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Looking for lesson plan templates to get you started with your own preschool lesson plan or for primary, secondary, or higher education? Well, you are at the right place.
Just like every other educator out there, you need to come up with a lesson plan to help you give a basic structure of the class or the live session you are going to deliver. Proper lesson planning begins with having some learning objectives in place, which can help you organize your instructional materials and prepare the best learning activities for your students.
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In this article, you will learn how to create a lesson plan and will get access to free printable lesson plan templates that you can use right away.
Let’s go!
- 1What is a Lesson Plan?
- 2Examples of Lesson Plan Types
- 3What Are the Basic Components of a Lesson Plan?
- 4Ready to Plan Your Next Lesson?
What is a Lesson Plan?
There are many types of lesson plans that allow you to structure your class material effectively. Creating a lesson planner just for a single session to use for a one-off activity for a small group, may take up to a whole day, a week, a month, or constitute an entire course.
Luckily though, blank lesson plan templates can be of huge help here!
They can help to categorize a lesson plan as either detailed, semi-detailed, or understanding by design (UbD):
- Detailed: a detailed plan includes what you will teach, presenting both the teacher planner and student activities.
- Semi-detailed: a semi-detailed plan is less complex and offers a general game plan of what you want to cover on a particular day or lesson.
- Understanding by design (UbD): this is more of a reversed engineering model, as it focuses on evaluating the outcomes before creating curriculum units for students.
Overall, these are the most common types of lesson plans to use:
Type #1: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly Lesson Plan
A daily, weekly, or monthly lesson plan outlines all the activities you plan to do and all the content you have lined up until the end of the day, week, or month. At the end of each class, the lesson plan prepares students for what the next class will be about and lists any assessments that need to be completed, e.g., exercises, chapter exams, projects, etc.
This type of lesson plan can help you maintain a routine and keep track of your teaching schedule, conform to any state standards, and is handy for distance learning. This type of lesson plan falls in the detailed lesson plan structure.
Type #2: Unit Lesson Plan
Another way to plan your instruction is by using a unit lesson plan. With unit planning, you list all lesson objectives along with a projected time frame of completion. Each unit offers certain activities and learning experiences using many types of learning that make up a systematic method of instruction on a subject matter (e.g., social studies, physical science, and so on).
Although unit lesson plans tend to follow a systematic approach, there is some flexibility in what is covered each day. As such, it falls in the semi-detailed lesson plan structure.
Type #3: Topic or Subject Lesson Plan
A lesson plan is structured around a specific topic or subject and falls in the detailed lesson plan format. Whether this is Science, Maths, English, Music, Art, or any other specialty, it can be used to offer thorough knowledge in a specific academic subject or a professional niche.
Type #4: Elearning Lesson Plan
An elearning lesson plan offers a structure that is broken down into smaller parts that helps students make sense of the information presented. It can either be detailed or semi-detailed.
But, since online lessons don’t have the immediacy of classroom lessons, there is a lot a teacher needs to do to convey this. Using several a number of interactive media like visuals, video, and audio in your activities can help students get the most out of the lesson and keep them engaged at all times.
As you can see, each lesson plan is different, and as a teacher, you need to experiment with other formats to find out which works best for you and matches your teaching style.
While you are at it, you also need to also think about the learning curriculum. This needs to be appropriate for the grade level you are teaching and should work along with the geographical standards set by the country where you teach.
For example, if you are a teacher in K-12 education (elementary to high school education) and live in the US, you will need to ensure your teaching materials meet the Common Core* standards.
*Common Core is a set of high-quality standards used in maths and English language arts/literacy (ELA), and they outline what a student needs to know and be able to do at the end of each level.
What Are the Basic Components of Lesson Planning?
As the teacher’s guide for running a lesson, a lesson plan includes the goal(s) of the lesson – this is what the students need to learn by the end of the class, the method that describes how the goal will be achieved, and finally, the way of measuring how the goal was achieved, usually through a test, a worksheet activity, or homework.
A lesson plan ensures that you approach the teaching process effectively and is summed up with the following steps:
Step 1: Set the learning objectives
First, you will need to identify the lesson objectives. Ensure these are clear and follow a logical order that is easy to understand and helps students identify meaningful concepts and ideas.
