POLICY GUIDELINES ON DAILY LESSON PREPARATION FOR

THE K TO 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

I. Rationale

1. The Department of Education (DepEd) recognizes that instructional planning is essential to

successful teaching and learning (Dick & Reiser 1996). Instructional planning is the process of
determining what learning opportunities students in school will have by planning “the content of
instruction, selecting teaching materials, designing the learning activities and grouping methods, and
deciding on the pacing and allocation of instructional time” (Virginia Department of Education).
According to Airasian (1994), planning is a vital step in the instructional process. It involves identifying
expectations for learners and choosing the materials and organizing the sequential activities that will
help learners reach those expectations. Instructional planning guarantees that teaching and learning
are the central focus of classroom activity. Furthermore, it helps ensure that the time spent inside the
classroom is maximized for instruction, is responsive to learners’ needs, and therefore communicates
expectations of achievement to learners (Stronge, 2007).

2. Research shows that effective teachers organize and plan their instruction (Misulis 1997; Stronge
2007). With content and performance standards and learning competencies firmly articulated in the K
to 12 curriculum, it is easier for teachers to carry out both short-term and long-term instructional
planning. Under the K to 12 Basic Education Program, teachers can in fact plan student learning for a
year, a semester, a quarter, a unit, or a lesson and secure coverage of the curriculum.

3. DepEd issues these guidelines on daily lesson preparation based on the belief that planning is
fundamental to ensuring the delivery of teaching and learning in schools. Daily lesson preparation also
encourages reflective practice since it requires teachers to think about and reflect on their instructional
practices on a daily basis. Article IV, Section 2 of the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers adopted
in 1997 through Board Resolution No. 435 by the Board of Professional Teachers states that “every
teacher shall uphold the highest standards of quality education, shall make the best preparations for
the career of teaching, and shall be at his best at all times in the practice of his profession.” This policy
is therefore meant to support teachers in upholding quality education standards by affirming the
importance of instructional planning through Daily Lesson Log (DLL) or Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP)
preparation. These guidelines ultimately aim to assist teachers in not only effectively managing
instruction but also managing the performance of one of their core functions, which is to facilitate
learning inside their classrooms.

II. Scope of the Policy

4. This DepEd Order provides the guidelines in the preparation of daily lessons through the DLP and
DLL by teachers from K to 12. This was also developed in collaboration with teachers and school heads
to ensure that those affected by the policy would be consulted.

III. Definition of Terms

5. For purposes of this Order, the following terms are defined as follows:

a. Instruction refers to the methods and processes used to direct learning.

b. Instructional planning is the process of systematically planning, developing, evaluating, and
managing the instructional process by using principles of teaching and learning.

c. Daily Lesson Log (DLL) is a template teachers use to log parts of their daily lesson. The DLL covers a
day’s or a week’s worth of lessons and contains the following parts: Objectives, Content, Learning
Resources, Procedures, Remarks and Reflection.

d. Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP) is a teacher’s “roadmap” for a lesson. It contains a detailed description of
the steps a teacher will take to teach a particular topic. A typical DLP contains the following parts:
Objectives, Content, Learning Resources, Procedures, Remarks and Reflection.

IV. Policy Statement

6. DepEd hereby issues these guidelines on daily lesson preparation to institutionalize instructional
planning as a critical part of the teaching and learning process. These guidelines are meant to support
teachers in effectively organizing and managing K to 12 classrooms to be genuinely responsive to
learners’ needs. Moreover, these guidelines in the preparation of DLP and DLL shall inculcate reflective
practice among teachers by providing them opportunities to think about and reflect on their
instructional practices. Daily lesson preparation is part of the teacher’s core function as a facilitator of
learning inside the classroom as affirmed through DepEd’s Results-based Performance Management
System (RPMS). Well-prepared and well-planned lessons are fundamental to ensuring the delivery of
quality teaching and learning in schools.

V. Lesson Preparation

A. The instructional process

7. According to Airasian (1994), the instructional process is made up of three (3) steps: (1) planning
instruction; (2) delivery of instruction; and (3) assessment of learning. This means that teaching begins
even before a teacher steps in front of a class and begins a lesson. This also means that teachers are
expected to be able to organize and develop a plan for teaching, implement that plan, and measure
how effectively they implemented a plan.

B. Lesson planning
8. Lesson planning is one way of planning instruction. Lesson planning is a way of visualizing a lesson
before it is taught. According to Scrivener (2005), planning a lesson entails “prediction, anticipation,
sequencing, and simplifying.” Lesson planning is a critical part of the teaching and learning process.

9. The objective of lesson planning is learning. Lesson planning helps teachers set learning targets for
learners. It also helps teachers guarantee that learners reach those targets. By planning lessons,
teachers are able to see to it that daily activities inside the classroom lead to learner progress and
achievement or the attainment of learning outcomes.

