If you're looking for a lesson plan format, you probably need one that satisfies your school or teacher preparation program and that you can actually use on a daily basis. If you’re preparing a 90-minute literacy block in second grade, the format would be very different from one built for a 50-minute biology period, even though both lesson plans share the same basic parts.
Whichever lesson plan format you use, most plans are built on the same five parts: an objective, materials, instruction, practice, and an assessment. They differ by how much detail your school or program expects and how you divide up the instructional time.
You can also download Brisk's free lesson plan template or build a plan in Google Docs with Brisk's free Lesson Plan Generator.
What is a lesson plan format?
A lesson plan format is the structure you use to organize a single lesson, covering everything from what students should learn to how you'll determine that they actually learned it. A student teaching template might require that you outline nearly every step, while a format intended for daily use can likely fit on a half-page.
The parts of a lesson plan: 5 components, 7 parts
As a rule of thumb, lesson plan formats are built from five essential components:
- Objectives: what students will know or be able to do by the end of the lesson.
- Materials: everything you and your students will need, from texts and handouts to lab equipment and devices.
- Direct instruction: how you'll introduce and model the new content or skill.
- Guided and independent practice: how students will work with the material, first with your support and then on their own.
- Assessment: how you'll check whether students met the objective, such as an exit ticket, quick quiz, or observation.
Some lesson plan formats follow the 7-part framework, modeled after the Madeline Hunter Model of Mastery Learning. This essentially includes the same five components cited above, with a hook at the start and a closure at the end. In order, the 7-part version looks like this:
- Anticipatory set (hook): a quick question or activity that gets students thinking about the topic.
- Objectives
- Materials
- Direct instruction
- Guided and independent practice
- Assessment
- Closure: students summarize what they learned before the lesson ends.
Teacher preparation programs often ask for all seven parts, but if you're planning on your own, you can fold the hook and closure into your instruction and assessment notes.
Writing measurable objectives
The objective is arguably the most important part of a lesson plan; everything else (the activities, the practice, and the assessment) should connect back to it. The most common problem with a poor underlying objective is one that only names a topic instead of something students will do. "Students will learn about fractions," for example, doesn't tell you what to look for at the end of the lesson.
A simple pattern works for almost any lesson:
"Students will" + an action you can see + the content + how they'll show it.
For example, "Students will compare two fractions with different denominators using fraction strips" has all four critical elements.
If you need to match a Bloom's Taxonomy level, these verbs are a good place to start when writing out measurable objectives:
- Remembering: list, label, identify
- Understanding: explain, summarize, describe
- Applying: solve, use, demonstrate
- Analyzing: compare, classify, organize
- Evaluating: justify, critique, defend
- Creating: design, write, build
If your district uses Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK) framework instead, look at the task rather than the verb. DOK measures how complex the thinking is, so "compare two fractions" and "compare two historical arguments" can land at very different levels. (Use Brisk to generate standards-aligned DOK questions for any lesson and grade level in seconds.)
Popular lesson planning frameworks compared
The 5E Instructional Model
The 5E Model works well for science and STEM because students investigate a question before you explain the concept. Copy these prompts into your plan and answer each one:
- Engage: What question, demonstration, or short video will get students curious?
- Explore: What will students investigate, and what materials will they need?
- Explain: Once students share what they found, which vocabulary and concepts will you introduce?
- Elaborate: Where will students apply the idea to a new problem or situation?
- Evaluate: How will you check understanding, whether that's a quiz, exit ticket, lab report, or reflection?
The Madeline Hunter 7-step model
The Madeline Hunter model is often used in teacher preparation programs and classroom observations, partly because each step is easy to see in action. It works best for direct instruction, and each step turns into a planning question:
- Anticipatory set: How will you connect today's lesson to something students already know?
- Objective and purpose: How will you tell students what they're learning and why it matters?
- Input: What new information or skill will you present?
- Modeling: Which example will you work through in front of the class?
- Checking for understanding: What quick check will tell you who's ready to move on?
- Guided practice: What will students try while you support them?
- Independent practice: What will they do on their own, in class or as homework?
You can also add a closure step at the end so students can summarize what they learned.
Backward Design (Understanding by Design)
Backward Design, developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, starts with the end goal and plans backward from there. It's most often used for units, but you can carry the same thinking into daily plans by listing which part of the unit's goals each lesson supports.
- Stage 1, identify desired results: what should students understand and be able to do by the end of the unit?
- Stage 2, determine acceptable evidence: what assessments or performance tasks will show they've met those goals?
- Stage 3, plan learning experiences: what lessons and activities will prepare students for that evidence?
Simple daily format
For routine lessons, a shorter format covers the essentials without slowing you down:
- Objective
- Materials
- Warm-up
- Lesson and activities
- Check for understanding
- Closure or exit ticket
- Notes for next time
Lesson plan format example
Here's a simple daily format filled in for a 50-minute 4th grade math lesson. The objective, the practice, and the exit ticket all point at the same skill.
