Behaviorist Lesson Plan

Anticipatory Set (focus) – the teacher will put the short story “the tortoise and the hare” up on the overhead for all the children to read (most children will already know this story), the teacher will then ask the students to describe what they feel the moral of the story is. Students will be required to tell the teacher what their idea of the moral of the story is. Once students have expressed their ideas, the teacher will go on to explain what the moral of the story is meant to be. This will involve the methods of demonstration and discussion.

Purpose (objective) – The purpose of the lesson is that the teacher will show children how to make their own points about articles and pictures etc they will be able to teach children how to find the deeper meaning of things instead of focusing solely on the obvious. Another purpose of the lesson for teachers is that they will be able to see whether children understand the concept of morals. Students will show learning by being able to create their own stories that contain morals. Also students will show learning by being able to take what the teacher has shown them and use those concepts in order to demonstrate what things to look for in finding the moral of a piece of work. Students will be using the methods of demonstration by demonstrating what they have learnt.

Input – The vocabulary, skills, and concepts the teacher will impart to the students – the “stuff” the kids need to know in order to be successful. It will be up to the teacher to make sure students understand the concept of morals and what to look for in order to find the moral or theme of the story. Students will also need to know adjectives in order to understand how to look for details in the piece of work they are analyzing, by understanding the use of adjectives students’ will be able to pick out distinct characteristics of the characters presented in the story and specific details about them therefore making it easier to understand how to determine what the theme of the story could be about.

Modeling (show) – The teacher shows in graphic form or demonstrates what the finished product looks like. The teacher will present a short story on the projection screen, and then will ask the students to read and analyze the story. When the students have read the story the teacher will ask the students what they feel the moral of the story was and once that is complete the teacher will take the students responses and put them up on the board. After the students have given their input the teacher will write down what the they feel the lesson of the story was and show the students some ways that the teacher came to that conclusion, by using certain words from the story etc… the teacher will use the method of demonstration in this way.

Guided Practice (follow me) – The teacher leads the students through the steps necessary to perform the skill using the trimodal/learning styles approach – hear/see/do. The teacher will go through what is obviously present in the story (for example: the characters, setting, what is happening in the story etc…) once the teacher has gone over the obvious parts, they will then go into the morals and concepts of the story. Students will be required to take their pieces of literature, break them down into what is obvious and then go into the more in depth points of the story ( based on what the teacher has shown them) this will involve the methods of demonstration, drill and practice and tutorial.

Checking For Understanding (CFU) – The teacher can then use other familiar stories that the students already understand the main concepts of. At this point the students will be able to determine the main concepts and ultimately the moral of the story. The teacher will go around and ask whether the students understand what concepts are being presented in the story and if they do then the teacher can move on with the lesson and have students’ begin writing their own stories that contain some of the concepts they have learnt. The students will be held accountable for asking any questions they may have had during this time.

Independent Practice – The teacher releases students to practice on their own based on #3-#6. Once the teacher is sure that the students have understood how to determine the moral of a story and what exactly the story means to them personally the teacher can then have the students go to the lab in groups and therefore find their own pieces of media that they can analyze together. Students will be discussing the piece of media they choose and detailing what exactly that piece of media means to them personally. This will use the methods of drill and practice and discussion.

Closure – A review or wrap-up of the lesson – “Tell me/show me what you have learned today”. At the end of the lesson the teacher will give a short homework assignment to the students to demonstrate what they have learned. The students will be required to go on specific websites that the teacher has provided for them and analyze different forms of literature, such as stories, articles or even photographs. Students will then have to analyze the literature and decide how they feel about that piece of literature specifically, they can present these ideas in a short 7-10 sentence explanation that they will be required to bring to the next class. This will allow students to demonstrate what they have learned and present it in a explanatory piece of writing to the teacher.

THEORY INTO PRACTICE:

PLEASE NOTE: This section requires you to use the Comparative Organizers found on the CD that came with your Newby textbook. Open the CD and Go to: Chapter Info and Activities, then Chapter 2.:Theory into Application, then Learning Theory Comparative Organizers, and use the applicable Comparative Organizer for the following section.

Which Learning Theory predominates your Lesson:

The behaviorist learning theory predominates my lesson.

Identify the key factors influencing learning in your lesson. Where are these used in your lesson?

Adapting existing behavior- this is used at the beginning of the lesson by seeing if children who are already familiar with the story of the tortoise and the hare can pin point what the moral of the story may be.

Teaching new behavior- shaping- this would occur during the lesson, when students have successfully found a moral in the piece of writing they are given then they will be awarded with a sticker or other prize of their choice.

Chaining- once children are able to understand the moral of the tortoise and the hare, they will be required to take their knowledge of finding deeper meanings and apply it to other pieces of literature.

Maintaining existing behavior- variable ratio schedules- this will occur near the end of the lesson. Once students have demonstrated an understanding of how to determine a deeper meaning in a piece of literature they will be required to go to the computer lab in groups and find their own piece of work that they choose to analyze. Based on when each student has understood the concepts they will then get to choose groups and go to the computer lab.

What is/are the teacher role[s] in your lesson.

