Where Great Teaching Begins: Planning for Student Thinking and Learning, Nov/2011

You know that great teaching isn’t about keeping students working or “covering” the curriculum. So here’s a book that explains how to design lessons that are much more than a scripted performance or a list of activities. Discover how focusing less on what you and your students will do and more on what your students will learn turns lesson planning from a chore or an afterthought into a rewarding and reflective process that will ensure your students master targeted achievement goals and develop deeper understanding. Explore can’t-miss strategies that help you

Translate lifeless content standards into strong, learning-focused objectives.

Use effective objectives as the basis for authentic assessment.

Craft engaging learning activities that incorporate targeted content and necessary thinking skills.

Pull objectives, assessments, and learning activities together into powerful plans for learning.

Accompanying the author’s advice are sample learning plans, instructional objectives, and assessment models to help you through each step of this improved lesson-planning process.