Category: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

Name.

WGU Task Objective Number.

General Information

• Lesson Title & Subject(s): Physical Education
• Topic or Unit of Study: Introduction to dribbling activities
• Grade/Level: 2^nd grade
• Instructional Setting: the lesson plan will be implemented in the school gymnasium for a group of 20 students studying in the 2^nd grade.

Standards, Goals, and Objectives

Your State Core Curriculum/Student Achievement Standard(s)

Demonstrate competency and proficiency in movements and motor skills; demonstrate such manipulative skills as throwing, dribbling, moving, catching, and striking a ball while playing (Wisconsin Academic Standards, 2012).

Lesson Goal(s)

Students will be able to dribble a ball with a hand paying attention to such principles as dribbling on the side, waist-high, pushing the ball down, and eyes lookup.

Lesson Objective(s)

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to demonstrate control of a ball during dribbling, following such rules as dribbling on the side, waist-high, pushing the ball down, and eyes look up and demonstrate 2 successful dribbling sessions to the partner out of 3 tries.

Materials and Resources

Materials

CD player, basketballs, cones.

Resources

Kirchner, G., & Fishburne, G. J. (1998). Physical education for elementary school children. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Wisconsin Academic Standards. (2012). Web.

Instructional Plan

A sequence of Instructional Procedures/Activities/Events:

Identification of Student Prerequisite Knowledge and/or Skills (7 minutes)

Students have learned how to roll balls and throw them overhand and underhand at the previous lessons. Students are encouraged to participate in the warm-up activities (jumping from hoop to hoop, running) and review rolling balls. To review throwing them overhand and underhand, the students are asked to work in pairs. Background music is used.

New Knowledge and/or Skills To Be Taught/ Modeling (7 minutes)

The teacher presents the topic of the lesson and demonstrates equipment which will be used during the lesson. There are four basic principles of dribbling effectively. They are dribbling on the side, waist-high, pushing the ball down, and eyes lookup. The teacher explains four principles, demonstrating how to dribble a ball properly. The principles are presented and explained separately and in their combination. The teacher states that students are expected to demonstrate their 2 successful dribbling sessions to the partner out of 3 tries after some practice during the lesson.

Guided Practice (12 minutes)

The teacher asks the students to work individually. Each student has a ball. The teacher reminds four basic principles. The teacher asks students to practice dribbling a ball in place for 2 minutes. The teacher asks to dribble with the non-dominant hand for 2 minutes. The teacher asks to dribble a ball while walking for 2 minutes. The teacher asks to dribble a ball while jogging around cones for 2 minutes. The teacher asks students to work in pairs. Students are asked to dribble three times and move to the partners ball. The teacher asks students to dribble a ball focusing on four basic principles toward the partner. It is possible to make 3 tries. The teacher monitors the practice, correct mistakes in movements. Background music is used.

Independent Student Practice (12 minutes)

The teacher engages all students in practicing dribbling paying attention to four basic principles. Students work in pairs. Each student can make 3 tries. It is necessary to dribble a ball to the partner and demonstrate the control of a ball about four principles on 2 out of 3 tries. The teacher monitors the work of students in each pair to assess the practice. When the teacher monitors and assesses skills in dribbling activities in one pair other students continue practicing. Background music is used.

Culminating or Closing Procedure/Activity/Event (2 minutes)

The teacher provides the evaluation of the students work, assesses their activities, and discusses the work with references to the students following the four basic principles of dribbling. Students review the principles ask questions.

Pedagogical Strategies

Direct instruction, work in pairs.

Differentiated Instruction

The hearing-impaired learners are placed into pairs with the other students who can hear the teachers instruction and they help the hearing impaired learners dribble a ball correctly according to the teachers oral instructions, with references to the demonstration.

Technology Integration

The CD player is used to provide background music to create a positive atmosphere and stimulate students for physical activities.

Student Assessment/Rubrics

Formative assessment: Students are expected to demonstrate 2 successful dribbling sessions to the partner out of 3 tries, following the four basic principles of dribbling. The session is assessed as successful if a student controls a ball while dribbling with references to four or three principles. The dribbling is unsuccessful if a student violates two or more principles and cannot control the ball.

Summative assessment: Students are assessed in dribbling a ball according to four principles of dribbling in autumn and spring according to the rubrics for the first and second semesters (Kirchner & Fishburne, 1998).

Guided Reflection Protocol Form

Observation and Description

Describe your instructional setting, including grade level, student characteristics, number of students, and any other criteria necessary to present the instructional setting

20 students who study in the 2^nd grade were present in the school gymnasium to learn how to dribble a ball properly. All the necessary equipment was used.

Analysis, Exploration, and Reasoning

Explain why you did or did not deviate from your prepared lesson plan.

I did not deviate from my prepared lesson plan because I followed the time fixed for each section properly and monitored the students activities to be sure that they followed my instructions properly.

Connections to Other Effective Teaching Practices

Connect a pedagogical strategy used in your lesson to experiential learning.

To teach students to dribble a ball, I used such a teaching strategy as active learning when students are the active participants of the process. Students were able to learn how to dribble a ball properly, practicing the skill basing on the direct instruction. According to the pedagogical strategy of active learning, students were taught to dribble a ball with the help of physical experience and action.

This strategy is directly connected with experiential learning which is effective for teaching physical skills because of learning through action and practice (Borich, 2010). Students were involved in practicing dribbling during the guided section. That is why there is a direct connection between active learning where students are active participants of the process and experiential learning about physical education lessons.

Evaluation

Assess the level of success students experienced in acquiring the game-related skill as a direct result of the instruction.

Explain the thinking process you went through to complete this evaluation

Students demonstrated rather high results in acquiring the game-related skill of dribbling because of getting only excellent and good marks. It is possible to conclude that activities and instructions used during the guided section helped students to practice their skills successfully before performing in pairs and individually.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy and instructions used, it is necessary to refer to the lessons objectives and students results. It was important for me to assess the effectiveness of the instructions and activities on providing opportunities for completing the lessons goals and objectives. The activities and instructions were chosen to meet the lessons objectives to teach students to control a ball during dribbling and following such rules as dribbling on the side, waist-high, pushing the ball down, and eyes look up. Thus, activities and instructions were chosen and used rather effectively because students achieved the set objectives and demonstrated good and excellent results.

Recommendations

Explain an alternative approach to teaching a game-related skill to beginning students that could positively affect student performance.

Justify your choices of recommendations

It is possible to use more activities for working in pairs and with a partner to practice dribbling because basketball is based on cooperation with team players. Such activities as dribbling around the cones in lines with passing a ball to the partner and the exchange of a ball with the partner in pairs are effective. Moreover, it is possible to improve students results during further practice, encouraging them to dribble and attack the partners ball at the same time.

The recommended activities are effective not only to develop students dribbling skills but also to teach students the basics of basketball because it is a team game where dribbling is combined with passing.

Personal Meaning and Professional Growth

Predict how this experience might affect your ability to modify your teaching methods to improve instruction. Explain the elements you considered as you formulated ideas regarding personal and/or professional implications.

