This document discusses effective lesson planning and design, with a focus on the backwards design model. It emphasizes that good learning objectives aligned to standards are critical to focus instruction. The backwards design process involves first identifying learning outcomes, then planning assessments to measure them, and finally developing learning activities. This ensures lessons are standards-aligned and target specific skills. The example lesson outlined applies this backwards design approach to plan an activity assessing students' ability to determine scholarly sources on the Underground Railroad.

1. E F F E C T I V E L E S S O N P L A N N I N G
A N D D E S I G N
M I K H A E L T R A M M E L L
E D U 6 5 0 T E A C H I N G L E A R N I N G A N D
L E A D I N G I N T H E 2 1 S T C E N T U R Y
I N S T R U C T O R K E N N E T H P O W E R S
J U N E 1 5 , 2 0 1 5

2. WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE LESSON DESIGN?
• Clear learning objectives that align with standards (Newman,
2013). These learning objectives should be worded in a way that
state what a student will be able to do once the lesson/unit is
complete (Panasuk & Todd, 2005).
• Embedded assessments (Panasuk & Todd, 2005) and other
assessment strategies.
• Learning activities that will make real-world connections and
connect to students' lives while addressing various intelligences
and learning styles and profiles (Newman 2013).
• Enough time allotted for review, practice, and feedback (Estes,
Mintz, & Gunter, 2011).

3. W H Y A R E G O O D L E A R N I N G
O B J E C T I V E S C R I T I C A L T O
P L A N N I N G
E F F E C T I V E I N S T R U C T I O N ?
T H I N K O F T H E O B J E C T I V E S A S
T A R G E T S - T H E S E T A R G E T S H E L P
F O C U S I N S T R U C T I O N , C L E A R L Y
D E F I N I N G I N T E N T I O N S T H AT W I L L
I M P R O V E S T U D E N T L E A R N I N G
( E S T E S , M I N T Z , & G U N T E R , 2 0 1 1 )
A N D H E L P T H E M H I T T H E " B U L L ' S
E Y E " O F S U C C E S S F U L
C O M P R E H E N S I O N .

4. EXAMPLE OF A LEARNING OBJECTIVE
ALIGNED WITH THE COMMON CORE
STATE STANDARDS:
"College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8: Gather relevant information from
multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and
accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while
avoiding plagiarism" (National Governors Association Center for
Best Practices, para. 9, 2010).
Upon completion of lesson unit on the Underground Railroad, the
student will research and use available resources listed in the library
media center's Underground Railroad WebQuest to determine
which sources are considered scholarly and integrating these
sources into their essays on UR topic of choice, properly citing them
as discussed in class and in WebQuest.

5. WHAT
MAKES
THE
PREVIOUS
OBJECTIV
E A
“GOOD”
LEARNING
OBJECTIV
E?
This objective
addresses what
students will be able to
do (research,
determine what
sources are scholarly,
integrate into essays,
and properly cite) upon
completion of the
lesson unit, which is
the key to an effective
learning objective.

6. WHAT ARE SOME COMMON
PITFALLS IN PLANNING
EFFECTIVE LESSONS?
Common pitfalls in lesson planning include
vague learning objectives (Estes, Mintz, &
Gunter, 2011), expending too much energy on
determining student activities rather than what
students need to learn (which can cause
accidental learning), and trying to cover too
much material without clarified purpose
(Newman, 2013).

7. HOW CAN WE AVOID THESE
PITFALLS?
One can avoid these pitfalls by
remembering to focus - focus objectives,
focus on what students need to learn, and
focus on what materials, skills, and
activities are relevant in helping students
successfully learn content.

8. A G R E A T W A Y T O E N S U R E
T H A T Y O U A R E S T A Y I N G
F O C U S E D I S T O U S E T H E
B A C K W A R D S D E S I G N
M O D E L O F L E S S O N
P L A N N I N G T H A T W I L L
N O W B E D I S C U S S E D …

9. WHAT DOES BACKWARDS
DESIGN MEAN?
Backwards design planning is a three stage process
that includes identifying desired learning outcomes,
selecting appropriate assessments to help better guide
toward those learning outcomes, and finally determining
learning activities and appropriate instruction
techniques (Newman, 2013). In essence, this model is
backwards compared to the traditional model of
planning activities, designing assessments, and then
determining learning outcomes.

10. HOW DOES THE COMMON CORE STATE
INITIATIVE PLAY A ROLE IN DESIGNING
EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION?
The CCSS can help in determining
learning objectives. They serve as a
guide in knowing what students should be
able to do upon implementation. The
standards and learning objectives can
easily flow together, thus aiding in
effective lesson planning and instruction.

11. COMPARING AND CONTRASTING BACKWARDS
DESIGN AND THE TRADITIONAL MODEL
Standard
Learning
Outcomes
Assessment
Strategies
Learning
Activities and
Instructional
Techniques
Standard
Learning
Activities and
Instructional
Techniques
Assessment
Strategies
Learning
Outcomes
Backwards
Design
Traditional Model

12. L E T ' S R E V I S I T T H E
P R E V I O U S LY
M E N T I O N E D
C O M M O N C O R E
S TAT E S TAN D A R D
AN D L E AR N I N G
O B J E C T I V E .
"College and Career Readiness Anchor
Standards for Writing: CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.CCRA.W.8: Gather relevant
information from multiple print and digital
sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of
each source, and integrate the information while
avoiding plagiarism" (National Governors
Association Center for Best Practices, para. 9,
2010).
Upon completion of lesson unit on the
Underground Railroad, the student will research
and use available resources listed in the library
media center's Underground Railroad WebQuest
to determine which sources are considered
scholarly and integrating these sources into their
essays on UR topic of choice, properly citing
them as discussed in class and in WebQuest.
While this objective describes a unit, let's use it to
plan one brief lesson in this unit by continuing to
use the backwards design approach.

13. STAGE 1: LEARNING
OUTCOMES
The student will research and use available
resources listed in the library media
center's Underground Railroad WebQuest
to determine which sources are considered
reliable and scholarly and generate proper
citations for these sources.

14. STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT
Successful completion of WebQuest. This
WebQuest will have questions and steps that
the student will have to complete regarding the
Underground Railroad, scholarly sources, and
proper citation of such sources. Answers will be
evaluated. (Other assessments would be
included in a full unit - this is a brief example for
one lesson in this unit).

15. STAGE 3: LEARNING
ACTIVITIES
Pairs of students will complete
WebQuest in class. They will
research the print and digital sources
listed in WebQuest during their time
in the library media center.

16. WHILE THE TRADITIONAL
MODEL IS NOT WITHOUT
MERIT, THE BACKWARDS
DESIGN MODEL IS BEST
SUITED FOR STANDARDS
ALIGNMENT, TARGETED
LEARNING OUTCOMES, AND
MORE EFFECTIVE AND
EFFICIENT LESSON PLANNING.

17. REFERENCES
Estes, T., Mintz, S., & Gunter, M. (2011). Instruction: A models approach
Vitalsource eBook for Ashford University. [VitalSource Bookshelf
version]. Retrieved from
http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781256165460/outline/6
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, & Council of
Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common core state standards for
English language arts: College and career readiness anchor
standards for writing. Retrieved from:
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/W/
Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century:
Connecting the dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Panasuk, R., & Todd, J. (2005). Effectiveness of lesson planning: Factor
analysis. Journal Of Instructional Psychology, 32(3), 215. Retrieved
from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-
library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c888f360-046c-
42aa-920f-39a5b21a2e46%40sessionmgr112&vid=7&hid=103