I am not sure that I understood checking for understanding. I always thought this meant the test at the end of the unit or the lesson. It will be hard for me to move complete away from this way of thinking. I do not feel that all test have to be formal but I do feel that I have to have a way of evaluating and documenting what they know.
Dr. Steffes discussed using temperature checks. I think that these would work great as you are teaching the unit but not as a full disclosure of understanding.
Which Part will be easy?
I think that the easiest part for me will be guided practice. I work with pre-school students now and this is always my favorite part of the day. This is when I get to see the students show me what I have modeled for them. I get to guide them during this time and I find it very rewarding.
Which part has the most impact on the students?
Probable the Anticipatory Set has the most impact. The Anticipatory Set grabs their attention, it gets them ready and excited to learn, it helps them create the connections to make it worth learning. With out the Anticipatory Set you will loose many of your students before you even get started.
Which part plays a lesser role and why?
This might just be for me but to me the part of the lesson that I could almost skip would be materials. It is not because I don't want to be organized. It is not because I have every thing that I could possible need at my disposal. It is because when working with preschoolers even the best laid plans wont really matter. My motto is keep it simple on materials and I just might make it through. Do you plan on seeing what happens when you mix glue and corn starch together? Awesome guess what at least one kid is going to pee them self even if you just had a restroom break. That is okay though because glue and starch do not go bad (at least not for a long time) and you can do the lesson tomorrow instead. Plan on making hay stack cookies for The Three Little Pigs (Homes) Unit? Awesome but guess what even though a note went home the week before with the words PEANUT in bold letters and a medical form went home at the beginning of the school year requesting documentation of allergies one of your children are going to EXCLAIM! My Mom Said That I Will Die If I Eat or Get Near Peanuts! What? Where was that allergy alert parents? So for me materials is a finicky friend.
Great post! I absolutely love the pictures. I think I really like the Madeline Hunter lesson plan design. It made me think a lot more deeply about are the students learning and how can I make my lesson better. There are always ways to make it better with the given information.
ReplyDeleteI agree I think that I am going to like the Madeline Hunter lesson plan design too. It looks really easy to follow and will help me keep all of the important areas in mind. I also think that they would be easy to convert into sub plans. I think that I am going to look into doing this for the days that I am going to be out for my observation hours. I usually write up these step by step bullet points that take me for ever. I have had subs that seem to need them because they can't seem to figure out the most basic of things but I am sure that other subs probable think that I am controlling.
DeleteI love your pictures! But I agree fully on the materials part, usually teachers have certain things they need there in the classroom. I’m sure there may be things that you miss or forget but it’s not the end of the world and if you catch it soon enough you can change your plans around. I also really like the guided practice because then you really get a feel for the students understanding of what you showed them.
ReplyDeleteThis is Kim BTW
DeleteI really enjoyed your pictures as well! I think anticipatory set does have a lot of impact on the students in the sense that it grabs their attention right away.
ReplyDelete