dual major of early childhood education and elementary ... · lesson plan 1 introduction and touch...

Dual Major of Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education 2 October 2017

Table of Contents

Learning Context ................................................................................................ 2 Focus Students .................................................................................................... 7 Lesson Plans ....................................................................................................... 8 Lesson Plan 1 Introduction and Touch Lesson Plan 2 Hear and See Lesson Plan 3 Smell, Taste, and Being A Scientist Reflection .............. 20

1. Learning Context:

School District: Edith Bowen School District Name of School: Edith Bowen Laboratory School Title 1 School? Yes

Demographics of School Edith Bowen Laboratory School is a public charter school located on the campus of Utah State University in Logan, Utah. As of this school year, Edith Bowen has grades kindergarten through sixth grade. Last year, the 2016-2017 school year, there were 304 students enrolled at Edith Bowen. The majority of the student population, 246 students, identify as Caucasian, where 29 students identified as Hispanic, 13 as Multi Race, 6 as Asian, 5 as Pacific Islander, 4 as Black, and 1 as American Indian. During the 2016-2017 school year, 31.3 percent of the school identified as Economically Disadvantages, 19.1 percent identified as an Ethnic Minority, 18.4 percent participated in Special Education, and 1.6 percent of students were English Language Learners.

Edith Bowen Laboratory School performed well above the State on the SAGE in Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science during the 2016-2017 school year. Edith Bowen also performed well above Logan City School District, the neighboring school district, in all three subjects. The state scored 43.6 percent on Language Arts, 45.7 percent on Mathematics, and 47.5 percent on Science. Edith Bowen scored 65.8 percent on Language Arts, 70.5 percent on Mathematics, and 76.3 percent on Science.

*Demographics information provided by Data Gateway, Utah State Board of Education.

Description of School Climate Edith Bowen Laboratory School runs their enrollment by a lottery system. Anyone in the valley can enter their child’s name into the lottery. When spaces open up, names are drawn from the lottery. Once a child gets into Edith Bowen, all siblings are welcome, space permitting. There are two classes for every grade.

Parents are always welcome at Edith Bowen. Teachers like to say that their classrooms are just as much their own classrooms as they are the parent’s classrooms. Teachers love to have parent volunteers. Edith Bowen reaches out to have as many resources and connections from the community as possible, whether it be for improving the school, or helping with the frequent field experiences.

The physical environment at Edith Bowen is very different than the average elementary school. Every classroom has a variety of different tables, desks, stools, chairs, and foot rests. In many classrooms children are allowed to choose where they sit throughout the day. They have the option of sitting on the floor with a table that is near the ground, a tall

table to stand or sit at, a normal table and desks, a ball or foot rest to bounce on, etc. Students are invited to come to school and feel not only safe and loved, but to feel comfortable. Students are allowed to wear hats, chew gum, sled down the hill at recess, and participate in many other activities that are uncommon at the average elementary school.

Edith Bowen Laboratory School is a “Leader in Me” school. They use the 7 Habits for Happy Kids as a guide for how the school is run. Each student in the school has a job in their classroom, and starting in third grade, each student has a school leadership job. Every student plays a part at school.

The leaders/administration at Edith Bowen are very present. They are in and out of classrooms throughout the day talking to students and teachers. They know each student by name, and they show their love for each student and faculty member. Teachers and the rest of the faculty feel as though they can always voice their opinions and have discussions with the leaders and the rest of the faculty. They come together to problem solve and make the school a better place.

Edith Bowen Laboratory School is a public charter school, and it is its own district. This allows the faculty to create their own curriculum. Teachers work with the administration to create a scope and a sequence that meets all of the state CORE standards, as well as meet the student’s developmental needs. Teachers plan frequent field experiences to go along with the created curriculum, and they plan and execute many STEM projects throughout the year.

