Lesson Plan

Workshop #4

Integrated Instruction Plan

STORY: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”

AUTHOR: Eric Carle

GRADE LEVEL: 3^rd

TIME ALLOTTED: 5 days

STANDARDS:

- Listening / Speaking

- Reading

- Writing

GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONS:

- L /S 3.1, 3.3, 3.5,

- R 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5

- W 3.4

MATERIALS

- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Big Book

- Computer and Projector

- The Very Hungry Caterpillar video

- “Hungry Caterpillar Cut and Paste” activity worksheet

- “Butterfly Cut and Paste” activity worksheet

- Flashcards with vocabulary words

- Construction Paper

- Crayons

- Markers

- Scissors

- Glue

OBJECTIVES:

1. Students will identify the title of the book and its author.

2. Students will predict what will happen to the caterpillar after it eats throughout the book.

3. Students will recall by retelling the story and what the caterpillar ate.

4. Students will interpret information in the story to confirm or reject their initial predictions.

5. Students will use technology.

6. Students will expand their vocabulary during the reading.

7. Students will recognize the words they see in print.

8. Student will identify and describe the main character of the story.

9. Students respond to the 5-W Questions for comprehension of the reading.

10. Students will identify the main idea of the story.

DAY 1: Beginning Activities

a. Presentation of the book (read the title, predictions of what the story will be about, and previous knowledge about caterpillars).

b. Review of the parts of the book.

c. Pre-reading questions:

- What do you think the book is about?

- Have you seen a caterpillar? How big is a caterpillar? What do caterpillars do?

- Who do you think is the main character in the story we are going to read?

DAY 2: Middle Activities

a. Briefly review aloud Day 1 class.

b. Teacher will discuss the title of the story and the author.

c. Teacher will begin reading the story to the students.

d. Vocabulary will be presented and discussed. Students will relate the vocabulary words to the images in the book. Vocabulary will include:

- Days of the week

- Numbers

- Fruits

- Colors

- High-frequency words

DAY 3: Middle Activities

a. To use technology, the teacher will refresh students’ minds with a video of the story. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpISHA8Fs4w

b. After viewing the video, the teacher will review the vocabulary words of the story.

c. As a reward, a snack containing the fruits in the story will be given out.

DAY 4: Middle Activities

a. Review the most important details of the story.

b. Make questions regarding the story’s events, and informally assess the students’ general understanding.

c. Students will complete the “Hungry Caterpillar Cut and Paste” activity, which they will use to make a caterpillar. Each student will receive a piece of the caterpillar’s body and at the end of the class, they will unite them creating “The Very Big Third Grade Caterpillar”. The caterpillar’s head will be made by the teacher. This group work masterpiece will be displayed in the classroom.

DAY 5: Ending Activities

a. Students will retell the story as a closing activity.

b. Students will review the title of the story, the author, state the main idea, describe the character, and give their opinion of the story.

c. The students will then be given the activity worksheet, which they will creatively color with their own patterns, and they will assemble their butterfly on a piece of construction paper where they will write the story’s title and author.

Critical Analysis of A Renaissance Man

In “A Renaissance Man”, many theories about learning and ideas about education in general are cleverly represented through the life story of Bill Rago, a well-educated man who suddenly finds himself unemployed and therefore working as a teacher in a military school.

One of the aspects of the story that impacted me the most was when the employee from the unemployment office told Bill that he could work as a teacher because he had a Master’s Degree. I think this type of attitude is unfair towards teachers, because it implies that almost anyone can teach without any necessary additional studies in Education per se. I also found the scene when the Drill Sergeant told Mr. Rago to come prepared to class a turning point in the movie, because this challenge was what made him change his attitude towards teaching and it was then when he also took control over his life by embracing and facing the change instead of dwelling on the fact that he was basically forced into the situation.