To improve instruction, it is necessary to concentrate on the specifics of the students cooperation while playing, on providing clear instructions and explanation, and on using a variety of activities to encourage and motivate students to work during the lesson effectively. It is possible to use more technologies and visual aids to attract the students attention to rules and basic principles of activities.

It is important to concentrate on such elements as the objectives and goals of the lesson to develop effective instructions and choose appropriate activities to complete the goals. Moreover, I needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the provided instructions with references to the students results to conclude on the professional implications.

References

Borich, G. (2010). Effective teaching methods: Research-based practice. Boston: Merrill/Prentice, Hall/Pearson Education.

Kirchner, G., & Fishburne, G. J. (1998). Physical education for elementary school children. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Wisconsin Academic Standards. (2012). Web.

General Information

• Subject(s): Reading/ vocabulary
• Topic or Unit of Study: Word identification: phonics recognition and decoding
• Grade/Level: Grade 1
• Instructional Setting: classroom of 20 pupils in a reading lesson context sited in groups of 4 pupils.

Standards and Objectives

Wisconsin state Core Curriculum/Student Achievement Standard(s)

Reading standards:

1. growth of comprehension.
2. text complexity (Winscosin Department of public instruction, 2011).

Speaking and listening standards:

1. Develop collaboration.
2. Develop flexible communication.

Language standards:

1. Writing and reading convention standards.
2. Acquisition of vocabulary.

Lesson Objective(s)

By the end of the lesson:

• The pupils should be able correctly spell words appropriate for their grades.
• The pupils should be able to set phonetically irregular words in appropriate order.

Materials and Resources

Instructional Materials

• Letter cards.
• Smart boards.

Instructional Plan

Identification of Student Prerequisite Skills Needed for Lesson

In the beginning the teacher provides opportunities for practicing word recognition. Using the smart board, the teacher includes parts of words mixed with other words learnt in previous lesson. This section takes 10 minutes.

Guided Practice

In the activity of making words, the teacher will use a set of letter cards for each student. One side of the letter cards will contain capital letters. The other side of the cards will have small letters. In each set of cards, the teacher includes more than one of each vowel and other frequently used letters. The teacher uses cards generated from the smart-board to guide the students into the activity.

• The first step will require the teacher to distribute the letters before giving the directions for each word that students are to make (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010)
• The teacher picks a simple two letters and asks students to make a word using the two letters. For instance, the teacher makes the word TO and then tells the children to make the same word from their set of letter cards.
• Then the teacher asks for one student to volunteer and assemble the correct arrangement of the lettercards on the smart board to form the word TO. Once the one student arranges the correct letters, the teacher asks a different volunteer to read the word. If the response is correct, then the teacher assesses whether all the students managed to arrange their cards correctly (Gunning, 2010).
• In each word making activity, the teacher spends approximately 10 minutes before moving to the next activity. The teacher should focus on using at least three words. Before moving to the next word, the teacher first gives direction and uses the word in a sentence so that students can understand the context of its use.
• In order to cater for students who are struggling with understanding, the teacher can stretch out the words to make the letters clear.
• Finally, on the smart board the teacher lines up the words that the students made in their correct order. This ending session will require the students to read the words aloud in order to be able to sort words according to patterns and beginning/ending sounds (Gunning, 2010).

Independent Student Practice

In order to make use of the team sitting arrangement, this section will involve group work and partner work. The session will last for 10 minutes. In partners, the students will do a simple game where one says words while the other attempts to write the letters and phonemes of the words. This section will last for approximately ten minutes under the direction of the teacher (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010).

Culminating or Closing Procedure/Activity/Event

The teacher uses the smart board to conduct a short and focused conclusion which involves giving the pupils a small spelling and word arrangement exercise on the smart board. The exercise is a means of formal assessment that helps the teacher establish whether the lesson objectives have been achieved (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010).

Pedagogical Strategy (or Strategies)

Cooperative learning and partner work are the two main strategies to be used. Since the students are grouped into four, they perform the learning activities in their groups. Through both the teacher guided activities and independent student practice, the students should be able to achieve the two main objectives of the lesson.

Differentiated Instruction

In order to cater for students who are struggling with understanding, the teacher can stretch out the words to make the letters clear (Gunning, 2010). For the sake of different groups of students, the teacher will accommodate them by mixing the five groups to include the gifted learners and slow learners. The groups will be diverse to encourage cooperation among the children (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010).

Components of formal and informal assessment

The most appropriate means of informal assessment in this lesson is observation. The teacher gives the pupils small exercise to be completed on the smart board and makes necessary observation. Alternative assessment is done throughout the lesson. However as the teacher ends the lesson, the children are provided with a small exercise from the work book as a formal assessment (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001). The exercise may also be done on the smart board since the technology enhances the students ability to recall concepts. Correct responses means that the objectives have been achieved.

References

Armbruster, B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. Web.

Gunning, T. (2010). Creating literacy instruction for all students (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson Education.

Keifer, B. Z., Hepler, S., & Hickman, J. (2010). Charlotte Hucks childrens literature. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Winscosin Department of public instruction. (2011). Common core state standards for English language art. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Theme: The Neighbourhood Where I Live

Age Group: Pre-k& Preschool

Objectives: Students will be able to describe their neighbourhoods and they will be able to identify things that are common for all neighbourhoods.

Materials: The book, slides, printed sets of pictures, board and magnets.

Anticipatory Set: To draw the students attention, I will introduce the topic and will tell them that we are going to read a book about neighbourhoods. I will ask them to listen carefully as I will ask some questions at the end.

Body of the Lesson (Activity):

First, the teacher introduces the topic and reads the book. While reading, the teacher switches the slides with illustrations from the book. Then, the teacher asks some questions on the book to start a discussion on the topic. After that, the teacher takes a set of pictures and asks students questions about things that can be found in their neighbourhoods. When children name some objects (houses, trees, cars and so on), the teacher puts the corresponding picture on the board. Of course, the pictures include all objects and people mentioned in the book read. When this task is completed, the teacher divides the students in several groups (2-4 students) and asks students to describe their neighbourhoods to each other using the pictures. The teacher helps students and supervises their work in groups. After that, students are asked to create their common neighbourhood (things that can be found in all of their neighbourhoods). Finally, students can mime different things individually or in pairs (trees, drivers, cyclists and so on).

Direct Instruction & Guided Practice: After reading the book the teacher will ask the following questions:

Did you like the story? What is it about? What did you like most? Is your neighbourhood the same?

As for the group work mentioned above, the teacher will provide the following instructions:

You will now describe your neighbourhoods to your classmates. Use pictures just like we used them on the board.

It is necessary to note that in this activity older students will start to give younger students encouragement.

Closure / Assessment: At the end of the work, most active students will get gold stars, which will be added to the points earned during the class. The students will also name objects and people that can be found in the neighbourhood (one by one). If the student cannot come up with the object, he/she drops out.

Classification: It is possible to divide students of the class into active and passive. Active students are always eager to answer questions and they always start an activity (describing neighbourhoods). Passive students are quite shy and they often feel reluctant to talk. There are only a few passive students in the class.

