The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) developed the instructional planning standard to ensure teachers would effectively take the steps needed to help students understand required content knowledge. One of the most vital ways teachers can effectively implement the instructional planning standard is by aligning lesson objectives to the school’s curriculum and student learning needs. In this way,  they can ensure lessons are compatible with what is expected of their students and can provide the needed baseline instruction. When I did a lesson on why the Earth has day and nights, I checked the third grade science standards to make sure I covered the essential knowledge.  I also included visual evidence of how China looks different than the United States in the afternoon because most students were not aware of that in the pre-assessment. The full lesson plan can be downloaded by clicking on the picture below:

Teachers can also implement the instructional planning standard by giving formative assessments or using other strategies to determine their students’ knowledge. By doing so, they are capable of presenting the material at a rate that is appropriate for the student. Before teaching first graders about tens and place value, I gave them a pre-test with an opportunity to express how they feel about the material. The student who took the assessment below already knew the content well and felt confident about it, so I would gave her more advanced material to work with during the lessons.

Lastly, differentiation helps teachers address the diverse background and understanding pace of their students. For the same unit as above, I used the puzzle below with varying levels of difficulty. The yellow lines are where the puzzles were cut up for the students.

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Click here for my paper on the standard: PPS Instructional Planning.