Reading Lesson Plans

Reading Lesson Plans - They Aren't Just for School Any More

A reading lesson plan is an outline for instruction in a particular reading skill. It usually includes objectives, time allotted, and notes about what materials are needed.

If your child needs to strengthen a skill, you can make reading lesson plans to work on at home. Online, you'll find a wealth of information and many sample reading lesson plans. A good source is discoveryschool.com, where you can find reading lesson plans under Grades K-5, Language Arts. The New York Times Learning Network is a resource for both parents and teachers and includes an archive of language arts/reading lesson plans based on news and feature stories.

To develop your reading lesson plan, you first decide on an objective. Two kinds of objectives are usually attempted in reading lesson plans. A behavioral objective emphasizes being able to do something. For instance, the objective might be for the child to learn how to summarize a short paragraph. A knowledge objective emphasizes learning information. In this case, an objective might be for the child to learn what metaphors and similes are.

You'll want to make the reading lesson plan specific enough that the objective can be accomplished in the time allotted. You would not want to teach all the literary figures of speech at once, but you could teach metaphors and similes in one sitting.

The length of time for a lesson depends on your child's age and the complexity of the lesson. You can lead casually into the lesson by asking questions. For instance, you might ask, "Have you ever heard someone say, 'Her face was as red as a beet,' or 'Those clouds remind me of cotton.' "? Your child will talk about similar sayings. Suddenly you're teaching metaphors and similes.

Create a worksheet for the reading lesson plan so that you can see how much your child has absorbed and what needs reinforcement. Ask your child for comments about the lessons. Was the lesson too long? Was it too late in the day or too soon after school? Were there too many distractions? Other members of the family can also give feedback. This will help you gauge the success of the lesson plan.

With what you've learned, you'll make new lessons plans and try new methods. Your successful reading lesson plans will soon have your child eager for opportunities to develop her skills.