The Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan Model: 7 Steps (With Example)
If you trained as a teacher in the US, you've met the Madeline Hunter model whether you knew its name or not — most school lesson-plan templates are descendants of it. Published in the 1980s, it breaks direct instruction into a clear, repeatable sequence. Here are the elements, what each is actually for, and a worked example.
The seven elements
- Objective & standard. State what students will be able to do and the standard it serves — measurable and observable. Everything else serves this.
- Anticipatory set ("the hook"). A short opener that grabs attention and activates prior knowledge. Its real job is to get students' heads into the topic and give you a read on what they already know.
- Input & modeling. You deliver the new content and show it being done — a worked example, a think-aloud, a demonstration. Students need to see expert thinking, not just hear the rule.
- Checking for understanding. Built-in checks during instruction — questioning, quick polls, hinge questions — so you catch confusion before practice, not after. (Formative assessment techniques.)
- Guided practice. Students try it with your support, while you circulate and correct. Mistakes get caught here, cheaply.
- Independent practice. Students do it on their own, once they've shown they're ready. Releasing too early is the classic Hunter mistake.
- Closure. A deliberate wrap-up where students consolidate — summarize, answer the objective, complete an exit ticket.
A worked example: comma usage (7th grade ELA)
| Element | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Objective | Students correctly use commas in a series in their own writing. |
| Anticipatory set | Show two versions of "Let's eat Grandma." Laugh, then ask what the comma changed. |
| Input & modeling | Teach the series rule; model editing three sentences aloud, narrating each choice. |
| Check for understanding | Thumbs up/down on quick examples; a hinge question to spot lingering confusion. |
| Guided practice | Pairs edit a paragraph together; teacher circulates and corrects. |
| Independent practice | Each student edits their own draft from yesterday. |
| Closure | One-sentence exit ticket using a series comma correctly. |
What the model gets right (and its limits)
Hunter's strength is modeling before practice and not releasing students too soon — that's cognitive load theory in action: novices need worked examples before independent problem-solving, and support should fade only as competence grows. (That deliberate fade is its own skill — see gradual release and worked examples.)
Its limit: applied rigidly, Hunter can become teacher-centered and skip genuine inquiry. For concepts students should discover, an inquiry structure like the 5E model often fits better. Many teachers keep Hunter for procedural skills and switch models for conceptual ones.
Build a Hunter-style lesson with the evidence cited
Each Hunter element still needs the right method — a hook that surfaces thinking, a check that actually catches confusion, practice that fades support correctly. EvidenceLesson sequences research-validated methods into the structure and cites the source behind every step, so your direct-instruction lesson is both well-built and defensible.
Generate a structured lesson in 30 seconds — free to start, no credit card.
Related method: Worked Example Designer with Completion Fading — see the research and how to apply it.