Lesson Plan 1
Topic/theme | Create animal alphabet book |
Age | 3-5 |
Group | Whole class |
Timing/duration | 40 minutes |
Location | indoors |
Materials/equipment | Scrap book, cut out animal alphabet letters A-Z, office glue, alphabet song, sound system, alphabet letters’ poster [All materials are safe for use, no risks] |
Existing knowledge | Children can identify and name the letters of alphabet Learners can recite the letters in alphabetical order |
Learning and teaching objectives | Ø Engage children in shared research, to find and arrange the letters of alphabet correctly Ø Enable children to work with capital and small letters Ø Children should remember animals whose names begin with various letters of alphabet |
EYLF/VEYLDF | Lesson objectives and expected outcomes meet the following VEYLDF outcomes: Outcome 1 – Children have a strong sense of identity Outcome 1.4 – Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect Outcome 1.4.2 – engage in and contribute to shared play experiences Outcome 4 - Children are confident and involved learners Outcome 4.1 - Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity Outcome 4.1.2 - are curious and enthusiastic participants in their learning Outcome 4.1.4 - follow and extend their own interests with enthusiasm, energy and concentration Outcome 4.3.2- develop an ability to mirror, repeat and practice the actions of others, either immediately or later Outcome 4.4.3 - experience the benefits and pleasures of shared learning exploration Outcome 5 - children are effective communicators Outcome 5.1 - Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes Outcome 5.4 - Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work |
Teaching process | Step 1: Tell children that the day’s lesson is about alphabets and play alphabet song to remind them of the letters of alphabet Step 2: Hold up the cut out animal alphabet letters and ask the children to name it. You can pick the letters in order or do so randomly Step 3: Let the children know that the day’s activity is about making an alphabet book. Demonstrate how they should select the letter, place the glue, and stick it to the scrap book Step 4: Allow the children to pick the alphabet letters and take turns to place them on the scrap book Step 5: Make observations of the children’s group activity to see if lesson’s objectives are being achieved |
Questioning techniques/questions (5w, how, where, what, when, who and why) | Where did you place the animal alphabet letter A? [Answer: on the first page] Why did you put the animal alphabet letter Z on the last page? [Answer: It is the last letter of the alphabet] Who found letter E or H or M, etc.? [Ask any random letters] What is the animal whose name begins with letter A or Z? [Choose any letter] When did you know that the name ‘monkey’ begins with letter ‘M’? [Answer: Today] How did you know that letter is for elephant? Ask about any letter [Answer: I saw the picture of the elephant] |
Extended learning and development | Ø Establish an inclusive learning environment - let all learners feel respected, acknowledged, and safe. Inclusive education gives equal chance for all learners to access education, irrespective of their special needs (Yoro, Fourie, & van der Merwe, 2020). Ø Adopt intentional teaching techniques for difficult topics to reinforce strong points of children with disabilities. The approach also helps to avoid environmental triggers of learning disabilities such as locations, noises, colours, and others. Zucker (2010) argued that stimulating and supportive learning environment empower children to actively participate in science adventures, literacy activities, and mathematical games. Ø Involve social interactions - pairing learners with learning issues with the more cooperative peers helps them to maintain focus Ø Incorporate visual aids such as videos and charts to attract the attention of learners with disabilities. Scott and Cogburn (2021) explained that visual aids help to break down complex academic content and enable children to understand the subjects with ease. |
Lesson Plan 2
Topic/theme | Learn about weather |
Age | 3-5 |
Group | Whole class |
Timing/duration | 40 minutes |
Location | Outdoor |
Materials/equipment | Weather charts |
Existing knowledge | Has observed environmental changes such as hot and cold days, sunshine, clouds, rain, and wind |
Learning and teaching objectives | Ø Name and identify the types of weather Ø Understand the cause of different weather forms Ø Match weather conditions with proper symbols |
Achieved EYLF/VEYLDF Outcomes | Lesson objectives and expected outcomes meet the following VEYLDF outcomes: Outcome 1 – Children have a strong sense of identity Outcome 1.4 – Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect Outcome 4 - Children are confident and involved learners Outcome 4.1 - Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity Outcome 4.1.2 - are curious and enthusiastic participants in their learning Outcome 4.1.4 - follow and extend their own interests with enthusiasm, energy and concentration Outcome 4.4- Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials Outcome 4.4.3 - experience the benefits and pleasures of shared learning exploration Outcome 5 - children are effective communicators Outcome 5.1 - Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes Outcome 5.3 - Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media |
Teaching process | Step 1: Use the first 10 minutes to introduce the topic of the day. Introduce what weather is and show the children a chart with weather names and symbols. Kindergarten children fall within Piaget’s pre-operational stage and are, thus, fond of using signs and symbols for thought presentation (Babakr, Mohamedamin, & Kakamad, 2019). The use of weather symbols will, thus, enable them to understand the lesson better. Step 2: Tell the children to look through the classroom window and say what the weather is. They should select the appropriate weather symbol and say it aloud. Step 3: Take the children outdoors. Note: this may not be possible on a rainy day. Learning outdoor helps the children feel the weather directly and match what they feel with the symbols on the weather chart. They can, for instance, tell the difference between hot and warm weather or even notice changes in wind speed based on how it sways trees. Step 4: Ensure the children notice all the weather aspects they can learn on that day. Step 5: Place children in groups and let them sit on the grass and mark all the relevant weather symbols. They should write their names on the chart and give to the teacher for marking, at the end of the lesson Step 6: Encourage the children to discuss why certain weather symbols are not applicable on the given day |
Questioning techniques/questions (5w, how, where, what, when, who and why) | What is the weather today? Who can tell us what we wear on a cold day? When do we use an umbrella? Why are the trees swaying from side to side? Where did the sun go? How do we know that it is about to rain? |
