How to Write a CBC Lesson Plan in Kenya (Step-by-Step Guide)

A good lesson plan makes teaching calmer. You know what learners should achieve, what they will do, and how you will check it, before you walk into class. Under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), a lesson plan also has to show learner activity, not just teacher explanation.

This guide shows you how to write a CBC lesson plan in Kenya, step by step, with a structure you can reuse for any grade or learning area.

What is a CBC lesson plan?

A lesson plan is a detailed plan for one lesson. It takes one row of your scheme of work and turns it into what actually happens in class: the introduction, the activities, the assessment and the conclusion.

If you have not written your scheme yet, start with our guide on how to write a scheme of work under CBC. The scheme covers the whole term. The lesson plan covers one lesson.

What a CBC lesson plan usually contains

Schools often use slightly different templates, so always follow the format your head teacher or head of department expects. Most CBC lesson plans include:

• Administrative details: school, date, time, grade, learning area and number of learners.
• Strand and sub-strand: taken from the KICD curriculum design.
• Specific learning outcomes: what learners should be able to do by the end of the lesson.
• Key inquiry questions: questions that guide learners to explore the topic.
• Learning resources: the materials and tools you will use.
• Organisation of learning: how learners will be grouped and where the lesson will take place.
• Introduction, lesson development and conclusion: the steps of the lesson.
• Assessment: how you will check that learners have achieved the outcomes.
• Extended activities: work learners can do at home or later.
• Reflection: your notes on what worked and what to change.

How to write a CBC lesson plan, step by step

Step 1: Start from your scheme of work. Copy the week, strand, sub-strand, outcomes and key inquiry questions from the scheme row for this lesson. This keeps your lessons aligned with the curriculum design and saves you from rewriting the same details.

Step 2: Make the outcomes specific. Use action words you can observe, such as identify, demonstrate, make, compare or explain. Avoid vague words like "understand". If you cannot see learners doing it, you cannot assess it.

Step 3: Choose activities that match the outcome. CBC is learner-centred, so plan what learners will do. If the outcome is "make", learners should be making something. If the outcome is "discuss", give them a clear discussion task and a time limit.

Step 4: List resources you can really get. Plan around what your school has or what learners can bring. A resource list full of items you will never find looks good on paper and fails in the classroom.

Step 5: Plan the introduction. Start with something that links to what learners already know, such as a question, a short recap or a real object. Keep it short so most of the time goes to the main activity.

Step 6: Plan the lesson development in clear steps. Write the steps in the order they will happen. For each step, note what the teacher does and what the learners do. Include how you will group learners and how you will support those who need more help.

Step 7: Plan the assessment. Decide how you will check each outcome, for example by observation, oral questions, a short task or a checklist. Note it in the plan so you collect evidence as you teach. For more on how assessment works, read CBC assessment in Kenya explained.

Step 8: Plan the conclusion and extended activity. Finish by asking learners to summarise what they learned or show what they made. Add a short follow-up task they can do later.

Step 9: Reflect after the lesson. Write a few lines about what worked, what took too long and what you will change. This is the quickest way to improve next time.

A simple lesson structure

Timing depends on the length of your lesson, but a simple split works for many classes. For example, in a 40-minute lesson you might use about five minutes for the introduction, about twenty-five for the main learner activity, and the rest for assessment and conclusion. Adjust this to your subject. Practical lessons often need more time for the main activity.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Writing the plan after the lesson. A plan written afterwards is a record, not a plan.
• Outcomes that cannot be observed. Rewrite them with action words.
• A lesson that is all teacher talk. Add a learner activity in every lesson.
• Too much content for one lesson. It is better to teach less and finish properly.
• No assessment. If you cannot say how you will check the outcome, the plan is incomplete.
• Skipping reflection. Without it, the same problems repeat each term.

How to save time

Writing a full plan for every lesson by hand takes hours each week. Two habits help:

• Reuse your structure. Keep one template and fill in only what changes.
• Use a tool for the first draft. DARASA's CBC lesson planner helps you draft a lesson plan for your grade and learning area, and you then edit it to fit your class. Try it free. Always check the draft against the curriculum design before you use it.

Once you have a scheme and lesson plans in place, you also need a way to plan the term as a whole. Our scheme of work generator helps with that, and our guide to the best lesson planning apps in Kenya compares the tools available.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a scheme of work and a lesson plan? A scheme of work plans the whole term. A lesson plan plans a single lesson in detail.

Do I need a lesson plan for every lesson? Most schools expect one for every lesson, and many head teachers check them. Follow your school's own rules on format and submission.

How long should a lesson plan be? Long enough to guide the lesson and show your assessment, and short enough that you will actually use it. One or two pages is common.

Can I use AI to write a lesson plan? Yes, as a first draft. You are still responsible for checking it against the curriculum design and adapting it to your learners, resources and time.

Sources and further reading

• KICD curriculum designs – the official curriculum designs for each grade and learning area.