UNIT 1 LESSON PLANNING

1.1 The Need for Lesson Planning

Lesson Plan
A lesson plan is a detailed guide for teaching a lesson. It's a step-by-step guide that outlines the
teacher's objectives for what the students will accomplish that day. Creating a lesson
plan involves setting goals, developing activities, and determining the materials that will be used.
A lesson plan is the systematic preparation done in a scientific manner. Effective and successful
teaching mainly depends on perfect lesson planning. A lesson plan represents a single teaching
unit meant for a class period. Generally a lesson plan is teacher‘s mental and emotional
visualization of classroom activities. ―Lesson plan is the title given to a statement of the
achievement to be realized and the specific means by which these are to be attained as a result of
the activities engaged in during the period‖.

Needs for Lesson Planning

1. The lesson plan does not allow the teacher to deviate and its keep him on the way. In the
process of teaching, lesson plan is needed due to the following reasons.
2. Through lesson plan, the teacher regularly achieves the teaching objectives and process in
the form of complex objectives and processes.
3. A lesson plan develops the possibilities of adjustment in the classroom situation which
makes the teaching effective.
4. A lesson plan helps in calling every step of curriculum unit.
5. A lesson plan helps in planning the process of teaching on the basis of class control,
motivation and individual differences.

Importance of Lesson Planning

Planning is essential for every aspect of human activities, but for a planned teaching more
planning is required.
1. Suitable Environment

In a lesson plan objectives are fixed and the teaching strategies, techniques and material
aid etc. are decided beforehand. When a proper teaching environment is created, the
teaching task goes in a much planned way.
2. Based on previous knowledge

In preparing lesson plans, the teacher presents new knowledge as the basis of previous
knowledge of the pupils. This enables the pupils to gain the knowledge very conveniently
on one side, the teacher succeeds in acquiring his objective on the other side.
3. Psychological teaching

The teacher uses proper teaching strategies, techniques and instruments keeping in mind
the interests, aptitudes, needs, capacities and abilities of the pupils for teaching them
when the lesson plans are prepared. This makes the teaching more psychological.
4. Limitation of subject matter

In a lesson plan, the subject matter becomes limited. This enables the teacher to give up
irrelevant things. He only remembers definite and limited matter and its presentation before
the pupils become easy. The pupils also receive the knowledge in a systematic and
organized way.
5. Determination of activities

In a lesson plan, the teachers and pupils activities are pre-decided according to the class
level. This makes the teaching activities meaningful and purposeful.
6. Preparation of material aids

At the time of preparing a lesson plan, the teacher decides what facts are to be clarified by
what strategies, techniques and instruments and what aid is to be used at what time. This
prepares the necessary and effective aids before starting the teaching task.
7. Developing of teaching skill

The lesson plan acts as an important means for developing teaching skills in the pupil-
teacher.
 8. Use of Theoretical knowledge

Whatever the pupil-teachers get theoretical knowledge during their training period, that
knowledge.
9. Teaching with confidence

The preparation of a lesson plan makes the subject and other allied subjects more clearly to
the teachers. This arouses self confidence among them. When a teacher gets developed the
feeling of self-confidence, then he presents the new knowledge to the pupils with more
enthusiasm and pleasure.
10. Discipline in class

By preparing lesson plan, the teacher becomes aware of what, when and how much is to be
done in the class. This absorbs all the pupils in their respective tasks. Hence, it results in
appreciable classroom discipline.
11. Time sense

Lesson plan is prepared allotting to the duration of the periods.

12. Teaching from memory level to reflective level

In an ideal lesson plan, development and thought provoking questions should be asked.
Also there should be an effort to stretch the teaching from memory level to reflective level.

[APPROACH), L. (2017). LESSON PLAN STEPS (HERBARTIAN APPROACH).