NJ Preschool Teaching code: 6.1.B.1

Independent Practice: The game that can reinforce the learning outcomes can be as follows. At the end of the lesson, the teacher will ask the students to try to pay attention to all details in their neighbourhood on their way back home. During next several days, they will come to the class and create their neighbourhood using the sets of pictures available. When they are done, they ask a teacher to come and take a picture of their neighbourhood. Each students will be able to make several neighbourhoods and pick the best one (the most complete) at the end. In a week or two, the teacher will print out the neighbourhoods of children and they will make a poster.

Established Goals

AAAS (n.d.) introduces a lesson devoted to endangered languages including Aleut, Middle Chulym, Nlu, Hawaiian, Chemehuevi (par. 2, 25-28). The goals of the lesson are the following: primarily, it introduces the science of linguistics and the concept of endangered languages to the students, but it also naturally focuses on the diversity topic and the implications of globalization. The Alberta Education (2005) Program of Social Studies is mainly concerned with the development of the sense of self and community that is a step towards the development of a responsible citizen attitude, which encompasses the understanding of the pluralism and inclusiveness (cohesion) of modern democratic society (para. 1-3). The lesson promotes the understanding of the diverse modern society and emphasizes the significance of the multiple cultures of the world, which makes it perfectly in line with the Program.

Understandings

The transparent idea of the lesson consists in the fact that language and culture are interrelated, which means that an endangered language presupposes an endangered culture. As a result, the significance of cultural diversity becomes the big idea. Apart from that, the understanding of the concepts of linguistics as a science and that of the endangered language as a phenomenon are described.

Essential Questions

The key provocative questions follow each other logically. Why is linguistics important? Why is it necessary to preserve a language? Why is it necessary to preserve a culture? Eventually, the notion of diversity and its significance will be discussed. Apart from that, the question of why languages become endangered is regarded. It will allow the students broaden their understanding of the world and globalization since the latter is among the reasons for language endangerment. As a result, the issue of positive and negative aspects of globalization will be discussed.

Knowledge and Skills

The key knowledge of the lesson includes the improved understanding of the phenomenon of diversity. The knowledge gained through the lesson is supposed to contribute to the achievement of the goals that are stated in the Alberta Education (2005) Program of Social Studies: they enhance the students understanding of the contemporary diverse but inclusive society. This effect is not immediately visible.

Other, similarly important information includes the concepts of linguistics and culture and their correlation. The concept of endangered languages will be thoroughly discussed, including the causes and implications of the phenomenon and the ways of preserving languages. This knowledge is also a part of the understanding and learning about the modern society. The understanding of these concepts and ideas is immediately visible through assessment.

Apart from that, the lesson is aimed at the development of a number of skills that include communication, critical thinking, metacognition, and geographic skills. These are the skills that are necessary for learning and socializing. The ability to use media and computer equipment to gain information and manipulate it (for example, e-sheet) is a technology-oriented skill set. The improvement of these skills is also a gradual process.

Assessment Evidence

All the students activities are united with questions that define their understanding, but these questions are primarily meant to enhance it, not assess. These discussions are the opportunities for reflection and the demonstration of ones performance. The special assessment tool for the lesson consists of three essay questions. They include the topics that had been covered in the course of the lesson (linguistics, language endangerment and its reasons, and the reasons for preserving the language). It is not stated how the feedback on the assessment should be provided, but the criterion for the performance are the information reproduced and its understanding.

Lesson Activities

The key activities of the lesson include: listening to a 90-second radio piece on the Aleut language, viewing clips and reading about four other languages and the identification of the areas where the languages are used on the map; reading an article on the process of saving an endangered language. All these activities are interlaced with the discussions. The W.H.E.R.E.T.O. the concept as defined by Wiggins (2005) can be applied to the lesson. The initial talk gives the students the overview of the lesson and helps the teacher to understand what ideas the students had had about the key concepts of the lesson. Apart from that, it incorporates hooking methods, for example, the introduction of the differences between languages (the lesson suggests comparing English to Korean or any other language) and the radio program that raises a number of questions.

The hooking methods of the main part of the lesson include video clips, and some of the teachers topics can be considered captivating (for example, the questions of childrens own experiences with languages). Naturally, the content of the lesson is equipping, and the teachers questions make the processes of learning and understanding easier. The opportunity the rethink and revise are offered several times throughout the lesson as the students are constantly offered to express their opinion both on the topic that was studied and the one that is being approached. The regular discussions also allow the students to evaluate their understanding (and deepen it). The lesson is highly organized but offers the possibility of modifications and customization, for example, in case the students are familiar with or speak a second language. To sum up, the lesson appears to correspond to the concept of Wiggins (2005).

Theory

Even though it is not named, the specific theory of learning that the lesson seems to use is the 21st Century Skills Framework as described by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (2016). The subject of the lesson corresponds to the key subjects of the Framework (social studies and global awareness), the targeted skills include communication and collaboration as well as critical thinking; the media literacy skills are also developed among others.

Program of Studies

The lesson is very well aligned with the Alberta Education (2005) Program. The goals, vision, values, and knowledge are similar: the lesson raises a global issue and promotes global consciousness in the students, teaches them to value diversity and respect multiple worldviews, which corresponds to the program. The skills that are being developed are also in line, especially the cognitive ones (Alberta Education, 2005, para. 9-10). However, the Program focuses on Canadian experiences and settings; the lesson does not. This aspect, however, can be regarded as a disadvantage and an advantage: while it does not provide exclusively Canadian experiences, it offers a global view on the issue. Canadian experiences can be added if it is deemed necessary.

Also, the lesson is suitable from the point of view of the grades involved (6-8) and the general topic (social sciences).

Recommendations

The lesson appears to be well thought-out and organized; it is modifiable and likely to be modified due to the numerous opportunities for discussion. As children encounter, analyze, and produce knowledge, the scenario can develop. As a result, the only issue that can be noted is the problem of time. The lesson is filled with various exercises, and the time management can be difficult to control. It is a manageable issue though as, depending on the needs and possibilities of the class, the lesson can be modified, stretched into a couple of lessons, and so on. The absence of feedback instructions may also be regarded as a disadvantage, but it is also an opportunity of choosing suitable methods for the situation.

References

AAAS. (n.d.). Endangered Languages. Web.

Alberta Education: Studies K  Grade 12 (2005). (2005). Web.

Partnership for 21st Century Learning. (2016). Framework for 21st Century Learning. Web.

Wiggins, G. (2005). Overview of Understanding by Design and the Design Template. Web.

Abstract

This article reflects on proper pronunciation, use of vocabulary, creativity, and ease in interaction in terms of gestures, confidence, and understanding of the concepts for ESL teachers. The importance of this article is the active reflection on practical aspects of the lesson at the macro level to achieve the desired goal. In assessment, the analysis evaluates understanding of the collocations via written and spoken words besides gesture in dramatization, especially in pronunciation and proper use of the most appropriate vocabulary.