The school wide discipline at Edith Bowen is run as a tiered approach. Overall, students and faculty members are asked to have “Respect for self, others, and property” at all times. Tier one is discipline in the classroom by the teacher, tier two is discipline with the teacher and working with Mr. Farmer, the school counselor, and tier three is working with the administration. Edith Bowen is currently working on school wide consistency and unity when it comes to school discipline. Right now, each classroom has a different discipline strategy, and the administration and teachers are working together to form some consistency for across the school.

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Total Number of Students: Twenty-Five (Just the AM Kindergarten class)

Learning Environment: Every day the students come into the classroom and stop at the table by the door. The students find their name on a stick and put their name in the cup on the table. This marks the attendance for the day. The teaching assistant then enters the attendance into the computer once rug time starts.

Every morning the students enter into the classroom and are warmly greeted by the teachers at the door. The students hang up their backpacks in their cubbies and find their sign in at one of the five tables. The current sign in is tracing and writing their names with a china maker. Some students are just writing their first name in all uppercase letters, others are just writing their first name in lower case letters, while a select few are

writing their first and last names in lower case letters. Students started out by writing their first name in uppercase letters, but as they master their name in uppercase letters, they are progressively moved towards writing their first and last name in lowercase letters.

When students have finished their sign in, they will head to the rug and do the number of the day. The bulletin board has the number of the day posted. The number of the day is just the day of the month. Students will check the number pattern on the bulletin board. The number pattern is the same all month (e.g. a a a b pattern). The students will then create their own pattern using their choice of colored tiles. When done, students hang their tab by their name saying they have accomplished the number of the day, and then they are welcome to have choice time.

When the bell rings, the students clean up and sit on the rug. At the rug we go over the schedule, read the morning message, go over the alphabet, do the calendar, etc. It is then time for the lesson of the day. Some days it may be Math, some days it may be Science, some days it may just be a visitor, or a read aloud.

Because this is a kindergarten classroom, we spend the majority of the day on the rug. When we are not at the rug it is either small group time or choice time. The rug is located at the front of the room. It has more than enough large squares for each student to have their own square on the rug with plenty of room. There are four tables in the classroom that serve as desks. This is where the small group work happens throughout the day for handwriting, reading workshop, and writing workshop. The students are assigned to tables roughly based on their performance levels, with a few students placed randomly.

When students are on the rug, they are engaged, but it is a large group. There is no one- on-one time at the rug. The students learn as a whole group with the help of the student helpers. The rug is where the main lessons in the classroom occur. This way the teacher can be on the students’ level and can be close to each student.

The students learn in small groups at the tables during handwriting, reading workshop, writers’ workshop, and any other small group activities that may occur during choice time. The level of student engagement at the tables is high. While at the tables, the teacher or parent volunteer can work closely with five to seven students at a time. Small group time is where we practice what was learned on the rug.

Each student has a job in the classroom. These jobs are changed every week. Some of the classroom jobs include Calendar Helper, Morning Message Helper, Weather Checker, Blocks Helper, Photographer, Bell Ringer, etc. Each student has a job and plays a part in the classroom.

Students in this classroom and this school feel safe and loved. They are known by not only their own teachers, but by past teachers, future teachers, and the administration. Students know that they can go to anyone in the school and be helped or protected. Because they are safe, they can learn.

Students with special needs and short explanation of the needs:

Most students do not enter kindergarten having received screening or testing. Because of this, as well as the age of the students and where they are developmentally, most students do not have any ‘labels.’

With IEPs: 2 Student 1 and Student 2 have IEPs. They both came into kindergarten with Speech and Language IEPs. Student 1 has a special spot on the rug that is in the front by the teacher. Other than this, there are no special accommodations currently being made in the classroom.

Students who receive speech/language services:

Student 1 and Student 2 are both receive speech/language services a few times a week.

English Language Learners: Kindergarteners have yet to be given the UALPA. There is one student in the AM class that might be considered an English Language Learner, but it has yet to be determined.

Gifted and Talented: Students in the AM kindergarten have not shown any signs of being gifted or talented at this young age.

