Behavorist Lesson Plan

Instructor: Priscilla Vasquez

Date: January 16, 2010

Unit: Monster Fun: Learning the Five Senses

Objectives: Given a set of picture handouts, a student will be able to indicate when specific senses are being represented in the story, Brave Little Monster.
By the end of the lesson the student will be able to identify and explain the working knowledge of the five senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, sound). The student will also gain a working knowledge of words and their definition. The same five words that were mentioned earlier that come directly from the story “Brave Little Monster” by Ken Baker and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes. The student will correctly identify 3 out of 5 of the senses correctly then 3 out of the 5 words correctly.

At the end of the lesson the student will be able to identify which senses are being used in the story. The student will be able to answer several different questions regarding the story as well as the definitions to the five key words listed above.


1. Knowledge: How well the student can relate to the characters and their experiences. Can the student can identify the shift in the characters wants and identify the cause for the change.
2. Comprehension: How well the student can construct a set of circumstances given the theme of the story and predict another type of ending before the actual reading of the story.
3. Application: How the student interprets the motivational components of the characters actions to solve their problems.
4. Analysis: Assisting the student in understanding the process of problem solving by looking at each part of the problem and all of the alternatives.
5. Synthesis: The student will be able to demonstrate the reasons why it was better for Alexander to remain real and change Willie instead.
6. Evaluation: The student will be able to judge the quality and quantity of ideals and values held by the characters of the story based on standards of internal and external criteria.


Standards:

Language Arts: The student uses the reading processes effectively:

LA.A.1.1.1, Predicts what a passage is about based on its title and illustrations.

LA.A.1.1.2, Identifies words and constructs meaning from text, illustrations, graphics and charts using the strategies of phonics, word structure and context clues.

LA.A.1.1.4, Increases comprehension by rereading, retelling and discussion.

Materials:
• Brave Little Monster by Ken Baker and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes (published by HarperCollins; ISBN 0060286989)
• a kaleidoscope or interesting photograph
• whistle or musical instrument
• piece of sandpaper
• soft or furry piece of material
• perfume or sweet smelling flower
• a piece of candy or sugar cube for each child
• Monster Fun with Senses - Picture Handouts

Anticipatory Set:
(Prior to the lesson, make enough copies of the provided picture handouts for each student; cut out the individual pictures.)

Introduction to the Five Senses:
Explain that almost every person has five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Teach the students about each of the individual senses as follows:
• Sight - Explain what the sense of sight is in your own words. Let the students look at the photograph or kaleidoscope. Explain that everything they see with their eyes is through their sense of sight. Colors, movement, light, dark, people, animals, and places are all things that they see with their sense of sight.
• Sound - Explain what the sense of sound or hearing is in your own words. Blow the whistle or play the musical instrument. Explain that they heard that noise and that they hear all noises with their ears using their sense of sound or hearing. Shouting, whispering, singing, laughing, lions roaring, frogs croaking, all animal noises, noises in the city, noises in the country, and all noises are heard through these sense of hearing.
• Touch - Explain what the sense of touch is in your own words. Let them feel the soft material and the rough sandpaper. Explain that they use their sense of touch in their skin, fingers, and all parts of their body (inside and out), to know how something feels. Pain, cold, heat, hunger, soft textures, rough textures, etc., are different things they can feel with their sense of touch.
• Smell - Explain what the sense of smell is in your own words. Let them smell the perfume or flower. Explain that everything they smell with their nose is using their sense of smell. Flowers, perfume, skunks, and cookies in the oven are all things that they can smell.
• Taste - Explain what the sense of taste is in your own words. Let them taste and eat the candy or sugar cube. Explain that when they eat, the taste buds on their tongue let them taste all the different flavors found in food. They taste the sweet, sour, salty, and bitterness of different things with their taste buds.

