A lesson plan is an extremely useful tool as a guide, resource and historical document reflecting the teaching philosophy. What to teach, in what order, for how long, are the components etc., are clearly defined in the lesson plan. It is a detailed description of the individual lessons that a teacher plans to teach on a given day, developed by a teacher to guide instruction throughout the day. It is a method of planning and preparation.
A lesson plan traditionally includes

• the name of the lesson
• the date of the lesson
• the objective the lesson focuses on
• the materials that will be used, and
• a summary of all the activities that will be used.

Lesson plans are excellent set of guidelines for substitute teachers. Kelly defined lesson plan as a frame work of road map, which each teacher creates using an individual style. A good lesson plan is the one that sees the big picture, but included detailed information for each activity .

Elements of lesson plan

Objective(s): While easy to ignore, identifying objectives from the beginning will vastly simplify instruction and assessment.
Activities: The meat of your lesson plan will be the various activities you use to teach students what you want them to learn.
Time estimates: Including a time estimate for each activity allows you to divide your unit plan into days and periods of time.
Required materials: Spend some time writing down exactly what materials you need for each activity so that you will be better prepared for your lesson.
Alternatives: It is always wise to plan ahead for absent students, especially if a large part of your plan is a simulation that can be hard to make up for those who miss it.
Assessments: Decide in the beginning how you are going to assess your students to help focus instruction on what the students actually need to learn. Unit plans are a good way of organizing teaching. The beauty of putting together a unit plan is that can go back and adjust activities as you get a better picture of the time needed for each day’s lesson. A lesson plan is a tool of writing used as a guide in delivery of a lesson. It contains the key goals and time-lines to be used to achieve an effective delivery of the lesson content.

Importance of a lesson plan

• It is a one step backward two steps forward approach. Although can be difficult to do and requires tonnes of effort to accomplish at first, it enables you to save much time in the coming years, since the lesson plans that is just made can be employed over and over again, but If updates are necessary do so though.
• It allows to manage y time, effort and resources efficiently.
• It gives you a bird’s eye of view of things to be taught and learned everyday.
• It provides the teacher many ways to keep the teaching process not monotonous andredundant. Keep in mind that the time your students spent in paying attention to the class is just equivalent to half of their age, and a lesson plan is the best way to keep the interests of students and pupils interests all throughout.
• Since it is like a script in movies, lesson plans makes teaching mundane and easy.
• It makes organized teaching.
• One can able to determine when to insert icebreakers and interesting facts and lessons to keep student and pupils glued to their lessons.
• Variations in the activities are easily whipped up which will benefit your students. Bear in mind that are dealing with a class that has multiple intelligence, and different activities will cater to all types of students and pupils.
• Lesson plans will easily help to achieve your goals and objectives, and same can be saidon the part of your students or pupils.
• Lesson plans helps to get rid of problems or avoid them.
• It gives a reality check of everyday performance.
• It improves the habit and attitude of students or pupils.
• It definitely improve teaching skills.

Components of a lesson plan

The easiest way to create a lesson plan is to use a lesson plan template.
This will help you stay prepared and organized.

• Objectives and Goals
• preventative Set
• Direct Instruction
• Guided Practice
• conclusion
• Independent Practice
• Required Materials
• Assessment

