INTRODUCTION

This topic introduces the learner to the process of

preparing to teach a lesson. The first item the learner
is introduced to is the syllabus; the meaning and
nature, the role of the syllabus in the teaching
process.
The learner is also made aware of the factors to
consider when planning for instruction and lastly the
learner is given knowledge and skills on how to
develop professional records such as schemes of work,
lesson plan, records of work covered and test
specification table.
Topic Objectives
Define the key terms in planning for instruction
State the value of the syllabus in planning for
instruction
List the factors to consider in planning for instruction
Identify and describe the professional documents to
be maintained by a teacher
The Syllabus
The syllabus is a document that outlines and
summarizes topics to be covered in a course for a
level of education.
In Kenya, the syllabus for schools is developed by the
curriculum developers – Kenya Institute of
Curriculum Development (KICD) or the exam body –
Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC)
Components of the syllabus
Contains individual topics to be covered
Sub-topics of each topic
General course objectives
Specific objectives
Methods of teaching
Resources to be used in instruction
Factors to consider in planning for
instruction
Planning for instruction can be put into three parts
namely
 Pre-instructional planning
 During instructional planning
 Post-instructional planning
Each part should be carefully and thoughtfully
planned to ensure the effectiveness of the
instructional process
The Pre-instructional stage
The teacher should do the following
 Analyze the content to be taught
 Assess the learners’ entry behavior (their abilities,
prior learning experience etc)
 Develop the instructional objectives
 Assemble the resources for conducting the
instructional programme
 Develop the instructional plan that will be utilized
during instruction
During instruction stage
The teacher should do the following
 Identify and select appropriate teaching strategies to
be used in the instructional process
 Apportion the activities to be carried out against the
instructional time available
 Design the activities that you engage the learners in
as they undertake the learning task
 Assess the learners’ progress in attainment of the set
objectives
The post-instructional stage
The teacher should do the following
 Evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional
strategies used
 Evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional
resources used
 Evaluate the constraints that may have affected the
instructional process
 Provision of remediation to enhance attainment of
the intended objective
PROFESSIONAL DOCUMENTS
These are all the documents that have been designed
to enable the teacher to undertake the instructional
process in the classroom.
While preparing these documents, important
considerations must be put in mind to ensure their
effectiveness
These documents include:
Schemes of work
Lesson plans
Lesson notes
Records of work covered
Students’ progress records
Class attendance register
Academic counseling records
1. Schemes of work
It is a detailed, orderly and systematic, sequential
analysis and sub-division of the syllabus into lessons,
weeks, months and terms for teaching
It is a systematic arrangement of planned activities in
the sequence of time, lesson and content, objectives,
learning activities and resources for a particular subject
for a particular time or year
It is the teacher’s blueprint from which the teacher can
prepare the other professional documents
What to consider in preparing
schemes of work
Study the syllabus for a whole year
Study textbooks and course books
Availability of materials
Scan through the course objectives as detailed in the
syllabus
Cross check with the examinations and evaluation
requirements
Ascertain the learners entry behavior for the
particular class level of instruction
Consider the duration of the term and allocate the
time to teach content area in terms of the number of
lessons per week as indicated in the syllabus
Elements of a scheme of work
The Scheme of work consists of two main parts
Preliminary part - which consists of the title in terms
of the school name, the subject, the term, the class for
which the scheme is developed, the duration or span
for the scheme
The main structure – which contains the following
 The time when the teaching will be carried out
 The content/topic/subtopic to be taught
 The objective for teaching that content in terms of
behavior learners are expected to demonstrate
The teaching-learning activities that the teacher and
learner will be involved in
The instructional materials that will be incorporated
to enhance effectiveness of instruction
The references from which information from the
lesson is drawn
The assessment that indicates the attainment of the
set objective
The remarks to indicate if the planned work was
covered or if anything went wrong and there is need
for remediation
Sample Schemes of work
NAIROBI MIXED DAY SCHOOL
SCHEMES OF WORK
Subject………Year……..Term………Form
WK LES TOP S/ OBJ T/L MT T/L REF ASS RE
S IC TOP ACT D RES MT MA
IC RKS
1 1
2
3
2 1
2
3
Functions of a scheme of work
Encourages a teacher to read widely, plan and
develop lessons affectively
Provides continuity in lessons and sequence in
learning
Ensures syllabus is covered well
Builds the teacher’s confidence
Enables the teacher to make early requisitions for
materials
Facilitates lesson planning
Ease when there is an emergency or handing over
Challenges in preparing Schemes
of Work

