Lesson Plan Review Committee: Jane Dong, Elaine Kang, Ethan Lipton, Nancy Warter-Perez IMPACT LA Lesson Plan ABC Improving Minority Partnerships and Access through CISE-related Teaching An NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) Program

What’s a lesson plan? A lesson plan is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson or series of lessons. A lesson plan is a plan or a frame work of how a topic is to be thought to the students in a class room. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class instruction. The detail of the plan will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the need and/or curiosity of children. There may be requirements mandated by the school system regarding the plan.

What’ s an additional function of an Impact LA lesson plan? It must provide adequate and appropriate information that will facilitate its shares use by other teachers in this project and those that may access it through the web. What does that mean to us? How will it impact what we do?

Overview Why do I need to write a lesson plan? Overall lesson plan structure The meat of the lesson plans Do’s and Don’ts

Why do I need to write lesson plan? My life is So busy…. I study hard Hello, I am an IMPACT LA fellow I do my research I also teach Why do I still need to write 20- page lesson plan ???

Why do I need to write lesson plan? To make a broader impact

Why do I need to write lesson plan? Professional / career development –Build up your publication records –Polish your writing skills

IMPACT LA Lesson Plan Structure Grade level Subject area Keywords Summary Engineering/Science connection Learning objectives Educational standards Time required Group size Expandable cost per group Material list Pre-requisite knowledge Activity background & concepts for teachers Introduction/Motivation Vocabulary Procedure Supplement materials Assessment Activity extension Activity scaling References Copyright

The Meat of the Lesson Plans Overview Engineering/Science Connection Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers Introduction/Motivation Procedure (and Handouts) The Triumvirate! –Objectives, Standards and Assessment

The Meat of the Lesson Plans Overview Engineering/Science Connection Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers Introduction/Motivation Procedure (and Handouts) The Triumvirate! –Objectives, Standards and Assessment

Engineering/Science Connection Required for every lesson and activity to write a few sentences that clarify and associate the presented science and math material and concepts to real-world engineering relevant to youngsters. Provide words or ~3 sentences clarifying how the scientific and mathematical concepts being studied in this activity pertain to real-world engineering. Do not recap the activity. It often works to associate activity concepts to particular fields of engineering. For example, if the activity is about tension and compression, you might say that mechanical engineers use these principles when they design structures such as bridges and roller coasters. Must be one paragraph of plain text, which means no images or formatting.

Engineering/Science Connection Example from TE Activity: Activity Name: One Path (students build and explore the characteristics of series circuits) ction/cub_/lessons/cub_electricity/cub_electricity_lesson05.xml Engineering/ Science field related to the activity Real world examples that kids can understand

Engineering/Science Connection – Do’s and Don’ts Don’t: Simply summarize the activity Don’t: Forget to make it relevant to kids Is this a good description for Engineering/Science connection? ection/cub_/activities/cub_human/cub_human_lesson06_activity1.xml In this activity, students explore the steps a calculator takes in order to perform certain calculations, such as finding the square root of a number. Students learn and explore the concept of an algorithm through flowcharts. Computer scientists design algorithms to solve specific problems in computation. This activity allows students to explore the concept of an algorithm, which is essentially a series of steps and instructions to perform a specific task. Computer scientists design and implement algorithms to solve problems in areas such as robotics, computer vision (e.g, optical character recognition systems found in envelop-free deposit ATMs), and networking. In this particular activity, students explore the algorithm that a calculator, which is a “mini-computer”, uses to calculate the square root of a number.

The Meat of the Lesson Plans Overview Engineering/Science Connection Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers Introduction/Motivation Procedure (and Handouts) The Triumvirate! –Objectives, Standards and Assessment

Lesson Background & Concepts for Teachers Written for the teacher only Include a clear and complete explanation of the lesson subject covered In layperson’s terms Summarize pertinent background to make the teacher’s job easier Do not just copy information from other resources (can provide a few hot links/URLs to high-quality relevant information links) Information should provide teacher with a bit more information than needed to teach the lesson, so the s/he can answer student questions competently.

Lesson Background & Concepts for Teachers Do: Include a review of the math/science concepts Don’t: Use terminology/concepts that you don’t explain Do: Provide teachers with enough information to feel comfortable conducting the lesson and answering questions

The Meat of the Lesson Plans Overview Engineering/Science Connection Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers Introduction/Motivation Procedure (and Handouts) The Triumvirate! –Objectives, Standards and Assessment

Introduction/Motivation Write this section as if you were directly talking to the students Suggest how the teacher might prepare the students for the activity. –Provide an engineering/science context –How do you grab the students’ interest? This could be a demo, an example or real-world context – Ask questions of the students to engage them (Pre-assessment too!) –Create a storyline that flows with the objectives to make the activity more challenging and exciting –Suggested half-page minimum –Address the learning objectives identified earlier –Incorporate vocabulary –Include teacher instructions and answers in parentheses, such as: (write on the classroom board) or (Possible answers: xxx, yyy, zzz.).

