Minilessons 29, 30, 31: Seasons, Wild Life & Yoga



THE FOUR SEASONS
Lesson by Sydney Feyerick
                      LESSON PLAN
Objective: The objective of this lesson is to teach third grade students about the four seasons, what they are, why we have seasons, and the science behind the changing seasons as an introduction to Earth/ atmospheric science. This lesson will serve as a solid foundation for future lessons about the weather and the atmosphere.
-        Intended Age Group: third grades (8-9 years old)
Materials:
-          Computer- Video Presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQjT5uKp2hg
-          Word search activity
-          Pen, pencil, crayons, markers, any desired writing utensils
Activity: To begin this activity, we will start by discussing the recent change in temperature that we are currently experiencing. Next, we will watch an educational video about why we experience season changes and discuss what we learned from the video. To wrap up the lesson, we will apply the new vocabulary words we just learned by completing a fall themed word search. 
-          Potential Discussion Questions:
1.      What season are we experiencing right now?
2.      What are your favorite things about fall/ favorite things to do during the fall season?
3.      What is your favorite season and why?
-          Video Questions:
1.      How many seasons are there?
2.      Why do we have seasons?
3.      How many trips around the Sun does the Earth complete in 1 year?
4.      Why do different parts of the world experience different seasons at the same time?

Assessment: Students will be assessed on how well they understood the topics introduced based on their understanding and retention of the information exhibited through class discussion and the ability to successfully complete the fall word search.
-          Grading criteria:
o   Participation in class discussion
o   Ability to accurately/ successfully apply topics in discussion
o   Completion of the fall word search
 -------------------------------------------------------

 WILD LIFE
Lesson by Natalie Kiboneka
LESSON PLAN
Age Group: 6th-8th graders

Subject: Wildlife Conservation 

Objective: To teach students the importance of conserving wildlife 

Activity: After students listen to a presentation about lion conservation, they will decorate a piece of paper and write about why protecting wildlife is important to them and something new that they learned from the presentation.

Assessment: Student would have shown me that they understood the importance of conserving wildlife by sharing with their partners their drawings and what they said and if they wrote at least one thing new from the presentation. 

                                         ----------------------------------                     
 
YOGA
Lesson by Rachel Westhoff



LESSON PLAN

Age Group:  6th-8th grade.

Objective: Students will learn a healthy way to cope with stress by learning 5 beginner's yoga poses.

Materials:  Workout/stretchy clothes

Subject:  Yoga is a great way to de-stress and work on being more introspective and present in your daily life.

Activity:  I will briefly explain some benefits of yoga as well as a brief history of the practice.  Next, I will have the class all stand up and walk them through 5 beginners’ yoga poses that have been proven to reduce stress.  Then we will have a discussion on which yoga poses they liked the best or thought helped relieve any stress they might have had that day.  The activity will end with a shared closing breath.  

Assessment: Students will write three words to describe how they felt before yoga and three words to describe how they felt after yoga.  In addition, they write a paragraph reflection on whether or not they liked the activity, ask them to name one way they can incorporate yoga into their daily life.  
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Students' Feedback On Mini-Lessons


Seasons: Sydney F.

    Likes:

 I liked the word search for learning the new vocab, it also became competitive with classmates which was fun. 

The age range was appropriate.

Taught a lesson about why we have seasons

Taught about how other parts of the world experience different seasons

She did a review after the video (asked questions to assess) 

    Suggestions:

The video said it was Spring which could throw off the kids

Didn't walk around

 Could have another activity for those who finish early

 If we could change something, we would make a more basic word search for the age range or also add something for defining the differences between the seasons.


Wild Life: Natalie

    Likes:

It was nice that it was her personal story

Tied her personal story into a lesson, makes it more personal and interesting

She was very informative.

We like that she made a power-point for her lesson plan

We liked this lesson because it was about something that really matters and was also different compared to other presentations.

 We liked how you were able to put whatever you wanted on the drawing.

    Suggestions:

The activity doesn't promote interaction between students


One thing we would change is we would show more pictures/facts about wild life conservation efforts.


Yoga: Rachel

  Likes:

Used a power-point to teach the history of yoga

The activity gets the students moving

Could be something students can use out of class

She said phrases like "good luck guys" - motivating

We liked that how everyone had to try out the positions as opposed to simply talking about them.

  Suggestions:

She could have done an additional activity 

It was a little short

We would add a video as opposed to a powerpoint. 

We also would have done more yoga positions. 

Also for assessment, we would have people try to do the positions without a picture.


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