EDUC 417 Special Education

Lesson Plan Outline

Design For Learning
Instructor: Abby Diamond
Lesson Title: Shapes In Our Everyday Life
Curriculum Area: Math

Grade Level: Preschool (modified)

Date: October 7, 2015
Estimated Time: 15 minutes

Technology Integration Used in this lesson:

The technology integration that was used in this lesson was the Shapes In Everyday Life
powerpoint. This powerpoint was created by the student teacher to be used during the
engagement portion of the lesson plan as a way to introduce the lesson. The purpose of the
powerpoint was to introduce students to the idea that shapes are all around us in our everyday
life, particularly four shapessquares, circles, triangles, and rectangles. The powerpoint
included pictures of everyday items that the student would be familiar with in their everyday life,
and then the students had to guess which shape these items were in. This powerpoint served as a
fun, interactive way to get students engaged in the lesson and excited to learn about shapes. The
students really enjoyed the powerpoint and liked getting to guess what shapes the pictures were
of. The powerpoint directly aligned with the lesson topicto recognize the four shapes (circles,
triangles, squares, and rectangles) and identify them in everyday objects.
*****The lesson is highlighted where the Assistive Technology was used.
Standards Connection and IEP Goal:
LL.P.1.1 Understand and follow spoken directions.
LL.P.4.2 Respond to questions.
M.P.2.1 Recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts, and attributes.
M.P.2.1.2 Name shapes when prompted
M.P.2.1.4 Match shape manipulatives
M. P.3.1 Match, sort, place in a series, and regroup objects according to attributes (color, shape,
size, etc).
M.P.3.1.4 Sort objects by one attribute (either color, shape, or size).
IEP goal for Student A:
By March of 2016, student A will complete targeted two handed classroom and self-help task
with set up as needed with minimal assistance in 3/5 trials.
Learning Objective:
When given pictures of everyday objects in their environment, students will be able to match the
picture to the shape and name the shape with 100 percent accuracy.

Student A (Modified): When given pictures of everyday objects in their environment, student
will be able to point to the correct shape with 100 percent accuracy.
Kid Friendly Objective: Today we will be learning about shapes and learn how to recognize
them!
Evaluation of Learning Objective:
Students: Students will be given pictures of everyday objects in their environment and they will
have to identify which shape it is and name the shape without assistance. Students will be given
three pictures of everyday objects and have to identify what shape they are. Students will be able
to recognize and name the three shapes with 100 percent accuracy. The student must identify the
correct shape and say its name 3/3 times to be considered proficient.
Student Al (Modified): Student will be given two pictures of everyday objects in their
environment and will have to identify which shape it is by pointing to the correct shape. The
student will identify the correct shape 2/2 times to be considered proficient.
Engagement: The teacher will state the behavior expectations of the student. She will play the
Shapes in Everyday Life powerpoint and discuss how everyday objects around us are shapes.
She will then explain what they will be learning about today. Good morning boys and girls!
Today I will be teaching you, and I need you to sit in your chair, put your listening ears on, and
catch a bubble in your mouth until I tell you to talk. Can you do that for me? Very good job
students! To start off with, we are going to go through a powerpoint to learn about some of our
shapes. There are some pictures of everyday items that you should be familiar with. I want you to
see if you can figure out what shape they are in. Pull up the powerpoint on the smart board. Go
through each of the four shapes. Have students guess the shape before going to the slide that has
the name on it. Have students say the shapes as you go through them on the powerpoint. So what
did we just learn after looking at these pictures? Yes, we found out that shapes are all around us.
They are in our everyday life. Today, we are going to get to learn about 4 basic shapescircles,
squares, triangles, and rectanglesand learn how to recognize them. We will learn what makes
each shape different from each other. We see these shapes every day, so it is important for us to
be able to recognize these shapes.
Design for Learning:
I.

Teaching: The teacher will go through each of the four shapes they will be learning about that
day and talk about how to identify each one. She will hold up the picture of each shape before
describing it. So boys and girls, in the powerpoint we watched earlier, we saw that shapes are all
around us. We saw that many everyday items are actually different shapes. Like I said, today we
will be learning about four shapes and what makes them different from one another. And we will
learn how to identify them in everyday objects. Hold up the circle shape card. First, we will learn
about circles. We see circles all around us. Pass out the circle shape manipulative for students to