Procedure Clearly explain the step-by-step procedure to follow to conduct the hands-on activity. Make sure to include connections to engineering and address activity objectives. To clarify the activity set-up and procedure, place images, photographs and diagrams throughout this section and the activity write-up. Use figure numbers if the image is referenced in the text and has a caption. Remember to use metric units.

Procedure Do’s and Don’ts Do: Include pictures Don’t: Forget figure numbers, captions, ADA formatting, and copyright (discussed later)

Handouts and Other Supporting Material Do: Make them easy to understand/use –If using software (such as Google Earth) provide handout for kids to use at home or for teachers to use with kids that have computers in classroom –Can also provide links to online resources and/or youtube videos –Use the tips effective communication for your presentations – engaging, interactive, eye-catching

The Meat of the Lesson Plans Overview Engineering/Science Connection Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers Introduction/Motivation Procedure (and Handouts) The Triumvirate! –Objectives, Standards and Assessment

The Triumvirate! Effective Lesson Plans

Educational Standards Educational standards define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students should possess at critical points in their educational career.

Learning Objectives What Are Learning Objectives? Purpose of Objectives Writing Learning Objectives Examples of Learning Objectives Learning Objectives and Measurable Outcomes

They aren’t simply a list of the topics to be covered. A learning objective should describe what students will know, be able to do, or how their way of thinking should be at the end of the learning experience. Knowledge – Skills – Attitudes Learning objectives = student performance. What Are Learning Objectives? Source: MIT Teaching and Learning Laboratory materials/learning-objectives/index-learning-objectives.html

Good Student Learning Objectives? Good learning objectives shouldn’t be too abstract (“the students will understand what good literature is”); too narrow (“the students will know what a ground is”); or be restricted to lower-level cognitive skills (“the students will be able to name the countries in Africa.”). Each individual learning objective should be measurable (for assessment) support the overarching goals of the course and the standards upon which the course is based. Source: MIT Teaching and Learning Laboratory materials/learning-objectives/index-learning-objectives.html

Purpose of Objectives  By knowing where you intend to go, you increase the chances of you and the learner ending up there.  Guides the teacher relative to the planning of instruction, delivery of instruction and evaluation of student achievement.  Guides the learner; helps him/her focus and set priorities  Allows for analysis in terms of the levels of teaching and learning

Learning Objective Components AudienceBasic characteristics BehaviorIn measurable terms, what they will demonstrate ConditionThe important condition under which the performance is to occur DegreeCriterion of acceptable performance Example Students will list three characteristics that make the family medicine physician distinctive from other specialists in the health care system.

Educational Assessment The process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skill, attitudes, and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole.

Learning Domains Cognitive: mental skills (Knowledge) Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Skills) Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Attitude)

Categories in the Cognitive Domain Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

Assessment Rubrics The process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skill, attitudes, and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole.

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) – Dr. Bob Kizlik

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) 1. The objective of the lesson does not specify what the student will actually do that can be observed. 2. The lesson assessment is disconnected from the behavior indicated in the objective. 3. The prerequisites are not specified or are inconsistent with what is actually required to succeed with the lesson. 4. The materials specified in the lesson are extraneous to the actual described learning activities and/or intended student learning. 5. The instruction in which the teacher will engage is not efficient for the level of intended student learning. 6. The student activities described in the lesson plan do not contribute in a direct and effective way to the lesson objective. A lesson plan that contains one or more of these mistakes needs rethinking and revision.

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) 1. The objective of the lesson does not specify what the student will actually do that can be observed. Remember, an objective is a description of what a student does that forms the basis for making an inference about learning. Poorly written objectives lead to faulty inferences.

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) 2. The lesson assessment is disconnected from the behavior indicated in the objective. An assessment in a lesson plan is simply a description of how the teacher will determine whether the objective has been accomplished. It must be based on the same behavior that is incorporated in the objective. Anything else is flawed.

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) 3. The prerequisites are not specified or are inconsistent with what is actually required to succeed with the lesson. Prerequisites mean just that -- a statement of what a student needs to know or be able to do to succeed and accomplish the lesson objective. It is not easy to determine what is required, but it is necessary. Some research indicates that as much as 70% of learning is dependent on students having the appropriate prerequisites.

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) 4. The materials specified in the lesson are extraneous to the actual described learning activities. This means keep the list of materials in line with what you actually plan to do. Overkilling with materials is not a virtue!

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) 5. The instruction in which the teacher will engage is not efficient for the level of intended student learning. Efficiency is a measure that means getting more done with the same amount of effort, or the same amount with less effort. With so much to be learned, it should be obvious that instructional efficiency is paramount.

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans (and what to do about them) 6. The student activities described in the lesson plan do not contribute in a direct and effective way to the lesson objective. Don't have your students engaged in activities just to keep them busy.. Whatever you have your students do should contribute in a direct way to their accomplishing the lesson objective.