Top 10 Tips For Writing Awesome Lesson Plans

If you’re starting out in your drama teacher journey, you will learn very quickly that lesson planning is the bane of your existence. It is never-ending. You may need to show your lessons to an administrator. You will probably have to come up with extra lessons to have on hand for a substitute.

Every class needs a strategy to get you from the beginning to the end of the year and the building blocks of that strategy will be your lesson plans. When they’re working your class will run smoothly. If they’re not working, your class will suffer.

Where do you start? When you’re writing your own lesson plans, follow these top 10 tips! If you want ready-made lesson plan help, keep reading!

1. Use a template. Why try to reinvent the wheel every time? Put together a Lesson Plan Template and fill in the blanks. Common sections: Objective, Materials, Standards Fulfilled, Pre-Lesson Information, Instructions, Assessment. Click below for a fillable Lesson Plan Template.

2. Define the objective. What do you want students to accomplish by the end of the lesson? What transformation do you want them to make?

3. Work backwards. What’s the last thing you want students to do to achieve the objective? Create a scene? Take a test? Write a reflection? How will students be assessed? Know your endgame and work backwards.

4. Itemize the before. What do students need to know or have done before they take on this lesson? Does anything need to be reviewed?

5. Devise a model. This is especially important if you’re teaching a new exercise or skill. Model the exercise and your expectations for the lesson.

6. Decide on a method. What’s going to be the best method of delivery for this lesson? Write it down.

7. Be flexible. Lessons on a piece of paper are just that — paper. Your students are human and their behaviour is going to change depending on the day. Be prepared to adapt. Have alternate exercises in your back pocket.

8. What do you need? Put it in the lesson plan. Need to make copies? Need to have any equipment on hand? Don’t leave anything to your memory. If it’s on paper it doesn’t have to be remembered. It’s right there.

9. Don’t work in a vacuum. Can you write a series of lesson plans that take place over a number of classes?

10. Questions to ask. What are my students learning? What is the objective? How are they learning? What do students need to know before we start the lesson? What will my students do in the lesson? Why are they learning it? How is it relevant? What standards does it meet? What will my students know by the end of the lesson? How will they apply it in the future? How will I know students have met the objective?

I need more help! Where do I go? Theatrefolk has you covered.

The Drama Teacher Learning Centre

Explore our learning centre to discover a ton of classroom-ready exercises regularly created specifically for drama teachers. Articles, writing prompts, acting/directing/teaching tips, resources, warm-ups, games, classroom exercises, reflections, and so much more! All of this will make your lesson planning easier.

The Drama Teacher Academy

Want access to a library of ready-made lesson plans? Join the DTA and have access to hundreds of lesson plans, as well as standalone units and full-year curriculum, all designed for middle school and high school theatre.

• Full-year Middle School, Drama One, Drama Two, Production Class, and Distance Learning curriculum
• Units you can take into the classroom tomorrow
• Lesson plans for your sub, even the ones with ZERO drama training
• Technology-forward: digital learning, video demos, hyperdocs
• Assessments, rubrics, and reflections.
  Check out the Drama Teacher Academy here!

New Drama Teacher Free Resources

Whether you’re a new teacher or new to teaching drama, this resource is for you. You’ll find articles on classroom management, exercises, activities, and podcasts where you can hear directly from other teachers. Whatever you’re going through, you are not alone.

Emergency Lesson Plans for Theatre Teachers

Every classroom should have our Emergency Lesson Plans for Theatre Teachers resource. This is a fantastic resource with 30 printable lesson plans that are ideal for pulling out on a rainy day or confidently leaving in the hands of a substitute teacher. Be prepared for when you can't be there!

Scenes for Classroom Study

With over 30 scenes and 200 pages, this resource is designed to help with character study, acting, scene work, substitute teachers, performance, individual event competitions and so much more.

Each scene comes with Close Reading Questions, Staging Suggestions, and Character Development.

81 Playwriting Exercises

81 exercises that can be used to get students in the habit of writing on a regular basis. Great for practice, warm-ups, and emergency lesson plans when you can’t be there.

Classroom Study Guides

Many of the plays in the Theatrefolk catalogue include easy-to-use comprehensive classroom study guides designed to challenge students to deepen their understanding and connection to the plays they’re studying.

Complete with pre-read questions and activities, close reading analysis, and post-read activities, these study guides allow you to provide an in-depth & theatrical learning experience.

Click below for a fillable Lesson Plan Template and a Writing Lesson Plans Toolkit.