Other:

One student, Student 1, is suspected to have more than just speech/language problems. Teachers will continue to watch Student 1 and look for other symptoms. He is currently receiving social stories before any major schedule change like a field experience, and he will be starting Occupational Therapy shortly.

Students’ prior knowledge for these lessons: The Five Senses was the first unit taught for all subjects in kindergarten this school year. Before this unit, the only prior knowledge students had on the subject was learned either at home or during preschool. Only one student could tell the teacher what the five senses were. The rest of the students seemed unfamiliar with the five senses, however, they knew what touching, smelling, tasting, seeing, and hearing were, but they did not know that they were each one of the five senses.

Students’ background and interest for these lessons: The students are loving learning. School is a new experience for these children. These children are eager to learn anything new. They love using their five senses to learn, however, they are not aware that they are using their five senses to explore with.

How did your knowledge of these students and assessment of their prior knowledge inform your lesson planning?

Because only one student knew what the five senses were, I started at the ground level with my lessons. I knew that I needed to introduce what the five senses are, as well as go in-depth, as developmentally appropriate for these kindergarteners, with the five senses.

2. Focus Students:

3. Description of Student 1 (Britni)

Prior learning Britni attended preschool. She has also learned from her older siblings.

Academic ability

Britni is a fast learner. If she is taught or told something once, she usually remembers it. Because of this, her vocabulary is fairly large for a five year old. She can express herself very well using full and complete sentences. She can communicate well with adults as well as other children. Learning excites her, and she loves to participate in any lesson.

Britni knows almost all of her letter names and sounds, and she is just starting pre- reading.

Personal background Britni is the youngest child in her family. She lives with both her parents and her siblings. She is close friends to a handful of students in the class because they are neighbors. Britni is very particular about making things fair whether it be on the playground, playing with toys, etc.

Other relevant characteristics Britni is a leader in the class. She makes decisions and others follow. She is learning how to make good choices at school, and she asks for help whenever she needs to be a good choice maker and a good learner.

Influence of all of these characteristics on your teaching Britni will be a great helper for me. She will help lead discussions as well as lead activities. Britni will quickly add the new words she learns to her vocabulary and use them frequently throughout the unit. This will help the other students learn the vocabulary.

Description of Student 2 (Rory)

Prior learning Rory (not to be confused with Student 1) attended preschool for a year before kindergarten. He has learned from his older siblings.

Academic ability Rory is a boy who is a little shy. He does not talk very loud, and he does not usually volunteer to talk during whole group discussions. Rory knows many of his letter names and sounds, but is still working on making them more automated. He does not appear to have much confidence in himself, so he questions himself frequently.

Personal background Rory is the youngest in his family. He lives at home with both parents and his older siblings. He loves to wear his hat, and he gets upset if he ever forgets it. He says it makes him feel safe.

Influence of all of these characteristics on your teaching

The teacher will have to be especially aware of Rory and a few others like him so they do not fly under the radar. The teacher will have to call on him frequently to assess his learning and ask if he has anything to share or any questions.

1. Lesson Plans Unit Summary: Unit Theme: The Five Senses Subject: Science Grade Level: Kindergarten Lesson Plans: Lesson 1 Introduction of the Five Senses and Touch Lesson 2 Hear and See Lesson 3 Smell, Taste, and Being A Scientist

CORE Standards:

Standard 1 The Processes of Science, Communication of Science, and the Nature of Science. Students will be able to apply scientific processes, communicate scientific ideas effectively, and understand the nature of science.

Objective 1 Generating Evidence: Using the process of scientific investigation (i.e. framing questions, designing investigations, conducting investigations, collecting data, drawing conclusions.)

Objective 2. Communicating Science: Communicating effectively using science language and reasoning.

Indicator 2: Sharing ideas with peers

Five Senses and Learning to Be a Scientists

MONDAY (Introduction to the Five Senses and Touch) 20 minutes Unit Theme The Five Senses Subject Science with English Language Arts integrated Grade Level Kindergarten.

