The plan includes math and science lessons for kindergarten, preschool, and second grade.
Charlesworth (2016) states that during the math lesson, it is necessary to observe whether children show increased use of part-whole skills, division of things into smaller objects, division of wholes into parts, and sharing things equally with each other. Spatial awareness lessons help children to understand relative positions in space.
When working with children with special needs, it is recommended to use large shape templates and chalkboards (Charlesworth, 2016). Teachers may encourage children with behavior problems to share materials with others in a group and interact with them actively through games and outdoor activities. For dual language learners (DLL) give problems that require children to compare shapes with shapes on paper in different positions. For ESOL (English for second language learners) and for ELL (children who are not English language learners) use music, movement, paper tasks, and games. Encourage active involvement of ESOL and ELL in activities.
Math lesson
- Method: Interview
- Skill: To learn the meaning of the term part as it refers to parts of objects, people, and animals.
- Materials: Puzzle with parts missing.
- Procedure: Give children time to observe the puzzle and its parts. Ask questions such as, “Did you find all the pieces of the puzzle?”
- Evaluation: Observe if a child can find the missing parts of the puzzle. Explore different shapes, such as Tangrams, fraction circles, and fraction squares through the puzzle.
Spatial awareness lesson
- Method: Interview.
- Skill: Give a special relationship word, the child can place objects relative to other objects.
- Materials: Provide children with a box and an object as a coin or a little toy.
- Procedure: Put the coin or the toy in the box. Use other space words: on, off, out of, in front of, next to, under, over. Ask the child: “Where is the coin/toy?”, “Put the coin/toy on/inside/in front of the box.”
- Evaluation: Observe whether the child can follow the instructions correctly.
Preschool for Math and Science. Math lesson
- Method: Interview.
- Skill: When provided with shapes of varying types and sizes, the child labels and describes them using his or her current knowledge.
- Materials: A variety of shapes, both two- and three- dimensional.
- Procedure: Lay out the materials in from of the child. “Tell me about these. What are they called? Have you seen anything else with this shape in the room? Can you find a [square, triangle, rectangle, cylinder, sphere, circle]?”
- Evaluation: Observe if a child can distinguish different shapes.
Spatial awareness lesson: block construction
- Method: Game.
- Skill: The child can place objects and make a construction into three-dimensional space based on instructions.
- Materials: Blocks of a LEGO house/car.
- Procedure: Ask children to build a house/car from blocks available.
- Evaluation: Observe if a child can find and place blocks correctly.
2nd grade for Math and Science. Math lesson
- Method: Interview
- Skill: The child can learn the basics of geometry, recognize different shapes, name them correctly, and count the number of sides.
- Materials: Chalkboard.
- Procedure: Ask a child to draw a [square, triangle, rectangle, cylinder, sphere, circle] on the chalkboard. Ask “How many sides has a square? How does a sphere look like? etc.”
- Evaluation: Evaluate if a child can distinguish, draw, and calculate different shapes/sides of the shapes.
The spatial awareness lesson
- Method: Game.
- Skill: The spatial skills of children
- Materials: Chairs and music.
- Procedure: Put five chairs in a circle in the middle of the classroom. Ask a group of children to move around them while the music is playing. When the music stops, children must sit. The child who did not manage to sit is eliminated. Remove one chair for the next round. Children will continue the game until only one chair is left and only one child can win.
- Evaluation: Explore the spatial awareness of the children and observe their interactions with each other.
Reference
Charlesworth, R. (2016). Math and science for young children (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.