Creating Effective Lesson Plans

Effective lessons require careful planning and include research-based instructional methods. There are several popular frameworks that can be used to guide the instruction design process. Although these frameworks differ in some regards, they have some commonalities as well.

In this video, we will describe some common frameworks for designing instruction. We will also describe some commonalities among these frameworks that can be incorporated when creating lessons.

First, let’s explore each framework individually. As they are introduced, consider what common elements they share, though they may be referred to using different names.

Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction

Educational psychologist Robert Gagné is known for outlining nine events of instruction which address the sequence of behaviors of both teachers and students during instruction. These events can be used to guide lesson design.

Madeline Hunter’s Lesson Plan Format

Educator Madeline Hunter outlined a lesson plan format containing seven key components.

1. First, the teacher shares the learning objectives with students. This includes what students will learn and how they will demonstrate learning.
2. Next, the lesson begins with an anticipatory set, also known as a hook, to activate prior knowledge and gain students’ interest.
3. The teacher models the new knowledge or skills, known as the input. This is mapped out in a series of logically sequenced steps to facilitate learning.
4. Modeling is followed by informal checks for understanding to determine if students are ready to move on to the practice portion of the lesson.
5. Students then complete guided practice activities under close supervision of the teacher. Feedback is provided.
6. This is followed by independent practice. The teacher is available for questions, but the amount of scaffolding and supervision is reduced.
7. The closure is the final component of the lesson, where key points are reviewed and students are encouraged to reflect upon their learning.

Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction

Educational researcher M. David Merrill outlined five principles necessary for effective instruction, drawing upon generally accepted commonalities in other frameworks and models.

Components of Effective Lesson Plans

As you can see, though the authors of the frameworks use some different terminology and groupings, there are many common components that each incorporate into effective lesson design. These components can be used to guide the lesson-planning process.

First, lessons should begin with an introduction that activates students’ prior knowledge and engages them in the lesson, making them want to learn more. During a lesson on seasons, for example, a teacher may ask students to share their favorite activities and traditions in each season to activate prior knowledge.

Next, students should be informed of the learning objectives in a student-friendly way. They may be shared in “I can” statements, such as, “I can explain the weather changes in each season.”

This is followed by the main instructional content, often in the forms of modeling, demonstrations, examples, and nonexamples. Incorporating Universal Design for Learning principles, the content should be presented using multiple means of representation. In the lessons on seasons, students may examine weather reports from different times of the year and view images of the same location during different seasons.

Instructional content should be grouped into manageable chunks and follow a logical sequence, with frequent knowledge checks included to check for understanding.

This is typically followed by guided practice, where students practice their new knowledge or skills under close supervision by the teacher, who is there to address misunderstandings promptly and provide feedback. The guided practice should be varied and gradually increase in difficulty, with scaffolding removed over time. A guided practice activity may involve having students sort weather characteristics by season or complete a Venn diagram comparing two seasons.

After students have demonstrated success on guided practice activities, they move on to independent practice, with minimal support. In accordance with Universal Design for Learning principles, students should be given choices in how they demonstrate their learning. For example, students may create a travel guide for a destination describing what visitors should expect during each season based on weather conditions.

Students should also be encouraged to apply their learning to real-life activities and situations.

While these components are key parts of lesson design, it is important to note that some lessons may require a more flexible approach. For example, problem-based learning activities may be less formally structured to allow for more self-directed learning.

Review

Let’s review what we’ve learned in this video.

• There are multiple well-known frameworks for designing instruction, including Gagne’s nine events of instruction, Madeline Hunter’s lesson plan format, and Merrill’s first principles of instruction.
• These frameworks have many commonalities that can be used to guide the lesson-planning process.
• Common components include activating prior knowledge, informing students of learning objectives, modeling new knowledge and skills, guided practice, independent practice, and application to real-world experiences.

Before we go, let’s go over a couple of review questions.

Questions

1. Ms. Landis is teaching her students how to solve division problems with remainders. She shares the objective for the lesson and reviews how to solve problems without remainders. Next, the class explores some real-world situations where this new skill is needed. Ms. Landis then models how to solve several division problems with remainders, increasing in difficulty over time and stopping to ask questions to gauge understanding. Finally, she assigns homework that requires students to solve this type of problem independently. Which main component of the lesson did Ms. Landis omit?

 
2. What links exist between the lesson plan formats discussed in this video and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development?

 
That’s all for now! Thanks for watching, and happy studying!