This blog is Part 2 of 3.
In the previous blog, we thought in big picture terms about the structure and purpose of lessons.
Here, we’ll get into the details, focussing first on content, then on the lesson framework.
The Content of Your Lesson
The content of our lessons is largely determined by the curriculum we have been asked to teach, as well as our learners’ prior knowledge.
For an individual lesson, our thinking needs to cover several questions.
These are as follows:
- What have my learners already studied?
- What else do they need to study as part of this unit of work?
- How does this link to the wider curriculum?
- What do they already know about the topic?
- In an ideal world, what would I like them to know, understand and be able to do?
These questions will help you to clarify what content should be included in the lesson you are planning.
You can come back to them time and again as a useful planning tool.
Over time, you will come to internalise them and be able to recall them at will.
As a trainee, it is likely you will be asked to teach lessons that form part of an existing scheme of work.
A scheme of work is just as it sounds – a sequence of lessons planned by a teacher to cover an extended period of time.
This could be a fortnight, a term or longer.
To start creating great lessons, the first thing we need to do is get hold of any existing schemes of work that are relevant to the learners we are teaching.
From here we can quickly see what they have already done (and, therefore, what we can expect them to know and understand) as well as where the teacher wants them to go next.
Our second task is to compare the scheme(s) of work to the wider curriculum.
In making this comparison our aim is to get a sense of how the current lessons – including the ones we will be planning and teaching – fit into the wider scheme of things.
Gaining this knowledge makes it easier for us to understand what content is relevant for the lesson(s) we are planning as well as whether we can make links and connections to what learners already know and to what they will be studying in the future.
When it comes to the content of lessons, greater expertise concerning what needs to be taught, why it needs to be taught and how it relates to other areas of the curriculum will always allow you to make better decisions than if you do not have this information.
A few further points to think about before we move on.
First, if you have clearly defined the purpose of your lesson, you will be in a good position to appreciate what the content needs to be.
This is because learners will have to learn about specific things if they are to successfully achieve your purpose.
Second, it will take time for you to gain an accurate understanding of how much content fits into a single lesson.
I know this might not be what you want to hear.
However, there are no hard and fast rules about how much is the right amount.
Your understanding will develop through experience.
Each time you plan and teach a lesson, you can assess whether there is too much content for learners to deal with, too little, or the right amount.
You can speed up the process by actively attending to what happens in your lessons, by observing the impact the level of content has on your learners, and by spending a little time afterwards critically reflecting on what happened.
Third, and finally, it is always worth starting simply before increasing the level of complexity.
So, for example, you might begin by introducing learners to one idea or important piece of information.
When they have grasped this, increase the level of challenge by bringing in more information and ideas, or things that are more complex and require deeper explanation.
Learning rests on prior knowledge.
Giving learners a simple entry-point means that, when they encounter content that is deeper, broader, more specific or more complex, they can meet this from a position of strength.
The Lesson Framework
So, we have our purpose (see Part 1), we are using this to inform our decision-making, we’ve selected the content we want to cover, and, from this, we are developing a clear sense of what the lesson is going to involve; what story we are going to tell.
In other words, the learning we are seeking to create is starting to take shape.
Our next task is to work out how we will ask learners to engage with the content to achieve our purpose.
This is where we plan the separate elements of the lesson.
The things we and the learners will do in the classroom.
A common lesson framework is as follow:
- Starter
- Main Activities
- Plenary
It is not the only one, but it is widely used and generally effective.
Here, I will briefly explain how the model works, as well as what constitutes each element.
In Part 3, I’ll share practical examples of each that you can try out in your teaching.
The premise of the framework is simple.
It runs something like this:
- Learners come into the room and are introduced to the lesson topic through an accessible yet challenging starter activity.
- This gives learners a chance to be successful, pushes their thinking and gets them focussed on learning.
- One or more main activities follow. These give learners the chance to interact with the lesson content. It is here that most of the teaching and learning takes place.
- Finally, the plenary is an opportunity to reinforce the learning that has happened.
- Within the plenary, the teacher helps learners to reflect on, revisit and apply their learning.
Main activities are often thought of as episodes.
These episodes are sequential and become increasingly challenging.
This ensures learners have their thinking stretched throughout the course of the lesson.
Other lesson frameworks exist and, while that outlined above is widely felt to be successful, this method is not the be all and end all.
Nonetheless, it is a useful, uncomplicated approach – one that you will need to become familiar with as you develop your practice.
My own advice is to concentrate on mastering the three-part lesson to begin with (and that, for good or for ill, is the name this framework has been given … for obvious reasons).
As your training progresses and you feel increasingly confident in planning and teaching three-part lessons, play around with the framework and see what other ideas you can come up with.
Doing this will help you to keep challenging yourself.
It will also cause you to think more critically about the nature of lesson planning and the skills you are developing.
