Category: Lesson Plan

Grade Level

Kindergarten (Age: 5–6)

Basic Class Demographics

The class consists of 17 students, including nine boys and eight girls. Among these, there are 10 ESL students. Since the latter include primarily Asian and Hispanic students, the instructor will have to consider the specifics of Asian and Hispanic cultures into account when defining the teaching strategy. Additionally, the specific needs of an ADHD student (boy) will have to be considered when defining the teaching strategy.

Anticipated Outcome (Lesson Objective)

It is expected that by the end of the lesson, the following goals will be accomplished:

1. The students will be able to pronounce the diphthongs such as “-aw-” and “-ow-” correctly.
2. The students will be able to identify the diphthongs such as “-aw-” and “-ow-.”
3. The students will be able to read short words that contain the diphthongs “-aw-” and “-ow-” (e.g., “now,” “cow,” “law,” “saw,” etc.) correctly.

Common Core State Standard

According to the U.S. Common Core Standards for the kindergarten students, children at the age of 5–6 (Kindergarten) are supposed to

NETS-T Standard

The lesson in question aligns with the essential NETS-T standards for Kindergarten students aged 5-6 in terms of their phonemic awareness. Particularly, the lesson strategy helps “develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress” (ISTE Standards Teachers, 2008, p. 1), as required by the current NET-T standards.

Content Summary

Enhancing phonemic awareness among students is one of the crucial tasks of an instructor teaching Kindergarten students (Goldsworthy & Pieretti, 2014). Traditionally defined as a “conceptual understanding of language that also behaves like a skill” (Mayer & Trezek, 2015, p. 56), phonemic awareness provides the foundation for the further acquisition of reading and writing skills.

Therefore, the development of phonemic awareness in young students is essential to both their current progress and the further development of the related skills. Particularly, the significance of the acquisition of reading skills as the tool for developing abilities for a fast and efficient data processing deserves to be mentioned (Pressley & Allington, 2014). Indeed, according to a recent study, the early development of phonemic awareness in students enhances the process of further information acquisition and the ability to process data successfully (Resnik & Weaver, 2013).

Therefore, the lesson will be arranged in the manner that will allow for the most efficient acquisition of the required skills. In other words, the teacher will assume the role of an instructor by creating a pattern of student– teacher interactions., Thus, the correct pronunciation will be acquired by the students efficiently, and the teacher will be able to identify the possible issues that learners may have in the process and address these problems accordingly by correcting the pronunciation mistakes made by the learners.

Materials

A4-size sheets with diphthongs and transcriptions on them; A4-size sheets with pictures of objects, whose names contain the required phonemes, and the captions underneath (e.g., a picture of a bow with the word “BOW” and its transcription written below); A4-size pictures of the objects, the names of which contain the required phonemes, with captions provided yet with no transcription offered; sheets with words containing the diphthongs “-aw-” and “-ow-” written in rows, with no images attached (for class reading).

Ludwig, S. (2009). Jump into phonics, Grade 2: Strategies to help students succeed with phonic. Greensboro, North Carolina: Carson-Dellosa Publishing.

Summative Assessment

Pedagogical Content Knowledge

As far as the essential teaching strategies that must be used during the lesson are concerned, the incorporation of rhyming exercises should be viewed as an option. Seeing that the students will have to learn specific diphthongs by considering specific examples repeatedly, it will be reasonable to use rhymes to help the learners memorize the specified combination of letters and the way that they sound fast and efficiently.

Technological Content Knowledge

To convey the material to the students in a more expeditious manner, the teacher may consider the idea of using the elements of information technology. Particularly, the application such as ABC PocketPhonics can be viewed as an important resource for teaching the students read the specified diphthongs correctly. The application in question can be incorporated into the lesson plan as a tool for doing an exercise to train reading the sounds “-aw-” and “-ow-.“ Additionally, the use of traditional technology, such as the recordings of songs and poems that contain the words with the specified diphthongs, should be viewed as an option.

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge

The application of the above-mentioned tools will help engage students in the process of learning to read. Particularly, the incorporation of the specified tools in the learning process will show students that reading is an integral part of using modern technology. The learners are excited about innovation technologies when it comes to communication and entertainment (e.g., using online applications for playing games, conversing with each other, watching feature films and animated movies, etc.). Therefore, discovering that the process of learning to read can be just as fun as their favorite activities will clearly lead to the increase in the students’ motivation.

