Chapter 2: Instructional Planning

LESSON 5: INSTRUCTIONAL
PLANNING COMPONENTS
OBJECTIVES:
In this lesson, you will be able to:
• Identify the basic components of instructional
planning;
• Explain how these components contribute to
effective instructional planning; and
• Create a sample instructional plan considering the
components identified.
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING is a
process of the teacher using appropriate,
instructional strategies, resource data during
the process to address the diverse needs of
students.
Instructional Planning is one of the most
crucial skills teachers have in their arsenal in
their teaching journey. It helps them reflect
on their teaching, and make the necessary
adjustments needed to ensure that learners
attain the intended targets of the teachers
and the curriculum.
A common adage that says, “failing to plan is
planning to fail”. Highlights the importance
of planning. This is especially true to
teachers who are charge to mold young
minds of the future. Thus, it is important for
teachers to have clear idea of how to plan for
effective instruction.
In this lesson, you will be introduced to the
basic components of effective instructional
planning.
THINK: Instructional Planning and Its
Components
Planning involves several factors to consider
in order to make it effective. Teachers
planning for their classroom instruction need
to think about the components prior to
actually written their plans. These would help
them focus their energies toward creating
more effective experiences for their learners.
For these experiences to be more effective in
helping create the optimal environment for
the learners to learn, Algozzine (2006)
suggests three major components of
instructional planning namely (1) deciding
what to teach; (2) deciding how to teach; and
(3) communicating realistic expectations.
The initial go-to for topics to teach is
obviously the curriculum. However, since
the standards set the in the K to 12
Curriculum are stated in standards to less
complex skills. Therefore, in order to decide
what to teach, teachers undergoes the
following process:
1. Assessing Learner’s skills. Being a
teacher, we have to consider that the tasks
we provide our learners are within their
abilities. As discussed in the previous
chapter, the learners are at the center of our
classroom decisions.
As such, teachers need to ensure to gather
pertinent data to assess the level of skill the
learners. This could be done using various
tool such as their diagnostic tests,
achievement texts, or an assessment of the
learners’ performance in previous activities.
2. Analyzing instructional tasks. Other
than analyzing learners’ skill, the teacher also
need to be sure of what they want the learners
to do. Teachers analyze the task they want the
learners to accomplish by breaking down
complex tasks to simpler, manageable ones that
are within the learners’ skills and abilities.
3. Establishing logical sequence. Along
with the analysis of the instructional tasks, the
teacher then, needs to sequence these tasks in a
logical and appropriate manner based again on
the learners’ developmental abilities. This could
be done by prioritizing the lower-level ones to
the more complex ones.
4. Considering contextual variables.
In deciding what to teach, teachers may need
to look into the contextual variables, which
may include how long the lesson will take,
the availability of materials needed, or the
time of the day the lesson will take place
(class schedule).
5. Analyzing instructional groupings. As
language learning involves, sociolinguistic
interactions, creating opportunities for the
learners to make meaningful interactions in the
classroom needs consideration. Having an idea
how learners work with each other helps in
deciding how to give them instructions, keep
them engaged, and have them perform better.
6. Identifying gaps in actual and expected
performance. As the teacher understands the
level of performance of the learners, it is now
imperative to understands how to bridge their
current understanding with the new material
being presented to them. This goes to show how
important the initial preparations are before the
teacher can even decide what to teach.
Once the teacher has the grasp of what to
teach, he/she can decides how to teach these
identified skills. To do this, the following
needs to be considered:
1. Setting instructional goals. Teachers
need to present the goals of instruction to
the learners in unambiguous terms. As
mentioned before, the simple, lower-level
skills need to be presented in logical manner
that would be understandable at the level of
the learners.
2.Selecting instructional methods and
materials. Decisions that would be made
for the method and materials would be
guided of course by the topic selected, the
activities or tasks for the learners, and the
learners themselves.
This might seem to be straightforward until
we realize that some of our learners might
have special needs such as tape recordings
or higher reading materials.
3. Pacing instruction. Pace is simply how
slowly or how quickly the teacher goes through
the material. Thus, the teacher should be able
to set the appropriate pace when going through
the material, basing this of course on the
learners’ level and the activities the learners are
tasked to accomplish.
4.Monitoring performance and
replanning instruction. In planning how
to teach, it is also important for the teacher
to know how to monitor learners’
performance, and then use this information
to plan the next and instruction.
Lastly, Algozzine identifies communicating
realistic expectation as the last component of
instructional planning. This involves
grousing the teachers’ expectation around
realistic goals that the learners can actually
achieve given the time and their level of
skills.
Other models also present and highlight
other components of instructional planning.
McClymont (2020) further forwards with
related components of instructional
planning namely:
1.Clear objectives. Learners must be able
to have a clear view of what are expected of
them in the lesson. Providing them with
clear objects sets the tone of the class,
gearing their thinking and expectations in
the lesson toward a clear goal.
In order to keep the objective clear, they
should be SMART (Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound)
objectives.
2. Learning materials. Availability of
necessary materials must be considered in
planning instructions. This would help the
teacher make adjustments to his/her
instruction based on these, such as whether
to use realia are to use models.
3.Active background knowledge.
Tapping into the learners’ prior knowledge
about the topic, lesson, or material relatable
to the learners, enabling the teacher to
engage the learners more and instill the new
concepts easier.
4. Direct instruction. This is where the
teacher presents the concepts or skills as
indicated in the objectives. This is where
various means are employed by the teacher
to deliver the learning to the learners.
5. Learner practice. Learners must be
gi ven the oppor tu n i t y t o p r a c t i c e t h e
concepts or the skills they learned in class.
Practice should be designed to gradually let
the learners become independent.
This has a three-step process, including:
a.Guided practice – where learners are
given practice with the teacher leading
them;
b. Collaborative practice – where
learners are provided with practice with
their classmates. This can be through small
or large groups. At this stage, the teacher
could be going around the room, providing
help to the learners who might be
struggling; and
c. Independent practice – where the
learners are provided with activities that
they will perform on their own. The teacher
can still roam around the room to identify
who among the learner really grasped the
concepts taught, and who could use
additional practice.
6. Closure. After the lesson, the teacher
then prepares to synthesize the concepts
presented in the lesson. It can be in the
form of an activity where the learners can
participate
7. Demonstration of learning. This is in
the form of an assessment that assesses the
learners’ understanding of the concepts
presented in the lesson. This is also an
opportunity to gather data about the
learners’ performance.
THANK YOU!!
 GROUP 4:
Tumamak, Angel C.
Caballero, Allyna Marie B.
Lasaca, Fheb Ashley
Samontina, Jessie
Belon, Princess Elaine
Salayon, Ruth Kimberly