What the Grade 5 English lesson plans cover
A lesson plan is where the curriculum design finally reaches the classroom. The Grade 5 English schemes of work map the year week by week; the lesson plans take a single lesson from that map and set out exactly how to teach it – the specific learning outcomes for that lesson, the key inquiry question that frames it, the learner activities, the resources needed, and how learners will be assessed. If the curriculum design is the "what" and the scheme of work is the "when," the lesson plan is the "how" for one period of teaching.
These Grade 5 English lesson plans are written in the standard KICD lesson-plan format, so they sit correctly in your professional records and stand up to a TSC or curriculum-support-officer observation. They come in editable Word format so you can fill in your school name, teacher name, dates and roll, and adjust the activities to your own class, and they are kept in line with the current school calendar and the latest KICD curriculum designs.
What a KICD-format Grade 5 English lesson plan contains
Every lesson plan follows the structure the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development sets out. A complete Grade 5 English lesson plan includes:
- Administrative details – school, date, subject, time, grade, term, roll.
- Strand and sub-strand – drawn from the four English strands (Listening and Speaking, Reading, Grammar in Use, Writing) and the theme being taught.
- Specific learning outcomes (SLOs) – written from the learner's perspective and observable, stating what the learner should know, do and value by the end of the lesson.
- Key inquiry question – the guiding question that drives learner-centred exploration of the sub-strand.
- Learning resources – texts, realia and digital materials for the lesson.
- Organisation of learning – the body of the plan, in the KICD sequence: Introduction, Lesson Development (a series of learner-centred steps, with core competencies, values and Pertinent and Contemporary Issues mainstreamed into the activities), Extended Activities, and Conclusion.
- Reflection on the lesson – the teacher's post-lesson note on what worked and what to adjust.
This structure matters because, under CBE, the curriculum design – not the textbook – is the authority for what is taught and assessed. Lesson plans that follow the KICD format keep your daily teaching aligned to that authority.
How the plans map to the Grade 5 English strands
The lesson plans are organised around the same four strands the KICD Grade 5 English design uses:
- Listening and Speaking
- Reading
- Grammar in Use
- Writing
Because Grade 5 English presents these skills through 13 real-life themes – from Child Rights and Responsibilities to Money – Savings and Banking – each lesson plan situates a specific skill inside the theme being studied that week, so listening, speaking, reading, grammar and writing are taught in context rather than as isolated drills.
Core competencies, values and PCIs in every lesson
A CBE lesson plan is not only about content. The KICD format requires teachers to mainstream the seven core competencies, the national values, and Pertinent and Contemporary Issues (PCIs) into lesson activities, and quality-assurance officers specifically check that these are integrated rather than tacked on. Each Grade 5 English lesson plan shows where competencies such as communication and collaboration, critical thinking, and digital literacy are developed, and which values and PCIs the lesson carries.
How the plans support assessment
Each lesson plan builds toward the formative assessment that is the bedrock of competency-based education. Under the Competency Based Assessment approach, the teacher observes and records whether each learner is Below Expectation (BE), Approaching Expectation (AE), Meeting Expectation (ME) or Exceeding Expectation (EE) against the specific learning outcomes – not a percentage mark, and not a class ranking. The activities in these plans are designed so that this observation is possible within the lesson.
Download the lesson plans (Editable Word)
The full set of Grade 5 English lesson plans – Term 1, Term 2 and Term 3 – is in our catalogue as editable Word files, in the KICD format, kept in line with the current school calendar and the latest curriculum designs. Because they are editable, you can add your school details and adapt the activities before you teach. Use the link below to get the complete set.