Activity 2: Lesson Plan Evaluation

Online Lesson Plan Evaluation Organizer

Title of Lesson: Animal Alphabet                               Subject Area: Animals                                    Grade Level: k-2

URL (web address): http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/animalAlphabet/ (Hint: Copy/Paste the URL onto this document)

Online Lesson Plan Components/Steps (List and give a brief summary of the steps included in the online plan.)

DID Components (Which components or steps of the online lesson plan fit into the DID format? Where do they fit?)

·         Go over the alphabet with the students and have them identify the sounds of each letter then watch the video “Animal Alphabet.” ·         Break the students up into small groups and with the help of an adult, review each letter sound. ·         Assign each student in the class a letter to work on. They will be creating pages for a book including an animal that starts with their letter. Try not to get duplicate letters. ·         Review the sounds of the letters with the students as well as how to write their letters. Make sure they have a reference to look at while they are making their book page. ·         Using the animals in the “Animal Alphabet” video, talk about the animal names and where they live, what they do, etc. You can use print outs of each animal so students have a reference. ·         Once the students seem to be ready, and understand their letters, give them construction paper and crayons to illustrate their animal. Have them write the letter on their drawing and for more advanced students, have them write the name of their animal. Check in with students while they are working to make sure they are understanding what they are doing as well as know the sound of their letter and the name of their animal. ·         Once everyone is finished, combine all of the pages into a bound book. Read the book with the class and identify the letters, the names of the animals, and if they are an insect, mammal, or reptile.

Step 1: "Know the Learners" There are multiple ways that this fits in. The lesson plan utilizes the cognitive developmental stages by allowing more advanced students to include the written name of the animal. They use their incoming skills by putting the new knowledge of the letter, sound, and shape of the letter on their page as well as their current knowledge on what the animals are, what they typically do, and what they look like. Step 2: "Articulate Your Objective" Once everyone is finished, there will be a book made and they will review it as a class. This is what the learners will do after the lesson. The objective definitely focuses on skills of the students because they are expected to write the letter they just learned but not the entire animal name, unless they are able to. Step 3: "Establish the Learning Environment" There is a positive and nurturing environment due to the adults in the classroom encouraging the students to make the sounds of the letters. The adults check in with them while they are working. The learners are active and engaged because they are working on their own page in the book. Step 4: "Identify Teaching and Learning Strategies" The activity that is being utilized by the teacher by the teacher helps students master the content by having the constantly repeat letter sound and then associating the letter they learned with an animal. This familiarizes them with something in their own world. Step 5: "Identify and Select Support Technologies" There is a video shown to the students, this is definitely a support technology. They hear the names of the animals as well as the sound of the letters. Step 6: "Evaluate and Revise the Design" At the end of the lesson, the class reads the book out loud. Each student should be able to identify the sound of their letter.

Answer the following questions:

1.      What learning theories seem to be reflected in the steps of the plan you found?

The learning theories that seem to be reflected in the steps of the plan I found would be the behaviorist theory, the constructionist theory, and multiple intelligence theory. The behaviorist theory is reflected because the students are expected to repeat the sound of the letter they learned over and over. The Constructionist theory is reflected because they learn the sound of the letter and then apply the letter and the sound to an animal giving them a mental image of something in their daily life. Lastly, the multiple intelligence theory is covered because there are multiple aspects included in the lesson, verbal-linguistic is covered by watching the video and hearing the sound of the words and letters that are being said they also utilize their skill while creating their book page, musical is covered by the video as well – they can associate the sound of the letter to the name of the animal that is sung and the rhythm of the song may help them remember, interpersonal is reached by the group activity of creating the book pages together, and lastly visual-spatial learners are reached with the video because they can picture the letter as well as the animal, they are also reached again when the book is read to the class – they see the animals that are drawn as well as the letter on the same page.

2.      How does this plan differ from the DID model in terms of both steps and theoretical framework?

It doesn’t differ much from the DID model other than the steps not being listed clearly as “step 1: know the learners” etc. There are clear lists of objectives, material needed, the procedures and how to execute them, and what the evaluation should entail. The only aspect, other than the steps being outlined would be the evaluation and revise of the design.

3.      Which format do you prefer? Why?

Personally, I prefer the DID format. It gives a clear outline of what I should be including in my lesson plan, how I should go about executing the lesson plan in the classroom, and it goes step by step. Sitting down to create a new lesson plan can be overwhelming when you’re starting with a blank page and have no sense of direction but the DID format gives an outline that is easily filled in with the necessities to complete the lesson plan smoothly. I really like that it gives me a chance to evaluate my classroom and how my students learn so the lesson is directed specifically towards them instead of it being generic. It also gives me a chance to list the technologies that I will need in order for the lesson plan to be successful so I can find a video, or a picture/diagram to display that will help my students without having to try to search for it last minute. Overall, I like the structured aspect of the DID format.