Using AI for Creating a Lesson Plan: 8 Powerful Ways

What happens in your classroom is largely determined before the lesson even begins. Clear objectives, logical staging, appropriate input, and meaningful output tasks can make the difference between a productive lesson and a frustrating one.

But lesson planning takes time — often as much time as teaching itself.

That’s why using AI for creating a lesson plan becomes very beneficial for you. Using AI for creating a lesson plan can help you clarify objectives, generate ideas, structure stages, and even transform rough notes into formal lesson plans — without replacing your expertise.

Below are 8 practical ways for using AI to create a lesson plan, with concrete examples of classroom input and output tasks.

1. Asking for Clear, Measurable Lesson Objectives

Lesson planning starts, or is meant to start with objectives which you want your students to achieve. They need to be specific and measurable, so you can tell if students have achieved them (or not). They should balance alignment with the curriculum and personalisation for your learners. And they must be short enough that they make sense to you, and any administrator who might read them.

AI can help you refine objectives so they are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Student-centered
• Aligned with language use

AI can help you write objectives for your lessons when you give it information about your class. That includes information about your students, the topic, the target language, language skills and more. The AI can use this information to create some objectives.

In doing so, AI is replicating the process that teachers go through when writing objectives before writing a detailed plan.

Example

Input: Starting with “By the end of the lesson, students will be better able to…” Create a measurable and specific objective focusing on what students will be able to do (not what they will learn) and include examples of the target language. Students: B1 adults, topic: experiences, grammar focus: present perfect vs past simple.

Output: By the end of the lesson, students will be better able to describe past experiences using the present perfect and past simple accurately in conversation.

You can then refine it to match your teaching style. Remember, you do not have to use the AI objective as it is. You can, and should, edit based on your own needs. After all, you’re the one who is going to have to teach the lesson, so make sure you’re happy with the objective.

Now that we have an objective, we can turn to writing a plan. You should provide the key information (context) to the AI and ask it to create a plan based on this.

2. Providing the Lesson Context

Let’s start by looking at what key information the AI needs to create a good lesson plan. You could include:

* A language focus:

That’s the grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation that you want your students to learn during the lesson. You may want to say more about this than you have already said in the objective.

* Language skills and sub-skills:

Do you want your students to practice listening, speaking, reading or writing? Are there any strategies you want to teach your students that would help them develop these skills?

* The level of your students:

You can describe this using the CEFR.

* Student preferences:

What do your students enjoy doing in class? Surveys? Discussions? Competitive games? Also, tell the AI about anything that your students don’t like doing (such as singing songs, spelling tests or craft activities)

* The culture of your students:

For example, where your students are from and where the lesson is taking place. The AI can help take into account L1 issues, customs, and cultural norms. You can also tell the AI why the students are learning English. Are they planning on passing the KET in the next six months? Or are they looking to work in an English-speaking country as nurses?

* Timing:

How long does the lesson last? Is there a break? Is there a maximum time you want the activities to last?

Example:

You might structure your prompt like this:

• Please help me write a TEFL lesson plan.
• Lesson objective: By the end of the lesson, students should be better able to [lesson objective].
• Language focus: [vocabulary/grammar/pronunciation and/or skills]
• Student preferences: [description]
• Students’ Age: [age range].
• Students’ Level: [English level]
• Context: [language learning context]

The more information you provide, the better the lesson plan the AI will create.

3. Specifying the Lesson Staging Model (PPP, ESA, TBL)

One of the biggest advantages of using AI for creating a lesson plan is structuring a complete lesson.

You can also specify the lesson staging model, asking the AI to try to stage the activities as PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production), ESA (Engage, Study, Activate), TTT (Test, Teach, Test), CAPE (Context, Analysis, Practice, Evaluation) or TBL (Task-Based Learning).

Example:

Create a 60-minute PPP lesson for B1 adults on modal verbs for advice. Include timings and stage aims.

4. Asking for Presentation Activities for the Language Focus

You can also ask the AI to suggest presentation activities for your lesson.

Example:

I want you to suggest at least five activities for a TEFL class. These should all be presentation activities to present [language focus]. These activities should be appropriate for [level] [age] students in [context].

5. Generating Controlled Practice Activities

You can also ask the AI to suggest controlled practice activities for your lesson.

Controlled practice activities help students gain accuracy.

Example:

I want you to suggest at least four activities for a TEFL class. These should all be controlled practice activities to practice [language focus]. These activities should be appropriate for [level] [age] students in [context].

AI can suggest:

• Gap-fill exercises
• Sentence transformations
• Matching tasks
• Substitution drills

Example:

Controlled Practice Output

Gap-fill:

1. I ______ (visit) Paris three times.
2. I ______ (visit) Paris in 2018.

Transformation:

• “I went to London in 2019.” → Ask about life experience.

