Lesson Plan - Our Favourite Halloween Treat

 Overview

Students conduct a survey to determine the class' favourite type of Halloween candy. Candy wrappers are used to create a bar graph by type of candy. Data are described in mathematical terms and questions are posed about the data collected. The activity is presented as a Halloween theme but may be used at any time of the year if students bring in pictures of their favourite treats instead of candy wrappers.

Objectives

The goal of this activity is to encourage students to see the need for organizing information and to start developing the skills needed in data management.

Outcomes

    conduct a survey about their favourite Halloween candy/treat

    sort candy wrappers according to specific attributes (i.e., chocolate, gum)

    organize the candy wrappers or treat pictures on a wall chart of a bar graph by type of candy

Materials

    A newsletter to be sent home a week prior to Halloween.

    Assorted candy wrappers or treat pictures to be provided by the students.

    Glue sticks or scotch tape.

    Large piece of grid paper.

    Coloring utensils.

Classroom instructions

This activity will last a whole week but you will only need two half-hour lessons to teach the content involved. Start preparing for this activity at least one week prior to Halloween by sending a newsletter to parents informing them of this lesson on Data Management and encouraging them to communicate with you any concerns they may have (see Teacher notes below). You should also mention that as part of next week’s activities their child will be required to bring to school 1 or 2 candy wrappers a day.

Lesson One

The day before students go out for Halloween introduce the activity by perhaps sharing some information about your favourite Halloween treats or by telling them why we give treats out on Halloween and where the phrase "trick or treat" comes from. Then engage the students in a conversation by asking such questions as:

    "What is your favourite Halloween treat Johnny?"

    "How many people like ________?"

    "Is there another Halloween treat you enjoy eating?"

    "How many people like this treat?"

    "Which would you say is our class’s favourite Halloween treat?"

Write the answers given on the board under the title "Our Favourite Halloween Candy".

After receiving a number of responses explain to them that asking questions about your class's favourite Halloween candy is called a survey and that their answers are called data. Write the words "survey" and "data" on the board.

Continue by asking: "How can we find out which Halloween candy is really our favourite?" Wait for responses. After a while the students should be encouraged to realize that in order for this data to make sense you need to organize it in some way. Suggest that you make a chart where your data is recorded.

On a large piece of grid paper write the title "Our Favourite Halloween Candy", or the title that best suits your classroom's needs. Close to the bottom of the paper draw a straight horizontal line and explain that each day during the week following Halloween each one of them will be required to bring one to two wrappers of their favourite candy. Using a glue stick or scotch tape they will tape it on the chart.

Ask: "How will you know where exactly you should stick your wrappers?" Establish through discussion that each type of candy should have an appropriate place on your chart. Point to the first column on the grid and explain that will be the "Hershey Kisses" column. Therefore, anyone bringing "Hershey kisses" wrappers will have to stick them on a square in that column (grid paper is divided into squares). Label the bottom of the first column "Hershey kisses". Repeat this procedure 5 or 6 times using different candy label for each column. Label the last column as "Other" for those items that have not been labeled on your chart. Explain that placing each candy wrapper in its appropriate place is called sorting.

End the lesson by asking: "So if you were to bring in a "Mars" bar wrapper where would you stick it on the chart?" "What if you brought in a "Skittles" wrapper?" Give students an opportunity to have their questions answered. The week following Halloween briefly review what was discussed during Lesson One. Assist those who need clarification.

Lesson Two

At the end of the week following Halloween discuss the data collected and presented on the chart. Explain that the chart is now called the graph of "Our Favourite Halloween Candy". Point out that "Our Favourite Halloween Candy" is the title of your graph and that each stack of wrappers on your graph is called a bar. So your chart is a bar graph of "Our Favourite Halloween Candy".

To examine students' understanding ask the following questions:

    Which candy is our most favourite Halloween candy?

    Which is our second favourite Halloween candy?

    Which column has the least number of wrappers?

    What does that mean?

    Does this mean that __________ are the favourite Halloween treat in Ms. Smith's class also?

    Last week we thought that __________ would be our favourite Halloween treat. Were we right?

    Was the bar graph a good way of organizing our data?

Evaluation

The students' responses to your questions and the quality of the discussions will indicate whether they were able to comprehend the words data, sort and bar graph and also what is represented by the chart. A checklist may be useful in evaluating students' understanding of the content taught and classroom participation.

Notes to teachers

Before beginning this lesson you should consider how appropriate this activity will be for your class. Some of your students, for example, may have food allergies or other health problems that prevent them from eating candies. Other families may believe that candy is not appropriate for their child's diet. Others may not be able to participate in this lesson because of religious restrictions/beliefs.

By Irini Clelland, Statistics Canada Support Teacher.

Lesson Plan - Differences between informal and formal

Lesson plans can be formal or informal.

An informal lesson plan is of casual nature. It is helpful as a reminder for teachers. There are two types of informal plans.

One is to write down definitions, synonyms, phonetic symbols, stress potions, or examples, etc. between the lines or in the margins of the textbook. Such teaching usually focuses on language points in grammar and vocabulary.

The other is one of brief notes reminding the teacher what to do step by step. Such teaching can be about interactive class that is categorized with activities or tasks.