10. Lesson planning is a hallmark of effective teaching. As mentioned, effective teachers organize and
plan instruction to ensure learners’ success inside the classroom. According to Stronge (2007), research
shows that instructional planning for effective teaching has the following elements:
a. Identifying clear lesson and learning objectives while carefully linking activities to them, which is
essential for effectiveness

b. Creating quality assignments, which is positively associated with quality instruction and quality
student work

c. Planning lessons that have clear goals, are logically structured, and progress through the content
step-by-step

d. Planning the instructional strategies to be deployed in the classroom and the timing of these
strategies

e. Using advance organizers, graphic organizers, and outlines to plan for effective instructional delivery

f. Considering student attention spans and learning styles when designing lessons

g. Systematically developing objectives, questions, and activities that reflect higher-level and lower-
level cognitive skills as appropriate for the content and the student therefore, have learner-centered
objectives that are aligned with the standards of the curriculum.

17. In preparing daily lessons, teachers can also make use of multiple resources that are available to
them including the Teacher’s Guide (TG), Learner’s Material (LM), additional materials from the
Learning Resources Management and Development System (LRMDS) portal, textbooks, and others
supplementary materials, whether digital, multimedia, or online, including those that are teacher-made.
However, these materials should be used by teachers as resources, not as the curriculum.

18. How should it be taught? With a lesson plan, teachers can predict which parts of the lesson learners
will have difficulty understanding. Teachers can then prepare strategies that help learners learn, build
learners’ understanding and respond to learners’ needs. Teachers can explore utilizing different
instructional strategies that consider learners’ varying characteristics including cognitive ability,
learning style, readiness level, multiple intelligences, gender, socioeconomic background, ethnicity,
culture, physical ability, personality, special needs, and the different ways learners master the content
of a particular learning area. This presupposes flexibility in the way a teacher plans lessons. This means
that a teacher can prepare a lesson plan but must remain open to the possibility of adjusting
instruction to respond to the needs of learners.

19. Furthermore, this requires teachers to treat learners not as passive recipients of knowledge but as
active agents in their own learning. A lesson plan therefore should show what the teacher and learners
will do in the classroom to build understanding of the lesson together. Beyond demonstrating what a
teacher needs to do inside the classroom, a lesson plan should describe what learners need to do as
co-constructors of knowledge inside the classroom.

20. How should learning be assessed? Effective teachers do not only prepare lesson plans, they also
prepare an assessment plan or specifically a formative assessment plan. As defined in DepEd Order No.
8, s. 2015 entitled Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program,
formative assessment “refers to the ongoing forms of assessment that are closely linked to the learning
process. It is characteristically informal and is intended to help students identify strengths and
weaknesses in order to learn from the assessment experience.” Once the objectives of the lesson have
been identified, teachers need to prepare a formative assessment plan integrated into the lesson and
aligned with the lesson objectives. This means that a teacher needs to rely on multiple ways of
assessing learning inside the classroom. DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015 presents a list of formative
assessment methods that teachers can use during different parts of a lesson.

21. This also means that a lesson plan should embody the unity of instruction and assessment. While
planning lessons, teachers need to be able to identify reliable ways to measure learners’
understanding. This means that teachers need to communicate to learners what they are expected to
learn, involve them in assessing their own learning at the beginning, during, and end of every lesson,
and use data from the assessment to continually adjust instruction to ensure attainment of learning
outcomes.

C. Parts of a lesson plan

22. As stated previously, the basic parts of a lesson plan include a beginning, middle, and end. These
are referred to as Before the Lesson, the Lesson Proper, and After the Lesson.

23. Before the Lesson. This is the lesson opening or the “beginning” of lesson implementation. Before
the actual lesson starts, the teacher can do a variety of things including but not limited to the
following: a) review the previous lesson/s; b) clarify concepts from the previous lesson that learners had
difficulty understanding; c) introduce the new lesson; d) inform the class of the connection between the
old and new lesson and establish a purpose for the new lesson; and e) state the new lesson’s objectives
as a guide for the learners.

24. This part of the lesson is the time to check learners’ background knowledge on the new lesson. It
can also be a time to connect the new lesson to what learners already know. It is during this time that
teachers are encouraged to get learners to be interested in the new lesson through the use of “start-
up” or “warm-up” activities. Teachers should also allow learners to ask questions about the new lesson
at this time to assess if learners understand the purpose of learning the new lesson.

