Objectives: In this module the student will

1. consider and discuss the lesson designs of selected authors in pedagogy.
2. choose a lesson design and explore it more deeply through selected readings and self-guided research.
3. examine how the lesson can be applied to interactive, online learning.
4. begin design of online lesson (final project) – continuing objective through remaining modules.
5. share emerging lesson objectives and outline with colleagues for feedback and modification.

How do you start a lesson plan?

• Do you first write or determine the learning objectives or outcomes of the lesson?
• Do you consider what your students already know about this new topic?
• Do you show its relation to what you have already taught them?
• Are there measurable outcomes in what you're trying to teach? State standards you have to meet?
• Why would a student care about this material that you and I feel is essential to finding true happiness and fulfillment?

That last question is a hard one, but, despite its overblown expression, it's a valid concern when kids say, "Why do we need to learn this? When will it be useful to us in 'real life?'" That's a tough one to answer when the subject is Silas Marner.

anticipatory set

sometimes called a "hook" to grab the student's attention: actions and statements by the teacher to relate the experiences of the students to the objectives of the lesson. To put students into a receptive frame of mind.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Benjamin Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive domain, from the simple recall or recognition of facts, as the lowest level, through increasingly more complex and abstract mental levels, to the highest order which is classified as evaluation.

concept

One or two word concepts are timeless, abstract or broad. Concepts may be very broad macroconcepts such as change, system, or interdependence; or they may be more topic specific, such as organism, habitat, or government.

conceptual lens

A conceptual lens (focus concept) forces thinking to the integration level. Students see patterns and connections at a conceptual level as they relate the topic to the broader study framed by the lens.

constructivism

A theory of learning based on the premise that new knowledge is constructed from previous knowledge. Learners actively participate in seeking meaning and arriving at conclusions through a cyclical process of discovery.

modeling

Once the material has been presented, the teacher uses it to show students examples of what is expected as an end product of their work. The critical aspects are explained through labeling, categorizing, comparing, etc. Students are taken to the application level (problem-solving, comparison, summarizing, etc.)

 

When you have finished your work on this page, continue to Readings.