Kindergarten English Language Arts Lesson Plan
Writing about Under the Sea animals
Submitted by: Amanda Hayter
Introduction
Language Arts instruction should be
based on theories and research about how children learn. Language, culture, and
technology also have an impact on how elementary students learn the language
arts, and it is equally important that students learn to read critically and
analyze the many texts they encounter. According to our text, the goal of
Language Arts instruction is for students to develop communicative competence
in the six Language Arts, which include listening, speaking, reading, writing,
viewing, and visually representing (Bright, Pollard, Tompkins, Winsor, 32). In
addition, an effective paradigm for Language Arts instruction will engage
teachers in creating a learning community in the classroom to facilitate
student development in language arts, supporting students as they learn skills
and strategies related to language arts, and teaching lessons that allow
students to apply what they are learning in listening, speaking, reading,
writing, viewing, and visually representing activities (Bright, Pollard,
Tompkins, Winsor, 36). Furthermore, it is important that teachers meet all
students’ instructional needs by providing flexibly structured programs that
can be modified as needed to ensure that all students enjoy success. To
conclude, it is particularly important that the language-learning needs of
special-needs students be met in classrooms because language development is a
very significant factor in learning in all curricular areas (Bright, Pollard,
Tompkins, Winsor, 71).
As an upcoming teacher, it is very
important that I know the students in my classroom and have the most contact
with the students. For special needs in my lesson plan, I am going to focus on
children with Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a reading disability that occurs when the
brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols, and is a
specific information processing problem that does not interfere with one's
ability to think or to understand complex ideas. Also, it may appear in
combination with developmental writing disorder and developmental arithmetic
disorder. When creating my lesson plan on writing, I will make sure that it is
a lesson that all of my students can take part in and make sure that I have
additional information and techniques to use for further instruction if needed;
the most common adaptations of instruction involve choosing resources that are
appropriate to the student, changing the nature of teacher-student interaction
to offer the assistance needed for success, and altering assignments so that
successful completion is possible (Bright, Pollard, Tompkins, Winsor, 71). It
is very important for me as an upcoming teacher to make sure that all of my
students can participate in anything we do within the classroom setting. For
all students, I will make sure that my lesson is stimulating, and is a lesson
that catches their attention right from the start. It is important that I keep
the lesson the same for all students so that I am not signaling out the student
with the special need; as teachers, it is essential that we treat all students
equally whenever possible, and provide additional instruction to all students
if it is required. It is also essential that the type of structure imposed on
the classroom will vary depending on the needs of the students. To conclude,
the key thing for us as upcoming teachers to remember is that to meet the needs
of all students, the classroom arrangement should meet the needs of the
activities that are being presented.
As an upcoming teacher, it is also
important that I take into consideration the area of assistive technology. For
the students with Dyslexia, it would be important to provide tools that present
the text as speech which will help facilitate decoding, reading fluency, and
comprehension. A great example would be audio books where the students would
have the opportunity to listen to certain texts at school and at home, and be
able to enjoy books as much as their classmates. These are some of the things that I am going
to consider when creating my lesson on Writing about Under the Sea animals, and
this would be an excellent activity to do with the students at the end of the
year to see their progress in writing.
Title of Lesson: Writing
about Under the Sea animals
Lesson of Duration: 60
minutes
Subject Area: Language
Arts; strong focus on the Writing Strand
Integrated Subject: Science
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Special Need: Dyslexia;
The student within my class will be diagnosed with Dyslexia. This student may
have trouble rhyming and separating sounds that make up spoken words.
Furthermore, because they may have difficulty connecting the sounds of language
to the letter of the words, the student may have difficulty understanding
sentences, which could pose a problem when asked to perform writing tasks such
as reading logs, as well as writing a paragraph on a chosen topic. When
creating my lesson, I will make sure that all of my students can participate
and make sure that it is an activity that keeps them actively engaged. I want
it to be a lesson that can accommodate all of my students’ needs and will take
into consideration the way the classroom is arranged, the strategies that I use
when teaching the appropriate lesson, as well as types of technology that can
benefit the students with the special need.
Outcomes: Language
Arts
General
Curriculum Outcome- Use writing and other forms of representation to explore,
clarify, and reflect of their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and learning’s;
and to use their imaginations.
Specific
Curriculum Outcome- The students will be expected to use writing and other
forms of representation to generate and organize language and ideas, and to explore
how and what they learn.
