Lesson Plan Unit/Topic:

Imagine by Alison Lester 2nd Lesson Types of nouns, and adjectives

Date:

23rd May, 2012

Key Learning Area:

Year Level: Year 2

Outcomes: Language Expressing and Developing Ideas: Understand that nouns represent people, places, things and ideas
and can be, for example, common, proper, concrete or abstract, and that noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives - ACELA1468 (The Australian Curriculum, www.acara.edu/au/curriculum/ retreived 8th March 2011, page 21). Exploring texts and identifying nouns that refer to characters, elements of the setting, and ideas Exploring illustrations and noun groups/phrases in picture books to identify how the participants have been represented by an illustrator. Building extended noun groups/phrases that provide a clear description of an item.

LESSON OUTCOME:
(Key Knowledge and Skills students should achieve in the lesson taken from relevant curriculum documents.)
2nd lesson (Procedural Knowledge able to do) Children will be able to identify nouns and elaborate on their qualities to use describing words in a scene from Alison Lesters Imagine. Children will be able to write and stretch sentences about a character of their choice and its environment using adjectives to describe nouns. Extension: Children will be able to identify adjectives and nouns in their sentences by underlining each in a different colour and writing more sentences. Extension: Children will be able to extend their knowledge by reading their sentences to a friend or the class. (Declarative Knowledge knows or understands) Children will know that nouns represent people, places and things. Children will know that nouns can be grouped by types (ie people, places, things) Children will know that nouns have different qualities. Children will know that adjectives are describing words and can be used to describe nouns. Students will use their knowledge of the basic conventions of punctuation and writing to construct and expand

LESSON STRUCTURE: Time Introduction (Set): Teaching Approaches

eg DOL strategies, grouping strategies Class splits into two groups for rotations with discussion time on the mat, then students to work separately to complete sentences at desks. NT Graduate Standards covered: 1.3, 2.4, 3.2, 3.3, 6.2, 7.3, 8.2, 8.3. Scaffold lower literacy students ideas and written exercise. Extension work will be to underline adjectives and nouns and write more sentences. Some children can read theirs to the class (time permitting) Dol 1 Dol 2, 3, 5

2nd lesson PST will orchestrate both lessons with half class rotations back-toback. Organise students as a group on the mat and give overview of nouns and adjectives and types of nouns identified in previous lesson. PST to read a page/scene to explore from Imagine by Alison Lester. Show scene on interactive whiteboard (by importing image to desktop). PST will organise a space on the mat and will elect a student to roll the dice to establish what we will explore on the scene (ie who, what or where - eg what the ocean, who the fish). This student will identify their selected noun by drawing a circle around it on the IWB. Then have the children elaborate on the qualities (adjectives) to describe the fish. What does it look like? Where does it live? What else can you describe in the scene? Write ideas on the whiteboard Choose another student to roll the dice, select a noun, circle it on the IWB, give adjectives to describe it and expand on other events in the scene. Then stretch into a sentence to show students how to extend and refine knowledge and use it meaningfully. Eg One: I saw a fish. I saw a friendly, colourful fish. I saw a friendly

1.20pm

Dol 2, 3

1.35pm

and colourful fish splashing in the blue ocean. He was playing with an orange and white fish [and] they were hiding behind some green seaweed. Explain to them that using joining words helps to make sentences interesting. Eg Two: I saw a dolphin. I saw a friendly, silver dolphin playing in the curly, blue waves. He was playing with a funny, wobbly jellyfish and a big, grey shark Explain to the children that they will choose a character from the scene on the IWB and write two or more interesting sentences to describe their character. Sentence starters can be: I saw OR Suggest that they can imagine they are the character and can start a sentence with: I am .. Give other examples on the whiteboard if necessary with sentence starters, eg: I am .. a friendly and colourful fish. My home is a smooth, round shell and I like to sleep under a blanket of soft, green seaweed. I play with happy, silver dolphins and squishy, wobbly jellyfish. I stay away from cranky, slippery eels and scary sharks. Guide them with questions like: What are you doing?, Who are you with? Where are you? What else is around you that you can describe (using adjectives)? Get children set up at desks with a colour photocopy of a scene from Imagine to help them develop their ideas. Allocate a jumble of describing words on each table to assist them. Lead pencils, rubbers, lined pieces of paper and coloured textas will be supplied. Encourage children to use a joining word to combine two ideas. Remind them to use a capital letter for new sentences and a full stop at the end of each sentence. Spaces between words and commas should be used to separate lists of things (adjectives). Ext: Children will underline all adjectives in one colour and nouns in another. Ext: Children will write more sentences or share their sentences with a friend or the class (time permitting) Rove the room to observe and scaffold childrens work if necessary.

