When planning for instruction, I reference the student’s prior knowledge and what I would like the student to comprehend and transfer at the end of my lesson. Making prior knowledge connections gives the student an advantage at the beginning of the lesson to focus more on the new information. In addition, I make sure all instruction is in their zone of developmental proximity and how I can help them get to the next level of comprehension. When planning for instruction, I am sure to have clear goals and objectives, the main topic, and what pedagogies will be the most effective. The goal of any instruction I create is to make sure the knowledge transfers and connects to real-world situations.
I have clear goals and objectives relevant to my instruction when creating a lesson plan. I ensure my students have several critical thinking opportunities by mapping out my comprehension questions throughout my lesson. Finally, I create cross-disciplinary lessons.
Goals vs. Objectives
Goals and objectives are the foundation of any instruction. It is critical that when beginning a lesson, the goals are clear, and the objectives are in the students’ zone of developmental proximity. Instructions will have several zones of developmental proximities based on students’ unique needs. Goals are what I would like the student to know at the end of your lesson, whereas objectives are the steps a student must take to achieve the goal. In Virginia, teachers reference the Standards of Learning for instruction goals. Click here to see the Information Graph I created discussing the characteristics of Goals vs. Objectives.
Comprehension Questions
Planning quality questions throughout a lesson will help students stay engaged and create multiple opportunities for critical thinking. Differing the types of questions help students stay engaged and discover new angles. Observation questions call attention to details. Reasoning questions help students create conclusions. Compare and contrast questions allow students to compare what they learn to their prior knowledge. The main goal of all questions is to lead students to critical thinking. When planning my instruction, I include all the questions I would like to ask within my lesson plan template. Questions during a lesson will vary depending on the students’ perspectives. When planning my comprehension questions, I stay close to the curriculum topic but am always flexible for student inquiries. Click here to see an example of questions throughout my lesson plan.
Cross-Disciplinary Curriculum
Mapping out instructions to be cross-disciplinary helps students build on their prior knowledge and create a foundation for the new knowledge. Cross-disciplinary lessons also help students make real-world connections and provide examples of how topics are connected. Language acquisition lesson plans can easily include other disciplines. For example, during my time student teaching, I had the opportunity to teach a small group lesson on non-fictional texts. The text was based on the science of electric eels and the history of studying these creatures. This instruction’s goal was SOL 4.6 (a-l)- a student will read, comprehend, and focus on the organization of a non-fictional text. The students learned about the function and the primary purpose of a non-fictional text. The students also practiced their reading prompt and comprehension summative assessment skills towards the end of the unit.