Sometimes teachers can be carried away or distracted to remember what to do next. An informal lesson plan focuses on content of classroom teaching: language or tasks, but it lacks professionalism.

A formal plan is of high professionalism, including required components of a plan and with professional language expressions.

Writing a formal plan helps teachers acquire and use professional language. Usually the degree of formalness can suggest the teacher’s professional level.

However, there can be three problems with formal plan writing. First, it is time consuming; second, the teacher may pay more attention to how to write a plan than how to teach a lesson.

 The final problem is the teacher might be bandaged by his/her teaching plan in teaching.  

By English Teaching Methodology

Lesson Plan - How to develop a Lesson Plan

To begin, ask yourself three basic questions:

Where are your students going?

How are they going to get there?

How will you know when they've arrived?

Then begin to think about each of the following categories which form the organization of the plan. While planning, use the questions below to guide you during each stage.

Goals

Goals determine purpose, aim, and rationale for what you and your students will engage in during class time. Use this section to express the intermediate lesson goals that draw upon previous plans and activities and set the stage by preparing students for future activities and further knowledge acquisition. The goals are typically written as broad educational or unit goals adhering to State or National curriculum standards.
What are the broader objectives, aims, or goals of the unit plan/curriculum?

What are your goals for this unit?

What do you expect students to be able to do by the end of this unit?

Objectives

This section focuses on what your students will do to acquire further knowledge and skills. The objectives for the daily lesson plan are drawn from the broader aims of the unit plan but are achieved over a well defined time period.
What will students be able to do during this lesson? Under what conditions will students' performance be accomplished?

What is the degree or criterion on the basis of which satisfactory attainment of the objectives will be judged?

How will students demonstrate that they have learned and understood the objectives of the lesson?

Prerequisites

Prerequisites can be useful when considering the readiness state of your students. Prerequisites allow you, and other teachers replicating your lesson plan, to factor in necessary prep activities to make sure that students can meet the lesson objectives.
What must students already be able to do before this lesson?

What concepts have to be mastered in advance to accomplish the lesson objectives?

Materials

This section has two functions: it helps other teachers quickly determine a) how much preparation time, resources, and management will be involved in carrying out this plan and b) what materials, books, equipment, and resources they will need to have ready. A complete list of materials, including full citations of textbooks or story books used, worksheets, and any other special considerations are most useful.
What materials will be needed?

What textbooks or story books are needed? (please include full bibliographic citations)

What needs to be prepared in advance? (typical for science classes and cooking or baking activities)

Lesson Description

This section provides an opportunity for the author of the lesson to share some thoughts, experience, and advice with other teachers. It also provides a general overview of the lesson in terms of topic focus, activities, and purpose.

What is unique about this lesson? How did your students like it? What level of learning is covered by this lesson plan? (Think of Bloom's Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation.)

Lesson Procedure

This section provides a detailed, step-by-step description of how to replicate the lesson and achieve lesson plan objectives. This is usually intended for the teacher and provides suggestions on how to proceed with implementation of the lesson plan. It also focuses on what the teacher should have students do during the lesson. This section is basically divided into several components: an introduction, a main activity, and closure. There are several elaborations on this. We have linked to some sample lesson plans to guide you through this stage of planning.

• Introduction
How will you introduce the ideas and objectives of this lesson? How will you get students' attention and motivate them in order to hold their attention? How can you tie lesson objectives with student interests and past classroom activities? What will be expected of students?

• Main Activity
What is the focus of the lesson? How would you describe the flow of the lesson to another teacher who will replicate it? What does the teacher do to facilitate learning and manage the various activities? What are some good and bad examples to illustrate what you are presenting to students? How can this material be presented to ensure each student will benefit from the learning experience?

Rule of Thumb # 1:
Take into consideration what students are learning (a new skill, a rule or formula, a concept/fact/idea, an attitude, or a value).
Choose one of the following techniques to plan the lesson content based on what your objectives are:
Demonstration ==> list in detail and sequence of the steps to be performed
Explanation ==> outline the information to be explained
Discussion ==> list of key questions to guide the discussion
• Closure/Conclusion
What will you use to draw the ideas together for students at the end? How will you provide feedback to students to correct their misunderstandings and reinforce their learning?
• Follow up Lessons/Activities
What activities might you suggest for enrichment and remediation? What lessons might follow as a result of this lesson?

Assessment/Evaluation

This section focuses on ensuring that your students have arrived at their intended destination. You will need to gather some evidence that they did. This usually is done by gathering students' work and assessing this work using some kind of grading rubric that is based on lesson objectives. You could also replicate some of the activities practiced as part of the lesson, without providing the same level of guidance as during the lesson. You could always quiz students on various concepts and problems as well.
How will you evaluate the objectives that were identified? Have students practiced what you are asking them to do for evaluation?

 

Rule of Thumb # 2:
Be sure to provide students with the opportunity to practice what you will be assessing them on. You should never introduce new material during this activity. Also, avoid asking higher level thinking questions if students have not yet engaged in such practice during the lesson. For example, if you expect students to apply knowledge and skills, they should first be provided with the opportunity to practice application.