Planning lessons…without
trying to teach teachers
to suck eggs!
Phil Smith Foundation Strand
Consultant Bury LEA
By 5.30pm we will have looked
at…
• How could I sharpen my own focus on what
my lesson objectives are?
• How could I start to improve the ways I
share these with the pupils more
effectively?
• How can I prepare realistic but useful lesson
plans to help with this?
A London secondary pupil
“Something strange was about to happen. Homework
started being returned to us on time. And instead of
the odd, unhelpful tick and crosses, teachers were
filling our schoolbooks with constructive comments.
Each piece of homework is now returned with a cover
sheet. On the smartly-printed form, the teacher
summarises our work, lists positive points and suggests
how we can improve.
How do their brains work?
Could you pass this “alternative”
I.Q. Test? 1. How do you get a giraffe into a
fridge?
2. How do you get an elephant into a
fridge?
3. At the Lion King meeting all the
animals in the forest had to attend.
All except one, which one?
4. You are near a lake inhabited by
fierce crocodiles. How do you get
across since there is no bridge, boat
or any other form of transport?
A London secondary pupil
Lessons have taken on a new dimension. Each
one now has an “objective” written on the
whiteboard at the beginning of the class.
Teachers stand at the front of the class,
waving their hands more enthusiastically. They
used to look bored, now they look nervous.
Alan Kerr on lesson planning
“When did you last notice your dentist
suddenly stop drilling and start flicking
through a pile of A4 sheets detailing
every step for filling a cavity? Or a
builder carefully consulting a ring binder
every time he throws a shovelful of sand
into his mixer? And if they did we would
be worried.
The obsession with detailed lesson plans is
out of control…it has been elevated into
an over-elaborate and unnecessary
ritual…good lessons do not require massproduced plans on a laptop.
"We know that teaching does not simply produce learning."
Professor MacBeath, during his
time on the government's
Taskforce for Education.
A KEY principle in the
KS3 Strategy
• Sharpens the focus on teaching and
learning
• Therefore can help to raise
standards
• Shifts the emphasis from what pupils
DO to what they LEARN
Short-term lesson
planning
• During the session we will look at a variety of
(i) Useful planning formats for busy teachers
(ii) Write useful lesson plans that are
straightforward, quick and manageable
What lesson planning is
not…
• They should not be over detailed
• They should avoid complicated formats
• They should not simply repeat material
from the medium-term plan (scheme of
work)
• They should not take too much time and
energy…otherwise they become counterproductive
Objective-led lesson
planning…the alternative
route
• See KS2 video of Maggie
You have to start with the historical pull,
motivational lift and conceptual focus of the
enquiry question and then move backwards into
individual lesson objectives.
W= We
A=Are
L=Learning
T=To…
explain who cares about
Charles I and why
W=What
I=I’m
L=Looking
F=For
In today’s lesson is for you to
(i)Remember why three historians care about
Charles I
(ii) Choose from a list of sentences some of the
things they may have said about Charles I
(iii)Start to explain why they said these things
about Charles and the Civil War
T=This
I=Is
B=Because
(i) Next week we will be analysing why historians
and film makers tell the same story of Charles
in very different ways
(ii)Later on we will be trying to write our own
storyboard of the execution of Charles I and
seeing just how difficult it can be!
Being clear about the plan
for the lesson helps…
Some possible answers might include…
• Structure their lessons
• Build on previous lessons and learning
• Share the objectives of the lesson with
pupils
• Assess pupil achievements
• Develop effective assessment for learning
Being clear about the plan
for the lesson helps…
Some possible answers might include…
• Make lessons more inclusive and address a
range of needs
• Make better use of classroom support
• Make explicit the key strategies they wish
to use
• Address the key questions they need to
ask
Being clear about the plan
for the lesson helps…
Some possible answers might include…
• Highlight key vocabulary/concepts/skills
• Focus on targets for raising standards,
including literacy, numeracy and ICT
• Set homework
Sharing objectives with
pupils
• Lesson Objectives…what is taught and
learned-what the pupils should know,
understand, be able to do, or to be aware
of as a result of the lesson
• The BIG Picture…the broad purpose of the
lesson which may directly refer to longerterm objectives/targets and how the
lesson links to other lessons
Explaining learning
objectives to pupils
But the pupils hear it as
Teacher wants pupils to find out
the role played by different parts of
the digestive system
“What I am looking for is whether
you can explain the journey of food
from entry to exit using the names
for each body bit. This will help
you understand how your body
works
The role of Learning
Intention Grids to sharpen
medium term planning
Know
that…
All pupils
will
Most
pupils will
Some
pupils will
Understand
how/why
Be able to
Learning Intention Grids
help teachers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The role of the learning intentions grids…aim high
"Pull the other one"…
Alan Shearer's teacher when he said he wanted to
be a footballer
"You'll never get anywhere playing that kind of stuff"
Mark Knopfler's teacher
"The biggest no talent I have ever worked with."
On Buddy Holly
"Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a little."
On Fred Astair
"You ought to go back to driving a truck."
