Last Saturday, March 1, Svetlana and Sergey taught a lesson on the concept of time. They combined the introduction of the new idea of time with the revision of numbers from 1 to 12 and shapes. Here is a short lesson plan with the explanation of what I really liked about it (click Read More under the pictures).
1) The revision of numbers began with the children randomly saying numbers and Sergey writing them down on a magnet board. This was a good way to warm the kids up at the beginning of the lesson, subtly encourage their participation and draw upon their old knowledge of numbers.
2) Next Sergey introduced the topic of the lesson. Since time is an abstract notion, he demonstrated concrete objects - mechanical and electronic watches and clocks. The kids looked closely at those with Sergey pointing out the parts of the watches and clocks (the face, the numbers, second hand, etc.).
3) The teacher asked why people needed watches and clocks and after listening to the answers read a story about Winnie the Pooh and his busy day. As the kids followed the story, Sergey used the watch to explain what time of the day Winnie Pooh engaged in different activities, thus he nicely made a point that people need watches and wall clocks for keeping track of their time.
4) Next, Sergey produced a "broken" watch that lost its numbers. The kids helped Sergey to glue the numbers back on the watch. This was a culminating activity of the lesson right in the Vygotskian zone of proximity - hard enough to complete on their own, but doable with the teacher's support.
Actually, Svetana corrected me on this one: every kid was given a "broken" watch to repair under parental and teacher's supervision. This assignment was designed to review numbers and shapes (see the pictures below).
5) Finally, the kids were given disposable plates to make the wall clock of their own. They drew the clock's face with numbers and hands. The parents helped thir children to complete this activity. Each child thus received a small award - a wall clock of their own that they designed with their parents: a fun way to wind up the lesson!
1) The revision of numbers began with the children randomly saying numbers and Sergey writing them down on a magnet board. This was a good way to warm the kids up at the beginning of the lesson, subtly encourage their participation and draw upon their old knowledge of numbers.
2) Next Sergey introduced the topic of the lesson. Since time is an abstract notion, he demonstrated concrete objects - mechanical and electronic watches and clocks. The kids looked closely at those with Sergey pointing out the parts of the watches and clocks (the face, the numbers, second hand, etc.).
3) The teacher asked why people needed watches and clocks and after listening to the answers read a story about Winnie the Pooh and his busy day. As the kids followed the story, Sergey used the watch to explain what time of the day Winnie Pooh engaged in different activities, thus he nicely made a point that people need watches and wall clocks for keeping track of their time.
4) Next, Sergey produced a "broken" watch that lost its numbers. The kids helped Sergey to glue the numbers back on the watch. This was a culminating activity of the lesson right in the Vygotskian zone of proximity - hard enough to complete on their own, but doable with the teacher's support.
Actually, Svetana corrected me on this one: every kid was given a "broken" watch to repair under parental and teacher's supervision. This assignment was designed to review numbers and shapes (see the pictures below).
5) Finally, the kids were given disposable plates to make the wall clock of their own. They drew the clock's face with numbers and hands. The parents helped thir children to complete this activity. Each child thus received a small award - a wall clock of their own that they designed with their parents: a fun way to wind up the lesson!
2 comments:
Wow! Amazing! All of you are doing a super great job!!!! Natalya
Natalya:
Many thanks for your comment! We are trying to do our best and we actually miss your family a lot here, in Ames. Congrats on your website, as you can see we link to Newport News toddler's club, :-)!
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