Task 3 Contextual Information

3. 0 Contextual Information A. I am in a Montessori classroom. We have students ranging in age from three to six. In our classroom we have different areas. These areas include: math, language, cultural (social studies), science, practical life, and sensorial. We have a total of 29 students. 11 of these are all day students (5 year olds), 9 in the morning (3 and 4 year olds), and 9 in the afternoon (3 and 4 year olds). I have no students who have special needs. We follow the Montessori method in our classroom. By following this method, each student learns on an individual basis and lessons are given to individuals. B. In our classroom, all students develop at a different rate and we have to keep in mind that we have 3, 4, 5 year old students. In the Montessori classroom the physical, social, behavioral, and developmental factors do not affect instruction because each student is taught on an individual basis. With that being the case, accommodations are made for students based on their individual need. There are no linguistic, cultural, or health considerations that impact teaching and learning in our classroom. C. Most students in our school come from low socioeconomic homes; therefore, they do not have access to a lot of resources at home.

Step 1: Planning the Lesson

3.1.1 Standards and Learning Goals A. The learning theory that guided my planning process is The Zone of Proximal Development by Vygotsky. This theory states that student will follow example given by the teacher and they will gradually develop the ability to complete a task without help. I plan to use this theory by showing the children an example of how the graph is to be completed and then expecting them to complete it. For 3 year olds, I will use colors to help guide them through the lesson. B. The learning goals of this lesson are students will be able to correctly categorize, count, and graph hearts by color. C. I used individual work while in a whole group. Students completed their own graph but everyone worked in the same area (on the carpet). This made it easier for the assistant and I to walk around and give extra help to the younger students and check work. 3.1.2 Instructional Strategies

A. The instructional strategies that I chose to use are that students are being provided with hands on experience and to complete this lesson using whole group instruction. I chose to do this lesson as a whole group so that the ones who are excelling in the lesson can help those who are struggling during the lesson. By using hands on experience, children are more engaged opposed to as if they were just listening to me talk. B. By using whole group, the students will have help being able to correctly categorize, count, and graph hearts by color. By using peers for help, students will learn from one another. C. I chose whole group. Students completed their own graph but everyone worked in the same area (on the carpet). This made it easier for the assistant and I to walk around and give extra help to the younger students and check work. 3.1.3 Learning Activities A. Students were each given a cup of 20 hearts. In order to graph they had to be able to sort 20 hearts by color and count. Students will be responsible for one to one correspondence, sorting, counting, and graphing. B. All students need practice graphing. The younger students need help with being able to count, writing numbers, and some need one to one correspondence. C. In our class we have 3, 4, and 5-year-old students. When planning learning activities, I had to keep in mind that not all children have the same abilities and accommodations must be made throughout the lesson. 3.1.4 Materials, Resources, and Technology A. The materials used for this lesson were candy hearts, handout (graph), pencils, colored pencils, and the Smart Board. These materials will support student learning because they need these things to complete the assessment. B. The Smart Board is the only technology used during this instruction. C. This technology will enhance instruction and student learning because it will give students the opportunity to see an example of hearts being graphed before having to do it on their own.

Step 2: The Focus Students

3.2.1 Understanding Each of the Two Focus Students and Differentiating Instruction Focus Student 1: a. Focus student 1 is 4 year old who is a second year student. (In Montessori if you come as a 3, you stay in the same classroom for 3 years). This student could

correctly place each heart in a space. This student had to have help with sorting and counting hearts. They could write numbers with guidance from the assistant. b. In the procedures on the lesson plan, it specifically says that the student will be provided with help from the assistant or I on sorting and counting hearts and guidance with writing. c. For evidence to show progress, focus student 1 will continue to receive lessons on sorting, counting, and writing numbers. Focus Student 2: a. Focus student 2 is a 4 year olds student who is a first year student. This student could use verbal skills to tell you how many there were of each color but struggled to transfer to paper. This student had to have help writing numbers and transferring colors of candy hearts to paper when asked to color the hearts according to how many there were of each. b. In the procedures on the lesson plan, it specifically says that the student will be provided with help from the assistant or I with transferring colors to paper and helping the student write their numbers. c. Focus Student 2 will continue to receive lessons on writing numbers and coloring by following directions.

Step 3: Analyzing the Lesson

3.3.1 Analyzing the Lesson for the Whole Class A. All 5-year-old students completed the lesson successfully after receiving instructions. Most 4-year-old students understood. The 3-year-old students needed a lot of assistance. This is what I expected from the beginning. The classs results on the handouts supported my conclusion. B. When a majority of students used dots as well as writing numbers I could tell that students understood the instruction and took as many steps as needed to complete the graph. C. During the lesson, I had to adapt/modify the lesson to my 3 year old students. For each 3year-old student, I put a dot (in the correct color) beside each color word because students cannot read yet. After doing this, the 3 year olds knew what number or dots to put where. I had one 3-year-old student who wrote the majority of his numbers correctly. D. The assistant and I were readily available to students who needed help or had questions. Students were allowed to talk quietly to one another about the lesson. By the assistant and I walking around and talking to students, everyone remained engaged and involved in the lesson.

E. Throughout the lesson, I would tell a student they were doing good and redirect students who were doing something incorrectly or were off task. I feel as though the redirection helped students to not become discouraged with the lesson. 3.3.2 Analyzing the Differentiated Instruction for each of the Two Focus Students A & B. Focus Student 1 had to have help sorting hearts and could count when I pointed to each individual heart. Student could write numbers but often they were backwards and had to have help fixing them. Focus Student 2 could correctly identify numbers after placing candy hearts on graph. Student could somewhat write numbers but had to have some guidance. For example, when asked, focus student 2 could tell you how many there were of each color; however, when asked to write the number, the student had to be reminded of how it looked and needed help controlling their hand while writing. Both students met the learning goals after having assistance in the troubling areas. For example, when focus student 1 was writing their numbers backwards, when I showed and example, the student realized immediately that they had incorrectly written it.

Step 4: Reflecting
3.4.1 Reflecting on the Lesson for the Whole Class A. Student that did not achieve learning goals will continue to work with numbers 1-20 and work on writing numbers. After completing these activities, students will be given the opportunity to complete a task that requires them to meet the same learning objective. Students should be able to complete it. B. In the future, I would give 3-year-old students a different graph with colors beside the color words. I may give them a graph with only 10 hearts instead of 20. 3.4.2 Reflecting on the Lesson for Each of the Two Focus Students A. For the focus students, I would pair them with a 5-year-old student to help them write their numbers and correctly categorize them. I would also have the students to color hearts (on the paper) as they removed each individual heart so that they would not have a problem transferring how many hearts they needed to color by looking at the number at the bottom of the paper. B. In the future, I would either let the students work in groups with a 5-year-old or give them less hearts to graph. Overall, I think the lesson was successful though.