This post outlines how to write a lesson plan quickly, making lesson planning easier.
Yes, it’s possible to write a quality lesson plan in a relatively short amount of time!
No need to spend too much of your precious planning time writing an unnecessarily long teaching game plan.
The key is in the K.I.S.S. model – Keep It Super Simple!
When it comes to writing lesson plans, you’ve got to do things smarter, not harder.
So whether you want to know how to write a lesson plan for kindergarten or beyond, see here how to lesson plan for the week in a way that saves so much time.
Related: To streamline your planning even more, dive into our lesson planning tools that elementary teachers love!
How to Write a Lesson Plan Quickly
The K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple) basic lesson plan template is essentially summarizing your lessons into four (4) concise parts: an OBJECTIVE, a BEFORE, a DURING, and an AFTER.
Think of yourself as putting on a show for your students, with your performance divided into four (4) segments.
Every show has a…
- Theme (learning OBJECTIVE).
- Hook (lesson introduction/mini-lesson) BEFORE
- Plot of Events (Guided-Practice Activities) DURING
- Finale (Assessments). AFTER
Following are the four steps with examples.
Remember… the key when using the K.I.S.S. lesson plan template is the formatting of information.
Use the following shorthand “abbreviations” to save time.
- Obj= objective
- B-= before
- D= during
- A= after
- RA= read aloud
- RT= reader’s theater
- ML= mini-lesson
- GP= guided practice
- PK= prior knowledge
- GO= graphic organizer
- T-P-S= think-pair-share
- W= whole group
- SM= small group
- 1 to 1= teacher conferencing
- WS= worksheet
- CTR = learning centers
- MD= model/demonstrate
Note: Why not learn how to write a lesson plan fast by printing out a free copy of the K.I.S.S lesson plan template using the button below and following along as you read this post?
1. Select the learning objective(s).
The learning objective(s) come from your mandated curriculum. What skill will you be teaching? Write the topic in ideally 10 words or less.
2. Draft an interesting hook and mini-lesson.
The lesson introduction is where you grab the students’ attention and introduce the learning objective. Teacher modeling is an essential part of the BEFORE part of a lesson plan.
No need to write out the pages of the read aloud books you’ll share or the exact steps of the opening activity. This information lives in your head. 🙂
Simply write the main idea of your hook/mini-lesson.
Note: ML stands for mini-lesson, and PK stands for prior knowledge.
3. List the guided-practice activities.
The guided-practice activities make up the DURING part of the lesson plan and provide students with opportunities to apply the skill or strategy they just learned about during the mini-lesson.
Summarize the big tasks. You should have the details of these activities in your head.
Note: ML stands for mini-lesson, PK stands for prior knowledge, and GL stands for guided practice.
4. Choose 1 or 2 formal/informal assessments.
Informal and formal assessments done AFTER the practice activities help you as the teacher know how well students grasped the learning objective(s).
Use this information for future lesson planning.
Note: ML stands for mini-lesson, GP stands for guided practice, PK stands for prior knowledge, and GO stands for graphic organizer.
Also, here are examples of 3-2-1 exit tickets, and see an example of a main idea mobile.
How to Write a Lesson Plan Quickly: The Final Product
Here’s how your lesson plan book looks once you start filling it in using the K.I.S.S. lesson plan template,
Click the image below for a closer view.
How to Write a Lesson Plan Quickly: Must-Read Tips
When you want to know how to write a lesson plan quickly, remember to keep the following tips in mind.
Tip#1
Short-hand abbreviations are unique to you and should include whichever symbols make things clear and easy for you to understand.
Tip #2
If you’re a brand new teacher, you may require more time getting used to the concise format of the K.I.S.S lesson plan writing method.
In the beginning, you may want to write your lesson plans in a more detailed fashion until your teaching style and instructional practices become more set, polished, and streamlined.
After a while, so much of what goes into teaching a lesson flows easily, and you’ll find that you can spend less time doing detailed planning.
This is where the K.I.S.S lesson plan template comes into play.
Tip #3
What about the lesson plan details? When you’re planning, you’ll have all of that information more or less in your head.
It’s not necessary to write down every little detail unless you’re brand new at writing lesson plans or mandated to do so.
Tip #4
While the K.I.S.S. lesson plan format guides you in how to write a lesson plan quickly and easily, it’s not always wise to use it.
It’s not a good idea to use the K.I.S.S. method if…
- You’re mandated by your school or district to write a detailed lesson plan based on a pre-designed and pre-selected template.
- Your teaching experience is very limited.
- You don’t feel quit comfortable yet writing such a concise lesson plan; you need the support that a more detailed template provides.
Wrapping Up: How to Write a Lesson Plan Quickly
Write lesson plans faster by focusing on less – Keep It Super Simple by using the K.I.S.S method.
You’ll save so much time and headache.
If you liked this post about how to write a lesson plan quickly, you might like to get your hands on more planning tools that save teachers time.
Wishing you a smarter way to plan