The ESL teachers are expected to apply to mark procedure to verify understanding of collocations via various tools such as oral reading fluency rubric, oral presentation, evaluation sheet, active listening rubric, and student assessment on the facets of interactive learning, proactive presentation, and peer editing.

Lesson Plan Execution: Instruction Delivery on Vocabulary Collocation

Basic Approach in Teaching About Collocations

The evaluation rubric consists of three parts, that is, speech and gesture, pronunciation, and creativity. These three segments reflect on understanding of the topic and are important in evaluating progress for the preceding lessons. To evaluate speech and gesture skills, the educator should proactively analyze full participation in social conversations by the learner by asking and answering questions, and soliciting information (Slavin, 2006).

Also, this should be done in a free environment by ensuring that all learners participate equally. The educator should be keen on telling the learner to self reflect on what he/she has learned and share with the whole class. Expanded vocabulary, descriptive words, and paraphrasing should come out during their presentations when the educator is in a position to apply the most appropriate evaluation methodology.

Therefore, the teacher can evaluate the ability of the learner to listen attentively to the story line and information and be able to orally identify key details and concepts brought out in the novel. In the process of achieving this, the evaluator should make the learner understand him/herself during the oral presentation by using a consistent grammatical form of English, sounds, intonation, pitch, and modulation (Howson, 2006).

Instructional Execution and Approach

Bloom outlined the hierarchy of cognitive objectives of learning as knowledge (remembering information), comprehension (ability to acquire meaning from the information), application (ability to use the information), analysis (ability to break information into parts to understand it better), synthesis (ability to consolidated materials together to create something new), and evaluation (ability to check, judge, and critique materials) (Slavin, 2006).

Therefore, the lesson should adopt practical, interactive, and inclusive learning to minimize the impact of these impediments. As a professional teacher who has to accommodate these characteristics, the lesson should incorporate visual aids, a short film, and clear charts for an explanation of the lesson objectives as indicated in the table below. Therefore, inclusive education adopted provides a practical alternative that is likely to make every student comfortable with the lesson.

Planning and Teaching

This lesson should encompass the proximal development and language-content goal actualization. This objective is important in training learners to not only understand concepts in the syllabus, but also to orientate them to the basics of self-expression, confidence in speech, creativity, and qualitative analysis through proper use of the English language. Thus, this objective is not only relevant but also practical and achievable. Since the objective is incorporated in the inclusive learning process, it integrates the special needs, bilingualism, different levels of learning, and cumulative grade rubric.

In the long term, the goal facilitates interactive learning, sensitivity, and creativity amidst diversity (Unsworth, 2008). These traits are important in promoting confidence, language proficiency, and thoroughness in the analysis. Due to the uniqueness of the class setting, prior knowledge of the special needs of each learner facilitates proper development of the lesson plan and dramatization of the learning process through the use of visual supplements to make the lesson interactive and more interesting.

In lesson planning, the Zone of Proximal Development concept holds that an ESL student acquires concepts first through social interaction with others, and then interpersonally where those concepts are internalized. These language goals operate on the assumption that the student has a prior understanding of Language in this lesson and that he/she has a compact mastery of the same (Unsworth, 2008).

The basic language goals can be classified into listening and speaking, pronunciation, reading fluency and systematic vocabulary development, reading comprehension, literary response and analysis, writing strategies, and applications. This can be broadly classified into reading standards, listening, speaking standards (pronunciation), and creativity to improve teaching on collocation.

Lesson Activities

The primary intention of the lesson is to uphold audio, kinesthetic, and visual learning.

1. Activity 1: Audio-video Film (8 minutes). Learners will view an audio-video documentary giving a recap of different vocabularies.
2. Activity 2: Lecture (12 minutes). The educator, you will explain the documentary in simple terms to improve on the understanding among the secondary English speaking learners.
3. Activity 3: Group-work (15 minutes). Students will be advised to form groups of seven learners each. The educator will give a question to each group on vocabulary after which the group leader will present their work to the entire class within a time frame of three minutes.
4. Activity 4: Vocabulary review. The educator will lead the learners in reviewing technical terms such as pronunciation, application, and spelling.
5. Activity 5: Questioning. The question activity should summarize the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of the specific collocation.

Summary

Teachers who are successful and on purpose, in planning and implementing instructions designed to meet the varied needs of the children in their classroom, have an extensive impact on their students reading accomplishments. Besides, it is vital for the teacher not to base the learning process on assumptions. Rather, every concept imparted should be treated as fresh information that is presented in such a manner that the learner would benefit fully.

References

Howson, J. (2006). Taking control of your teaching career: A guide for teachers. Alabama, Al: Routledge.

Slavin, R. (2006). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. New York, NY: Pearson Education.

Unsworth, L. (2008). Describing visual illiteracies in teaching multi-illiteracies: changing contexts of texts and images in classroom practice. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

Objectives

The students will learn basic information (not very detailed) about the development of heliocentric thought in the Middle Ages and its significance on the later development of science and culture.

Materials Used: textbook, pictures depicting Theocentric universe and Heliocentric universe, an extract from the video about middle ages (first minute and a half to be shown).

Standards Addressed & Expectations of the Student

Hunter and Russell (2005) point out that it is important to make students aware of the objectives of the lesson to make it more effective. Thus, the lesson will start with short discussion about students ideas about the place of the Sun and the Earth, and other planets. At this point it is necessary to introduce the term Heliocentric. Then the teacher asks whether the students know what people thought about it in the Middle Ages and hint (if necessary) that medieval people thought that Sun was moving around the Earth. After this the teacher articulates that the lesson will deal with medieval superstitions and the dawn of Heliocentric thought, and its significance on the development of the societies.

Anticipatory Set

The teacher asks such questions as: How do you think what role the Church played in the development of Heliocentric ideas? Why? Was it important to prove that the Earth was moving around the world?

Instructional Input

According to Willingham (2005) it is important to evoke students meaningful thinking, so that they could memorize facts and draw cause-effect connections between them. Thus, to make the students plunge into the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, the video about the Church power will be shown. The students will acknowledge that the church was very powerful, and this is one of the reasons why it could not let people free from superstitions. Then the work of Copernicus (and display of pictures illustrating his theory) will be discussed and juxtaposed with Theocentric ideas and the reaction of the Church. It will be also pointed out that a bit later Galileo published a work where he considered and supported Copernicuss theory, because of that there was a trial over him.

Guided Practice/Monitoring

The students will be divided into two groups. Representatives of one group will go to the blackboard and write one argument supporting Theocentric theory, and the other group will write down arguments for Heliocentric theory.

Closure

In the end of the lesson the students will discuss the reasons why the Church opposed the new theories, and how this discovery could and did influence the development of humanity.

Independent Practice

The student will be asked to implement a research. They will be divided into two groups which are to be the two parties on the trial over Galileo which is to take place during the next lesson. One group will be prosecutors and the other  lawyers, providing scientific background for each theory.

On my mind, the present lesson can encourage students to think critically. They will need to think why the Church was against progress, or why it was important to implement research and start scientific revolution. The students will not only learn facts about Copernicus and Galileo, but will also touch upon the issue of interests and power. The students will critically think of forces which try to stop progress because of the fear to lose power. Besides, the format of discussion will encourage students to articulate their points of view and defend them.

