Johanna Busch
Lesson Planning
After mapping out daily objectives in a unit plan, I create daily lesson plans based on these objectives. Writing specific, well organized lesson plans allow me to ensure that daily learning activities align to my curriculum, objective and standards. Planning out concise key points forces me to keep my instruction clear and to the point for students. Furthermore, scripting questions in my lesson plans encourages me to ask deep questions that require students to use critical thinking skills and develop a conceptual understanding around the content we are learning.
Daily Lesson Planning
This lesson shows a full group math lesson introducing students to representing and interpreting data using bar graphs as part of our measurement and data unit. This lesson plan follows the same pattern as most of my whole group math lessons. First, there is an attention grabbing introduction to our daily objective. In this lesson, students tasted three different colors of apples and then colored in a blank apple the color of their favorite one and taped it to a class data table. Next, there is a short mini lesson. In this case, I briefly introduced students to the parts of a bar graph and modeled representing data on a bar graph. Then, during the guided practice, students finished representing our class apple preference data on a bar graph and answered differentiated interpretation questions. For the independent practice, students collected their own data about ice cream flavor preferences in our class. Students independently created bar graphs and answered interpretation questions. Finally, I end every lesson with a share and debrief where students are able to share and reflect on what they have learned.
This lesson was very successful because directions and expectations for each section were incredibly clear for myself and students. Students knew what the objective was and how to tell if they were achieving it. Furthermore, this lesson engaged student's by relating to their own lives by telling them that "Aubrey's grandma wants to bake a pie but doesn't know what color to use" and connecting it to a planned PBIS ice cream social. Students also were allowed a lot of choice. They got to choose their favorite apple, which questions they wanted to answer, and which students they wanted to survey about ice cream flavors.
Here is an example of a full group math lesson plan.
Here is the powerpoint slide that I used to introduce the daily learning target. Student read the learning target out-loud and then we circled the important words together.
Here is the powerpoint slide that I used to introduce a bar graph. A printout of this card was then added to our class word wall.
Below is a close up of the accommodations and modifications section of this lesson plan. Students were grouped based on individual needs. Exit tickets were also differentiated. Students who demonstrated more advanced data analysis and graphing skills received a more challenging set of questions than others. I also list the individual IEP and 504 accommodations and modifications in every lesson plan. During this lesson, ones of these students was given a break before completing the exit ticket to help him maintain focus. Another student was able to demonstrate his graph analysis skills using red, green, and yellow crayons instead of having to write the names of colors when answering questions on the independent practice. These accommodations make high academic achievement accessible for all of my students.
This is an example of student work from the guided practice portion of this lesson. The student represented the class data using a bar graph and answered differentiated interpretation questions.
This image shows a bulletin board displaying graphs students created during the independent portion of this lesson. Students surveyed their classmates about their favorite ice cream flavor, represented the data in a bar graph, and interpreted the data.
Here is a slideshow showcasing student work from the independent practice portion of this lesson. Students meaningfully applied what they learned by asking their classmates about their favorite ice cream flavors and graphing and interpreting the results.
This is the data collection table of a student with on target math abilities. This student surveyed classmates and recorded data about their favorite ice cream flavors.
This is the independent work of a student with on target math abilities. The student was able to properly represent the data she collected and answer interpretation questions.
This is an image of students collecting data. Students recorded information about their classmates' favorite ice cream flavors during the independent practice portion of this lesson plan.
This is the data collection table of a student with on target math abilities. This student surveyed classmates and recorded data about their favorite ice cream flavors.
Three Act Math Tasks
Though most of my math lessons are based on our curriculum's objectives, I periodically plan different types of lessons to keep students engaged and give them opportunities to apply information they know to new situations. One way that I do this is through Three Act Math Tasks. These tasks closely align with my classroom vision, for students to become persevering problem solvers. While many lessons in our curriculum tell students what problem they need to solve, Three Act Math Tasks give my students an opportunity to figure out what the problem is before solving it. Identifying a problem and then deciding how to solve it is a cross-disciplinary skill that I reinforce for students by completing one Three Act Math Task (which may or may not closely align to unit objectives) at the end of every unit. These images and this video were taken from https://gfletchy.com/the-cookie-monster/.
Here is a lesson plan for a 3 Act Math Task around subtraction that students completed. Students watched a video about a monster eating cookies. They then identified what they noticed and what they wondered about. As a class, we came to a consensus around one question we wanted to answer. Students then used the information they noticed to answer the question in groups. Finally, students shared their problem solving strategies with each other.
