UNIT EIGHT: LESSON PLAN

UNIT 8

LESSON PLAN

Dear student you are welcome to new Unit 8. This Unit is on Lesson Plan

Indicators:

• Prepare lesson note for teaching Science

Activity 1:

• What is a Lesson Plan?

8.1       MEANING OF LESON PLAN / LESSON NOTES OR EXPANDED SCHEME OF WORK

A lesson plan is simply an outline prepared in advance of teaching so that the time and the materials will be used effectively.

A lesson plan can be described as a programme of activities that guide the teaching techniques that would be followed.

Lesson planning is an individual exercise. Lesson plan may differ according to types of subjects, lesson, teachers, learners, administrators and supervisors.

Activity 2:

gathering, analysing and decision making (Yekple 2005)

• State and discuss two general considerations in preparing lesson notes and plans

8.2       GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS IN PREPARING LESSON NOTES/PLANS

In writing notes, the following should be considered:

1. What does the teachers wants the pupils to learn? To answer this question, refer to the basic resources: the syllabus, teacher’s handbook, the pupil textbook. These basic materials will help the teacher to prepare a clear lesson objective that will guide the content and flow of the lesson.
2. Where should the teacher start? To answer this question, the teacher will need to find out what the pupils have learned so far in the subject, to make sure the pupils have sufficient background to be able to follow the lesson. This involves conducting relevant previous knowledge that should be part of the introduction of every lesson.
3. How will the teacher get there? To address this question, use a step by step approach to plan the teacher and learner activities that will occur during the lesson. The more detailed and well thought out these steps are, the greater the chance for a successful lesson.
4. How will the teacher know if the children have achieved the objective of the lesson? To answer this question the teacher needs to set questions or exercised toward the ends of the class session that allow pupils to demonstrate whether or not they have learned. Both the teacher and the pupils need to know if the intended learning has been achieved. If pupils have not learned the materials, the lesson or parts of it must be re-taught, possibly using different methods and activities.

Activity 3:

• Mention and explain five specific steps in preparing good lesson notes/plans

8.3       SPECIFIC STEPS IN PREPARING GOOD LESSON NOTES

1. Examine the topic in the syllabus for the subject.
2. Develop an overall scheme of work for the term which divides the syllabus into smaller units to be covered in the weekly forecast for the subject.
3. Select the topic to be taught in the lesson notes, based on the scheme of work, with reference to the syllabus, pupils’ textbook and teachers’ handbook.

4. Write specific instructional objectives for that lesson;
5. Find out what the pupils already know about the subject matter;
6. Select appropriate instructional method and procedures
7. Decide what teaching and learning materials to use for good delivery of the lesson.
8. Decide how to assess the puplils to find out if the objectives have been achieved.

Activity 4:

• What is scheme of learning?

8.4       THE SCHEME OF LEARNING

A scheme of learning is a plan, which ensures that the content of the syllabus provided by a certain period of time for instance a term is taught within that period. This entails breaking the topics in the syllabus into smaller units and assigning a duration of time within which each unit will be covered.

The units are arranged in such a way that those that provide pre-requisite learning are planned before subsequent ones.

Usually, the duration within which each unit should be completed is a week.

Activity 5:

• State and explain any five (5) factors influencing the preparation of scheme of learning.

8.5       FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PREPARATION OF A SCHEME OF WORK

The teacher must consider the following factors when he is planning a scheme of work:

1. The syllabus
2. The age of the students
3. The social, physical, intellectual, emotional and moral development of the students. i.e. the students’ abilities.
4. The needs of the students. These include both felt and unfelt needs.
5. The number of students in the class
6. The time available for teaching
7. The previous and/or background experience of the students, in learning science
8. To determine the effectiveness of instructional methods and materials
9. To discover individual problems and weaknesses
10. To determine how to group students for instruction in view of individual differences.
11. To determine the progress of each individual.
12. To determine the extent to which instructional goals are being achieved.

Activity 6:

• State and explain any importance of scheme of learning.

8.6       IMPORTANCE OF SCHEME OF WORK

1. It helps the teacher to know in advance the amount of work he has to do in each term, week and day.
2. It enables a substitute teacher to know where to continue in the absence of the class teacher.
3. It serves as a record of work for the periods.
4. It puts the syllabus into its natural, logical sequence.
5. It ensures that the teacher base his/her teaching on the approved curriculum or teaching syllabus but not on any other syllabus.
6. It helps the teacher to allocate appropriate time for teaching topics in a syllabus. This helps him to cover all or greater part of the syllabus.