Reference List

Hunter, M. A., Russell, D. (2005). Planning for Effective Instruction: Lesson Design. In B. C. Marlowe and Canestrari, A.S. (Eds.), Educational Psychology in Context: Readings for Future Teachers (pp. 3-13). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Medieval Europe: Religion in Medieval Europe. (2010). YouTube. Web.

Willingham, D.T. (2005). Students Remember& What They Think about. In B. C. Marlowe and Canestrari, A.S. (Eds.), Educational Psychology in Context: Readings for Future Teachers (pp. 68-75). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Introduction

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is the design of learning materials and teaching methods to allow learners with wide-ranging differences in capabilities to attain the set learning goals (Bonnie, 2003, P.5). In UDL, flexible strategies are incorporated into the curriculum during development to enable all the learners to get into a wide range of learning. Technology is used extensively in UDL and it creates an opportunity for teachers to customize education especially with the use of digital texts to meet individual needs (Hall, Meyer, & Rose, 2012, P.11). The use of UDL in curriculum design possesses more advantages as compared to assistive technologies that were initially used. Assistive technologies accommodate individual needs but without change of courses (Bowe, 2000, P.1). In addition to this, traditional steps and assistive technologies are very expensive (Bowe. 2000, P.2).

In our modern society, classrooms are more diverse than before. Freedom of being anywhere gives a room for studying in any school in any region. As a result, classrooms will contain learners with diverse ethnic, economic, and linguistic backgrounds. Teachers are confronted with the challenge of teaching students with disabilities, learners who are culturally and linguistically diverse (Richard & Debbie, 2011, P. 26). Educators are therefore required to make education more convenient for time-pressed students, more comfortable for people from diverse backgrounds, and more flexible for persons having different learning styles (Bowe, 2000, P.4).

Universal design for learning framework helps in making course concepts accessible and to accommodate all the learners regardless of their abilities. UDL environment will help in creating curricula accessible to all students through careful planning and design (Hall, Meyer, & Rose, 2012, P.10). UDL comprises principles that assist in reducing barriers to learning and it supports differentiated instruction (Richard & Debbie, 2011, P.34).

Lesson Plan

Universal Design for Learning Lesson Plan

References

Bonnie, G. (2007). Implementing Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) Principles to Maximize Learning for Students with Disabilities at the Jack F. Owens Campus of Delaware Technical & Community College. Michigan, University of Delaware: ProQuest.

Bowe, F. (2000). Universal Design in Education: Teaching Nontraditional Students. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Hall, T., Meyer, A., & Rose, H. (2012). Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom: What works for Special Needs Learners? New York: Guilford Press.

Richard, G. & Debbie, M. (2011). Teaching in Todays Inclusive Classrooms: A Universal Design for Learning Approach. New York: Cengage Learning.

Introduction

Piaget contributed so much to present understanding of cognitive development. He proposed that cognitive development in human beings takes place in various stages. According to Piaget, cognitive development progresses from learning through actions to learning through practical thinking as one develops. Like other cognitive theorists, he believed that knowledge exists in certain distinct units, schemata. In his view, Piaget believed that ones schema or units of knowledge are modified with experiences. Experiences that students go through do serve in modifying the students knowledge. Much learning will therefore, occur if learners come across many experiences. In this lesson, students will learn through experiences presented to them. They will receive classroom instructions on the theories put forward to explain how evolution takes place. The students will be assigned reading materials to prepare them for the lesson.

Observational learning

The students will learn by observing the archaeological charts provided by the teacher. Besides the charts, they will also watch the video clips on evolution. The teacher and parents will then reinforce the behaviours reproduced by the students after the observation process.

Objectives

By the end of the seven sessions, the learners should be able to define evolution. They should also be able to identify and describe the theories of origin of life; creation, cosmic and chemical theories. Besides, the students will also be able to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed theories. Further still, students will also be able to discuss the evidences in support of chemical evolution.

Materials

A wide range of materials are essential for this lesson. Hand held archaeological charts could be used for this lesson. Video clips on evolution will also be provided in the lesson. Projectors will be crucial in viewing the video clips. Drawing boards are also needed for illustrations. Presentation slides will also be handy in this lesson.

Technology connection

Technology can be incorporated into the lesson to make it more vivid and appealing to the students.

Archaeological charts especially those showing evolution of man.Video clips can also be downloaded from Web.

Clip on the experiment to prove chemical evolution theory, Miller Experiment.

Biblical integration

The lesson will no doubt have an impact on the worldview of the learners. Christianity and other renowned world religions believe that the earth and all forms of life that thrive in it are a creation of a supreme power. On the contrary, chemical evolution theorists believe that life came about by chance and that all the complex life forms that we observe today evolved from the simple life forms. As illustrated in the book of Genesis, God created heavens and earth and all that dwell in it. Biologists believe in chemical evolution theory of evolution while the religious sects believe in creationism. Whereas biologists believe that organisms are evolving from the simple life forms to more complex forms Christians believe that all the organisms as observed today are of the same form as they were at creation. They do believe that organisms do not change their forms The lesson will increase the learners knowledge on the origin of life and the diverse species. The students will be able to support the theory that sounds convincing to them and discard fanciful information.

Scientists do not challenge the biblical explanation of creation. This is because creation theory is not testable using the hypothetical scientific methods. Scientific theories on evolution also do not offer questions to some daunting questions on origin of life. As a result creation theory is far much popular than the scientific theory on origin of life.

Procedures

The students will be presented with the archaeological charts and given time to observe them. On their own, they are to note the progressive change in complexity of the organisms in the provided charts with much emphasis on human evolution. The teacher would then guide the students in defining evolution. The video clips should also be presented for viewing. QAIT model of instruction can be employed for effective instruction. To employ this instructional model, the teacher should use direct instructional method to teach the learners. The teacher provides adequate time for learners to digest the facts appropriately. The teacher also carries out his instructions using suitable levels of instruction that are not beyond the capability of the students. The perfect setting for the lesson would be the science laboratory. The laboratory provides wide benches on which the charts can be spread.

Developmental activities

The students are to perform some tasks to prepare them for this lesson. They will read the materials assigned to them. Back at home, the students will gather information on the societys view on creation and evolution.

Instruction

The students will then be instructed on an overview of evolution and origin of life: theories of evolution, weaknesses and strengths of the theories, theories on the origin of life including creation, cosmic and chemical evolution theories. Instructions will be via power point slide presentations.

Guided activities

The students will obtain guidance from the teacher in understanding the illustrations that may be difficult to understand on the provided charts.

Team activities

The students are then divided into small groups of about five members. In the groups, they will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed evolution theories. They will also be required to choose and justify their choice of the most relevant theory of origin of life. The teacher will provide guidance to the groups on how they can handle the tasks. The groups will then discuss their findings with the other group members. Each group will select a representative that will present the findings of the group on behalf of others. During the presentations, other groups can ask questions.

