Whole Group Lessons
During our thematic unit, I taught two whole-group lessons, one of which was a read-aloud and the other of which was an activity on observations and predictions. Here, you can find my lesson plan for my activity and my reflections for both lessons.
Observations, Predictions, & Worm Release
I wanted this to be a solidifying lesson where the preschoolers were able to see concepts they’ve learned about in the classroom put into practice. I also wanted this to serve as an introduction to science class by defining the words "observation" and "prediction" and having them immediately apply that vocabulary.
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The materials I used for this lesson plan were:
Worksheets and clipboards for all of the kids, two bins of crayons, and a container of worms.
Learning Domains
Physical domain
Social / emotional domain
Cognitive Domain
Language / Communic-ation Domain
The preschoolers will work on their fine motor skills as they draw on clipboards instead of on a table.
The preschoolers will work on regulating their emotions as they say goodbye to the worms and wait for their turns.​
The preschoolers will work on
Applying new vocab to real-world situations and tanslating what they see in the garden to a drawing on paper.
The preschoolers will work on using their words to ask for turns and will learn the words "observation" and "prediction".​
Methodology
Introduction
Procedure
Closing
Differentiation
Collect all the kids at their dot spots
Define "observation" and "prediction"
"Today we’re going to be doing an activity about observations and predictions with our garden. I am going to give each of you a clipboard with this sheet on it. When we go outside, you are going to observe (look at and notice) the garden and draw your observations on this side. After we are finished talking about our observations, each of you is going to get to put one of our worms into the garden. If you do not want to touch the worms, that is okay, I will help you. Then, we are going to use the other side of the worksheet to draw our predictions for what we think will happen now that we’ve added the worms to our garden."
Restate what we are going to do right now.
"I will bring two bins of crayons for us to use."
Pass out clipboards
Have them line up
Grab the crayons
Take the preschoolers outside and set them loose to observe
Complete the steps as outlined in the directions:
- Draw observations
- Talk about observations
- Add worms
- Draw predictions
- Talk about predictions
Talk about predictions
"You can check in with our garden whenever you’re outside. Keep an eye on it and see if your predictions come true!"
They don’t have to actually touch the worms if they don’t want to, they can ask for teacher help
Reflection
​This lesson could have been facilitated more smoothly, but my learning objectives were met so it was still a successful lesson. The kids were totally unfamiliar with the terms “observations” and “predictions,” but they understood what I meant when I rephrased them. When I called on students to share their observations and predictions, they responded appropriately within the context of the question. For observations, many kids said that they saw flowers, dirt, and leaves. For predictions, they expected there to be more worms, more flowers, and bigger flowers.
My social/emotional learning objectives were also met. The preschoolers didn’t have any trouble taking turns looking at the garden, saying goodbye to the worms, sharing colored pencils, or even being okay if they couldn’t finish their pictures within the timeframe. They were also very gentle with the worms when placing them into the garden.
My main issue with this lesson was that I overestimated the students’ attention spans outside on a beautiful day. They quickly got antsy as they drew, wanting to just get to the worm part already. I responded immediately by moving on with the lesson, but I could tell that it would have become an issue if I had gone in with a set timeframe. They also got antsy once they finished their predictions, but once again I was able to respond by moving on to the next part of the lesson. This experience drove home the importance of being flexible and responding immediately when a need is presented. Even though it was my lesson plan, it was still for the kids, so I needed to switch up some specifics in order to best meet them where they were at the moment.
I created this bulletin board in the hallway where the preschoolers line up for recess so that they could revisit their predictions throughout the rest of the year and see if they came true!
Read Aloud: The Very Greedy Bee
During this read-aloud, I wanted to teach the social-emotional lesson of sharing through the context of our thematic unit. I read The Very Greedy Bee, which is a book about a bee who gets into trouble as a result of his greediness, needs his friends to help him out, learns his lesson, and decides to share. Throughout the book, I asked the preschoolers questions about how the greedy bee was making his friends feel and whether or not he was using kind words. After the story, I taught the kids a new song with hand motions for them to sing during transition times.
Reflection
Overall, this read aloud went very well. This was my second read aloud, and I was a lot more comfortable being in front of the whole group. The kids were super excited that I was going to be doing story time, which was really sweet. This time, I knew not to take too many questions/comments at the beginning and to just start reading, which helped the lesson start much more smoothly. I also think that I did a better job of spacing out my questions throughout the story because they were close enough together that the kids didn’t get restless waiting to participate and far enough apart that they didn’t interrupt the flow of the story.
After finishing the story, it was time for me to teach the kids a new song about bees with hand motions that I had made up myself. I think the hand motions and the song were developmentally appropriate because the kids seemed to pick up on them quickly once I started teaching. If I could change something, it would be the way I introduced the song. I asked if they would like to learn a new song with me and a couple kids said no. Next time, I will state that I think it would be fun to learn a new song together rather than asking if they would like to.
I think my learning objectives were definitely met. The kids were able to recognize kind vs unkind words and actions, which was one of my main objectives. They were also able to tell me why those words were kind or unkind, which was a bonus objective. They were also able to start making predictions when prompted, so it was clear that they were thinking critically about the story.
