Lesson Plan : Cardinal Bounce
Teacher Name: | Sean Heller |
Grade: | Grade 2 |
Subject: | Social Studies |
Topic: | Cardinal Directions. Cardinal Direction Game. |
Content: | Peer Assistance Structure and Information Sharing Structure. The basis for these structures is that this is a new concept to the students. They have little to no prior experience with any of the cardinal directions. This lesson is built so that the students may influence each other and work together to better understand the content. Important vocabularies for this lesson are the basic four cardinal directions: North, South, East, and West. |
Goals: | TEKS 2.5 The student uses simple geographic tools such as maps, globes, and photographs. The student is expected to use symbols, find locations, and determine directions on maps and globes. 2.6 The student understands the locations and characteristics of places and regions. The student is expected to locate the community, Texas, the United States, and selected countries on maps and globes. 4.7 The student understands the concept of regions. 4.8 The student understands the location and patterns of settlement and the geographic factors that influence where people live. The student is expected to describe the location of cities in Texas. |
Objectives: | The objective for this lesson is for the students to explore and recite the cardinal directions accurately while still managing to have fun. This lesson is built so that the school out of the class and outside using the resources provides the students. The students have a vary wide range of skills so it works best to set up an activity in which they can all work together and sharpen social play skills. |
Materials: | Large bouncy ball, labels for the directions, handout of Texas, and very large map of United States |
Introduction: | This lesson is designed with a LINC class in mind, so the abilities of the students are very different from each other. The lesson begins by passing out the Handout of Texas. All familiar terms, such as the title of the state, have been removed. The students are then asked to identify the state and read the cardinal directions on the state. Students do this out loud in a discussion based setting. Once this step is reached, the students and teacher will then discuss why we use cardinal directions for maps. |
Development: | After the short discussion, the students will proceed outside to the large chalk map of the United States. Students will place sticky labels to his or her shirt that states a direction in very large, bold letters. Students will first be asked to find Texas on the big map. Students will then take their respective cardinal positions on the map to start Cardinal Bounce. The goal of the game is to pass the ball in a cardinal direction while also saying that same direction. If a player does not say it correctly, the monster gets to steal the ball. Another student or even the teacher easily plays the monster role. Students will take time before the start of the game to say everyone�s new name. Students are no longer called by his or her name but instead by his or her direction. |
Practice: | As the game begins, it is important for the teacher to try short drills before the game can run smoothly. The teacher must alternate between students asking them to bounce the Cardinal Ball in a certain direction. The monster role is not important during this time since the students are just practicing. It is important to note that this lesson is designed for a very small LINC class. It may work easier as a center in the classroom for a big class. Once the students have successfully demonstrated the concepts behind Cardinal Bounce, it is time to play the game. |
Accommodations: | Since this is a behavioral LINC class, it is very important to monitor the exhaustion of the students and making sure all the roles are being shared. The problem with the game is not the difficulty but the high level of cooperative play and learning required. The labels need to be as large as possible so that everyone may read the text. It is also important to stop if there is a universal understanding. Asking students to tell his or her new name is a great way to assess and assist the students. |
Checking For Understanding: | To keep the students on their toes, it is important to switch the roles around once play feels comfortable. This is not to be tricky but to make sure that the students are associating the directions with the map and not with the people. It is also important to call out directions so that no said player is throwing to the same person over and over. This lesson is built for informal assessment. It cannot progress if there are constant flaws. This is another useful tool of the monster. If the monster is playing more than the students, it is imperative to retrace the instructional steps. |
Closure: | Ending the lesson is quite easy because it only requires the teacher becoming a monster. This allows you to capture the ball, which sometimes is a burden with LINC classes. Instead of calling out names, call directions to turn in their new names. It is a lot of fun to act surprised to see the students once they have removed his or her name. It is important that this lesson remains lighthearted since it is all in good fun. This lesson is also easily repeatable to help solidify the concepts and address any problems that might arise. |
Evaluation: | Since this lesson is structured around informal assessment it is quite easy to montior progress. If the monster is playing more than the students, there must be a concept that is alluding everyone. It is also easy to pause play if the teacher is the monster. It is important to switch the roles as much as possible when doing the lesson. The game is about the concept and not just a comfort level. Upon doing this lesson several times, the students were able to work together just fine with little to no squabbles. This is very exciting for our class. |
Teacher Reflections: | I found this lesson to work great. It allows the students to work with very familiar materials and also gets them out of the classroom. Lessons should be as much fun as possible and Cardinal Bounce seemed like a lot of fun. I used this lesson on several occasions and never did the students complain. In fact, the students were often excited. As the lesson progressed, the students got really good at the game and the role of monster was almost deleted. This lesson is designed for a small group but the addition of new directions would allow for more players. I wish there was a larger Texas drawing outside of school. The lesson did move from Texas to the United States but I don't think this hindered the students or confused them. It is a lesson that I will use to teach my LINC students. |
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