Connection To Learning Theory

Connection to Learning Theory

Social Cognitive theory: individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing

others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences.

My lessons all reflect the social cognitive theory. The social cognitive theory represents an individual’s knowledge achievement and can be directly related to observing others by social interactions, experiences, and outside influences. All of my lessons display social interactions within the class. My lessons could be done individually or within a group setting. My lessons also all bring experiences from the outside. In lesson one the students are working with insects, which they see on a daily basis. In lesson two students are representing an animal symbolically, the students will have to know about the animal and be able to relate it back to the book. Lesson three is about culture, and the students are learning about the Chinese culture. The students are sampling Chinese food, looking at China on a map, and reading a book. The media also influences my lessons because students will have prior knowledge about the different subjects in the three lessons, and be able to use that knowledge during the lessons. All of my lessons focus on changing the behavior based on what you observe, or hear. Each lesson the students can learn from each other’s actions. Students may gain more background knowledge about the three different subjects, therefore broadening what they know about each particular subject.

Sources:

            Educational Psychology: Window on Classrooms by Paul Eggen; Don Kauchak

            www.dictionary.com

3 Lesson Plans- EDPSY 393

Lesson #1

Materials Required: 3-4 groups of commonly found natural and man-made objects of assorted colors and sizes, such as inse

Activity Time: 30-45 minutes

Concepts Taught: Science Education - characteristics and needs of living organisms; Social Studies - human relations.

 

Objectives for Learners: Elementary students will: 1. associate organisms with their characteristics; 2. use observations to classify organisms (Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement, 1995); 3. select one personal action to prevent racism.

Body of Lesson: Prior to the class session, place objects by group on classroom tables. Open the lesson by telling students that we will examine objects to determine their characteristics. Characteristics include traits like shape, color, size, and texture. We often group objects together when they share similar characteristics; for instance, all marbles are round and made of glass, regardless of their color. Scientists group objects to classify and study them.

Ask students to identify the similarities and differences of objects within each group. For example, when considering insects there are many similarities: insects live outdoors; insects lay eggs; all insects have a head, thorax, abdomen; insects have six legs. Insect differences: some insects crawl, while others fly; different types of insects live in different environments; insects differ by color, size, and shape; some insects have stingers, others do not.

After classifying the other objects according to similarities and differences, consider the group of photos, dolls, or other illustrations of humans. Ask students to identify the characteristics shared by all people, e.g., two arms and legs; ten fingers and ten toes; walk upright; five senses of touch, taste, smell, hearing, and vision. Identify differences between groups of people: hair, skin, and eye color; language; food preferences; clothing; housing.

Discuss the importance of treating all people as equals, i.e., no one is more or less important than any other person. Racism is when some people treat others differently based on characteristics like skin color, age, or country of residence. We can prevent racism by treating all people as we would like to be treated by others. What is one thing you can do to act kindly toward people who appear to be different from you? Review students' suggestions as a group.

References: Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement. 1995. Compendium Supplement, Primary 3 - TASK 3, Stanford Achievement Test, 9th Edition.

 

Lesson #2

Materials Required: novel (Animal Farm), bag full of items, notecards

Activity Time: 2 class periods after novel is read.

Concepts Taught: allegory, symbolism, oral presentation

 

Title: Bring your Animal Farm character in a bag

Subject/Grade Level: English 9

Objectives: Students will be able to interpret a chosen character from the novel Animal Farm and represent that character in original symbolic form and present orally to the class.

Materials: novel (Animal Farm), bag of "symbols", notecards with explainations of each symbol.

Procedure: Prior to lesson, be sure each student has a clear historical understanding of the Russian Revolution (taught in conjunction in Social Studies class). Also, each student understands what an allegory is and who or what each character in Animal Farm represents.
- Each student chooses one character from novel. Try to have as many different characters as possible.
- Each student must present his/her character to the class using 7-10 objects in a symbolic bag (which also must be symbolically significant). Symbols may be objects found around the house or they may be hand made. Do not be concrete with the symbols (example - a pig figurine for Napolean).
- Each student must present his/her character to the class by showing each symbol and explaining its importance.

Assessment: Rubric (points may altered) based on 
- completeness (7-10 items and note cards)
- creativity / originality
- oral communication

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1197.html

Lesson #3

Title: I Hate English! by Ellen Levine 
Purpose of Activity: As a result of this experience, the learner will appreciate listening to quality literature, learn about the Chinese culture, and participate in an oral activity.