Extended learning and development | Ø Use simple lesson contents - Instructions should be easy to understand, and repeat as necessary. As Piaget emphasised, educators should make content that matches cognitive development of each one of the learners (Blake & Pope, 2008). If the teaching strategy creates chances for more learning opportunities, children can engage in discovery and acquisition of new knowledge. Ø Include visual aids - weather symbols or pictures be colourful and visually appealing to encourage interactive learning. Ø Nurture social skills like turn taking and sharing of learning resource |
Art Posters
Poster 1: My body
The activity | Learning body parts |
Duration | 20 minutes |
Group | Whole class |
Materials/equipment | Printed charts showing parts of the body, an empty poster, marker pen |
Teachers’ teaching/intentional objectives | Ø Help children understand their bodies and of others Ø Make children more intentional about using their body parts for cognitive and physical processes Ø Motivate children to strive towards maintaining healthy, strong, and safe bodies even whey they grow up |
Children’s learning opportunities | Ø Assignments that require them to name the drawn body parts. Blake and Pope (2008) argued that teachers may issue assignments to determine how the children think and use findings to modify teaching methods, so they are aligned to cognitive level of the learners Ø Class activity where a teacher comes with an empty poster and asks the children to name the parts of the body as he or she writes them |
Children’s possible existing knowledge | No existing knowledge was necessary for the success of this class. The perception is inspired by Piaget’s postulation that knowledge is not innate but develops with time as children interact with their world (Scott & Cogburn, 2021). |
Children’s possibilities of extending learning opportunities | Inclusion - Inclusive teaching involves creating of a learning environment free from distraction and conducive for children with learning disabilities (Yoro et al., 2020). Scaffolding to provide the temporary needed by the children (Zurex, Torquati & Acar, 2014). Additional strategies such as singing a body parts song or a video on the same could be used to help children memorise and remember their body parts. |
Poster 2: Class Rules
The activity | Teach children the class rules |
Duration | 20 minutes |
Group | Whole class |
Materials/equipment | Poster with class rules |
Teachers’ teaching/intentional objectives | Ø Enforce good behaviour inside the classroom by defining what is or is not appropriate behaviour Ø Promote emotional and physical safety of all learners Ø Avoid disruptions of educational experiences Ø Make children aware of what to expect from others, and even themselves |
Children’s learning opportunities | Pinned posters - children can refer to the class rules whenever necessary, hence the poster should be pinned in a strategic space within the classroom. This builds social competence by enabling children to adjust behaviours to meet the requirements of classroom rules (Hebbeler & Spiker, 2016). |
Children’s possible existing knowledge | Children could be aware that adults expect them to behave in ways that vary with the environment. Such knowledge is, however, not compulsory. |
Children’s possibilities of extending learning opportunities | Peer coaching - in groups children could discuss the rules to improve how they understand the requirements. Socio-cultural theory states that children learn when through interactions (Van de Pol, Mercer, and Volman, 2019) with more capable peers and adults. Scaffolding - relevant songs, videos, or pretend play could be used to assist children with special needs to understand the rules. Ma (2013) expects teachers to understand that early age is the best time to shape conscience and that children’s morality begins externally, meaning that they learn from the adults around them. |
Art Videos
Video 1: Everybody’s reading now by Kids TV 123, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1S9y-xO7eQ
The activity | The video contained examples of CVC words. Simple three-letter words made from a consonant, a vowel, and another consonant. |
Duration | About 5 and a half minutes (5:36) |
Group | Whole class |
Materials/equipment | CVC word video, video player |
Teachers’ teaching/intentional objectives | Ø Introduce to children the concepts around turning sounds into words Ø Engage children in a situation that requires them to apply their knowledge of letter sounds to blend the sounds and come up with a whole word Ø Enable children to build their vocabulary Ø Lay foundation for word recognition and reading fluency |
Children’s learning opportunities | The video includes pronunciation of the sounds that make up each word. Children can strengthen masterly of the concepts by referring to consonants and vowels posters in the classroom to understand the components of each word Further elaborations from the teacher help children to understand how the words are made. Hebbeler and Spiker, (2016) argued that vocabulary-rich environment strengthens children’s oral language skills. |
Children’s possible existing knowledge | Ability to differentiate consonants and vowels, though the lesson objectives do not depend on such knowledge |
Children’s possibilities of extending learning opportunities | Inclusive education - the concerns of children with special needs should be acknowledged when selecting teaching/learning resources and setting up learning environment to ensure all children can learn the concepts alongside others (Yoro et al., 2020). Scaffolding - all the extra teaching or learning methods that improve understanding of CVC words should be considered to assist learners with special needs. |
Video 2: Shapes song by the Singing Walrus,
The activity | A song about shapes |
Duration | 3 minutes and 47 seconds |
Group | Whole class |
Materials/equipment | Shapes song video, video player |
Teachers’ teaching/intentional objectives | Ø Improve children’s ability to identify and organise visual information Ø Enhance children’s skills in science, mathematics, and reading Ø Help children to differentiate between objects |
Children’s learning opportunities | The video is very engaging and a fun way for children to learn the four basic shapes. Even better, the video includes a section where children are required to participate in drawing the shapes in the air. Additional elaborations from the teacher will improve how the children understand the 2D shapes |
Children’s possible existing knowledge | Awareness of the 2D shapes, though the children may still understand the content with no prior knowledge |
Children’s possibilities of extending learning opportunities | Scaffolding could be employed to find additional ways of supporting the children (Zurex, Torquati & Acar, 2014) to learn shapes. The teacher may also give assignments to help children discuss the concepts with parents |
