Lesson Plan Format*

School of Education
The College of New Jersey

Planning lessons has two purposes: first, the process of planning encourages deep thinking about the
elements of a lesson; second, the plan guides you while delivering instruction. Experienced teachers may
plan more informally, but novices need to create thorough plans that support them in delivering
effective lessons. There is no one correct way to plan a lesson, but during your field experience your
plans should contain the following elements:

● Grade Level & Title of the Lesson

o Grade 1: Making Paper Planes
● Standard (select the one that is most relevant)
o K-2-ETS1-2: Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape
of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
● Primary Lesson Objective (should match the standard)
o Build a paper airplane that is functional.
● Secondary Lesson Objective (if relevant)
● What will you listen for, look for, and/or collect to assess if students met the objective?
o Look for attentiveness during the lesson. Look for functional paper airplanes.
● How do you know students are ready for this lesson? How is this lesson connected to what the
students are already learning, to their prior knowledge and/or their interests?
o Students were introduced to engineering and topics of engineering in previous lessons. They
understand that engineers build structures and tools to help people.
● What new 1-3 vocabulary words will you teach or review?

Lesson Structure Script out what you will say and do.
If you create a slideshow, attach/hyperlink it.
Beginning Quick video of the view of an airplane taking off POV.
● Hook the students
● Contextualize the lesson Students will view a short video of an airplane taking off. The
● Explain what you are going to teach video shows a view of the wing of the plane.
them and why
Has anyone been on an airplane before?

What do you remember?

What did it feel like?

What did you see?

Or What do you think… if students have not been on a plane.

 Middle
● Teach the skill or strategy
● Give children hands-on work
● Review relevant responsibilities
● Think about early finishers
Question based approach.
What are the parts of an airplane?
How do they help an airplane fly?
How do they make passengers comfortable?

Students should respond with the parts of the plane that they
can see, and prior knowledge of what planes are like.

Airplanes can fly because of the wings. Even with the engines
on, planes rely on the force of the wind to push the plane into
the sky.

Now, let's build our own planes. Teacher will model step by
step how to make a paper airplane. At each step, ask the
students to hold up their plane. This will ensure that students
stay on track. Say something along the lines of:
“Okay, after you have finished this step, hold your planes up so
I can check.”

The best way to model this would be with a document

Closure
● Summarize the teaching point
● Encourage students to reflect on
their own learning
● Gather information on what they
have learned and/or are confused
camera if available.
At the end of the lesson, students can have a competition to
see whose plane flies the farthest. This can be done by
forming a line at one end of the classroom. Students can
throw their plane one by one. Take note of which plane goes
the farthest (and make sure they write their names on their
planes!).

Another way to do this is by going outside, if the weather

permits, and having the students form one line. Then, they
can all throw their planes at the same time to see whose
plane goes the farthest.

For this lesson, we are using the first method.

Then, we discuss why the planes that flew the farthest did so
well (wingspan, smoothness of the folding, etc.)

Review your lesson plan. Think about these things and add to your lesson plan as necessary:

● What multi-sensory and/or multi-media strategies will you use to help students understand
the material and engage with it?
o Students will watch a short video and have an open discussion. Then, they will create
paper planes with hands-on materials.
● Describe accommodations and adaptations for specific students with special needs.
 o Some students have extra space on the carpet in case they need to get their energy out.
There is also an exercise ball to the side that students are allowed to use. Those who
struggle academically have seats at the front of the carpet.
o Back at their desks, the students who struggle to remain attentive have accommodations
at their desks (such as a bar that they can kick attached to their seat).
● How will you group students?
o Students will be at the carpet for the hook, but at their desks working independently.
● What materials do you need?
o Blank printer paper
▪ best if cut into squares
o smartboard
o document camera
● What are the potential tricky spots? How will you pro-actively address them?
o The potential tricky spot is that students may not have prior knowledge with folding and
crafting. This can be addressed by modeling each step and checking in on progress.
● How will you manage transitions?
o Students will be called to the carpet after math and find their assigned seats. When
transitioning to the activity, the students will be sent back to their seats by table to work
on the activity.
● How are you addressing cultural and linguistic diversity?
o Students will be able to discuss with each other. ESL students will be able to speak
Spanish with their classmates if need be.
● In what other ways will you need to differentiate for the range of students in your class?

o There are 5 ESL students in the class, 2 of which barely speak English. As for dealing with
these struggles, the ESL students who struggle are sat with ESL students who are fairly
good at speaking English. When the students are confused by a word or have trouble
understanding something, they are able to communicate with each other, or ask
questions.

Reflection: This lesson was one of the smoother lessons amongst the unit. Folding the paper in the
correct spot came as a challenge to a lot of students seeing as this was not something that they have
done much in the past. After going back through and modeling where to fold and how to fold the paper,
students were able to correct their mistakes. I think that if I were to do the lesson again, I would maybe
split the students into groups and teach them how to fold the paper airplanes in those smaller groups (of
about 4-5 students). This way, there is no lost confusion.