Sample Lesson
Plan
Tim Black
Philosophy 28, Spring 2002
A. Educational Objectives
This lesson will help students define the words ‘all’, ‘no’, and ‘some’ and to distinguish between the meanings of these words. In addition to knowing and identifying the definitions, students will learn to give examples in which the words are used and to support the truth of the statements in their examples.
B. Identification of Principles Relevant
to this Lesson Plan
In order for the students to understand and to achieve the objectives of this lesson, it will be necessary for them to understand several principles. First, the students must understand the definitions of the key terms. The first term I will define is ‘all’. In order for my students to understand it, ‘all’ will mean that every single thing is included in the group and that nothing is left out. For the word ‘some’, I will give them the definition that there are a few, but not all, in the group. Also, for the term ‘no’, I will say that not even one item is in the group. The student will also need to be able to understand what kind of evidence is needed to support the truth of a statement.
C. Strategy for Student Learning
My presentation will be geared toward students in either the first or second grade since this is the age group that I hope to teach in the future. My activity will consist of the class working together in order to achieve the objectives of the lesson plan.
I will begin by distributing index cards to the class. Each student will receive three cards that are three different colors. Each card will have on one side the key word and on the opposite side, the definition of the word. So, for example, I would have a yellow card that has the word ‘all’, a red card with the word ‘some’, and a blue card with the word ‘no’.
I will then have what is known in class as my “Magic Hat.” This will have several different cards in it with different phrases. I will also have three different containers that will each be labeled ‘all’, ‘no’, or ‘some’. These containers will be the colors that have been designated for the three words. So, for example, the first container will be yellow and it will be labeled ‘all’. Now, from my “Magic Hat,” I will pull a card and read the phrase on it (ex. “Ducks are animals”). Then the students will need to decide whether that card should be placed in the ‘all’, ‘some’ or ‘no’ container. When the students give their answer, they will also need to give evidence as to why their answer is correct.
This basic idea will allow the students to categorize objects that they are familiar with. You could very easily adapt this lesson to work with teaching math skills, vocabulary words, or any other subject. Also, by color-coding the objects, it makes the activity exciting and interesting. The different colors will also distinguish each definition and give a relationship between it and the group of objects that belong with the word.
D. Estimated Time Requirement
In order to successfully complete this lesson, you will need approximately fifteen to twenty minutes. Unfortunately, I was not able to test this lesson on a group of first graders so instead I tested on my family. My family is a group of four and it took approximately two minutes to describe and state the task. Then I spent between three and five minutes discussing the key terms and then another five minutes actually doing the activity. You could most definitely use a longer amount of time if you had several different phrases to pull from your “Magic Hat.” I then gave my family a short “test” on the information that we had covered. The test took about five minutes to administer. I would assume that if you gave this exam to first or second graders, it would take a few more minutes.
E. Evaluation of Student Learning
In order to evaluate my lesson, I would administer a test to my class. I have included a sample of what this test would include. I would ask the students to give their own definition of the key terms. I would also have several questions in which the students had to categorize a phrase as an ‘all’, ‘some’ or ‘no’ statement. I would also give them an area in which they could write down any confusion they had regarding the assignment and the key terms. I would then grade the papers based on whether their answers were correct, and see whether my lesson was effective or not. If I saw a lot of low scores, I would very carefully read their responses to try to determine where they were getting confused.
Sample
Exam
1. In your own words, give the definition of the word ‘all’.
2. In your own words, give the definition of the word ‘some’.
3. In your own words, give the definition of the word ‘no’.
For the next questions, choose the best word that fits in the blank.
All No Some
4. _____________________ dogs are animals.
5. _____________________ apples are red.
6. _____________________ fish live in the air.
7. _____________________ squares have four sides.
8. _____________________ boys wear jeans.
9. _____________________ cats are birds.
10. _____________________ balls are bouncy.
11. Please write down any questions you have about the meanings of the words ‘all’, ‘some’ and ‘no’.
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