Better Lesson Plans, Better Lessons Practical Strategies for Planning from Standards

In today’s high-stakes world, ready-made lessons and teacher’s guides are no longer enough to guarantee achievement. The best way to help students succeed is through deliberate and careful lesson planning focused on the end result of increasing student achievement. Whether you are a new teacher or an experienced educator, this book will help you get started by providing a practical, step-by-step guide to designing lessons that will lead to student mastery of any objective. You’ll learn the essential components of lessons that are Common Core-aligned and grounded in best practices. Topics include: Tailoring your lessons to meet your state standards while ensuring high student achievement. Writing a strong objective to stay focused on the goal of a lesson. Creating an end-of-lesson assessment to gauge the lesson’s success. Constructing a lesson plan that combines direct instruction, guided practice, and independent practice. Along the way, you’ll find plenty of helpful examples from math and English Language Arts. You’ll also find end-of-chapter FAQs and activities to try, to help you make these concepts a reality for your own classroom. Many of the tools from the book are also available as free downloads from our website (www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138838871/).

eResources About the Author Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Planning with the Standards in Mind Chapter 1: The CCSS and Lesson Planning Chapter 2: The Role of Assessments Part II: Before the Lesson Chapter 3: Writing Objectives Chapter 4: Writing Assessments Part III: During the Lesson Chapter 5: Direct Instruction Chapter 6: Guided Practice Chapter 7: Independent Practice Part IV: After the Lesson Chapter 8: Assessing Student Understanding Conclusion References Appendix A: Lesson Plan Template Appendix B: A Note to School Leaders

Ben Curran coaches school leaders for The Achievement Network, a national nonprofit dedicated to leveling the playing field in education. He previously worked as a teacher and instructional coach. Ben is also co-author of Engaged, Connected, Empowered: Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century (Routledge, 2014).