Lesson plans are a critical component of effective teaching. Educational lesson plans provide a clear picture of what needs to be taught and which teaching materials can help students achieve the desired level of knowledge. Lesson plans also provide permanent records of a teacher’s methods, making it easy to see where revisions can be made going forward.

Most educational lesson plans include:

1. A clear description of the lesson plan’s student learning objectives.
2. An outline for curriculum development.
3. A description of what teaching materials will be needed.
4. Methods for assessing the effectiveness of the lesson plans.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Create lesson plans using curriculum development software

New to creating lesson plans and don't know how to begin? Need to develop lesson plans quickly? Curriculum development software will help you get started.

I recommend: Plan-It is curriculum development software from GenevaLogic that lets teachers create, store and share lesson plans and other teaching materials, such as teaching notes, graphic files and documents. Grades and Plans from Pinnacle Peak Software provides a customizable lesson plan template in its lesson plan software. Lesson Plan Locker is a shareware option that helps you create and organize your lesson plans. TeacherEase is a web-based application that lets you create and store lesson plans online, and lets you download your teaching materials for substitute teachers when necessary.

Choose educational lesson plans that stand up to state standards

Make sure that the teaching materials you use measure up to your state's educational requirements.

I recommend: Lesson Planet from Education Planet offers more than 130,000 lesson plans that are teacher-reviewed and correlated to state standards.

Create specific lesson plans based on your exact needs

Need lesson plans for your physical education class? Trying to teach kindergartners about certain holiday customs? Substitute teaching? A host of vendors provide free teaching materials for educators, including very specific lesson plans.

I recommend: The Educators Network yields a wide variety of free, online teaching materials for educators, including lesson plans for math, social studies and language arts, in addition to unique offerings like kindergarten fitness and ancient Rome. HotChalk offers more than 3,000 free lesson plans in basic subject matters as well as lesson plans for holidays and seasonal events.

Choose curriculum development resources by grade level

Look for educational lesson plans geared to specific grades.

I recommend: TeacherVision offers 15,000+ pages of lesson plans and other teaching materials — all available by grade level. At edHelper.com, you can download daily lesson plans for a variety of subjects for grade levels from kindergarten to high school.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Encourage your school superintendent to incorporate lesson plans into the annual order of teaching materials.
• •  Before you create lesson plans, consult with education-based associations for recommendations.
• •  Curriculum development software can help you quickly design lesson plans with interactive graphics.