Freenaleen.blogspot.com. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from
http://freenaleen.blogspot.com/2013/12/lesson-plan-steps-herbartian-approach.html]

SUMMARY
Lesson planning is at the heart of being an effective teacher. It is a creative process that allows us
to synthesize our understanding of second language acquisition and language teaching pedagogy
with our knowledge of our learners, the curriculum, and the teaching context. It is a time when
we envision the learning we want to occur and analyze how all the pieces of the learning
experience should fit together to make that vision a classroom reality. There are a number of
benefits to writing a lesson plan. First, lesson planning produces more unified lessons. It gives
teachers the opportunity to think deliberately about their choice of lesson objectives, the types of
activities that will meet these objectives, the sequence of those activities, the materials needed,
how long each activity might take, and how students should be grouped. Teachers can reflect on
the links between one activity and the next, the relationship between the current lesson and any
past or future lessons, and the correlation between learning activities and assessment practices.
Because the teacher has considered these connections and can now make the connections explicit
to learners, the lesson will be more meaningful to them.

The lesson planning process allows teachers to evaluate their own knowledge with regards to the
content to be taught. If a teacher has to teach, for example, a complex grammatical structure and
is not sure of the rules, the teacher would become aware of this during lesson planning and can
take steps to acquire the necessary information. Similarly, if a teacher is not sure how to
pronounce a new vocabulary word, this can be remedied during the lesson planning process. The
opportunity that lesson planning presents to evaluate one‘s own knowledge is particularly
advantageous for teachers of English for specific purposes, because these teachers have to be not
only language experts, but also familiar with different disciplines like business, engineering, or
law—fields that use language in specialized ways.

A teacher with a plan, then, is a more confident teacher. The teacher is clear on what needs to be
done, how, and when. The lesson will tend to flow more smoothly because all the information
has been gathered and the details have been decided upon beforehand. The teacher will not waste
class time flipping through the textbook, thinking of what to do next, or running to make
photocopies. The teacher‘s confidence will inspire more respect from the learners, thereby
reducing discipline problems and helping the learners to feel more relaxed and open to learning.

[Tesol.org. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from http://www.tesol.org/docs/default-

source/books/14002_lesson-planning_ch-1.pdf?sfvrsn=2]
1.2 Approaches to Lesson Planning

Herbartian five steps approach

This approach generally known as Herbartian five steps approach in the procedure of the
Herbartian School of propagated by J.F.Herbart (1776-1841) and his followers.
The formal steps involved in the approach as below
i. Introduction / Motivation
ii. Presentation
iii. Comparison and association
iv. Generalization
v. Application
vi. Recapitulation

Introduction / Motivation
This step is concerned with the task of preparing the students for receiving new
knowledge. In preparation, nothing new is taught to students. Relevant to the topic in hand he
teacher should make himself sure of what the pupils already know, by putting a few questions,
based on the pupils previous knowledge. In general, with the help of this step, the teacher can
check the students entering behavior before he starts teaching the lesson. Thus, testing previous
knowledge, developing interest in the minds of students and maintaining curiosity of the students
can be achieved with the help of this step.
The following activities involved in this step
1) The assumption about the previous knowledge of the students in relevance to the lesson
2) The testing of the previous knowledge
3) Utilizing the previous knowledge for introducing the lesson
4) Motivating the students for studying the present lesson

Presentation
It is the key step and only through which the actual process of teaching is going to take
place. Here the aims of the lesson should be stated clearly and the heading should be written on
the blackboard. We have to provide situation for both the teacher and the students to participate
in the process of teaching and learning. Our ultimate aim of the presentation is to make the
concepts understandable to the students. Therefore simple language is used. Appropriate and
specific examples and illustrations of the concepts will make the understanding better. The
interest of the students on the subject matter should be maintained continuously by the way of
asking questions from time to time in this stage. The teacher should carefully and skillfully
arrange his material so that his pupils may clearly and readily grasp it. The teacher should make
proper use of questions, charts, graphs, pictures, models and other illustrative for demonstration
and explanation.
At the end of each section a few questions concerning that section only should be asked
to whether the pupils are now ready for the acquisition of new knowledge.
Comparison of Association
More importance should be given in this stage to compare the facts observed by the
students with another concept by way of giving examples. By making use of this comparison, the
students can derive definitions or theories. The students are encouraged to give new suitable
examples for the concept instead of the examples given in the book to make them think in an
innovative manner.
Generalization
This step is concerned with arriving at some general ideas or drawing out the necessary
conclusions by the students on the basis of the different comparisons, contracts and associated
observed in the learning material present by the teacher. As far as possible the task of
formulation should be left to students. The teacher at this stage should try to remain in the
background for providing only necessary guidance and correction.
Application
In this stage, the teacher makes the students to use the understood knowledge in an
unfamiliar situation. Unless the knowledge of science is applied in new situations or in our day-
to-day life, the study of science will become meaningless. This application of scientific
principles will strengthen learning and will make the learning permanent.
Recapitulation
This stage is meant for the teachers to know whether students have grasped by reviewing
a lesson or by giving assignments to the students. Only through this step achieving closure (in
teaching) is possible.
 INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
Instructional objectives represent the desired change in the pupil who undergoes
instruction in a lesson. There are two types of instructional objectives. They are
1) General Instructional Objectives
2) Specific Instructional Objectives

