Constructivist+approach

This week the post is group based as well. We have to come up with ideas so that our lesson plan has a constructivist approach. I created another page so that we can all contribute like we did last week. I will be researching more about this topic so we can have another great post. I just copied and pasted what the requirements are so we are not going back and forth opening the weekly content page.

From the website:
 * Last week in our face-to-face meeting we explored the use of music, photographs and video to create deeper learning. As a team, go back to your Wiki and the lesson plan you are developing and add music and either photographs or a two to four minute video to your plan. Be sure to post a link to the music plus the lyrics and the photo or video in your lesson plan. If a critical look at your lesson plan does not find a constructivist approach adjust the focus away from the teacher and onto the student so it does. As a team, post the specific reasons why your lesson takes a constructivist approach on the discussion board. As an individual post a comment on one team post that you particularly enjoy.**

This lesson plan is created is for a 2nd grade science class. We decided to make a weekly lesson plan that explores different animals per day. Along with that, animals will be taught in the category that they fall under, as well as their natural habitats. We believe that our lesson plan does have a constructivist approach because we included a variety of ways for the students to think critically. The activities, opportunities, tools and environments are provided to encourage meta-cognition, self-analysis regulation, reflection, and analysis. The students play a central role in mediating and controlling learning. The learning situations and tasks are relevant, realistic and represent the natural complexities of the real world. We created the lesson with primary sources of data in order to ensure authenticity.

The KWL chart is one example where the students will have to think critically, and the teacher will be able to assess them throughout the lesson. We as teachers are verifying how much knowledge our students have about a certain topic. We are also constructing upon the knowledge that the students already had. The teacher will demonstrate pictures of specific animals in their habitats, and students will be asked to observe what they see in the picture. This is another way to have the students use their critical thinking skills because we are showing them a generalization and they have to think about what they are seeing as well as describe specific things that these animals have in their habitats. Our 2nd grade students are also asked to compare and contrast pictures of different animals such as the dolphin and monkey. Problem solving, higher-order thinking skills and deep understanding are emphasized throughout the lesson. If we teach this way, students are actively involved in the lesson. They are discovering facts on their own without having the teacher directly explain everything.

We are also going to make sure that our environment is inducive to learning so that students have the ability of coming up to the teacher for questions if they need help.