Additionally, the tools suggested for using in the specified setting will help clarify some of the issues that students may fail to understand at first. Particularly, the ESL learners may fail to catch the differences in the pronunciation of the target sounds. Therefore, the use of technology will help them understand these differences by pronouncing the specified sounds in different voices, at different volume rates, with different speed, etc. As Puckett (2006) marked, a teacher must:

Determine if the vocabulary and symbols are clear to all learners. Activate students’ prior knowledge by preteaching vocabulary, providing alternate text descriptions for graphic symbols, and translating or explaining idioms, cultural expressions, and slang. For instance, knowing the definitions of rain, cat, and dog, does not necessarily extend to understanding the expression, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” (Puckett, 2006, par. 3.1)

The technological tools that will be used in the course of the lesson, in their turn, will create premises for the promotion of the specified knowledge. Additionally, the technological tools mentioned above will help students with special needs understand the subject matter.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

A closer look at the design of the lesson in question will reveal that it creates premises for incorporating the pedagogical content knowledge, the technological content knowledge, and the technological pedagogical knowledge successfully. Indeed, the tools used in the course of the lesson serve as the foundation for raising the students’ phonemic awareness.

Not only does the lesson provide premises for enhancing the learners’ phonemic awareness successfully, but also provides the learners with special needs with an opportunity to participate and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills successfully.

Reference List

Goldsworthy, C., & Pieretti, R. (2014). Sourcebook of phonological awareness activities. Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.

ISTE Standards Teachers. (2008). Web.

Mayer, C. C., & Trezek, B. J. (2015). Early literacy development in deaf children. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press.

Pressley, M., & Allington, R. L. (2014). Reading instruction that works, fourth edition: The case for balanced teaching. New York City, New York: Guilford Publications.

Puckett, K. S. (2006). Differentiating instruction: A practical guide. Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press. Web.

Resnik, L. B., & Weaver, P. A. (2013). Theory and practice of early reading. Vol. 1. New York City, New York: Routledge.

Integrated Lesson Plan: Science, Social Studies, Arts, and Health Education

Works Cited

National Governors Association. “Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.”CCSSI ELA. 2010, Web.

Pre-Assessment

1. To record the sounds of various weather types beforehand (wind, thunderstorm, rain, puddle splashing, birds’ songs, snow crackling, etc.) and make a list of the sounds chosen;
2. To make pictures of the weather conditions chosen for recording;
3. To ask students to choose the pictures of the weather as soon as they hear the sound of the weather and understand what it is;
4. To compare students’ results and define which students have a more advanced level of knowledge and who need more attention;
5. To talk about the weather conditions and check out the level of children’s receptive language skills and background knowledge about weather.

Formative Assessment

1. To observe the weather on a daily basis;
2. To draw the pictures of the current weather on their notebooks;
3. To say a few words about the past, current, and possible weather conditions and develop language skills;
4. To develop discussions about the most favorable weather and follow some new words that may appear in child’s language;
5. To check out the temperature and help students learn the numbers.

Summative Assessment

1. To discuss what children like the most in the lesson;
2. To make some predictions about tomorrow weather;
3. To ask children to share their predictions in a form of drawings to compare the results the next time.

Summary

Science education for preschool grade students aims at providing children with information about the natural environment, improving their abilities to conduct simple investigations, and developing children’s communicative skills about different weather conditions, observations, and general knowledge about numerous scientific and environmental events (Ohio Department of Education 15). According to the ODE content standards, preschool children (3-5 years) should know that weather changes take place outside; temperature may be below or above a given point (warm or cold); the wind is one of the main weather components that may influence the quality of air; sun, rain, or snow are the events that influence the environment, etc.

Of course, science education is not only about the weather conditions. The standards under consideration prove that preschool children are also able to develop their cognitive skills and enlarge their scientific knowledge about the animal world, flowers, earth, material qualities, experiments’ varieties, etc. Students between 3 and 5 years should be able to combine their communicative, language, drawing, and cognitive skills to demonstrate their readiness to learn new material and use the already gained knowledge about science, and the weather conditions in particular.

Rubric for the Summative Assessment

Work Cited

Ohio Department of Education 2011, Ohio’s New Learning Standards: Science Standards. Web.

Introduction

Subject

English Language Arts

Lesson Title

Valentine’s Day

Grade Level

4th grade

Central Focus

The focus of this lesson will be the identification of similarities as well as differences in the way people of different cultures see love.

Content Standard(s)

CC.4.R.L.9 The standard covers similarities and differences in the way similar topics and themes are viewed in different cultures.

Learning Objectives

The students are able:

• to identify similarities in people’s views.
• to detect differences in people’s views concerning love.
• to support their viewpoints with evidence.