hold in their hands. I want each of you to feel the shape in your hand. What do you notice about
the shape? Yes, good job! Notice how they do not have any straight edges or corners. Circles are
round. Can you think of a circle you have seen at your house or in the classroom? Next we will
learn about squares. There are many squares in our everyday life. Hold up the shape card. Pass
out the square shape manipulative for students to hold in their hands. Look at the picture of a
square and feel the square shape. What do you notice about the square? The teacher will point to
the shape. Lets count the sides of the square together. One, two, three, four. So they have four
straight sides. Look how the sides are all the same length. Next we will learn about rectangles.
There are many rectangles in our everyday life. Hold up the shape card. Pass out the rectangle
shape manipulative for students to hold in their hands. Look at the picture of the rectangle and
feel it in your hands. What do you notice about the rectangle? Yes, it has four sides! Lets count
how many sides they have together. One, two, three and four. Rectangles are almost like squares.
Hold up the square and rectangle shape. What do you notice about the shapes that are different?
Yes, their sides are not the same size. Next, we will learn about triangles. There are lots of
triangles in our everyday life. Hold up the shape card. Pass out the triangle shape manipulative
for students to hold in their hands. Look at the picture of a triangle. Feel the triangle shape.
What do you notice about triangles? Yes, triangles have three sides. The teacher will point to the
shape and the students will count the sides together. Lets count the sides with me all together.
Great job students! Now we are going to do a fun activity sorting shapes.
II.

Opportunity for Practice:

The students will practice identifying shapes by sorting them. The teacher will have a poster
board with each of the four shapes on it. The students will have to match the picture of an
everyday object with the shape it represents. The teacher will model the first one with the
students and assist the students as they do the rest of them. Now boys and girls, we are going to
practice these shapes we just learned. We are going to sort these shapes by playing a little game.
I have this poster with pictures of the four different shapes on it. I am going to hand out pictures
of everyday objects of shapes around us. I need your help to sort these pictures of every objects
to what shape they are. Together, we are going to match the picture of the everyday object
around us to the shape it represents. Lets do the first one together. The teacher will hold up the
picture of the pizza. Now, what shape is this pizza? Yes, you are right! So where should I put it?
Yes, I should put it under the circle. Continue doing this until all of the pictures have been sorted.
Great work students helping to sort the pictures into their shapes!

III.

Assessment: The teacher will show each student a picture of a common object in their
environment. The student must correctly hold up the shape that matches that everyday object and
name the shape. The teacher will use pictures of a door, a piece of pie, a present, a button, a
pizza, an envelope, a iphone, a sailboat, a clock, a soccer ball, a doritas, and a dice. Okay great
job with all your hard work students! You all have done a great job paying attention. Now we get
to do one more activity with our shape cards. I am going to show each of you a picture of an
object in your everyday life that you have seen before. I want you to hold up your shape card

that has the shape on it that matches the shape on the picture. I also want you to say the name of
it. Student A, I want you to point to the shape. I am going to first show student #1 a picture. Each
of you will get two turns to identify shapes, so wait for your turn until I call on you. For student
#1, hold up the picture of the door. For student #2, hold up the picture of the piece of pie. For
student #3, hold up the picture of a button. Continue this until each child has a turn 2 times. You
did a wonderful job today identifying shapes from everyday objects in our environment!
IV.

Closure: Teacher will praise the student for working hard on her assignment. The teacher will do
a quick review of what they learned that day. So today, we learned about how shapes are all
around us in our world. We learned about four shapes in particular. Hold up each of the shape
cards and have students say what shape. Lets do a quick review. Hold up objects from around
the classroom that are in the shape of a circle, triangle, square, or rectangle. Have students tell
you what shape it is. What shape is this? Good job! What shape is this? Yes, you are right. Great
job today students! Once the students are finished, praise them for their hard work. Great job
today students! I am so proud of your hard work!
Differentiation Strategies and Plans for Individual Learners:
Accommodations and Modifications:
Student A: The teacher will seat Student A near the teacher so that the teacher can assist her as
needed. This will enable the teacher to help the student with the shape cards and shape
manipulatives as needed since she can only hold and manipulative objects with her left hand.
This will also allow the teacher to move the objects closer to the student so that she can reach
them.
During all of the activities, the teacher will explicitly model everything for Student A. She
struggles with hearing verbal directions only and not anything visual, so the teacher will always
show Student Al what to do. Because Student AL struggles with fine motor skills, the teacher
will uses hands on manipulativesthe letter cards and the shape manipulativesto give the
student an opportunity to visibly see and physically feel the shapes. There were not be any
writing required so that the student is able to participate fully in all of the activities. By having
the students get to feel the shape manipulatives, the teacher will use tactile discrimination, which
is the ability to distinguish the different properties of an object through the sense of touch. In
opportunity for practice, the teacher will have the student just point to the shape card instead of
hold it up like the other students because picking up the letter card will be difficult for student A.
For the assessment, the teacher will only require the student to point to the shape instead of name
it while the other students will have to name it too.
Here are some additional accommodations that I would make for other students in the classroom:

I would show a picture schedule for students who need a visual of what they are doing. I
would show them the picture of small group lesson a couple of minutes before the
lesson so that they are aware of what is going to happen next.
I would show them a First, Then board with a picture of whatever subject they are
doing and then a picture of their preferred activity they get to do after the lesson.
I would provide students who need it with a special chair that has a seat belt and an extra
cushion so that students can fully participate in the lesson.
I would provide a switchboard for students to communicate in the lesson who can not
participate otherwise.
For students who tend to get off task and struggle staying focused during the lesson, I
would seat them right next to me and assist them throughout the lesson as needed.
For students who may not be able to verbally respond during the lesson, matching the
shape cards to the shape manipulatives would provide an opportunity to be involved in
the lesson. They would also provide a way for the students to show their knowledge of
shapes without having to use their words by pointing to the shape or holding up the shape
card.
For students who struggle with fine motor skills, I would only have them have to point to
the shape card, not have to pick it up.

Extensions:
If the students are easily able to identify the shapes, the teacher will have the students describe
the shape once they hold it up for the assessment. The teacher will give them additional shapes,
like diamond, heart, star, and oval to identify. The teacher will give out playdough and have
students make their shapes including a circle, square, triangle, and rectangle.
Materials and Resources:
Shapes In Everyday Life Powerpoint
Big Shape Cards- triangle, circle, square, and rectangle
Shape Manipulatives for each student- circle, triangle, circle, and square
Shape Posterboard
Pictures of everyday objects for practice (see attached):
Pizza, soccer ball, pie, door, envelope, present, dice, sailboat, button, iphone, and
clock
Pictures of everyday objects for assessment (see attached)
Laminated shape cards for each students (see attached):
Triangle
Circle
Rectangle
Square
Date Analysis:

The students partly met the learning objective. Student A was able to identify two of the
three pictures that were shown to her with their correct shape. More importantly, student A
participated in two handed tasks that met her IEP goal. The other students were able to recognize
and name each of the three shapes with 100 percent accuracy. Therefore, they met the learning
objective.
Reflection:
Overall, the lesson went pretty well. The students were able to identify all four shapes
that were taught in the lesson, and they did a great job identifying the shape of the pictures of the
everyday objects. The students very engaged and listened throughout the entire lesson. Although
two of the students were already very familiar with their shapes, the lesson was still beneficial
for them to get more practice identifying shapes, particulary in their environment. This helped
extend their knowledge of shapes more than just a simply having to match shapes. The hands on
shape manipulatives were very helpful for the students. One of the things that I learned as I went
throughout this lesson is that in preschool, there is not a whole lot of dialogue during lessons.
This is one thing that my supervisor noted. She made the suggestion that lecturing at the students
should never be a major part of the lesson in preschool. The most beneficial part for students
who are three to five years old is the experience. In the teaching part, I started to ask them a lot
of questions on the first shape, but realized it was more beneficial to just have them touch and
feel the shape and not to talk about it for too long. Something that I learned and would do
differently the next time I teach a preschool lesson is to have even less dialogue and lecture in
the teaching part in the lesson. My tendency is to talk a lot, but I realized after this lesson that in
preschool, lecturing is not the best way for the kids to learn. One thing that I could have done
differently in my lesson is for the conclusion, I could have had the student go search for shape
around the room. This was a suggestion that my supervisor made. As a final way to wrap up the
lesson, I could have had the students go find a circle of triangle in the classroom and bring it
back to the table. This would have provided a good hands-on way to wrap up the lesson and
reinforce how shapes are all around us.
Another take away after teaching this lesson is the importance of really engaging and
focusing in on the students who have disabilities or need the extra support during the lesson. This
is another comment my supervisor made. In this lesson, I sat student A right beside me and I
purposely put her on my left side. The point of this was to try to get her to use her right hand to
pick up items or the shape cards, since one of her IEP goals is to work on using her right hand
and complete two-handed tasks on her own. Throughout the lesson, I assisted student A during
most of it since she needed the extra help and the other students didnt. Although student A didnt
want to use her right hand, having her have to open the Ziploc bags and hold a shape
manipulative and shape card forced her to use her right hand. Although student A didnt match
every shape correctly, she met her IEP goal of doing two handed tasks and this is the most
important part. A last thing that I would do differently is to show the Shapes powerpoint right
before the teaching part. I had to do it 30 minutes before the lesson with the entire class, and it

wasnt as effective for the students because it wasnt fresh in their brains. Overall, however, the
lesson went well and the students seemed to enjoy practicing their shapes and identifying shapes
in their environment.