Drexel University Mathematics Education

Lesson Planning Template and Guidelines

As part of your experiences in this mathematics methods course, you will be developing a
number of lesson plans (and ideally trying some out with students in your field placement). In
order to guide your mathematics-specific lesson planning, we have expanded on the Drexel
School of Education lesson plan format to help structure your lesson planning activity. Please be
sure to include each of the following items in your lesson plans, as each will have a specific
number of points allocated to it.

Preliminary Information: Because you’re not always writing a lesson plan just for your own
classroom use, it is important to identify specific information about the setting in which this
lesson will be taught. Be sure to include:
 The date the lesson will be taught
 The grade level and course title
 The amount of time for this lesson (length of period and number of periods)
 The number of students in the class
 Any other relevant information

Sections of the Lesson Plan

I. Content and Standards

Make explicit reference to how this lesson is aligned with relevant standards, including
the State, NCTM (http://standards.nctm.org), and Common Core State Standards
(http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf).
Note: Be sure to reference all three.

II. Prerequisites
State the skills, knowledge and understandings that are necessary for this lesson. How do
these skills, knowledge and understanding build upon previous lessons?
Note: Be sure to include knowledge and understandings and not just skills.

III. Instructional Objectives

Indicate what is to be learned and what you will teach - this must be a complete objective.
Write this objective in terms of what an individual student will do. Be sure that each goal
is clearly aligned with at least one (but ideally one to three standards identified in I).
Additionally, please be sure to identify what the student will think, visualize, focus on,
etc. as they accomplish each goal. These non-behavioral objectives will be helpful as you
make decisions about specific instructional activities.

IV. Instructional Procedures

The lesson procedure is likely the most important part of a lesson plan. It describes what
the teacher and student will do through the lesson. Please keep two structural requirements
in mind as you plan the lesson:
 1. Each lesson will contain at least one major task, activity, or section of the plan.
For each section, include specific reference to what you will do:
a) Before the activity. How you will capture students’ interest and
imagination and how you will introduce the activity (specific language,
context or setting, etc.)? Your “Before“ activity should achieve two
purposes: (1) it should capture students’ interest and imagination and
motivate the lesson (and include specific language, contexts or setting
that you will use to introduce the activity) and (2) make a connection to
the goals and objectives for the lesson. It is best if you view this portion
of the plan as part of the lesson and not a separate “warm-up” activity.
For some ideas, please visit the following sites, which provide
interesting and engaging problems that are keyed with state and/or
national standards:
 NCTM Standards e-examples:
(http://www.nctm.org/standards/content.aspx?id=24600)
 NCTM Illuminations (http://illuminations.nctm.org/)
 The Math Forum Problems of the Week (http://mathforum.org/pow)
b) During the activity – be sure to include specific statements about both
what the teacher will do as well as what the student will do. “A common
flaw of lesson plans is that they often focus almost exclusively on the
teacher’s actions, virtually ignoring the anticipated role of the learners in
the lesson” Brahier1 (p. 136). Also, please be sure to break the activity
down into as fine-grained steps as possible – this is particularly useful
early in your career.
c) After the lesson – discuss how you will bring closure to the lesson.
Brahier1 notes that “Class ending statements such as Close your books,
Your homework is… , or See you tomorrow should not be confused with
the closure of the lesson.” (p. 137). Be sure to plan a closure activity
that increases the likelihood that the students bring together the major
issues raised in the lesson (and not just that affirms that you understand
the major issues raised in the lesson).
2. As your lesson planning activity in this course is meant to be a learning activity,
we have found that including specific details about each step of the lesson,
including what the teacher and student will be doing, why you chose to do that
(Rationale), how you expect the students to respond (Expected Reactions), and
how you will address the possible student responses (Teacher’s Anticipations).
Feel free to use the Instructional Procedures template for this section.

B/D/A Steps of the Lesson: What Rationale: Expected Reactions: Teacher’s

(Note which phase will the teacher and the students What purpose does each This is largely conjecture- Anticipations:
of the activity the be doing? (Include specific step, question, task, or driven and there may be Include specific response
step refers to) questions, tasks, or activities.) activity accomplish multiple possible reactions to students’ reactions and
for a given activity. things to remember.
B 1.
B 2.
D 

1
Brahier, D. J. (2005). Teaching Middle and Secondary Mathematics
 V. Homework Assignments

VI. Materials and Equipment: List all materials and equipment to be used by both the
teacher and learner and how they will be used. Please note that at least one lesson plan
you create this term must incorporate technology or manipulatives to focus on
understandings and support students making abstract mathematics more concrete.

VII. Assessment/Evaluation
Describe how you will determine the extent to which students have attained the
instructional objective. Be sure this part is directly connected to the behavior called for in
the instructional objective. Include rubric where necessary.
Note: You should consider assessments that move beyond tests and/or quizzes, such as
formative assessment, portfolios or presentations.

VIII. Differentiation
This section should include examples for students with disabilities and English Language
Learners (ELLs). Be sure to include individualized activities and discuss how other
activities/materials will be used to reinforce and extend this lesson and for whom. Include
homework, assignments, and projects.

IX. Technology
Describe which technology will be incorporated and describe how technology will assist
learning.

X. Self-Assessment
Determine here how you plan to collect information that will be useful for planning future
lessons. A good idea is to analyze the difference between what you wanted (the objective)
and what was attained (the results of the assessment).
Tips for a Successful Lesson Plan (adapted and modified from Brahier (2005, p. 136)

1. Include statements about what the student will do as well as what the teacher will do
throughout the lesson. A common flaw of lesson plans is that they often focus almost
exclusively on the teacher’s actions, virtually ignoring the antipated role of the learners in
the lesson. I sometimes find it helpful to think about the procedure section not so much as
a list of things for the teacher to do that as an envisioned narrative, where for every
teacher action (pose question, discuss examples, etc), you also anticipate students’
common difficulties, questions, and/or concerns, and plan as to how the teacher might
then address these. Another way to think about this section is a “choose your own
adventure” book, where for every teacher action, you anticipate students’ common
difficulties, questions, and/or concerns and how, depending on which of the anticipated
difficulties, questions, or concerns actually arise.

2. Include descriptions of how students will be assessed on their understanding throughout

the lesson. For example, if the teacher will be observing students as they work, or
students will be asked to do free writing in their journals or use individual whiteboards to
display solutions or equations during the lesson, these steps should be included in the
procedure section.

3. The lesson should demonstrate flexibility. This flexibility is often expressed with
statements indicating that “if the students do X, then… but if they do Y, then ….”
Remember that the plan is a road map, and teachers need to be prepared to take side trips
that students suggest.