Materials

The teacher will use:

• Handouts containing short texts concerning the way love is perceived in different cultures. These texts will be the basic resources, as the students will gain most data from them.
• Worksheets with a table that includes the following columns (culture, similarities, differences/peculiarities, commentaries). These handouts will help students to organize their ideas.
• A video concerning different concepts associated with the theme of love. The video will facilitate the discussion of similarities and differences between different cultures.
• Laptop to play the video.

Classroom Arrangement/Grouping

Whole class

The whole class will read the texts and watch the video.

There will also be a discussion held in the class.

They will play the snowball game and generate ideas they will use to do their assignment.

Groups of students with similar needs

Students will have group discussions that will be held before the class discussion.

Individual students

Will ponder the information after reading the texts and watching the video (before the discussions).

Students with IEPs or 504 Plans

These students will be able to use the corresponding assistive technology. They will receive the corresponding services.

Instruction

1. The teacher starts a discussion concerning Valentine’s Day and directs students’ attention to the concept of love. Students are encouraged to share peculiarities of the concept of love that exist in their cultures, or any cultures they know.
2. Independent practice: Students receive texts concerning the concept of love as viewed in different cultures. The teacher notes that after reading the texts, students should spend some time thinking about the concept and trying to identify similarities and differences between the cultures. The students are encouraged to highlight keywords for similarities and differences in different colors.
3. Students watch the video.
4. Guided practice: Students are divided into groups of four. They discuss similarities and differences in groups and complete the tables provided. The teacher circulates the class and joins (guides) the discussions.
5. A representative from each group goes to the whiteboard and writes down one similarity or difference until there are no new ideas to add.
6. The class discusses the concept of love as seen in their cultures and the cultures studied in class. The students are encouraged to use examples from their lives, the lives of people they know (including celebrities and historical figures), tales, films, and so on.
7. Closure: The teacher asks students to play the snowball game, saying words they associate with the concepts of love discussed. This can be just naming new words (without repeating all of the words mentioned).

Assessment

Formative assessment

The teacher asks students to think of songs, tales, or stories that are concerned with the concepts of love discussed in class.

Summative assessment

Students write a reflection paper on one of the concepts and the way it is revealed in a song, tale, or story (students will be encouraged to use ideas they discussed in class). This assessment aligns with the standards and focus of the lesson, as students will use acquired knowledge concerning different cultures.

Introduction

To attain the necessary degree of academic success, as well as the required level of personal growth, a student needs professional guidance and assistance. The challenges that learners may face in the contemporary educational environment may need the pieces of advice provided by a counseling expert (Mitchell, 2013). The significance of the services in question is especially high nowadays, with modern social networks and everyone participating in them actively. Therefore, the social/emotional domain of the school environment will be addressed first in the course of the counseling session.

1^st Lesson

The students aged 8-10 (2^nd and 3^rd grade) will be the target audience for the counseling session. The social and emotional issues that the learners may face when dealing with the school-related communication processes will be considered in the course of the session. It is expected that the lesson will take approximately an hour. The counseling standards suggested by ASCA will be used as the primary principles by which the communication process will be guided.

Particularly, the standards designed by ASCA will be used to provide the learners with the necessary information about the possible emotional issues that they may have, as well as the methods of addressing them (American School Counselor Association, 2016). The students will be told about the significance of self-confidence and the means of boosting it. Specifically, the learners will be offered a simple test that will require answering ten basic questions. The answers that will describe the learners’ responses to stressful situations will be analyzed to develop the strategies that will help the students manage the challenges that they will face at school (Peterson, 2015).

2nd Lesson

The second lesson will also be aimed at meeting the needs of the target audience (2^nd– and 3^rd–graders). The session will address the issue of social pressure, in general, and bullying, in particular. The learners will be provided with extensive information on the subject of bullying so that they could detect the problem (Bentley, 2014). Furthermore, the students will be invited to tell about their experience, if they had any so far. Thus, the current status of relationships in the identified group of learners will be evaluated for the further design of an appropriate strategy.

The lesson will be aligned with the principles of counseling described by ASCA, especially the instructions regarding managing the bullying issue at school (Blake, Banks, & Lung, 2014). The use of role-playing as the means of getting the essential ideas across and promote the expected behavioral patterns to the target audience should acquire to become more confident. As a result, the participants will learn to be resistant to negative outside influences (Arcuri, 2015). The victimization issue will also be explored so that the learners could realize how dire the effects of prejudice can be (Fareo, 2015).

