Place the 3D cursor about 1 grid size above the plane. Do this by switching between top (numpad 7) and front view (numpad 1). 
Press SHIFT-a. This calls the toolbox. Press ADD->Mesh (LeftMouse).  
The options change in a set of primitives. Choose IcoSphere. This calls a small number requester. Enter a subdivision level (3 is nice). 
Located around the 3D cursor, a new Object and Mesh have been added. The Object is in edit mode, so the vertices and faces of its Mesh can be changed.  
We don't do this now. We leave edit mode by pressing TAB. 

Now, we have 3 Objects. Selecting these can be done with a RightMouse click, somewhere near the wireframe. 
The next step is adding a light. Place the 3D cursor somewhere outside the sphere. Maybe 3-4 grid units away. Press SHIFT-a. The toolbox always returns as you previous left it. In this case: "Add IcoSphere". To go back to the main Add options, click with RightMouse or move the cursor to the left side of the toolbox.  
Choose: Add->Lamp. 
Now, at the cursor, a Lamp Object has been added. This type of Object doesn't have an edit mode. 
Press numpad [0] to view from the camera. From this view, Objects can be selected too. Make a nice composition by using the 'grabber': press 'g', move mouse, click LeftMouse. 

If you're satisfied, you can render an image: press F12. 
Rendering a simple scene like this is fast, but you should notice that it is blocking: the cursor changes into a red filled square. 
The rendered image overlaps the 3D view. To get rid of it: press ESC or F11. To view it again: press F11 again. 

As easy as this!  

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