Kaelyn Witkowski

Lesson Plan Analysis

The lesson plan that we have chosen is not the typical lesson plan; it is not outlined word for word, however it gives various activities that will promote the children to learn about safety. To begin with mainly all the activities have social interactions, which is very helpful in promoting learning. Social interactions are helpful because it allows the children to make connections to each other, and the material that is being learned. Also, it keeps the students engaged and interested in what they are learning. Each of the activities starts with a discussion about that specific topic that they will be focusing on.

Parents play a significant role in what the children know about safety. If the parents teach their children proper safety precautions then the children will have a schema already created for safety, and they will be able to pick up the concept more easily than a student who does not have much information about safety.

The first discussion is about the home and what kind of accidents can happen in the home and how to prevent them. This gives the children an introduction to what they are going to learn about and gives them examples that they will be able to apply. This activity is deductive learning, which is typical in school settings, because they are given the usual rules for what they are learning, or a general outline, and then have to go out and find their own examples. After they find their own examples it becomes a social activity again because they will share it with their peers and be able to learn from one another.

Piaget and Vygotsky would support this activity because it allows the children to fit new information with the old. The children have been told not to touch things or do things, but they might not have ever understood why. These activities are providing the students with the reasons why they have been told not to do certain things, and they are able to apply the new information they have received with the old. This activity shows an example of Vygotsky’s series of sequence, where the child is first given signs and symbols, such as warning signs that signal danger, or a symbol, like the yellow triangle hazard sign. Then the child gets to practice the rules through this activity, such as finding newspaper clippings of accidents that could occur in the house, where they can relate to it. Lastly, they would be able to internalize it because they understand it more and have attached associations or meanings to the information.

The next activity that is in the lesson plan is similar to the first, where they start off with a discussion on acquiring habits of caution and a responsibility to their own safety, but instead of developing these skills for the home, this activity uses these skills in a school-environment setting. The lesson plan says to put the students in groups and assign them a specific area of the school such as the cafeteria, gymnasium, hallways, etc. and have them list safety rules for their assigned area. After they create these lists, the students physically post them around the school building. This gives the children an opportunity to change their audience. When other students read the list and might not understand the rules, the students that posted them can explain to the other students why those are the rules. It gives them a chance to recall the information they learned and also teach it to others. Doing this activity for safety rules creates elaborative memory because they already know the areas of the school. These children are in the school five days of the week so they usually know it like the back of their hand. Since the children have the familiarity of the area it allows them to connect the new information, the safety rules, to their environment. When the child applies the rules to that specific area it allows them to make more connections, and they have the better chance of storing the new information, and also retrieving it. It is easier because the children already have the schemas created in their mind, which is the familiarity with the area, and then they can add the new information, the safety rules, into that schema. The students are doing a lot of activities with these safety rules so each time they review them they are adding another string to the schema, and it is easier to retrieve. When the students present their list of the rules to the class, it allows the other students to remember it because it is being told to them, which is a form of rehearsal. Every time the rules are repeated to the students they have a better chance of remembering it, and storing it into long term memory. If the students do not remember the rules they will also be reminded whenever they look at the list.

When the children create the list the brain will like this activity because it is getting them involved. Students are usually use to the rules being told to them without them having a say, or helping to create them. In this instance however, the children are able to get involved and put their own input into the concept. When the students create the list it allows them to create a personal relevance to the new concepts which allows them to remember it better because it is somewhat of an anecdote, in a sense that they thought of it and will remember the action of making the list. It is rehearsal when the students review the list and read them to other students, because they are repeating the information numerous times. In result, the information goes into their long term memory because of the different attachments they are adding into their schema for safety.

When the children post the safety rules in their area the list is a unique reminder. For the children that are not familiar with the safety rules for that specific area, the list will stand out to them because it is not typical to go to a area and read safety rules. The children might remember it better because it is a different experience to go to a specific area and read the safety rules for that area. Students respond well to unusual ways of learning, when teachers sing songs, give unique stories those are easy to remember because of their uniqueness, which is what the students are doing in this situation. Another advantage is that the list is a form of scaffolding because it is providing the framework for the students who are just learning the rules. They will be able to read the rules and then apply them to the real situations that they are in. Also when the list is hung up in that specific area they can always use it as a resource in case they forget the rules.

One flaw in this activity is that lists are not always effective depending on the student. The student could either like it, or hate it. For some students it might be tough to remember all the rules. However, they might be able to make connections between all the lists. For example, if a safety precaution is constant on all the lists then the child will be able to remember it more because of the repetition.

This activity is inductive learning because the students go to their area and they are able to create the safety rules instead of the rules being handed to them. However, it is deductive when the children are being presented with the list and they did not make the rules for that specific area.

Activity three starts with a discussion about how different seasons and different activities require special clothing, and they need to discuss how proper clothing fosters safety. This activity is very similar to activity two; the children have to generate a list, discus it, and apply it to real life. It has similar course concepts that we have discussed in class as in activity two. The activity has scaffolding because the when they create the list it is a guideline they can continuously visit and look at for help. Elaborative memory is involved because the children know what type of clothing to wear in certain situations, but now they are putting the connection to safety in. The children will be able to add the connection of the different clothing they wear and the safety the clothing provides. Lastly, rehearsal is used because the children are constantly reviewing the list and the safety rules so that they can add to their schema of safety. It is important to mention, however, because it is a part of the lesson plan and the children will be engaging in the activity, and it’s important to know how this activity will be effective.

Along with activity three, activity four is very similar to the others as well, the children have to go around different places at the school and rate its safety. This activity is good because it allows the students to get up and move around instead of being stuck in the classroom the whole day. This is important because it is a change of scenery for the children, which is similar to a field trip. In class we learned that the brain typically likes field trips because it allows the children to make connections to real life situations, and when they move around they are more stimulated then sitting in their desk and learning facts. Also it allows them to be able to point out when certain situations might be dangerous. This is the last test to see if the children have internalized the idea about safety. This is the authentic assessment model. The children have to perform a real-world task by applying the information they learned. The students were given the background knowledge they needed in order to know what is safe and unsafe. Then they can demonstrate their newly learned information on an interactive tour through the school.

The end of the lesson plan gives two additional activities that can conclude the whole objective of the lesson plan of safety. One of the activities is to invite a doctor or nurse into the class and have them speak on the subject of safety and how important it really is. Students respond well when guest speakers are used to provide information. When a guest speaker is used, the brain can have an easier time memorizing the information being given. The reason why the brain likes a guest speaker is because sometimes hearing new information from the same person over and over again gets annoying, which causes the brain to not pay attention to the new information being that is being taught. When the students are presented with guest speakers, it will help the brain stay engaged to the information being taught, because it is a different and unique approach to learning.

The second activity given was that you can take the class on a field trip to the local police/fire department and spend the day with them. This activity allows the students to learn by modeling. The students will watch the police and firemen throughout the day. The police and firemen will demonstrate certain safety precautions they have to take on a daily basis and why it is important. This is modeling because the students will be able to see how safety is used in every situation, not just at school or at home. It is typical for students to see their parents or teachers engage in safety precautions, but seeing someone like a certain role model engage precautions may impact the students a lot more to follow the safety precautions.

Actual Lesson Plan is found at this website:

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Health/Safety/SFY0008.html