Unit and Topic Planning

Introduction
In the previous unit, we studied about the instructional objectives and how to develop
instructional strategies. Instructional strategies are generally implemented through unit
planand topic or lesson plan. In this unit, we will discuss how to prepare a unit plan and
a lesson plan.

Learning outcomes
After going through this unit, you will be able to:
define a unit plan and a lesson/topic plan;
differentiate between a unit plan and a lesson plan; and
prepare a unit plan and a lesson/topic plan in your subject of study.
Unitplan
All of us know that we have to complete a particular course, or more popularly known as
a syllabus, in a given academic session. Such a course or a syllabus comprise a number of
chapters or units. Each unit consists of a quantum of knowledge which represents a
particular theme. This body of knowledge has to be transacted in the class so that the
objectives of teaching the unit are achieved by the students. This necessitates that the
unit is planned in a systematic manner in advance in order to achieve the objectives of
teaching-learning process. The main objective of a unit plan is to manage student learning
in that unit. It represents sequencing of learning activities the unit and the supporting
learning materials that are required for transaction of learning experiences.
Let us know the unit plan
As we said earlier, a course consists of a few units. A unit, similarly, comprises a few
sub-units. Each sub-unit represents a bit of knowledge in that unit. Each sub-unit further
consists of a few lessons. Each lesson again comprise a number of learning experiences.
Let us examine the Figure 1 in order to know the differences amongst unit plan, sub- unit
and lesson plan.
A Unit
4 b

Sub-Unit 1 Sub-Unit 2 Sub-Unit 3

LI L Lesson Plan (LP)

L LEI LE2 3 LE4 LES LE6 LE7 LE8 LE9

\ .
\r
LEARNMG EXPERIENCES (LE)
- -

(Some contents have been reproduced from Unit 3 of ES-343 : Teaching of Social Studies, SOE, IGNOU with
necessary modifications.)
Instruction in a LP = Lesson Plan
Systemic Perspective
LE = Learning Experiences
Source: Dash, N.K. (2003). Power Point Slides for Teacher Education Workshop. SOE,
IGNOU, Mew Delhi.
Therefore, when we pian for a unit, we generally plan for sub-units which are in that unit.
A unit plah has five sections, namely, introduction, objectives, contents, hints for teachers
and evaluation. The format and an example of a unit plan is given in Table 1.
Table 1: Format or a Unit Plan
-

SubjectlCourse : Unit: Class:

Previous knowledgeJEntry behaviour of Students
Major objectives ofthe unit
Overview of the theme of the unit:
1 2 3 4
Sub-units Major Teaching points Specific objectives Methoddmedial
Teaching topics under each topic. of each teaching approach adopted
I No. of Periods 1 I point I by teachers' and I
pupils' activities
Learning Resources
Reference of pupils
References for teachers
~vrlluation/~ssi~nment
-
1 + , , I
' Sample of a h i t Plan
1. Su6ject/Course : Instruction in a Systemic Perspective
2. Unit : Input Alternatives-TeacherControlled

3. ClassITarget Group : Students of PG Diploma in Higher Education

4. En@y Behaviour of Students : Students know the concept of instructional inputs.

They carry on transaction of learning experiences
with the help of such instructional inputs.
5. Major objectives ofthe Unit : 1) Students will be able to know the meaning of
the teacher-controlled instructional input
- ,
alternatives.
, , 2) Studehts will be to understand the significance
. .. of varius kinds of teacher controlled input
alternatives such as : lecture, demonstration
and team teaching in the instructional process
at higher education level.
6. Overview of the theme of : Teacher-controlledinput alternatives refer to those
the unit instructional inputs in which the degree of control
of the instructional environment by the teacher is
more in comparison to that of the learner. The
popular teacher controlled instructional inputs are
lecture, demonstration, team teaching, etc.
7. Details of the Unit Plan
 Unit and Topic Plraniag
Sub-units Major Teaching Specific M&ods/Media/
Points Objectives Approaches
1. Lecture 1. Concept and Students will be Methods:
Meaning a lecture able to define the Lecture,
concept of a lecture Discussion,
Students will be Question-answer,
2 Steps in a lecture able to describe the Group Work, Project
steps in a lecture Work
Students will be Media:
able to cany out Chalkboard, OW,
3. Assessment of a assessment of a Charts, Audio /
lecture lecture Video programmes
Students will be
able to discuss Approaches:
4. Approaches to various approaches Teacher-Controlled
content treatment in to content Group-Controlled
a lecture treatment
Students will be
able to explain how
5. Lecture in lecture can be
combination with combined with
other methods and other methods and
media media
Students will be
able to discuss
6. Versatality of a venatality of a
lectun lecture
Students will be to
list the advantages
7. Advantages and and disadvantages
Disadvantages of a of a lectwe
lecture
2 onstr strati on I. Charcteristics of Students will be Methods:
demonstration able to identity the Lecture,
characteristics of Demonstration,
demonstration Discussion,
2 Principles of Students will be Question-answer,
demonstration able to explain the Group Work, Project
I
principles of Work
demonstration
3. Preparing classroom Students will be Media:
demonstration Chalkboard, OHP,
prepe Ch- Audio /
demonstration
p