3^rd Lesson

Finally, the issue of enhancing the significance of academic achievements for the target audience needs to be brought up (Palmer, 2013). The third session will concern the complexity and importance of studying. Particularly, the counseling process will imply that the counselor and the learners should engage in active communication by addressing the students’ learning experiences and the difficulties that the students face in the process (Conroy, 2015).

The session will occur in the format of the discussion. Thus, every participant will have an opportunity to share their concerns. The identified framework aligns with the standards set by ASCA and, therefore, should be viewed as the foundation for building trustful relationships between the counselor and the learners (Carey, Martin, & Stevenson, 2012).

Conclusion

Focusing on the emotional and academic concerns of students is crucial to help them gain confidence and engage in the process of lifelong learning. Thus, they will be able to develop the necessary skills on their own and manage emotional issues independently. The role of a school counselor is to enable the students to use the appropriate tools and strategies to acquire the corresponding skills. By considering the emotional and academic concerns that students have, one is likely to build the platform for their further success.

References

American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA mindsets & behaviors for student success: K-12 college- and career-readiness standards for every student.

Arcuri, N. M. (2015). K-12 educators in the role of school counselor anti-bullying specialist counseling relationship experiences: A qualitative study. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Bentley, T. S. (2014). An examination of the relationship between RAMP (Recognized ASCA Model Program) and job satisfaction among school counselors. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Blake, J. J., Banks, C. S., & Lung, E. M. (2014). School-based mental health professionals’ bullying assessment practices: A call for evidence-based bullying assessment guidelines. Professional School Counseling, 18(1), 136-147.

Carey, J., Martin, I., & Stevenson, S. (2012). A statewide evaluation of the outcomes of the implementation of ASCA national model school counseling programs in utah high schools. Professional School Counseling, 16(2), 89-99.

Conroy, J. H. (2015). School counselors’ perceived multicultural competence, adherence to the ASCA National Model, and students’ performance. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Fareo, D. O. (2015). Bullying in Nigerian secondary schools: Strategies for counseling intervention. Educational Research and Reviews, 10(4), 435-443.

Mitchell, D. N. C. (2013). School and school counselor attributes and the ASCA National Model. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Palmer, L. E. (2013). Predicting student outcome measures using the ASCA National Model Program Audit. The Professional Counselor, 2(2), 152-159.

Peterson, C. M. (2015). School counselors-in-training perceptions of their academic preparation and training using the ASCA National Model during internship. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Teaching Resources

Resources Used in the Lesson Plan

The lesson plan incorporates a variety of resources aimed at enhancing children’s understanding of the topic “Numbers.” The materials used include inside and outside play options, as well as additional audio and visual options. Such resources as play-dough, YouTube songs, number puzzles, cardboard, toy cars, and outside playground, are suggested.

The Rationale for Selecting Resources

The reason for choosing the resources is related to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). The EYLF is a project focused on the early childhood pedagogy and learning of Australian children (“Belonging, being & becoming,” n.d.). We included three EYLF outcomes in the lesson plan:

• Outcome 3: young learners have a strong well-being sense;
• Outcome 4: children’s learning process incorporates involvement and confidence;
• Outcome 5: early learners’ interaction is highly effective (“Belonging, being & becoming,” n.d.).

Such resources as play-dough, number puzzles, dot-to-dot worksheets, and the hide-and-seek game help to achieve Outcome 3, which is associated with children’s well-being. Particularly, these activities increase pupils’ abilities to work in collaboration and allow training both gross and fine motor movements (“Belonging, being & becoming,” n.d.). One of the greatest benefits of these resources is the prevention of serious health problems, including obesity (Altunsöz, 2015). Apart from physical well-being, the selected materials promote emotional and social ties of the children (Gehris, Gooze, & Whitaker, 2014). As a result, young learners will understand the importance of interaction by engaging in the suggested activities. What is more, students will realise the role of physical exercises in gaining positive health outcomes due to performing the tasks set by the teacher.

Since children are involved learners, we have included activities developing curiosity and creativity, and imagination. Making numbers and birthday cakes of play-dough and solving number puzzles are activities promoting reflexivity and training cooperation. By encouraging pupils to build their own city, complete the dot-to-dot worksheet, and play the parking and fishing games, teachers promote pupils’ hypothesising and problem-solving skills (“Belonging, being & becoming,” n.d.). The development of Outcome 4 also presupposes teaching music, which is a highly successful way of training interaction with peers (Kenney, 2009). Thus, our lesson plan incorporates YouTube songs and hide-and-seek games that are also helpful in reaching the goal of positive collaboration. Finally, the EYLF makes a focus on transferring the knowledge children have gained from one context to another (“Belonging, being & becoming,” n.d.). The lesson plan contains some stages that are supposed to enhance this skill. For instance, the hide-and-seek game and the birthday cake activity allow learners to adapt to new environments with pre-existing knowledge.

