Teaching Package on the Topic for Second Grade Students - Essay Example

TEACHING PACKAGE ON THE TOPIC: “THE BIRTH OF LIFE” FOR GRADE TWO Teaching Package on the topic: “The Birth of Life” for second grade s Introduction: The purpose of this report is to lay out a teaching package that can be used with students of Grade Two and taught in a consolidated two class schedule. The topic that has been selected for this exercise is “The Birth of Life” which will impart the knowledge about the process of human reproduction to young students in a simple, easy to understand format. Perhaps one of the most commonly asked, universal questions among children is “How do babies come into the world?” When this question is inadequately or improperly answered, the child’s initial curiosity about the process is heightened and can lead to an unhealthy kind of interest in sex, which results in morally reprehensible behavior. However, imparting knowledge of sex and reproduction early on helps the children to understand that this is all a normal part of life and helps them to develop a more healthy attitude about it. Since babies are a part of every family, especially in the case of extended families, and since the children have been babies themselves, it is only natural that such questions will arise. However, it is also true that in many instances, teachers, especially female teachers, are reluctant or hesitant to teach reproduction and often skim over this topic, imparting a very sketchy understanding. Therefore, the “Birth of Life” was selected as the topic for this assignment, in order to take up the challenge of presenting this information to the children in a relevant and easily understandable manner. Challenges posed in this assignment: Teaching about reproduction presents a paradox – it is easy in the sense that offspring can be observed openly, yet the mystery surrounding the reproduction process as a result of the unhealthy stigma attached to sex makes it difficult to teach. Moreover, teaching about reproduction also involves imparting knowledge about cells, which in itself is abstract and difficult to communicate to children. Many teachers have found that students have problems with abstract concepts such as cells (www.sedl.org, n.d.) and its constituent parts. Therefore, we had to devise a way in which to make the concept of cells come alive for the children. The second challenge lay in the fact that we were communicating with young children in the second grade and many of the terms used, such as sperm, fallopian tube, embryo, labium minus, vagina and other such words had to be explained in a way that the young children would understand, so we had to think about how we could graphically represent the reproduction process for the children to understand these terms and in what context they were applied. Young children are better able to grasp concepts if they are presented in a visual form. While helping children understand the abstract concept of the cell for instance, teachers have aided children in making models where each part of the cell is represented by a different color of Paper attached to the background, which is the main cell.(www.sedl.org). This helps children to visually grasp the concept of a cell and what it’s likely to look like, thus it is a useful tool in teaching biology. The importance of conceptual mapping as a teaching tool was also shown by teachers Judy Ridgway and Linda Saville Rath (2001) who found that traditional methods of teaching biology were ineffective in imparting information to the students and they felt that opportunities should be provided to the students to “show their understanding of scientific concepts as the concepts relate to other aspects of their lives.”(34). This was one of the factors we took into consideration while designing our lesson plan and we realized the need to introduce this lesson in such a way that the children could relate it to the circumstances in their lives. Therefore, we planned our class in such that we could introduce the concept of reproduction as a part of their extended family set up. We realized the need to design some kind of activity that could go side by side with our teaching in order to consolidate the concepts that the children were learning, so our teaching package also had to incorporate some fun activity that the children could do, which would have a two fold purpose (a) enhance their understanding of the concepts of reproduction and family (b) foster other skills such as creative, dextrous and artistic skills. We also considered the importance of introducing audio visual aids in teaching our lesson. The use of technology as a teaching tool has been shown to be invaluable and several research studies have been done on this subject. For example, one study specifically dealt with the designing of tutorials as an aid to helping the students understand concepts in science (Kliensmith and Johnston, 1991). Several minority students were assessed on their understanding of concepts in biology through the use of computer aided tools and the results were found to be consistent across a wide database of students across all age groups. Therefore, we were also keen to use computer aided techniques as much as possible, in order to derive the maximum effectiveness from our teaching session. Teaching structure: Our teaching structure is based upon the “Birth of Life” mindmap set out in Appendix 5. It is an interactive approach, wherein we will combine the basic lesson on reproduction with its attendant concepts such as its