Materials

My Five Senses by Aliki,(Book) Sense of Touch by Carey Molter (Book) 26 small objects (fabric samples, balls, fruit pits, etc.) 4 Small bags with one objects in them (crayon, shell, pinecone, ball) Pictures of objects

We will read My Five Senses to introduce the five senses in a fun way that helps students visually see through a story what the five senses are. Young children can easily connect and understand picture books. We will read the first couple pages of the Sense of Touch to help students come to understand what touch is and what we can touch.

We will use small objects for the students to hold in their hands and individually experience touching an object. Young children learn best by hands on experiences.

CORE Standards




Indicator 2: Sharing ideas with peers Objective

The students will be able to accurately name the five senses as well as use describing words to explain how objects feel to the touch using the materials provided by the teacher. The students will identify touch as one of the five senses.

Vocabulary Describing words- Describing words tell about an object. If I were to describe an object, I would say its color, how it feels, what I notice about it, etc. Five senses- Touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell.

LAUNCH

I see our class sitting on the rainbow rug. I feel … I hear… etc. What am I using? Our senses. What are our five senses? We use our five senses to learn about the world around us.

- Touch - Taste - Smell - Hear - See

This week while we learn about our five senses, I want you to ask or say to yourself “I wonder….” “I notice…” “It reminds me of..”

The teacher will model how to use these phrases. (E.g. “the sound of the water in the salamander tank reminds me of a waterfall.”) Read the Big Book My Five Senses by Aliki. Point out each sense and stop and talk about each one for 15-30 seconds.

TOUCH

Read Sense of Touch

EXPLORE

Explain to the class that we are going to do an activity where we use out sense of touch.

Have the children sit on the perimeter of the rug—give each child three seconds to do so. The children will sit on the perimeter of the rug so that each student can see the rest of the class, and for management purposes. Model what children will do with the object they receive. Each child will receive an object. They will investigate their objects and then they will think of a descriptive word for their object. The teacher will ask what a descriptive word is. Students will give their idea of what a descriptive word is. The teacher will then explain what a descriptive word is.

DISCUSS

Each child will take turns saying their descriptive word and the teacher will write each word on the board. Even though most of the students cannot read yet, this will help the students associate the words they say with written words, as well as help them see that words are made up of letters that make the sounds they have been learning. Teacher will then introduce the mystery bags that will be on the back table during choice time.

EXPLORE and DISCUSS (During choice time- 5 Minutes per group)

At the back table, the students will have a second explore time. They will have the opportunity to reach their hand into a mystery bag. In each bag there will an object. The students will use their sense of touch using their fingers and hand and they will use describing words to tell about the object they are feeling. They will then make a guess off of what they notice by touching the object. For students who need a little extra guidance, there will be pictures of objects they can look at to guide their guesses. After guessing, the student will then pull their hand out of the mystery bag and look inside the bag without taking the object out and without telling their neighbor what is in the bag. The teacher will be at this table to help students use describing words for their objects based

off of what they are feeling. After every child at the table has had an opportunity to reach in each mystery bag, the students and the teacher will have a short discussion about the describing words they used, and the sense of touch.

Adaptations/Accommodations Student 1 (not to be confused with Rory) has a special spot on the rug. He sits in a square next to the teacher where he can focus and hear. While at the table during small group, the teacher will sit closely with him to help keep his focus and guide his learning. For my students who are currently lower achieving, the teacher will give them more vocabulary during small groups during choice time. (E.g. is it smooth or is it spikey? Etc.)

Assessment The teacher will formatively assess the class as a whole while on the rug when the teacher asks questions. She will then assess each child at the back table during choice time. The students will be able to accurately name the five senses as well as use describing words to explain how objects feel to the touch using the materials provided by the teacher. The students will identify touch as one of the five senses.

