Lesson Reflection
Thoughtful consideration of the lesson:
We wanted to integrate a lesson that would build off ideas and subjects that the students were already learning or had previous knowledge of. For example, many grade 5 classes had just finished a unit in Social Studies on the election and the electoral process. By incorporating concepts from this topic, such as the provincial budget, we were able to extend our students previous knowledge. In regards to Math, students had finished a unit on number sense and numeration. By presenting the class with large numbers, students used their previous knowledge of place value to understand large numbers, such as millions and billions.
For the lesson, our group took a complex concept, Ontario’s budget, and related it to our students in a way that was easy to understand. We provided examples of what a family budget may consist of (rent, food, clothes, etc.) and then expanded that notion to the province and what it spends money on (transportation, social services, environment, etc.) We then drew on student knowledge of what their ideas of provincial spending would be. As a group we made sure that all students were participating and that many could voice an opinion about what might be more important for the province to spend more or less money on.
Understanding the needs of children in my classroom:
To make sure that our lesson plan included all students we made sure to use a variety of accommodations. This lesson asked groups of students to make a graph using student votes (more or less) as data. We provided an example of how to make the graph using chart paper (modeling) and also provided manipulatives, cut out images on construction paper, which would be used for each group’s graph. We thought that having the students create a pictograph would aid visual learners and lend to the universal design of the lesson plan.
Students were placed in groups that had a variety of different learning abilities. Strong learners were placed with students who were considered to have lower learning abilities in math. In addition, our group validated all answers and made sure to keep questions simple and open ended with hopes to motivate students, therefore including all learning abilities in the classroom.
Awareness of children's work and children's thinking:
When discussing the provincial budget, yawns and far-away looks may be elicited. Therefore, we wanted to make learning about the provincial budget really fun and interesting for our grade 5 class. From the start of the lesson, a hook that instantly engaged the class was writing two large numbers on the board – the amount of money the Federal government spends a year on the war in Afghanistan and the amount of Ontarians living in poverty. We first allowed the students to say these numbers out loud and second to guess what they were in relation to Canada. It was pleasing to see many of the students raising their hands, wanting to contribute to the class discussion.
As a result of consistent student participation, little classroom management was needed. Students were comfortable sharing their ideas and listened well to instructions. Another example of student participation was their responses to the juxtapositions of the cost of the Afghanistan war and the number of Ontarians living in poverty. Many students were shocked and felt that there was way too much money being spent on the war and that more money should be spent on those who are the neediest. Responses such as “People don’t care” was voiced when students found out that the environment was the least spent on from our six categories. Comments such as, “Doesn’t the government care about the environment?” and “I think more money should be spent on schools” were voiced. An indication that our lesson was successful was Keenan’s surprise at the level of focus that the grade 5’s demonstrated. Because her teaching experience comes from a kindergarten classroom she initially thought that the grade 5’s would be more difficult in regards to classroom management.
Three Things We Did Well:
We worked effectively as a team, from the early preparation stages up to the execution of our lesson plan. The planning process was highly collaborative, and the ways that we were able to all contribute ideas and suggest revisions (up to the final minutes before the lesson) greatly strengthened the activity. Our collaboration extended into the lesson itself, as every member of our group was able to find an aspect that they were comfortable leading. As a result, the lesson drew on all our strengths.
While planning for the lesson, one of our major concerns was having enough time for all the many components of the lesson. Through careful planning beforehand and effective facilitation during the lesson, we were able to find enough time for a compelling class discussion and thorough lesson debrief.
Our priority with the lesson was to engage all the students equally, both on a whole class and in-group level. Everything from the lesson plan (which went through numerous revisions as we focused on ways to make the material as engaging as possible) through to our modifications and the general rapport we were able to establish with the students all worked in our favor. In the end, we feel that all the students were able to contribute at some point during the lesson and gain a sense of achievement.
Three Things the Students Did Well:
The students worked well in their groups, sharing responsibilities in making their charts and staying on task. Even when debating within their groups on how to rank the different categories by their budget, the groups showed high levels of cooperation.
The students did a great job of participating during the discussion components. The lesson only went as well as it did because the students took the discussions in interesting directions!
The students showed enthusiasm, initiative and risk-taking through all the components of the lesson.
If I taught this lesson again, I would change:
Although the students were able to generate a number of different things that the government of Ontario spends money on, we still could have done a better job of fleshing out the different categories to strengthen the critical thinking aspect of the lesson. The student vote might have been more reflective of personal preference as it was of critical thinking. One way to emphasize the critical thinking would be to give students better criteria with which to make their decisions. For example, after letting students know about the different categories, they could be presented with “for” and “against” arguments. Another way to emphasize critical thinking would be to change the voting procedure, so that each student would have to pick three budget categories that they would spend more money on and three that they would want to spend less money on.