Independent practice

Out of the group work, the students will then be asked to complete a short paper on the limitations of the cosmic theory on the origin of life.

Field trip

A field trip will be organized for the students to a museum located in the city. At the museum, students will observe the ancient animal species and compare them to the current animal species to determine any evidence of evolution.

Differentiation for exceptionalities

The lesson plan offers opportunities for a wide range of learning styles. This ensures that all the individual needs groups are effectively catered for. The styles range from the use of visual, audio, pictorial, inter-relational and intra-relational styles. Creative writing tasks incorporated in the lesson plan also cater for the gifted learners For LD, ED and ADD needs, group activities are helpful. The group activities also enable students to learn concepts from different points of view. This is because the groups bring together students from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Evaluation

The students evaluation is rubric based. The independent practice assignment given will account for 10% of the final grade. The class and group activities assigned to the students will also be evaluated. These will also account for 30% of the overall grade. Pre-reading tasks and homework assignments will also account for 20% of the ultimate grade. The final exam will account for 40% 0r the final grade marks at the end of the seven sessions. The final exam will test on all the areas learnt.

Introduction

Teaching is not a simple task as many may think. It is even hard when it comes to teaching English as a second language to elementary school students. According to Brown, (2007), the main aim of teaching is to equip the students with necessary skills to enable them achieve the goals of the subject. To enable a student develop important skills to help him or her develop cognitive ability, a careful planning of the lessons should be done.

Lesson planning therefore, according to Celce-Murcia, (2001), is one of the essential conditions to organize successful learning. It is the duty of the teacher, which should be performed religiously. Lesson planning leads to a situation in which the teacher is able to present the knowledge to the students, systematically and in a comprehensive manner. It enables a teacher to achieve his aims easily.

Lesson Plan Critique

A womans place lesson plan first introduces students to the world of numbers. By understanding the use of fractions, students are able to relate the measures introduced to them later in the lesson. The use of the teaching aids such as charts also make learning easy for those taking English as a second language. The plan also introduces vocabulary to the students. These vocabularies consider the socioeconomic context of the student in relation to the topic of the day.

is also the reading activities which in this case should involve students. However this section has limited activities which make exclude some students from participation. To improve this section, the teacher should add more activities such as role plays and group discussions. This lesson plan also includes a comprehension section after reading activity. Given the nature of the students taking English as a second language, there should be another section before this to guide them on pronunciation. This lesson plan concentrates more on reading which may not be effective considering the nature of students. It also gives little attention to the language section which should be emphasized in the case of students taking English as the second language.

The lesson plan on a womans place gives a clear guide to the teacher on what steps to take at each stage of the lesson. However, the plan is more centered to the teacher instead of the students which makes it not fully effective. To improve on this, the teacher should include more activities that aim to get more student participation.

The lesson plan also fails to recap students with what they had covered. It also fails to introduce the next lesson briefly to prepare them in advance. The teacher should include this to enable students to prepare in advance. This is also a way to increase participation and interest of the students in the next lesson.

To achieve the objectives of the reason the teacher needs to develop a lesson plan for a number of reasons. A lesson plan is a tool that helps a teacher to overcome difficulties posed by different situations in education therefore giving the teacher self-confidence of a very high degree (Brown, 2007). In order to avoid awkward behavior by the teacher, the lesson plan is important to guide her actions in the class. English as a language should be taught in the socio-cultural context. The culture and the society in which the language is taught should be linked together with the language in order to give the language a meaning that learners can relate with (Cameron, 2001).

For a classroom to be effective, it needs to be student centered. Therefore, in designing a lesson plan, it should focus mainly on student activities rather than on the activities of the teacher. According to Cameron, (2001), it should concentrate on what students should do from one minute to the next rather than the flow of the teachers work from one minute to the other. Lesson plans that are designed to include student activities are highly effective since they are able to draw participation of students in the form of listening, writing, reading, and discussions (Celce-Murcia, 2001).

The advantage of this design is its ability to reduce boredom by incorporating various activities within a single lesson. According to Brown, (2007), effective TESOL teachers mainly involve students in activities that force students to think especially about concepts and to extend the thinking to situations new to them, by practicing their thought and cognitive processes which help them to interact continually with the new environment.

Therefore, according to Celce-Murcia, (2001), the main goal of teaching is to enable students to think, analyze and to relate this to their socio- cultural environment. The ability to think is an important skill that should be developed in school for efficient and effective learning (Cameron, 2001). Therefore, in teaching English as a second official language, should focus on the development of this ability together with the ability to analyze information.

An effective lesson plan should also help students to develop skills to a level of automatism (Hedge, 2000). This helps students to be efficient in learning and when using English language. This lesson plan should have three main parts. The first part involves the launch of the lesson by the teacher followed by the interaction of students as the lesson progresses and finally a review of what has been learnt is done at the end of the lesson (Brown, 2007). The teaching of important vocabularies and any other supporting information should be done within the lesson using the same design. The lesson design should not be linear and instead should provide multiple avenues for students to interact and to reflect on what had previously been learnt.

According to Celce-Murcia, (2001), in developing a lesson plan for English for speakers of other language, a teacher should seek to include student activities in every part of the lesson. These activities may include discussions, writing, conduct experiments or even research. All the activities stated are quite effective if they are not used excessively. To develop automatism, students should engage in seat-work (Cameron, 2001).

However, to enable them develop important cognitive skills, many activities should be involved in the lesson. These activities help students to think and to reflect on what they have learned. The teacher should design a lesson that contents support acquisition of high cognitive skills. The lesson plan should be in a position to allow students in the creation of particular thoughts or ideas during the process of teaching (Cummins & Davison, 2007). The students should know their roles in the development of this important skill.

According to Hedge, (2000), the cognitive purposes that can be used in the lesson design includes exploration of ideas or important questions, testing the understanding of students, construction of the understanding, evaluation of work against the set criteria, revision of work, creation of work based on a set criteria or rehearsing on something. According to Cummins and Davison, (2007), to be effective as an English teacher for speakers of other languages, the teacher should ensure that the students remain focused on a number of these cognitive purposes most of the time during the lesson.

Though some of these activities do not require thinking, it is important to emphasize the importance of thinking. The design should also take into consideration the way students will be grouped during the lesson for various activities. Students may be grouped as a whole class, as small groups or each student should be given an opportunity to undertake activities as an individual (Horwitz, 2008). The teacher should have a belief that the class as a whole has the ability to learn ideas taught in the class. This optimism has the ability to create a positive atmosphere in class which can be translated to success.

During the launch of the lesson, students should be made aware of the big idea. This, according to Horwitz, (2008), should take at most 30% of the lesson time. In this part the teacher should introduce relevant vocabularies that he intends to cover. The student should participate in a manner that leads to the goals of the lesson especially in relation to the ideas to be explored. In this part, the teacher is expected to lead the students (Larsen-Freeman, 2011).