relation to the family tree and family planning, which will help to make the “birth of life” lesson more meaningful to the children. We plan to integrate a visit to the Hong Kong Family Planning Association, in order to gather together up to date information on the various stages of reproduction, pregnancy, the foetus and the process of birth, which will be set out in tables which the children can fill out once the lesson has been taught. This will help to evaluate the progress the child has made in terms of understanding the concepts that have been spelt out in the lesson. Our lesson plan makes use of audio visual materials. We have included four different Appendices. The best way to make a child understand something is to actually demonstrate it or to show pictures. It is necessary for the children to understand the various reproductive parts of the human body that are associated with birth and in order to achieve this end, a visual representation of the female body is set out in Appendix 1 of this lesson Plan, with the attendant parts of the reproductive system magnified. We will use this diagram to explain to the children how the sperm enters the mother’s body through the vagina and reaches the uterus where the ovum is present. This Appendix also contains questions for the children to work out. Additionally, we have included Appendix 2, in which the child has to visualize herself/himself inside her/his mother’s body and imagine how she/he will grow – centimeter by centimeter. Appendix 3 is a visually attractive pictorial representation of a growth train and the child needs to identify his or her position in the train, which will help to identify his/her understanding of the various stages of life and his/her position at that particular stage. A family tree, as set out in Appendix 4, is another creative activity, wherein the children will have to identify the various members of their family and their position on the family tree. This will help them to understand the idea of generations and offspring, which is so essential in understanding the Birth of life. Once they understand their position in the family tree, it is much easier to make then realize that they have been born as a result of the union between their mom and Dad. Moreover, these activities are such that the children can be evaluated not only on their understanding of the basic concepts of the lesson but how well they are able to demonstrate that understanding in the group discussions and manual dexterity involved in performing the activities involved in completion of the worksheets. Development of the story line: The reproductive process cannot be explained in all its detail, since these children are only at Grade Two level. Therefore, we propose to provide a simple explanation that tells them their Daddy and Mommy came together to give birth. The Daddy put the sperm into the Mommy and it travels up the tube until it reaches the ovary, where it meets up with an egg and gets fertilized. By showing pictures, we will show how the egg slowly grows and develops into the baby and how it is situated within the mother’s womb until it is ready to be born into the world. This will give the children an understanding of how life originates and then how the living being grows. Lesson Plan: Our lesson plan will not be a purely didactic one as is generally followed in teaching biology, since this has been shown to be ineffective in imparting biology concepts to children (Ridgway and Saville Rath, 2001). Our aim is to impart a basic understanding of the reproductive process, as related to other concepts in their lives. The unit that is being covered during this combined 80 minute Form 2 class is Cells and Human reproduction, with specific reference to the topic “Birth of Life”. This subject has been taken up because (a) the origin of life is a difficult topic for a young student to understand and our objective is to enhance understanding in this area (b) Since sex education is skimpy at best, we aim to enhance the knowledge of children regarding sex, so that they realize it is a completely natural process (c) this subject is one where lots of interaction is possible with the children, to encourage them to participate fully, in order to enhance their understanding of the subject. Before we commence with the lesson, we propose to ask the children to do some preparatory work, such as talking to their parents and grandparents about the topic of birth and gathering information and pictures from other sources before taking up the lesson, so that they come prepared with some information. The lesson will cover an 80 minute duration during which learning is to be imparted through the mode of group discussion and interaction. The lesson plan is designed according to the ability of the students and includes both classroom and laboratory teaching. Additionally, we will supplement the learning with ETV Programs and a visit to the family Planning association of Hong Kong. This will enhance the social aspects of this lesson by providing the children with a more realistic and comprehensive picture of the topic. The basic objective of this lesson plan is to test the capacity in the children to think independently, express themselves, communicate and share their feedback and knowledge. We propose to test out ten basic skills in particular, including the understanding of IT technology by dividing our lesson plan into five phases (a) the birth of life (b) back to the future (c) pregnancy (d) the Life train and (e) The family tree. In this way, the child