TL;DR: From 2016 to 2026, DepEd ran two lesson plan formats side by side under DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2016: the Daily Lesson Log (DLL), a weekly document for teachers with at least one year of experience, and the Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP), a daily document for new teachers and for demonstration teaching. Both used the same six headings. DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, signed 4 June 2026, repealed DO 42 and states that its own definition of a lesson plan supersedes the DLP/DLL distinction entirely. Teachers may keep using the old formats until the end of the first term of SY 2026-2027; the new ILAW-based approach takes over from the second term. Almost every "lesson plan sample" pack online still describes the repealed order.
Search "lesson plan sample" for a Philippine classroom and you get two things: DLL templates and DLP templates, usually with a confident explanation of which one you are supposed to use. That explanation is now out of date. DepEd did not tweak the two formats in 2026. It removed the distinction between them.
This guide sets out what each format was, who each one applied to, exactly how they differed, and what governs now. For a deeper look at the DLP document itself, see our Detailed Lesson Plan guide.
Which Lesson Plan Format Is Current?
Neither DLL nor DLP, once the transition closes. DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, "Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design," repealed DO No. 42, s. 2016. Its definition of terms states that the definition of "Lesson Plan" it adopts "supersedes distinctions between the Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP) and Daily Lesson Log (DLL) in DO No. 42, s. 2016," and that the components it prescribes "shall apply to both new and experienced teachers or ALS implementers."
In its place is the ILAW Framework — Intentions, Learning Experience, Assessing Learning, Ways Forward — described in the order as the simplified national standard. A lesson plan is deemed sufficient "when the learning intentions, learning experience, assessment approach, and ways forward are evident and aligned."
The transitory provision is the part to diary. Teachers may use the DLL or DLP formats specified in DO No. 42, s. 2016 until the end of the first term of School Year 2026-2027, with capacity-building during the transition and full implementation beginning the second term of SY 2026-2027. Under the three-term calendar in DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, the first term of SY 2026-2027 runs to mid-September 2026; confirm your own term dates against the DepEd school calendar and your school head's guidance.
Disclaimer: lesson planning requirements are mid-transition and are administered locally. Confirm what your school expects for the current term with your school head or Schools Division Office before an observation or appraisal.
DLL vs DLP: The Actual Differences
Both documents used the same six headings, which is why they are so easily confused. What separated them was who had to make one, and on what cycle.
| Daily Lesson Log (DLL) | Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle | Weekly | Daily |
| Who prepared it | Teachers with at least one year of teaching experience, including private school and higher education institution experience | Newly hired teachers without professional teaching experience, for one year |
| Condition | Handling learning areas with DepEd-provided Learner Materials and Teacher Guides | Also required of applicant teachers and of any teacher, including Master Teachers, conducting demonstration teaching |
| Exit route | Not applicable | Newly hired teachers rated Very Satisfactory or Outstanding in the RPMS in a year stopped preparing DLPs; those rated Satisfactory continued |
| Headings | Objectives, Content, Learning Resources, Procedures, Remarks, Reflection | Objectives, Content, Learning Resources, Procedures, Remarks, Reflection |
| Common override | When new content was integrated into the curriculum, all teachers had to write a detailed plan for that content | Same |
Two things follow from that table that teachers are frequently told incorrectly. First, the DLL was never a "lighter" version of the DLP available on request — it was the default for experienced teachers, and the DLP was the exception. Second, DO 42, s. 2016 explicitly allowed teachers to work together in preparing DLPs and DLLs, and directed seasoned teachers to mentor novices in preparing them.
What Went Into the DLL Procedures Section?
This is the part of the old format that carried the most detail and that most sample packs reproduce. Under DO 42, s. 2016 the DLL's Procedures section had ten parts:
- Reviewing previous lessons or presenting the new lesson
- Establishing a purpose for the lesson
- Presenting examples or instances of the new lesson
- Discussing new concepts, leading to the first formative assessment
- Continuing the discussion of new concepts, leading to the second formative assessment
- Developing mastery, leading to the third formative assessment
- Finding practical applications of concepts and skills in daily living
- Making generalisations and abstractions about the lesson
- Evaluating learning
- Additional activities for application or remediation
The order added a qualifier that was routinely ignored in practice: "Teachers do not need to go through all ten (10) parts in every lesson," and "These ten parts should be done across the week." A ten-part procedure was a weekly arc, not a daily checklist — a distinction that made a real difference to workload and that the 2026 order cites, in effect, as part of why lesson planning had become "overly tedious and compliance-driven."