4. Performing Studentswill be Video programmes,

classroom able to perform Materials for
demonstration demonstration of a of a
learning point science experiment
I.
5. Assessing Students will be Approaches:
demonstration able to assess the Teacher-Controlled
I
demonstration Group-Controlled
I skills of a teacher
I
I
3. Team Teaching 1. origin team Students will be Methods;

.
I teaching able to describe the ~ecture,Team
origin of team teaching, Question-
I
teaching answer,
2 Characteristics of be Discussion,
I able to point out
team teaching Assignments
I the characteristics
of team teaching Media:
3. Objectives team Students will be Chalkboard, OHP
teaching able to enumerate
the objectives of ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
team teaching Teacher-Controlled
4. Styles of team Students will be Group-Controlled
teaching able to discuss
styles of team
teaching
5. Instructional Values Students will be
able to elahrate
of team teaching innructional values
of team teaching
Instruction in a 8. References
Systemlc Perspettive
Chauhan's S. (1989), Innovations in teaching learning process, New Delhi :Vikas
Publishing House, Pvt. Ltd.
Dale, Edgar (1954), Audio-visual Methods in Teaching, New York :Holt, Rinehart
and Winston
Ellington, H., Percival, F. and Race Phil, (2003), Handbook ofEducationa1Teaching,
New Delhi : Kogan Page India Pvt. Limited.
9. EvaluatiodAssignment
i) Define the concept ofteacher controlled instructional inputs. How are they
different from learner controlled instructional inputs?
ii) What is a lecture? Discuss the steps of a lecture. Point out its merits and
strengths.
iii) Discuss, with example, how you can demonstrate a learning experience in
Physics.
iv) Should team teaching, be practised in collegesvery often? Justify your answer.

Planning the dai& topic/lesson

The topic is the smallest unit ofa unit plan which contains similar elements arranged in
much the same way toachieve the objectives as in the extended unit plan. The effectiveness
of the unit plan is dependent on the efficacy of dailyllesson plans. The daily lesson plan
consists ofthe following :
i) ~ e $ s o objectives
n
ii) Introduction section
i i Development section
iv) Closing section
If these parts are systematically arranged, a format of the lesson plan can be developed
covering the above five points as given in Table 2. '
Table 2: Format of a LessonITopic plan
Subject: Target Group:
Topic:
1. Entry behaviour
2. General objectivesof the topic
3. Methods and Media
4. LnWuction
5. Preaentatbn
Teaching points in Specific objectives Learning Partial Evaluation
sequence in behavioural terms Experience
Teacher's Pupils'
Activities Activities

6. Recapitulationlrevisiodevaluation
7. Home assignment
8. Blackboard work plan
Thus, you must have understood that the five major parts are systematically presented in Unit and ~ o p i cPIannIng
eight steps. This format is not rigid. The plan can be rearranged according to the needed
end objectives.

But before going to the format of a lesson plan, let us be clear about the significance of
each component or part of these lesson plans.

i) Statement of general and specific objectives

Give the idea of the long-term goals and observable end behaviour of learners which
have been discussed earlier.

ii) Introduction or opener

The opener in a lesson plan prepares learners for new learning. At the same time, it may
help them recall what they can remember from previous experience. In most cases, it is
a link between the present learning experience and the learning experience which occurred
in the few questions like: "What did we learn yesterday?", "Who remembers what we
learned yesterday?"

