Lesson plan templates
Eight lesson plan formats you can fill in on screen: daily, weekly, 5E, gradual release, Madeline Hunter, backward design, unit plan and centers rotation. Print them or copy them as a table into Docs.
One lesson on one page: the goal, what you need, what you and the students do, and how you will know it worked.
How to use it
- Pick a format. The short note under the buttons says what it is and when teachers use it.
- Fill in the boxes. Leave any box empty and it prints as ruled lines, so you can write that part by hand.
- Press Print for a clean page, or “Copy as a table for Docs” to paste the plan into Google Docs or Word with its borders.
- Your plan stays in this browser, so it is still here when you come back. Choose “Clear this plan” to start fresh.
Ideas for class
- Use the weekly plan on Sunday night and the daily plan for the lesson you want to think through.
- Try the 5E format for a science unit and gradual release for a new math skill.
- Fill in a unit plan first, then make a daily plan for each key lesson in it.
- Print one blank copy of each format and keep them in a folder to write on by hand.
- Copy a plan into a shared document to send to a co-teacher, a coach or a substitute.
- Run a centers rotation with the chart on the projector: set the number of stations, and every group meets every station once.
Related
Questions
What is the Daily lesson format?
One lesson on one page: the goal, what you need, what you and the students do, and how you will know it worked.
What is the Weekly lesson format?
The whole week at a glance: a row for each subject or block and a column for each day. Change the row labels to match your schedule.
What is the 5E lesson format?
The 5E model, developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), has five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. Students investigate before the ideas are named. It is most often used in science.
What is the Gradual release lesson format?
Gradual release of responsibility moves a lesson from you doing the thinking to students doing it on their own: I do, we do, you do. Many versions add a stage where students work together before working alone.
What is the Madeline Hunter lesson format?
A direct-instruction format associated with Madeline Hunter. Versions differ on the exact steps and their names; this one has eight, including closure.
What is the Backward design format?
Backward design, from Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s Understanding by Design, starts with where you want students to end up: Stage 1 is the desired results, Stage 2 is the evidence that they got there, and Stage 3 is the plan for teaching.
What is the Unit format?
A plan for several weeks of teaching on one topic: what students should understand and be able to do, how you will assess it, and a week-by-week outline.
What is the Centers rotation format?
Small groups move through stations in turns so every group visits every station. Each rotation, every group is at a different station. Choose how many stations, name them, and the rotation chart is made for you.
Which format should I use?
The one your school asks for, if it asks for one. If it doesn’t, use whichever helps you think: the daily plan for a single lesson, the weekly plan to see the week, the unit plan to map several weeks. The other formats are different ways of ordering the parts of a lesson, and none of them is required.
Is what I type saved on your side?
No. It stays in your browser on this computer. It is never sent to us. It also isn’t put in a share link, so a shared link opens a blank template.
Can I change the headings?
The weekly plan and the unit outline let you rename the rows. For the other formats, write what you like in each box; the headings match the name of the format.
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