7. It helps teacher to select teaching aids, materials, tools and equipment which will enable him to teach the selected topics effectively.

Activity 7:

• Draw the suggested scheme of learning for an academic term in a basic school.

8.7       SCHEME OF LEARNING FOR AN ACADEMIC TERM

The suggested format for writing the Scheme of Learning (SOL) for a given term (see excerpt in Table

2) requires listing the strands, sub strands, the content standard reference number and the associated indicators.

The template has also made provisions for indicating the resources requires to teach each week’s lessons

Table 2: Template for Writing Scheme of Learning for a Given Term

Week	Strands	Sub-strands	Content indicator	Indicators	Resources
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Activity 8: Draw the following:

1. Daily lesson plan template
2. Weekly lesson plan template

8.8       TEMPLATE FOR PLANNING DAILY LESSON AND WEEKLY LESSON

8.8.1    Template for Planning Daily Lesson

Date:                                  Period: Time: Class:                                 Class Size:			Subject   Strands   Sub-Strands
Content Standard		Indicator:		Lesson 1 of 2
Performance indicator			Core Competencies
Keywords:
Phase/Duration	Learner Activities			Resources
Phases 1: Starter   (preparing the brain for learning.

 

 

10 minutes
Phases 2: Main   (new learning including assessment) 40 minutes
Phases 3: Plenary/   Reflections (learners and teacher) 10 minutes

 

 

8.8.1    Template for Planning Weekly Lesson Plan

Learning Indicator (s) (Ref. No.)
Performance indicators
Week Ending
Reference
Teaching/Learning Materials
DAY	Phases 1: Starter (preparing the brain for learning. 10 minutes		Phases 2: Main (new learning including assessment) 40 minutes	Phases 3: Plenary/ Reflections (learners and teacher) 10 minutes
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

 

 

5

 

Activity 9:

1. Discuss the features of daily and weekly lesson plans

8.9       FEATURES OF DAILY AND WEEKLY LESSON PLANS

8.9.1    The Three Phases of The Lesson Plan

Weekly lesson plan (referred to as lesson plan) based on this scheme of work must be prepared for the associated indicators to the content standard to be achieved. The lesson plan does not have to be lengthy. What is important is to make sure they contain the main elements of the lesson. They are meant to guide instructional activities so teachers can maximise classroom time.

Teachers must understand how to arrange the different learning activities in the indicators into a logical progression of learning for young children. To do this effectively is recommended that lessons in primary schools should comprise the following three phases of learning activities:

• Phase 1: Starter (preparing the brain for learning)
• Phase 2: Main (new learning including assessment)
• Phase 3: Plenary/Reflection (Learner and teacher)

he starter sets the tone. Activities which engage learners get them thinking and provide a clear focus on learning, creates a purposeful atmosphere in which the teacher is in charge and the students are ready and willing to work. As learners are learning a new game, song, rhyme and the related concepts, it may be necessary to go a little slower. However, teachers should quickly pick up the pace so that learners become faster and faster at accessing these important concepts. The goal is to maintain a lively pace and provide an energetic start to the class.

It is important to review and reinforce concepts covered in previous weeks or classes as part of the starters. For these reason, the weekly scheme of work outline short, fun games and activities teachers can do to reinforce understanding. Teachers should strive to do at least short starter activities per lesson.

The bulk of the main (new learning including assessment) phase in a lesson plan should be devoted to having all learners:

• Explore the new beginning areas for the day
• Work in pairs or groups to carry out differentiated tasks
• Work with resources or tools to carry out differentiated tasks
• Share and discuss their result and strategies
• Develop relevant core competencies (i.e problem solving, critical thinking, communication, digital literacy, collaboration etc.)

In addition to the above, and for the purpose of assessment, in each lesson, time should be set aside for learners to work independently or collaboratively on problems. During this time, the teacher should move around, look at and check learners’ work

The Plenary/Reflection phase is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on and consolidate the learning that has happened in the day’s lesson. They can also be used to introduce ideas that will be visited in the next lesson forming a bridge for continuous learning. Ideally, an effective plenary.

• Usually occurs at the end of a lesson but can also be used at other points in the lesson. If appropriate.
• Brings the whole group together to participate
• Is used by the teacher (and to an extent by the learners) to check on learning so far and to identify any misconception that need to be recreated.
• Direct students to the next phase of learning.
• Help learners to understand not only what they have learned, but also how they learned it.

