Lesson Plan Review
I taught a lesson on subtraction to my kindergarten class. The lesson utilized the technology of the internet website www.brainpopjr.com, to introduce the basics of subtractions. It also used an online subtraction game called balloon pop from www.abcya.com. First, we introduced subtraction by having a class discussion to see what the children already know about the topic. After this we watched the ‘basic subtraction’ movie, and answered the quiz questions at the end as a class. I introduced the center activities that the students would be doing to explore this topic further, including the smart board game that they would get a chance to play. The more extensive center choices were added from the previous lesson. Students had subtraction with flash cards and teddy bear manipulatives, the smart board game and subtraction with flash cards and whiteboards to draw pictures. Another revision that I made was that this lessons centers were repeated multiple on different days in a row, as I felt only having one day with the three centers was not enough for them to fully gain the knowledge and experience needed to master the concept of subtraction.
Implementation
My lesson was given to a class of 25 kindergarten students. These students come from a very low income area where they do not have much exposure to technology. I have two students in my class that are English language learners and many students have not had previous educational experience. I think that the lesson went pretty well. The students enjoyed the subtraction video as they thought they were watching TV. They also enjoyed the learning centers, although it was a little hectic at first for them to understand what to do at each, but repeating the centers for the 2nd and 3rd time you could see the learning really start to take place.
Lesson Reflection
The main goal for the lesson was for the students to be able to recognize the parts of a subtraction problem, as well as fluently subtract with in 10. The objectives for the lesson were identified and posted on our ‘what we are learning’ board. At the end of the lesson we gather on the carpet to see what the students can review about their learning from every lesson we teach. The assumptions are that the students have the knowledge of basic addition and the activities we did to learn addition. Many of the activities are the same you just have to do the opposite.
Learning takes place in the form of constructivism, and behaviorism. Behaviorism takes pace when I go through the smart board game and demonstrate how to play the subtraction game while they watch. The game also will tell me and them if a mistake is made or if the answer is correct. Demonstration will tap into the prior knowledge of using the smart board as well as their knowledge about numbers and addition as addition and subtractions are opposite operations. Constructivism takes place when students are actively engaged in the SMART board game and BrainPOP video. Scaffolding also occurs in this lesson if a child is having difficulty using the SMART board I will step in and show them how to use it or give them reminders of what to do.
My school does not have a set curriculum. We are asked to look at the standards and find various materials from many different sources in order to meet those standards. With this being said this lesson was intended to supplement existing materials, manipulatives and worksheets that I had available to me in order to meet the common core standards.
Differences among learners were taken into account in many ways. Not only does the brain pop video meet the needs of visual and auditory learners but it offers a closed caption option for those that prefer to see the written words, although at the kindergarten level it is hard because many of the words they do not know how to read. The website provides different activities for you to do after watching the video, talk about it, draw about it, and read about it. Also for kinesthetic learners we have the smart board game where they are up moving and using the body to pop the balloons to solve the subtraction problems. This lesson was also taught utilizing differentiated instruction through cooperative groups, independent work and using hands on manipulatives.
The teacher needs to know how to use the technology successfully in order for this lesson to be a success. Students also need to have a basic knowledge of how to use the smart board. The teacher needs to monitor all three center activities at the same time while keeping a close eye on the smart board game to informally assess student learning.
Assessment was done through teacher observation during the lesson. I watched the students complete the task on the smart board to informally evaluate how their learning was going. I too notes on a chart based on how students were doing in order to regroup them into leveled groups for the second and third day that we did the centers. This helped me re-teach to the group that needed this. For the formal assessment students did not have the option of the technology but were able to choose from using the teddy bear manipulatives or using the white board to solve the problems. Students were held accountable because they had to record their problems and answers on a record sheet that they gave to me at the end of the centers. I also had to circulate throughout the room to monitor on task behavior.
The technology is used to introduce the idea of subtraction the students. Technology is also used for students to practice their subtraction skills and explore the topic on their own. The advantages are that brain pop jr. is standards based, it is interactive and engaging. The disadvantages are that the students have to take turns using the technology and therefor you are unable to track just ones students’ progress on the subtraction game.
I expected the students to use the technology through viewing the video as well as using it as one of the centers throughout the week. The students loved using the smartboard game and popping the balloons to solve the subtraction problems. The students questions mostly happened when they game told them to try again they were unsure what to do or what they did wrong but after explain it to them a few time they got it.
I think that technology is nice to incorporate into teaching a concept but cannot replace, a teacher. The technology was a great introduction to subtraction but then actual instruction also needed to follow in order for the students to fully understand the topic. The technology also provided a great tool for them to practice this skill in another way. Many students needed many days of practice and multiple lessons in order to grasp a concept and with the students not having access to individual technology tools for repetitive individual practice, we had to use other activities during centers such as worksheets and small group instruction.
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