TRANSPORTATION UNIT LESSON PLAN

XXXXXX

National University

In partial fulfillment for the requirements for TED 635

William Pine

May 3, 2012

Abstract

This unit plan incorporates educational standards from the history/social science, physical education, and visual and performing arts content areas. The lesson surrounds a theme on transportation in which Kindergarten students will learn about the different forms of transportation in the present and in the past. The plan spans over a week and involves the children’s imaginations, physical abilities, community awareness, and requires them to work and share with their peers in order to accomplish a task. It also accesses prior knowledge of names of vehicles which the students have been learning about in the prior week. Although the content areas are distinct from each other many of the lessons are connected as they share the same concept. Student will learn how to express and explain a concept in different ways. Performance, physical fitness, posters, and using new vocabulary are all tools that students will gain from their participation in the week’s lessons. There are other academic areas briefly visited in the plan. Math and Literacy are involved; the ideas provide a great base to creating lesson plans that addresses time and the letters T for traffic and M for map. The plan is a great tool to providing students with depth of the topic.

|Monday |
|Content Area: |Standard (Learner Outcomes): |Instructional Activities: |
|Social Studies/ History |K.6 Students understand that history relates to | |
| |events, people, and places of other times. |The class has been talking about different vehicles |
| | |and identifying their names over the past week. They |
| | |can use this info to participate in a discussion |
| | |about travel. Ask students to think of transportation|
| | |without wheels. History of flight and the car and |
| | |what life was like before its invention. Game guess |
| | |what the picture is. Show half of a picture on an |
| | |overhead projector and have students guess the |
| | |historical forms of transportation (i.e. boat, |
| | |horse…) |
|Visual and Performing Arts |2.1 Perform imitative movements, rhythmical |After discussing historical forms of transportation. |
| |activities, and theatre games |Students will imagine themselves back in time |
| | |traveling from one place to another. Using yard |
| | |sticks, a gym mat, and the structures on the outdoor |
| | |play area will work in groups to develop a 2 minute |
| | |skit about where they are going and what they are |
| | |traveling on. Students must use imitative movement to|
| | |portray the motion of the vehicle. Each group will |
| | |perform for the class and the class will have to |
| | |guess what form of transportation the performing |
| | |group is using. |
| | | |
| | | |
|Physical Education | |Explain to students that safe traveling is important.|
| |1.1 Travel within a large group, without bumping|Vehicles operators have to make sure they don’t bump |
| |into others or falling, while using loco motor |into other vehicles or it can be very dangerous. The |
| |skills |class will practice walking then running in lanes in |
| | |the gym without bumping into others or falling. |
| | |Students will travel together in a “one way” |
| | |direction, then in 2 groups for “two way” traffic |
| | |simulation. Finally the teacher will become the |
| | |center of a 4 way intersection holding a traffic |
| | |light. Students will practice turning left and right|
| | |without running into others or pushing. |
| | | |
|Tuesday |
|Content Area: |Standard (Learner Outcomes): |Instructional Activities: |
|Social Studies/ History | |Teacher will demonstrate matching pictures of |
| |K.3 Students match simple descriptions of work |vehicles with the people responsible of operating the|
| |that people do and the names of related jobs at |vehicle in various settings.. In groups students will|
| |the school, in the local community, and from |complete 1 poster out of the following: National |
| |historical accounts. |Community, Historical, and School Transportation. |
| | |Students will match the vehicle operator to the |
| | |correct vehicle. |
|Visual and Performing Arts |3.2 Portray different community members, such as|Following the social studies activities students will|
| |firefighters, family, teachers, and clerks, |participate in role playing characters from their |
| |through role-playing activities. |poster. Students will use materials in the art center|
| | |to make a hat appropriate for each character. Each |
| | |group should have part of its members portraying |
| | |vehicle operators and the other members should be |
| | |passengers or if necessary other workers that operate|
| | |the same vehicle like co-pilot or flight attendants. |
|Physical Education |Rhythmic Skills |This lesson will be based off of the rhythms that can|
| |1.16 Perform locomotor and nonlocomotor |be heard from vehicles. Engines, windshield wipers, |
| |movements to a steady beat. |train wheels tend to have a patterned sound that can |
| |1.17 Clap in time to a simple, rhythmic beat.. |be turned into a rhythm. A CD of automobile sounds |
| | |will play and then students will mimc the rhythm |
| | |first by clapping then by tapping their feet. Student|
| | |will form a train by connecting to each others |
| | |shoulders while in line. They will travel the gym by |
| | |moving their feet in rhythm. |
| | |Student will move around the gym like a bus in 2 |
| | |adjacent lines. Student will use their feet for a |
| | |rhythm and include their arms as windshield wipers. |
| | | |

