Lesson Plan Generator

Why this matters: The heart of a lesson plan isn’t the worksheet, video, or slides — it’s the purpose behind them. With clear intent, you can design lessons that engage learners and strengthen skills that endure.

The value of memorable instruction: When a lesson goes beyond “covering material” and instead sparks curiosity or personal connection, students are more likely to:

• Lean in and participate actively
• Think critically about the resource or idea
• Carry the learning with them beyond the classroom

What this looks like:

• Choosing a resource that invites exploration, not just recall
• Bringing your professional goals into the planning process
• Considering how you’ll adapt for your learners’ needs
• Focusing on impact rather than quick tasks

What counts as a resource? Picture book, novel chapter, article, poem, video, podcast, demonstration, simulation, or guest speaker.

Why does it matter?A strong resource sparks curiosity, provides depth, and gives students something concrete to connect with. The AI uses your resource description (See step 5) to generate questions, activities, and discussions that build directly on it.

Guidelines for choosing a strong resource:

• Match your students’ age and stage of development.
• Select something meaningful and relatable for your learners.
• Focus on resources that invite curiosity, exploration, or deeper thinking.
• Short, rich texts or experiences often work better than long, overwhelming ones.

Note: Learners are never too old for picture books — they can spark deep thinking at any age.

Getting Started: A strong learning goal gives your lesson purpose. It connects instruction to essential skills and leads students toward deeper understanding.

What is a Learning Goal? It’s a short statement of what students will walk away with — a skill, a concept, or an insight. It is not about what they’ll make or complete. Think:

• What skill will they build?
• What concept will they grasp?
• What insight will they gain?

When rooted in your students’ developmental stage and aligned to a Competency, goals become a roadmap for purposeful, engaging instruction.

Examples by Age Band:

• Ages 2–3: Students will begin to understand how their actions affect others and recognize the value of taking turns and following routines.
• Ages 4–5: Students will express personal feelings through a chosen creative medium (such as drawing, movement, or dramatic play).
• Ages 6–7: Students will explain how simple machines make work easier and recognize basic system parts.
• Ages 8–9: Students will demonstrate collaboration by listening to peers’ ideas and contributing toward a shared solution.
• Ages 10–11: Students will organize and communicate ideas clearly, using evidence to support their thinking.
• Ages 12–13: Students will build empathy by comparing their own experiences with a character’s perspective in literature or history.
• Ages 14–15: Students will evaluate multiple perspectives and use evidence to form well-reasoned conclusions.
• Ages 16–18: Students will apply scientific knowledge to evaluate how human activities affect local ecosystems.

Why it matters: Each age range reflects milestones in reading, thinking, social-emotional skills, and independence. Selecting the right range helps the generator provide tasks and questions that meet students where they are.

What this means in practice:

• Younger learners may see simpler language, more concrete examples, and hands-on activities.
• Older learners may see complex questions, abstract reasoning, and extended projects.

Built-in pedagogy: The generator integrates age-appropriate guidance — adjusting vocabulary, pacing, and activity types so the lesson matches academic and developmental abilities.

Available ranges: 2–3, 4–5, 6–7, 8–9, 10–11, 12–13, 14–15, 16–18.

Language profile:

• Pre-verbal (ages 2–3): Early communication, gestures, modeling.
• Native speakers: Age-appropriate vocabulary and phrasing for fluent speakers.
• Multilingual: Strategies that honor multiple languages.
• English Learners: Simplified language and scaffolded comprehension.
• Language Delayed: Extra support, repetition, and modeling.
• Mixed grouping: Flexible prompts for varied language levels.

Learning format:

• Direct Instruction: Teacher-led delivery with guided practice.
• Interactive: Shared discussion, turn-taking, collaborative tasks.
• Independent: Individual practice or exploration with prompts.

Type of resource:

• Picture Book, Chapter, Video, Article, Podcast, Demonstration, Simulation, Speaker.

Each type leads to different strategies — e.g., a picture book may emphasize visual thinking, while a podcast may emphasize listening and summarizing.

What to include:

• Big idea or central message
• Key moments or turning points
• Main characters or people involved
• Themes or important takeaways

Keep it short: 3–5 sentences is usually enough.

Example:
Too vague: “It’s a book about a tree.”
Stronger: “A picture book about a tree that survives a disaster. The story highlights resilience and hope, with key moments showing the tree’s recovery and the community’s support.”

