Step-by-step instructions on how to use the form are provided below. The process is not nearly as difficult as these two pages of instructions might make it seem–it’s really quite easy.

The "Lesson Plan Form" document (actual filename "lpf.doc") was created to provide a one-page, standard format for lesson plans. The intent in creating this form was not only to provide a handy form for individual teachers, but also to facilitate joint lesson planning by a team of teachers all of whom are teaching the same course. Another key intention in the design of this form was to provide an easy means of identifying and entering a Maryland State Core Learning Goal, if appropriate to the lesson plan..

In order to use this form, you must have the program Microsoft Word on your computer. The form will work with Microsoft Word for the Macintosh (version 6.0 or higher) and with Microsoft Word for the PC (version 95 or higher).

1. Download the files. To use the form you must first download two files to your computer.

a. Download the first file (this is the lesson plan form itself) by clicking on the "MSWord" link for the "Lesson Plan Form" at this location:

http://www.messengerconnection.com/teacherresources/teacherresources.html

The file that you download will have the name "lpf.doc".You might wish to create on your computer a new folder called "Lesson Plans" or "Lesson Plans for Alg 1 / DA" or some such, and save the form in that folder.

b. Download the second file (this is a list of Core Learning Goals) by clicking on the "MSWord" link for "CLG for Lesson Plan" at the location given in step 1.a. above. Save this file, which will have the name "clg.doc", in the same folder where you saved "lpf.doc".

2. Open the "lpf.doc" file in Microsoft Word. After you have downloaded the two files and have saved them in a folder of your choice, start your Microsoft Word program (if you haven’t started it already), and open the file "lpf.doc".

3. Do a "Save As..." Immediately after you open the "lpf.doc" in Word, from the "File" menu in Word, select "Save As..." and save the form to a new file with the name of your lesson plan, e.g., "Alg1DA.unit01.lsn01" or whatever.

4. Open the "clg.doc" file in Microsoft Word. You will copy Core Learning Goals from this file into the lesson plan form if you wish to tie your lesson plan to one of the goals.

5. Fill out the lesson plan form.

a. When you look at the form you have open in Word, you will see that certain elements are shaded, and the first element in the form, the course name (Algebra I / Data Analysis) is highlighted. Note also the instructions that appear at the bottom of the Word screen in the help line: "Press 'delete' to remove existing text. Then type in the course name (up to 50 characters)." Simply follow those instructions, typing in the name of your course.

b. After you have typed in the name of the course, press "return" (on the Macintosh) or "ENTER" (on a PC)–or "tab" on either machine–to go to the next field. Again press "delete" to remove existing text, and then type in the new information. The help line at the bottom of the Word screen will tell you how many characters each field can contain.

c. Continue this process for each field. Note that some of the fields have more than one line. If you do not wish to enter anything on those additional lines, simply press "delete" to remove the existing text, and then press "return" or "tab" to go on to the next field. Continue in this manner to fill out all sections of the form except the Core Learning Goal block.

d. To fill in the Core Learning Goal block, first press the "delete" key to remove the existing text. Then (from the "Window" menu in Word, select the "clg.doc" file, and find the Core Learning Goal you want to include in the lesson plan. Triple-click in the cell that contains the the Core Learning Goal you want to use, copy it, and then go back to the lesson plan form and paste it into the Core Learning Goal block. (The text in the "clg.doc" file is specially formatted so that each goal will paste properly into the form.)

e. Be sure to save the lesson plan periodically as you work, and save it when you are finished. If you don't finish it in one session, you may quit and open the file later to finish.

- At any time while you are filling out the form, you may position the mouse in any one of the fields to make a correction or an addition.

- Just as pressing "return" or "tab" will advance to the next field, pressing the combinations "shift-tab" or "shift-return" will return to the previous field.

- If you expand the text areas (for example, in the "Activities" block) so that part of the text goes beyond the block and can't be seen, that part of the text will not be printed.