However, he should let the students articulate the ideas to be learnt and the importance of those ideas. Every instruction in this part should have a cognitive purpose which students should be aware of. Models and demonstrations can be used in this part to enable learners to understand what the teacher is trying to pass across (Dang & Ruiter, 2005). The teacher should also develop specific activities which he should use to make the students understand the lesson effectively (Nunan, 2004).

Already the teacher should be aware that the student body may consist of students from diverse backgrounds. Some of them may already have knowledge of the topic under discussion. Therefore, the teacher should gauge the level of their familiarity by asking questions before the lesson takes full cause. The introduction should be as creative as possible. This will help the teacher to win over the students and to get them interested in the subject under discussion. Therefore, when preparing an introduction, the teacher should think of the most appropriate way to know the level of understanding of the topic under discussion (Larsen-Freeman, 2011).

He should also seek to understand the common beliefs or misconception of the students about the topic to be discussed. For example, in the lesson plan about the role of the woman, he should be interested to know how the socio-cultural environment of the students has influenced their knowledge and belief about the roles of a woman in the society.

After the introduction part, the teacher plays the leading role; the next part should involve designing activities that will require students participation (Horwitz, 2008). These activities should be designed in a way that will help a student to develop cognitive skills in the subject. Also, the type of activities designed should be easily related to the socio-cultural environment of the student. According to Wajnryb, (1992), the teacher should engage students in as many activities as possible, but he should be aware of the time limitation and the relevance of the activities towards the realization of objectives set for the lesson.

According to Larsen-Freeman, (2011), this approach will enable participation of all students unlike the teacher centered approach which gets participation mainly from bright students. In this part the teacher should understand his role in the introduction of the topic. He should also know the best way to illustrate the topic to the students to help them relate the topic to their socio-cultural environment. (Nunan, 2004). The teacher again needs to know the needs of the students and their characteristics.

Therefore, the kind of activities chosen should help to make sure students acquire the necessary skills by overcoming any barriers erected by the socio-culture environment in which the students come from (Richards & Lockhart, 1994). The use of real life examples relevant to the topic should be encouraged. For example, in the lesson plan on the roles of a woman in the society, the teacher should first use examples of the roles the woman play at home and in her professional life. In this way, the students can easily relate the topic under discussion with their experiences at home, in school and in other social activities. In this way the students can quickly grasp the topic under discussion (Ur, 1996).

Once the main part of the lesson has been presented, the teacher should seek to know the level of understanding of the topic by the students (ONeill & Gish, 2008). The lesson plan should help the teacher to come up with specific questions that will help him know whether the main objectives of the lesson have been achieved. The teacher should always remember that the main objective is to develop important cognitive skills and automatism.

According to Horwitz, (2008), he should also gauge their ability to relate the skills learnt with the social and cultural environment in which the students operate. Given that the lesson should more student centered than teacher centered, the design of the plan should allow students to engage the teacher with questions on the topic and its application in real life. Therefore, the teacher should anticipate possible questions that students may come up with.

It is important for the teacher to go through main points of the lesson towards the end of the lesson. This is aimed at helping the students to recap with what had been taught in a summary form (Richards & Lockhart, 1994). The design of the lesson plan should allow the teacher to know the most important points to summarize. These points should be based on the preset objectives at the beginning of the lesson.

Conclusion

The lesson plan should also prepare students for the next lesson by previewing the topic the teacher intends to cover (Broughton et al, 2002). This preview is intended to keep students interested and to give them time to get acquitted with the socio-cultural activities surrounding the topic, before its discussion. According to Watkins, (2005), important to note is that, the lesson plan should not be exhaustive by way of describing activities to be undertaken in the class. Room should be allowed for students to maneuver around the topic. It should not also expect all students to participate; rather, it should aim at realizing the main goals of the lesson.

References

Broughton, G., Brumfit, C., Pincas, A, and Roger, D. (2002). Teaching English as a Foreign Language Routledge education books.

Brown, H., D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. White Plains, New York: Longman.

Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners, Cambridge: CUP.

Celce-Murcia, M. (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Cummins, J. & Davison, C. (2007), International handbook of English language teaching. New York: Springer.

Dang, T. & Ruiter, D., R. (2005). Highway to E.s.l.: A User-friendly Guide to Teaching English As a Second Language. New York: iUniverse Publishers.

Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford: OUP.

Horwitz, E. (2008). Becoming a language teacher. A practical guide to second language learning and teaching, Boston: Pearson.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2011). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: OUP.

Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

ONeill, S. & Gish, A. (2008). Teaching English as a second language. New York: Oxford University Press.

Richards, J. & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wajnryb, R. (1992). Classroom observation tasks, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Watkins, P. (2005). Learning to teach English Addlestone, London: DELTA.

Topic: Community needs and wants.

Content: This topic deals with the various jobs done by different people in the community at various levels to earn a living. People have unlimited wants and needs that can only be satisfied by obtaining the necessary resources, income being the most important resource. Many jobs are done by people, however, the guiding intentions or their objectives all-narrow down to one i.e. satisfaction or provision for the basic human needs and wants.

Learning outcomes

First, the students should be able to identify the various means used by the community around them to meet their daily wants and needs. Second, they should be in a position to explain what human rights are to the basic needs and wants and what the violation of these rights entails. Third, they should be able to realize their role in the communities they belong to. They should also establish the basis for responsible behavior in the community and the consequences that come with irresponsible behavior. Finally, they should be in a position to list the various methods that are used in saving energy, especially the non-renewable and ways of tapping renewable energy (Teacher created resources Inc., 2010).

Objectives

The students are expected to gain knowledge of the services provided by the community and the jobs done by different people to enable them to meet their daily wants and needs. They should also learn how to obtain information by carrying out interviews and doing research. The other objective of this lesson is to enable the students to develop an awareness of the human rights and values concerning their wants and needs as well as appreciate their contribution to society in general. Finally, they should be in a position to present their research findings through the use of charts, simple graphs, and profiles.

Materials needed

The materials that will be used in this lesson include teachers notes, social study textbooks, charts, and wall hangings with pictures of people in their various occupations, writing materials for the students, and crayons for drawing the illustrations.

Procedure or method of instruction

First, the instructor will explain the concepts of the topic using his class notes. After that, interactive learning should take place, which involves allowing the students to take part in the learning process by answering oral questions, discussing the topic in groups, and brainstorming, where they will be expected, to ask a random question and come up with the answers (Koopman, 1996). Here, the teachers role is to maintain order and ensure that they come up with correct answers and explanations.

They should come up with a list of ways that can be used to obtain work information from the community. It is in preparation for the practical part of the lesson, which will require them to go out to the community, obtain any relevant information, and draw conclusions from it.

Various illustrations will also be used to ensure that the students can relate the topic to their daily lives. The best example to be used in this case is that of Denise the carpenter woman and who runs her carpentry business. It earns her very good income despite the criticism she faces from the community that believes carpentry is a job reserved for men. It is, however, what pays her bills and educates her children (Teacher created resources Inc., 2010). From such an illustration, the students are expected to learn the importance of being true to oneself when looking for a job as well as gender issues that need to be eliminated to ensure that everyone is at liberty to do whatever work pleases them as long as it is decent.