As for the theories that are presented in the movie, I think the main theory presented is social constructivism, mainly because of two reasons. The first reason is that, as I mentioned, Bill created and accepted his new reality (being a teacher) through his actions and adaptation in order to survive. In addition, he mentions, for example, the fact that society has evolved gradually as humans have redefined what is acceptable and what is not, such as when he explains to his students how, in Shakespeare’s time, women did not act, something that is completely different today because we have made it that way.

The second main evidence of the social constructivism theory is the fact that the students were able to learn successfully because of Mr. Rago’s efforts to make the lessons and the concepts relevant to each of their experiences. This is because I feel that education occurs in a particular context of each individual student, and, in order to be a better teacher, we need to be aware of these situations and try to adapt our strategies so students can relate to what is being taught and stay interested in the material. In fact, education itself is a social construct, because the role we give it in society, the things we decide to teach, and the methods we use to assess learning is something that we have established as humans as well. (Whether we have done a good job or not is another topic in itself).

Lastly, the movie’s plot definitely applies to our everyday life in classrooms, because we also often see how students come from a wide range of backgrounds, some of which have provided them with very unfortunate situations that have affected their attitudes and behaviors as a mechanism of self-defense, and we as teachers should not lose sight of this, because understanding that fact helps us understand the origin of the difficulties we face sometimes. Also, we are sometimes forced into a specific situation that we did not expect or did not wish to be in, but, as the movie shows, when we face the challenge with a positive attitude, the situation is made easier.

Journal on "The Miracle Worker"

As we teachers experience every day, learning can be achieved with all students, regardless of their limitations, if enough patience and strategies are used in the process. This is the main idea presented in "The Miracle Worker," a film where Ms. Sullivan, uses rather daring approaches to help teach Hellen Keller, a blind-deaf girl, since she felt Hellen had the same potential any other child had, even if her parents could not see it.

Ms. Sullivan's approach to teaching was mainly based on Behaviorist theories, since she used a system of stimuli and reinforcement of concepts (such as forcing Hellen to repeat an action if she did it wrong, and constantly reinforcing the "alphabet") to obtain the desired responses (in this case, learning and speech). Ms. Sullivan also reinforced discipline very heavily, unlike Hellen's parents, because she knew Hellen would be able to learn if enough efforts were put into teaching. In the end, the constant repetition of concepts (as dictated by the Audiolingual Method), helped Hellen reach a "breakthrough" in her education, which is when she utters "wah-wah" several times as a sign she recognized the water. [There is an interesting controversy about the movie's climax, which can be read here].

Another theory that can be useful in analyzing the film is Piaget's theory stating that learning occurs in ordered stages, which correspond to certain ages and through which we advance as we go along. As Vedat Kiymazarsian states in "A Discussion of Language Acquisition Theories," Piaget states that the first stage involves understanding the environment (ages 0-2), then understanding the symbols (ages 2-7), then performing mental tasks and using language (ages 7-11), and finally making abstractions (after age 11). This model applies in the movie as well, because although Hellen was not an infant, she did have to go through those stages all over again, as if she were a newborn, because she had to learn a whole new language and a new way of understanding the world around her through her eyes. As we can see in the film, her first step was learning to touch and feel her surroundings, she then started learning sign language, and then she advanced to the next stage of using language. This cognitive theory is closely related to Piaget's ideas, because it sees learning as a process that does not necessarily have to be broken up into individual parts, since learning is a "holistic process."

I believe almost every ESL or L2 teacher can relate to Mrs. Sullivan, because we are usually very dedicated to the cause we believe in, which is teaching children another language through a combination of strategies and perseverance, so that every child can understand and exploit his/her potential. Specifically, I think similar challenges to the ones she faced can be seen in our classrooms every day, because we are confronted with students whose attitudes are negative and/or difficult and hinder their ability to learn and progress, and so we must find ways to deal with these situations (even though, of course, we do not resort to corporal punishment or force, as Ms. Sullivan was allowed to do).

In the end, however, just like the movie presents, the ultimate satisfaction comes from knowing that our hopes for excellent results will be achieved eventually, despite the difficulties we may face and despite those who doubt our utility.