Appendix D: Lesson Plan Guide

Subject/Grade level:
Unit topic (if applicable):
Lesson goals:
Lesson title or topic:
Estimated length of lesson:

TEKS Standards: Why are you doing this lesson? What TEKS or Pre-K Guidelines are you addressing? List the subject
area(s) and TEKS number(s), and write a brief description of the TEKS/Guidelines being addressed.

Learning Objective(s): What are the specific instructional objectives? What should students know or be able to
do as a result of the lesson? Describe in terms of observable behavior.

Academic Language: What academic language must students develop to grasp the central focus? What is the essential
vocabulary?

Grouping: Is the activity for whole class, small groups, learning stations, individuals, etc.? If students are working in pairs or
groups, how will you decide on placement?

Materials: List everything you will need to do the lesson, including materials for students to complete the activities,
written materials and handouts, resource books for students, videotapes, etc.

Resources: Cite the source of information used to plan the lesson (e.g., other teachers, textbook, teacher’s guide, journals,
teachers’ web sites, etc.). List all specific technology tools needed, including any preparation, development, or checkout
procedures needed. For each resource, present the rationale for why each is vital to support learning (e.g., why this resource
for these TEKS in this way?)

Connections to Other Subjects: What content subjects will you integrate in the lesson? How will you integrate literacy with
the content subjects in the lesson?

Gradual Release of Responsibility: A lesson design that progressively shifts responsibility for learning from the teacher to
the students. The lesson begins with teacher modeling of the lesson objective; this is the “I do” section of the lesson. Next
the teacher plans guided student practice whereby students are given the opportunity to practice the lesson objective in
whole group & small group activities. The teacher facilitates learning during this phase with guided support; this is the “we
do” section of the lesson plan. Then the teacher plans independent student practice activities whereby students apply the
learned lesson objective in a variety of ways. The teacher informally assesses student learning during this phase of the
lesson; this is the “you do” section of the lesson plan.

Instructional Procedures (including differentiation and targeted support)

Completely describe the flow of the lesson, the content to be presented, the pedagogies to be used, and media/technology
tools to be integrated. When designing your lesson, consider the following questions during the introduction, body &
closure of the lesson.

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 o Introduction: How will I begin the lesson? How will I establish a purpose for the lesson? How will I link the lesson
to prior knowledge? Will I review yesterday’s lesson, pose a problem, ask a question, do a demonstration, tell a
story, etc.?
o Teacher Modeling: How will I model the lesson objective for students? What questions will I ask to engage
students in higher order thinking?
o Body of the Lesson: What activities will I plan for students to do? How will I transition students from one activity
to another? This will vary according to the design and purpose of the lesson, but you should be sure to include
enough detail that someone else could take your plan and teach the lesson.
o Guided Practice: How will I provide guided student practice of the lesson’s objective? How will I group students
for guided practice? How will I differentiate learning based on individual and group needs? How will I support
students with gaps in prior knowledge to be successful in this lesson? How will I check for understanding during
guided student practice?
o Independent Practice: How will I plan independent learning activities for students to apply the lesson’s learning
objective? How will I ensure that students completely understand directions before releasing them to work
independently? What will students do if they finish their independent work early?
o Conclusion (closure): How will I conclude the lesson (bring closure)? How will I review important information of
concepts? How will I help students pull together what they have learned so they can take it with them? How will
you informally assess students’ learning of the lesson objective? Reflecting on the lesson afterwards, what went
well; what did not go well; and what changes would I make to the lesson?

Assessment: You need to vary your assessment methods to include both formative & summative assessment of student
learning. Before the lesson, review diagnostic assessment information to understand your students’ strengths &
weaknesses. When planning an assessment consider the following questions:

o How will you assess how well the students are meeting the objectives during the lesson?
o How will you assess how well the students have achieved the learning objectives?
o How will you provide feedback to support student learning?

Accommodations/Modifications/Enrichment: Accommodations change how the lesson is taught, but do not change the
curriculum itself. Modifications change the curriculum, based on students’ IEPs. Enrichment enhances the curriculum.

- Special Needs Learners

o Modeling (I do it.): Teaching using think-aloud to reveal to students the strategic thinking required to solve a
problem. The teacher models the skill three times. The teacher demonstrates and describes the skill
performance.
o Demonstration: Teaching using physical objects to clarify the content and to support kinesthetic learning.
o Guided Practice (We do it.): Working problems together with the students. Working the problem step-by- step,
and the students are working with the teacher at the same time. Guided practice is a dynamic component in
lessons.
o Checking for Understanding (CFU): Checking all students’ levels of understanding throughout each lesson to
track learning and adapt instruction appropriately during instruction.
o Independent Practice (You do it.): Having students practice what has been taught while it is being taught.

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- English Language Learners

o Preparation
- Use the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) to write clear content and language objectives
based on students’ proficiency levels.
- Adapt content (e.g., text, assignment) to all levels of student proficiency
- Plan meaningful activities that integrate lesson concepts (e.g., surveys, letter writing, simulations,
constructing models) with language practice opportunities for reading, writing, listening, and/or speaking

o Instruction
- Explicitly link concepts to students' backgrounds and experiences
- Emphasize key vocabulary (e.g., introduce, write, repeat, and highlight) for students
- Use speech appropriate for students' proficiency level (e.g., slower rate, enunciation, and simple sentence
structure for beginners)
- Use a variety of techniques to make content concepts clear (e.g., modeling, visuals, hands-on activities,
demonstrations, gestures, body language)
- Provide ample opportunities for students to use strategies, (e.g., problem solving, predicting, organizing,
summarizing, categorizing, evaluating, self-monitoring)
- Use scaffolding techniques consistently throughout lesson
- Use a variety of question types including those that promote higher-order thinking skills throughout the
lesson (e.g., literal, analytical, and interpretive questions)
- Provide frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion between teacher/student and among students
about lessons concepts, and encourage elaborated responses
- Use group configurations that support language and content objectives of the lesson.
- Provide sufficient wait time for student responses consistently.

o Review/Evaluation
- Give a comprehensive review of key vocabulary.
- Give a comprehensive review of key content concepts.
- Provide feedback to students regularly on their output (e.g., language, content, work).
- Conduct assessments of student comprehension and learning throughout lesson on all lesson objectives
(e.g., spot checking, group response).

- Gifted and Talented

Identify specific strategies you will use to extend instruction, such as more challenging tasks, extensions that require in-
depth un-coverage of content, expanded investigation in related topics of the learner’s choice, open-ended tasks, or
projects.

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