Early Childhood Education

Learning Experience Template

Name: Anna Wilson Lesson Title: Balancing Buildings

Date: 4/18/24 Grade Level: Preschool Circle one: ECE PKSN
Standard(s)/Guideline(s):

Domain: Physical Development and Wellness

Strand: Motor Development
Standard Statement: Demonstrates developing control of fundamental fine motor skills, including hand-eye coordination

Standard(s)/Guideline(s):

Domain: Approaches to Learning

Strand: Engagement and Persistence
Standard Statement: Persists in completing a task with increasing concentration

Pre-assessment of current knowledge: What types of buildings do you know? What types of shapes do you see in those buildings?

Instructional Objectives (1-2) Assessment of Student Learning Learning Experience

One/Two Assessed Instructional
Objective(s): The student will be
able to...
The student will be able to
construct a tower at least five
blocks high.
The student will be able to use
wood blocks to build height and
width in a building/tower.
The student will persevere and
rebuild their tower when it falls
over.
One Assessed Developmental
Skill:
The student will stack blocks on
top of each other and next to each
other in straight lines to make the
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Identify Evidence: (What will you collect or record as data Academic Language:
to demonstrate students have met your objective(s) and
skill?) Building
Construction
I can create a checklist that has each student’s name on it. Stable
Underneath each child’s name I will check off if their tower Balance
was at least five blocks tall, if their tower has multiple rows Block
creating width, and if they rebuilt their tower when it toppled Stack
over. Height/tall
Width/wide
Program Monitoring: (How will you aggregate or compile
your evidence into a class or group view?) Procedural steps:
I will take each individual checklist and compile them into a Read the book City Shapes by Diana Murray
spreadsheet to see the whole class data. I will take note of Have students identify all the shapes they see in the city that
how many students were able to build five blocks tall and is depicted in the book
who was able to add multiple rows to their structure to make Explain that the buildings in cities are made of different
it more stable. I will also pay attention to levels of shapes which helps them stay up
perseverance to determine who needs more practice. Demonstrate a stable tower vs. an unstable tower by creating
one tower of stacked wooden alphabet blocks that are lined
up perfectly and one tower where the blocks are precariously
placed and not lined up. Gently bump the table to make the
 Early Childhood Education
Learning Experience Template

structure as stable as they can.
Safety Considerations:
Falling blocks
Differentiation:
Use bigger blocks for the kids who struggle to stack the
smaller ones
Assist children whose fine motor skills are still developing to
pick up the blocks and stack them
Do multiple demonstrations or build alongside the children
who don’t understand that the blocks need to line up
unstable tower fall over. Emphasize that construction workers
have to create balanced buildings to make them more stable.
Encourage students to take the alphabet blocks and come up
with ways to build a tall stable tower. If students are only
building upwards, ask them to find ways to build their
buildings wide as well as tall.
If students would like to test their towers, gently bump the
table to see if they stay standing.
Encourage students to rebuild their tower if it falls over.
Authentic Materials: (Describe authentic real-life, hands-on
materials.)

Book City Shapes

Wooden alphabet blocks

Adult Roles:

Read the book

Complete the demonstration
Encouragement and questioning
Keep students safe from falling blocks

Resources & References:

City Shapes by Diana Murray

Reflection: (What have you learned about your students? How will this inform future instruction?)

I learned a lot about my students through doing this lesson plan. I had eight students complete this lesson, all of which achieved the five blocks tall objective, three
of which understood the concept of creating width, and seven of which rebuilt their towers when they fell. I expected more of the students to struggle with the five
blocks tall objective but was very impressed with the height some of them were able to achieve. Three of the students built tall towers but were more focused on
the height than the balance so their blocks did not line up. Of the students who did create width in their buildings, only one student created more than two rows
which I was surprised by. For the final objective, I only had one student not rebuild their tower when it fell. When his fell, he actually took a greater interest in
knocking over everyone else’s instead of rebuilding his own. This student is new to the classroom so I would chalk this behavior up to his younger age and not
being acquainted with the class rather than lack of perseverance. The other seven students got really in to trying to knock their own towers down by shaking the
table and all of them eagerly started rebuilding when their tower fell over to try and make it bigger. I did this lesson in two groups and I feel like the second group
definitely went smoother than the first group. Since it was my first time teaching the lesson, I got a little nervous and didn’t explain the activity as well as I wanted to
which led to some confusion in the nature of the activity. I got them to understand eventually, but I learned from my own mistakes and taught the second group
more coherently. I also chose to share certain pages of the book that I read instead of just reading the whole book to them which they didn’t like because they
wanted to know the whole story. If I were to do this lesson again, I would start by reading the book to the whole class and follow it up with the activity in small

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 Early Childhood Education
Learning Experience Template

groups. I would also try incorporating different shapes that the book depicts instead of just talking about squares. While focusing on one shape worked well for
what I wanted them to accomplish, the book didn’t quite fit as well as I wanted it to. Next time I would either find a different book or include all the shapes listed in
the book.

What I learned about my students is that they are good at stacking blocks to make towers. Some of them tend to rush to make a tower as quickly as they can
instead of patiently working to balance the tower they created, so I made sure to emphasize slowing down and lining the blocks up evenly so their towers could be
bigger. I also did various tests of their towers to show that creating a bigger base creates a more stable building. Once they had visuals, most of them were able to
grasp the concept and incorporate height and width into their buildings. This made me realize the importance of modeling and hands on activities at the preschool
level. Asking them questions got them thinking but most of the time the response I got was “I don’t know” and they wouldn’t attempt to try something new. As soon
as I showed them different types of towers and how they reacted when I shook the table, they started getting new ideas and used them to make their buildings
more stable. Shaking the table to see how stable their towers and buildings were sparked a conversation about earthquakes and how natural disasters affect
buildings. This was not a conversation I had expected but it encouraged them to make their buildings more stable and they got really in to rebuilding if the
“earthquake” took down their tower. In future lessons we could talk about the different shapes that make up buildings that aren’t squares or how squares fit with
other shapes to make bigger structures. We could also dive deeper into how weather affects buildings and the types of supports put in place to protect tall
buildings from natural disasters.

Overall I feel this lesson went really well and I really enjoyed implementing it with these students. Most of them didn’t want to walk away from the table and there
were lots of smiles and giggles as they tried to build a stable building and knock it down. There are definitely things I could change as I mentioned above but I feel
as if this went well.

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