Organized for what evaluators look for

New York Lesson Plan Template

New York is the one place where the format of a lesson plan is, by contract, the teacher's own: New York City supervisors may not mandate specific elements and may look at plans but not collect them routinely. So this sheet is not a required form — none exists — but a planner organized around what evaluators look for: the Next Generation standard, outcomes, what you know about these students, a coherent launch–explore–summarize sequence, resources and assessment. The observation plan in this section is its companion for the formal visit.

Outcomes, students, sequence, evidence

2 New York lesson plan templates

Portrait New York lesson plan with standard and outcomes boxes, a knowing-these-students box, a five-row launch-to-closing table with a questions column, and resources, assessment and differentiation boxes

Word Google Docs

New York Lesson Plan — Word & Google Docs

Next Generation standard, outcomes, a knowing-these-students box, a launch–explore–summarize sequence with questions and checks, resources, assessment and supports.

Download Word Open in Google Docs

PDF

New York Lesson Plan — fillable PDF

One page, portrait. Type into the fields or print it blank and handwrite.

Download fillable PDF

Portrait observation lesson plan with learning target box, a sequence table that includes a questions-I-will-ask column, and boxes for formative evidence and if-they-don't-get-it

Word Google Docs

Evaluation-Ready Lesson Plan — Word & Google Docs

Learning target and success criteria in student language, what you know about these students, a questioning plan beside the sequence, and what happens if they don't get it.

Download Word Open in Google Docs

PDF

Evaluation-Ready Lesson Plan — fillable PDF

One page, portrait. Type into the fields or print it blank and handwrite.

Download fillable PDF

Specifications: US Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches. Word files are editable .docx that open in Word 2007 through Microsoft 365, including Word for Mac; the Google Docs link makes a copy in your own Drive; the PDF has real form fields and prints as plain hairline boxes when blank. Free to use in as many classes as you like, no account, no watermark.

Why it is laid out this way

About the new york templates

Since 1990 the New York City teachers' contract has made the organization, format and notation of lesson plans the teacher's decision, an arbitrator has barred supervisors from mandating specific elements, and a 2019 chancellor's letter confirmed only that every teacher must have plans for their own use. That is why no honest page can call anything the NYC DOE lesson plan template. What the city and most New York districts do share is the evaluation framework their observers use, whose planning domain asks whether outcomes are clear, whether the teacher knows the students, whether the sequence is coherent, whether resources are suitable and whether assessment is designed in. Those are the sections of this sheet, under plain names.

The standards box is for the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards, which replaced the state's Common Core versions in English language arts and mathematics; science uses the state's own science learning standards and social studies its framework. The sequence rows are launch, explore, summarize — the shape the state's own curriculum modules use — with practice and closing added, and a questions-and-checks column so the plan shows the questioning evaluators weight so heavily.

Questions teachers ask

New York lesson plans, answered

Is there an official NYC DOE lesson plan template?

No, and by contract there cannot be a required one in the city. Schools may offer a suggested form; teachers may use their own. This sheet is organized for the planning domain of the evaluation framework used across the state, which is the closest thing to a shared expectation New York has.

Which standards go in the box?

The NYS Next Generation Learning Standards for English language arts and mathematics; the New York State P-12 Science Learning Standards for science; the Social Studies Framework for social studies. Outside the city, check whether your district still references an older code set.

How is this different from the evaluation-ready plan?

The evaluation-ready plan is for the day an observer is in the room, with success criteria, a questioning plan and a what-if box. This one is the everyday New York plan with the same bones, lighter. Many teachers keep this weekly and switch to the other for the formal observation.