When a teacher plans a lesson, he should ask himself, ―Why should I teach this lesson?‖ The
answer to this question constitutes Instructional objectives. All instruction will result in learning
which in turn bring about changes in the behavior of the learners. So the instructional objectives
it means the anticipated behavior change, which is what is what the teachers expect as a result of
their teaching.
1) General Instructional Objective (GIO’s)

If the objectives are stated in general and vague manner, then they are called general objectives.
They contain non-behavioral verb i.e. they contain non-action verb.
For example;
1. The learner acquires knowledge of the various branches of science.
2. The learner develops skill in manipulating apparatus.

Here the verbs ‗acquires‘ and ‗develops‘ are non-action verbs which are cannot measure or
observe directly, because they are in the form of inner development or passive aspect of mental
activity.
Example;
The pupil,
i. Acquires knowledge of friction
ii. Understands various types of friction
iii. Applies knowledge of friction in relevant unfamiliar situation
iv. Develops skill in doing experiments
v. Develops interest in experimenting

2) Specific Instructional Objectives (SIO’s)

If the objectives are stated in specific, then they are called specific objectives. They contain
behavioral verb i.e. they contain ‗action‘ verb. The observable and measurable behavioral
changes as a result of realizing an objective is termed as specific instructional objectives or
specification.
For example
The learner defines friction
Here defines is the active verb
The statement of specification should contain two parts
i. Modification Part (MP)
ii. Content Part (CP)

Example;
The learner defines friction
MP CP
The table showing illustrative examples of specifications with specified behavioral part
and content part from physical science.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE / SPECIFICATIONS
LEVEL
THE THE CONTENT PART
BEHAVIORAL
PART

Recalls The branches of science

KNOWLEDGE Recognizes

Distinguishes between metals and non-metals

Identifies the physical properties of metals
Selects colored salts from the salts
Compares velocity and acceleration
Classifies primary, secondary and tertiary alcohol
Identifies between rest and motion
relationships for first order lever
UNDERSTANDING Give examples the preparation of Iron
Describes the function of generator
 Explains the ideas of input devices
Generalizes

Gives reason Why sky appears blue?

Infers The result obtained in the experiment
Computes The normality of the liquid
Analyses Analyses situations
APPLICATION Establishes Establishes relationship between metals and non-
relationships metals
Suggests Improvisation to apparatus
Selects Apparatus with purpose
Detects Detects errors
Give new For friction
illustrations
Draws The diagram of screw gauge
Labels The part of a generator
SKILL Doing experiments Of simple pendulum
Participates In a science quiz
Collects Picture of scientists, some machines etc.
Prepares Posters on water pollution
INTEREST Writes An article on ‗Globalization‘ for school
Organizes magazine
Organizes science exhibition on ICT in Science
Education

[APPROACH), L. (2017). LESSON PLAN STEPS (HERBARTIAN APPROACH).

Freenaleen.blogspot.com. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from
http://freenaleen.blogspot.com/2013/12/lesson-plan-steps-herbartian-approach.html]
1.3 Value of different steps in Lesson Planning

The easiest way to create a lesson plan is to use a lesson plan template. This will help you stay
prepared and organized.

