5E Model Lesson Plan Template
Le modèle 5E structure la séance en cinq phases : Engager, Explorer, Expliquer, Elaborer et Evaluer. Il guide les élèves de la curiosité vers une compréhension profonde via une démarche d'investigation.
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Elementary, Middle School, High School
The 5E Model is among the most research-supported inquiry frameworks in education. Each phase is designed to mirror how understanding actually builds, through experience before explanation. Flip's AI takes this structure further, pre-populating every phase with subject-specific prompts and formative checkpoints tailored to your topic.
See what our AI buildsWhen to use this template
- Teaching concepts that benefit from hands-on discovery before formal explanation
- Science lessons with observable phenomena or experiments
- Any lesson where you want students to build understanding through inquiry
- When you have 45–60 minutes and want a structured, student-centered approach
Template sections
Engage
Hook students with a question, phenomenon, or challenge that activates prior knowledge and creates curiosity.
What question, image, demo, or scenario will grab attention and connect to what students already know?
Explore
Students investigate through hands-on activities, experiments, or guided discovery before formal instruction.
What activity will students do to explore the concept on their own or in small groups?
Explain
Teacher introduces formal vocabulary, concepts, and connections, building on what students discovered.
What key concepts, vocabulary, and explanations will you provide? How will you connect to student discoveries?
Elaborate
Students apply understanding to new situations, problems, or contexts to deepen and transfer learning.
What new problem, scenario, or challenge will students tackle using their new understanding?
Evaluate
Assess student understanding through formative or summative checks aligned to learning objectives.
How will you assess understanding? Consider exit tickets, presentations, written reflections, or peer evaluation.
About the Modèle 5E framework
The 5E Model is one of the most widely used instructional frameworks in education, originally developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) in 1987. It organizes lessons into five sequential phases that mirror how students naturally learn: they start with curiosity, investigate through hands-on exploration, build conceptual understanding, apply knowledge to new situations, and demonstrate mastery.
Why the 5E Model works: Each phase serves a specific cognitive purpose. The Engage phase activates prior knowledge and creates a "need to know." Explore lets students investigate before formal instruction, building intuition. Explain is where the teacher introduces vocabulary and concepts — but only after students have direct experience. Elaborate extends understanding through application and transfer. Evaluate gives both teacher and student evidence of learning.
Research backing: Studies consistently show that inquiry-based frameworks like the 5E Model improve conceptual understanding, scientific reasoning, and student engagement compared to traditional direct instruction. A 2017 meta-analysis in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching found effect sizes of 0.5–0.8 for 5E-based instruction.
Common mistakes to avoid: The most frequent error is rushing through Engage and Explore to get to the "teaching" in Explain. The power of 5E comes from letting students struggle productively before introducing formal concepts. Another mistake is treating Evaluate as only a quiz — it should include formative assessment throughout.
Adapting the 5E Model: While originally designed for science, the 5E framework adapts beautifully to math (explore patterns before learning rules), social studies (investigate primary sources before discussing themes), and ELA (engage with a text excerpt before analyzing literary devices). The key is maintaining the inquiry sequence: experience before explanation.
This template provides structured prompts for each phase, suggested time allocations, and space for materials planning. Use it as a starting point, then customize based on your students' needs, available materials, and time constraints.
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