Principles for good lesson planning

An ideal lesson plan should be

• Divided into Units. All the relevant steps of (i) knowledge lessons (ii) skill lesson. (iii) Appreciation lessons should find a place in an ideal lesson plan. Each lesson should be divided into suitable units so that the pupils may understand them gradually.
• Objective based. It must be based on one or the other objective. Objective should be written and define clearly.
• Contain appropriate teaching aids. Correct decision regarding the charts, graphs, pictures, diagrams and maps should be taken. These should be marked at proper place, which a teacher is suppose to use while teaching.
• Based on Previous Knowledge. To avoid any difficulty in acquiring new knowledge by the pupils, an ideal lesson plan should be based on their previous knowledge.
• Simplicity of Language. The simplicity of the lesson plan and clarity of thoughts should be according to the mental level of the pupils. The lesson plan should be subject-oriented, not language-oriented.
• Time-sense. An ideal lesson plan is prepared according to the mental level of the pupil and the duration of periods. The adequate time should be assigned for every teaching step .
• Use of Black-board. The black-board summary of each and every unit is written on the black-board immediately after teaching in small but complete sentences.
• Use of Illustrations. Examples are used having relevance with the daily life of the pupils. This depends upon the comprehensive knowledge and experience of the teacher.
• Individual Guidance. The technique and occasion of providing individual guidance to the pupils is indicated .
• Use of Strategies, Tactics, Techniques. To use appropriate strategies or methods, tactics, techniques and aids in order to classify the events and facts which occur in different situations the teacher has to gain the knowledge of maxims of teaching and general principles of teaching.
• Correlation. A possible correlation occurs to enable the pupils to acquire the knowledge as a whole.
• Determination of Activities. An ideal lesson plan should make clear what activities a teacher and the pupils are suppose to perform. They should
• Evaluation. There is a mention of the method of knowing the influence on the pupils. This involves evaluation of the methods used by the teacher.
• Home Work. There is a provision of home work to enable the pupils to learn the application of the acquired knowledge.

Steps for preparing a lesson plan:

• Outline learning objectives
• Develop the introduction
• Plan the specific learning activities (the main body of the lesson)
• Plan to check for understanding
• Develop a conclusion and a preview
• Create a realistic timeline

(1) Outline learning objectives

• The first step is to determine what you want students to learn and be able to do at the end of class. To help you specify your objectives for student learning, answer the following questions:
• What is the topic of the lesson?
• What do I want students to learn?
• What do I want them to understand and be able to do at the end of class?
• What do I want them to take away from this particular lesson?

Once you outline the learning objectives for the class, rank them in terms of their importance. This step will prepare you for managing class time and accomplishing the more important learning objectives in case you are pressed for time. Consider the following questions:

• What are the most important concepts, ideas, or skills I want students to be able to grasp and apply?
• Why are they important?
• If I ran out of time, which ones could not be omitted?
• And conversely, which ones could I skip if pressed for time?

(2) Develop the introduction
Now that you have your learning objectives in order of their importance, design the specific activities you will use to get students to understand and apply what they have learned. Because you will have a diverse body of students with different academic and personal experiences, they may already be familiar with the topic. That is why you might start with a question or activity to gauge students’ knowledge of the subject or possibly, their preconceived notions about it. For example, you can take a simple poll: “How many of you have heard of X? Raise your hand if you have.” You can also gather background information from your students prior to class by sending students an electronic survey or asking them to write comments on index cards. This additional information can help shape your introduction, learning activities, etc. When you have an idea of the students’ familiarity with the topic, you will also have a sense of what to focus on.

• Develop a creative introduction to the topic to stimulate interest and encourage thinking. You can use a variety of approaches to engage students (e.g., personal story, historical event, thought-provoking dilemma, real-world example, short video clip, practical application, probing question, etc.). Consider the following questions when planning your introduction:
• How will I check whether students know anything about the topic or have any preconceived notions about it?
• What are some commonly held ideas (or possibly misconceptions) about this topic that students might be familiar with or might espouse?
• What will I do to introduce the topic?

(3) Plan the specific learning activities (the main body of the lesson)

Prepare several different ways of explaining the material (real-life examples, analogies, visuals, etc.) to catch the attention of more students and appeal to different learning styles. As you plan your examples and activities, estimate how much time you will spend on each. Build in time for extended explanation or discussion, but also be prepared to move on quickly to different applications or problems, and to identify strategies that check for understanding. These questions would help you design the learning activities you will use:

• What will I do to explain the topic?
• What will I do to illustrate the topic in a different way?
• How can I engage students in the topic?
• What are some relevant real-life examples, analogies, or situations that can help students understand the topic?
  What will students need to do to help them understand the topic better?

