Plans should help teachers make clear to pupils:

lesson objectives (what is taught and learned – what the pupils should know, understand, be able to do, or be aware of as a result of the lesson);

the big picture (the broad purpose of the lesson, which may directly refer to longer-term objectives/targets and how the lesson links to other lessons and to the real world outside of the classroom).

Writing objectives:

By the end of the lesson pupils will:

know that … (knowledge: factual information, for

example names, places, symbols, formulae, events);

develop / be able to … (skills: using knowledge,

applying techniques, analysing information, etc.);

understand how/why … (understanding: concepts,

reasons, effects, principles, processes, etc.);

develop / be aware of … (attitudes and values:

empathy, caring, sensitivity towards social issues,

feelings, moral issues, etc.).

Objectives may also focus on how pupils learn.

Structuring a Lesson

   Successful lesson structures include the following:

• Introduction - a crisp start, which allows pupils to share experience and prior knowledge, sometime achieved through a specific starter activity;

• Set context (the ‘big picture’) / input - exposition and explanation of the main points and content of the lesson, which allows pupils to access new information and be introduced to new skills and processes;

• Activities which build on this exposition by allowing pupils to process the new information, to identify patterns, rules and conventions arising from it and to develop understanding;

Structuring a Lesson

• Opportunities to consolidate and apply their learning and express this in a range of ways, for example through written, diagrammatic, visual, auditory or oral responses;

• Plenaries during and at the end of a lesson to check on progress and for pupils to reflect on what they have learned and how they have learned it.