Lesson planning – “5 minute lesson planning”

Plan your lesson not so much with teaching in mind, but with learning being
the first and foremost consideration.

Thinking stage 1 – thinking about the learning in the lesson

Choose and define your overall aim then think about three things:

1. Warmer – to get the pupils warmed up and to create a good, dynamic

and engaging start to the lesson. These should be slick and well
controlled. A fruitful area for co-operation between teachers of parallel
classes (files of suitable activities?)

2. Objectives – to make it very clear exactly what is going to be

addressed in the lesson.

3. Learning outcomes – so you know exactly what the pupils will learn
in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills.

Warmer

A short (5-10 minute) high-involvement activity. A solitary thinking activity or

possibly a paired/group activity with a well-defined outcome. Specifically
linked to the rest of the lesson (leading in to lesson or re-activates knowledge
or skills which will be required) or simply a quick revision of previous
work/little puzzle/reinforcement of the things which need to be repeated “a
little and often”. Warmers should be short, snappy and engaging.

Objectives

What the pupils will learn

Think very carefully about how you can make three very clear and meaningful
objectives. An objective is a hook (of knowledge, understanding, attitude or
skill) which pupils can use to hang the rest of their learning from. Objectives
are frequently written on the following stems:

 know/realize that … (knowledge, facts, formulae, equations, etc)

 understand how/why … (concepts, reasons, etc)
 be able to … (skills, techniques, manipulations, analyses)
 be aware of … (attitudes, principles, values, etc)

Objectives should ideally be written on the board in the upper left-hand visual
field.
Learning outcomes

These are not synonymous with objectives. Learning outcomes are defined in
terms of what all pupils, most pupils and some pupils will have learned by the
end of the lesson. All pupils will be expected to achieve all objectives. The
differences will lie in the amount of learning (=differentiated learning
outcomes) that each pupil will be able to attach to each of the objectives.

Thinking stage 2 – thinking about the teaching part of the lesson

PPR (Presentation, practice, resources)

Presentation – prepare a large range of presentation techniques which can

be adapted to different material. Most teachers know ten or more, but only
regularly use about four of them. It may be helpful to discuss this with
colleagues.

Practice activities – prepare a very large range of practice activities which

can be adapted to any topic. Discussion with colleagues will be helpful again
here.

Stick these lists of activities on the wall above your desk or in your lesson
plans file. You need to be able to consult these quickly to make sure you
keep using the full variety of techniques you know and don’t get stuck in a rut
using just the ones that are your favourites.

Resources – know the textbook well and be aware of all the supplementary
materials that your department and the library has to offer. Spend time
getting to know what exists already to avoid time wasted reinventing the
wheel. There should be a departmental list of supplementary resources.

Making your lesson plan – the “architecture” of a lesson

A clear shape to a lesson makes life much easier for you and the pupils.
There are three clearly identifiable stages:

1. Warmer (approx 5 mins)

2. Main teaching activity (approx 30 mins)
3. Plenary session/review (approx 5 mins). The three objectives are
checked for understanding. Pupils may keep a learning log as part
of this process in order to reflect upon their learning. You may ask
what they found enjoyable or boring, easy or difficult, relevant or
irrelevant. Ask what strategies they used to learn and what
strategies they might use in the future to improve their learning.
Other factors to consider:

Different learning styles: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic (VAK) – see NJF for
more information. You need to include elements in the lesson which are
going to appeal to all these three learning styles.

The formula for learning:

 See it
 Hear it
 Say it
 Do it

Pupils should get the opportunity to use their own personal amalgam of VAK
learning styles and

 read and see pictures, diagrams, realia, etc

 hear you and others talk about the details
 express their own ideas, opinions and feelings
 manipulate things and/or ideas to create something of significance
using their new learning or revision

Plus homework is an important consideration.

Summary

Aim + 3 objectives
Presentation techniques + Practice activities + Resources
Warmer Body of lesson Plenary
Homework

 Think about learning first and foremost

 Do your thinking first
 Think about your aims, 3 objectives, learning outcomes and the
warmer
 Remember PPR: Presentation techniques, Practice activities and
Resources
 Have a range of different presentation techniques ready to use
 Have a range of practice activities to use
 Have an intimate knowledge of the resource materials available for you
to use
 Make posters of PPR and put them on the wall above your desk

Summarised from Michael Papworth’s Every Minute Counts.

NJF
28.08.06