The 3 Questions Every Teacher Should Ask Before Planning a Lesson

A Simple Framework for Making Every Lesson More Purposeful, Engaging, and Effective

Summary for Educators

Source: Angela Di Michele Lalor, “The 3 Questions at the Heart of Any Lesson,” Edutopia, October 22, 2026.

Original Article: https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-lesson-planning-questions-new-teachers/

THE BIG IDEA

Great lessons don't begin with what teachers plan to say. They begin with what students will actually do, why those activities matter, and how teachers will know whether learning has occurred.

Educational consultant Angela Di Michele Lalor argues that teachers, particularly those new to the profession, can dramatically improve lesson planning by asking three deceptively simple questions:

1. What will students do?

2. Why will they do it?

3. What evidence will there be of student learning?

Although lessons unfold sequentially in classrooms, Lalor suggests that planning doesn't necessarily have to follow a linear process. Instead, teachers should begin with the intended learning experience, connect activities to meaningful instructional goals, and identify evidence that will demonstrate student understanding.

This approach shifts lesson planning away from completing activities and covering material toward creating purposeful learning experiences.

The result is instruction that emphasizes active engagement, intentional teaching, and continuous assessment.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Begin with What Students Will Do

Effective lesson planning starts by identifying the intellectual and physical work students will undertake.

Rather than asking, "What will I teach today?" teachers should consider what students will actually experience.

Will students investigate, debate, analyze, construct, explain, collaborate, or solve problems?

Lalor identifies three dimensions of engagement:

• Physical engagement: Students manipulate materials, create models, move through learning stations, or participate in collaborative activities.

• Cognitive engagement: Students analyze information, evaluate evidence, develop explanations, and solve challenging problems.

• Emotional engagement: Students connect personally with ideas, explore meaningful questions, and develop ownership of their learning.

Importantly, activity alone does not guarantee learning. Students must engage in thinking that advances the instructional objective.

2. Make the Purpose of Every Activity Explicit

The second question asks teachers to connect student activities directly to learning goals.

A classroom activity might be interesting and enjoyable without meaningfully contributing to students' understanding.

Teachers should be able to explain why students are completing a particular task.

For example, students studying population growth might research real-world examples of linear and exponential change. The purpose isn't simply to collect information; it's to develop mathematical reasoning and support conclusions with evidence.

The critical question is whether the activity advances the intended learning rather than merely occupying instructional time.

3. Identify Evidence of Learning Before Teaching

Perhaps the most consequential question concerns how teachers will determine what students have learned.

Lalor encourages teachers to identify observable or tangible evidence of understanding within the lesson itself.

Possible evidence includes written explanations, diagrams, mathematical models, student discussions, completed charts, and reflective responses.

For example, science students might construct a diagram illustrating cellular respiration and then explain how matter and energy change during the process.

The completed diagram and explanation give the teacher evidence of understanding that can guide feedback and subsequent instruction.

Assessment becomes an integral part of learning rather than an event reserved for the conclusion of a unit.

4. Use a Simple Coding System to Strengthen Planning

Lalor recommends reviewing lesson activities through three complementary lenses:

• Student action: Identify exactly what students will do.

• Instructional purpose: Explain the learning goal the activity addresses.

• Learning evidence: Specify what students will produce or demonstrate.

Consider this example:

Students will examine competing historical accounts of an event, evaluate the credibility of the sources, and construct a written argument supported by evidence.

The action is analyzing historical sources. The purpose is to develop historical reasoning. The evidence is a written argument demonstrating students' ability to evaluate and support claims.

When all three elements are visible, the lesson becomes easier to teach, assess, and improve.

5. Let Learning Goals Determine the Teacher's Role

Teachers need not play the same role throughout every lesson.

Sometimes effective instruction requires direct explanation and modeling. At other times, the teacher's primary responsibility is to facilitate discussion, provide feedback, or observe students as they work independently.

Lalor suggests selecting instructional strategies based on students' learning needs and their position in the learning sequence.

A new concept might require explicit teaching. Later lessons might emphasize guided practice, collaboration, and independent application.

The goal is to select the instructional approach that best supports learning rather than defaulting to a familiar teaching routine.

6. Build Student Reflection Into the Learning Process

Students should also participate in evaluating their own learning.

In one example, students studying Fahrenheit 451 participate in a Socratic seminar exploring technology's influence on human behavior.

Afterward, they reflect on their ability to communicate ideas, use textual evidence, and engage with others.

These reflections provide additional evidence of learning while helping students establish goals for future improvement.

Such practices encourage students to become increasingly independent learners.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS

For principals and instructional leaders, Lalor's framework offers a practical way to strengthen lesson planning, classroom observations, and professional conversations.

Traditional observations sometimes emphasize what teachers are doing: delivering explanations, managing activities, asking questions, or using technology.

The three-question framework redirects attention toward the student learning experience.

A classroom can appear orderly, engaging, and productive while providing limited evidence that students are developing a deeper understanding.

By examining student actions, instructional purposes, and evidence of learning, administrators can help teachers distinguish between activity and achievement.

The framework is especially valuable for mentoring beginning teachers because it provides a straightforward structure without prescribing a particular teaching style.

LEADERSHIP ACTION STEPS

1. Introduce the Three-Question Planning Protocol. Encourage teachers to identify student actions, instructional purposes, and evidence of learning when preparing lessons.

2. Reframe Classroom Walkthroughs. During observations, focus on what students are doing and thinking rather than exclusively documenting teacher behaviors.

3. Strengthen Collaborative Planning. Ask professional learning communities to examine whether proposed activities align with learning objectives and generate meaningful evidence of understanding.

4. Make Formative Assessment Routine. Encourage teachers to incorporate opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding throughout lessons, not simply at the end.

5. Use the Framework in Coaching Conversations. Replace purely evaluative feedback with questions that help teachers examine their instructional decisions and identify areas for improvement.

LEADER REFLECTION

If you entered ten classrooms in your school tomorrow, how many teachers could clearly explain what students were expected to do, why they were doing it, and how they would know whether learning had occurred?

More importantly, how many students could answer those same questions?

The answers might reveal more about instructional quality than even the most elaborate lesson plans.