Specific
Curriculum Outcome- The students will be expected to begin to demonstrate forms
of writing and representing to convey meaning with support.
General
Curriculum Outcome- Use a range of strategies to develop effective writing and
representing and to enhance their clarity, precision, and effectiveness.
Specific
Curriculum Outcome- The students will be expected to experiment with a range of
prewriting, drafting, editing, proofreading, and presentation strategies.
Science
General
Curriculum Outcome-Observe living and nonliving things
Specific
Curriculum Outcome- The students will be expected to develop vocabulary and use
language to bring meaning to what is seen and thought. (I will use this outcome
when introducing the topic and what specific animals live under the sea).
Lesson Objective: After
instructions provided by the teacher, modeling and guided practice, students
will reflect on what they have learned about Under the Sea and do some
brainstorming to organize their ideas which they will use when writing their
paragraph consisting of three to four sentences about a favorite sea animal.
After explanation, modeling, and guided practice, I want to make sure that all
of my students understand the lesson and are able to write a paragraph about
their favorite under the sea animal on a provided worksheet (See Appendix F).
To accommodate my lesson to fit all of my students’ needs, I will make sure
that all of the instructions are very clear, and provide additional time if
necessary.
Materials and
Resources: Curriculum Guides, Teacher Demonstration
Board, Website, Pencils, Smart Board and or Overhead Projector, Compact Discs,
C.D. Player and various Under the Sea and writing process posters displayed
within the classroom.
Motivation:
I have been talking to the students for a little while about writing and Under
the Sea. Leading up to our lesson, we have spent time discussing the proper
ways of writing a paragraph including the writing process (prewriting, drafting,
and publishing). Furthermore, we spent the day before working on a paragraph as
a class using my favorite Under the Sea animal, so that the students became
more comfortable with writing their own paragraphs and got a better
understanding of what it takes to perform a piece of writing. Lastly, we spent
some time discussing what kinds of animals live Under the Sea, what animals are
their favorites, where the students then drew a picture of their favorite
animal. I will get the students to use what they know about writing along with
a drawing of their favorite Under the Sea animal (done the day before), and
write their paragraph on a worksheet provided. I will then circulate as the
students perform the task and collect the worksheets at the end.
Statement of Purpose: Once
the students are seated and it’s time to start our lesson, I will introduce the
topic for this particular lesson, along with the activities that I will do with
them to help further their understanding of writing a paragraph. As seen in the
motivation, we have previously completed a drawing and have talked about the
proper writing process that they will use to complete their piece of writing.
Activating Prior
Knowledge: To activate the students prior
knowledge, I will ask them questions such as, “Does anyone know how to properly
write a paragraph?”, Does anyone know what animals live under the sea?”, and
“What are your favorite under the sea animals?”. Asking questions such as these
will give the children an opportunity to really start thinking about the many
components for this activity, and will allow them to draw their picture as well
as write a paragraph about their favorite animal.
As the students are entering the
classroom, I will have the song entitled Under
the Sea playing in the background (See Appendix A). I believe this will get
the students interested in what we will be doing. As well as having music
playing, I will have some under the sea and writing process posters displayed throughout
the classroom (See Appendix B and C) that I can use when introducing the
activity and that the students can look back to when completing the required
task.
Once all of my students are seated
and it is time to begin our lesson, we will continue our discussion on under
the sea animals and its relevance to our writing topic. I will do a
brainstorming web to help organize our ideas as a class and will get the
students to do their own. The brainstorming web will help refresh their memory
about what we need when writing a simple paragraph (sentences to organize
ideas, rough copy, final draft) consisting of approximately three to four
sentences. During our discussion, I will share various pictures of Under the
Sea animals, as well as the proper writing process appropriate for Kindergarten
and explain to them how to properly write a paragraph using the information
they came up with about their favorite animal. This will be done on the Smart
board so that the students will be able to participate and be actively engaged
which will help further there understanding of what they have to do. In
addition, I will make sure my students are comfortable with their spelling and
the writing of sentences where they will need to write their paragraph on a
provided worksheet (See Appendix F). Once we are finished our discussion, I
will make sure that I try to get all of my students engaged in the
brainstorming web activity which will help them organize the components they
need to write their paragraph on their favorite Under the Sea animal. For the
student in my class with Dyslexia, I will make sure they are comfortable with
their writing, and provide assistive technology, as well as additional time if
needed. I want to make sure that all of my students will have fun in completing
this task and will complete it to the best of their ability.
