Lesson Design

Lesson design is the second important aspect of creating a successful learning environment. A great teacher is able to design a lesson to meet the needs and abilities of their student while focusing on the end goal. On this page, I have provided some ways I have successfully created lessons to meet the needs of my students.

When creating a lesson, it is important for me to understand where my students' understanding of the topic is. I can gather this information through a pre-assessment. As I develop the lesson I focus on how my students learn best and create a meaningful learning experience to meet those needs and learning styles. At the conclusion of the lesson or topic, I determine how well my lesson design meets the standards of the lesson through providing my students with a post assessment. I use this information to determine what I might need to reteach or reinforce for mastery of the concept.

This is a sample of a backward lesson design that I used to create a science activity. I felt it was important to determine what the end goal of the lesson was and then take into consideration my students' strengths to determine how they could best demonstrate mastery.

Backward Design Lesson

Hands on learning and opportunities for students to explore learning are important within the learning process. I believe that teachers can provide a level of independence through learning centers in the classroom. Well structured and pre-planned centers and instruction must be organized in the classroom to be the most successful. These are examples of my Word Work and Math Centers block.

Sample Word Work Block

Sample Math Block

Additional Sample Lessons

Kindergarten Math - Counting

Kindergarten Social Studies - Election Day

First Grade Health - Germs

Fourth Grade Informational Writing

Fourth Grade Literature Study - Fairy Tales

First Grade Phonics

Technology Integration

Our students are surrounded by technology and many of them are fluent with using technology by the age of four. I believe it is important to integrate the use of technology into the classroom because that is what our students are most comfortable with, it will hold their attention, and they will be expected to use technology for the rest of their lives.

I have intergrated technology into my classroom by:

Developing webquests for students to explore more on a topic
Creating a classroom website to share information about classroom happenings
Use the SMART Board daily in the classroom for interactive lessons
Provide iPads, iPods, and laptop computers for students to complete assignments on throughout the school day.
Allow students to use digital camcorders to record themselves reading to develop oral reading fluency and expression!

My second grade students using a digital camcorder to record each other during Readers Theater. This is a great way to increase fluency, expression, and comprehension in young readers!