SCE 3108 Lecture 1

Planning for Teaching Primary science Click to edit Master subtitle style

Learning Outcomes
n

State the purpose of lesson planning. List the aspects to consider in lesson planning. Compare and contrast yearly, weekly and daily lesson plan

Course Overview

What is a Lesson?
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A planned set of learning experiences Designed to produce a specific learning outcome May be very brief or extend over several class periods

INTRODUCTION
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Teaching is more than telling. Effective teaching requires a great deal of thought, preparation, and design. At the beginning of the school term, you will need to do a yearly scheme of work to cover the entire science curriculum. Yearly scheme of work would specify the content for the duration. It also devise weekly table for the whole year. A good yearly scheme of work should contain the following headings: Semester, Number of weeks, Topic and Remarks. In order to plan out the yearly scheme of work you will need the Science syllabus, a calendar, a school calendar and your school time table.

Lesson Plan
n

A lesson plan is a written description to teach academic content. An appropriate written lesson plan is a working document which the teacher will use as a guide in his or her work. It can also serve as an accurate communication channel to inform others about the progress made in pupils learning process.

Why is Lesson Planning Important?

n

Forces us to think through WHAT we want the students to learn. Forces us to think through HOW we will teach it. Allows us to decide in advance what equipment, supplies, and materials we will need to assemble for the class. Provides structure for both teacher and students. Increases likelihood that learning will occur.

What is the rationale for lesson planning?

n

Carefully prepared and written lesson plans show your students that you are a committed professional. Written and detailed lesson plans provide an important sense of security, which is especially useful to beginning teacher. Written lesson plans help you organize material and search for loopholes , loose ends, or incomplete content. Written lesson plans help other members of the teaching team understand what you are doing and how you are doing it. Written lesson plans also provide substitute teachers with a guide to follow if you are unable to carry out the lesson.

Certain assumptions can be made about lesson planning.

n

A plan is more likely to be carefully and thoughtfully plotted during the proactive phase of instruction when the plan is written out. Although not all teachers need elaborate written plans for all lessons, all effective teachers do have clearly defined goals and objectives in mind and a planned pattern of instruction for every lesson, whether that plan is written out or not. Beginning teachers need to prepare detailed written lesson plans failing to prepare is preparing to fail! The depth of knowledge a teacher has about a subject or topic influences the amount of planning necessary for the lessons. The diversity of students necessitates careful and thoughtful consideration about individualization the instruction. There is no particular pattern of format that all teachers need to follow when writing out plans however, teacher preparation programs have agreed on certain lesson plan format.

Criteria for a Good Lesson Plan

1. The expected learning outcomes should specify what the pupil will able to do that are observable to the teacher. 2. Adequate and relevant resources. 3. Effective instructional strategies. 4. Motivating activities including fair and accurate evaluation of pupils understanding of concepts.

Aspects to consider in Lesson Planning

1) n)

Know who your students are. Know ability levels; backgrounds; interest levels; attention spans; ability to work together in groups; prior knowledge and learning experiences; special needs or accommodations; and learning preferences.

Aspects to consider in Lesson Planning

2) Know your content. n List the important facts, key concepts, skills, or key vocabulary terms that you intend to cover.

Aspects to consider in Lesson Planning

3) Learning objectives n Identify the objectives that you hope your students will achieve in the tasks that will engage them in the learning process. n Who is the audience? n What will students be able to do during this lesson? n Under what conditions will students' performance be accomplished? n What is the degree or criterion on the basis of which satisfactory attainment of the objectives will be judged?

Aspects to consider in Lesson Planning

4) Learning outcome n Identify the aims or outcomes that you want your students to achieve as a result of the lesson you plan to teach.

Basic Elements of a Lesson Plan

The lesson plan format contains the following basic components: n (1) Set induction, n (2) Development and n (3) Closure. These three components need to be included in every lesson plan. You might choose to include other elements.
n

YEARLY PLAN
WEEK/ DATE TOPIC STRATEGY/ ACTIVITY REMARK

sample

Refer to the Primary School Science Curriculum for Year 1- 6.

Choose one year
n n

Plan and write a yearly lesson plan. From the yearly lesson plan, plan and write a weekly lesson plan. From the weekly lesson plan, discuss how to plan a daily lesson plan (details of writing a daily lesson plan will be discussed in week 4).

What are your considerations for writing the yearly and weekly lesson plan?

Highlights of Research on Good Teaching

Effective teachers are those who: n are clear about their instructional goals n are knowledgeable about lesson content and strategies for teaching it n communicate to their students what is expected of them and why n make expertise of existing instructional materials in order to devote more time to practices that enrich and clarify lesson content n teach students metacognitive strategies and give them opportunities to master them n address higher as well as lower level cognitive objectives n monitor students understanding by offering regular and appropriate feedback n integrate their instruction with that of other subject areas n accept responsibility for student outcomes, and n are thoughtful and reflective about their practice.