Lesson Plan: Concept, Definition, Steps, and Importance of Lesson Plan

A lesson plan serves as the compass for educators, guiding them through the intricacies of teaching and learning. It encapsulates the essence of what will be taught, how it will be taught, and the anticipated outcomes. In the realm of education, crafting a lesson plan is akin to architecting a roadmap that empowers teachers to navigate the educational landscape with precision and purpose.

Concept of a Lesson Plan

An important part of curriculum implementation is to conduct planned teaching-learning activities. Effective lesson plan is one of the tools to manage this teaching-learning activity. Lesson plan is a deliberate, continuous process of smoothly executing classroom activities; classroom management can be easier through a quality lesson plan.

If the lesson plan is maintained, the teachers become proficient through reflection about their strengths and weaknesses in teaching, it can help to improve their success rate in the future.

Teachers design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. The lesson plan correlates with the teacher’s philosophy of education, which is what the teacher feels is the purpose of educating the students.

What is a Lesson Plan?

A lesson plan can be considered as the description of the various things that need to be taught to reach the goal and acquire learning outcomes within the specified activities and time in the classroom.

Some Definitions of Lesson Plan

1. A Lesson Plan is a written form of a systematic process designed to present a particular lesson.

2. A lesson plan is a road map or a guideline prepared by a teacher or instructor of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class time.

3. A lesson plan is the teacher’s guide for running a particular lesson; it includes the goal that the students are supposed to learn, the teaching-learning methods and procedures, and the way of assessing how well the goal was reached.

4. A lesson is a single activity or a series of activities designed by the teacher so as to achieve one or more instructional objectives determined, or desired in promoting positive change in the learner.

5. A lesson plan is a detailed description of the instructional strategies and learning activities to be performed during the teaching-learning process.

6. According to Collins Dictionary, “Lesson plan is a plan, used by teachers in a school, detailing the structure and format of lessons”

Definition of Lesson Plan by Authors

1. According to Binning and Binning, “Daily lesson planning involves defining the objectives, selecting and arranging subject-matter and determining the method or procedure.”

2. According to Bossing, “Lesson plan is the title given to the statement of the achievements to be realised and the specific means by which these are attained as a result of activities engaged during the period.”

3. According to Monroe, “Lesson plan is the name of a statement of the things a teacher proposes to do during the period he spends with his class”.

Components of Lesson Plan

A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates three key components:

1. Learning Objectives

2. Learning activities

3. Assessment to check for student understanding

Steps of preparing lesson plan

A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the needs of the students. There may be requirements mandated by the school system regarding the plan.

Six Steps of Lesson Plan

Most of the teachers and teacher educators think there are six steps of a successful lesson plan. Six steps of lesson plan has been mentioned below—

1. Identify the learning objectives

2. Plan the specific learning activities

3. Plan to assess student understanding

4. Plan to sequence the lesson in an engaging and meaningful manner

5. Create a realistic timeline

6. Plan for a lesson closure

Five Steps of Herbartian Lesson Plan

Herbart advocated five formal steps in teaching: 

1. Preparation— a process of relating new material to be learned to relevant past ideas or memories in order to give the pupil a vital interest in the topic under consideration.

2. Presentation— presenting new material by means of concrete objects or actual experience.

3. Association— thorough assimilation of the new idea through comparison with former ideas and consideration of their similarities and differences in order to implant the new idea in the mind;

4. Generalization— a procedure especially important to the instruction of adolescents and designed to develop the mind beyond the level of perception and the concrete.

5. Application— using acquired knowledge not in a purely utilitarian way but so that every learned idea becomes a part of the functional mind and an aid to a clear, vital interpretation of life. This step is presumed possible only if the student immediately applies the new idea, making it his own.

Importance and benefits of Lesson Plan

A Lesson Plan has certain definite functions to perform which are indispensable in good teaching. The Importance of Lesson Plan are as follows:

1. Lesson plan gives the teacher greater assurance and greater freedom in teaching.

2. Lesson plan provides for adequate lesson summaries, ensures a definite assignment for class, and availability of materials for lesson when needed.

3. Lesson plan helps a teacher in sequencing of activities and tasks in teaching.

4. Lesson plan helps to determine appropriate instruction aids, methods and references.

5. Lesson plan stimulates the teacher to introduce pivotal questions and illustrations.

6. Lesson plan establishes proper connections between different lessons or units of study

7. Lesson plan provides and encourages continuity in the teaching and teaching process.

8. Lesson plan enables the teacher to know the most desirable type of teaching procedures and to prepare tests of progress and checks for judging the outcomes of instruction.

9. Lesson plan prevents waste because it helps the teacher to be systematic and orderly.

10. Lesson plan saves a teacher from haphazard teaching.

11. Lesson plan helps a teacher to determining evaluation or assessment process i.e. how the learner shall be deemed to have acquired the desired chance of behaviour or mastery of content and/or skills.

Reference

1. Collins Dictionary. (n/a). Definition of ’lesson plan. From https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/lesson-plan 

2. Himansgu, M. (n/a). What is the Importance of Lesson Planning?. Preserve Articles. from https://www.preservearticles.com/education/what-is-the-importance-of-lesson-planning/27946 

3. Sarkariguider.in. (2021) lesson plan: Meaning/ Definition, Examples & How to prepared. from https://sarkariguider.in/lesson-plan-meaning-definition/ 

4. Singapore Management University. (n/a). Lesson Planning. Centre for Teaching Excellence. from https://cte.smu.edu.sg/approach-teaching/integrated-design/lesson-planning. 

5. The Open University. (2020. Definition of a lesson plan. Open Learn Create. from https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/page/view.php?id=165697 

6. মিজান, মু. মি. র. (2021). পাঠ পরিকল্পনা: পাঠ পরিকল্পনার সংজ্ঞা এবং হার্বার্টের পঞ্চসোপান ও আধুনিক ত্রিসোপান. (Bangla) বিশ্লেষণ. from https://www.bishleshon.com/2030/