Copyright note: Please provide your summary in your own words whenever possible. If you copy a short description from a publisher, library website, or video description, keep it brief and check for accuracy — some online summaries may be incomplete or even AI-generated. Do not paste in full copyrighted texts, long reviews, transcripts, or articles. For videos (like YouTube), it’s fine to use the title or publisher description for reference, but always paraphrase in your own words.

You may copy/paste:

• Content you created yourself
• Short summaries from publisher or library websites (keep them brief)
• Titles or short factual descriptions (e.g., “a video explaining the water cycle”)
• Openly licensed or public domain materials

Privacy: Any summaries you provide are kept within our lesson templates to support lesson generation. They are not publicly shared or visible to other users, and they are never used to train AI models.

What these do:

• Domain: The broader area of learning (e.g., Language & Communication, History & Culture, Science & Sustainability).
• Competency: The specific skill focus (e.g., ask questions, evaluate evidence, communicate clearly, collaborate effectively).

Why it matters: The generator tailors objectives, questions, and activity choices to match your competency — keeping the lesson purposeful and on target.

How to choose well:

• Match your learning goal (Step 2) — pick the competency that best expresses the skill students will develop.
• Think about your resource (Step 1) — choose a competency your book/article/media naturally supports.
• Keep it focused — one clear competency yields tighter, more relevant outputs.

Standards alignment: The competencies are designed to connect with any set of standards — academic, social-emotional, or content-specific. This means you can use them alongside your existing district or state standards. Our crosswalk feature, coming soon, will make it easy to map each competency directly to the standards you already use.

View the Competency Framework

Generate Custom Activity (Yes/No):

• Yes: You outline the activity and constraints. The generator tailors steps, prompts, and checks for understanding to match your choices.
• No: The generator selects a best-fit activity from the library and adapts it using your inputs from Steps 2-7.

Activity Type: (populated after you pick an Age Band)

• Choose a structure that fits your goal (Step 2) and resource (Step 1). Your menu adjusts by age.

Activity Description (Optional):

• If you have a specific activity in mind, provide 1–3 sentences describing what students will do or create.

Implementation Details:

• Duration: Time for the activity portion of the lesson.
• Space/Environment: The setting (e.g., carpet area, lab tables, stations, outdoor space).
• Student Grouping: How students work (e.g., whole group, pairs, small groups, independent).
• Special Materials: Optional — list any specific tools (e.g., devices, cameras, manipulatives).
• Tone: The feel of the activity (e.g., playful, academic, exploratory, reflective).

Why it takes time: Each lesson is built step by step using our PLANS framework and additional pedagogical supports. Along the way, the generator creates, evaluates, and refines key elements to ensure clarity, developmental fit, and instructional value:

• Learning Objective: A clear statement of what students will understand or be able to do.
• Resource Summary: A description of the text, media, or experience anchoring the lesson.
• Extended Resources: Optional books, articles, or media for further exploration.
• Vocabulary: Key words or terms connected to the resource and learning goal.
• Essential Question: An open-ended, thought-provoking question that anchors the lesson.
• PLANS Framework Sections:
  • Prompt (Anticipatory Set): Connect students’ background knowledge and spark curiosity.
  • Learn (Content Engagement): Explore the resource through guided engagement.
  • Ask (Discussion): Encourage questioning, dialogue, and deeper thinking.
  • Navigate (Activity): Apply ideas through an activity or experience.
  • Share (Closing Reflection): Reflect and communicate new understanding.
• UDL Guidance: Suggestions for supporting diverse learners with multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression.
• Assessment: Checks for understanding or criteria for student success.

Because the generator builds all of these elements into a single cohesive plan, it takes a few minutes to generate, process, and refine — but the result is a high-quality lesson with clear instructional guidance.

Access by membership level:

• Free: View in browser (print via browser).
• Pro: View + PDF download.
• Premium: View + PDF and DOCX downloads (DOCX is editable offline).

Tips:

• Review your lesson plan in the browser. If you’d like to make changes, adjust your inputs and regenerate before exporting.
• Use PDF for printing and sharing; use DOCX (Premium) to make edits in your word processor.

Early Access Program (limited-time):

Join our 8-week Early Access Program and help shape the future of lesson planning. You’ll begin with 3 lesson generations, and earn 3 more each time you share feedback — up to 24 total.

Purchase credits directly:

Buy more credits anytime: Purchase Lesson Credits