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LESSON IV

PLANNING FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING

Careful planning is the keystone to effective teaching. The extent to which you
think through the teaching procedure and the content will be, as much as any other
determines the effectiveness of your student teaching. Carefully designed plans
are essential for successful teaching. Effectiveness planning is essential elements in
the student’s teacher’s experience.
IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING
 It permits the novice to think through the lesson or unit in advance, to
consider its potential success; to probe various alternatives, to anticipate the
timing and the pacing of activities, to prepare for materials and equipment
needs, to promote pertinent ties-in, with the current events and to provide for
adequate evaluation based on desired objectives.
 Planning for teaching builds confidence, providing in advance for diversified
interest and abilities dispels some of the anxiety associated with beginning
teaching.
 Planning and evaluation of that planning aids in the learning how to plan
better. Errors of timing, motivational techniques and pupil expectations can
be evaluated and future plans modified. Expected outcomes are more likely
achieved through continued emphasis on realistic plans.

Classroom planning is the foundation for sound classroom management and

discipline. Focused activities are the result of adequate planning. Pupils recognize
and respond to the situation where the instructor is floundering. When is not sure
of him/herself, the lesson content or sequence.

The planning of the years or the day’s work for a group of pupils is a creative
endeavor. The inventive teacher finds the potential for stimulating the exercise in
situation analysis. An objective is identified, the situation carefully analyses and
the procedures considered that lead to the attainment of goals. Plans well for more
successful teaching.

Adequate planning takes time, thoughts and energy. The reading of related lesson
materials, searching for additional resources, the making of charts and other
needed materials all requires time, sometimes more time than seem available.
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Teachers do make four kinds of plans; varying in scope and specificity:

i) The long ranges plan- which usually covers a semester or a years.
In these case the broad overall objectives for the years is
considered. Large blocks of time mapped out for the various
content areas, unit or activities and these in turn ordered into
logical or psychological sequences
ii) Unit plans are developed for varying periods, which may range
from a few days to several weeks. The units are usually concerned
with the study of the questions or problem or unified content areas
or current affairs.
iii) The daily lesson plan developed from the above two plans
elaborates in details the various activities to carry out during the
days. It is more specific than either note above. Actually, it is a
serious of plans, blended together into the daily schedule.
iv) The daily schedule identifies the usual sequence of the activities
for each day, arranging them in some logical order based on
psychological and psychomotor abilities of pupils.
There documents that a teacher needs to prepare;

 Schemes of work
 Lesson plan
 Record of work

SCHEME OF WORK AND LESSON PLAN.

DFN : It is a forecast of the work you expect to cover in each lesson. It should be
compiled at the beginning of the term for each subject and if you are teaching more
than one class, separately for each class.
Before starting to write the scheme of work, you must know how many lessons you
will have in each subject during the term. 1 st study the official syllabus to be used.
Then decide the number of lessons to be allocated to each of the learning topics.
This will depend upon the previous learning and general ability levels of the
learners. If your pupils are slow learners, you must select those topics of greatest
importance and concentrate on them. You must write down the topics in the order
in which you propose to teach them. Lesson by lesson, so that each lesson is
related to the learning of the previous ones.
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Alongside the topic, you write notes on the method and material to be used in the
lesson. This is your scheme of work.
Schemes of work for subjects covering a term work are usually written in the front
of the lesson book in columns headed week no. Lesson no., methods, resources
and pupils works.
A scheme of work must give a suggested allocation of time for the teaching of the
section of the syllabus and perhaps give recommended textbooks.

A scheme of work is a schedule drawn to show how the teacher, will cover the
work during a certain period of time.
Usually it covers at least one term.
It has at least eight columns as follows.

The following is a sample of a scheme of work

Kenyatta University, department of Educational Communication Technology

Scheme of work format.
Teacher’s Name Mr J M Kinga Reg no…………….Subject Business
Studies
School: Excellent high school Class Form 1 Year 2006 Term ii

General
objectives……………………………………………………………………………
……….
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………..

Wee Lesso Topic sub Objectiv

Learning Learning Remar
k n / topic es activities resources/referen ks
ces
Wee Lesso mone Definiti By the Writing
k1 n1 y on of end of notes,
money lesson illustrati
Xtics of the ng
money learners
Function should
s of be able
money to define
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Lesso money
n2
Week, lesson, Topic, Subtopic, specific objectives, Teaching Activities, learning
activities, references/resources, Remarks
1. Week: Usually this is the number of weeks in a term. It indicates what will be
covered in week I, II, ………… up to the last week.
2. Lesson: These are number of lessons either in a day/ week in a term. Each
lesson should be scheduled for at 35 minutes to 40 minutes depending on the
time.

Topic:
Usually there are different topics that need to be covered. Most of the topics are
sub-divided into some sob-topics to make them easy to be covered. Each topic
should act as a foundation for the topics to follow. Therefore the teachers should
build on there topics to make the learners understand the fill the topics better.

