Components of a Well-Developed Lesson

By Lynn Moore
What makes up a good lesson? Homeschoolers often seek less structured ways to teach their children than what is offered by the local school district. Certain basic parts, however, give thorough concept coverage and feedback about comprehension.

PREPARATION

Planning

Plan the lesson before you sit down with your child. This seems obvious, but it is easy to think that you can just follow the book or follow your instinct. Key concepts are easily overlooked without planning.

Materials

Preparation includes gathering materials (books, visual aids, manipulatives) and supplies (paper, pencils, erasers, scissors, glue) beforehand. It is a great idea to include your child in this part of the lesson preparation, but you will want to do it prior to your teaching time.

THE LESSON

Review

Reviewing previously covered material is important regardless of whether or not your child understood the previous lesson.

If your child did understand the previous lesson, it is important that you begin with a recap of the material covered in the last lesson. This practice will get the child thinking about the concepts or the skills that are building blocks for the new lesson. Lessons should follow a logical progression of steps from simpler to more difficult, each lesson building on the information from previous lessons.

If your child did not understand the previous lesson, you will want to start with some reteaching or practice. This will help you determine when your child is ready to go on to the new material.

Introduction to the Lesson

The introduction of any lesson should answer the question Why is it important for me to learn this? We can all agree that material that is learned as busy work with no real purpose is useless, unless of course it is learned for the purpose of practicing a learning skill. If that is the case, then why not learn something of use to practice that skill?

The introduction of the lesson should also include previous knowledge. What does the child already know about this subject? What would he like to learn? What is he wondering about? These questions can be written as a guide for study. They can also be revisited at the end of the lesson or unit to see if they were successfully answered or if more study on the topic is needed.

Preview of Material

With children who are too young to use a textbook or printed lesson packet, try the following technique. Have the child:

• examine any manipulatives or visual aids you will be using for the lesson.
• talk about previous knowledge or experiences connected to the lesson.
• make a list of questions he may have on the topic. (Depending on the age of the child, you may need to help write these.)

With children old enough to use a textbook or printed lesson packet, try the following preview technique. Have the child:

• read the title and subtitles of the lesson.
• read any words in bold face or colored print.
• look at the pictures and diagrams. Read the captions.
• look at any examples (if a math or English lesson).
• read any vocabulary words and definitions.
• read the questions at the end of the lesson.

Instruction

As you teach the lesson:

• break the information into parts.
• ask the child to retell the information in each part.
• ask questions that will give you an idea of whether or not the child is following the lesson. Avoid Yes / No questions.
• give the child opportunities to “practice” a few samples of the skill introduced in each part of the lesson.

Discussion and Review

This is one component of the lesson that has pros and cons for homeschoolers. While the discussion can focus on the individual child’s interests and questions, it is easy to overlook information that may be misunderstood. In the school classroom, children benefit from the questions of others. Sometimes, a point is misunderstood, and no one realizes it until another person asks a question on the same topic. It is the responsibility of the homeschool parent to use a very thorough discussion and review time.

Supervised Practice

This part of the lesson applies to all subjects. The child needs to try some problems (math), or write some sentences (English), or look up some vocabulary words (science), etc. while you, the parent-teacher, supervise. You want to make sure that the child “gets it” before he is asked to complete work on his own.

Independent Practice

Once the child has completed enough supervised practice to show that he understands the task, it is time for independent practice. It is critical that a child learns how to work independently.

Finding the right blend of supervised and independent practice can be a challenge. Too often, children are asked to work independently too soon. The lesson is not fully understood, and the best possible learning does not happen.

Assessment

How do you know if your child really understood the lesson? Assessment is used to measure learned information. Many homeschoolers choose to use minimal formal assessment. While it is true that a homeschool parent may have an idea of how much her child has mastered from a certain lesson, a more formal type of assessment is also a good idea. Why?

• A certain number of paper-pencil tests are a fact of life.
• Assessment can be accomplished by asking the child to demonstrate a skill or explain a concept.
• More formal tests measure concepts or aspects of those concepts than an individual may have considered.

AFTER THE LESSON: Lesson Reflections

Take a few moments immediately after the lesson to make some notes. Include the following information.

• Does my child need practice on previous lessons?
• How far did we get in the material?
• Did he understand what was presented?
• What points should be retaught next time?
• What questions came up that are springboards for future lessons?