Lesson vs Unit Plans

Too often, teachers run out of time and loose track of the unit plans, focusing instead on the day to day lesson plans.   Units are the topics connected by a common thread while lesson plans are for one part of the unit.  Units take two to three weeks while lesson plans are taught daily.  By looking at the unit topics first, it makes it easier to plan the lessons so the material is covered in the correct order.

Unit Plans should have the topics, skills needed, desired outcomes, standards they meet, connections to other topics or real life, links to big ideas, identify past learning that connects to current learning, questions for daily learning, expectations, necessary vocabulary, and planned assessments for pre, during, and post unit.

It is suggested one create an outline beginning with the academic goals for the unit.  It helps to identify what students know and what they should know at the end of the unit, determine how long it will take to cover the material, and then select the textbook pages and other materials needed to teach the unit. The idea is to enhance learning.

The lesson plans are what is used to teach students the material of the unit.  It is suggested teachers plan each lesson with complete detailed information so they know exactly what they are teaching and what the students are expected to learn each day.  In addition, the detailed lesson plans are easy to implement by a substitute should the teacher be absent.

Furthermore, the lesson should be designed so students know why they are learning the material and it should have some sort of hook to capture their interest.  There should be something to check on what they already know before teaching the lesson.  Before teaching the main lesson, teachers should check for misconceptions by activities such as having students look at problems done incorrectly and then identify what was not done correctly.

One thing that is often suggested is to have student learn to do the problems using guided practice before having them work independently.  At the end of the lesson, review, recap, and bring the lesson to a close.  The lesson plan should include how much time is being spent on each part of the lesson along with specifics of the activity.

It is also important when teaching vocabulary to include both mathematical and non mathematical meanings.  Furthermore, one should use and reuse the vocabulary through the unit so that students learn the meaning and are able to use the terms properly.

When you give students time to brainstorm, do warm-ups, or other type of activity, it has been suggested the teacher use a timer so the lessons keeps moving instead of dragging at points and not covering everything that day.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.