Better openers are those that generate learners' interest. For eliciting greater interest
you can use some of the following procedures depending upon the relevance and time
available.

i) Divide the class into "buzz" groupsetb interact shrhr3a6rlhrM inirlutes on what are
the most important things to remember from their previous lesson..

ii) Have a pair of volunteers play'the roles of an interviewer and an interviewee

interacting over the previous day's learning. If other members ofthe class disagree,
they may re-enact the interview.

iii) Prompt a class discussion with a "what" of a question demanding a r e d l of the

previous learning for reasonable responses for three to four minutes.

iv) Give three to five short-answer test items or quizes or puzzles based on the
previous learning. The test or puzzle is discussed and corrected immediately in
the class.

v) Invite a group to perform dramatisation to convey the previous learning. The

other children participate by guessing or by watching and assessing the
level of accuracy. The beginning of the lesson in most cases is concept-
oriented. Often the success of a lesson depends on the quality of the opener or
introduction.

iii) Presentation or development sectlon

It is the main part of implementing the teaching plan through teachingllearningalternatives,

that is, teacher's activities and pupil's activities. The total content is sequenced into teaching
points and each teaching point is presented by relevant teacher activities and students'
activities. While doing so partial evaluation is also planned as shown in the fonnat ofthe
lesson. During that stage the teacher and students may require to use instructional materials
like textbook$,reference books, teacher collected set of pictures, photographs, newspaper
clippings,teacher-made sketches, graphs, charts, diagrams, models, replicas or real objects,
film strips, films, videotapes, etc. The selection of material you intend to use should be
governed by the following criteria.
Instruction in a
i) They should convey needed information in a clear-cut and direct manner.
Systemic Perspective

ii) They shoukd meet the learners' needs in terms of their level of skills in
general reading and reading maps, globes, diagrams, charts, graphs and tables; in
viewing and listening to specific purpose and in retaining what they read, view or
hear.

iii) They should provide for reasonable reconstruction of the reality they
represent.

Therefore, during presentation the usefulness of instructional material is determined not

by whether it is read, heard or vieked but by how purposefully it is used, what the
teacher will do, instruct and provide facilities to engage the students in various activities
to achieve the stated behavioural outcomes.

iv) Rlecapitulation or the closing section

This section ofthe lesson plan mirrors the objectives listed in the objectives section. For
example,

a The students will answer the question.

a They will infer ideas, concepts;values or generalisations.

They will establish cause-effect relationships.

a They may do all these procedures either through oral or written responses.

Ensuring that students will have an opportunity to meet the stated objectives is not the
only concern of the teacher. The teacher's main concern is that the children learn.
Teachars need to monitor both their own effectiveness as teachers and the students'
progress. The final part of the lesson plan is labelled as "Evaluation". You as planner'
here respond to the following questions and get a feedback on your own teaching:
..
i) How well did the children meet the objectives?

ii) If all the children did not meet the objective, why not? What can be done
in subsequent lessons to ensure greater success? In what way can
opening procedures or developmental procedures or closing procedures be
Improved?

iii) If all the children met the objective, was there any part of the lesson that
could be improved to provide better transitions from one part of the lesson to the
other?

Example of a lesson plan

Subject : Economics

Trarged Group : Undergraduate Students

Topic : Population Problem

I. Ervtry Behaviour

Students are aware of the "Population explosion" as one of the burning problems of
India. Students know the factors of production and the characteristics of factors of
production as well. They are aware oflabour as an important factor of production which
is directly related to population.

11. General Objectives

i) Students will appreciate the seriousness of the population problem.

ii) Students will understand the relationship between population growth and
the resources available in the country.

iii) Students will understand why the population problem is more acute in
developing countries than in developed countries. .
iv) Students will know that a speed increak in population is bound to be
. problematic for any country.

v) Students wiil understand the reasons for the growth in population.

111. Methods

Question -answer, Discussion, Lecture

IV. Media

Blackboard, picture, chart

V. Approach

Comparative

VI. Introduction

Good morning, everybody! Today, I will present my lecture on population problem.

But, before we begin, let me show you some pictures. (Here the teacher will show four
pictures one by one)

Picture I - Fish swimming leisurely.

Picture 11 - Fish swimming easily but not leisurely.

Picture I11 - Congested -almost no space to move around.

Picture IV - Cracked!!!

All of you have seen the pictures and must have identified some resemblance to one of
the advertisements shown on television.
Now, tell me, why has this advertisement been shownltelecast in India?
Student: This advertisement is about the population explosion. And the population
explosion is the biggest problem of India. It is shown in India to make the
people aware of the population explosion and its impact on the country's
growth.
Teacher: Very correct! It seems that all of you are aware of the population problem,
the biggest curse of our country.
Now, today, we will try to know inore about the population problem, especially from the
economic point of view.
lnstructlon In a
Systemic Perspective Teaching Specific . Teacher's Expected Evaluation
Points Objectives Activities Pupil's
Sequentially Response
Ordered
1. Over- 1. Students will be 1. Teacher will ask 1. Studentwill Explainin
population able to relate questions : answer the your O m
population question words why
problem in i) What are the asked by the over
context with factors of teacher : population
quantum of production? is a problem
existing factors i) Land,
ii) What is the in India and
of production. Labour, not in
unique and
characteristics of Americaor
2. Students will be entrepreneur
labour as one of Australia.
bale to state the
reason for over- the important ii) Living in
population factors of nature.
being a production?
2. Students will
hindrance in Teacherwill listen to the
India's explain how teacher
development labourisdirectly attentively.
socially and related to
economicallyas population. 3. Students will
well. give relevant
3. Teacherwill example like-
explain how Australia
over-population and
itself is not Signapore
problematic.
- 4. Teacherwill give
exampleswhere
increase in
population may
turn out to be a
blessing viz.
America.
5. Teacherwill ask
the students to
give relevant
examples.

