Starting with the End Product
It can be useful to think about what products we want learners to create, and to plan from there.
This is a method of planning backwards.
If we know the end product, we can work out the steps that learners will need to take if they are going to be able to successfully create it.
This sees us asking the question:
- What do we want learners to be able to produce, either at the end of the lesson or at the end of each activity, to demonstrate they have made the most progress possible?
Thinking in this way means subjugating the process of lesson planning to the end products, rather than to the activities or the content.
This means it is not for everyone.
However, it does have certain benefits.
Thinking about products means identifying what success will look like in highly tangible terms for any given lesson or activity.
For example, we might have a lesson objective as follows:
- LO: To investigate the most effective way to limit coastal erosion
(‘Investigate’ being an analysis keyword, from the fourth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.)
We might decide that, come the end of our lesson, we want learners to be able to stand up in front of the rest of the class and deliver a two-minute speech outlining the different ways coastal erosion can be limited before indicating which method they think is best and why.
Or we might decide that learners will, ideally, be able to produce a reasonably detailed decision tree that could be used to work out which is the best method of limiting coastal erosion in three common scenarios.
Products and Bloom’s Taxonomy
Here we can see that the product we define as the endpoint is based on the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
This is because these levels – analysis, synthesis and evaluation – underpin products of the greatest cognitive depth.
In addition, it is notable that having defined a worthwhile, in-depth product, we then find our decision-making shaped accordingly.
Taking the two examples above, whichever we settle on, subtly different – perhaps significantly different – lessons will come about as a result.
While both products see learners using and demonstrating knowledge and skill about the topic, different paths are required to get learners to a point where they can create each product.
Another advantage of beginning with products is that we immediately have a lens through which to view the different activities we plan.
If I want learners to be able to produce a detailed coastal erosion decision tree by the end of the lesson, then I will need to plan a starter activity and one or two following activities that give them the requisite knowledge and understanding to do this.
The same point could be made about learning objectives in general – that they are a lens through which to make decisions.
The difference with products is that the lens is sharpened somewhat because a highly specific end has been decided upon.
Some teachers like to work in this way, while others feel it limits their ability to be creative.
A final benefit of beginning with the product is that you can opt for product types that you think will particularly suit your learners, or which will fit well with the topic about which you are teaching.
Of course, such a benefit is not limited to this approach – similar decisions can be made in other circumstances – but if the product is the first port of call, then thinking in this way is a little easier than if you have already planned your activities and then find yourself needing to make adaptations to ensure you get the end product you really want.
To finish, here is a list of over forty products you can use as the endpoint of your lessons.
Most, if not all, rely on learners working at the upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to successfully produce them.
Your Lesson Planning Product List
- Advert
- Annotated diagram
- Art gallery display
- Biography
- Blueprint
- Board game
- Book Cover
- Brochure
- Chart
- Collage
- Comic Strip
- Crossword puzzle
- Debate
- Decision Tree
- Detailed illustration
- Diagram
- Diary
- Diorama
- Display
- Dramatic monologue
- Editorial
- Essay
- Experiment
- Fact file
- Glossary
- Graph
- Illustrated story
- Journal
- Letter
- Lesson
- Line drawing
- Magazine article
- Map
- Museum exhibit
- Musical composition
- News report
- Pamphlet
- Photo essay
- Picture dictionary
- Podcast
- Poem
- Poster
- Video
- Written report