Note: always finish on time so that you don’t miss out the plenary in your lesson plan. It should be very clear to any observer that learners have made progress in learning and can demonstrate it. Where insufficient progress has been made it should be clear what the plan of action will be used to addressed this next lesson. One of the most common criticism is that teachers don’t use assessment outcomes top inform future planning. Make it clear that you can see what each and every learner and what the next steps are to secure progress.

8.9.2    Some Components of the Lesson Plan

• Week Ending: this refers to the date of the last day of the working week for which the notes are meant. The working week starts on Monday and ends on Friday.
• Subject: this refers to the particular subject(s) for which the lesson notes are prepared e.g

Mathematics, Integrated Science, Ghanaian Language, Environmental Studies etc.

• Reference: this term refers to the various sources from which the teacher gathers information for the lesson. Such sources include but are not limited to the stipulated textbooks, Teacher handbook and syllabus. A statement of reference should include Title, Chapter, Unit or Text, Lesson and page number of books.
• Day/Date/Duration: It is the particular day and date of the week for which a lesson is meant.

The duration is a specification of the length of time allocated to the lesson. E.g. 30 minutes, 60 minutes.

• Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs): Teaching and Learning Materials refer to the specific items that  the  teacher should  be use  during  the lesson  to  explain  concepts  and information presented to the pupils. These are: concrete objects and other materials that the teacher and pupils should use in the course of the lesson to facilitate teaching and learning processes. Materials can include physical objects such as countess; charts; maps; pictures; etc. which the teacher might exhibit and refer to during the lesson
• Strands are the broad areas/sections of the science content to be studied
• Sub–Strands are the topics within each strand which the content is organized
• Content Standards refers to the pre-determined level of knowledge, skill and/or attitude that a learner attains by a set of education.
• Indicator is a clear outcome or milestone that learners have to exhibit in each year to meet the content standard expectation. The indicators represent the minimum expected standard in a year.
• Exemplar: support and guidance which clearly explains the expected outcomes of an indicator and suggests what teaching and learning activities could take, to support the facilitators/teachers in the delivery of the curriculum.
• Assessment
• Key Words
• Core competencies: Core competences describe a body of skills that teachers at all levels should seek to develop in their learners. The competences presented here describe a connected body of core skills that are acquired throughout the processes of teaching and learning. Core competences include the following:
• Critical thinking and Problem solving (CP)
• Creativity and Innovation (CI)
• Communication and Collaboration (CC)
• Cultural Identity and Global Citizenship (CG)
• Personal Development and Leadership (PL)
• Digital Literacy (DL)

Activity 10:

• Mention and discuss any two advantages of using a lesson plan.

8.10     IMPORTANCE OF LESSON PLAN

1. It helps the teacher to present the materials systematically and in a logical order
2. It helps to direct the teacher’s attention to methods of teaching
3. It helps to make the teacher more confident in front of the class
4. In the absence of the teachers from school, the lesson plan enables any other teacher to take the lesson
5. A lesson plan shows the extent of the teacher’s preparedness for the lesson.

Activity 11: Prepare a Science lesson plan using your own sub-strand.

8.11                 SAMPLE WEEKLY LESSON PLANS

8.11.1  LESSON PLAN 1

WEEK ENDING:		6th Week Ending  21st February, 2020
CLASS		Three (3)
SUBJECT		Integrated Science
REFERENCES		M.O.E (2019), Science Curriculum For Primary Schools (Basic 1 –3) Accra-Ghana, NaCCA, p.66
LEARNING INDICATOR		B3.5.1.1.1
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:		Learners can describe ways of keeping the environment clean
STRAND		HUMANS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
SUB-STRAND		Personal Hygiene and Sanitation
TEACHING/LEARNING RESOURCES		School surrounding, cutlass, rake, hoe, broom, scrubbing brush, mop, detergent (OMO), and bucket of water.
CORE COMPETENCIES:		Critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and communication,
DAY	PHASE 1: STARTER (10MINS) (Preparing The Brain For Learning)		PHASE 2: MAIN (40 MINUTES) (New Learning Including Assessment)	PHASE 3: PLENARY / REFLECTION (10MINS) (Learner And Teacher)
TUESDAY DATE 18/02/2020	–    Learners  sing  songs  and  recite familiar rhymes. –    Learners tell what they do to keep the home and school clean.		–      Learners go for a nature walk around the school compound to observe clean and dirty area in the environment. –      Learners brainstorm on the definition of sanitation. –      Learners  explain  the  need  to  keep  the compound clean. Assessment (i)   Learners define sanitation (ii) Learners give three (3) importance of keeping our environment clean.	What have we learnt today?       Learners summarize the main points in the lesson.

