Morgan Lahasky

EDCI 3383

Teaching Learning Cycle Assignment

The 5 Senses in a Pre-K Classroom

1. Teaching Context:

This lesson was taught in a Pre-K classroom in a low socioeconomic school in East Baton

Rouge parish where most of the students are African American. The classroom itself has access

to multiple pieces of technology; however, parental involvement is extremely low. In the typical

day, the students are expected to play and move through the centers independently. There is very

little teacher interaction with the students in these centers.

The class has 19 four-year-old African American students who all differ on where they

fall academically. Only one student has an IEP for speech. They all have different interests and

ideas. Prior to coming to school, most students had very little knowledge of everyday-ideas, such

as counting, the alphabet, etc. Most of the students have been exposed to things that are

considered inappropriate for their age.

Knowing that the children come from high poverty families, I made sure that they would

be familiar with the items that we used. Because they came into school knowing little to nothing

about every day ideas, I was careful that I did not assume that they knew anything prior to the

lesson other than what my mentor teacher taught them.

2. Learning Objectives/ Outcomes

Students will be able to distinguish between the five senses. They will be able to identify

an object using their senses (PS-E-A1). Their previous knowledge of the senses will be built
upon. They were previously introduced to the senses, so these objectives were chosen to further

develop their knowledge.

3. Technology Integration

No technology was used through this lesson because it was unnecessary. There was no

need for it because the activities were simple and hands-on.

4. Activities

We first introduced them to their five senses in a whole group activity, where we simply

discussed each sense to introduce them to the topic. They know that they can see, hear,

feel, taste, and smell; however, they were unaware of the term sense. This was an

opportunity to expand on their vocabulary and familiarize them more with the human

body.

Then we pulled leveled small groups so that we can have more in-depth conversations

about our senses and our body.

For sight, we simply told the children to look around the room and discuss with their

partner different things that they see. After we told them to close their eyes and imagine

what it would be like if we could not see anything, introducing them to the term blind.

They discussed that will their partner as well.

For sound, the students stomped their feet and whispered to their friend. We also

discussed what it would be like if you couldnt hear, while introducing them to the term

deaf. They also discussed this with their partner.

For touch, a soft stuffed animal was placed in a brown bag and the students were to feel

what was in the bag without looking. After everyone felt it, we discussed what we
 thought it was from what we could feel. We did the same thing with a big piece of rough

Velcro.

For smell, we blind folded the students and passed a cup of pickle juice under their nose

and asked them what they thought it was. We did the same thing for lotion.

For taste, we blindfolded them again, and had them taste pretzels, sour patch kids, and a

piece of chocolate and guess what they were.

5. Differentiation (Relates directly to the contextual factors)

The children were only four years old so most of them had little to no experience with the

name of the five senses; however, they are all able to see, touch, taste, hear, and smell

things all around them.

Only one child in the class had an IEP, which was for speech. For this activity, just like

any other day, we just had to listen a little bit closer to her when she spoke.

Since majority of the students are of low socioeconomic status, we made sure that they

would be familiar with the objects we chose to use for the activity.

6. Assessment

a.) Our assessment consisted of a sheet of paper where the students circled if they liked the

taste of the three items they tasted. This assessment does not align with the objectives and

instruction. It also seemed as though the students did not understand what exactly they were

expected to do. It is completely invalid and does not help for a teacher to see whether the

students have met the objectives.

b.) Due to the lack of validity in our assessment sheet, I am unable to complete this aspect of

this assignment. There was no pre-assessment or post-assessment that relates back to the

objectives. If I were to redo this lesson, I would create an informal pre-assessment where I ask
the children to list the 5 senses. As a post-assessment, I would have them cut and paste a picture

of the sense to the body part so that it is age appropriate and allows me to gauge whether they

understood the lesson.

7. Reflection

Knowing what I know now about the Teaching Learning Cycle, I would have done my

lesson totally differently. My mentor teacher and I collaborated on this lesson, and she did not

find anything wrong with it. We should have had a better assessment that actually relates to the

lesson. As I stated before, I would create an informal pre-assessment where I ask the children to

list the 5 senses. As a post-assessment, I would have them cut and paste a picture of the sense to

the body part so that it is age appropriate and allows me to gauge whether they understood the

lesson. According to Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, teachers

should think about the desired outcome of the lesson before actually planning the lesson. They

should focus on the objective that needs to be met and how that will be met. They should also

plan the assessment to align with the objectives to be sure that the lesson is as beneficial as

possible. Stephen R. Covey wrote To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear

understanding of your destination. This is such a true quote that all teachers need to keep in

mind while they are planning lessons. I am aware that this lesson did not follow the backwards

design, but analyzing it through this format makes me aware of how pointless our final aspect of

the lesson was. I do not believe that the lesson was successful because of this reason.
 Lesson Plan for Pre-K

Name: Morgan Lahasky Subject: Science

Topic: The 5 Senses Date: November 15, 2016

Objective: Students will be able to identify an object using their senses (PS-E-A1)
The learner will: explore different activities to learn about our five senses.

Contextual Factors -East Baton Rouge, low socio-economic

public school
-20 kids, 12 girls and 8 boys
-1 student with an IEP for speech
Teacher Material/Resources -stuffed animal -brown bag
-velcro -5 blindfolds
-pickle juice -lotion
-pretzels -sour patch kids
-chocolate -pencils
-crayons -pre-made worksheet
Technology Integration N/A
Family Community Connection or There was no home connection, except the
Extension weekly newsletter that said we were
discussing our 5 senses this week
Lesson Procedure and Activities In small groups, the teacher will work with
the students with hands-on activities to further
their knowledge of the 5 senses.
Introduction The teacher will inform the students of the 5
students and the body parts they are
associated with.
Activities -For sight, we simply told the children to look
around the room and discuss with their
partner different things that they see.
-For sound, the students stomped their feet
and whispered to their friend.
-For touch, a soft stuffed animal was placed in
a brown bag and the students were to feel
what was in the bag without looking. After
everyone felt it, we discussed what we
thought it was from what we could feel. We
did the same thing with a big piece of rough
Velcro.
-For smell, we blind folded the students and
passed a cup of pickle juice under their nose
 and asked them what they thought it was. We
did the same thing for lotion.
-For taste, we blindfolded them again, and
had them taste pretzels, sour patch kids, and a
piece of chocolate and guess what they were.
Closure We gather the students in for a whole group
discussion. We talk about the materials we
explored and what sense they related to.
Differentiation -Only one child in the class had an IEP, which
was for speech. For this activity, just like any
other day, we just had to listen a little bit
closer to her when she spoke.
-Since majority of the students are of low
socioeconomic status, we made sure that they
would be familiar with the objects we chose
to use for the activity.
Formative Assessment/Evaluation Our assessment consisted of a sheet of paper
where the students circled if they liked the
taste of the three items they tasted. This
assessment does not align with the objectives
and instruction.