2. World 1. Students will 1. Teacherwill 1. Students will Explainin

and able to write data classify the note down your own
Population regarding countries into the main words why
Problem populations of two : point from population
developing as blackboard. problem is ,.
wellas i) Developed and more acute
developed 2. Studentswill in
ii) Developing learn to the
countries. developing
2 Teacher will teacher countries
explain that attentively. than in
population 3. Students will developed
problem is more answer the ones.
acute in questions
developing asked by the
countries and teacher(if
not in developed any)
countries.
 Unit and Topic Planning
VII. Presentation

~eachin~ Specific / Teacher's Expected Evaluation

Points Objectives Activities Pupil's
Sequentially Response
Ordered
3. Teacherwill write 4. Students
on blackboard the will ask the
Per Capita Income difficulties.
(PCI) of different
countries like.
4. USA34370,Japan
35,420 U.K.-
25,200 Sri Lanka-
890, lndonesia-
570 India450

3. India's 1. Studentswill 1. Teacherwill 1. Students Explain in

population able to write data explainwith the will listento your words
and regarding help of line graph the teacher the reasons
reasons India's the increase in attentively. forgrowth in
for its population from Indian population. population
growth in 1901 to2001 2. Students in India.
2. Teacherwill will note
2. Studentswill be explain why is it down the
able to draw a called main points
line graph Population fiom
showing speedy Explosion?In 50 blackboard.
increase in years the
population of population has 3. Students
India. increased by 66 wiH answer
cores. to the
3. Students will be question
able to state 3. Teacherwillask asked (if
reasons for the students to any).
growth in take down
populations. population data 4. Students
while she writes willask
4. Students will be on blackboard : questions1
able to state difficulties
mhimumtwo 4. Teacher will ask (ifany)
reasons for the students the
growth in birth reason for growth
rate. in population.

5. Studentswill be 5. Teacherwillgive
able to state at reasons for
least two growth in
reasons for populations-
decline in death Difference
rate. between birth
rate and death
rate is high.
Teacher will state
reasons for this
difference.Root
of population
problem lies in
insufficientfall in
birth rate.
- - - -
~nitructionin P VIII. Recapitulation
Systemic Perspective
Teacher will recapitulate by asking questions:

1. Why is over-population a blessing in America and Australia?

2. Why is over-population a problem in India?

3. Why is the population problem more acute in developing countries.

4. What factors are responsible for the growth of population in India.

XI. Blackboard Summary

Population Problem
Ovea-population India's population
World & population 1901 - 23.6 crores
Per capital income (1988) -
1951 36.0 Crores
USA - 34,370$ 199 1 - 84 Crores

JAPAN - 35,420$ 200 1 - 102 Crores

U.K- 25,200$ Reasons
Sri Lanka - 890$ Difference between Birth rate a1'1d Death Rate
I n d i ~-450$
Source :http://www.worldbank.org.

X. Assignment
Write an account on : "Ever incrasing population -an obstacle to the social and ecorlo~nic
development of a country".

Summary
In this unit, we focused on unit and lesson/topic plan. In order carry out a course it is
necessary to prepare detailed unit plans for each unit. Unit plan helps a teacher to manage
teaching-learning activities more effectively and efficiently.We presented an'example of
a unit plan on the unit-Input Alternatives-Teacher controlled of this block. We also
discussed the difference between a course, a unit, a subunit and a lesson. Unit plan
generally refer to planning for sub-units. A subunit consists of a few lessons. Each
lesson has to be planned. We also presented an example of a lesson plan. These examples
ofunitr'a~dlesson plans may help you to prepare similar plans in your subject ofteaching.

Unid-end activities
Prepare a few Unit plans in a subject of your choice, Then, prepare lesson plans which
are to presented under one of these units.

Suggested readings
School of Education (1998), ES-343 : Teaching of Social Sttrdier, Block-1, Padagogy
of Teaching Social Studies, New Delhi : IGNOU.