The teacher should divide the students into various groups, each representing different occupations. They should then discuss their occupations listing the gender challenges experienced in the field, the advantages of the people in that occupation together with their disadvantages. They should go as far as interviewing a person working in that field, though these people should be availed to the students by the teacher. The questions and the answers should be recorded in charts, which will enable the students to develop the profiles of these people.

Evaluation or assessment

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to present the ideas they have developed in the course of the lesson that is relevant to the topic. They should share the experiences they come across in their communities of different people in different occupations. They should then relate these to the evidence that they have obtained from the fieldwork and come up with conclusions on issues such as the most common jobs, gender balance in different occupations, and the different experiences in these occupations. This report should include the challenges, benefits, and future occupational developments.

The teacher should leave behind written assignments to be assessed before the next class. It should be an individual assignment whose aim will be to assess individual students in the subject area. To prevent dubbing cases, the assignment should mainly be on the application of the subject, where each student will be expected to come up with their unique ideas. From this, the teacher will be able to determine the capacity of each student and come up with ways of assisting the slow learners to catch up with the rest of the class, which could be offering them, extra tuition classes.

The teacher should also encourage the students to keep journals, which should be updated daily or at the beginning of every lesson (Mowrer & Klein, 2000). It should contain information on the knowledge acquired during the lesson and its practicability to real life situations. It should enable the teacher to know the part of the lesson that troubles most of the students and hence arrange to repeat it. It will also ensure that all the students get the opportunity to explain their problems since some students are usually too shy to express themselves verbally.

The program is used in lesson development

The program that will be used in this lesson is the sheltered instruction method. In this, English is used as the main language of communication though native language can be used occasionally to make clarifications. Different strategies and techniques are used to ensure that the content of the lesson is comprehensible to second-grade students who are English language learners, hence promoting the development of English as the learning language in class (Koopman, 1996). It is the best program for this level of education since the children are learning many basic ideas that will be useful to them throughout their school life.

At that point, it is much easier for them to adopt English as not only a language for learning but also for communication both in school and at home. As a result, the students develop fluency in English at an early age, and they do away with their native languages along the way. It is important because it promotes effective communication in the school and ensures that all the students are at the same level of language development.

Grade two students are in the intermediate level of language development since they have already developed their speech. They are at the stage that determines the language that they will adopt and use in the course of their lives, and this explains why sheltered instruction is the best program. They belong to the category of SOLOM 17  20, which is a classification of the language development stages in children. The first category is SODOM 5, and at this stage, language is not given much consideration (Mowrer & Klein, 2000). At the intermediate stage, however, English is introduced as the only language for learning, though native language is also used sparingly to explain a few concepts and to enhance understanding, even though this is not encouraged.

Learning theories

This lesson plan has been developed based on several theories. The first one is discovery learning theory. This theory states that learners should be given the room to discover ideas and facts by themselves (Koopman, 1996). It is also referred to as constructivism. This learning theory envisages a scenario where students are allowed to interact with their environments and learn new concepts and ideas from this interaction. This interaction enhances their understanding more when compared to the instructional method, where the students are expected to remember the teachers instructions. The reason why this theory is relevant to the studying of the communitys needs and wants is that a proper understanding of this topic requires an interaction with the community and not just the normal textbook information.

The main advantages of this theory in learning social studies are that first, it encourages the students to participate actively in the learning process. It makes the teachers work much simpler since he is only required to provide the necessary instructions and ensure that they are adhered to (Mowrer & Klein, 2000). The second advantage is that it motivates the students to develop research skills at an early age.

Next, it promotes independence and responsibility in the learning process. Besides that, it promotes the development of their creativity and problem-solving capacity. Finally, it gives them a learning experience that will last for ages since they will always remember the interactive part of the lesson.

The second theory is the Multiple intelligence theory which provides seven different approaches to the learning process. The first one is the linguistic approach, which refers to the use of language in either written or spoken form. The second one is the logical approach, which triggers the reasoning capacity by providing the students with complex problems, which they are supposed to come up with solutions.

The third approach is visual, which provides the students with scenarios that need to be visualized mentally for appropriate conclusions to be drawn. Forth is the body  kinesthetic approach, which involves mental control about physical movements (Mowrer & Klein, 2000).

The fifth approach deals with the ability to understand music, rhythms, and tones, while, the sixth one focuses on the ability to build up relationships with the people around, referred to as interpersonal. The seventh and final approach is referred to as intrapersonal, and this deals with the ability to develop knowledge of ones inner self in terms of emotions, abilities, and personal reflection. The approaches, however, that are most applicable in the learning of social studies are the linguistic, logical, visual, and interpersonal approaches. These enable the students interaction with the community when they are collecting the information that they need to develop their reports.

Factors affecting Second Language Acquisition

The process of acquiring a second language is usually a little bit complicated and its failure or success depends on different factors which include motivation, age, language access, personality, development of the first language, the quality of the instructions and the cognitive ability (Teacher created resources inc., 2010). Motivation is the self-drive in the students to develop a new language. From the lesson plan, interactive learning motivates the students to develop the urge of taking part in the activities, and the only way this can be possible is by learning the language that is being used. The students, in this case, are still young enough to adapt to a new language and develop it in terms of vocabulary and language structure.

Access to the language is another factor that affects the acquisition of a second language. In this lesson, the teacher gives instructions using the English language, and this ensures that the students have an access to the language hence increasing their English learning ability.

The other factor, which is personality, is more inclined to the persons character than in their experience. Some people have a higher ability to adopt new languages than others do and so this one cannot be influenced by any of the activities in the classroom. Next is the level of development of the first language. In this lesson, the second-grade students are aged between six and seven years old, and so, they have not yet developed their first language completely. It is, therefore, easier for them to adapt to the second language compared to the older students who have developed fluency in their first languages (Koopman, 1996).

The quality of the instructions is also considered an important factor in language development since the students, especially at an early age mostly depend on instructions to earn new concepts. The final factor is cognitive ability, which is the ability to recognize ideas. The cognitive ability as well varies from one person to another and cannot be obtained through learning or education. The lesson plan, however, has a provision for extra classes to assist the slow students to catch up with the others.

English is a common language used in schools to provide instructions, and so it is important to ensure that the students master it further as they progress with their education. It reaches a point where the native language is no longer used and that is why the teachers in the lower grades should ensure that the students develop a fluent language (Teacher created resources Inc., 2010). Illustration, experiments, and practical are an important part of the learning process since this is what most students use to remember the concepts that were taught in class.

Research shows that the students who have a problem with language development obtain low grades in all the other subjects since they are never able to explain their ideas in the examination. It leads to the development of a poor attitude towards school. It is, therefore, necessary for the teachers at the lower levels of education to concentrate more on language development even as they teach different subjects since that is the basis of the childs future education prospects.

Reference List

Koopman, G. R. (1996). Curriculum Development. New York: Center for Applied Research in Education.

Mowrer, R. R., & Klein, S. B. (2000). Handbook of Contemporary Learning Theories. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Teacher Created Resources, Inc. (2006). Lesson Plan Book. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Resources.