Input:
1. The teacher will assess and reinforce students' understanding of the five senses.
2. Give each student a set of the picture handouts. Tell the class that you’re going to read them a story and that as you read the story you want the children to listen and look for times when the characters use their different senses. When they discover one of the senses being used, they should hold up the picture representing that sense as well as a picture of the item the sense is acting on or related to.
3. As the teacher reads the story, Brave Little Monster, the teacher will observe students to see if they display the correct pictures.
4. Encourage or congratulate them as they do so. The following represent the most obvious scenes in the story where the senses are used and which pictures are provided for in the handout.
5. The teacher will review the words from the word list.
6. The teacher will have the students write the words in a spelling notebook with the definition.
Modeling:
As the story is read, observe students to see if they display the correct pictures; encourage or congratulate them as they do so. The teacher reviews the correct answer by showing them which picture corresponds with to the correct sense following the reading in the story. The following represent the most obvious scenes in the story where the senses are used and which pictures are provided for in the handout:
• Albert the monster thinks he sees a girl in his closet (sight).
• The girl is eating an ice cream cone (taste).
• Albert picks up a smelly sock off the floor (smell).
• Albert hears crayons squeaking (hearing).
• Boys like to grab your feet and play piggy on your toes (touch).
• Albert sees a coloring book under his bed (sight).
• Albert sees the boy and girl dancing (sight).
• Albert sees the tree waving in the wind (sight).
• Albert feels his mom’s kiss (touch).
Guided Practice:

The teacher will have/conduct:
1. A cooperative storytelling experience full of imagery
2. Discussion that includes a question and answer section
3. New words have been introduced for cognition
4. Definitions of the words to enhance understanding of the story
5. Word journal activity to enhance comprehension
6. Student will retain spelling notebook with holds new word definitions
Check for Understanding:
The teacher will use questioning in an activity to establish how much comprehension has taken place as well and correct answers to comprehension questions will judge the level of learned knowledge. The teacher will ask at least two questions for each section. The areas to be covered will include:
• Memory skills: Can the student recall events and ideas from the story? “What smelly item does Albert pick up off the floor? Can the student define the word of the sense that Albert used in this passage of the story?”
• Translation: Can the student express key concepts of the story from alternate perspectives? “What does Albert see under his bed? “What sense is being used here? If Albert did not have sight would he still be able to see his coloring book? (comprehension)”
• Interpretation: Can the student identify values of the characters and facts of the story using definitions and generalizations? “Albert feels his mother’s kiss what sense is being used by his mother?” Ask the students what emotion do you thing Albert feels when he gets kissed by his mother in this passage?”
• Extrapolation: Can the student predict alternate outcomes for the characters and explain the change of events in the story? “Have you ever been afraid of something that later turned out to be not so scary? Why was Albert scared of what was in his closet?”
• Application: Can the student identify the available solutions that the characters chose from and can they apply the situation to a similar event? “How do you thing that Albert feels about the girl inside his closet?”What did he do about it?”
• Analysis: Can the student appreciate the importance of the relationship between the characters well enough to understand the problem they encountered? “Why do you think that Albert’s mom kiss made him feel better?




Checking through structured activities:
1. The teacher will watch the student progress throughout the activity to make sure that the student is progressing through activity; matching the correct picture to the corresponding sense. The student is defining the words correctly and is writing the definitions in their notebook.
2. The teacher will answer any concerns or questions pertaining to the assignment at this time. The meaning of the story will also be clarified so that its meaning is clear to the student.
3. If the students are using the fun picture cards correctly then the teacher can access that comprehension is taking place.
4. The student will be asked to tell the teacher about his/her favorite parts of the story and hold up their picture cards to point out these sections.
Independent Practice:
The student will be asked to review how the different senses were used throughout the story. Also discuss some of the other senses not represented in the picture handouts, such as Albert feeling goose bumps on his arms or hearing his mom telling him to go to sleep. Make any needed additional explanations about the senses to reinforce students’ understanding. The student will write a sentence that will tell the teacher about their favorite sense and why it is their favorite. The student may be allowed to work in pairs on this activity. Being creative is encouraged, so the student may draw and color an illustration pertaining to this sense. This activity will be graded.

Closure:
1. Teacher will be able to show, throughout several activities, the student has a working understanding of five senses, there definition, and there meaning in the environment.
2. This lesson plan will teach the student language arts concepts in a fun yet practical way that will also assist the student in understanding the world around them.