On Elvis Presley
"Will never be generally read" on Emily Bronte
"He is totally unsuitable for English football" Howard
Kendall on Eric Cantona
"A singular lack of drawing ability" on Walt Disney
Task-led planning is not the
same as objective-led
planning
• Complete Task 3
• Answer Questions 1-6
• Draw a diagram
Select
By the end of the lesson pupils
will be able to…
Extract
Give
examples
of…
Relate
Choose
Connect
Link
Explain
Illustrate
Show the
relationship
between
Explain the
relationship
between
Comment
upon
Remember
Recall
Ask
questions
about
Choose
questions
that
Prioritise
Create
headings
Refine
headings
Justify
Justify
their
thinking
concerning
Explain
their
thinking
concerning
Compare
Contrast
Reflect
Support
Support a
view that
Evaluate
Weigh up
Create and
construct
Define
Analyse
Join up
Shape
Organise
Reconsider
ACTIVITY..
See Handout 3.2
• Get into pairs
• Each pair should have teachers from
different subject areas
• Take it in turns to take the role of
the teacher and then pupil in order
to test whether the objectives can
be clearly understood
What should be the key
elements of good lesson
plans
• Brief BUT have
• Lively, challenging and rigorous enquiry
questions…(these help to highlight key concepts
and skills/develop cognitive dialogue and
interaction/provide evidence for informal, ongoing
assessment)
• Lesson objectives which can be shared with pupils
• A clear structure for the lesson
What should be the key
elements of good lesson
plans
• Brief notes on key questions and
teaching points
• Brief notes on specific activities
• Brief notes relating to SEN/G&T
• Note on how you will use additional
support
What should be the key
elements of good lesson
plans
• Reference to any new/revisited
vocabulary
• References to relevant resources
• Homework to be set
Structuring lessons
(See Handout 3.3)
Successful lessons include
(i) Crisp starts
(ii) Exposition and explanation
(iii) Activities which build on this
(iv) Opportunities to consolidate and apply their
learning and express it in a range of ways
(written/visual/ physical/auditory/oral)
(v) Plenaries during and at the end of a lesson
to check progress and for pupils to reflect
on what they have learned and how they
have learned it
Lesson plan formats…see
Handouts 3.4 and 3.5
• All of these are potentially useful
formats
• They contain some of the key
elements of good lesson planning
• The more detailed plans serve a
particular need and are not a
requirement of all lesson plans
Activity…See Handout
3.6
• Spend a couple of minutes analysing
each lesson format
• Make notes on 3.6
• How effective is each one in
addressing each of the key elements
• Make a judgement about which one
you prefer and why
Strengths and
weaknesses
Strengths
Weaknesses
A sample of effective thinking before
teaching a lesson not from the
Foundation Strand folder!
1. Long-term planning context
Comment on the part the lesson plays in long-term progression of
subject specific learning. What subject specific concepts, skills,
knowledge, understandings does it address?
2. Medium-term planning context
Enquiry question:
Any learning issues arising from events of previous lesson?
3. Lesson objectives
By the end of this lesson pupils will be able to:
A sample of effective
thinking before teaching a
lesson
4. Introduction
(i) motivate, intrigue, gain attention (e.g. use “hook”, create atmosphere or
puzzle, energise with starter activity); (ii) make links with prior
learning; (iii) set out direction, scope or goals of lesson, including the
role in medium-term plan e.g. by fascinating pupils about the enquiry
question (iv) communicate high expectations
5. Development
Main teaching points, pupils’ learning activities, your main interventions
(substance, style, timing and purpose of those interventions).
A sample of effective thinking
before teaching a lesson
6. Conclusion
Pupils should be clear about what they have achieved. How will you
create a sense of collective pride in achievement? A conclusion
should involve a plenary. It can include fun, interactive
activities for pupils that help them to consolidate learning or
see the lesson in a fresh or intriguing light.
7. Homework
Clear, achievable, challenging. It should secure worthwhile
preparation for or consolidation of historical learning. Vague
bits of finishing off, leaving some pupils with nothing to do, are
unacceptable.
8. Evaluation
Evaluate against each objective. Comment on the evidence of pupils’
historical learning in how they spoke, wrote, listened, reacted
etc
What practical things
could you do next
• See Handout 3.8
• Think about the lesson plans that you
currently use and decide what
aspects of your department’s lesson
plans you like and which you think you
can develop
Ready for more?
• As a department, review and, if
appropriate, revise the planning
format for lessons to ensure that it
addresses the key elements of
lesson planning in a manageable
way.
• Revise a week’s lesson plans to
ensure there is a clear focus on
objectives and an indication of the
evidence needed to demonstrate
what pupils have learned.
Ready for more?
• Question pupils during the lessons to check that:
(a) they understand the lesson objectives;
(b) they can explain how they will know when they have
achieved them.
• Make sure that objectives are referred to during plenaries.
• Try different ways of introducing lesson objectives, for example
through whole-class discussion, whole-class questioning,
writing them on the board, providing them on cards.
Module 3 Planning lessons
“I'm not suggesting we abandon
objectives-in fact, they are very
helpful: it’s much easier to teach if
you know what you’re supposed to
be teaching. But somehow we have
forgotten that raw objectives can
be turned into something more
enjoyable, wrapped up in childfriendly drama, art, music, song,
play…”
Sue Palmer 6th Dec 2002