Effective Lesson Planning and Behavioral Verbs for Teachers
The Art of Effective Lesson Planning
Who needs lesson planning? You might! Lesson planning is a special skill that is learned much like any other. It is one thing to surf the internet and retrieve lesson plans from other sites; it is quite another to have the skill to develop your own.
Think of a lesson plan as a way of communicating. Lesson plans help new or inexperienced teachers organize content, materials, and methods. When you are learning the craft of teaching, organizing your subject matter content via lesson plans is fundamental. Teachers create lesson plans to communicate their instructional activities regarding specific subject matter. Almost all lesson plans contain:
- Student learning objectives
- Instructional procedures
- Required materials
- A written description of how students will be evaluated
Many experienced teachers often reduce their lesson plans to a mental map or a short outline. New teachers, however, usually find detailed lesson plans indispensable. Learn to write good lesson plans—it is a skill that will serve you well as a teacher.
Behavioral Verbs for Learning Objectives
Behavioral verbs are the heart of learning objectives and lesson plans. When used effectively, they are the best way to indicate and communicate specific, observable student behavior. Behavioral verbs describe an observable product or action. Inferences about student learning can be made based on what a student does or produces. The following verbs and their definitions can be helpful when composing behavioral objectives. See examples of these verbs used in specific content areas.
Apply a Rule
To state a rule as it applies to a situation, object, or event that is being analyzed. The statement must convey an analysis of a problem situation and/or its solution, together with the name or statement of the rule that was applied.
Classify
To place objects, words, or situations into categories according to defined criteria for each category. The criteria must be made known to the student.
Compose
To formulate a composition in written, spoken, musical, or artistic form.
Construct
To make a drawing, structure, or model that identifies a designated object or set of conditions.
Define
To stipulate the requirements for the inclusion of an object, word, or situation in a category or class. Elements of one or both of the following must be included:
- The characteristics of the words, objects, or situations that are included in the class or category.
- The characteristics of the words, objects, or situations that are excluded from the class or category.
To define is to set up criteria for classification.
Demonstrate
The student performs the operations necessary for the application of an instrument, model, device, or implement.
Note: There is a temptation to use “demonstrate” in objectives such as, “the student will demonstrate their knowledge of vowel sounds.” As the verb is defined here, this is an improper use.
Describe
To name all of the necessary categories of objects, object properties, or event properties that are relevant to the description of a designated situation. The objective is of the form, “The student will describe this order, object, or event,” and does not limit the categories that may be used in mentioning them. Specific or categorical limitations, if any, are to be given in the performance standards of each objective.
Diagram
To construct a drawing with labels and with a specified organization or structure to demonstrate knowledge of that organization or structure. Graphic charting and mapping are types of diagramming, and these terms may be used where more exact communication of the structure of the situation and response is desired.
Distinguish
To identify under conditions when only two contrasting identifications are involved for each response.
Estimate
To assess the dimension of an object, series of objects, event, or condition without applying a standard scale or measuring device. Logical techniques of estimation, such as are involved in mathematical interpolation, may be used. See MEASURE.
Evaluate
To classify objects, situations, people, conditions, etc., according to defined criteria of quality. An indication of quality must be given in the defined criteria of each class category. Evaluation differs from general classification only in this respect.