6/12/2013

Early Childhood Education

Learning Experience Plan
Name: Rachel Schuler
Date: 3/24/15
Grade Level: Preschool
Standard(s)/Guideline(s):

Lesson Title: Scarves Investigation

Circle one:
ECE

Physical Well-Being and Motor Development: Demonstrate coordination in using objects during active play
(e.g., throwing, catching, kicking balls, riding tricycle).
Approaches Towards Learning: Use prior knowledge and information to assess, inform, and plan for future
actions and learning.
Pre-assessment of current knowledge: We will reflect on student learning from our previous falling objects lesson
(when we used balls) and determine if we think the students previously grasped the idea that gravity causes objects to
always fall down.
Instructional
Objectives (1-2)
One/Two Assessed
Instructional
Objective(s): The
student will be able to...
1. Throw a scarf
above their eye
level and watch
as it falls to the
ground.
2. Answer
comparative
questions about
the falling balls
vs the falling
scarves

Assessment of Student Learning

Identify Evidence: (What will you collect
or record as data to demonstrate students
have met your objective(s) and skill?)
Teachers will make sure the students meet
the objectives by asking each individual
student comprehension questions after
they have watched their scarves fall. They
will also watch to make sure every student
participates.

Program Monitoring: (How will you

aggregate or compile your evidence into a
class or group view?)
We will use a check sheet with the
students names listed and also the
objectives we are assessing.
One Assessed
Developmental Skill:

Language- ability
to answer
questions
Gross Motorthrowing of
scarves

Learning Experience
Academic Language: gravity, height,
weight
Procedural steps:
Each student will receive a scarf.
We will tell the students to spread
out and make sure that they are at
least an arms length away from the
person next to them on either side.
We will tell them to throw the scarf
as high as they can and watch it as
it falls to the ground.
We will ask the students what fell
faster, the balls from the last activity
or the scarves?
We will introduce the vocabulary
term air resistance.
We will then ask if the scarves ever
stayed up in the air, and ask the
children if they remember the reason
that the scarves always fall to the
ground (gravity).
While the children are investigating
with the scarves, we will have the
following gravity song playing in the
background so they have something
to dance to and also to reinforce our
previous point that what goes up,
comes down.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ET47OtuZZkQ)

Modifications: We will find a few

Spanish/Turkish translations of key words in
the instructions so all of the students
understand and are able to follow our
directions and participate in the activity. We
will also model with hand gestures as long
as giving verbal instruction. We will make
sure that children with special needs have
an adult with them at all times when throwing

6/12/2013

Early Childhood Education

Learning Experience Plan
the scarves to watch them closely and help
keep them safe and on task.
Safety Considerations:
Make sure students are
far enough away from
each other and other
objects so that they do
not collide when throwing
their scarves.

Authentic Materials: (Describe authentic

real life, hands-on materials:
Scarves, Projector Screen to play Youtube
video
Adult Roles:
Adults will walk around the room and make
sure the children are noticing that the
scarves always come down after being
thrown up in the air and also how much
slower the scarves fall (due to air resistance)
then the balls the bounced in their previous
activity by asking them various
comprehension questions and briefly
introducing the key vocabulary words.
Adults will make sure that the children are
using the scarves appropriately and are
watching their scarf and making
observations after they throw it.

Resources & References:

Ohio Early Learning and Development Standards (http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Early-Learning/Early-LearningContent-Standards)

Youtube

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Early Childhood Education

Learning Experience Plan

Reflection: (What have you learned about your students? How will this inform future instruction?)
The day that I taught this lesson, there were only 2 students in class that day due to testing, and
both of their first languages were Spanish. They are also siblings; the girl is three years old, and the
boy is five years old and going to be in kindergarten next year. The lesson that I taught that day was
an investigation on falling objects; it is the second lesson we have done with these objects, except
this time we introduced objects that fall slower, such as scarves and tissues. I also briefly mentioned
air resistance. The students and I completed the investigation in the car section, because that is
where there is the most open space to move around and where there is carpet to safely drop the
objects. We began by laying out various objects such as cotton balls, ping-pong balls, small
beanbags, scarves, etc. At first, we had the two students drop two of the same objects from eye level.
Then we had them drop similar objects of different sizes. Then we had one drop a heavy object and
one drop a tissue or scarf. During, I asked various comprehension questions such as Which one do
you think will hit the ground first? Do the objects always fall down, or sometimes up? Which object fell
faster? Why do you think the scarf fell slower? Was your guess correct?
I learned that it was necessary to use a lot of extra modeling and hand gestures to get my
points across, because sometimes I could not express my thoughts to these ELL students verbally.
For example, the students were supposed to drop their objects from eye level. I reminded them of this
a few times, but I finally had to hold an object to my eye level as an example before they began to
follow this instruction. I also learned that it took them more attempts than expected to understand that
the scarves/tissues would always fall slower than the balls. After many drops, the students began to
correctly predict which objects would land first and which objects would land at the same time. They
also were able to verbally communicate to me that the objects would always fall down, and not up. It

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Early Childhood Education

Learning Experience Plan

took their own hands-on investigations and seeing the evidence through their own eyes for the
information to resonate with them. I also learned that it was necessary to constantly remind them to
try to look at both their own falling object and their partners and to drop their objects simultaneously.
This activity needed ample supervision and facilitation from the teacher, so this will inform future
lessons I teach in this classroom because I will remember to keep the groups small in size so each
student gets the individual attention that they need.
Overall I thought that the lesson was successful. After many drops, the students began to
correctly predict which objects would land first and which objects would land at the same time. They
also were able to verbally communicate to me that the objects would always fall down, and not up. I
also was able to work on English vocabulary words a little bit. When they were throwing the scarves, I
would ask the students which color scarf they were holding. The classroom teacher had previously
mentioned to me that the boy had been struggling with his English translations, his shapes, and his
colors, so I tried to incorporate all of these skills into my lesson. I feel that due to the small size of the
group I was working with, I was able to ask meaningful investigative and comparative questions and
make sure that both students were understanding the material. I was able to focus closely on their
individual needs. The siblings were smiling and laughing throughout the whole activity, so I believe
that they enjoyed the learning experience and remained engaged. They wanted to continue to drop
the objects and do more trials of the experiment even after I was satisfied with the lesson. I was
disappointed that I did not have the chance to complete this lesson with the other class members, but
I was happy that I had the chance to teach it to the ELL students, because I feel that it was good
practice for me. Next time I see them I will make sure to ask them similar questions that I did during
the lesson to check that the material resonated with them. I hope that they enjoyed the activity
enough that they will possibly show it to their fellow classmates and share their newfound knowledge
next time they are in the car area or have free time during play.