Dol 4, 5

Dol 3, 4

Time 1.45pm

Conclusion: Reiterate what we have learnt today Identified types of nouns, ie, animal, person, place or thing. Identified describing words (adjectives) to describe nouns. Written sentences about a character and scene using adjectives to describe nouns. Children to hand in worksheets, pencils, etc. Get ready for rotation.

Teaching Approaches Dol 2, 3, 4

1.48pm

RESOURCES
(Include equipment required for class and/or for teacher preparation) Australian Curriculum NT Graduate Standards Classroom facilities: Computer/interactive whiteboard Whiteboard Imagine by Alison Lester 15 x photocopies of a scene from Alison Lester Adjective cards USB Lead pencils Lined paper Erasers Sharpener Textas

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS/MATERIALS
Usual classroom etiquette will apply. Ensure all children are contained as a group on the floor whilst listening to the story and follow instructions when moving to desks.

ASSESSMENT
Informal Contribution to group discussion. Q&A time on the mat. Observations of sentences Children sharing their sentences with friends or the class (time permitting) Formal Completion of two or more sentences using adjectives to describe nouns and underlining nouns and adjectives in different colours.

REFLECTION
Pre Reflection 22nd May, 2012 I will check that the interactive whiteboard is working prior to the lesson and spend less time on the introduction phase, instead moving quickly to the body of the lesson where children will start to identify nouns and adjectives to describe the scene from Alison Lesters Imagine on the IWB. I am hoping that the information and work I have planned will fit into a 30 minute lesson comfortably and will ensure that I set the timer for midway during the lesson to prompt me to move the children to desks for the written task. This will give the children around 15 mins to write their sentences, underline nouns and adjectives, have some of them read their work to the class, and pack up. Again I hope to engage students during the group discussion and will endeavour to have all children participate on some level. I will also ensure that I create a supportive and encouraging environment for the children so they feel safe to contribute their knowledge and ideas in a social context. It is important to provide more examples of sentence starters and complete sentences in order for the children to understand what is required in their written task. I hope to jot down some observations on a few of the children as well in order to better gauge their understanding of the subject matter, however I will also be able to ascertain this by observing their contributions in the group discussion and their written task. I will need to be mindful of lesson transition and hope to plan for this more effectively and efficiently this time. I believe that this lesson should adequately address the outcome. Post Reflection 26th May, 2012 The main outcome of this lesson was for children to be able to develop and express ideas about types of nouns in the story, Imagine, by Alison Lester. Children then expanded on the illustrations of nouns using adjectives to stretch sentences. This outcome was achieved well with all but two children completing at least one sentence to describe a noun of their choice from the story. Particularly helpful in achieving this outcome was the group discussion time when children were asked to select a noun from the scene shown on the IWB, categorise the type of noun and use adjectives to describe a person, animal, place or thing. Modelling examples on the whiteboard of how to incorporate this knowledge in an interesting sentence helped to illustrate how to use this information meaningfully. In this lesson I gave only a brief overview of our previous lesson and moved swiftly towards the body of the lesson so that we had more time for discussion and the written task. According to my mentor there was a good balance between revision, activities and movement in the class and good interaction between myself and students throughout the lesson. I set down brief expectations of behaviour at the beginning of the lesson and addressed any issues as they arose to keep children on task. Unfortunately, in the first rotation group, I forgot to set my timer and the children didnt have the opportunity to complete their written task, however they certainly had ample time to discuss sorting nouns into types and adjectives to describe the nouns. Timing for the second rotation group was so much better and students had more time to exercise their knowledge in constructing and stretching sentences. Ive also made a note of getting resources back from students (such as the dice used for this lesson) so they dont continue to fidget and be distracted by them. Including animal as a type of noun at this stage in the childrens learning was helpful even though it doesnt strictly fall under person, place or thing. Explaining that animals and people can have different qualities, both physical and emotional, also assisted with children expanding on the number of adjectives they could contribute to describe nouns. Although I had attempted to have all equipment tested and ready for the lesson, ongoing technical difficulties with the interactive aspect of the white board meant that children were unable to circle nouns for others to see, so instead I asked them to come to the IWB and point to the noun. Writing up the adjectives myself to describe nouns on the whiteboard saved

