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One of the most important parts of making a lesson plan is to document it. This can be done through computerized typed e-documents, having it written down in notebooks, or printing it on a new sheet of paper. Preparing a lesson plan prior to class is important because it will help in guiding and maintaining the structure of the lesson while also anticipating the amount of time for each activity to make sure the goal of lesson is reached. Before even writing the procedure of the lesson, it would be helpful to review the objective of the lesson, any teaching aids that will need to be pre-prepared (i.e. pictures of food) or set-up (i.e. over-head projector), and anticipation of any problems that may arise and possible solutions to those problems. Anticipating any problems is important because it will help save time and help the lesson flow more smoothly if there is a potential solution prepared. As for the procedure, a good way to start is by writing down the phases: Engage, Study, and Activate (or variations of this). In the Engage phase, is it important to have an activity that draws in the attention of the students and to get them to start thinking about the topic about to be presented (i.e. asking questions and brainstorming examples of animals seen at the zoo and what they do). Then comes the Study phase where students engage in active learning of the topic (i.e. present correct spellings of animals and conjugation of verbs). Afterwards, a worksheet can be administered to help make sure students understand what is being taught (i.e. fill-in the blank worksheets). It is also important to get feedback from the activity so that an assessment can be done of the students and of the teacher’s teaching style of the lesson. It is important as a teacher to get feedback from students to see how many understand what had just been taught and if there is a problem with understanding from the majority, it may be due to the teacher’s style in teaching. This will become an opportunity for the teacher to find different ways to improve and modify their lessons. The Activate phase will involve students applying what they have learned so far from the lesson onto a new activity. This new activity can involve students creating their own animals and presenting it to the class. During the presentation, the student or student group with the animal can describe everything their animal can do along with the correct verb choice and conjugation. This is important because it allows for students to apply what they have learned and it allows for the teacher to assess the students once again on understanding of the course material. The procedure should include a back-up activity if time permits so students have the opportunity to keep practicing and applying what they have just learned. Additionally, it is also important to write down the time anticipated for each activity, this can be done in minutes and it can be written next to each activity in the procedure part of the lesson plan. This is important because it will help guide the teacher and make sure the class time is being used effectively. Lesson planning is important because it will provide a guideline for how the class should be ideally structured in order to make the most of the classroom time and to achieve the lesson goal.