Sub-Topics
In most cases, topics are subdivided into sub-topics to make it easy for the teacher
to teach and for the learners to understand. The teacher should ensure that each
sub-topic acts a foundation store for the following sub-topics. In case the sub-
topics are not covered in a systematic manner than it will be difficult for the
students to understand the concept as expected.
Specific objectives
These are objective that are specific to that topic/ sub-topic. When starting the
objectives, they should be in a measurable manners and such words as “know”
should never be used since they cannot be measured.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES
These are the activities that are usually performed by the teacher for example,
Explaining the concepts, asking distances to the students asking the students to
discuss in-groups etc.
The teaching activities should be systematic otherwise the students may not get the
concept clearly.
Learning activities
These are the activities that are performed by the learners. They include listening,
watching, discussing in groups, and giving answers to the rest of the class.
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This activities are important for they gives an immediate answers to them on
whether the students are understanding or not it also make the students to develop
participatory skills which are essential for effective learning.

Resources / References
These are the necessary resources that are required to make the teaching effective.
This includes the textbooks required to teach, chalk manila papers and pens for
drawing diagrams for demonstration, etc.
This resources/references should be prepared well in advance before the lesson and
if they are required to be bought, they should be done well in advance
Diagrams are very necessary for they make the work of the teachers to be easy and
also make the students to understand better.
Remarks
This is usually done after the Topic/sub-Topic has been covered the remarks
usually indicate the level of coverage.

Advantages of scheme of work

i) It help the teacher to plan what he/she will cover within a given period
ii) It assist the teacher to prepare the necessary resources required for effective
teaching in advance
iii) The teacher will be able to compare what he/she has covered within a given
time and what she / he was meant to have covered and take remedial action
iv) In case of change of teachers, then the teacher taking the course subject will
be able to see how much has been covered and how much has been left
v) Incase some teaching approach are not appropriate, then the teacher can
develop new teaching approach that are beneficial to the students
vi) It help the education official to compare what is to the students 300 with
what the teacher claim, he / she has covered.
Disadvantages
i) It does not indicate the level of understanding and whether the topic has
been covered appropriately
ii) Some teachers usually indicate that the topic is well covered while it has
been shallowly covered or not covered at all.

LESSON PLAN
A lesson plan is a schedule showing how the teacher will cover a certain topic
within a given duration, mostly 40 minutes. Planning is the foundation of creative
teaching. Today's lesson planning is complex process demanding a high level of
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knowledge and skill. The main reasons have been that we have expanded our
objectives in the secondary school to include helping the pupils to become
proficient in those intellectual skills unique to particular subject as well as helping
them to acquire information. Our objectives also include work habit, general
problem solving skill and skill in working co-operating with others. The function
of school today is providing for the maximum growth of each individual in the
classroom. Lesson plans must be modified from class to class. Even the plan you
make with a specific group in mind will require modification as you put them in
operation. Students usually work intelligently, intensively and enthusiastically at a
task when they understand it purpose. Thus teacher's plan today include how to
involve pupils in the planning, how to adjust the plans so that their insight and
suggestions may be taken into account and how to allow for weakness and strength
as pupils work toward the solution to the problems.
Effective planning calls for the mastery in making several types of the plans. The
efficient teacher must be able to establish objectives and identify necessary areas
of growth for the entire year
DAILY LESSON
No successful teacher enters a classroom without plans for the daily lessons. Over-
all plans are structured in the unit, but day-to-day plans need to be specific. Some
suggestions for daily lessons plans are:
v) Keep them simple. Don't make essays out of the plan. Don't
attempt to cover too much ground.
vi) Use the same format consistently, once you have decided upon the
form. Of course, improvements in the form are in order.
vii) Whatever form is utilized, include a space for teacher self-
evaluation.
viii) Make the lesson plan an integral part of the unit.

Characteristics of a lesson plan.

 It is an outline not an essay. Plan should on the desk to merely a reminder of
the way the work of the classroom will be carried out while the class is in
progress
 The plan for teaching must at all times be kept flexible, a number of
alternative procedures should be provided for the lesson plan
 It should be prepared far enough in advance of its use to give it time to stick
in the a teachers head. The preparation of the lesson plan is not something
that can be done at the last minute,
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 It should both guide and reflect teacher-pupil planning. If the lesson plan
represent only the thinking of the teacher, then the claim that real teacher-
student planning exist is false.

