Math, Science and Social Study Lesson Plans Essay

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Integrated Curriculum Analysis

A teacher's main objective usually centers in arousing the curiosity of the student enough to engage them in the process of learning. Engagement can often lead to enthusiasm, and enthusiasm leads to learning. One of the most effective methods of engagement is through the use of real-world tasks. Francom & Gardner (2014) determined that many of the recent models of learning provided instruction center learning that incorporated real-world tasks and problems that support the transfer and application of knowledge. The writer Howard Hendricks said "What is important is not what you do as a teacher, but what your students learn as a result of what you do." Students in today's educational environment follow the teacher's lead but collaborate much more with other students than in previous generations. A teacher must understand that collaboration and use it as well as the available technology to ensure that the students learn as a result. Hutchinson & Reinking (2011) found that teachers who do not adopt and adapt to today's rapidly evolving technologies may risk being left behind. Many of the 21st century students expect the teacher to have knowledge of the 21st century skills and expect lesson plans that support the development of those skills. Additionally, the implementation of increasingly rigorous standards includes attention to the use of these new technologies and a shift toward computer-based testing (Shinas, Yilmaz-Ozden, Mouza, Karchmer-Klein, Glutting, 2013).

Developmental Domains

There are five developmental domains that the teacher must incorporate into the individual lesson plans. These domains include; 1) physical, 2) cognitive, 3) language, 4) emotional, and 5) social. Incorporating the physical domain into the lesson plan is accomplished by including visual components and motor skills.

In the math lesson plan, for example, asking the students to create posters that show the different speeds of selected objects would reinforce the differences through visual means. Wilkerson-Jarde (2013) found increasing calls to prepare students for the use of computational tools and principles for exploration of mathematical and scientific phenomena. Requiring computational skills per Wilkerson-Jarde could be included in the lesson plan by requiring that the poster highlight how long or how fast the objects would take to reach certain destinations. The lesson plan could also incorporate the social domain by requiring that two or more students collaborate on the poster(s); in that manner, the students would develop an understanding of how to work within a diverse group setting, accepting their specific responsibilities while developing an ability to relate with others. Interacting with other students also covers the emotional domain since most children will develop emotional connections by sharing their feelings with other students.

Coursework integration

Integrating the curriculum with a diversity of subject areas provides students a launching pad for excelling and becoming anything they could ever have thought imaginable. As a way to arouse student's curiosity in an integrated curriculum, activities for these lesson plans are themed around the book entitled The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Addressing the language domain can be accomplished by asking the students to find new words relating to the subject matter. Reading the book together with the students presents an opportunity to discover new words and their definitions. Since language acquisition is often measured by new vocabulary words, finding the words and their definitions in the book will fulfill the language domain.

Addressing the student's cognitive skills includes determining how the students solve problems and measures their use of imagination, memory and creativity. The lesson plans contain centers that incorporate math, science and social studies, this is done purposefully in order to introduce concepts in each subject area. Seefeldt, et al., (2011) determined that preparing centers that incorporate the three above concepts will spark the student's learning opportunities and assist in developing capabilities for problem solving while creating a desire for additional experiences in other subject areas as well. Francom and Gardner go even further by suggesting that mere memorization is not enough in today's modern education, students must not only face real-world tasks but they must use the knowledge they gain to complete those tasks.

Using the integrated literature and through the use of activities in this theme, students will use math to problem-solve, calculate, sort, and graph data. In science, students will be allowed to utilize their senses of sight and touch observing this life cycle where it occurs. With the social studies center activity, students will be introduced to the diversity of different foods in our culture and gain appreciation of how they are unique in their own way. Focusing on each one of these subject areas broadens the learning experience for this theme.

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As students engage in these activities in the different centers, they will acquire a better understanding of how their learning environment can be filled with fun and inviting explorations in different subject areas.

In this unit the concepts that were addressed for math reflect the use of charting and graphing. It is important that students accurately learn how to transfer data the knowledge to make comparisons and identify changes that will assist them in problem solving. As children are given the opportunity to really explore, they will experiment with different tools, formulas, and other manipulatives that are designed to enhance their knowledge of what instruments to use to gather information (Seefeldt, et al., 2011).

Science concepts that are used will allow students to sequence events in the life cycle of the butterfly and observe the habitat of butterflies on a science field trip. With social studies, students will be introduce to diversity in culture of foods and their similarities or differences that help to share how we are unique in our own way. These concepts help to generate a learning experience within the curriculum that is fun and inviting for young children. According to Nielsen et al. (2015) students are interested in educational areas that 'help people' and their interests can be "ignited through learning environmental sustainability skills, which also reinforce math and science skills" (p. 50). Ensuring that the lesson plans contain information about how they apply to the real world, would likely enhance the effectiveness of the lesson plans overall.

Lesson Plan Objectives

It is important for each lesson plan to state a clear, obtainable and trackable objective. The math lesson objective is to have the learner define and calculate speed and specifically the speed of certain objects as compared to other objects. For the science lesson plan, the objective is to teach the children how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. The social studies objective is to ensure that students understand the different types of food available for butterflies as they travel from country to country.

Learning environment

It is necessary for educators to create inclusive and anti-bias learning environments so that every child will have the opportunity to the education they deserve without any discrimination. As children's ability to see things from another's point-of-view is imparted to them this sets the stage for an anti-bias learning environment to become noticeable.

Anti-bias curriculum seeks to nurture the development of every child's fullest potential by actively addressing issues of diversity and equity in the classroom (Seefeldt, et al., 2011). Teachers must evaluate the environment and make certain that it is equipped with the necessary material in order to aid and assist themselves, as well as the students, in furthering the ability of exploration through the use of props for play, materials, literature (books), and even the inviting of outside sources such as visitors to enhance cultural diversity (Seefeldt, et al., 2011). Teachers that have the proper training are likely to promote an environment of cooperative learning, encouraging the students by using their own experiences, and providing respect when the student's values and opinions are taking into consideration (Seefeldt, et al., 2011). All of the above enables the teachers to have control over the process of student learning and the outcomes (Seefeldt, et al., 2011).

Educational Theories

Behavioral and social-cognitive theories are parallel for child development. They each go hand in hand. Theorists Skinner, Erickson, and John Locke each have their own ideas of how the development or social skills in children are demonstrated. Skinner gives his example by expressing that the children learn social skills through stimuli and responses generate by adults as a form of reward or reinforcement (Seefeldt, et al., 2011). Even though they learn from watching others, they may imitate different behaviors that they observe from adults, other children, or cartoon characters (Seefeldt, et al., 2011). This helps with their growth and maturation. Erickson, on the other hand, focused on the whole being of the child. The child learns through different stage and as they mature teachers, parents, and others give guidance to these area which helps assist the child in developing critical thinking skills for problem solving.

Locke believed that children were "blank slates" giving those around them the opportunity to pour into them so that they might absorb the knowledge presented (Seefeldt, et al., 2011). In order for children to decipher skills learned they must….....

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