Early Childhood Lesson Plan
Name: Colleen Federici / Lesson Title: Muscle WorksDate: 4/10/12 / Grade Level: Preschool
Content Standards(s): Must be from at least 2 different content areas. Use no more than 2 standards.
· English Language Arts: Language Standards-Vocabulary Acquisition and Use 4-Determine the meaning of unknown words with assistance or cues from an adult (e.g., providing a frame of reference, context or comparison).
· Science: Science Inquiry and Application 3-Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.
Developmental Skill(s): Cognitive- using schema, connecting what we learned about bones to muscles; Language-new vocabulary and articulating observations; Fine and Gross Motor- manipulating muscle model and holding and lifting weights; Social- cooperative work with a partner
Instr. Objectives / Assessment of Student Learning / Learning Experience
Objective/s: The student will be able to...
1. Work with a partner to do the human seesaw exercise.
2. Observe the contracting and stretching of the balloon muscle model.
3. Demonstrate with their own body the concept of muscles contracting and stretching. / Identify Evidence: What will you collect or record to demonstrate students have met your objective/s?
Did the student participate in the seesaw partner activity? Was the student attentive to the balloon demonstration? Did they express interest in operating the model themselves? Was the student able to show with their arm the contracting and stretching of their bicep and triceps muscles? Can the student use the words contract and stretch correctly to describe what is going on with their muscles?
Aggregate/Compile Evidence: How will you aggregate or compile your evidence into a class or group view?
Observation will be used to fill in a checklist to distinguish if and to what extent children can work cooperatively and demonstrate their own knowledge of the concepts of contracting and stretching.
Interpret the Evidence: What have you learned about your students and your teaching and what are you going to do about it? This is part of your reflection after the lesson.
I can gauge the children’s cooperative learning skills in their work with the other students. If they have trouble working with a partner, I can work with them to develop more appropriate social and behavioral skills. If the children are interested in the muscle model, I can give them the opportunity to create their own with assistance. I will be able to see if the child connects the words contract and stretch to the actions of their muscles. This information can be used to plan our next lesson with the correct amount of support for each child. The observations I’ve made and data I have collected will also indicate whether the lesson was appropriate or not. If it is not, I can analyze the experiences provided and think of ways to improve the lesson for future use. / Must include: Enough detail for someone else to teach the lesson if you are not there. Include only authentic materials and minds-on-learning.
Today, we will be revisiting the concepts from last week’s lesson of strong bones and calcium. I hope to bring in some real examples of the calcium-rich foods we discussed in our last lesson (spinach, beans, and oranges). This will make the experience more real to the students who will be able to view, smell, touch, and taste the sample foods. I will present this part of the lesson during breakfast as the children are already eating and have examples of calcium rich-foods (milk, orange juice, or yogurt) in front of them.
We will also be observing the bones we left in vinegar and water from the last lesson to see what has happened to them. Fresh, disinfected bones will be brought in so students have something to compare the old bones to. Students will describe their observations.
The new information today that will be covered during circle time concerns the muscular system. We’ve been learning about bones, and today we will be learning about what is attached to those bones that make them move: our muscles. I will be talking to the children about how muscles work in pairs. I will ask the students if they know what a pair is. If they need guidance, I will ask them how many shoes make a pair of shoes. After establishing that muscles work in groups of 2, I will ask the students to face a partner with their knees bent up and their bottoms on the ground. As I am modeling, I will ask them to hold hands with their partner. Next, one partner will lean forward while the other stretches back. This will demonstrate how one muscle contracts while the other stretches. The contracted muscle is like the person curled up in a ball. The stretched muscle is like the person with their torso extended. Then the students can go back and forth, switching who contracts and who stretches. After this activity, I will bring out the balloon muscle model to again show the “muscles” working in pairs and that one contracts while the other stretches. I will tell the students that there will be a center during center time where they can explore the way their muscles work by lifting a light weight, operate the balloon muscle model themselves, or make their own balloon model.
In order to offer the children the opportunity to make their own model, I will need to bring in paper towel rolls or cardboard strips, masking tape, and oblong balloons.
What will the other adults in the room be doing?
Other adults will be assisting the children to work cooperatively during the seesaw activity. My partner will be with me at the center to help the children explore the muscles in whichever way they chose. Other adults will also assist in documentation and photographing the lesson.
Resources & Reference Materials:
“Build a Muscle Model.” Bodywalk Classroom Activities. University of Missouri Outreach and Extension, College of Human Environmental
Sciences, Department of Nutritional Sciences.
Korb, Rena. My Muscles. North Mankato: Magic Wagon, 2011. Print.