Finally, the resources we have chosen for the lesson plan are also concentrated on promoting children’s communication skills. In this respect, YouTube songs are rather useful to enhance both music and physical development (Freshwater, Sherwood, & Mbugua, 2008). With the help of media, it is easier for young learners to express their ideas and represent their skills (“Belonging, being & becoming,” n.d.). To reach Outcome 5, we have employed such resources as number songs, number puzzles, play-dough birthday cakes, and dot-to-dot worksheets.

The Inclusive Learning Environment (ILE) in the Lesson Plan

The significance of the ILE in early childhood education cannot be overestimated. It is crucial for the teacher to make sure that every student’s needs, experiences, and abilities are taken into consideration when planning activities and selecting materials for them. Arranging an ILE promotes the construction of positive interrelations between learners (Davenport & Johnston, 2015). Hence, our lesson plan involves the use of various resources supporting children’s learning. Specifically, we plan to use two different types of boards to make the task of drawing numbers interesting both for students with the beginning level and for those who know numbers already.

A Teaching Approach: Imaginary Play (IP)

The Essence of IP

IP is one of the core approaches to teaching young children since it allows educators to promote their students’ development in numerous ways. Apart from involving fun activities, IP also presents emotional and intellectual advantages to young learners engaged in it (Soundy, 2012). IP may be initiated by a teacher or by students, and it includes a variety of imaginary activities and types of games. For instance, children may engage in roleplaying, transform objects by giving them new functions, or imitate some actions pertaining to animals. Sometimes, the scenario prepared by the educator may be altered by children in the process of play (Soundy, 2012). However, such changes are not always a bad idea and should not always be redirected to the initial plan. IP is about giving learners the freedom to create their own world and represent their understanding of that world through play and by interacting with their peers.

The Role of IP in Helping Children to Learn

IP has a high potential to promote children’s learning due to the possibility of incorporating its elements in the learning environment. Sometimes, it is much easier for a student to understand a difficult subject not by means of listening to theory but by receiving an opportunity to realise processes through play (Dudek, 2012). Pupils may study mathematics, history, languages, science, and many other subjects with the use of IP. As Dudek (2012) points out, many primary school teachers prefer to employ the same methods from year to year, presenting material with the help of PowerPoint presentations or other approaches that are not clear to children. Thus, it is crucial to understand the benefits of IP in the classroom and apply them to the full extent.

The primary value of IP is that it enables pupils to perceive new concepts not from the outsider’s position but from the insider’s one. By being a part of the process, children learn in an easier and more engaging way, which helps them to understand new material faster and remember it better. Furthermore, IP may be combined with art, which leads to improving learning experience through social interaction and experimentation (Dudek, 2012). Hence, rather than presenting new concepts at low levels of critical thinking, teachers can employ IP to make their classes engaging and thought-provoking. Direct interaction with peers and supervision of the teacher, which are involved in the process of IP, offer more benefits to young learners than the presentation of new concepts through lecturing does.

The Use of IP in the Lesson Plan

Since IP is a highly productive method of learning, we used it in the lesson plan to promote students’ ability to study numbers. Children are given play-dough and requested to make birthday cakes. After that, they are suggested to choose whom the cakes belong to and think about how old this person is. Thus, learners have to put a certain number of birthday candles on the cake. This is the demonstration of how IP enables students to apply skills in authentic situations (Dudek, 2012). After completing the task, each student can explain their choice of a numeral to the teacher.

References

Altunsöz, I H. (2015). Early childhood education majors’ self-efficacy for teaching fundamental motor skills. Perceptual & Motor Skills: Motor Skills & Ergonomics, 121(2), 482-489.

Belonging, being & becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. (n.d.). Web.

Davenport, L. A., & Johnston, S. S. (2015). Using most-to-least prompting and contingent consequences to teach numeracy in inclusive early childhood classrooms. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 34(4), 250-261.

Dudek, A. (2012). Imaginary play in the art room: How does both art making and imaginary play effect a student’s ability to learn and recall content in the classroom? Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Freshwater, A., Sherwood, E., & Mbugua, E. (2008). Music and physical play: What can we learn from early childhood teachers in Kenya? Childhood Education, 85(1), 2-5.