Factors to Consider when Developing a Lesson Plan

 Age of the learner

 Nature of the learner
 Level/grade/year of the learner
 Learner’s entry behaviour
 Available learning resources
 What will be learnt
 Learning environment

Other aspects to Consider when Developing a Lesson Plan

1) The specific learning outcome(s)

2) Learning experiences: how the specific learning outcome(s) will be achieved

3) Key Inquiry Question(s)

4) Integration of ICT in the lesson plan

5) Learning Resources

6) Core competences to be developed

7) Values

8) Assessment: a way of measuring how well the outcome was attained; test, worksheet
and homework among others

THE RATIONALE OF DAILY LESSON PLAN

There are a number of acceptable forms that might be used in planning lessons.
One such general form is suggested here:
i) Objectives
ii) Concept ( Topic or problem Procedures(Teaching-learning activities)
resources materials( references, apparatus e.t.c)
iii) Evaluation

OBJECTIVES
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In stating the objectives, specific goals of immediate concern should be indicated

rather than repeating the broader objectives of the entire unit.
Part II of the daily lesson plan (concept-problems-resources) is obtained primarily
by selection from the similar part of the unit plan. Changes and adaptation of the
pre-planned unit may be needed as details are developed by the teachers and the
students.
In planning the teaching-learning procedures some teachers find it helpful to sub-
divide the area into introductory, developmental and summary.

In the introductory phase there is a concern with how to get the lesson started, how
to obtain motivation in the students and the like.
In the developmental phase, the teacher plans how to keep his lessons moving and
recognizes the limits of the attention span of his students with the dependent need
for a variety of activities.
In the summary phase, ways are planned for generalizing the accomplishments of
the lesson and planning to next day's work.
Specific assignments often are made hare, although assignments should emerge
from whatever part of the lesson most naturally suggests them.
In judging the success of the lesson, space must be provided for self-evaluation by
the teacher: what phase of the lesson was especially successful? What went wrong
and why? How can the lesson be improved?
Self-evaluation by the teacher is stressed as a important aspect of the daily lesson
plan because through a periodic review of these evaluation the teacher recognizes
his improvement or needs for improvement in certain areas.
Good organization is conducive to effective learning, but does not alone
necessarily produce such learning.
Lesson plan has four columns i.e. the time, step teaching activities and learning
activities. A sample of a lesson plan is as follows.

LESSON PLAN
Name: R M Kinga reference ……………………
SCHOOL: KEREVU HIGH SCHOOL Time……………………
CLASS: FORM 1 SOUTH DATE: 3RD JUNE 2004
WEEK No:………………………………LESSON NO……………….
SUBJECT: Business Studies
TOPIC: Satisfaction of Human Wants
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SUBTOPIC: characteristic of human want

OBJECTIVE: By the end of the lesson, the student should be able to define what
is Human wants and std characteristics.
REFERENCE: Business in studies by KIE PG 29 – 240

Time Steps Learning activities Resources / references.

5 Step 1Students discuss with their
minutes introductio neighbors what human wants
n are and some students gives
the answers to the class
25 Step 2 Students listen attentively,
minutes body giving relevant examples and
copying notes
5 Step iii Students gives oral answers
minutes questions and asks questions
and
answers
5 Summary The students listen.
minutes and
conclusion
s

SELF-Evaluation
Record your own assessment of the lesson and make comment on the effectiveness
or otherwise of the teaching for the purposes of remedial work.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________
Or

NB:
The lesson plan and the scheme of work should go hard in hard. Generally the
teachers should consider the needs of the class for a short period within the long-
range plan i.e. the scheme of work. In developing the plans, the teachers should
consider the abilities, interests and needs of the learners. Many prospective
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teachers find it difficult to write a lesson plan because they do not know about the
interest of the students.

Thus the teachers should bear in mind that their planning should be done in a real
live situation with specific child in mind. A successful daily lesson plan should
a) be tailored for a specific group of children
b) Provide for a wide range of pupil achievement in the classrooms through
individual projects, group work etc
c) Involves all pupils in the class

Students-teachers and beginning teachers should often change the lesson plans if
need arises. The teacher must always be ready to deviate from planned procedures
if a better learning situation arises
The student teachers and teachers should make the pupils to see the relation of
current work to
i) What occurred previously
ii) Future lessons
iii) Major goals

Smooth transition is made from one day to the next by using planning on the
previous pupil learning reviewing past lesson and projecting the purposes for the
current lessons. Interval summaries and evaluation aids in clarifying progress
toward overall established goals and modify either goals or procedure when
necessary. Summaries aid the pupil in integrating and synthesizing learning. An
experienced teacher once told a beginner that effective teaching involves three
areas i.e. tell them what you are going to teach them, teach them and ask them
what you have taught them.

RECORDS OF WORK
It is a document where all details of the work covered/taught by the teacher is entered on a daily
basis.
The entries are made by the individual teacher after every lesson. A record of work ensures:
 accountability and transparency of work covered by the teacher
 the continuity of teaching of a particular class
 that a new teacher traces where to start teaching a class
 the evaluation of schemes of work after a period of time for example four years
 uniformity in content coverage in case of several streams.
A record of work should have the following components:
Time frame: It should indicate the day, date, week and lesson
The week and the lesson can be specified for example week 9 Lesson 1
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Work covered: it takes the form of sub-topics derived from specific objective (s)
Remarks section: This is a statement reflecting the success and failures of the lesson and
recommendations/way forward
Name/Sign/Initials: This is the identity of the teacher who taught the lesson. It helps in
accountability and transparency.
A sample of record of work