Teachers, do you remember the lesson plan overview you created in your teacher credential and/or masters’ program classes?! If you’re like me, you thought to yourself at the time, “I’ll never use this overview with my students in my classroom.”
Like most teachers, I am both working full time and trying to help manage my own children’s schoolwork. As I reflected last night on what would be helpful to me as a parent, I recalled the lesson plan overviews from my graduate curriculum classes. Then, I created this condensed version (see below).
I believe that if teachers wrote and posted a weekly overview lesson plan for their students while distance learning continues, students and parents alike would find the plan very helpful. As a teacher, you’ve already thought through the items mentioned here in your planning and it would not take much time to create this overview. Hopefully the time spent on it will help eliminate some of the emails and questions you receive from students and/or parents.
The principle parts include a title, objectives, list of materials, pacing guide, estimated time needed for completion, and the due date(s). Obviously, you understand what most of these things provide students, but indulge me for a few minutes to emphasize the purpose they serve.
The title with an indication of the week or date helps the student find new material quickly. The objectives help parents know what the student is learning and can be helpful if they get stuck on an idea or concept. The list of materials helps keep the student organized and track the new materials posted.
I believe parents will find the pacing guide the most helpful, especially if it’s an assignment that spans multiple days. My kid often feels overwhelmed when looking at her assignments online, and if I as a parent have an idea of how much they should be completing daily, I can better direct them how to proceed.
The estimated time it should take students to complete the assignment also helps parents realistically determine if their student is racing through materials and needs to slow down or if s/he are getting distracted easily and need to remove the distractions or just needs more supervision. Finally, the due date(s) included on an overview sheet helps parents and students easily see when things need to be completed.
Lesson Plan Overview with Pacing Guide for Students and Parents (Title)
Objectives - By the time you finish this assignment, you will be able to:
- Build a framework for posting classroom assignments
- Identify the parts of the framework
- Explain the purpose of the framework
Materials (title(s) of items included):
- Introduction: background information in chosen format (for context and connection)
- Content materials: (materials needed to complete learning objectives)
- Slideshow
- Videos
- Websites
- Interactive activities
- Readings
- Problems/scenarios
- Assignment (item(s) to be completed and turned in by student)
- Conclusion (wrap up for lesson, bridge to what’s coming next)
Pacing Guide (provides student context for when to complete assignments):
- Monday: watch intro and complete assignment #1
- Tuesday: read ten pages in book and first part of assignment #2
- Wednesday: complete interactive activity and finish assignment #2
- Thursday: view video and begin work on essay response
- Friday: view/read slideshow and finish & hand in essay response
Estimated time for completion: 6 hours
Due date: May 5, 2020
