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name: lesson-plan
description: "Build a complete, standards-aligned lesson plan with clear objectives, a timed activity sequence, differentiation, and assessment. Use when asked to write a lesson plan, plan a class or lesson, design a teaching session, or structure instruction for a topic. Produces a ready-to-teach plan with measurable objectives, a minute-by-minute flow, materials, checks for understanding, and differentiation for varied learners."

Lesson Plan Skill

A great lesson plan makes the goal measurable, the time accountable, and learning visible. This skill produces one a teacher can walk into class and run — with built-in differentiation and checks for understanding.

Working from a brief

Given a topic and grade level, produce the full plan anyway — infer reasonable objectives and standards and mark them (adapt to your standards). Never leave "[insert activity]"; supply concrete, age-appropriate activities.

Required Inputs

Ask for (if not already provided):

• Topic / subject and grade or age level
• Lesson length (e.g. 45 min) and format (in-person, remote, hybrid)
• Standards / curriculum to align to (optional — note if to be adapted)
• Class context (size, range of abilities, language needs)

Output Format

Lesson overview

• Topic · Grade · Duration
• Standards alignment: [framework + codes, or "adapt to your standards"]

Learning objectives

2–4 objectives in measurable, student-facing form: "By the end, students will be able to [observable verb]…" (use Bloom's-level verbs; avoid "understand/know").

Materials & prep

Bulleted list of what's needed and any setup.

Lesson flow (timed)

Time	Phase	What happens
0–5	Hook / warm-up	Engage and surface prior knowledge
5–15	Direct instruction	Teach the core idea
15–30	Guided / group practice	Students apply with support
30–40	Independent practice	Students work solo
40–45	Close / exit ticket	Consolidate + check understanding

(Adjust the splits to the real duration.)

Checks for understanding

2–3 quick formative checks woven through (cold call, thumbs, mini-whiteboard, exit ticket question).

Differentiation

• Support (struggling / ELL / IEP): scaffolds, sentence frames, visual aids
• Extension (advanced): a stretch task or deeper question

Assessment

How you'll know the objective was met (the exit ticket question or task), with success criteria.

Homework / follow-up (optional)

A short, purposeful task that reinforces the objective.

Quality Checks

• Objectives are measurable and student-facing (observable verbs, not "understand")
• The timed flow sums to the lesson length
• Includes at least two checks for understanding
• Differentiation covers both support and extension
• Assessment maps directly back to the objectives

Anti-Patterns

• Objectives that can't be observed or measured ("students will appreciate…")
• A flow that's all teacher talk with no student practice
• No formative checks until a final test
• One-size-fits-all with no differentiation