These tasks reinforce form before freer output.

6. Creating Communicative Practice Activities

You can also ask the AI to suggest communicative practice activities for your lesson.

Communicative practice activities help students gain fluency.

Example:

I want you to suggest at least two activities for a TEFL class. These should all be communicative practice activities to practice [language focus]. These activities should be appropriate for [level] [age] students in [context].

AI can suggest communicative tasks aligned with your staging model.

AI can suggest:

Speaking Task: Find Someone Who…

Students walk around asking:

• Have you ever tried sushi?
• Have you ever lived abroad?

Follow-up:

• When did you try it?
• Where did you live?

This moves from structure → fluency.

For writing lessons, AI can generate:

• Paragraph prompts
• Email scenarios
• Debate questions
• Role-play scripts

7. Creating a Customized Lesson Plan

You can also ask an AI to create a customized lesson plan based on your previous plans. To do this, you need to show the AI an example of what an appropriate plan looks like. The AI will use this to understand your lesson planning (and teaching) style.

Start by copying and pasting a plan into an AI model. This will be your template. Next, ask the AI to analyze the lesson plan and say what it would need from you to create a plan like this.

Example

I want you to produce a plan like this, using the same variables, and with the same style, tone of voice, methodology, and type of activities.

8. Turning Rough Notes into a Lesson Plan

Some plans nowadays are just a list of activities, some vocabulary, and a few notes.

• Warm-up discussion
• Listening about job interviews
• Vocabulary: strengths, weaknesses
• Role-play interview

I know what these notes mean, but I doubt they would make sense to anybody else, especially for administration to check.

AI can transform this into a formal, administrator-ready plan. This lets you control what you do in class and saves your time, and this is particularly useful in institutions that require documentation. To get started, use the following prompt:

Example

I will show you my notes. These notes are for a TEFL lesson for [age and level of students]. Please turn the notes into a full lesson plan. Including timings and stage aims.

Your Turn: Try the Complete AI Prompt

Here Is the Complete AI Prompt for Creating a Lesson Plan

Now it’s time to move from theory to practice.

I encourage you to copy the complete AI lesson planning prompt shared above and use it to design a lesson for your own class.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. Use the full prompt exactly as written.
2. Generate a complete lesson plan using AI.
3. Carefully review and adapt it based on your professional judgment.
4. Reflect on what improved — clarity, structure, task design, staging, or timing.

Then, take one more step.

Send me your lesson plan

I will personally review it and provide professional feedback.

This is not about testing AI. It’s about sharpening your lesson planning skills.

You will gain powerful insights into your instructional clarity and decision-making as a teacher.

Professional growth happens when we experiment, reflect, and refine.

I look forward to seeing what you create.

Key Limitations to Consider When Using AI for Lesson Planning

While AI can be a powerful tool in lesson planning, it’s important to use it with a clear understanding of its limitations:

1. Assessing Language Level:

Current AI models often struggle to accurately assess language difficulty. The examples of the target language they provide may be too advanced for your students. It’s essential to carefully review all language content to ensure it aligns with your learners’ proficiency levels.

2. Inherent Biases:

AI systems learn from the data they are trained on, which means they can replicate existing biases. For example, if the AI has been trained on plans which use PPP, the plans the AI produces are likely to use PPP. That does not mean PPP is the best way to stage a lesson.

3. The Need for Adaptation: 

AI has no direct knowledge of your students or classroom dynamics. While providing detailed context about your class and your teaching style can improve the AI’s output, it cannot replace your professional judgment. Your experience and understanding of your students are irreplaceable, so always adapt AI-generated plans to fit your unique teaching context.

4. Potential for Logical Errors: 

AI can sometimes produce plans with internal inconsistencies. You might find that the allotted timings don’t match the overall class length, or that the activities don’t logically support the stated learning objectives. Always review the AI’s output carefully to ensure it is coherent, practical, and educationally sound.

Final Thoughts

AI is a great tool for lesson planning. It can generate ideas, write lesson aims, give suggestions for activities and most importantly, save time. However, it cannot replace your classroom experience, your understanding of learners and your professional judgment.

Whatever you produce using AI, remember to review and adapt the content. Ask yourself, how could I make this more appropriate for my students? Would this work with my teaching style? And will this help my students?

You may need to make some adjustments to the content, especially if an administrator is likely to read it.

Remember

The best lessons still come from teachers who plan thoughtfully — with or without technology.

Teaching The Four English Language Skills—A Comprehensive Guide

That’s why I’ve prepared this guidebook. Click here to learn more about it.

About the Author

Mohamed Ramadan

Administrator

ELT Supervisor and EFL Teacher Trainer with a TEFL diploma and a Master's in Educational Psychology, specializing in Brain-Based Learning. Owner of elttguide.com for Business English.

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