The remaining DLL sections were shorter. Remarks recorded special cases such as continuation of a lesson to the following day or transfer due to class suspension. Reflection required notes on the number of learners who earned 80% in the evaluation, the number needing remediation, the effectiveness of remedial lessons, which strategies worked and why, and difficulties a principal or supervisor could help solve.
What Does a Lesson Plan Look Like Now?
The order deliberately does not answer that with a template. It answers it with four elements and a set of principles.
| ILAW element | What must be evident |
|---|---|
| Intentions | Targeted learning competencies, and learning objectives unpacked from them, aligned with learner readiness, context and available time |
| Learning Experience | Learning resources including alternatives for interrupted face-to-face instruction, a pre-lesson activity, the lesson flow, and opportunities for integration and contextualisation |
| Assessing Learning | Formative checks throughout the session that guide immediate instructional adjustments |
| Ways Forward | End-of-session reflection, next instructional steps such as remediation or enrichment, and extended learning opportunities |
Alongside these sit eight Learning Design Principles: Clear Goals and Teaching, Scaffolding, Checks for Understanding, Active Retrieval and Spacing, Self-awareness and Metacognition, Social Learning, Values and Purpose Integration, and Inclusion. The order states that not all principles are expected to be evident in every lesson, and that checks for understanding "shall not be limited to the assessment portion of the lesson plan."
The order also supplies a self-check Lesson Planning Rubric as Annex A, with prompts such as whether "another teacher can implement this lesson without additional explanation." Its stated purpose is professional reflection and coaching — the order says it shall be used "not as a compliance checklist or scoring tool for paperwork completion."
Where Do Lesson Plan Samples Fit Now?
Sample and template packs are not banned, and the order is explicit that teachers may use lesson guides, exemplars or instructional materials from the Central Office, Regional Offices, Schools Division Offices or external partners as reference materials — provided the teacher remains fully responsible for preparing a lesson plan responsive to their own learners' needs and context, and that such materials are modified or adapted to fit the ILAW Framework.
What the order forbids is treating any of it as an extra requirement. Regional Offices, Schools Division Offices, schools and community learning centres shall not require additional or expanded lesson plan templates, supplementary forms, or documentation beyond the standards it prescribes. Annex B of the order itself carries a note that it is an example of how a lesson plan may be organised and "should NOT be interpreted as the sole national format."
Fully AI-generated lesson plans are not allowed. The order sets three AI use categories — prohibited for core instructional decision-making, limited for support tasks after key decisions are made, guided for routine work such as grammar checks and formatting — and requires any AI assistance to be declared, consistent with DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2026 on artificial intelligence in basic education.
Where Practice Still Varies
The national rule is uniform. The daily experience of it is not, and the order leaves room for that on purpose.
- Submission and review cycles are local. DO 016, s. 2026 does not prescribe a weekly submission ritual. School heads lead qualitative reviews of lesson plans and use the findings as a basis for coaching, technical assistance and support.
- Private schools are encouraged, not required. The order's scope covers public schools, DepEd-operated community learning centres, DepEd-recognised ALS providers, and basic education units of SUCs and LUCs. Private schools may adopt it in line with their own institutional policies.
- Multigrade classes follow the same standards but may use integrated templates covering two or three grade levels, provided all essential components are kept.
- Collaborative planning venues differ. Schools have flexibility in how they structure collaborative planning; Learning Action Cell sessions are named as one option. Sharing a lesson plan is recognised as valid evidence of preparation, provided every teacher using it understands it and can deliver it.
If you are handed a division or school memo that conflicts with any of this, the way to check it is to read the national order itself — our guide on finding and reading DepEd orders covers where the issuance archive lives and how to confirm what is still in force. How your lesson planning feeds appraisal is covered in our RPMS and IPCRF guide.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or explore more guides for Philippine educators on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- DepEd — DO 016, s. 2026: Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design (official)
- DepEd — DO 42, s. 2016: Policy Guidelines on Daily Lesson Preparation for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (official, repealed)
- DepEd — DepEd Orders issuance archive
- SchoolFinderPH — The Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP): Format and Parts
- SchoolFinderPH — DepEd School Calendar 2026-2027
- SchoolFinderPH — RPMS and IPCRF Guide
- SchoolFinderPH — MATATAG Curriculum Guide