TEKS: 
3.2 Listening/speaking/culture. The student listens and speaks to gain knowledge of his/her own culture, the culture of others, and the common elements of cultures.
3.4 Listening/speaking/communication. The student communicates clearly by putting thoughts and feelings into spoken words.
3.4 (C) The student is expected to retell a spoken message by summarizing or clarifying.

Materials: Book I Hate English! by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Steve Bjorkman, blue Chinese style dress to be worn by the teacher, globe and/or world map, chop sticks, brown paper bag, brown rice, Chinese vegetables in a can, pre-made fortune strips, homemade "fortune" cookies- Chinese almond cakes- recipe at http://food.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=11029 , Ziploc baggies

Prereading Activities: I will wear a Chinese dress and ask the students to guess what country I am from. When they guess correctly, I will show them China on a map and/or a globe. Next, I will hook into prior learning by reminding them of the science lesson they did using the Chinese wok. Then, I will show them the various items in the bag that relate to China and discuss them. I will set the purpose for reading by saying, "Let's read I Hate English! to find out what it is like to be a student in the United States from another country who speaks another language."

Reading: I will show the cover of the book and introduce the author and illustrator. I will read the book aloud to the students and encourage them to chime in at certain repetitive parts. I will ask questions while reading the story. I will welcome discussion and questions at the end of the story.

Postreading Activities: After reading the book, I will ask, "Have any of you ever been to a Chinese restaurant and had a fortune cookie?" Then I will tell them, "Today you are each going to get your own fortunes with some Chinese cookies I've made. When you get your fortune, read it and think about what it means. Then we will share our fortunes and their meanings." After doing this, I will close the lesson by asking the students about what they learned. I will ask them to tell the favorite part of the lesson to their neighbor. I will also tell them that a copy of the book will be in their classroom if they want to read it again.

Assessment: I will observe and take mental notes on 1) the enjoyment and understanding of the story, and 2) the interest and enthusiasm of the activity.

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1348.html

Community Blog

In my community we have some after school programs such as YMCA Kids Club, Big Brother Big Sister, and we used to have Latch Key. The YMCA Kids Club has a bus that picks students up at their school and takes them to the YMCA. There they can play games and do homework until their parents get off work or until about 5:30. The down side to the YMCA Kids Club is that you have to pay for your child to attend. Big Brother Big Sister is a program that has older students come to the elementary schools to help younger students with their homework, and can play games with them. The problem with Big Brother Big Sister is that it does not meet everyday, so there are sometimes when a child has no place to go after school. In my community we used to have a program called Latch Key, I am unsure if the program still exists in my community. One thing that I could do is to help provide an after school program that children could go to everyday, and that does not cost money. I could try and find other teachers to help me organize this after school program. I could also try to get a grant to help fund the after school program and provide snacks for the students.

Parent Teacher Conference

During my parent teacher conference I learned that you never know what to expect before a conference. You never know how the parent will react to the information you tell them about their child. I learned that it can be very uncomfortable to talk to a parent if their child is causing problems or not doing well in class. I also learned that the better prepared you are for a conference and the more documentation you have about the child, the more respect a parent will have for you and your suggestions. 

Drug and Alcoholic Families

After watching the video I learned a lot about how drug and alcohol addictions can affect the life of many young children. This would raise many issues in a school or classroom such as not being able to have friends over because your parents are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Children would also not be able to go to friends houses because their parents were to drunk or high to take them. Those situations would affect a child's social life at school and in their future life. If a child were being abused at home then the child could be very distant from their classmates and have no friends at all. Having a parent addicted to drugs or alcohol could make the child learn to care for themselves at a very young age. This would then take the parents out of the picture at a very young age, and the parents would have little involvement in the schools. 

Reflection #2

Poverty and homelessness is a problem for youth in America because many of the youth do not have a home to go to at night. Many youth live in shelters where there is no privacy, and no family support. Living in poverty can make family relationships really hard to develop and that can make life harder for youth. Youth may also be forced to go to different schools multiple times during the school year because they have to move shelters. 

I would address these problems as a teacher by welcoming new students who come from a poverty family and make them feel welcome in the classroom. I would also talk to students about poverty and being homeless and discuss how we could help students in our school or community who might be living in poverty. I would also make sure that I have enough supplies to help students who might not be able to afford school supplies. 

Reflection #1

The event that impacted my life is the discovery of Reading Recovery. My mom has been a reading recovery teacher for the past five years, I never realized how low some students read in first grade. I also realized through watching her help students that those students who do struggle with reading would probably never read at their grade level without some one on one help. Realizing this as a future teacher I am going to make it a high priority for all of my students to excel in reading.