TUESDAY (Hear and See) 20-25 Minutes

Unit Theme The Five Senses Subject Science with English Language Arts, Music, and Mathematics integrated. Grade Level Kindergarten

Materials

Sense of Hearing by Carey Molter (Book) Sense of Sight by Carey Molter (Book) Bell Musical instruments (drums, sticks, tambourine, xylophone shakers) Class set of musical sticks Sea shell Stop sign Doctor’s eye poster Teleidoscopes, Kaleidoscopes 25 Mirrors Magnifying glasses

CORE Standards





The students will use their eyes to look through various objects provided by the teacher and they will use their ears to hear various objects and use accurate describing words to explain what they see. They will identify seeing and hearing as two of the five senses.

Vocabulary Describing words- Describing words tell about an object. If I were to describe an object, I would say its color, how it feels, what I notice about it, etc. Five senses- Touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell.

SIGHT LAUNCH

The teacher will model how to observe what is happening/what we know because of our sight by thinking out loud. The teacher will then have the students look around the room and observe what is happening/what we know because of our sight. (How animals move, read our books, identify our friends etc.) The teacher will read Sense of Sight Our sight helps us know what things look like, how others are feeling, it can keep us safe, etc. The teacher will show the STOP sign. “When we see this sign, what do we do?” –we stop. Seeing things like STOP signs help keep us safe. “If we see our friend on the playground and we see that he or she is crying, or has a sad face, we know that they sad. We can help them feel better because we saw with our eyes that they were not very happy.” The teacher will share more examples if needed. Hearing and seeing help us learn about what is around us. “Remember yesterday when we used the mystery boxes? Our sense of touch helped us make a good guess as to what the object was, however, seeing the object with our eyes confirmed to our minds what the object was.”

EXPLORE

The teacher will explain that we are going to do an activity with mirrors. We use our eyes to look in mirrors and see our reflections. We are going to look in the mirror and look at our eyes. “I see that I have brown eyes.” The teacher will give the students three seconds to move to the perimeter of the rug.

The teacher will pass out the mirrors (four children will have to share). We will all look at our eyes for about a minute. The teacher will think out loud as to some things she is noticing. The teacher will have students turn to their buddy and describe what they notice with their eyes.

DISCUSS

The teacher will ask the students what they noticed about their eyes. The teacher will ask students to raise their hands for each color of eye. (Blue, green, brown.) The class will count how many children have each color of eyes, and the teacher will record it on the board using a bar graph.

HEARING LAUNCH

The teacher will have the children all close their eyes and listen for about fifteen to thirty seconds. What do they hear? The children will talk about what they heard (ex: Cars, snack being prepared, people in the hallways, the water in the fish tanks, etc.) The teacher will write what the children heard on the board. Even though most of the students cannot read yet, this will help the students associate the words they say with written words, as well as help them see that words are made up of letters that make the sounds they have been learning. The teacher will read Sense of Hearing We can use our sense of hearing to help us in our lives through communicating with our friends, or knowing what is around us, or to do fun things like make music.

EXPLORE

The teacher will hand out instruments—remember, you get what you get and you are okay with it.

***Talk about how to hold sticks and how to not bump friends.

The teacher will let the students explore with the musical sticks for about two minutes. After the children have had a chance to explore the sticks, together as a class we will play our instruments and sing a song. (E.g. Twinkle Twinkle)

*Throughout the lesson the teacher will be using her senses and thinking out loud to model to children how often we are using our five senses. (I notice the feeling of the bumps on this instrument…when I hear the water in the different tanks it reminds me of waterfalls.... etc.)

DISCUSS

The last couple minutes of rug time the teacher will ask the students what they noticed with their ears and eyes while on the rug. The class will have a short discussion on the lesson. The teacher will introduce the kaleidoscopes, magnifying glasses, musical instruments, sea shell, etc. that will be out for choice time.

EXPLORE AND DISCUSS (During choice time- 5 Minutes per group)

At the back table, there will be musical instruments and objects to look into. The students will come to the back table in groups to explore each student will explore musical instruments as well as mirrors, teleidescopes, and magnifying glasses. The teacher will be asking questions to the students on what they are noticing. The teacher will prompt the students to use “I wonder… I notice…. It reminds me of…” phrases.