One teacher’s schemes of work may not be

understood by another teacher hence causing lack of
uniformity in the use of the schemes of work
Frequent changes in the teaching staff occasioned by
leaves, retirement, transfers etc may affect the
preparation and utilization of schemes of work
Changes in subjects especially the addition of new
content and removal of some content may render the
schemes redundant
Unexpected holidays, unscheduled visits by
politicians or impromptu guests may affect the proper
timing and coverage of the planned work
2. The Lesson Plan
It is a well prepared, systematically arranged detailed
plan in which the desired knowledge skills and
attitudes are relayed to the learners in a learning
environment such as the classroom setting.
It involves three main stages
 Collecting, selecting and preparing content to be
covered
 Preparing materials and planning methods of
instruction
 Checking and rehearsing the presentation of content
Considerations for preparing the
lesson plan
Fit the lesson plan to the subject content
Provide for adequate feedback to ascertain attainment
of objectives
Fit the lesson plan to meet needs of the teacher and
the learner
Provide for student engagement/involvement in the
instructional process
The plan should proceed from the known to the
unknown, simple to complex, familiar to unfamiliar
Components of a Lesson Plan
It consists of four parts
First part: Administrative details – consist of name of
the school, the date, class, time subject, roll/number
of students, name of teacher/student teacher
Second part: Consists of the objectives, the teaching-
learning resources/aids and references to be used
(drawn from the schemes of work)
Part three: The actual plan as budgeted by the time
allocation. It is the stage where the activities by both
the teacher and learner should guide to the
attainment of the set objectives. This part has three
sub-parts namely: the introduction, lesson
development and conclusion of the lesson
Part four: Self-evaluation. In this section the teacher
makes a reflection of the whole instructional process
taking note of what worked and what did not work. It
facilitates adjustments and modifications in future
instruction. It is usually filled immediately after the
instructional process
Sample Lesson Plan
NAIROBI MIXED DAY SCHOOL
LESSON PLAN

TEACHER’S NAME……………….. REG NO…………..

SUBJECT……….. CLASS………. ROLL………………
DATE……………… TIME……………………….
OBJECTIVES…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………..
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………….
RESOURCES……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………..
TIME STAGE TEACHER’S LEARNER’S
ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES
5mins INTRODUCTION Play a recorded Listen to the
audio speech on… recorded speech
30mins DEVELOPMENT
5mins Step 1 Explain sound Listen and write…
10mins Step 2 /ei/ Give more words
Give examples with….
15mins Step 3 of… Pronounce words
with sound /ei/…
Practice
pronunciation….
5min CONCLUSION Summarize work Answer…
covered Write task…
Give a task
SELF EVALUATION
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
………………….
Lesson presentation procedure
Introduction
 the teacher should ask questions, establish motivation
to bring students on board during the instructional
process, highlight the objective of the lesson, try to
bring out the prerequisite skills on which current
learning experiences are building
Development/Presentation stage
 The teacher should sequence the information to flow
from known to unknown to enable the learner to
make the relevant connections of ideas and concepts
Activities Stage
 This stage will consider what the teacher does as he
prods the learners to engage actively in the learning
process. They are presented in terms of teacher’s
activities and the learner’s activities that act as
feedback to indicate the effectiveness of the
instructional process
The conclusion
 It provides a recap of the main points and any
clarifications of what was learned
Self Evaluation and follow-up
 This is meant to check the achievement of objectives
and also progress check on the task given and
provision of feedback for further improvement in
subsequent lessons
Functions of a Lesson Plan
It acts as a guide that provides planned activities of
teachers and learners during the instructional process
It is a plan that enables the teacher to prepare and
plan using the right methods and approaches during
the instructional process
It acts as a memory bank that reminds the teacher of
sequence and activities during the instructional
process.
It is a summary guide that shows what to be
emphasized to ensure attainment of objectives
It ensures standardization of instruction
It enables the teacher to analyze content prior to
presentation
3. Records of Work Covered
It is a record kept by the subject teacher and shows
the work covered.
It should be filled in after every lesson or week.
It helps in the event of a teacher change over for the
incoming teacher to know where to pick from
The remarks and comments made in the self
evaluation are handy in filling the remarks column in
the records of work covered
NB: There should be consistency between the
schemes of work, the lesson plan and the details in
the records of work covered.
Sample Records of Work Covered
WEEK LESSON WORK COVERED REMARKS
1 1 NOUNS – Definition Taught well.The work
and classification was covered and the
students were able to
correctly classify nouns
2 NOUNS – Collective Remedial to be done
Nouns since a number of
learners were not present
due fees issues
2 1
4.Other Professional documents
The teacher should prepare other professional
documents including students’ progress reports,
report cards, students’ academic day reports,
students’ class attendance registers
The records serve very important purposes such as:
 For academic counseling
 For promotion to the next class
 Useful when giving bursaries and other financial
assistance
 To monitor performance trends of learners and
predict future performance
 For awards e.g. during prize giving days
 To encourage healthy competition among learners
Self Evaluation
Describe the process of syllabus preparation
List the factors to consider when planning for
instruction
Name the professional documents that a teacher
should prepare
Design the following documents for use in a lesson;
schemes of work, lesson plan, records of work covered
and a test specification table