Are You Ready to Begin?
To begin the Lesson Study cycle, you will need:
PEOPLE
You need a team of 3-6 teachers. Team members don’t need to teach the same grade level. They do need to share an interest in improving instruction in a specific subject, like mathematics, or in a specific cross-disciplinary area, like academic writing across disciplines.
TIME
For a Lesson Study cycle, plan on about 12 hours of work. A typical schedule would be 8 weekly meetings of 1 hour each, 3 hours for the research lesson and post-lesson discussion, and 1 hour for a final reflection on the whole cycle. Plan on two cycles per year.
RESOURCES
This website provides you with the step-by-step resources you need to complete a cycle. You will also need your curriculum and any other resources you want to use in your learning. We offer some content-specific materials and courses.
Overview of the Lesson Study Cycle
Learn more about lesson study and what it takes. Download a checklist of steps by clicking the button to the right.
![](https://lessonresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mills_prepare-1-1.png)
0. Prepare Your Team
During this phase, you’ll agree on a schedule, norms and work processes. (Experienced Lesson Study teams may be able to skip or skim this section and revisit elements as needed.)
![](https://lessonresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/group-72@2x-1.png)
1. Study
![](https://lessonresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/group-19@2x.png)
2. Plan
![](https://lessonresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/group-23@2x.png)
3. Teach
![](https://lessonresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ReflectHome-1.png)