• Explain the performance objectives clearly to learners.
• Provide cues to the learners to assist in the correct response of the learner.
• Provide reinforcement (positive or negative)
• Create practice situations in which cues are paired with a target stimulus in order to elicit a desired response.
• Provide an atmosphere where students can modify responses to stimuli.
• Provide relevant and specific sequences of activities or learning events to achieve objectives.
• Establish reinforcers to help impact learning and performance.

How is/are this/these role[s] accomplished. [in other words – Where is this demonstrated in your lesson? Be specific.]

At the beginning of the lesson the teacher will have to; explain the performance objectives, provide cues to the learners, and provide relevant and specific sequences of activities or learning events to achieve objectives.

During the lesson the teacher will need to make sure they; provide reinforcement (positive or negative), create practice situations in which cues are paired with a target stimulus in order to elicit a desired response, provide and atmosphere where students can modify responses to stimuli and establish reinforcers to help impact learning and performance.

What type[s] of learning is/are best explained in your lesson:

Based on my lesson students will have to be able to recall previous information for example knowing how adjectives are used and what they are. The students are going to be required to have a response to specific pieces of literature or sources of media that are provided for them. They will also be required to practice responses to literature.

State the teaching method[s] used in your lesson, and, for each, briefly explain how this/these method[s] relate to your lesson plan. [in other words, how is that method demonstrated in your lesson]:

Directed instruction- focuses on teaching sequences of skills, students will start by analyzing a story shown to them with help from the teacher, then they will be required to analyze different pieces of literature on their own and then eventually with a group. By the end of the lesson the students will have to analyze different pieces of literature for homework which they will bring in the next day.

Drill and practice- throughout the lesson students will continually be required to analyze different pieces of literature and test their understanding. This will be done until it is clear that the student fully understands the point of the lesson and what is required of them.

Personalized system of instruction- each student will need to demonstrate their understanding of the subject individually before they are able to work with a group and after when they do their individual homework assignments.

State all the teaching strategies used in your lesson, and, for each strategy, explain how these strategies relate to your lesson plan. [in other words, how are the strategies demonstrated in your lesson]:

Reinforce incremental behaviors leading towards a goal behavior- the teacher will be reinforcing the main concepts of the lesson until students are able to complete the task on their own.

Establish complex behaviors by using simple behaviors already known by the subject- the students already understand that stories are all relevant to the individual, the goal is to allow students to take what they already know and apply it in a way that is beneficial to them individually. Also students have already used adjectives, and in this way they will be required to use what they already know determine what the moral of the story is.

Progressive style of instruction- students will be required to begin by doing simple tasks with the assistance of others and then will have to be able to analyze a story all on their own or in some cases write their own story which contains a moral.

Allow students opportunity to practice and repeat so that they become second nature- students will be required to keep practicing the concepts they learn in the lesson through their group work and homework that they are assigned.

LEARNING STYLES:

Identify the types of learners (multiple intelligences) you are addressing in your lesson. You MUST refer to Gardner’s work [see Lab 5]. Minimum of 3 identified and explained.

• Verbal linguistic- students are going to be required to do some reading and writing based on their own ideas.
• Naturalistic- students will have to use concepts from their own personal lives and put those ideas into their responses to the text.
• Interpersonal- involves being around people and talking to others. Students will need to be able to work in groups with other students and be able to share their ideas and get their point across in a group setting.

STUDENT EVALUATION:

The purpose of evaluation is to determine if your students met the lesson objectives.

Describe how you will evaluate the class.

Once the lesson is completed students will be evaluated by having to apply what they learnt to their homework assignment. They will be given a list of resources from which they choose one that they feel would best relate to themselves and that they feel they will be able to analyze on their own. Students will then be required to write down their analysis of the work they choose and bring it to class with them the next day to be handed in for marks that will be used toward their overall English mark. The teacher also has a picture included as one of the resources that the students are allowed to analyze, if they choose to do so then the students will be required to write a story about that picture and how it could relate to them individually, their story will be handed in and graded as well and will be graded on the same basis as those who did the analysis.

STUDENT DETERMINED CONTENT:

Failure to complete the following for each [e.g., file, website, document, computer application, Web 2.0 program, etc.] technology used in support of your lesson will result in maximum ½ marks awarded for Student Determined Content.

Content:

Hot potatoes- pop quiz on adjectives and themes of works!

This quiz will be used at the end of the lesson, students will be in the computer lab and they will be working in groups. Once they have completed that part of the lesson they can do this quiz for extra practice (it will not be for marks). The result expected through the use of this website is that students will be able to understand the lesson better, and practice what they have learnt.

Awesome highlighter program- “the tortoise and the hare story”.

This will be used in my lesson plan once the students have determined what the moral of the story is, or once the teacher has discussed it with them. Once they have figured out the theme of the story, the teacher will open this document and the parts that are highlighted will be used to explain how to find the theme of the story, what the kids should be looking for. The result of this is that the students will know how to determine how to find the theme of stories by looking at specific sentences or words used in the passage. Students can also use this program if they choose when they are going over their own passages for homework.

Stixy Board program- this website will be used at the end of the lesson. It contains all of the information that students will need to do their homework based on the lesson they have learnt. The purpose of this program is that it will allow the teacher to post the homework assignment online for students to do, and students will have easy access to all of their homework assignments. Also it contains all the documents that the students will need to complete their homework assignment.