Lesson plan to whiteboard lesson: a teacher's guide to Doodaro (2026)

A lesson plan already has what a video needs: an objective, a few concepts in order, and a way to check whether students got it. This guide turns that plan into a 3-to-5-minute whiteboard lesson in Doodaro, with the exact brief and the per-scene picture descriptions that make diagrams come out right.

The shape of a whiteboard lesson

Keep the video small on purpose. It introduces or reviews one concept; the class does the practice.

Part	Length	Scenes	What it does
Hook	15 s	1	A question or a surprising fact
Objective	10 s	1	“By the end you can…”
Concept 1	45 to 60 s	3 to 4	One idea, one diagram building up
Concept 2	45 to 60 s	3 to 4
Concept 3	45 to 60 s	3 to 4
Worked example	30 to 45 s	2 to 3	The three concepts used once
Check for understanding	15 to 20 s	1 to 2	One question, then the answer after a pause

That is 14 to 20 scenes, about 4 minutes. If your plan has five concepts, make two videos.

Step 1: reduce the plan to one line

Write the objective as a single sentence a student could say back:

By the end, I can place 1/2, 1/4 and 3/4 on a number line.

If the sentence has “and” more than once, it is two objectives. Split it.

Step 2: choose three concepts

Pick the three ideas that get a student from not knowing to the objective. Order them so each depends on the one before.

1. A number line is a ruler: the gap between 0 and 1 is a distance.
2. A fraction splits that gap into equal steps; the bottom number says how many steps.
3. The top number says how many steps to walk from 0.

Step 3: write the brief

Paste the objective, the three concepts and the check question into What is your video about? on the Story screen.

Teach fractions on a number line to grade 4 in 4 minutes. Objective: by the end, students can place 1/2, 1/4 and 3/4 on a number line. Three concepts in order: (1) a number line is a ruler and the gap from 0 to 1 is a distance; (2) a fraction splits that gap into equal steps and the bottom number says how many; (3) the top number says how many steps to walk from 0. One worked example: placing 3/4. End with the check question “where does 2/4 go?” and pause before answering. Short sentences. One idea per scene. No jokes.

Set Audience to “grade 4, first time seeing fractions on a number line”, Target length to 5 minutes (edit down after), pick a Narrator, then click Draft my story. Read the proposal. Cut any sentence that introduces a fourth idea. Click Use this draft, then Build scenes.

A second voice for the student question

Open the check-for-understanding scene, set Scene voice to a second narrator, and regenerate its recording. The question then sounds like a student asking, and the answer returns to the teacher’s voice in the next scene.

Step 4: pick the style

Three styles were made for this:

• Graphite Classroom. Coarse ink on a warm white surface. It looks like a teacher thinking out loud on the board. Best for math and science steps.
• Study Notes. Fine pen and colored pencil on plain white, like a top student’s notebook. Best for diagrams with labels, biology, language.
• Clearboard. Plain dry-erase lines on off-white. Best when you want nothing but the idea.

Pick one per subject and keep it. Students recognize the look before they read the title. Set it in the style card at the top of the Storyboard before you generate images; switching later redraws everything.

Step 5: write the picture descriptions

Build scenes gives every scene a description. For a lesson, rewrite them so each diagram builds on the last. Open each card with Edit, edit What we’ll draw, and Regenerate.

The pattern for a lesson diagram:

A [diagram] showing [one relationship]. [One element] is marked. Label: “[value]”.

Here are the descriptions for the fractions lesson, scene by scene.

Scene 1 (hook): A child standing on a long straight path with a signpost at each end. The left sign says “0” and the right sign says “1”. Nothing in between.

Scene 2 (objective): A plain horizontal number line from 0 to 1 with three empty circles floating above it. Label: “1/2, 1/4, 3/4”.

Scene 3 (concept 1): A wooden ruler drawn as a number line, 0 at the left end and 1 at the right, with a small arrow showing the distance between them. Label: “distance”.

Scene 4 (concept 1): The same number line with a child taking one large step from 0 all the way to 1.

Scene 5 (concept 2): The number line from 0 to 1 cut into two equal pieces by one tick in the middle. Label: “2 steps”.

