I am very impressed with the Electric Company on PBS. Just as Sid the Science Kid teaches young children about science, the Electric Company teaches young children about literacy and the creative process. Each episode has a problem the Electric crew must solve. It stresses using the combined talents of your friends to work on a problem together.
They present different phonics concepts and the writers use metacognation to explain ideas like detail, character traits and conflict in a story plot. The show also uses this as a way to teach vocabulary. And, the show is programed like Sesame Street so children as young as two can watch and learn something. The idea of having short segments that teach one idea and then move on to something else is ideal for young children who have short attention spans.
PBS has other children's programing dedicated to expanding vocabulary. Martha Speaks and WordGirl are good examples.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
My New Website
I have created a new website called Lesson Plans for Teachers. Below is the link:
http://lessonplans.webs.com/
The site offers a my research ideas, reproducable assignments, forums for discussion, feedback forms, member sign-in, a blog and a place for photos and videos.
http://lessonplans.webs.com/
The site offers a my research ideas, reproducable assignments, forums for discussion, feedback forms, member sign-in, a blog and a place for photos and videos.
Vacation Bible School
My daughter and I were listening to the Discovery Canyon Music CD this morning. I was the storyteller for that Vacation Bible School program last year. Each day had a different lesson about Jesus and an activity to go with it. The two I really ran with were the Canyon Rescue and the TV News Story on Jesus.
The lesson for the Canyon Rescue was "working together." The pews in the sanctuary were perfect canyon walls. I created obstacles for the kids to get past before they could get to the stuffed animal that was the creature they were rescuing. They all had to work together with the given materials to get over each obstacle. I lined the children up like a bucket line and they passed the materials down to the ones at the front. I created a river from blue blankets and a hill or "rock fall" from several chairs. We used ropes, flashlights, poster board to represent a boat to get across the river. I used a large piece of wood as a backboard for the "injured" stuffed animal and a table worked as the EMS vehicle.
The lesson for the TV News Story on Jesus was "Spreading the Word." The kids played out the scene of Jesus healing the sick girl as if there was a live T.V News crew broadcasting the story. My helpers and I had a great time making the props. We had a fake video camera, microphone and noise makers for the cheering crowd. Several children really enjoyed playing the T.V. news correspondent who narrated the action.
The lesson for the Canyon Rescue was "working together." The pews in the sanctuary were perfect canyon walls. I created obstacles for the kids to get past before they could get to the stuffed animal that was the creature they were rescuing. They all had to work together with the given materials to get over each obstacle. I lined the children up like a bucket line and they passed the materials down to the ones at the front. I created a river from blue blankets and a hill or "rock fall" from several chairs. We used ropes, flashlights, poster board to represent a boat to get across the river. I used a large piece of wood as a backboard for the "injured" stuffed animal and a table worked as the EMS vehicle.
The lesson for the TV News Story on Jesus was "Spreading the Word." The kids played out the scene of Jesus healing the sick girl as if there was a live T.V News crew broadcasting the story. My helpers and I had a great time making the props. We had a fake video camera, microphone and noise makers for the cheering crowd. Several children really enjoyed playing the T.V. news correspondent who narrated the action.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Antique Mall
So I went to an antique mall this morning with a friend and we saw an amazing variety of furniture, jewelry, clothes, china and wall art. It was after I saw the second oriental apothocary drawer set that I decided this would be a great place to take children to learn about their world and their country's history.
Mom's who home school, listen up. Here is my field trip lesson idea:
Age group: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th graders (no more than three students per adult)
Subject: American History, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century
Lesson Objective: The student will be able to explain how technologies have changed American lifestyles over the last one hundred and fifty years.
Materials: notepad and pencil for each student. Internet pictures
Motivation: Show students pictures of people using household objects in each decade from 1850 to the present. "Ask what are these people doing and what are they using?""What technologies today have made that item obsolete?"
Teaching procedures: The teacher will explain that being able to identify items from different time periods based on what technologies they use will give the student a better understanding of how new technologies can change our daily lives. Having an understanding of how new technologies change will prepare students for changes in their future. The teacher will show the students different items in the shop that represent different time periods. For example, old sea chests, cooking ware, old coins, grandfather clocks and letter desks, crank operated sewing machines. She will explain how the materials used and ornamentation can indicate the time period it was made. She will mention what materials became more readily available to families in different time periods (tin, aluminum, wood, plastic) . She will explain what technology is utilized and what replaced that item later in history.
Background knowledge: Discuss what technologies we use today and when they were discovered. Talk about old movies the students have seen and what the furniture and kitchen items looked like.
Demonstration: The teacher will chose a piece of furniture at the shop, read the tag, discuss what time period it was probably used in, what technology is uses and what technology replaced it. She will write the information in her journal. She will look it over for clues about when it was made such as if it is made from plastic, wood, metal and if it has artistic features that are not currently popular.
Questions for understanding: What kind of furniture would we use today to replace that item? What would it be made from?
Guided practice:The student explores the antique shop and writes down the name of fifteen objects that represent different time periods in American history from the last one hundred and fifty years. The student writes what those objects were used for and who used them in their journal.
Closure: Review the technologies and furniture items that were discussed. Be sure to recap which technology came before another. Ask "How can a new technology change our daily lives?" "Give an example of one household item that has been replaced or affected by new technologies." "How will knowledge of change help you to deal with change in the future?"