(4) Plan to check for understanding

• Now that you have explained the topic and illustrated it with different examples, you need to check for student understanding – how will you know that students are learning? Think about specific questions you can ask students in order to check for understanding, write them down, and then paraphrase them so that you are prepared to ask the questions in different ways. Try to predict the answers your questions will generate. Decide on whether you want students to respond orally or in writing ,you can also ask yourself these questions:
• What questions will I ask students to check for understanding?
• What will I have students do to demonstrate that they are following?
• Going back to my list of learning objectives, what activity can I have students do to check whether each of those has been accomplished?
  An important strategy that will also help you with time management is to anticipate students’ questions. When planning your lesson, decide what kinds of questions will be productive for discussion and what questions might sidetrack the class. Think about and decide on the balance between covering content (accomplishing your learning objectives) and ensuring that students understand.

(5) Develop a conclusion and a preview
Go over the material covered in class by summarizing the main points of the lesson. You can do this in a number of ways: you can state the main points yourself (“Today we talked about…”), you can ask a student to help you summarize them, or you can even ask all students to write down on a piece of paper what they think were the main points of the lesson. You can review the students’ answers to gauge their understanding of the topic and then explain anything unclear the following class. Conclude the lesson not only by summarizing the main points, but also by previewing the next lesson. How does the topic relate to the one that’s coming? This preview will encourage students’ interest and help them connect the different ideas within a larger context.
(6) Create a realistic timeline
A list of ten learning objectives is not realistic, so narrow down your list to the two or three key concepts, ideas, or skills you want students to learn. Instructors also agree that they often need to adjust their lesson plan during class depending on what the students need. Your list of prioritized learning objectives will help you make decisions on the spot and adjust your lesson plan as needed. Having additional examples or alternative activities will also allow you to be flexible. A realistic timeline will reflect your flexibility and readiness to adapt to the specific classroom environment. Here are some strategies for creating a realistic timeline:

• Estimate how much time each of the activities will take, then plan some extra time for each
• When you prepare your lesson plan, next to each activity indicate how much time you expect it will take
• Plan a few minutes at the end of class to answer any remaining questions and to sum up key points
• Plan an extra activity or discussion question in case you have time left
• Be flexible – be ready to adjust your lesson plan to students’ needs and focus on what seems to be more productive rather than sticking to your original plan

Essentials of a good lesson plan:

• It should be written
• It should have clear aims
• It should contain suitable subject matter
• It should include summery
• It should refer to reference material

Model lesson plan:

General subject	Photoshop
Subject of lecture	Image editing process
Lecture number	One
Prepared by	B. Spandana
No of participants	5
Type of participants	Students
Duration	45 minutes
Aim	After the lecture, the students or the trainers should able to edit image
Source material	Books and Internet
Main teaching aids	Computer

lecture  outline
Sub head of the topic	Duration for each sub head	Content to be covered in each sub head	Time required to cover the content	Teaching aids required
Introduction	3 minutes	Concept	3 minutes	–
Body of information	37 minutes	Image editing process Image editing tools Editing an image using tools	7 minutes 10 minutes 20 minutes	Computer loaded with adobe Photoshop software LCD projector
Summary and questions	5 minutes	Over view of image editing What are the uses of image editing?	5 minutes	–

References:

http://www.slideshare.net/martianne21/lesson-plan-lesson-planning?related=1
http://uofa.ualberta.ca/graduate-studies/-/media/gradstudies/professional-development/gtl-program-and-related-resources/teaching-resources/lessonplanning2014.pdf

Assignment

1. Collect different models of lesson plans; compare and contrast them.
2. Make a literature survey with regard to role of lesson in achieving learning o bjectives.