goes through the complete cycle of life, from the process of conception, through pregnancy and birth and into other phases of life and their own place in the family tree, until the cycle is repeated all over again. This composite approach of our lesson plan is indicated in the Birth of Life Mindmap, which indicates the wider learning aspects that are incorporated into this lesson plan by way of various appendices that illuminate the five phases of the lesson plan mentioned above. The teaching objectives of this lesson plan go beyond merely teaching the children about the reproductive process. The lesson plan focuses on imparting to the children, a solid understanding of the birth of life process, understanding the concept of growth and increases in height and weight. Additionally, the children will also understand the life cycle itself and appreciate the continuity of life, while realizing that sex is not shameful, but is a perfectly natural process that ensures the continuity of the species. Other lessons the child is meant to learn from this lesson is a better understanding of themselves and their role in the family and general community – to feel a part of a larger community and to learn concepts of sharing, collaborating and working together, realizing the love and bonds between mother and child and parents and children. They will also realize the pregnancy of the mother and understand the concept of equal sex, which will enhance their social and communicative skills. Additionally, this lesson plan will also help the children to understand the scientific method and how it is to be used in solving problems, Our lesson plan includes data collection for the purpose of building the family tree, using measurements for height and weight and thereby imparting scientific, mathematical concepts and the use of a ruler and also the use of different methods in order to achieve an objective, all of which will help the children to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. This lesson plan will also involve decision making skills, for example choosing and selecting the right data and options, measuring correctly and calling the weight correctly, using the bets suggestions and solutions from all those proposed in the class, arranging the life procedure in the correct order through observation of size and shape, etc and the valuable skills involved in communication and collaboration with others. Preparation for the lesson on the part of the children will involve the collection of pictures in order of year in sequential form and talking to people in advance about birth. For the teacher, advance preparation will include planning out the lesson plan carefully, collecting all the necessary materials such as video clips and newspapers, designing the teaching activities and preparing the worksheets accordingly, breeding the silkworm so that they can be prepared at different life stages, contacting and visiting the Hong Kong Family Planning center in advance and arranging for a visit by the children and preparing all the other instruments required for the teaching activities. The teaching content that covers life investigation will help the children to understand the birth of life activity while the growth of life knowledge will be attained through the “Back to the Future” and “Life train” activities. The “Family tree” activity is designed to help a student understand himself/herself and their place in the family and society. The first activity in the lesson plan is the Birth of Life laboratory. For this stage, we introduce the concept of life, show the children the silkworms that we have bred which are all of different sizes and at different stages of growth , observing their growth level and development, then we compare with photographs of pregnant women, following which we ask them questions such as: what is the similarity between the student and the parent? How does the mother feel about the pregnancy? The explanations offered during this class will be supplemented with the information gathered from the Family Planning Association. The subsequent visit to the family Planning Association will build upon the lessons learnt, by helping the children to gain a realistic ideas of what the lesson was about. The second activity helps the children to grasp the concept of growth. We will show them different pictures of embryos at different stages of life. First, we will ask them to guess the height and weight of the embryo at different stages, then the teacher will explain it to them. Next, we will ask them to use a scale and a weighing machine to measure the length and weight of a variety of objects of different sizes and weights and this will form a basis for comparison with the height and weight of the embryo. The children will then be able to demonstrate their understanding by filling out the worksheets. The third stage of the lesson plan will involve the use of power point displays. Through these slides, the teacher will explain the various stages of growth. Then, using the students’ family photos, there will be a question and answer session, including discussion about the various members of the family, the differences in their size, shape and outward appearance and in this way, the discussion will help the children to understand that it’s all right to be different. The power point slides will also be used in order to demonstrate when the birth of life process starts, i.e, right at the beginning when the mother meets the father and they love each other and get married. Family planning