Extension: When the students finish the trip, they must look up each item name online and record what years they were used and order their item list chronologically.
Modification for Special Education students: For students who can't write, have them explain verbally what they think the item is used for and who used it. Ask them how other people adapted to change and how they might adapt to change.
Mom's who home school, listen up. Here is my field trip lesson idea:
Age group: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th graders (no more than three students per adult)
Subject: American History, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century
Lesson Objective: The student will be able to explain how technologies have changed American lifestyles over the last one hundred and fifty years.
Materials: notepad and pencil for each student. Internet pictures
Motivation: Show students pictures of people using household objects in each decade from 1850 to the present. "Ask what are these people doing and what are they using?""What technologies today have made that item obsolete?"
Teaching procedures: The teacher will explain that being able to identify items from different time periods based on what technologies they use will give the student a better understanding of how new technologies can change our daily lives. Having an understanding of how new technologies change will prepare students for changes in their future. The teacher will show the students different items in the shop that represent different time periods. For example, old sea chests, cooking ware, old coins, grandfather clocks and letter desks, crank operated sewing machines. She will explain how the materials used and ornamentation can indicate the time period it was made. She will mention what materials became more readily available to families in different time periods (tin, aluminum, wood, plastic) . She will explain what technology is utilized and what replaced that item later in history.
Background knowledge: Discuss what technologies we use today and when they were discovered. Talk about old movies the students have seen and what the furniture and kitchen items looked like.
Demonstration: The teacher will chose a piece of furniture at the shop, read the tag, discuss what time period it was probably used in, what technology is uses and what technology replaced it. She will write the information in her journal. She will look it over for clues about when it was made such as if it is made from plastic, wood, metal and if it has artistic features that are not currently popular.
Questions for understanding: What kind of furniture would we use today to replace that item? What would it be made from?
Guided practice:The student explores the antique shop and writes down the name of fifteen objects that represent different time periods in American history from the last one hundred and fifty years. The student writes what those objects were used for and who used them in their journal.
Closure: Review the technologies and furniture items that were discussed. Be sure to recap which technology came before another. Ask "How can a new technology change our daily lives?" "Give an example of one household item that has been replaced or affected by new technologies." "How will knowledge of change help you to deal with change in the future?"
Extension: When the students finish the trip, they must look up each item name online and record what years they were used and order their item list chronologically.
Modification for Special Education students: For students who can't write, have them explain verbally what they think the item is used for and who used it. Ask them how other people adapted to change and how they might adapt to change.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Science Education on PBS
My daughter likes to watch Sid the Science Kid on PBS. I am impressed with the way the show is structured to teach children the scientific method. In each show Sid makes a brief observation that he formulates into a question. For example, in one show he is rushing to clean his room and he finds he is breathing hard so he asks "Where does the air go?" He always does a survey in which he asks his classmates what they think and he talks about the results. Then, the teacher does "Rug time" where she teaches a lesson on the topic and they all go to the "Super Fab Lab" to do experiments. After they experiment, they draw observations in their journals. The kids all go out to play and reenact the concepts they learned. When Sid's grandmother drives him home, she tells Sid a story about what she did in her youth that is related to that science concept. Then, before Sid goes to bed, he comes up with a Super Duper New Idea that applies the concept into a device that people can use.
The show has many of the steps in Bloom's Taxonomy. The Super Duper Big idea is the synthesis part, the Super Fab Lab is the comprehension and analysis part, the playtime is the application part because they frequently solve problems at playtime, and the Circle time is the comprehension part.
Parts of the scientific method are there to: observe something (breathing hard), come up with a question(where does the air go), gather data(the Sid survey), test the hypothesis (Super Fab Lab), record the data( Journaling).
Dinosaur Train on PBS also teaches science. Usually one of the little dinosaurs has a question and the mother takes them on the train to meet other dinosaurs who can answer it. The little dinosaur Buddy always says "I have a hypothesis..." and the hypothesis is tested by gathering information from interviews with other dinosaurs. The show discusses lots of different dinosaur species, what features they have, and what those features are used for.
It is amazing to consider the sophisticated concepts that are being taught in shows intended for children that are two years and up.
The show has many of the steps in Bloom's Taxonomy. The Super Duper Big idea is the synthesis part, the Super Fab Lab is the comprehension and analysis part, the playtime is the application part because they frequently solve problems at playtime, and the Circle time is the comprehension part.
Parts of the scientific method are there to: observe something (breathing hard), come up with a question(where does the air go), gather data(the Sid survey), test the hypothesis (Super Fab Lab), record the data( Journaling).
Dinosaur Train on PBS also teaches science. Usually one of the little dinosaurs has a question and the mother takes them on the train to meet other dinosaurs who can answer it. The little dinosaur Buddy always says "I have a hypothesis..." and the hypothesis is tested by gathering information from interviews with other dinosaurs. The show discusses lots of different dinosaur species, what features they have, and what those features are used for.
It is amazing to consider the sophisticated concepts that are being taught in shows intended for children that are two years and up.
Intro
This is a blog on teaching methods I have used and observed. Many good ideas are discussed among teachers in the hallway, between classes and in the lounge. I want to have a record of the ideas that have crossed my path.
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