 Objectives and Goals

 Anticipatory Set
 Direct Instruction
 Guided Practice
 Closure
 Independent Practice
 Required Materials
 Assessment

Effective Lesson Planning

Good lesson planning is essential to the process of teaching and learning. A teacher who is
prepared is well on his/her way to a successful instructional experience. The development of
interesting lessons takes a great deal of time and effort. As a new teacher you must be
committed to spending the necessary time in this endeavor.

It is also important to realize that the best planned lesson is worthless if interesting delivery
procedures, along with good classroom management techniques, are not in evidence. There is a
large body of research available pertaining to lesson development and delivery and the
significance of classroom management. They are skills that must be researched, structured to
your individual style, implemented in a teacher/learning situation, and constantly evaluated and
revamped when necessary. Consistency is of the utmost importance in the implementation of a
classroom management plan.

All teachers should understand that they are not an island unto themselves. The educational
philosophy of the district and the uniqueness of their schools should be the guiding force behind
what takes place in the classroom. The school‘s code of discipline, which should be fair,
responsible and meaningful, must be reflected in every teacher‘s classroom management efforts.

Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning

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.
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

[Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning | CRLT. (2017). Crlt.umich.edu. Retrieved 24 August
2017, from http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/p2_5]
1.4 Importance of activities in all kinds of lessons

Active learning is not a new concept. It "derives from two basic assumptions: (1) that learning is
by nature an active endeavor and (2) that different people learn in different ways" (Meyers and
Jones, 1993). When we discuss active learning in the classroom, it is with the understanding that
lecture is still important – the foundational knowledge required for students to be able to engage
in higher level thinking is essential. However, for the sake of maintaining student interest, and
facilitating meaningful, and eventually self-directed learning, it can be very helpful to vary the
teaching and learning activities you employ in the classroom. It is likely that you are already
using teaching and learning techniques that help students to engage actively with the concepts
you are teaching, and there are still more ways to expand the learning experiences you create –
some very low risk, some more complex, but all can be effective, especially if you establish this
pattern of interaction from the first day of your course.

Effective Learning Activities

There are a wide range of activities used both inside and outside the classroom that promote
active learning. While each discipline has traditional ways of teaching certain subject matter, and
activities used in seminars and large lectures may vary, the concept of "active learning" applies
in every discipline, in every class size. The types of activities you choose to use, however, might
be more applicable in some types of courses than other Some more complex forms of active
learning include service learning, problem-based learning, collaborative learning (team based)
and simulations. These can all be very effective, especially in upper level undergraduate and
graduate courses where holistic learning is emphasized and students are encouraged to think
about solving problems in ―real world‖ situations and learning skills relevant to their field.
However, there are many low risk, high benefit activities that you can use that require less time,
and can also be very effective, as demonstrated in the list below. Some are individual in nature,
some involve groups, some might progress from individual activity to group activity. Be
creative! [http://provost.tufts.edu/celt/files/activelearningtipsheet_march2010.pdf]
 Activities in Lesson Plan

Pre-activities

The pre-activities are what teachers and students need to do before beginning the lesson. They
may be as simple as prerequisites — concepts or topics that should already have been covered.
They may include activities that will help stimulate students‘ background knowledge of the
topic, refresh their memory of previous lessons related to this one, or teach critical vocabulary.
Or, they may list things the teacher needs to do to prepare to teach this lesson.

Activities

Activities explain step by step what the teacher and students will do during the lesson. They
should be as specific as possible. Consider the following:

 If the teacher is to explain something, note key points she/he should cover.
 Similarly, if there is to be a discussion, note the goals for the discussion — what conclusions
might or should students reach?
 If a teacher doesn‘t have certain materials or is pressed for time, are there steps that can be left
out?

[Effective Lesson Planning, Delivery Techniques. (2017). Kean.Edu. Retrieved 24 August 2017,
fromhttp://Www.Kean.Edu/~Tpc/Classroom%20management/Effective%20lesson%20planning
%20&%20classroom%20mgmt.Htm]

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