Adaptations/Accommodations Student 1 (not to be confused with Rory) has a special spot on the rug. He sits in a square next to the teacher where he can focus and hear. Student 1 does not like loud noises, so he will be warned before the music section of our rug time. While at the table during small group, the teacher will sit closely with him to help keep his focus and guide his learning. For my students who are currently lower achieving, the teacher will give them more vocabulary during small groups during choice time.

Assessment The teacher will formatively assess the class as a whole while on the rug when the teacher asks questions. She will then assess each child at the back table during choice time. The students will use their eyes to look through various objects provided by the teacher and they will use their ears to hear various objects and use accurate describing words to explain what they see. They will identify seeing and hearing as two of the five senses.

WEDNESDAY (Smell, Taste, and Being a Scientist) 20-25 Minutes

Unit Theme The Five Senses Subject Science with English Language Arts integrated. Grade Level Kindergarten

CORE Standards:



Objective 2 Communicating Science: Communicating effectively using science language and reasoning.


The students will accurately distinguish the difference between bitter, sweet, salty, and sour tastes and smells by smelling and tasting various foods. The students will identify smelling and tasting as two of the five senses. The students use their five senses to be scientists.

Vocabulary Describing words- Describing words tell about an object. If I were to describe an object, I would say its color, how it feels, what I notice about it, etc. Bitter- The students will come up with their own definition to what bitter is after they have tasted the bitter baking chocolate. Taste buds- Little places on our tongue and in our mouths that makes it possible for us to taste food. (Nerve endings on the tongue and in the mouth that allows one to taste.) Scientist- Someone who studies a lot and knows a lot about specific things by using their five senses to observe the world.

Materials

Lemon Pretzels Baking chocolate Marshmallows Cupcake tin liners Poster of tongue Peach Plastic Knife Sense of Smell by Carey Molter (book) Sense of Taste by Carey Molter (book) Scientists by Pamela Chanko (book) iPad iPad Doc cam Television

LAUNCH

Today we are going to learn about our sense of smell and our sense of taste. The teacher will read Sense of Smell What do we use our noses for? What are some things you have smelled today? (banana, morning air, etc.)

Smelling and tasting are connected. What we smell is often how things taste! The teacher will read Sense of Taste

The teacher will model smelling the peach and ask questions I wonder.., it reminds me of…, and I notice...

EXPLORE and DISCUSS

The teacher will explain that we are going to be tasting some items. We will all taste them at the same time. The teacher will show the poster of where we taste things on our tongues. She will not tell students what bitter tastes like. The students will be familiar with all the other terms (E.g. sweet, sour, salty). The teacher will pass out the items one-by-one starting with the lemon, pretzel, then baking chocolate and marshmallows at the same time. Each child will first smell the item. The teacher will ask each after each object what the students smelled. The students will keep it in their brains and not blurt out what they smell so that others can learn. As a class we will discuss what the students smell. Then we will all eat the item at the same time (trash cans waiting). The teacher will explicitly teach the students to put their sample in front of them on the rug when the different samples are passed out, and then wait until they are given new instructions. Then when the students are told, they will smell their sample. After smelling, the students will taste the sample when told. The teacher will continue on like this with all the taste test items. The chocolate and the marshmallows will be together so that once the children taste the bitter they can pop in the marshmallow to taste the sweet. The teacher will ask after the students have tasted each item what they tasted (sweet, salty, sour, bitter), and the teacher will show the students where on the tongue (using the tongue poster) they taste those different tastes. As a class we will come up with a definition of what bitter means.

DISCUSS

The teacher will review smelling and tasting. She will go over the poster of the tongue one more time as a whole. The teacher will say that smelling and tasting are two of our five senses.

BEING A SCIENTISTS

We use our five senses every day! They help us learn about the world around us and they help us be scientists. Who knows what a scientist is? (Someone who studies a lot and knows a lot about specific things by using their five senses to observe the world.) The teacher will read Scientists by Pamela Chanko. (This book talks about all the various people that are scientists (E.g. chefs, marine biologists, etc. and ends with saying that we are all scientists). The teacher will read this book under the iPad doc cam so the students can see a large version of the book on the television screen. It is a wonderful book about how we are all scientists, however, it is a small book and would be best if the students could see all the details.

