder “what’s this all about?”

•Go: How can you actively involve all learners (overtly or covertly)?

III.    STEPS OF INSTRUCTION

How do you plan to teach to the objective?

Input

For skills, describe in detail the procedures and steps.  Provide model(s).  If a concept, provide examples and nonexamples.

Describe guided practice activities.

• Will students work either with partners or in small (cooperative) groups?

• How will you check for students’ understanding throughout the lesson?

• What open-ended and/or “high-level” (e.g., application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) questions will you ask throughout the lesson?

Describe any independent practice activities which

begin in class.

Identify any student-specific teaching strategies:

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What systems of support and supervision will be utilized? (e.g., a partner will review the reading in study hall before class)

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IV.  CLOSURE

What varied authentic products will be produced?

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          What multi-level assessment criteria will be used (e.g., Are changes in grading appropriate?  Will different levels of mastery be accepted?  Are there multiple criteria such as effort and ability to demonstrate mastery of key concepts)?

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          How will you have learners summarize the learnings from the lesson? (Individual or group assessment of student learning may include what you will do to ensure that students achieve the learning: student-generated summary of the learning; a probe for student understanding; students’ personalization of information; and student opportunity to share their thinking and explore and relate ideas.)

V.              AFTER THE LESSON:

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE/TRANSFER OF INSTRUCTION/EXTENSION

How will you structure opportunities for continued practice and transfer of learning?

• Will you structure activities for independent practice and transfer of learning (e.g., homework, seatwork, practice with partners) following the lesson?  If so, what independent practice will be assigned?  (Independent practice considerations include what you will do t o have students practice the learning independently.  Practice should provide written reinforcement of specialized vocabulary for easy student reference.  Independent practice may suggest group or family participation and look for opportunities for critical creative thinking.)

• Will you structure future opportunities for in-class practice?  What will the practice and applications be?  When and how often will it occur?

VI.         AFTER THE LESSON: REFLECTION

• What went well with the lesson?  (How relevant and worthwhile was the lesson for the students?  What evidence do you have to tell you the value of the lesson for the students?)

• What changes would you make, overall, to enhance student learning?  (What would be the benefits of these changes to the students, you, and the students’ families?)

Note:  Words in bold represent key terms and steps of effective instruction and lesson planning which many teachers and interviewers expect you to use!  These terms come from Madeline Hunter’s Essential Elements of Instruction, David & Roger Johnson’s Cooperative Learning Group lesson plan format, Russell Gersten’s research on Direct Instruction, and key researcher’s ideas on Specifically Designed Academic Instruction in English.