I want to share with you how I put together a lesson plan for when I am teaching at my local homeschool co-op, children’s church, youth group or Sunday School class. This blueprint lesson plan can be used to help you organize any children’s class you are going to teach.
How To Teach an Elementary Level Class
Depending on how much time you have, you will need to divide the class time into the following areas:
- Introduction
- Teaching the lesson
- Activities
- Conclusion
How Long is the Class?
The first thing I do is determine how long the class is. The majority of the classes that I have taught have been one hour long. I generally plan to have the first five minutes for settling down and getting everyone to their seats. I also plan for the last five minutes to be used to get ready to move on to whatever is next.
Once I have determined how much time I have left to teach then I divide that time into smaller portions so I can put the Rotation Principle to work. What’s the Rotation Principle? Let me tell you all about it.
Rotation Principle
When Rick and I served in children’s ministry at our church we learned about this principle. Once we had put it into practice, it really improved the quality of our class and we felt like the children learned more.
The Rotation Principle is when you move the children to different stations to learn a different part of the lesson. Now, this can be a little challenging when you only have one or two teachers or leaders. However, I learned to incorporate the concept of the principle into my teaching by rotating them through the lesson.
When You Have Lots of Help
Before class, plan several different activities to demonstrate whatever concept you are teaching and then set up different stations. Each station has its own leader. Divide the children into groups and have the leader teach the children in that particular activity station. Tell the leaders and the children how long they have to complete the task before they have to move on.
As the rotation leader, I always like to give them a two or three-minute notice so they can wrap the activity up. Then when their time is up, blow the whistle and have them rotate to their next activity. Just a side note, when the kids are moving from one station to the next, you need to allow time for that. They will take time to get wherever they are going plus time to settle down and be ready to learn their next activity.
When It is Just You
Now I would love to have lots of help to teach my classes but most of the time that is just not possible. However, I still use the Rotation Principle. Depending on the age of the child, I divide the children into teams and let them rotate themselves by reading written directions and accomplishing the task. When they have completed the task, they bring it to me to get the next one and so forth.
If the children are younger and can’t read their own task cards, I will divide them into groups and we will complete the tasks together. Then I will lead them onto their next task. They are still getting the opportunity to experience all kinds of different activities to help them remember what have learned.
Let me show you how this looks. We will pretend we have an hour-long class to work with and so your timeline would look something like this:
| Time Duration | Task |
|---|---|
| 5 Minutes | Getting the children settled, introducing yourself, and teaching classroom rules |
| 10 Minutes | Teach the Lesson |
| 10 Minutes | Activity or Station #1 |
| 10 Minutes | Activity or Station #2 |
| 10 Minutes | Activity or Station #3 |
| 10 Minutes | Conclusion Discussion |
| 5 Minutes | Prepare to leave |
So let’s break down this concept into bite-size pieces so it doesn’t seem so intimidating.
Preparing the Lesson
When you are preparing the lesson, make a list of three points you want your students to learn from your class. These are what I call the Foundational Principles and are the concepts you want your students to walk away with. Everything you do from teaching the lesson to the planned activities is going to demonstrate or highlight one of your foundational principles.
Teaching the Lesson
When I am teaching the lesson, having only ten minutes to do it makes me pinpoint the objectives I want to teach. Usually, I am telling a story or doing an object lesson during this time. I want to open the child’s mind to whatever we are learning about that day.
Think of it this way… Pretend you are building a house. What is the first thing you do? You lay the foundation. Well, that’s what this part is for. It is the foundation for the activities they are going to be participating in and hopefully putting into practice whatever you are teaching about.
Activities
This is the fun part for you and the kids! However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind as you plan this portion of your class.
- Class Size
- Age of Children
- Time
- Learning Style
Class Size
You need to consider how much actual space you have and how many children need to be in that space. If you have a small classroom and a lot of children, you will need to plan accordingly. If you have a larger classroom, then you can plan to have the children move around some.
If you have access to outside space, that is definitely something to consider. I love taking them outside because the options are limitless. However, not all games and activities are outdoor friendly plus you need to make sure it is a safe area for them to be in. Also, you need to be able to get them in and out without losing any of them.
Age of Children
The age of the children definitely plays a part in what they are capable of doing. There are several concepts that require reading and if the child isn’t reading yet then this wouldn’t be appropriate.
Sometimes, age has nothing to do with it. Assessing your class and knowing their skill levels is a good way to see what they are capable of. Sometimes, you need to take it down a development level when you are limited on time so they are not struggling to get things done. Plus, no one wants to struggle in front of their friends. Let everyone be a rockstar and let’s build their confidence while they are in our class. You will be surprised where it leads as the semester moves along.