|Wednesday |
|Content Area: |Standard (Learner Outcomes): |Instructional Activities: |
|Social Studies/ History |K..4 Students compare and contrast the |In preparation of reading and creating a map. |
| |locations of people, places, and environments |Students will practice describing the location of |
| |and describe their characteristics. |vehicles on a map. Students will determine the |
| | |relative locations of the vehicles using the terms |
| | |near/far, left/right, and behind/in front. In a |
| | |guided small group, students will practice with a map|
| | |with 3D cars and buildings. Teacher will say park the|
| | |car in front of the house, to the left of the market,|
| | |etc. |
| |Comprehension and Analysis of Dance Elements |To reinforce the terms near/far, left/right, and |
|Visual and Performing Arts |1.3 Understand and respond to a wide range of |behind/front. Teachers and students will choreograph |
| |opposites (e.g., high/low, forward/backward, |a short dance. Teacher can act as a square dance |
| |wiggle/freeze) |leader and students will follow the commands. |
| | |Students will invite a neighboring class to watch |
| | |them perform the dance. |
|Physical Education |1.8 Demonstrate the relationship of under, over,|Teacher will demonstrate the relation of a ball to a |
| |behind, next to, through, right, left, up, down,|table. For example, using all the terms in the |
| |forward, backward, and in front of by using the |standard ,the ball would be placed under the table. |
| |body and an object. |The teacher will ask where the ball is and the |
| | |students will have to say under the table. |
| | |Student would go through an obstacle course that |
| | |requires them to position their bodies or move in the|
| | |directions stated in the objective. The students will|
| | |run forward to the rope. In groups of 4, they will |
| | |demonstrate going under the rope, over the cone, |
| | |running behind the table, and standing next to the |
| | |flag pole as they wait their turn to go through the |
| | |hoola hoop, up stairs, down the slide and walk |
| | |backward to the start line. |

|Thursday |
|Content Area: |Standard (Learner Outcomes): |Instructional Activities: |
|Social Studies/ History |K.4 Students compare and contrast the locations|In silent auction style, children would be given a |
| |of people, places, and environments and describe|cardboard T for traffic symbol with various pictures |
| |their characteristics. |of traffic symbols and an M for map symbol with |
| | |various pictures of map symbols on it. Teacher would |
| | |say and hold various symbols up and students would |
| | |raise their T or M. |
|Visual and Performing Arts |Skills, Processes, Materials, and Tools |Students will be shown examples of 2 dimensional and |
| |2.2 Demonstrate beginning skills in the use of |3 objects. Teacher will prompt students to talk about|
| |tools and processes, such as the use of |the differences. |
| |scissors, glue, and paper in creating a |Students will use toilet paper rolls, glue, scissors,|
| |three-dimensional construction. |crayons, yarn, and colored paper to construct various|
| | |3D vehicles. Pre-cut shapes will be available for use|
| | |as well as animal legs for historical means of |
| | |transportation. |
|Physical Education |5.5 Participate as a leader and a follower |Students will play a game of red light green light. |
| |during physical activities. |Students will run forward when the leader says green |
| | |light and stop when the leader say red light. The |
| | |goal is to get to the finish line first and win a |
| | |prize. Once a student wins, they get to be the |
| | |leader. It is important for students to understand |
| | |sometimes you will be a leader and sometimes you will|
| | |be a follower. |