Finally, once our discussion and
practice activity are completed, I will leave the brainstorming web along with
the various animals and component of writing on a decorative board that they
will be able to refer back to while completing the activity. I will then ask
the students to reflect on the information they have learned about under the
sea animals and the components of writing needed to write their paragraph to
then perform their own writing activity. Just before they write their own
paragraph, I will demonstrate to them
the proper way of writing a paragraph describing their favorite animal, as well
as where to properly write this piece of writing; on a provided worksheet.
While the students are looking at their pictures they previously drew and
writing their paragraphs on the provided worksheet, I will circulate and give
positive feedback, encouragement, and additional instruction if needed. I will
also make sure that my student with Dyslexia has fully understood the lesson
and make sure that she does not fall behind. I will provide them with
additional time if required, as well as assistive technology that may make
their writing process a better experience. It is essential to make sure that I
treat her the same and provide her with the same instructions, however it may
be necessary to provide her with some assistive technology, where writing may
be a concern for students with Dyslexia. At the end of the lesson, and once all
of the students have their paragraphs complete, I will ask some of the students
if they would like to share their pieces of writing. To conclude, I will
collect the completed worksheets from the students, and place them in
individual folders to see if all my students understood the writing process.
I will go back over the components
needed for writing (rough copy, final draft) along with information they could
possibly use when writing their paragraphs. I will then ask the students to
take a look at our descriptive board and read our main points that we have
talked about. I will then spend a few minutes asking the students questions
such as “Do you know how to properly write a paragraph?”, and give them the
opportunity to ask me questions if they need to clarify any of the information
we had discussed.
Guided Practice:
After our discussion about writing,
I will get my students involved in a writing activity as a practice component
before they go ahead and perform their own. On the Smart Board or overhead projector,
I will write down the topic along with the required components as well as
engage them in an interactive game about organizing their thoughts when
writing. I will get the students to reflect on everything we have discussed
about under the sea animals and the writing process. In doing this activity, I
will be able to make sure that all of my students understand how to properly
write a paragraph before they continue to do their own. Most importantly, I
will make sure that all of my students are engaged in this activity of guided
practice. As said above, I will ensure that this activity is very interesting
and relevant to the students. I want to ensure that all of my students
understand the material and will modify the curriculum if needed.
Independent Practice:
The students will reflect on what
they have learned about under the sea animals and the writing process and
complete their own piece of writing. As my students and writing their own
paragraphs on the provided worksheet, I will walk around the classroom making
sure that all of my students are understanding what they need to do and I will
provide positive feedback and encouragement. If I see that some of my students
do not fully understand or are not completely focused on the task, I will
provide some additional instruction to scaffold the learning for them. I will
definitely provide encouragement to all of my students to do the best they can.
As said above, if I notice that some of my students are not fully
understanding, are distracted by other things, or are having trouble with their
writing, I will reflect on my teaching of the lesson and adjust my guidance and
assistance to fit my students current performance levels.
Assessment Plan:
During out discussion time, I will
observe the ideas the students have given me about their previous knowledge of
sea animals and the brainstorming webs that they have created to organize the
components needed to write a paragraph. During this observation, I will have a
checklist with all of their names and keep track of who may need some
additional instruction before they continue writing their paragraphs. This
checklist will include all of their names, along with the points I want them to
understand when completing their activity and is an excellent form of
assessment to use for all of my students. These will include things such as are their
letters on the line, are there proper spaces between their words, are their
sentences making sense, and is their spelling correct. I am going to have the
students complete their writing on that day, so if I notice that some students
need additional instruction, I will have a mini lesson plan ready to further
demonstrate through the guided practice. Once I feel that all of my students
understand, I will get them to continue writing their paragraphs consisting of
three to four sentences on their favorite under the sea animal.
Closure:
Closure:
The students will pick their
favorite under the sea animal and write a paragraph. I will collect all of the
worksheets that I provided to them at the completion of the activity. Once the
activity is completed, we will have a little celebration where we will decorate
the classroom accordingly and listen to the song Under the Sea. Once all the students have completed their piece of
writing and we have finished our discussion, I will collect them and place them
in individual folders. Since this is an activity that I would do at the end of
the year, I will be able to see the progress of writing from each of my
students. I will then let the students know that tomorrow we are going to look
at other things that are found “Under the Sea”. This will conclude our lesson
for the day and get them motivated to come to school tomorrow.
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