Scene 6 (concept 2): The number line cut into four equal pieces by three ticks. Label: “4 steps”.

Scene 7 (concept 2): Two number lines stacked, the top cut into two pieces, the bottom into four, showing the bottom pieces are smaller. Label: “bigger bottom number, smaller step”.

Scene 8 (concept 3): The four-piece number line with a child standing at 0 and one footprint on the first tick. Label: “1/4”.

Scene 9 (concept 3): The same line with three footprints leading to the third tick. Label: “3/4”.

Scene 10 (worked example): An empty four-piece number line with a question mark above it. Label: “3/4?”

Scene 11 (worked example): The same line with an arrow landing on the third tick and a checkmark. Label: “3/4”.

Scene 12 (check): A four-piece number line with a question mark above the second tick. Label: “2/4?”

Scene 13 (answer): The same line with an arrow on the second tick, and a second arrow from the top showing it is the same place as 1/2. Label: “2/4 = 1/2”.

Notice the rules: one diagram per scene, one thing marked, a label of one value. Never “show all the fractions”. Never “explain that”. The narration explains; the picture shows one step.

Step 6: review the storyboard

1. Click Generate N images and Generate N voices.
2. Play storyboard and listen through as a student would.
3. For any diagram that shows too much or the wrong element, open the card, tighten the description, Regenerate.
4. Check every card shows Ready.

Diagrams miss more often than pictures of people, because a description like “a number line with ticks” leaves the count open. Say the count: “three ticks”, “four equal pieces”.

Step 7: timing

In the Editor, set reveal time on each diagram scene so the drawing finishes as the narrator finishes the sentence. Diagrams with labels need a second or two more than pictures. For the check question, set a 4-to-5-second hold so students have time to think before the answer scene draws.

Use Left to right reveal direction on number lines and timelines so the pen draws in reading order. Leave everything else on Natural. Export as 16:9 for a projector or LMS, 9:16 if students will watch on phones.

Other subjects, same pattern

Subject	Objective example	Diagram per scene
Biology	Label the parts of a plant cell	One organelle outlined per scene, one label
History	Explain three causes of an event	One cause as one scene: a place, a figure, a year label
Language	Use the past tense of three verbs	One verb per scene, before and after forms as two labels
Physics	Describe forces on a resting book	One arrow per scene added to the same book on a table
Reading	Find the main idea of a paragraph	One sentence of the paragraph highlighted per scene

The rule holds everywhere: one objective, three concepts, one check, one thing per picture.

Reusing a lesson

A lesson video is a project. Next term, open it, edit the narration where the example changed, regenerate those scenes only, and export again. To make a version for another class in a different language, change Language on the Story screen, redraft, choose a narrator in that language and rebuild. Minutes are counted on export, so revising a lesson costs only the export length.

Frequently asked questions

How do I turn a lesson plan into a video?

Take one learning objective, pick the three concepts that get students there, and add one check-for-understanding question. Write that as a 3-to-5-minute script in Doodaro's Story screen, build scenes, review the pictures on the Storyboard, and export. One lesson plan usually makes one 4-minute video.

How long should a whiteboard lesson video be?

Three to five minutes for one objective. Shorter than a class period on purpose: the video introduces or reviews the concept, and the class does the practice. Longer videos lose students after the first concept.

Which Doodaro style looks like a classroom board?

Graphite Classroom for a teacher-at-the-board feel, Study Notes for a neat notebook look, Clearboard for a plain whiteboard. Pick one per class or subject and keep it so students recognize your videos.

Can I fix one diagram without remaking the video?

Yes. Every scene has its own card on the Storyboard. Open the card, rewrite the picture description and click Regenerate. Only that diagram changes.

Can students hear a different voice for a student question?

Yes. Open the scene, choose a second narrator under Scene voice and regenerate that scene's recording. Use it for the check-for-understanding question so it sounds like a student asking.

Does a teacher need a paid plan?

The Free plan gives 2 minutes once to try it. A teacher making one 4-minute lesson per class per week for five classes uses about 80 minutes a month, which fits the $39 Starter plan.