Time
How much time do you have for each activity? You need to make an estimate of how long you think it will take for the child to complete a task. This is the really hard part but let me let you in on a little secret. For some reason, this style of teaching feels a little bit like a race. Even when I say, “This is NOT a race!” the children seem to feel like it is.
I don’t know if it’s human nature to turn it all into a competition or if they are just excited and curious about what comes next. It never fails, they get it done quicker than I thought they would and so keep that in mind as you are planning the activities.
Learning Style
When we are teaching a multitude of children we are teaching a variety of learning styles. Since every child learns differently, I like to mix my activities up so I am getting everyone’s attention. How do I do this? I keep in mind the 8 Great Smarts and their five senses.
I wrote a post detailing how I teach using our five senses and you can read that HERE. If you want to make a memory, this is the way to do it! Making memories, isn’t that what homeschooling is all about?
I wrote an in-depth post for How I Taught My Children the Eight Great Smarts and you can read it HERE. It is a printable unit study that you can print and teach your child. It is based on the book 8 Great Smarts by Kathy Koch and it changed our lives!
It changed the way I put together my lesson plans in my everyday homeschool and when I teach at our local homeschool co-op. I have seven children and so they all learn differently. Just within our family, we represent all eight of the smarts really well.
Okay, so back to the learning styles… Here are some ideas based on those smarts. Pick an activity from different categories to give your students well-rounded learning experiences. When you mix it up, you are most likely to hit their learning style.
Body Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Turn the worksheet into a relay race. | Set up two buckets and label them, true and false. Write statements about your lesson onto index cards. Have the students line up, take turns, and sort them into the correct bucket. |
| Balloon Badminton | Using paper plates and popsicle sticks, make rackets. Have the children play a game of balloon badminton. When someone misses the balloon and it touches the floor, they have to answer a question about the lesson. |
| Baseball or Basketball | Before they get a turn to hit the ball or shoot it into the basket, they have to answer a review question from the lesson. |
| Freeze Dance | Everyone gets a balloon and you play your choice of music. If you have a song about the topic you taught, that would be perfect. As you play the music, have the students dance while hitting their balloon around. When you pause the music, yell "Freeze" and have the students answer a review question from your lesson. |
Music Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Play a song | Find a song that teaches your concept and play it for your class. It helps them remember and memorize the information. |
| Compose their own song. | Have the students compose their own song about the lesson and then have them perform it for everyone else. |
| Make a musical instrument | You can have them make their own musical instruments like a tambourine made of beans or a shaker with beans inside of an easter egg. They can play their instruments while listening to a song about the topic of your lesson. |
| Music Video | Have the students make their own music video! They can compose their own music or do actions to a song about your chosen topic. |
| Name that Song | Have the students listen to different songs and guess the name of it. This would be a great review game for the end of the semester as you reflect on what you have learned. |
| Name that sound | Have the students guess what the sound is. You could have several different items that go along with your topic. They close their eyes, listen, and try to guess what the item is. This would be a great introduction to your topic. |
Word Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Word Games | Make up a game of scrabble with words from your lesson. The students would need to build words that have to do with the topic from your teaching. |
| Guess that Phrase | Write out some phrases that a student can act out from your lesson. The class would need to guess the phrase from the person's non-verbal cues. |
| Discussion | Simply conduct a discussion about the lesson you have taught. Create a list of five discussion questions and encourage everyone to participate by giving their thoughts. |
| Scavenger Hunt | Have the students create their own scavenger hunt with your lesson's theme. Trade with another team and complete each other's hunts. |
Self Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Reading | Read them a story about your lesson topic. |
| Sensory Bins | Create a sensory bin for the children to enjoy with items from your lesson. For example, if you are teaching about the ocean, put together a sensory bin with sand, toy fish, and seashells. Sidenote: Sensory bins tend to be messy, so make adequate preparations to contain the mess. I love to do these bins outside. |
Picture Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Draw a picture | Have the students draw and color a picture of something from the lesson. |
| Video Tutorial | Have them create a video tutorial teaching the audience the lesson. Kids love to watch themselves and so you are guaranteed to have a captive audience. |
| Art Project | Have them create an art project that demonstrates the theme of your lesson. This could be painting, sculpting, or anything you can think of. |
| Pictionary | Make a list of your vocabulary words for your lesson and have the students play Pictionary with them. They pick a word and draw it while their team tries to guess what it is. |