“We are ALL scientists! Scientists ask questions to learn more about the world. They use their five senses to be scientists! Just like this week when we asked our questions like I wonder…, I notice…, and it reminds me of...” As a class we will talk about how our five senses help us be scientists. Our scientist hands help us feel things, our scientist ears help us hear things, our scientist eyes help us see things, our scientist nose helps us smell things, and our scientist mouths help us taste things. “Remember the questions and the statements we have been asking and saying this week? I wonder….I notice… It reminds me of.. Those questions are helping us be scientists because as we ask those questions we learn about the world around us. We are able to draw and write down what we notice when we ask these questions, and we are able to share what we find out with our friends.” So what are we when we use our five senses to ask and answer questions? (We are scientists!)

Adaptations/Accommodations Student 1 (not to be confused with Rory) has a special spot on the rug. He sits in a square next to the teacher where he can focus and hear.

Assessment The teacher will formatively assess the class as a whole while on the rug when the teacher asks questions. The teacher will assess the students at the end of the day on their knowledge of the five senses, as well as during choice time in the dramatic play area. The students will accurately distinguish the difference between bitter, sweet, salty, and sour tastes and smells by smelling and tasting various foods. The students will identify smelling and tasting as two of the five senses. The students use their five senses to be scientists.

Images to be used for choice time mystery bag activity.

PINE CONE

SEASHELL

RED CRAYON

BALL

Rationale for Methods

I chose to teach these lessons with a combination of inquiry-based learning and explicit teaching. These are both research-based methods of teaching. Young children need to be taught what the five senses are in an explicit way, however, they can explore and learn through an inquire-based approach to learn more about each of their five senses. In kindergarten it is important that children are given the vocabulary they may need to express themselves, and this can be given through explicit instruction, as well as during some inquiry times.

I was assigned to teach this unit by my mentor teacher, but I decided to make it an introduction unit to science in our kindergarten classroom. I wanted my students to know how to use their five senses to be scientists. I wanted my students to know that we are all scientists.

Technology

The kindergarteners have yet to be exposed to much technology in the classroom, and this is how it is preferred at this point in the school year. The television will be used on occasion for reading books and listening to music during choice time. Kindergarten students do not currently have access to any technology for them to have hands on experiences with at school. Because of this, I integrated use of technology into my unit by using the iPad as a doc cam, bringing up the image on the television.

I found a wonderful book called Scientists by Pamela Chanko, but it is fairly small. While sitting on the rug, it would be difficult for students to see the pictures. I used the iPad doc cam to view the book on the television so all the children could easily see the pictures and the words.

Assessment

To start out the introduction lesson, the teacher will say “I see our class sitting on the rainbow rug. I feel … I hear…” etc. The teacher will point to her eyes when she says see, her ear when she says hear, etc. The teacher will then ask “What am I using?” The teacher will wait to see if the students can answer her question. If not, the teacher will say, “I am using my five senses. Can anyone tell me what our five senses are?” This was my pre-assessment. It is not developmentally appropriate for kindergarteners to do pre and post tests on paper this early on in the year.

My post assessment will be at the end of each day during choice time. I will talk to each child about what we talked about that day. I will ask them what sense(s) we talked about, and to show me how they used them. On the last day of the unit I will ask them about all five senses. During this time I will be listening for their use of “I wonder…it reminds me…and I notice..” statements. Each day during my formative assessments, I will make note of those students who are struggling to use the vocabulary, struggling to use their senses, and appear to not be gaining much new knowledge about their five senses.

Reflection and Evaluation of Lessons, Including Analysis of Assessment Data.

