Lesson Based on Constructivism

Make a list of the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content of your lesson through a constructivist approach. Which of these learning activities/skills lend themselves to student's individual or group construction? How might you structure learning activities that lead students to discover these skills/principles?

My lesson is a first grade science lesson. And for the students to reach ultimate master of the content, they must be able to identify the basic parts of a plant such as the roots, stem, and leaves. They must also know how these parts help the plant grow and survive. 

Here is a list of skills necessary for students to reach this mastery:

• Students must be able to pull from and consider their previous knowledge and understanding of plants.
• Students must be able to explore and examine plants.
• Based on knew experiences, students must be able to build on what they already know about plants. The new experience with plants will either confirm or challenge their ideas of plants and their parts. 
• Students must be able to work together to explore, examine, discuss, and challenge each other's ideas about the plants. 

I would structure learning activities where students get both individual and group time. This way they can construct their knowledge of plants based on their own thoughts and from what others believe. Each student will also get to participate in a hand's on activity to provide them with a chance to explore. Each student may be given a plant to take care of over a period of time. This gives them a somewhat authentic experience. 

Here's an interesting article I found on constructivism. 
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000811.htm

Instructional Decisions Based on Memory Processes

How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?

In class, it was said that meaning and understanding are constructed by the learner and not directly derived from the environment. This statement would influence my instructional activities; in that, I would frequently encourage my students to  make their own connections with the things they learn and not just take the ones I suggest. I might ask my students to share a personal connection they might have or a connection they see between different concepts. This might get the rest of the class thinking of connections they can make to a concept. 

Meta-cognition is an aspect of the memory process that would impact my instructional activities as well. I think modeling and talking about my own thinking in a read-aloud would be a great example of this. I might say, "When I read this sentence, it makes me predict this will happen." And then I could talk about what a prediction is, and ask the students to make predictions. I might also go back and reread something that the students didn't grasp. This helps them to think about their own thinking and understanding as they read, and it provides them with strategies to help them when they get stuck.

Here's an example of a teacher using meta-cognition in her classroom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac6f0eNxE_w

Skills and Learning Outcomes Related to Cognitive Learning

What are the essential skills and/or learning outcomes you want your students to know and be able to do that relate to cognitive learning? 

I would want my students to be able to make multiple connections. Because of these connections, content becomes more meaningful to the students which helps them encode and retrieve information. 

I want my students to make connections between the things they learn in school and their own experiences. For example, my family grows a small garden every year. I remember being very young and helping my dad plant the seeds and take care of the garden. I was actually very shocked to learn that we eat things that grow completely underground when I helped my dad pull the carrots from the ground. This experience was very helpful when it came time for me to learn in school what plants need to live and grow. Because I helped cover the seeds with dirt and water the plants when it didn't rain enough, I knew that these were things the plants needed.

I also want my students to connect what they learn to the real world. An example of this would be connecting math to spending money. Money is something even our younger students understand, and it can be helpful in many areas of math, e.g., addition, subtraction, decimals, etc. 

I think it's also important for students to make emotional connections to topics covered in class. This is important in subject areas like social studies where students learn about the good and bad of our history and current events. Having an emotional connection will make what they learn more meaningful and may even inspire them to take action.

Here's a presentation from the University of Wisconsin - Madison that goes into the science behind social, emotional, and academic learning. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9fVvsR-CqM

Assessment Strategies

Four ways I would fit assessment into a lesson plan:

1. Questioning: Throughout the lesson, I would ask my students questions to get feedback on their understanding. This will help me know if I need to slow down, go back, or move on. This is an informal, formative type of assessment, and it's helpfulness can be underestimated. It can provide so much information that can change the direction of the lesson or keep it on track. 

2. Discussion: At some point in the lesson, I would have a discussion with the class. I would probably do this either at the beginning of the lesson to see what students know and get them interested in the lesson, or I would do it after some practice with the topic to see if the lesson worked. This is also an informal and formative type of assessment. 

3. Performance Assessment or Quiz: I would give my students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned from the lesson. I put performance OR quiz because sometimes I would do a performance assessment where students can show me what they've learned. And other times I would give a quiz for those students who prefer quizzes and tests over performing what they know. 

4: Reflection: At the end of the lesson, I would have my students write a few sentences on what they thought about the lesson. I would have them write something they learned from the lesson, something they liked about the lesson, and something they disliked about the lesson.

This chart was given to our Elementary Education 422 science class by Mrs. Patty Stinger-Barnes. I believe she said she kept a copy of this for years and eventually cleaned it up and retyped it into the format below, but she did not keep up with where the chart originally came from. I feel that this will be very helpful to all of us as we will soon have to devise ways to assess students. 

What Tools Should I Use for Assessing Learning?

Overview of Alternative Assessment Approaches

Assessment Ideas for Individuals and Groups

Tests	Products/Projects	Performances	Process Skills
Multiple Choice	Ads	Activities	Anecdotal records
True/False	Advice Column	Announcements	Checklist of observations for processes
Matching	Artifacts	Anthems	Concept Mapping
Fill in the Blank	Audiocassettes	Apologies	Conferences – teacher & peer
Short Answer	Autobiographies	Ballads	Debriefing interviews
Essay	Banners	Beauty tips	Debriefing questioning for lesson closure
	Blueprints	Campaign speeches	Experience checklists
	Book reviews	Character sketches	Interactional analyses
	Books	Charades	Interviews
	Brochures	Classroom maps	Invented dialogues
	Bulletin boards	Commercials	Journal entries regarding processes
	Cartoons	Cooperative Learning/Grp. Activities	Learning Logs
	Case Studies	Dances	Metaphor analyses
	Collages	Debates	Observations
	Computer creations	Demonstrations	Oral Questioning
	Costumes of characters	Discussions	Process-folios
	Crossword puzzles	Dramas	Question production
	Databases	Exercise routines	Responses to reading
	Diaries of historical periods	Experiments	Retelling in your own words
	Directories	Explanations	Tailored responses
	Displays	Fashion Shows	Tell how they did something and justify the approach
	Drawings	Field Trips
	Foods of a country or time period	Interactive book reviews
	Games	Interviews
	Graphs, charts, diagrams	Introductions
	Graphic Organizers	Jingles
	Handbooks	Job Interviews
	How-to books	Jump rope rhymes
	In-class group essays	Laboratory Experiments
	Job applications	Person on the street interviews
	Job descriptions	News reports
	Journals	Oral histories of events
	Lab Reports	Pantomimes
	Learning Centers	Plays
	Learning Logs	Presentations
	Letters to parents, editors, TV station or business	Psychomotor skills development
	Maps	Puppet shows
	“Me Bag” for introductions	Reports
	Mobiles	Role Plays
	Movies Reviews	Sales Pitches
	Newspapers	Simulations
	Pamphlets	Singing of songs from historical periods
	Parents Job descriptions	Skits
	Patterns	Sociograms
	Peer editing critiques	Song writing to fit a topic
	Pen-pal letters	Speeches
	Photographs	Spoofs
	Picture dictionaries	Storytelling
	Portfolios	Surveys
	Posters	Tongue Twisters
	Product descriptions	TV Talk Shows
	Projects	Verbal Comparisons
	Proposals	Warnings
	Protest letters	Weather Reports
	Questionnaires
	Research Centers
	Research Papers
	Resumes
	Reviews of a TV program
	Scrapbooks
	Short Stories
	Simulation games
	Slide presentations
	Soap Opera parodies
	Story Illustrations
	Student Kept Charts
	Timelines
	Travel Folders
	Videotapes
	Want Ads
	Work Products
	Writing Portfolios