WEDNESDAY DATE 19/02/2020

Learners sing songs and recite familiar rhymes.

–      Learners  identify  the  correct  materials used in keeping the compound clean. Example;  Broom,  Hoe,  Rake,  Cutlass, Dust bin, and others. –      Learners demonstrate ways of keeping the compound clean in groups. Assessment (i)    Mention   three   (3)   materials   used   in keeping the compound clean. (ii) State four (4) ways of keeping the compound clean.

–   Review the lesson with learners. –   Learners talk about what was interesting and made meaning to them in the lesson.

 

8.11.2  LESSON PLAN 2

 

WEEK ENDING:		2nd Week Ending 24th January, 2020
CLASS		CLASS: Four
SUBJECT		Integrated Science
REFERENCES		M.O.E (2019), Science Curriculum For Primary Schools (Basic 4 – 6) Accra-Ghana, NaCCA, p.24
LEARNING INDICATOR		B4.1.2.2.1
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:		Learners  will separate mixtures using the appropriate methods
STRAND		Diversity of matter
SUB-STRAND		Materials:  Mixtures
TEACHING/LEARNING RESOURCES		Empty bottles, gari, salt, sand, nails, magnet, powdered chalk, water, maize with chaff, improvised funnel and beaker, tomato tin, coal pot and stirrer.
CORE COMPETENCIES:		Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Personal development and Leadership, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
DAYS	PHASE 1: STARTER (10MINS) (Preparing The Brain For Learning)		PHASE 2: MAIN (40 MINUTES) (New Learning Including Assessment)	PHASE 3:    REFLECTIONS 10MINS (Learners And Teacher)
THURSDAY 23/01/2020	Brainstorm learners on the activities they do  in the house which involve the mixing of two or more things.		–     Learners discuss the meaning of mixture. –      In group of five learners prepare different types of mixture with the aid of a work sheet. –      Learners discuss their observations and identify other types of mixtures.	Ask learners what they have learnt today.

FRIDAY 24/01/2020

Learners recite a rhyme to begin the lesson. “Gari, esikyire, nkatse……………”

–     Learners identify types of mixtures given –      Learners discuss how the mixtures given could be separated. –      Learners separate mixtures using the appropriate method. –     Learners mention some uses of mixtures. Assessment:  Learners define mixtures; identify the types of mixtures and separate mixtures using appropriate methods.

Learners summarize the important points of the lesson.

 

8.11.3  LESSON PLAN 3

WEEK ENDING:	6th Week Ending 21st February, 2020
CLASS	Six (6)
SUBJECT	Integrated Science
REFERENCES	M.O.E (2019), Science Curriculum For Primary Schools (Basic 4 – 6) Accra-Ghana, NaCCA, p.64
LEARNING INDICATOR	B6. 5.1.1.1
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:	Learners will prevent odour
STRAND	Humans and the Environment
SUB-STRAND	Personal Hygiene and Sanitation
TEACHING/LEARNING RESOURCES	Deodorants, Lime, Detol, Soap, Manila Card.
CORE COMPETENCIES:	Critical thinking and Problem Solving skills, Collaboration and Communication, Personal Development   and leadership, Digital Literacy

DAYS	PHASE 1: STARTER (10MINS) (Preparing The Brain For Learning)	PHASE 2: MAIN (40 MINUTES) (New Learning Including Assessment)	PHASE 3:    REFLECTIONS 10MINS (Learner And Teacher)
MONDAY 17/02/2020	Engage  learners  to  recite  familiar poems and sing songs.	–     Learners  in  groups  discuss  the meaning   of   body   odour   and identify some parts of the body that can cause body odour. ASSESSMENT •   Define body odour •     Mention two parts of the body that causes body odour.	What have you learnt today?           Ask  learners to  summarize the main points in the lesson.
WEDNESDAY 19/02/2020	Engage learners to sing songs and recite familiar poems and rhymes.	–     Learners in groups brainstorm the causes of body odour –      Learners  discuss  the  effects  of body odour and write their answers on a paper and present  it to the class. – ASSESSMENT •     Mention  two  causes  and  one effect of body odour	What have you learnt today?       Ask  learners to  summarize the main points in the lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY 20/02/2020

Engage learners to sing songs and recite familiar poems

–     Learners in groups mention some items used to remove body odour. –      Learners  discuss  how  to  prevent body odour. –      Learners  demonstrate  the  correct use of the items to remove body odour. ASSESSMENT •     Explain how you prevent body odour

What have you learnt today?       Ask  learners to  summarize the main points in the lesson.

 

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