Part One: Project Description
Lesson Plan Review
Lindsey Bailey developed a forty-minute, Cardboard fish and Chinese New Year lesson plan for her PYP Grade 1 students. The lesson plan has a structural component guide that will ensure students understand and retains the information provided. In this case, face-to-face interaction between the students and the teacher assesses the students’ understanding of the topic as a traditional teaching strategy. The teacher-student engagement allows the students to learn more about the Chines New Year celebrations as it is a common practice in their community. On the other hand, the artwork creation is used as an additional learning strategy to assess the students’ perspective on the event. Students are required to develop their artworks based on the previous and current learned knowledge as a cardboard fish project.
Suggested Lesson Plan Technology Improvements
Children in their first grade in school are at a critical developmental stage motivated to learn new things from the social institution, school. However, this love for learning and discovering must be balanced so that children can tap and sustain their enthusiasm for school and learning. Introducing gaming technology for this group of learners could be playing a significant role in promoting a child’s curiosity and imagination so that they are stimulated to engaging in activities without even noticing the element of learning (Dodge, n.d.). Incorporating game learning technology in the lesson plan would efficiently guide them towards the path of discovery through which they understand and appreciate the world around them. The lesson plan will allow for teaching strategies that require students to solve problems in game formats. Therefore, they will be required to memorize what they learned as an important learning expectation while ensuring optimal experiences.
Most importantly, the game-based technology will ensure that students’ engagement and motivation to learn are achieved. For instance, if used in the discussion of Chinese New Year, gaming technology will prompt students to be observant of the practices that take place in society during the celebration. Jeopardy gaming technology could be used in this case to foster interactions, competition, fun, and problem-solving skills. It is a useful technological tool in the class setting for the advantage of reviewing content in class.
Modified Lesson Plan
Nonetheless, technologies such a virtual reality and the augmented reality are also applicable for students in their earlier education life. Today, students will visit places significant to their learning in school virtually to experience that part of life personally other than just hearing about the events or occurrences (Scavarelli, Arya, & Teather, 2020). For instance, during the Cardboard fish and Chinese New Year lesson, virtual reality technology could provide a direct celebration experience for the students. As such, it becomes possible to inspire students to be creative in their artwork, for instance, based on an enhanced level of imagination. This is because the student has an opportunity to learn from a direct experience. Besides, the modified lesson plan will ensure that learners understand diverse cultures and values utilized in different communities to maintain an interconnected society. The lesson plan analysis in this project presents an increased need for educators to develop structured lesson plans that appreciates and utilizes various technological tools while at the same time they guide their students through the intended path. As such, teachers should first determine their student’s goals and objectives to set guidelines that ensure optimal learning experiences.
References
Dodge, B. (n.d.). EDTEC 670: Exploratory Learning Through Educational Simulation and Games.Retrieved December 28, 2014, from http://edweb2.net/ldt670/
Scavarelli, A., Arya, A., & Teather, R. J. (2020). Virtual reality and augmented reality in social learning spaces: A literature review. Virtual Reality, 1-21.
Lesson Plan Review
