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Artifact Title: Lesson Plan Letter U (Art Project)

Date: March 10, 2014



Artifact Description

This is a lesson plan I taught during my Pre-student Teaching practicum experience at Neal
Wilkins in Platteville. I taught Mrs. Johnsons 4-K class. Every day, they have a half hour block
of time set aside to do an art project that is reflective of the Jolly Phonics they are currently
working on. The Jolly Phonics letter was U.

Alignment:

Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:

This experience best aligns with Standard 7: Instructional Planning- The teacher plans
instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum
goals.

This best aligns Standard 7 because it reflects my knowledge and ability to create
appropriate learning activities that take into account curriculum, subject matter and student
development reflected in an instructional plan that will meet curricular goals and make these
elements a part of the students experience. The anticipatory part of this lesson elicited students
prior knowledge of the subject matter and encouraged exploration of new, or possibly unknown,
knowledge as well. This lesson plan encouraged students cognitive development by enabling
them to recall their prior knowledge of the unit in place and what they knew, and respond to
questions related to the unit and lesson in particular. This lesson also encouraged students
physical development, specifically fine motor skills, through the processes students were
directed to perform when creating this project (cutting, pasting and rolling the dice).

This experience has made me more competent in understanding curricular goals,
understanding student abilities and flexibility. It has showed me the importance of the curricular
basis of all classroom activities and how it goes hand-in-hand with student development. It
taught me that it is crucial to embrace the ability to be flexible in situations, and that it is an
imperative component in order for students to take away from a lesson what your goals for them
are.

UW-Platteville Knowledge, Skill and Disposition Alignment

This experience best aligns with KSD3.c: Engages Students in Learning- The candidate has the
ability to engage students in the learning process by linking appropriate content, based upon
suitable instructional materials and resources, to students knowledge and experience, being
certain that all students are cognitively engaged in the activities/assignments and that the
students actively contribute to the content design. Instruction is highly coherent and
appropriately paced for all students and allows for reflection and closure as appropriate.

The experience of my lesson plan best aligns with this KSD because it allow me to provide an
activity that was taught aligned with the unit that was currently in place and that the student had
been exposed to for about a week prior to doing this project. This was a very engaging project,
both in the cognitive sense and in a hands-on approach. Introducing the project by pulling out
what students already knew, then instructing them about new things related to the project and the
unit as a whole that they may have been unaware of previously, and finally providing a closure
component to the project related to review of their prior knowledge and concepts that had been
taught to them that day during the process of creation.

I am more competent after this experience because I was allowed to fully engage students in the
content areas I needed them to engage in and at the create their own basis of knowledge through
an age appropriate activity.

Secondary KSDs:

KSD2.c: Manages Classroom Procedures
KSD3.a: Communicates Clearly and Accurately
KSD3.b: Uses Questioning and Discussion Techniques

Reflection

What I learned about teaching/learning from this experience:

I learned many things in teaching this lesson to my students. After teaching this lesson, it gave
me a chance to set some goals for myself in correlation with my teaching techniques. I learned
that improvising and flexibility are things that are a part of every lesson, no matter what kind or
at what level it is being taught. Flexibility is a skill that a teacher must be reading to use with
students at any moment necessary. I also learned that it is very important that students be
independent while they are engaged, and get the experience of being that way. I realized I tend
to jump in a lot, with my intention to redirect students back on track, but sometimes end up doing
things for them.

What I learned about myself as a prospective educator as a result of this experience:

After teaching this lesson and reflecting on how it went and how I taught it, I realized some
things about my teaching techniques that I need to alter a bit. After teaching this lesson, in the
future I really want to let my students be independent, and be their guide and their support while
experiencing new challenges. I will be there the moment they need help, but not to overly control
their learning process if they are going in a little bit of a different way than was directed by me. I
learned that instructional planning is key to the success not only of your students learning but
also of an educators teaching.

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