time, but I still had children participate by deciding which noun we would discuss, how the type of noun would be classified, and to verbalise adjectives to describe the nouns which I wrote on the whiteboard board for them to see. Together we then made up several sentences using these words and children were asked to identify the nouns and adjectives which I highlighted by underlining adjectives and circling nouns. Even though children were given a photocopy of a scene from the story, and I had written examples of sentences on the whiteboard, my mentor teacher suggested I also write a list of nouns on the whiteboard that children could choose from to write their sentences. In particular, this helped the slow to start children by giving clear examples of some nouns they could use. Not all children felt comfortable with using joining words to extend their sentences further and I realised that many of the girls were suitably challenged to finish a basic sentence with just one adjective to describe their noun. Next time I will ask those children to write one really good sentence, rather than two average ones. This would have been especially appropriate and beneficial for girls in the lower literacy groups so as not to overwhelm them. I think seating these girls with better abled students would help with peer tutoring too. Perhaps by reconstructing and deconstructing their attempts at sentence structure verbally prior to writing might scaffold their learning in a more effective way and help with their confidence. Many of the girls used the adjective words I supplied on their desks to give them inspiration whilst others werent content without having been allocated perfectly matched adjectives to describe their chosen noun which was pre-empted as I wanted the girls to think of a variety of ways to describe their nouns. I noted some brief observations on some of the students but many children required scaffolding when writing their sentences so I was unable to attend to this in much detail. It was clear from assessing childrens written tasks that some of the girls would benefit greatly from scaffolding this topic of work further one-on-one or in a small group activity so I can really focus on working within their zone of proximal development to close gaps in their knowledge. Upon reflection I think that the girls could have worked in pairs to practice reading their sentences as many of them left their desks to share their sentences with me. I could also have asked rather than selected certain girls to share their sentences with the class. One student in particular was very shy and unable to read her sentence aloud to the class. To ease the burden I offered for her to read a friends work but this was still too overwhelming for her. The reflection phase of the lesson could have been better had it been done on the mat as a group which would have given the opportunity for children to refocus, reconnect, share and consolidate their learning as well as an opportunity for me to give an overview of the lesson. A cohesive group also allows for an easier lesson transition. Supplying all the materials including pencils, rubbers, lined paper saved time considering the lesson was held in the library and not their classroom, although I did forget to supply coloured textas so that the girls could highlight which words were nouns and which were adjectives. As an alternative children underlined their adjectives and circled their nouns as I did on the whiteboard however more than half of the children didnt complete this part of the task. I felt that this lesson provided a good mix of social and emotional learning for students as they had to play by the rules during discussion time by raising their hands, waiting for turns, contributing and sharing ideas, as well as sharing materials amongst themselves at their desks. The encouragement, support and scaffolding they received from me during this learning experience also helped to cultivate these important aspects of development.

Link to Social and Emotional Development Explain the way we plan and implement a particular lesson. Identify how the lesson supports the development of the students in the class. Relevant and accurate information about social and emotional development related to the lesson. Links to pedagogy. These lesson plans provide group and paired activities to benefit social and emotional, as well as cognitive, development. Although this lesson is tailored to help children achieve curriculum outcomes and strengthen mental abilities, such as attention, reasoning, memory, language, literacy skills, imagination and creativity, it will also give children opportunities to develop their emotional intelligence which greatly improves academic and life success. (Berk, 2009, p.325, p.624). In order to alleviate restlessness, I have catered for this age group by shaking things up for them so they can enjoy learning through different media, and zones in the room. Mat time will be used for initial group discussion, then children will move to their desks with a photocopy of the scene and some describing words to write sentences and read them to a friend or the class. Both lesson plans are structured so that children can be encouraged to develop social and emotional skills by playing by the rules whilst engaging with peers as a group by self-regulating emotions, behaviour and thinking. Regulating behaviour assists in developing productive habits of mind (Marzano, 2009, p262). Childrens pro-social behaviour is learnt from more competent peers and adult role-modelling, thereby contributing to their socialisation by influencing behaviour and preparing them for life. (Berk, 2009, p.624, p.325; http://casel.org/why-it-matters/benefits-of-sel; Marzano & Pickering, 2009, p.263). These skills include: perspective taking (listening to others answers and points of view), reinforcement (of student-devised classroom rules and identifying and praising well-behaved students), conflict resolution with peers, exemplifying perseverance (to complete tasks successfully), restraining impulsivity (raising hands, not speaking when it is someone elses turn, not calling out, speaking clearly, focussing on the task at hand). I have developed two effective lesson plans that are socially relevant, and individually and developmentally appropriate for this Year 2 age group by catering to different learning styles, and different level literacy groups and will scaffold their work accordingly. As noted in the Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers, identifying information regarding students to set learning goals helps to promote personal development and social participation.(Standard 6, p. 7, Retrieved March 3, 2012 from http://www. qct.edu.au/standards/documents/PSQT_GradLevel_v3_Web.pdf ). Children will work collaboratively during these lessons to foster Zygotskys model of reciprocal teaching and co-operative learning. (Berk, 2009, 269). Reciprocal teaching creates a zone of proximal development where children and teachers can