Analyze Student Learning Performance of Student 1

At the beginning of the unit, Britni did not know what the five senses were. She could tell you what we use our ears, eyes, and nose for, but she only thought our mouth was for eating. She appeared to not know much about touch. Britni was a fast learner! I could always count on her to remember and use the new vocabulary. She could go on for minutes telling the class and me what we learned the day before without any mistakes. She was very willing to help her fellow students remember what our unit was on, and help remind them of all the new vocabulary we had learned. The last day, when I was talking to her one-on-one, she named the five senses, but called hearing ‘listening.’ When I later referred to it as hearing, she seemed a little confused. I clarified that hearing was one of our five senses, and it was what we used to listen. Britni was very interested in this unit. She still applies the language and skills she learned during this unit to her play and to her scientific explorations.

Performance of Student 2

At the beginning of the unit, Rory too did not know what the five senses were. He could tell me that we touch things with our body, hear with our ears, see with our eyes, and smell with our noses, but only when asked what we use to touch, hear, see, and smell objects. Rory was a quiet participator. He would only answer questions when I called on him specifically. He would never raise his hand during the unit and he would rarely answer question as a choral response with the class. When called on specifically, he would usually smile, look down at the ground, and shrug his shoulders. After giving him a small prompt, he was usually able to answer the question. Rory was a wonderful scientist throughout this unit. He used his five senses to investigate all the objects and materials, plus more, which I provided to the class. At the end of the unit when talking one-on-one with Rory, he was unsure how to answer the question, “What are the five senses?” After a simple prompt, he was able to name all five senses. Next time I teach this unit, I will be sure to put a little more emphasis on all the senses being put together are called the five senses.

Analyze Teaching Effectiveness

When teaching, you really have to think on your toes—especially when you are teaching a room full of 25 five year olds! The first change I made to my lesson plan was because my students were especially talkative, and I knew that would affect my time. After my students had received their object during the touch lesson, I had each child turn to their buddy and first tell their buddy their descriptive word. This way each student had a turn to talk and say all that was in their mind first, and then when we came back together as a group, I only heard their special descriptive words. This worked quite well! I did not hear the same stories while back together as I overheard when the students were talking to their buddies. I was grateful I allowed that short time for the students to make those connections, share them, but also save on time.

The next change I made in my lesson was a rather large change. On Tuesday my students were not on their best behavior. They were struggling to make good choices and they were struggling to listen to learn. Those are two sayings we have in our kindergarten class. Because of this, we ran into a time constraints which made it so we no longer had time to play our stick instruments as a whole group. I cut out the sticks from the rug lesson plan. I did however still have musical instruments during choice time, so my objective was still met.

During the taste lesson, many of my students were unable to taste the sweet of the marshmallow. This occurred because the students were supposed to first put the bitter chocolate in their mouths and then quickly pop in the sweet marshmallow after. Many of my students got distracted by the bitter taste of the chocolate and tuned the sound of my voice out. They did not remember or hear to pop the marshmallow in their mouths. By the time they remembered to put the marshmallow in their mouths, they were spitting the bitter chocolate, with the marshmallow, into the trashcan. I really liked having bitter baking chocolate in my lesson because it taught my young students the definition of bitter. I do however think that next time I will have bigger marshmallows to sweeten the bitterness of the chocolate. This way my students will taste bitter, but will also have the taste of sweet following.

My students really came to understand what describing words are! They became more creative and thoughtful with their descriptive words with every activity and every sense. My students really enjoyed all of the different activities that focused in on one or two senses at a time. I could tell by their language that they had never thought so deeply about how things felt, heard, smelled, looked, and tasted.

Based off of many of my students, not just Rory, I would put a little more emphasis on all the senses put together being called the five senses. My students could tell me their senses, but the term ‘five senses’ confused them. I would like to explicitly teach that a little more next time. I would also love to change this unit and make it a six day unit. This way each sense has its own day, and being a scientist has its own day as well. I believe this would allow for more time for the students to really explore one sense at a time with a larger variety of activities.

This was a great unit that helped build my students language by learning new words and sharing their findings with their peers, and it really helped prepare my students to be scientists.

dual major of early childhood education and elementary ... · lesson plan 1 introduction and touch...

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