|Friday |
|Content Area: |Standard (Learner Outcomes): |Instructional Activities: |
|Social Studies/ History |K.4 Students compare and contrast the locations |Revisit the concept of near and far. A discussion |
| |of people, places, and environments and describe|would surround the idea of how far you can travel by |
| |their characteristics. |walking, bicycle, car, and plane 20 minutes. Teacher |
| | |would display 2 maps. One of the community and then a|
| | |map of the country. Teacher would select 2 points A |
| | |and B. Students would choose the best form of |
| | |transportation to get from A to B within 20 minutes. |
| |Visual Literacy |Pictures of community buildings and vehicles founds |
|Visual and Performing Arts |5.3 Point out images (e.g., photographs, |in the local community would be displayed on the |
| |paintings, murals, ceramics, sculptures) and |board. Teacher will ask students to identify the |
| |symbols found at home, in school, and in the |picture and where would it be found in the community.|
| |community, including national and state symbols | |
| |and icons. |Student would construct a map by cutting and pasting |
| | |community buildings and then pasting cut outs of |
| | |vehicles to the front of the building it belongs to. |
| | |For example an ambulance would be pasted in front of |
| | |the hospital. |
|Physical Education |2.7 Identify the point of contact for kicking a |Teacher will set up a soccer goal and tell students |
| |ball in a straight line. |that it is necessary to kick the ball in a straight |
| | |line to make the goal when you are far away from the |
| | |goal. Student will identify the point behind the ball|
| | |that they need to make contact with in order for the |
| | |ball to travel in a straight line. Student can also |
| | |explore making the ball go to the right and left by |
| | |moving the contact point. |

Rubric
|Criteria & Grading |Poor Effort |Good Effort |Excellent |Totals |
| | | |Effort | |
|Visual Art/Drawing contains|1 Point |2 Points |3 Points | |
|use of proper drawing |Student does not |Student completes some |Student uses line in a | |
|techniques |complete assignment or |simple shapes and uses line|knowledgeable way, creating| |
| |colors entire page |in a noticeable way |recognizable forms | |
|Visual Art/Drawing |1 Point |2 Points |3 Points | |
|reflects the content that |Student draws pictures |Student completes drawings |Student completes drawings | |
|students were asked to work|that are of their |that contain only a few key|using many pertinent | |
|with |choosing with no regard |images, and possible some |images, images are | |
| |to content or assignment|unrelated images |recognizable | |
|Visual Art/Drawing uses |1 Point |2 Points |3 Points | |
|symbols and icons discussed|Student uses symbols and|Student uses symbols and |Student uses symbols and | |
|in relation to content |icons that are incorrect|images in a disconnected |icons in a cohesive | |
| | |way |understandable way | |
|Visual Art/Drawing shows |1 Point |2 Points |3 Points |/12 |
|personal connection to the |Student copies or mimics|Student draws images that |Student draws images that | |
|material |another students |are personal to them, but |are personal and relevant | |
| |drawings making no |may not make a clear |to the material | |
| |attempt to make it |connection to the material | | |
| |personal | | | |

Assessment The lessons in this unit are geared more toward cognitive thought processes as opposed to performance on paper. The assessment in the unit will mostly consist of observations and interviewing. It is important that students understand what it expected of them and that they are involved in the assessment process. To establish this sense of fairness for students the teacher will state to the students what they are expected to learn and then let them know if they want to add anything to list at any point it’s ok. In doing so, the teacher is considering the fact that some students may learn the intended outcome and may also learn something different. “Informal observations also have academic implications. Teachers who observe their students while teaching a lesson are able to evaluate their understanding.” (Eby, 2011, p.210) Observing role playing and physical tasks of the lesson will not only inform the teacher if the students are able to do the assignment to the expectations but will also provide information on how students work together or any issues a student may have following directions, sharing resources or ideas. These are things the teacher will record as notes and discuss with parents. Interviewing is another assessment tool that will be used during this unit. As students are working and planning their skit the teacher will ask questions to determining their understanding of the task as well as the concept they are learning. “This one-to-one interaction provides data and information that cannot be measured in any paper-and-pencil test.” (Eby 2011, p.210) Recording will be through anecdotal records as well as video recording. The amount of learning activity that will take place of the week will be more than the teacher will be able to solely capture in writing notes. Have both video and notes will provide a better snapshot of student learning.

Unit Evaluation Reviewing how well the students scored on the rubric in addition to notes and the video will provide a basis for evaluating the unit. A major component of the evaluation will be to note the things that students learned beyond expectations. Inspiring students to learn is the core of teaching and for a student to go beyond expectations or interpret a concept in a unique way is noteworthy and adds values to teaching and learning. In addition to the whole group activities, student will have had independent time to work in the art center, the sand a water table, the book center, and the block center. The teacher will reflect on what those students chose to share during each closing circle as well as the performance on the lessons in the unit plan when evaluating the unit.

Final Draft

References
California State Board of Education. (2009). History-social science framework for California Public schools. California Department of Education

Eby J., Herrell A. & Jordan M. (2011). Teaching in K-12 schools: A reflective action approach. (5th ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.