Intent of the Lesson Plan
These notes outline the standard processes used in the lesson plans.
Alberta Curriculum Level
This model has not been assigned to any Grade Levels.
Time Needed
0 – 0 Minutes
Summary of this Lesson Plan
By referring to a standard lesson plan, we are able to keep each lesson plan much smaller and simpler, without repeating the same information over and over again in each lesson plan.
Related Topics
Materials Needed
as per the model being used
Suggested Process for Using the Model
- Ideas for preliminary discussion: Ask questions to get a sense of the students’ knowledge.
- Read through the complete lesson plan first.
- Suggest making a physical model to act out the subject matter.
- On the board, draw the Physical Vocabulary Shapes that will be used. (See the PV-Shapes in the top-view diagrams below.)
- Run through the PV-Shapes to make the structure of the model clear.
- Run the model and some of the variations and extensions. They can be adapted to be run with 6-30 students at a time. At first, use just a few students at the front of the class. Use more students if you have room or after you are comfortable guiding a small group through the model.
- Have students use some of the suggested reinforcement activities, both while waiting to participate and after.
- Freeze the models at any time to probe for understanding and bring in new ideas and curriculum points. Ask increasingly detailed questions each time you run the model.
- Run the favourite models later in the year for review purposes.
Setup Process
- Use the Physical Vocabulary Shapes to see how to set up the model. (See the PV-Shapes in the top-view diagrams below.)
- Generally speaking, create the largest PV-Shape first, then add the smaller components.
- Give the students suggestions for more detailed shapes – arms out, crouched down, kneeling, and so on, to make the overall PV-Shape into the component the students are representing (for example: wind might swirl, a sound wave might have hands out in front to act out the shape of the wave, a container might link arms).
- Call out the PV-Shapes that you are going to use and have the students move from one shape to the next. This establishes the “movement pattern” for the model and will eliminate the confusion of students not knowing where they are going. Use a drum, shaker, other instrument, or music to beat out a rhythm as they change to the next shape. Stop when they get in place. Then continue on from the new position. Take a moment to clarify how to get from one shape to the next in the simplest, most direct way possible.
- Have the students use a “neutral position – standing , silent, looking at the teacher” when the model is stopped for discussion or direction. e.g. use a clapping signal, or a certain word or sound to signify that you want them to stop what they are doing and focus on your instructions. Then you can reactivate the model when you wish to.
Animating the Models
- Start the model by putting the students in the setup position. (See top view diagrams.)
- The teacher plays the animator. See the animator notes in the model for a sense of “talking through the model” to animate it (some models may not have this section, but will have this kind of information embedded in the lesson). The animator is like a director, suggesting movement and guiding the story along, so that it can be done without the students knowing in advance what is going to happen. After students know the model, a student might be able to be the animator.
- Freeze the model at any time to probe for understanding or to bring out new ideas and curriculum points. Ask increasngly detailed questions each time you run the model.
- Run the model with different students and modify it to bring out new information.
Drama Tips!
- Pretend to be a TV interviewer with a mic and interview the parts of the model.
- Give the parts of the model lots of personality by having the students create sayings and actions that are appropriate to each object.
- Animate the story. If the model is about a magnet pulling iron filings, make it dynamic by advancing the action like a game show, or like a weight-lifting competition. Suggest actions and attitudes for students that work to enhance the role they are playing.
- Add music if you like.
- Link a couple of models or variations together into a story. Run the model like you are describing a movie that is happening in front of you, or like a play-by-play at a sports game.
Ways to Extend the Model
- Have a student be the animator or assist the teacher in animating the lesson.
- Modify the model to show as many variations as possible.
- Look at related models and use them as well.
- Link models together into longer units.
- Have students create “set dialogue” for a model and present it as a performance.
- Have students teach the model to other students.
Reinforcement Activities and Evaluation Questions
Activities:
- Have students use some of the suggested reinforcement activities, both while waiting to participate and after.
- Have students draw the models used in the lesson. (Use a storyboard technique: multiple numbered boxes on the page that allow the model to be shown in stages.)
- Have them write, draw, or tell a story related the content of the model. This could be from the point of view of what they are representing, such as the wind, a magnet, a planet, a sound wave, a rock, and so on.
- Have students draw a variation on the model and label the parts. Let them create the variations in small groups and present them to the class. Make sure they use the physical vocabulary where appropriate, so the model stays physical and does not become “stand and deliver TV dialogue”.
Questions:
- What is happening to you right now in the model?
- Why did that happen?
- When you did this, what effect did that have on….?
- How could we change the model to represent that concept or action?
- This model is simplified. Now that we can do this easily, what else could we add to the model to make it more complex?
- Why does this happen at that time?