The Lesson Planning Tool guides teachers through a series of prompts about the lesson content, structure, and activities to ensure the Shifts required by college- and career-ready standards are central to the lesson. English Language Arts teachers will be guided through the process of creating a close-reading lesson. Math teachers will focus on grade or course-level standards while developing lessons.
The Shifts represent the fundamental principles of the Common Core State Standards and other college- and career-ready standards.
Start with “Planning a Standards-Aligned Lesson” to tackle the most critical aspects of alignment. Once you’ve completed this section, explore the other modules to deepen the alignment of your lesson. Don’t worry - all of your work will save automatically!
If you need support answering a question, you can always click on the “Examples & Support” link to find background information, sample answers, and the related Core Actions and Indicators (from the complementary Instructional Practice Guide).
Math Teachers - your learning goal will be accessible throughout the process
ELA Teachers - your Big Idea will be accessible throughout the process
From the "Home" page, you can print and share your lesson, start a new lesson, or access previous lessons.
This format presents your answers in the order the questions appeared in the Lesson Planning Tool.
This format presents your answers in the order of the Core Actions and Indicators of the Instructional Practice Guide (IPG). This layout was created to help facilitate discussion with a peer, coach, or supervisor using the IPG for non-evaluative observation.
Ask a coach or peer to use the Instructional Practice Guide while observing your class. The Instructional Practice Guide gives the observer specific “Core Actions” to look for to see if the content and instruction incorporate the Shifts. Throughout the Lesson Planning Tool you can see the related Core Action and Indicator for every question.
It is important to complete the Planning a Standards-Aligned Lesson module prior to moving into additional modules. Return to Home to continue Planning a Standards-Aligned Lesson.X
Each question in the Lesson Planning Tool relates to a Core Action and Indicator from the Instructional Practice Guide: Instructional Practice Guide. In order to make that connection explicit, the related Core Action and Indicator is shown below.
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The Lesson Planning Tool provides guiding questions and supports that help teachers create lessons that align to the Shifts required by college- and career-ready standards.
The Lesson Planning Tool is made up of six modules; each module takes approximately one planning period to complete. The starting module, "Planning a Standards Aligned Lesson", serves as an umbrella to the other five modules. In this first module you are asked the highest leverage questions to consider from each of the other five modules. In exploring these high leverage questions, you will be sure you are considering the elements that are most critical to college- and career-ready standards. Once you complete the starting module, you may choose to go into more depth in any or all of the other five modules. You can access these modules in any order.
1. Start with "Planning a Standards-Aligned Lesson" to tackle the most critical aspects of alignment. Once you've completed this section, explore the other modules to deepen the alignment of your lesson. Don't worry - all of your work will save automatically!
2. If you need support answering a question, you can always click on the "Examples and Support" link below each prompt to find background information, sample answers, and the related Core Actions and Indicators (from the complementary Instructional Practice Guide).
3. The learning goal you define in the starting module will be accessible from every other module, so you can keep this goal top of mind as you build your lesson.
4. From the "Home" page, you can print and share your lesson, start a new lesson, or access previous lessons.
5. When sharing your work, you'll be asked to choose from one of two formats: Lesson Planning Tool format presents your answers in the order the questions appeared in the tool. Instructional Practice Guide format presents your answers in the order of the Core Actions and Indicators, as they appear in the Instructional Practice Guide. This format was created to help to facilitate discussion with a peer, coach, or supervisor who is using the Instructional Practice Guide for non-evaluative observation.
The Instructional Practice Guide is a non-evaluative observation tool that helps coaches and teachers identify the evidence that will show whether the content of a lesson aligns to the Common Core or other college- and career-ready standards. References to Core Actions and indicators found in the Instructional Practice Guide can be found throughout the Lesson Planning Tool. Teachers using the Lesson Planning Tool with a coach or colleague can use these references to more easily make connections between what content and practice has been planned and what is to be observed during classroom instruction. These lessons can be easily shared with a coach in advance of a non-evaluative observation focused on classroom instruction aligned to college- and career-ready standards, including the Common Core. The Instructional Practice Toolkit is a professional development experience that is designed to facilitate an understanding of these Core Actions and Indicators in a lesson plan, observation, and student work which will support ongoing coaching conversations.
achievethecore.org’s digital tools and resources for teachers have been made possible by contributions from teachers across the country as well as through generous support from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the GE Foundation. To learn more about Student Achievement Partners and for access to an array of free resources, please visit us at achievethecore.org.
The Lesson Planning Tool provides guiding questions and supports that help teachers create lessons that align to the Shifts required by college- and career-ready standards.
The Lesson Planning Tool is made up of six modules; each module takes approximately one planning period to complete. In ELA/Literacy, the tool focuses on supporting you through the process of creating a close-reading lesson plan. A close-reading lesson often spans multiple class sessions
The tool begins by asking you to determine your text and then to evaluate it for complexity. If you know that the text has already been evaluated, then you can move ahead to other modules. If not, we recommend you:
• First evaluate the text quantitatively to determine the grade band
• Second evaluate the text qualitatively, to determine the grade level
• Third, evaluate the text for reader and task, to determine if the text is appropriate for your students
While this process can be time consuming, remember that a close-reading lesson will often take multiple class periods.
Once you have determined that the text is appropriate for your students, then you will be asked to determine the big idea of the text and the culminating activity that will assess if students' have mastered the concept(s). Then, you will create and sequence text-dependent questions and associated activities. You will add the Standards addressed.
You can move through these actions in any order, though we recommend the above flow.
1. Start with Planning a Standards-Aligned Lesson. Once you've completed this section, we recommend you continue to the next module to continue to analyze your text. Don't worry - all of your work is saved automatically!
2. If you need support answering a question, you can always click on the "Examples and Support" link below each prompt to find background information, sample answers, and the related Core Actions and Indicators (from the complementary Instructional Practice Guide).
3. The big idea you define in the “Big Idea and Culminating Task” module will be accessible throughout the process, to help you focus all supports, questions, and tasks on this big idea.
4. From the "Home" page, you can print and share your lesson, start a new lesson, or access previous lessons.
5. When sharing your work, you'll be asked to choose from one of two formats: Lesson Planning Tool format presents your answers in the order the questions appeared in the tool. Instructional Practice Guide format presents your answers in the order of the Core Actions and Indicators, as they appear in the Instructional Practice Guide. This format was created to help to facilitate discussion with a peer, coach, or supervisor who is using the Instructional Practice Guide for non-evaluative observation.
The Instructional Practice Guide is a non-evaluative observation tool that helps coaches and teachers identify the evidence that will show whether the content of a lesson aligns to the Common Core or other college- and career-ready standards. References to Core Actions and indicators found in the Instructional Practice Guide can be found throughout the Lesson Planning Tool. Teachers using the Lesson Planning Tool with a coach or colleague can use these references to more easily make connections between what content and practice has been planned and what is to be observed during classroom instruction. These lessons can be easily shared with a coach in advance of a non-evaluative observation focused on classroom instruction aligned to college- and career-ready standards, including the Common Core. The Instructional Practice Toolkit is a professional development experience that is designed to facilitate an understanding of these Core Actions and Indicators in a lesson plan, observation, and student work which will support ongoing coaching conversations.
achievethecore.org’s digital tools and resources for teachers have been made possible by contributions from teachers across the country as well as through generous support from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the GE Foundation. To learn more about Student Achievement Partners and for access to an array of free resources, please visit us at achievethecore.org.