| Photo Scavenger Hunt | Send the students on a photo scavenger hunt looking for items that are a part of your lesson. |
| Picture Scavenger Hunt | Have the students draw their own scavenger hunt and then trade with another team to find the items they drew. |
Nature Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Order of operations | Have the students create an order of operations based on what happens next. This could happen with them drawing a diagram or building it with Legos. |
| Create a pattern | Using your lesson topic, have the students evaluate and look for patterns and then create their own. |
Logic Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Trivia | Divide the students into teams and have them create their own game of trivia. Swap trivia games with another team and see who wins! |
| Puzzles | The students can create their own puzzles by drawing a picture that demonstrates your lesson in some way. Cut into pieces and trade with a partner and put the puzzle together. The students could create their own crossword puzzle or word search using vocabulary words from your lesson. Trade with a partner and solve it. |
| Science Experiments | Is there a science experiment that demonstrates your topic well? This would be a great way to apply some hands-on learning while tying it to your lesson. For example, when I am teaching about anger, I allow the students to mix vinegar and baking soda into a plastic water bottle. It eventually "pops it's top" and I make the point that we should not pop our tops. We should learn to control our bodies and words even when we are angry. |
People Smart
| Activity | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Guessing Games | Make a list of words that go along with your lesson. Pick one person and have them choose a word. They will give verbal clues trying to get the rest of the students to say their word. |
| Role-Playing | Have the students act out the concept or topic you taught. Or they could make up their own story demonstrating what they have learned so far. |
Conclusion
In my conclusion, I always take the time to marry the lesson together by talking about how we demonstrated and learned our foundational principles. Then I give my call to action. I challenge my students to apply what they have learned into today’s lesson and when they come back to the following class they can tell me about it.
I do this because I want my class to change their lives. I want them to be thinking about what they learned and see if there is an opportunity for it to make a difference.
Tips for Making It Work
- Plan an activity in case you have extra time
- Don’t show your fear
- Kids love mystery and challenges
- Lesson Plan Guide
Plan an activity in case you have extra time
I always like to have a game that I can pull out and play if we have extra time. It can be a review game or even a bunch of board games. One of the things that makes me the most nervous when I am teaching is that I will run out of things to do and there will be time leftover.
Having a game planned that I can pull out and play at any time takes away this fear. Guess what? It can be the same game every week. Chances are that you are going to have to pull it out for a few minutes at a time so it’s okay to repeat it.
Don’t show your fear
No matter how nervous you are, don’t let them smell fear! I know it’s hard but if they feel your anxiety then they will be a little harder to handle. Every single class I teach, I experience something unexpected. Over the years, I have learned to roll with it and not let it excite me too much. As you teach more, it will bring more confidence.
Kids love mystery and challenges
Kids love mystery and are generally motivated to find out what they don’t know. Sprinkle in the mystery or add in a challenge and you will have their full attention. You could create a class scavenger hunt that as they travel through the lesson, they have to answer some questions. You could have them jump three times every time they hear a certain vocabulary word.
Lesson Plan Guide
I have included a lesson plan guide so you can plan your class like a rockstar! It includes:
- Class Agenda Example
- Class Agenda
- Foundational Principles
- Lesson
- Activity Stations
Class Agenda Example
I have included the class agenda example that is in this post. It is an example of how I divide my one hour class so that I am creating a diverse learning experience for my students.
Class Agenda
The next page is a copy of a blank Class Agenda so you can customize it to your own class.
Foundational Principles
From there, we move onto the Foundational Principles page. This is where you will determine the three concepts you want your students to walk away with. There is space for you to write those down so that you can remain focused and intentional when you are planning your lesson.
Lesson
The Lesson page is where you are going to plan your opening statements. I always ask myself how I can make the lesson come alive for children. How can I catch their interest and open their minds to what is going to be taught that day? Is there an object lesson that I can do? Is there a story I can tell them from my own life? Is there a story I can read to them?
Activity Stations
This is my favorite one! This is when you get to figure out what your activity stations are going to be. I look at my foundational principles and ask myself what kind of age-appropriate activities can I have the children do that will tie into each principle.
Just a tip for this part of the lesson, Think SIMPLE! If there is a lot of preparation in it for you, is there a way you can have the students do it as a part of the task. I have been disappointed when I spend an hour prepping for this one task that they will breeze through in five minutes. Don’t be afraid to let them do some of the work as a part of the task!
I hope this helps you as you prepare for your next class! Let me know how it goes!
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