HOW TO WRITE A LESSON PLAN

A lesson plan is a way of communicating what you want to do and how you plan to
achieve it. There are many formats to write a lesson plan, but the most important
characteristic is to describe, in detail, your best way to achieve something (objective). It
is like saying, there are many ways to get to Cuzco, but in my opinion, this is the
shortest and most efficient way. What process and materials you use depend on
available resources and time.
Lesson Plan Format
Teachers Name
Unit
Activity Type

Course
Lesson (page)
Duration

a) Lesson Objective
Indicate what is to be learned. This must be a complete objective. Limit your
objective to one verb.
Examples of verbs you can use: describe, compose, identify, label, name,
predict, etc. (For more information visit http://www.adprima.com/verbs.htm and
http://edtech.tennessee.edu/~bobannon/helpful_hundred.html)
An objective statement must specify two things: what the students will learn to
do (using the behavioral verb) and what language feature they will use.
Examples:
To describe the furniture of a room by using there is/are.
To offer invitations by using would you like to + verb?To predict the future by using the modal will.
To describe ongoing actions by using the present continuous.
b) Lesson Development
b.1) Warm up (time)
This includes a description of how you will introduce the lesson to the
students.
b.2) Description of the Learning Process (time)
This is a step-by-step description of what actual techniques you will use.
Include what specific things students will do during the lesson and how you
plan to finish it (wrap up).
A simple way to wrap up the activity, for example, would be to review or ask
the students what they have learned.
b.3) Application (time)
Indicate the activities and materials that will be used to make sure Ss
understood the lesson and can produce, reinforce and extend what was

learned. You can also include in this part the description of homework,
assignments, projects, etc.
b.4) Assessment/Evaluation (time)
How will you measure the students success? Formally or informally?
Formal evaluation of student work requires that a grade is taken while
informal might be monitoring of work, or class discussion. Describe how
you will determine the extent to which students have attained the objective.
Be sure this part is directly connected to the behavior called for in the
objective.
Sometimes the lesson assessment is disconnected from the behavior
indicated in the objective. An assessment in a lesson plan is simply a
description of how the teacher will determine whether the objective has been
accomplished. It must be based on the same behavior that is incorporated in
the objective.
For example, if in the objective you included the verb describe, then a
multiple choice exam would probably not be an appropriate form of
assessment since in such an exam there is no room for description.
c) Materials and Equipment
List all materials and equipment to be used by both the teacher and learner and
how they will be used. Do not include what you usually use in all classes such
as the textbook, board, chalk or audio) Refer to the additional material that you
bring to class.
d) Problems and solutions
Anticipate what problems Ss might have and provide a solution to them (e.g.
problem: Ss might not find the appropriate words to express their feelings. One
way to solve this problem is to provide a list of adjectives using the board).

A word of caution: a lesson plan states the activities you plan to do in order to achieve an
objective, but in most cases a lesson plan is not blindly followed due to several factors. In
any case, a lesson plan serves the purpose of guiding the teachers actions towards a
specific objective. How you get to this objective depends on the circumstances and your
experience.
Taken from http://www.adprima.com/mistakes.htm, http://edtech.tennessee.edu/~bobannon/lesson_plan.html,