Gehris, J. S., Gooze, R. A., & Whitaker, R. C. (2014). Teachers’ perceptions about children’s movement and learning in early childhood education programmes. Child: Care, Health and Development, 41(1), 122-131.

Kenney, S. (2009). Brain-compatible music teaching. General Music Today, 23(1), 24-26.

Soundy, C. S. (2012). Imaginary play in Montessori classrooms: Considerations for a position statement. Montessori Life: A Publication of the American Montessori Society, 24(4), 28-35.

The objective of this lesson is to make the students understand the Louisiana Purchase. By the end of this lesson, the student should understand why this purchase happened, the importance of this purchase, why the deal happened and how it affected the United States and its rise to become a major world power. The students should also be able to understand how the United States would be if the Louisiana Purchase never happened. The students will be able to understand how this purchase defined the United States history politically, socially, and economically.

Common Core State Standards

Readiness standards

Standard 10: Ability to read and effectively comprehend complex informational texts in an independent and proficient manner.

Overview

To ensure that students have a better understanding of the Louisiana Land Purchase, the lesson will involve the use of visuals. One of the biggest issues that raised a lot of controversies was the fact that this new territory was home to a number of foreigners, most of whom were African American slaves. The opponents of this purchase argued that this purchase would lead to cases where the United States will be home to a higher number of slaves despite the effort by the leaders to fight slavery. To make students understand this concept in an effective manner, the teacher will use images to help enhance student’s ability to understand this topic. There are a number of YouTube movies that also explain the Louisiana Purchase. These movies explain both the benefits and challenges associated with this purchase. Using these movies will enhance students’ knowledge about the pros and cons of this purchase. The short films will be particularly important to slow learners who may find it complex to understand this important historical fact. Using of maps will also enable the students to understand the significance of this purchase (Haynes 28). The map will enable the students to understand the shape of the United States before the purchase. The following is the map that will be used in this lesson.

Preparation

• This lesson requires students to understand the significance of Louisiana Purchase. The students should specifically understand the reasons for, benefits, and challenges of the purchase. To facilitate the teaching process, it will be necessary to have relevant books, journal articles, video clips, maps, and relevant website sources.
• The teacher will need to develop a list of words that students should understand before starting the lesson. Understanding these words will help in eliminating any difficulty in comprehending the concepts that will be taught in class.
• The teacher will then develop class notes in form of PowerPoint presentation that will be given to the students during the class lesson. The teacher intends to prepare the notes and send them to the students, hours before the classes begin. This will enable the students to understand the core concepts before the actual onset of the classes. By the time the lessons begin, students will be clear about what they need to ask based on what they understood through the notes.
• A number of questions will be developed by the end of the notes to help test the level of knowledge of the students. The test will involve testing their knowledge about the map of the United States before and after acquisition of Louisiana, significance of this purchase, and the pros and cons associated with the purchase.

Lesson

It is in the interest of both the teacher and the students to make this lesson as interesting as possible (Paradiž 61). The teacher will try and make sure that the students consider the process as an experience of a lifetime, a process that will enable them have a better understanding of their country’s history. The following are some of the steps that will be followed in this lesson. It is important to note that the lesson shall begin after students have received class notes.

1. The lesson will begin by explaining words considered specific and important for the students to understand the topic of Louisiana Purchase. The teacher will use dictionary and personal knowledge to explain these terms, both in their literal context and their meaning based on the topic of the study.
2. The teacher will then allow students to watch a number of films available in the YouTube that talk about Louisiana Purchase. The movies will be carefully selected to ensure that they discuss significance of the purchase, the benefits that the United States got from the purchase, and the shortcomings that made a section of the politicians resist this purchase. It is planned that the session for watching the movies will last for thirty minutes.
3. The students will be instructed to go online, find the Louisiana Purchase map and have a print out of the same. Immediately after watching the film, the students will be instructed to keenly comprehend the map. After that, the teacher will collect all the maps from the students. They shall then be instructed to draw the map based on their memory of what they watched in the film and the map they had printed out.
4. The teacher will then review the maps drawn by the students to determine how well they understand how the map of the United States was redefined by the Louisiana Purchase. This activity is meant to make the students have a more comprehensive knowledge about this purchase and how it shaped the current United States of America.
5. The teacher will then engage the students in class discussion to help address issues that are still not clear to the students. The first session will be group discussion involving students in groups of five. This will then be followed by a discussion of the entire class moderated by the teacher. The students will discuss why and how it happened, its importance, what the deal was, how it affected the United States and its rise to world power, and what would have happened if the deal never went through successfully.
6. The last stage will be a question and answer session that shall be moderated by the teacher. By the end of the lesson, the teacher will ask random questions to the students to determine what they know about this topic. The teacher will then give out a take-away assignment to the students. The assignment will focus on all the core aspects of the lesson. They shall then be reminded learn more about Louisiana Purchase in their preparation for the end-term exams.