A learning objective is what you want students to learn by the end of the class. It’s essential to communicate the importance of the lesson you are teaching, focusing on your learning objectives to encourage students to put in the time and effort required.
Step 2: Identify the needs of the students
Let students know what you expect from them; however, make sure you are prepared to help them along the way. Not every student is the same, and some might need more encouragement or help from you than others.
Make time for such interventions or check-ins in your lesson plan. Doing so will give them the motivation to actually go through the lesson, ask questions, follow your guidelines, and finally complete the assessments (e.g., any assignments you have prepared) with more ease.
Step 3: Plan your teaching material
Most teachers may take this for granted, but creating a list of all the resources you will need can help you be more prepared.
From stationary like a pen or paper to technology equipment like laptops, software, or gamified learning tools like apps or any educational website, all these can help you get the most out of what you intend to do with your teaching.
Step 4: Present the outline of the lesson
Throughout the lesson, your goal is to keep students engaged. An outline can help them develop a context around the subject you are teaching, letting them know what is coming next, and encourage them to relate to the learning materials at hand. Don’t forget to draw relevant examples of events or develop creative activities that spark interest and attention.
Step 5: Instruct the lesson
After you have come up with the material you want to instruct, it’s time to start teaching. As you go through the lesson plan, follow the order and present the resources you need, but also make sure to involve students in this process.
For example, if you are teaching maths, ask a few students to participate by solving a problem or ask a student a specific question.
You may use as much multimedia as you want to facilitate engagement and give a wealth of examples students can relate to easily – from simple PowerPoint Slides to exciting graphics on a computer. What’s important here is presenting information in a meaningful way.
Step 6: Give students time to practice
Once you finish your instruction, it’s the students’ turn to take the lead. Ask them to show what they have learned through practice.
To help them out, start with a guided practice – allowing students to make sense of the information they have just received, then follow with the collaborative process – let students work in groups to explore main concepts and finish with independent practice – giving each student time to work on their own through an assignment (e.g., worksheet, an essay).
Step 7: Do a wrap-up
As the lesson comes to an end, do an overview of what has been discussed and what students have learned. Ask them to tell you the key takeaways of the lesson, identifying main ideas and conclusions. Assign homework duties and give them a preview of the next lesson to prepare them.
Step 8: Evaluate the lesson
Once the lesson is over, determine whether the learning objectives have been met, and ensure that students understood what you taught through a small quiz, test, or exam. The results should give you enough insight into students’ understanding and will help you decide whether the class needs a review or not so that you are ready to move on to the next lesson.
Just like there are many types of lesson plans, there are also many ways to create them.
We have prepared a comprehensive set of unique lesson plan templates in PDF format to help you gather some inspiration to structure your own lesson plan.
You will find the following lesson plan templates in the PDF:
- Daily Lesson Plan Template
- Weekly Lesson Plan Template
- Monthly Lesson Plan Template
- Unit Lesson Plan Template
- Common Core Plan Template
- ESL Lesson Plan Template
- Simple Lesson Plan Template
All of these are editable lesson plan templates that you can check out and adjust easily.
Download the templates now!
Every template in this list works as a guiding framework for addressing important lesson information like learning materials used, essential questions, learning goals, activities, evaluation, feedback, and you name it.
Choose the sample of lesson plan that you prefer and make any adjustments to suit your learning style.
Alternatively, you can find free lesson plans templates on Microsoft’s PowerPoint or for Google Docs or in tools like Canva and Venngage, to name a few, and create yours from scratch.
Ready to Plan Your Next Lesson?
When it comes to elearning, creating a clear-structured lesson plan is always helpful. It enables optimized classroom management, sets the mood, introduces the lesson’s learning objectives, and prepares you and your students for success!
Having access to sample lesson plan templates can also make the creation process easier and quicker. So, take advantage of our free printable lesson plan templates to guide your online instruction and begin putting together your next well-crafted lesson plan.
If you are ready to plan your next lesson and deliver it to students using LearnWorlds, make sure to get your 30-day trial for free today!
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Kyriaki Raouna
Content Creator at LearnWorlds
Kyriaki is a Content Creator for the LearnWorlds team writing about marketing and e-learning, helping course creators on their journey to create, market, and sell their online courses. Equipped with a degree in Career Guidance, she has a strong background in education management and career success. In her free time, she gets crafty and musical.
