Below is a list of the typical characteristics of excellent lessons. Lists can only help up to a point though. They must be read alongside the section on the teaching process and the all-important exemplification of best practice in the Outstanding lessons section of the site. There you will find lots of examples of lessons in which these ingredients are carefully combined within a well-structured and exciting lesson. There is no recipe for outstanding lessons. Even having the majority of the features below may not necessarily bring the lesson alive so that all children are learning as well as they should. However, years of observing history in infant classrooms tells me that the following tend to be present most frequently in lessons judged to be outstanding.
1. Lots of use of language of time
Use of language of time, by both pupils and teachers, stimulated by pictures, fiction, character