25. The Lesson Proper. This is the “middle” or main part of the lesson. During this time, the teacher
presents the new material to the class. This is the time when a teacher “explains, models, demonstrates,
and illustrates the concepts, ideas, skills, or processes that students will eventually internalize” (Teach
for America 2011). This is also the part of the lesson in which teachers convey new information to the
learners, help them understand and master that information, provide learners with feedback, and
regularly check for learners’ understanding. If teachers require more time to teach a certain topic, then
this part of the lesson can also be a continuation of a previously introduced topic.

26. After the Lesson. This is the lesson closing or the “end” of the lesson. This can be done through
different “wrap-up” activities. Teachers can provide a summary of the lesson or ask students to
summarize what they have learned. Teachers can also ask learners to recall the lesson’s key activities
and concepts. The lesson closing is meant to reinforce what the teacher has taught and assess whether
or not learners have mastered the day’s lesson.

D. Instructional models, strategies, and methods

27. In planning lessons, teachers can choose from a variety of instructional models and their
corresponding strategies and methods. An instructional model is a teacher’s philosophical orientation
to teaching. It is related to theories of learning including behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism,
social interactionism, and others. An instructional strategy is a teaching approach influenced by the
abovementioned educational philosophies, while an instructional method is the specific activity that
teachers and learners will do in the classroom.

28. An instructional strategy is what a teacher uses inside the classroom to achieve the objectives of a
lesson. A teacher can use a strategy or a combination of strategies to do this. Below are examples of
different instructional strategies briefly explained (Saskatchewan Education 1991):

a. Direct instruction is systematic, structured and sequential teaching. Its basic steps include presenting
the material, explaining, and reinforcing it. According to Borich (2001), direct instruction methods are
used to teach facts, rules, and action sequences. Direct instruction methods include compare and
contrast, demonstrations, didactic questions, drill and practice, guides for reading, listening and
viewing, lecture, etc.

b. Indirect instruction is a teaching strategy in which the learner is an active and not passive participant.
Indirect instruction methods are used for concept learning, inquiry learning and problem-centered
learning (Borich 2011). Indirect instruction methods include case study, cloze procedure, concept
formation, inquiry, problem solving, reflective discussion, etc.

c. Interactive instruction is teaching that addresses learners’ need to be active in their learning and
interact with others including their teachers and peers. Interactive methods of teaching include
brainstorming, debates, cooperative learning, interviewing, small group discussion, whole class
discussion, etc.

d. Experiential instruction is teaching students by directly involving them in a learning experience. This
strategy emphasizes the process and not the product of learning. Experiential learning methods
include games, experiments, field trips, model building, field observations, role play, simulations, etc.

e. Independent study is teaching in which the teacher’s external control is reduced and students
interact more with the content (Petrina in press). Independent study methods aim to develop learners’
initiative, self-reliance, and self-improvement and include assigned questions, correspondence lessons,
computer assisted instruction, essays, homework, learning contracts, reports, research projects, etc.

29. In planning lessons, teachers can employ and combine a variety of teaching strategies and methods
to deliver instruction. In choosing strategies and methods to use in teaching, the teacher has to
consider learner diversity and whether or not the strategies or methods will respond to what learners
inside the classroom need.

E. Features of the K to 12 Curriculum

30. In preparing daily lessons, teachers are encouraged to emphasize the features of the K to 12
curriculum as discussed briefly below:
31. Spiral progression. The K to 12 curriculum follows a spiral progression of content. This means that
students learn concepts while young and learn the same concepts repeatedly at a higher degree of
complexity as they move from one grade level to another. According to Bruner (1960), this helps
learners organize their knowledge, connect what they know, and master it. Teachers should make sure
that in preparing lessons, learners are able to revisit previously encountered topics with an increasing
level of complexity and that lessons build on previous learning.

32. Constructivism. The K to 12 curriculum views learners as active constructors of knowledge. This
means that in planning lessons, teachers should provide learners with opportunities to organize or re-
organize their thinking and construct knowledge that is meaningful to them (Piaget 1950). This can be
done by ensuring that lessons engage and challenge learners and tap into the learners’ zone of
proximal development (ZPD) or the distance between the learners’ actual development level and the
level of potential development (Vygotsky 1978). Vygotsky (1978) suggests that to do this, teachers can
employ strategies that allow collaboration among learners, so that learners of varying skills can benefit
from interaction with one another.

33. Differentiated instruction. All K to 12 teachers are encouraged to differentiate their teaching in
order to help different kinds of learners meet the outcomes expected in each lesson. Differentiation or
differentiated instruction means providing multiple learning options in the classroom so that learners
of varying interests, abilities, and needs are able to take in the same content appropriate to their needs,
According to Ravitch (2007), differentiation is instruction that aims to “maximize each student s growth
by recognizing that students have different ways of learning, different interests, and different ways of
responding to instruction.”