Students first watch this video. Unlike math problems from our curriculum, this video requires students to think about what they notice and wonder about. Identifying key details and problems are important skills in reading comprehension. Connecting these skills to a video math problem reinforces their importance and strengthens students abilities in multiple disciplines.
Most students were given the above picture to determine how many cookies were in the package before the monster ate any.
A few students with advanced reading and math skills were given the above image of an Oreo package label. These students needed to apply their reading and critical thinking skills to figure out how many Oreos were in the box. Differentiating these images made this 3 Act task challenging for all my students.
After watching the video and deciding on their question, students said they needed to know how many cookies were in the package at the beginning and how many cookies were left at the end to figure out how many cookies were eaten. To differentiate this lesson, students were given different images based on math level to use to figure out how many cookies were in the package at the beginning.
Next, students were given the picture on the left showing how many Oreos remained after the monster ate some. Students had to apply problem solving skills to figure out how many cookies were eaten.
Below are two student recording sheets. Students worked in groups to record what they noticed, wondered, and the question that our class decided to answer. The students then made a low and high estimate and listed information they needed to know to answer the question. Finally, students used the back of the paper to show their groups' work in solving the problem. By planning to provide different images for students of different math levels, I provided a rigorous academic challenge for students on various math levels.
The above example represents the work of most students who received the easier Oreo picture. Many of these students represented the problem as a drawing and crossed out the Oreos that were removed in the second picture.
The above example represents the work of a student with more advanced math skills who received Oreo nutrition label instead of the picture of the package. This student represented the problem using a subtraction equation and subtracted in parts to solve.
Morning Meeting
Lesson planning extends beyond planning for academic content. Creating daily morning meeting plans creates a positive classroom culture. I know that my students are young and that many of them have experience trauma. Because of this, it is important to plan a daily morning meeting that follows a consistent, predictable schedule to give my students the sense of safety that they need to be successful. I use what I know about my students to inform my morning meeting lesson plans. I want to make morning meeting a time where students can share and create connections with others.
Here is an example of a morning meeting lesson plan. Students first greet each other with a chant. Next, students participate in an activity. In this case, students did a brain themed meditation. Next, students shared which habitat they would want to visit. Finally, students read a morning message and reviewed our classroom norms.
Greeting
Here is a greeting chant that we often start morning meeting with. I plan this chant because I know my young students are very engaged by music. Furthermore, saying students names during the chant makes them feel valued and like they are an important part of the class. This chant helps students feel comfortable and excited to learn. Click the button below to hear one of our greeting songs.
Meditation
Daily meditation during morning meeting helps students calm down and get focused for learning. I plan daily meditation because I know many of my students have a difficult time calming down. Many of my students tell me that their mornings or houses can be loud and chaotic. I plan a quiet, active meditation for every morning meeting so that students can take a few minutes to think and get centered. This supports students who are working on socio-emotional skills in developing the skills they need to focus on their own academic and behavioral growth.
This picture shows students meditating during morning meeting. Students are encouraged to get comfortable and either close their eyes or watch calming pictures on the Smartboard as meditation music plays.
This picture shows a student making a brain with his fists during meditation. Students wiggle different parts of their brains to "wake them up." This connects meditation to material that students have learned in science lessons.
Morning Message
The daily morning message prepares students for what to expect for the day. I plan in opportunities to inform students about schedule changes or other events because I know that many of my students who have experienced trauma thrive when class is predictable. The morning message is also an opportunity to review content and emphasize traits of good writing.
Here is the morning message powerpoint that the student leader annotated on our smart board. The student underlined uppercase letters, periods and question marks to reinforce what good sentences start and end with.
Here is a picture of a student leading the morning message. I know my students thrive when they are given opportunities to show leadership, so I plan in roles for them to play during morning meeting. This student is underlining proper nouns in the morning message. She will then lead the class in reading the message out loud.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I plan for instruction that supports every student by creating daily lesson plans that are aligned to the objectives in my unit plans. I create engaging full group daily lesson plans, which use topics students care about (such as PBIS ice cream incentives) to connect them to rigorous content standards. I also plan cross-disciplinary lesson plans, such as Three Act Math Tasks, which draw on resources outside of my curriculum to connect reading, math, and everyday problem solving skills. Finally, I plan daily morning meetings to help young students feel safe in the classroom and ready to learn. These daily lesson planning practices help my students achieve the big goals laid out in my long term plan.