The School of Education

Lesson Plan

Adopted 9/23/05

I. What is your generative topic?

II. What is your essential question?

III. Who are your students?

• Grade/age level-
• Class/group size-
• Whom do you need to pay special attention to? Why? What do you need to look for?

IV. Why are you teaching this lesson?

• How are your goals connected to standards? (e.g. MA Curric. Frameworks)
• What do you want students to know and be able to do? (measurable objectives)
• e.g. - Content, Key concepts, Language

V. What are the learning activities that will build student understanding?

• How will students be grouped?
• How will you begin the lesson? What happens in the lesson? How will the lesson end?
• What accommodations will you make to meet the diverse needs of students?

VI. What will be your extension and enrichment activities?

VII. How are you going to assess student's understanding? What is your plan for ongoing assessment of student's understanding?

VIII. Reflection: (From teaching or planning the lesson-)

• What did you learn?
• What went well?
• What were the challenges?
• What could you have done differently?

A generative topic is a topic that is accessible to students (related to their lives), important to the subject matter discipline, and linked to diverse concepts. Generative topics deepen students' learning and pique their curiosity by leading to opportunities for further study and understanding. A sample generative topic is "The Boston Tea Party as Political Protest." The generative topic gives rise to an essential question, a broad question addressing a major issue, problem, theme or concern. Essential questions are open-ended, objective, meaningful and substantive. They invite inquiry and higher-order thinking. One essential question related to the above generative topic might be, "What is the place of protest in the U.S. political system? "

A consideration of the student group profile informs the lesson design. Are there students on IEPs who need accommodations? ELL learners who need specific language objectives? Advanced learners needing a challenge? Is there a range of learning styles and intelligences represented? Are there students whose cultural backgrounds might contribute to this lesson? What individuals or groups need special attention?

Lesson goals refer to the standards that the lesson will meet: e.g., the learning strands and performance standards of the Mass. Curriculum Frameworks or national subject matter standards. Objectives are measurable, observable outcomes-student performances that demonstrate what they will know and be able to do by the end of the lesson. The content (information/knowledge) that one expects students to learn should be clear, and the key concepts that are part of that content. Using the example of the Boston Tea Party lesson for fifth grade students, sample goals might be "Explain how the French and Indian War led to an overhaul of British imperial policy and the colonial response to these policies (…the Tea Act 1773…the slogan, 'no taxation without representation')" (History/Social Science Learning Standard 5.15); and/or "Identify the rights in the Bill of Rights and explain the reasons for its inclusion in the Constitution" (5.16) and/or "Explain how American citizens were expected to participate in, monitor, and bring about changes in their government over time, and give examples of how they continue to do so today" (5.27). Sample objectives for this lesson might be, "Students will enact a debate between a British colonial governor and a group of American colonial taxpayers that depicts multiple perspectives and arguments concerning the Tea Act," or, "Students will demonstrate their understanding of the rights, results and constraints that apply to political protests by completing a guided Venn Diagram comparing the Boston Tea Party to an example of a twentieth-century political protest." Sample Key concepts that students are responsible for in this lesson might include, "representative democracy," "empire," "colony," and "right of assembly." Language objectives for ELL learners are contained in the Massachusetts English Language Proficiency Benchmarks for English Language Learners. For this lesson, sample language objectives might be: "Students will give formal oral presentations that focus on specific academic content, using appropriate vocabulary and syntax, recognizable organization, clear pronunciation, eye contact, and appropriate volume and intonation" (Academic Interaction, S.4.7 Early Intermediate to Intermediate), or, "Determine the word meaning or the effect on meaning of selected prefixes and suffixes" (Vocabulary S.1.19).

The learning activities section of the lesson plan describes everything that the teacher and students will do during the lesson. Activities should align with the lesson objectives. This section includes special materials and resources for all students or particular individuals and/or groups, as well as references to how students will be grouped in order to differentiate learning as needed. The teacher will begin the lesson by motivating students, building on their backgrounds, and informing them about the goals (what they can expect to learn). The section should end with a closing or culminating activity. The extension and enrichment activities section of the plan asks what will happen after the lesson ends. To sustain the learning of new content or skills, students need opportunities to use it in a variety of contexts or new ways, and link it to future learning. Extension and enrichment activities might include, homework, projects, reflections, further reading, Internet searches, posters, journal entries, PowerPoint summaries, or a brief description of a follow-up lesson. These activities might apply to all students or to particular individuals or groups with specific learning needs.

Assessment includes both informal and formal strategies for the ongoing monitoring of students' understanding during the lesson, and summary evaluation of their success. Assessment might be differentiated for groups or individuals. Examples of ongoing, formative, assessment tools/strategies: guided questions, graphic organizers, list-making, observation checklists, and anecdotal records. Summative assessments might include tests, reports, portfolios, projects, presentations and simulations.

In the Reflection section of the lesson plan, students review their planning or implementation of the lesson and assess themselves. They reflect on what they learned from the process, what was successful and why, what challenges or failures resulted, and why, what they might repeat, or do differently.