Differentiation is just one of the strategies available to teachers in the K to 12 classroom. In planning
lessons, teachers are encouraged to think about and include in their lessons options for different kinds
of learners to understand and learn the lesson’s topic. This means that teachers need to continually
conduct formative assessment of learners to be able to articulate these options for learners. However,
it shall still be up to the individual teacher to decide when to utilize differentiated instruction in the
classroom.

Importance of lesson planning

11. Planning lessons increases a teacher’s chances of carrying out a lesson successfully. It also allows
teachers to be more confident before starting a lesson.

12. Lesson planning inculcates reflective practice as it allows teachers to think about their teaching. By
planning lessons daily, teachers are able to think about and reflect on different strategies that work
inside the classroom including research-based strategies. Making a habit of lesson planning ensures
that teachers truly facilitate learning and respond to learners’ needs inside the classroom.

13. Additionally, lesson planning helps teachers’ master learning area content. Through the preparation
of effective lesson plans, teachers are able to relearn what they need to teach. In the classroom, well-
prepared teachers show ownership of the learning area they teach. Lesson planning helps teachers
know their learners and teach what students need to learn and therefore ensures curriculum coverage.

Elements of a lesson plan

14. As mentioned, a lesson plan serves as a teacher’s “road map” for a particular lesson. It is a guide for
instruction and contains details of what a teacher and learners will do in order to tackle a particular
topic. Experts agree that a lesson plan should aim to answer the following questions (Virginia
Department of Education):

a) What should be taught?

b) How should it be taught?

c) How should learning be assessed?

15. What should be taught? Teachers must have a deep understanding of the curriculum and strive to
teach its content. In planning daily lessons, teachers need to follow the Curriculum Guide (CG) of the
learning area being taught. Using the CG, teachers can plan the many ways to teach what it contains
including the content standards or the essential knowledge that students need to learn, performance
standards or the abilities and skills learners need to demonstrate in relation to the knowledge they
have learned, and learning competencies or the knowledge, skills, and attitudes learners need to
demonstrate in every lesson.

16. Following the CG, teachers can also plan their instruction backwards. That is, they can set a long-
term vision of what learners need to be able to master in terms of content and competencies at the
end of the school-year and endeavor to achieve this goal. At the end of the year, learners should have
mastery of grade level standards and demonstrate readiness to learn the curriculum standards of the
next grade level. Teachers can guarantee this by taking advantage of and maximizing the coded
curriculum. The lessons teachers plan daily should aid learners in mastering the content and
competencies of the curriculum progressively. Each lesson plan should,

34. Contextualization. Section 5 of RA 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 states that
the K to 12 curriculum shall be learner-centered, inclusive and developmentally appropriate, relevant,
responsive, research-based, culture-sensitive, contextualized, global, and flexible enough to allow
schools to localize, indigenize, and enhance the same based on their respective educational and social
contexts. K to 12 teachers are allowed to use contextualization strategies in their lessons.

According to DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2015 entitled Adopting The Indigenous Peoples Education
Curriculum Framework, contextualization is “the educational process of relating the curriculum to a
particular setting, situation, or area of application to make the competencies relevant, meaningful, and
useful to all learners.” The degree of contextualization can be further distinguished into localization
which involves relating curriculum content to information and materials found in the learners’
immediate community, and indigenization which involves enhancing curriculum competencies,
learning resources, and the even the instructional process in relation to the bio-geographical, historical,
and socio-cultural context of the learners’ community. In preparing lessons, teachers are encouraged to
make full use of these contextualization strategies, if necessary, to make lessons more relevant and
meaningful to learners.

F. ICT integration

35. ICTs are basically information-handling tools that are used to produce, store, process, distribute,
and exchange information (Anderson 2010). ICT integration in teaching and learning involves all
activities and processes with the use of technology that will help promote learning and enhance the
abilities and skills of both learners and teachers. With the availability of ICTs in schools, teachers can
integrate technology in the planning, delivery, and assessment of instruction.

36. The use of computers can speed up the preparation of daily lessons. Lesson plans may be
computerized or handwritten. Schools may also use ICTs to store the lessons that their teachers
prepare. They can create a databank/database of lesson plans and feature exemplary lesson plans in
the school website or submit exemplary lesson plans for uploading to the LRMDS portal. Teachers can
then use the portal as a resource for their daily lesson preparation. This way, teachers can support each
other by having a repository of lesson plans to refer to in preparing for their daily lesson.

37. Teachers can also integrate the use of technology into different parts of a lesson. Various
instructional strategies and methods can be delivered using ICT equipment, peripherals, and
applications. Teachers can plan learning opportunities that allow learners to access, organize and
process information; create and develop products; communicate and collaborate with others using
ICTs. Use of ICTs in lessons is also one way of differentiating instruction inside the K to 12 classroom.