Elementary lesson plan formats (time-block schedules)
Elementary teachers often plan in longer blocks that mix whole-group lessons, small groups, and stations, and some cover several subjects in a single plan. An elementary format needs space for each rotation and for the transitions between them.
90-minute literacy or math block
Breaking a 90-minute block into set segments lets you plan small groups and independent stations together. Here's one way to divide the time, which you can adjust to fit your schedule and curriculum:
A rotation grid under the schedule keeps track of who is where while you're with a small group. With three groups and 15-minute rotations, every student gets time at your table during the 45-minute segment:
Integrated daily format for grades K-5
In a self-contained classroom, one daily plan can cover every subject. You can copy this blank layout into a document and fill it in the day before:
If you like to connect subjects, add a column for cross-curricular links, such as reading a science text during literacy.
Secondary lesson plan formats (period and block schedules)
Middle and high school lessons are usually focused on one subject and limited by the bell schedule, so the format needs clear timing for each part of the lesson.
45- to 60-minute period format
For a 45-minute period, you can shorten direct instruction or the activity by a few minutes. For a 60-minute period, add the extra time to practice, where students usually need it most.
90-minute block schedule format
A 90-minute block gives you room for deeper work, but it's hard for students to stay focused on a single activity that long. Splitting the block into two learning cycles, each with its own instruction and practice, gives students a change of pace halfway through:
Subject-specific formatting examples
Each content area tends to need a few fields beyond the basic components.
Science and STEM lab format
Lab lessons need room for safety and setup, so add these fields to your usual format:
- Safety procedures and required equipment
- The question or hypothesis students are testing
- Step-by-step lab procedures
- How students will record their data
- How the lab connects to a lab report or written conclusion
Humanities and social studies seminar format
Discussion-based lessons go more smoothly when the sources and questions are planned ahead of time:
- The primary or secondary sources students will analyze
- Any document-based questions (DBQs)
- The discussion or debate structure, such as a Socratic seminar
- How students will show their thinking afterward, such as a written response
Mathematics problem-solving format
Math lessons tend to follow a predictable sequence, which makes them easy to format:
- A warm-up that reviews earlier skills
- One or two worked examples you'll model
- An error analysis task where students find and fix a mistake
- An independent problem set
- A quick check at the end to see who needs more practice
Accommodations and differentiation checklist
Many lesson plan templates don't include a place for student accommodations; adding a short checklist to your format lets you plan supports ahead of time.
MTSS and RTI tiers
If your school uses a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) or Response to Intervention (RTI), a line for each tier helps you decide ahead of time who needs extra support and when they'll get it:
- Tier 1 (whole class): supports built into the core lesson, such as visuals, partner talk, or a worked example on the board
- Tier 2 (small group): Students: ______ Support: ______ When: ______
- Tier 3 (individual): Students: ______ Support: ______ When: ______
Supports for English Language Learners and students with IEPs or 504 plans
You can paste this checklist into any format and tick the supports you plan to use. For students with IEPs or 504 plans, always follow the specific accommodations in their plan and use this list alongside it.
- Visual supports, such as pictures, diagrams, or anchor charts
- Sentence frames or sentence starters
- Graphic organizers
- Vocabulary previews or word banks
- Reduced or chunked assignments
- Extended time
- Text read aloud or text-to-speech
- Preferential seating
- Extension tasks for students ready for more challenge
If you use an AI tool like Brisk to help plan supports, describe needs in general terms and leave student names and personal details out of your prompts.
Choose a format you can stick with
Whichever format you choose, using the same one every day is what saves time, because you stop rethinking the structure and can spend your planning time on the lesson itself.
To get started, download Brisk's free lesson plan template, or use the free Lesson Plan Generator to build a plan in Google Docs or Microsoft Word. You can set the lesson length anywhere from 20 to 120 minutes and choose the standards you want to target, then edit the plan to fit your format.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a lesson plan format and a unit plan format?
A lesson plan covers a single class period or day, while a unit plan maps out several weeks of instruction around a larger set of goals.
How detailed should a lesson plan be for a student teacher versus an experienced teacher?
Student teachers are usually expected to write plans close to a script, because supervisors use them to see how you think through a lesson. Experienced teachers tend to write just enough to jog their memory. Here's the same step from the fractions lesson written both ways:
Which lesson plan format is best for block scheduling?
For 90-minute blocks, a format that splits the period into two shorter learning cycles tends to work well, because it gives students a change of activity partway through. The 5E Model is also a good fit, since its stages naturally move students between exploring, discussing, and applying.
Is there a new lesson plan format for 2026?
There isn't a single new format that every school has adopted, and most schools and preparation programs still use versions of the formats in this guide. If your district has updated its template recently, look for added sections on standards alignment, differentiation, or Universal Design for Learning (UDL). If you're required to use a specific format, check with your district or program for their current template.