options will be discussed briefly, then using slides, the various stages of life will be shown, i.e, pregnancy, baby years, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and then old age. After this, there will be a stage of evaluation which is very important to gauge how much the children have learnt of the lesson. This will be done through a question and answer session and through filling out worksheets. The last segment of the lesson plan will come only after the class is over. This is the teacher evaluation stage, during which time each of the five phases of activity will be assessed, to determine how much time each phase took and how effective it was. This will help to provide valuable feedback using the information and discussion that was observed during the lesson and the reactions of the children to the lesson and the presentations. This will also help to determine which phase of the activity was the most appreciated and which was most time consuming and/or boring. Teaching aids to be used: The importance of computer technology has already been established as a valuable teaching tool to facilitate conceptual thinking (Kleinsmith and Johnston, 1991). Therefore, we have also made use of computer aided design in generating worksheets that enable a child to understand the concept of cell division which is rather abstract. The relevance of color coding of the various parts of a cell was established by the experiences of several teachers who used the technique to show what a cell looks like (www.seld.org,n.d.) We have applied this concept in designing Worksheet No: 1 where we have included visual representations of the female reproductive organs, an individual sperm, cell division and the baby growing in its mother’s womb. We have used color coding in order to enhance the children’s understanding of how the cell splits during division (See Appendix 1, page 2). The red blob represents the central point of each cell and as the cell divides, they become smaller and more in number, helping the child to understand how a single cell has split into several cells. Visual aids are largely used in our lesson plan, but we will also enhance and strengthen these aids through interaction with the students and asking them questions at every stage to test their knowledge and understanding of what has been taught. It is more important to stimulate discussion and active participation from the children rather than to encourage them to adopt a purely passive approach in just listening to the teacher and blindly absorbing what he/she is saying without understanding the relevance and validity of the lesson. We have also designed Appendix 2, which will really help to test the understanding of the children, and will also call into play their understanding of mathematical concepts such as addition and increments. It will help them to visually picture in their minds, the various stages of growth and how the baby is developing in the mother’s womb, with each part slowly becoming manifest. Appendices 3 and 4 are intended to evaluate the child’s understanding of the wider application of the lesson. This will also be an enjoyable activity for the children and they will have fun and enjoy the class, because they can stick pictures of their family members. When children enjoy a class, the chances that they will remember the concepts that have been imparted to them is greater. Conclusion: This lesson plan is likely to be successful because it will help children relate it to their own lives. By providing concrete activities such as sticking pictures, filling up tables and answering questions, we have tried to make the class more interesting and interactive. Since we will be encouraging the children to engage in interactive discussions, we will be able to draw them out and make them talk about incidents in their lives, which we can then relate to the lesson plan. Moreover, we have also included a teacher evaluation sheet, wherein we have set out all the checkpoints that we will be testing during this lesson plan. This is very important from the point of view of the feedback we will get as to how effective our lesson plan and teaching method has been. We will be evaluating various skills, including manual dexterity and communication skills. This is very useful from a teaching point of view, because it will help to identify who the smart children are and which are the children in the class who will require more time and attention from the teacher in order to improve and become as effective as other children in picking up the concepts. Once the weak students have been identified, the teacher can pay more attention to ensuring that they understand concepts and participate in group discussions, in order to make the teaching and learning experience meaningful to both teacher and student. Works Cited: 1. Kleinsmith L and Johnston, J. (1991). “Tackling the fear of science: The impact of a computer based study center on minority student achievement in biology.” In. W. R. Allen, E.G. Epps, & N.Z. Haniff (eds.), College in black and white African American students in predominantly white and historically black public universities.  SUNY Press, Albany, New York. 2. “Question on teaching abstract concepts”: Retrieved 08/15/2005 from URL: http://www.sedl.org/scimast/mentoring/answers/33.html 3. Ridgway, Judy and Saville Rath, Linda. (2001). Concept Maps: Finding our way on the road to a standards based classroom. Retrieved 08/15/2005 from: http://www.enc.org/focus/standards/document.shtm? input=FOC-001933-index Read More