scaffold one others ideas and children can assume more responsibility for their learning. Working within students zone of proximal development allows teachers to provide varied and interesting activities in lessons to engage all students and to enquire about childrens thoughts, motivations and emotions which can draw on childrens diverse backgrounds and knowledge banks (Berk, 2009, p.238). Vygotsky emphasised that the importance of peer interaction between children in social environments is where learners construct their own understandings to represent culturally meaningful activities in play (Berk, 2009, p.264) advancing social and cognitive development (Berk, 2009, p.637). Students from the lower literacy groups especially will benefit from group discussion to acquire and integrate knowledge, and from constructing simple, rather than complex sentence structure in both lessons. Others will benefit from using the whiteboard or interactive whiteboard to elaborate on information in order to extend and refine their knowledge, whist others will enjoy working at their desks to complete written work and drawings to further integrate their knowledge and use it meaningfully. (Marzano, 2009, p.263). Upper literacy groups can further challenge themselves by completing the extension work provided. I need to also be sensitive to children with learning/social difficulties such as one of the girls who has autism and displays learning difficulties in some areas as well as emotional outbursts. I will endeavour to compromise in order to provide a balance between patient, sensitive guidance and by drawing on aspects of Diana Baumrinds authoritative child-rearing style which is firm but loving. (Berk, 2009, p.569). By helping children to regulate their emotions and develop resiliency it helps to modify childrens maladaptive styles and temperaments and deal with lifes challenges. Why would this defined target group have difficulty achieving learning outcomes in schools and does research inform ways this could be remedied. If children are beset with an array of confused, unhappy or aggressive feelings they will not be able to learn effectively, as emotions can affect cognitive development and social and emotional wellbeing. (CASEL, 2000, http://casel.org/why-itmatters/benefits-of-sel/). Childrens biological nature, family, school and community environments all combine to shape childrens development. Gathering vital information regarding a students home life (such as interests, likes and dislikes and fears; routines; sleep; nutrition; sibling relationships; parental style; risk of harm; amount of screen time) can help towards programming that is relevant and engaging for students. Effective Social and Emotional Learning in schools decreases levels of emotional distress and conduct, and significantly improves skills of self-management, self-awareness, social-awareness, responsible decision-making and relationship-building in order for them to manage their emotions and negotiate their lives. Emotional intelligence bolsters future achievement more than any other single factor. (CASEL, 2000, http://casel.org/why-itmatters/benefits-of-sel/). Other practical applications such as scaffolding childrens learning and working within their proximal zone of development are effective strategies. The provision of social supports to families can also help to ease parental stress so that a goodness-of-fit model can be encouraged between parent and child. By providing a safe environment for children it enables them to learn, (Devine & Cohen, 2007, retrieved April 8, 2012 from http://www.wellbeingaustralia.com.au/uba/National Climate Survey 2010.pdf and by schools collaborating with families, children will be more able to meet their academic, emotional, physical, and social needs. Children with problem behaviour and learning difficulties may find it especially difficult to achieve curriculum outcomes, however research confirms that cultivating a classroom climate that is safe, caring, well-managed and participatory enhances childrens attachment to school, and their learning, social and emotional skills. Co-operative learning fosters social and emotional learning as does infusing character development into the curriculum and school culture such as respect, responsibility, honesty, fairness, compassion courtesy and courage. This can be done through frameworks like The Kids Matter program as an example of social and emotional learning that helps to bring the school community together, to ensure it helps to raise confident and resilient individuals (Moreton Bay College, 2006, www.mbc.gov.edu.au). Specific personal development programs can also be introduced across year levels to provide opportunities for students to learn effective strategies for handling real situations when they arise. If students have teachers and peers who adopt pro-social behaviours, children are more likely to behave in pro-social ways.

REFERENCES
Berk, L. (2009). Child Development. (8th ed). Boston MA, United States of America: Pearson Education International. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2000). Why It Matters. What is SEL. Retrieved May 12, 2012, from http://casel.org/why-it-matters/benefits-of-sel/ Marzano, R. J. & Pickering et al, D. J. (2009). Chapter 5 Habits of Mind, Chapter 6 Putting It All Together. In Dimensions of Learning. (2nd ed). Moorabbin, Victoria Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education National School Climate Survey 2010, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010. (n.d.). Wellbeing Australia. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://wellbeingaustralia.com.au/wba/National School Climate Survey 2010.pdf Queensland College of Teachers (2007). Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers (graduate level), Standard 6. Retrieved March 15, 2012, from http://www.qct.edu.au/standards/documents/PSQT_GradLevel_v3_Web.pdf).