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PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT * 2 HOURS * LEVEL 2

Page 6

Back-to-School Transition Tools for the Early Childhood Teacher

Lesson Planning
Along with classroom arrangement, teachers will want to plan out lessons well before students arrive. Good lesson planning is the foundation for effective learning. Properly planning out your lessons will help you stay organized and on track while teaching. This is beneficial not only for you, but for your students as well.  
At a minimum, each lesson you teach will need to have the following five things:
Picture
​Watermelon Sensory Paint Lesson Plan found at: http://www.lessons4learners.com/watermelon-sensory-paint-mi.html
1) Standard 
​Standards are criteria that identify what children are expected to know and do by the end of the year or time with you, or what is expected of the teacher. On top of that, there are two main types of standards, state and national (Common Core, CDA Competency Standards, etc.). Before you begin writing your lesson plans, you will want to find out what standards you will be using and become very familiar with them. Every lesson you create will need to have at least one standard. When you design your lesson plans, always begin with a standard you want to address. If you are unsure about what standards you should be using talk to your director, and they will be able to assist you. ​
Example of a standard:
CDA Competency Standard II.4.2a
  • Activities and materials encourage children of varying abilities to develop their small muscles
    • a) Individual fine motor skills are encouraged through a variety of developmentally appropriate materials and activities
​2) Objective(s)
Objectives are specific and measurable behaviors/actions that you want the child to accomplish by the end of the lesson. 
Example of an objective:
  • Student will successfully measure various objects with non-standard units.
​3) Materials
You will want to include a list of all of the materials needed to perform the lesson. Having this written down ahead of time will keep you more organized. Nothing is worse than having to scramble for a component on the lesson that you forgot, while still trying to manage all of your students.
4) Procedure 
The procedure portion on your lesson plans will give step-by-step instruction for what to do. Most likely, you will not be reading this list as you are teaching. However, this comes in handy if you have not taught the lesson in a while and have forgotten the instructions or if a licensor is reviewing your lesson plans.
5) Assessment 
Assessment or observations are used to determine if the child has met an objective and to what degree. Once you determine this, you will want to reflect on what to do next. Does the child need more practice or are they ready to use what they have learned to move on to the next task?
​Often, lesson plans will include additional information, such as differentiation if you have English Language Learners or Special Needs children. Whatever your situation, you will want to find a template that works for you and use it consistently throughout the year. 
​For examples of lesson plans, you can visit www.lessons4learners.com. This website provides activities that are developmentally appropriate for each age group (birth through school-age), including ideas for circle time, rhymes, songs and fingerplays.