What is a lesson plan?

A lesson plan is a roadmap teachers create to structure daily activity in their

classrooms. It outlines what students will learn during each class period, how the
lesson will be taught and how student progress will be measured.

Typically, a lesson plan is a document about one or two pages in length, split into
different sections that describe what will happen during each day in the classroom.
While no two look exactly alike – the specifics will change depending on the subject
being taught, the grade level, the teacher, the students and the school – effective
plans share the following key components:

 Lesson objectives: what students will learn or be able to do after the lesson

 Materials: the resources needed to support their learning
 Learning activities: the activities students participate in to achieve the lesson
objective
 Time requirements: the amount of time set aside for each learning activity
 Related requirements: how the lesson lines up with national, state or school
standards
 Assessment: how teachers will measure student learning
 Evaluation and reflection: a summary of what worked, what didn’t and why

Lesson plans are a core component of teaching, and part of a broader series of
classroom organization and management tools. They cover just one lesson,
compared to other kinds of plans that cover a whole unit, subject or curriculum. If a
curriculum is like a world map, a lesson plan is like the directions that get you from
point A to point B.