Extensions

• During group discussions, students will be encouraged to develop PowerPoint presentations to help them have coordinated discussions. They will be motivated to use visual tools to make their work interesting and more comprehendible when explaining specific concepts to their colleagues. Each student will be requiring making oral presentation about this topic before the entire class. This is a deliberate attempt to ensure that the students make personal effort in doing research and gathering data needed for this topic. It is particularly important because the approach that the teacher is using is student-centered. It is an approach where students are encouraged to play active roles in the learning process.
• After the end of the lesson, the student will be instructed to prepare a written essay about the topic. In the essay, the students will be expected to explain Louisiana Purchase in their own words based on historical records. They will be required to reference their work accordingly. Within the same essay, the last section will require the students to give their own point of view towards this purchase. They will provide a justification of why they support or reject this deal and what the government of the United States would have done differently to get a better deal than what it accepted.

Works Cited

Fradin, Dennis. The Louisiana Purchase. Marshall Cavendish Benchmark Publishers, 2010.

Haynes, Anthony. The Complete Guide to Lesson Planning and Preparation. Continuum, 2010.

Landau, Elaine. The Louisiana Purchase: Would You Close the Deal? Enslow Elementary, 2008.

Lynette, Rachel. The Louisiana Purchase. Power Kids Press, 2014.

Paradiž, Valerie. Lesson Plan a La Carte: Integrated Planning for Students with Special Needs. AAPC Pub, 2012.

Zurn, Jon. The Louisiana Purchase. ABDO Publishers Company, 2008.

Introduction

The necessity to redesign lesson plans is motivated by the constant development of education and introducing various novelties into the process. It means that the 21st century educational system operates under new provisions, which should be taken into consideration when developing teaching instructions meeting them. This paper aims at redesigning a lesson plan paying specific attention to the 21st century student outcomes especially information, media, and technology and incorporating the 21st century support systems such as learning environment.

Modification

The initial lesson plan was based on the ‘understanding by design’ approach and backward design. It implied that educational process should be made up of three stages: determining the desired results, identifying acceptable evidence, and planning learning experiences (Mangelsdorf, 2013). It also pointed to the existence of six facets of understanding: explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge (Wiggins & McTighe, 2012).

The idea for redesigning the plan is to include participatory technologies into the process for enhancing the six facets of understanding. The motivation for this option is that sharing a student’s work with classmates or even the world and receiving their feedback would improve the understanding of the information because the pupil obtains different sources of explanation, not only those of the teacher (Burnaford & Brown, 2014).

Introducing the newest technologies is also a step to redesigning learning environment. The initial plan does not mention the type of the learning environment. I believe it is vital to highlight the effectiveness of technological aspect of the teaching process, i.e. incorporating social media, wireless connectivity, and mobile devices (Burnaford & Brown, 2014). In this case, a teacher obtains an opportunity to reach the pupils. Moreover, introducing the newest technologies enhances knowledge reusability and transformation making information more understandable (Harsh, 2014).

Conclusion

To sum up, one of the options to redesign the initial lesson plan is to implement the newest technologies because it will make the learning environment easily accessible and adaptable as well as improve the learning outcomes due to enhancing participation, which is effective for the better understanding of the presented information.

Reflection

The process of redesigning the initial lesson plan was both interesting and challenging. It was an exciting experience because it helped obtain new knowledge and apply the information learned before to designing something new. However, at the same time, it was the source of several challenges. First of all, it was complicated to choose the lesson plan, which would be redesigned in terms of understanding the requirements of the 21st century.

Nevertheless, it turned out that it is easy to handle the problem of making this decision by taking a closer look at previous assignments and detecting the gaps for incorporating the components of the 21st century student outcomes and support systems. Moreover, it was a challenge to choose one tool, which would address both outcomes and support system. The most complex part was to determine the correct components, which would be mentioned when revising the initial plan.

However, recollecting that introducing the newest technologies is the universal tool for enhancing productivity helped cope with this challenge. Finally, it was a little bit complicated to determine the correct type of technology and propose the area of their implementation in terms of meeting the requirements of the 21st century student outcomes and support systems, but outside sources of information turned out to be useful in overcoming this problem.

