Below are a list of lesson plans I have created and taught during my Pre-Internship in Grade 1.
GRADE 1
Pre-Internship
Week 1
Introduction Lesson Plan
This week my teaching partner and I planned for an activity to help us get to know the students. This involved creating a web of yarn, connecting us all as we took notice that we all have things in common with our peers.
Read about it here.
Week 2
Health – Relationships at School Lesson Plan
The focus of this lesson is kindness and building relationships in the classroom, what it means to be a good friend, and the difference between kind and hurtful words.
Read about it here.
PDP Goal – Communication Skills – To develop strong verbal and nonverbal communication skills as well as enunciation, language usage, and mannerisms.
PDP Summary – Overall the lesson went well. The kids were interested in the book and were able to give lots of ideas for both kind and unkind behaviours. Most students thought it was cool to wrinkle up the hearts, although some didn’t want to mess theirs up. In hindsight, the heart analogy might have been a little abstract. It was at this point that everyone started getting a little silly. If I were to do it again, I would have the students crumple the hearts all at once and be done with it, I wouldn’t rely on that activity too much. It was loud and distracting, and hard to manage while still interacting with students. I would have the students change locations midway through the lesson either from the mats to desks or vice versa. That way I would be able to gain their attention again and hold it longer. That would also help with my PDP goal of communicating more effectively with students.
Week 3 *
Math – 10 Frame Lesson Plan
The 10 Frames Lesson is about teaching the students how to use a 10 frame to organize objects to eventually be able to identify larger numbers of objects quickly. This is a beginning step towards learning about place value. In this lesson, I taught the students the proper way to use a 10 Frame and why it is important. Then the students had a chance to try out using their own 10 Frames with some fun manipulatives.
Read about it here.
PDP Goal – Set, Development, Closure – To focus students at the beginning of the lesson, develop a meaningful lesson, and have a relevant closure with students.
PDP Summary – To catch their attention, I posed a problem to the students. They were interested and wanting to help me figure out how many magnets I had. So we counted together using a 10 Frame. Again, I got their attention once I handed out the manipulatives because they were fun and interesting. They started playing and trying out the concept right away. I had some confusion with what to do if they didn’t have a full 10 items, which I addressed but would try to explain ahead of time if I taught this lesson again. To close the lesson, I had a quick exit ticket that all of the students completed correctly. This helped me to asses how well they understood the lesson.
Week 4
ELA – Word Family Lesson Plan
The students are introduced to the new weekly word family. We practice this new pattern with a fun and engaging activity of uncovering hidden words with magic markers.
Read about it here.
PDP Goal – Giving Directions – To give clear directions so that all students understand what the tasks are and what’s expected of them.
PDP Summary – Overall feedback from my cooperating teacher was positive, however, there were not that many directions in this lesson. The students loved the activity, thought it was magic. It was fun to see their reaction as they uncovered their new words. It was a great activity to see where the students were at with reading and spelling.
Week 5
Health – Dental Health – Lesson Plan
This lesson focuses on dental health. The students are introduced to what it means to create a healthy habit. We learn about different healthy habits and distinguish between different behaviours that are healthy and unhealthy for our overall dental health.
Read about it here.
PDP Goal – Classroom Management/Engagement: Awareness & Responsiveness (Withitness)
PDP Summary – Coming into someone else’s classroom can be difficult. I pop in once a week and then am in and out during that day, doing various things but mostly observing. Expecting perfect classroom management is definitely unrealistic. That being said, my Grade 1 students are amazing and I only had minor issues during my lesson today. Next time I want to make sure to shut down small conversations before they become distractions to others.
Week 6
ELA – Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections – Think Aloud Lesson Plan
This lesson introduces a new strategy for reading comprehension. We focus on making text to self connections. I model the strategy as I read the story Alexander and the Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day and connect how the character is feeling to events in my own life. The students have the opportunity to share their own connections to the text and help others to brainstorm ideas, followed by an activity where the students draw a picture and complete a sentence starter to share their connection.
Read about it here.
PDP Goal – Classroom Management/Engagement: Awareness & Responsiveness (Withitness)
PDP Summary – This was my first lesson with a different teacher and class of Grade 1 students. They were very excited to have someone new in their classroom. They listened really well, were engaged and enthusiastic throughout my lesson. They made it really easy on me to manage and respond. This Grade 1 class was very different from my cooperating teacher’s which was great to experience.
Week 7 *
Math – Dominos Number Sense – Lesson Plan
This lesson is based around the concept of subitizing. The students are engaged at the beginning of the lesson by singing along with a short video clip, trying t figure out what numbers are being represented in different ways. They are then introduced to a new manipulative – the Domino. They use the Dominos to finish an independent activity where they practice subitizing, counting on, or finding the sum of a set. This is followed by a game of Domino Keepers.
Read about it here.
PDP Goal – Giving Directions – To give clear directions so that all students understand what the tasks are and what s expected of them.
PDP Summary – The lesson went really well. The students were engaged and loved having a new manipulative to try out. My overall goal was to work on giving clear directions so that the students knew what steps they needed to take in order to be successful. There were lots of directions in the lesson today, explaining the activity followed by a new game to play. The feedback from my cooperating teacher was really positive. I explained how to do the activity with the document camera and reviewed it again together to be sure everyone knew what to do. Then I explained how to play the game and reviewed it. Finally, I reviewed all the steps and asked for the students to repeat back what my expectations were. Everyone was set and ready to go. I still had many students asking what to do, however, I was assured this is normal. In my 3 week block I will incorporate the visual board into my lessons so students can be redirected to that if they are unsure what comes next.
