Lesson Structure 101

Lesson planning ideally begins in a place that is responsive to the immediate learning needs of students while preparing them effectively for future application. From the overarching goals, values and key competencies of the National Curriculum to the specific prescribed bullet points of the detailed syllabus for any given scheme of work, lessons are structured to scaffold learning and facilitate growth in understanding and performance.

However, the reality of the day-to-day pressures of the job often sees lesson plans becoming influenced by assessment demands, time pressures, administrative duties, whole school initiatives, examinations, homework checking and correction, resource availability and behaviour management, to name a few.

This page is dedicated to encouraging teachers to remember the basics of effective lesson delivery.

There is no substitute for a well-structured lesson!

Although there are many different guidelines for effective lesson planning, the basic considerations for an effective lesson can be summarized by the following 5 features:

• Preparation - Specify learning outcome(s) identified and lesson roadmap provided
• Presentation - New teaching is presented/facilitated
• Application - Students practice new skills, synthesize ideas, apply new learning to contexts
• Evaluation - Reflection or assessment of learning related to the learning outcome(s)
• Extension - Learning is related to external contexts, opportunities and challenges identified

 What is a Learning Outcome?

Learning outcomes are statements of what students will learn in a class or in a class session. The statements are focused on student learning (What will students learn today?) rather than instructor teaching (What am I going to teach today?). These statements should include a verb phrase and an impact ("in order to") phrase -- what students will do/be able to do and how they will apply that skill or knowledge.

You can use Bloom's taxonomy to identify verbs to describe student learning. Examples of learning outcomes verbs for library instruction include:

• Knowledge/Remembering: define, list, recognize
• Comprehension/Understanding: characterize, describe, explain, identify, locate, recognize, sort
• Application/Applying: choose, demonstrate, implement, perform
• Analysis/Analyzing: analyze, categorize, compare, differentiate
• Evaluation/Evaluating: assess, critique, evaluate, rank, rate
• Synthesis/Creating: construct, design, formulate, organize, synthesize

Verbs to avoid: Understand, Appreciate, Know about, Become familiar with, Learn about, Become aware of…

STRUCTURE OF OBSERVED LEARNING OUTCOMES (SOLO) (Biggs and Collis)

Applying SOLO taxonomy is another way to scaffold student learning and guide students to present learned information in a format that assesses depth of learning and ability to apply knowledge.