Progressing Through Your Year

Lesson Plans

When you organized your school year, you completed the bulk of your lesson planning. However, you should remember the following three components as you plan your specifics for each day’s lesson.

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Review Old Material

1. Never present new material if the student has not demonstrated an understanding of the previous material.

2. Discuss the important points from the previous day’s lesson.

3. Correct homework together, and rework any material not understood before introducing new lessons.

4. Use flashcards or drill problems where appropriate.

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Introduce New Material

1. Present new material and explain all concepts presented in the lesson until you are sure the student understands it well enough to work independently.

2. Read directions carefully to the student, or have the student read them aloud. Thoroughly explain all directions and processes before beginning.

3. Assign class work. Work not completed during class time may be assigned as homework.

Verify Understanding of New Material

1. Check completed schoolwork before the student is dismissed. If he still does not understand, explain the material once again. You may choose to check the homework assignment later that day or during the review period of the next lesson.

2. Point out any errors. Repeat the explanation, or explain it in different terms, to be sure that the student understands.

 

Test Preparation for Submission

When the time comes to test your students, the following steps will maximize their probability for success, reduce the number of simple errors, and minimize any potential problem that may occur after the tests have been submitted.

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Review Before Testing

A good teacher will quiz a student on the concepts and facts being presented in each lesson before administering a test. Oral quizzes are an excellent means of identifying any weak or misunderstood areas. It is also important to review any definitions of terms.

You should never administer a test until you are satisfied that you, the teacher, have presented the material adequately and that your student has mastered it. In addition, scan each lesson to make sure everything has been presented. If something was missed, go back and cover it before giving the test.

Also, you should never teach “to the test.” Tests by their nature contain a representative sampling of what a student should have learned. Teaching “to the test” will invalidate the test as a tool in assessing your student’s real mastery of the course material. Instead, you should help your student review everything in the particular lesson or unit for which he is responsible.
 

Read All Directions Carefully With Your Student

Once you hand a test to your student, make sure all directions are thoroughly explained. Point out any multi-part questions. On grammar tests, make certain your student knows when to circle or underline. Finally, remind students to check their tests to ensure they are complete before returning them. A student can lose several points on a test for failing to follow directions.
 

Supervise All Tests

Students should not have access to their textbooks and workbooks while taking a test (unless the course instructions indicate otherwise). They should never have access to the teacher’s keys (see Standards of Integrity). Administer tests in quiet surroundings and monitor to see that all directions are being properly carried out. Parents may help their first graders read or spell difficult test questions when necessary.

A student should not have access to a test or any part of it prior to the actual administration of the test unless such access is specifically permitted in the course and/or test instructions. The answers to a test should not in any way be communicated to a student prior to or during the taking of a test. The instructor should never allow a student access to test or daily work answer keys.

 

Once the Test Is Complete

When checking for errors, do not change, write over, or deface the original answers in any way since this can affect your student’s score when CLH grades the test.

Submit original tests only. CLH does not return completed tests. Once submitted, a test becomes the property of CLASS. Therefore, you should make a photocopy of all tests for your records and to guard against mail loss. Work done on separate sheets of paper, such as diagrams or sentence work, should be identified with student name, ID number, and course title prior to submission.

You are not required to submit each test to CLH in a separate envelope. Instead, we recommend you send them on a monthly basis. This lowers your overall postage costs and minimizes the damage from any possible mail loss. For more information, see Submitting Tests.