IP&T 301 Applied Lesson Plan - Behaviorism

Behavioral Objective: After exploring the characteristics of various shapes, the students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of these characteristics through identifying the names of certain shapes when given a list of their attributes.

Task Analysis:
1. Assess previous knowledge of shape names and characteristics by laying a game of memory with pictures of shapes on half of the cards and the shape names on the other half The children then have to match each shape picture with its correct name.

2. Increase the children's knowledge of shapes by teaching them a song about shapes:

Shapes
(Sung to Are You Sleeping?)

This is a square. This is a square.
Can you tell? Can you tell?
It has four sides, all the same size.
It’s a square. It’s a square.

This is a circle. This is a circle.
Can you tell? Can you tell?
It goes round and round. No end can be found.
It’s a circle. It’s a circle.

This is a triangle. This is a triangle.
Can you tell? Can you tell?
It only has three sides that join to make three corners.
It’s a triangle. It’s a triangle.

This is a rectangle. This is a rectangle.
Can you tell? Can you tell?
My sides are sometimes short or long. I sing a happy song.
It’s a rectangle. It’s a rectangle.

3. Give the students an opportunity to apply their knowledge of shapes by finding objects around the room that are certain shapes and explaining how they know what shape it is (name specific characteristics).

4. After they have had some practice with identifying shapes and their characteristics, do a listening activity with the children. They will have crayons and a paper with many different shapes on it, each outlined in black. Have the children:
Color the circle red
Color the triangle blue
Color the square orange
Color the rectangle yellow
Name objects that look like these shapes
Critical Thinking Skills: Can you think of an object that has more than one shape?

5. Assess each students understanding by naming characteristics of a shape and having them tell you what shape it is. If they have difficulty visualizing the shapes with just an explanation of the characteristics, you can also show them pictures of the shapes.

I will include the following behaviorist principles:
Positive Reinforcement: I will use positive reinforcement throughout the lesson by praising the children and giving them more free time when they behave well and stay on task.

Negative punishment: In contrast to my strategies for reinforcing their good behavior, I will use negative punishment to encourage them not to repeat bad behavior that they display during the lesson. If the children do not stay on task, cause problems during the lesson, or display other unacceptable behavior, I will remove part of their free time from their schedule to show them the importance of behaving properly.

Shaping: I will use shaping to encourage the students to keep working on learning their shapes and to emphasize the progress they are making throughout the lesson. After each portion of the lesson that is completed successfully, I will tell them how pleased I am with their work. Also, I will give them choices of activities they would like to do (such as art projects involving shapes, coloring shapes, playing various games involving shapes with their classmates, etc.) to give them breaks from the direct instruction.

Observational Learning: In order to help the children understand the activities we will do to help them learn about shapes, I will teach through observational learning. I will make sure I model each of the activities before asking the children to do them so that they will be able to see what I do and learn from what they see. Also, I will model the identification of shapes and explaining characteristics of shapes so that they will be able to model their language after mine.

Positive Practice: Whenever children identify shapes or state shape characteristics incorrectly, I will explain the correct answer to them and have them practice more with the shapes and characteristics they struggled with. I will do this immediately after the error so that the children do not get the wrong information too ingrained in their heads. By using positive practice, they will be able to correct any wrong understandings they may have so that they will be able to successfully reach the lesson objective.