References

Burnaford, G., & Brown, T. (2014). Teaching and learning in 21st century learning environments: A reader. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Inc.

Harsh, K. O. (2014). Role of knowledge reusability in technological environment during learning. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 5(8), 68-74.

Mangelsdorf, N. (2013). Understanding by design. TLN Journal, 20(1), 38-39.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2012). Understanding by design guide to advanced concepts in creating and reviewing units. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students should have learned how to recognize the different parts of speech and be able to apply them correctly.

They should be in a position to follow instructions, both oral and written

They should have developed their vocabulary and English language fluency.

Materials/Resources needed

Worksheets, writing materials, charts, English grammar textbooks

Standards Addressed & Expectations of the Student

The standards addressed in this lesson are applications – K.S.1.1, comprehension – K.S.1.2, and demonstration – K.S.1.3. The students are expected to apply the lesson content in both their written and spoken grammar. This is one of how they can demonstrate their understanding of the entire lesson topic.

Anticipatory Set

When setting the lecture stage, the teacher is supposed to ensure that the classroom is arranged in a way that he/she can access every student without having to move around the classroom. All students should also be in a position to see the blackboard without obstructing each other. The teacher should then inform the students of the benefits of participating by saying something like, “this is the best lecture you will ever get and any active participation will be rewarded adequately.”

Instructional Input

Give the students a one hour lecture on the topic while they take their notes. Before the lesson, the teacher should provide the students with reading materials which they are expected to go through during their free time. In class, the main activity will therefore be to explain the ideas to them. The pre-reading should ensure that they can understand and ask questions on areas where they did not understand. It also gives the teacher an easy time in class in that he/she works with the assumption that they have the general idea of the whole lesson content.

Modeling

As for the demonstration, the teacher should require the students to listen as he/she gives the lecture and identify parts of speech from his/her voice. They should write down their findings as this will give the teacher an overview of whether they have understood or not. They should document these findings in the charts at the end of the lesson for future reference and hang these charts around the classrooms.

Check for Understanding

To determine whether the course content has been well understood, the teacher should give the students a worksheet comprising of the lesson’s content. The teacher should come up with a list of different parts of speech and ask the students to classify them into their respective categories. From this, the teacher will be able to know the extent to which the lesson has been understood as well as the areas that need to be attended to further. Finally, the teacher should provide the students with individual assignments to be done before the end of the class so that he/she can be able to gauge independent performance.

Guided Practice/Monitoring

One of how the teacher can monitor the performance of the students is to ask them individual questions and reward the correct answers. As a result of this, the students will be motivated to be more attentive during lectures to earn the teacher’s rewards. When evaluating the assignments, he/she should indicate comments such as Very good and good for those performing well and work harder for those who are still lagging.

Closure

When ending the lesson, the teacher should call upon some of the bright students in the class to summarize what they have learned during the class. This should be followed with a token of say Candy, chocolates, or any other small to motivate the students. From this, the others will be challenged to be attentive in class so that they also obtain the chance of receiving a token and being praised by the teacher.

Independent Practice

To assess the independent practice, the teacher should provide the students with a test assignment with a submission deadline such as before the day ends. This assignment should be comprehensive of the entire lesson content and through this, the teacher will be able to gauge the individual performance of the students. The students who submit their assignments first should be rewarded as well as those who perform better than the rest. The main idea here is to give the students an incentive to work hard on their assignments and submit them on time while at the same time try their best to score high marks.

Analysis

The most important idea in classroom learning is to capture the attention of the students. There are many ways of doing this, but giving approval comments and rewarding is not applicable (Kohn, 2001). The teacher should find a way of ensuring that all students get equal attention to boost the ego of those who are slow in learning. The idea of rewarding participation materially is not appropriate, since the students who are not in a position to get tokens might end up being psychologically locked out of the classroom.

New teachers should therefore develop motivational methods that involve all the students in the classroom (Mueller, 1998). Through this, all students, irrespective of their learning capacities will be able to participate hence encouraging them to develop a personal learning incentive.

Reference list

Kohn, A. (2001). What Factors Influence Student Motivation?, New York, NY: Academic press.

Mueller, C. M., (1998). Intelligence Praise Can Undermine Motivation and Performance. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75, (2) pp. 33-52.

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 partner’s 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 teacher’s instruction and they help the hearing impaired learners dribble a ball correctly according to the teacher’s 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 lesson’s objectives and students’ results. It was important for me to assess the effectiveness of the instructions and activities on providing opportunities for completing the lesson’s goals and objectives. The activities and instructions were chosen to meet the lesson’s 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 partner’s 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.