Why is it necessary and how can I find help?

Whether creating an instructional design and its related lesson plans for a whole unit or for a single topic, planning gives structure to what is intended to be taught. It enables the teacher to negotiate the teaching task with an understanding of the goals and objectives of the process and an idea as to how to attain them in a manner that benefits all students. Plans serve as road maps. They direct the teacher to the instructional destination, just as a road map shows the way from one geographic point to another. Potential instructional problems can be anticipated and responded to in advance. The teacher can plan for lead in’s, activities and procedures, extension activities, homework, and evaluation as if they were points on a map routing the process from goals and objectives to closure of the lesson.

Many resources are available for educators interested in better planning for lessons. Websites that share successful lesson plans are abundant on the Web. Other sites even provide step by step instruction in how to create a plan and some even provide on-line planning tools.

Activity:

Lesson Web Quest: Using the links below or others of your choice, find an outstanding innovative lesson at the grade level of your choice in each of the following content areas:

• Science
• Language Arts
• Social Studies
• Math.

Print out the lessons you select. Be prepared to share the results of your web quest with your class.

Want to know more? Check out these sites:

http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/

http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/lessonplanner/

http://www.proteacher.com/020001.shtml

http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace

http://www.education-world.com

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

http://www.col-ed.org/cur

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/

http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/places/lessons.html

http://www2.cs.purdue.edu/outreach/lessonplans.htm

http://ali.apple.com/ali

http://www.cstone.net/~bcp/BCPIntro2.htm