Good Lesson Plans

 It is so easy to find lessons on the internet for various topics in Math but not all of them are good.  In addition, schools either have exact forms they want you to use for your lessons or they leave it up to you.  My last school left it up to me, so I threw everything on a spreadsheet for the week with few details only because it wasn't demanded.

I have books on differentiating lesson plans, universal design, backward design, and just about every other hot topic but what things do you want in a lesson plan to make it a good one for math.  The first thing to remember about writing a good lesson plan is that each lesson is connected to larger topic so things should not be taught in isolation.

Although most of us are given math books complete with pacing guides, quiz and test books, and everything else we need, they don't always include ways the topic is connected with the real world, or tied to other subjects.  The books tend to teach topics in isolation.

It is always good to start the lesson with a warm-up or a bell ringer to help get students into a "mathematical" mindset.  This is where I use open ended questions or ones that require higher thoughts.  I love Esti-mysteries by Steve Wyborney because the kids end up quite involved.  He is also the inventor of "Splats" which also require some higher level thinking.

Next is the direct instruction to introduce new material or review previously taught material.  Although we want students to practice learning things on their own, it is important for teacher to include direct or explicit instruction.  it is recommended you do not spend more than about 15 minutes with this part of the lesson or students will begin to tune you out.

One thing many teachers forget is having students read the textbook before teaching the actual lesson.    Many students arrive in high school without learning to really read a textbook or if they have read textbooks, they've read them the same way you read a textbook in English.  They start at the beginning and go to the end of the section.  It is worth taking time during direct instruction to teach students how to read a math textbook and practice it through the year.

After this students practice the topic but not necessarily with a lot of closed problems.  Practice should include scaffolded instruction using manipulatives, one on one instruction, peer tutoring, or small groups.  As they become more confident, then move the assignments to being more pen and paper.

Then students should work independently or in larger groups to complete the assignment.  This is where you might give each student a problem to complete and include an explanation of how they did the problem on google slides or even flip grid.  This is also the part of the lesson where the teacher might ask students how they arrived at an answer, what was difficult about solving the problem, or could they convince the teacher the answer is correct?  Be sure to include open ended problems so students can move past simple solving into including communications.

Finally, finish with a time of reflection which could be done via some sort of math journal.  The reflection for the student might include questions on how they think it might be used in the real world, or to discuss what they still don't understand, or what they had trouble with.

During both the independent or group work, students should be practicing their communication skills.    This means they need to practice expressing ideas both verbally and in written form.  If they cannot explain it using either, then they really do not understand the material as well as they should.

Once the lesson is taught, the teacher should go through and reflect on how well the lesson went.  There are always things we can fine tune to make the lesson better and more important.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.