List the important identifying information at the top of each lesson plan: your name, the grade level, the subject and the lesson to be taught and the unit title. Include applicable state and local curriculum standards. Include a time breakdown for each element in the lesson to help you stay on schedule. Include a list of materials and supplies you will need, including the pages in the teacher’s guide and student books that will be used.
Identify the lesson's objectives in specific detail. For example: "Students will learn how to regroup numbers when subtracting three-digit numbers." Include the purpose of the lesson if it differs from the objectives. For example: "The lesson provides a second subtraction method for students who have difficulty with the concept of borrowing."
Provide information on how you will introduce the material. Relate it to previously learned material and motivate students to learn the material. Include ideas on ways the students might determine the information is relevant to their lives.
Write a step-by-step plan of how you will teach the lesson and how much time it will take. For example: “Provide three sets of manipulatives to each student -- 9 buttons, 19 checkers and 19 beans. Place 10 checkers in a bag and 10 beans in a second bag.” Continue through all the steps of the lesson and include ideas that will help you verify that students understand the lesson. Include notes detailing how to adapt the lesson to students with learning challenges or language difficulties. Identify specific students who need the adaptations.
Outline ways individual students or groups of students will practice the material learned in the lesson and how much time you have allotted for it. For example: "Students may use the manipulatives to work problems on a worksheet or pairs of students may work together on problems in the student text." Include information on homework assignments or a follow-up practice for the next day. Follow the practice by bringing the class attention back to the lesson and summarize what the students learned
Write notes that detail how effective you believe the lesson was. Add ideas for review, based on questions students asked during the practice or items missed in the practice. If the lesson was not effective for all students, include ideas for re-teaching it or the names of students who need individual attention.