Instructor: Chandler McAlister

Lesson Title: Sorting Stars

Curriculum Area: Math/Assistive Technology

Grade Level: Preschool

Date: September 30, 2015
Estimated Time: 15 mins

Standards Connection:
M.P.3.1 Match, sort, place in a series, and regroup objects according to attributes
(color, shape, size, etc.)
IEP Goals:
MG: By May 2016 MG will be able to name 26 of 26 uppercase letters and identify
the sounds of 20 of 26 letters of the alphabet for 3 consecutive days.
D: By May 2016 D will be able to color a single object such as a shape of picture of
an apple approximately 4X4 on a sheet of paper with the inside of the object
being 90% covered with scribbles or marks with no more than two verbal prompts to
keep coloring, producing 5 work samples meeting the criteria within a 2 week
period. (LL. P.5.2.4)
E1: By May of 2016 E1 will write her first name independently to label 3 of 4 work or
art activities. (LL. P.5.2.1)
A: By May of 2016 A will make choices within the preschool classroom using
assistive devices for 6 out of 7 attempts.
J: By May 2016 J will write her name independently on classroom work and art for 3
consecutive days.
N: By May 2016 N will trace 4 out of 4 letters in his name with 85% accuracy.
(LL.P.5.2.2)
Q: By May 2016 Q will trace 5 out of 5 letters in his name with 90% of the tracing on
the lines to label 4 out of 5 work or art items during the preschool day. (LL.P.5.2.2)
B: By May 2016 B will spontaneously make 5 marks on the paper using art materials
while holding the art material for 3 activities during the preschool day. (LL.P.2.4)
R: By May 2016 R will independently write her name with 85% accuracy shown on 5
work samples collected. (LL.P.5.2.1)
Learning Objective:
The students will be able to:
1. Sort stars according to size.

Kid Friendly Objective:

I know the difference between big and little.
Evaluation of Learning Objective:
Students will accurately sort stars according to size with 80% accuracy. View
Differentiation below to see the different levels of sorting.
Engagement:
Good morning! What have we been talking about this week? Thats right. We have
been talking about space. What are some things that are found in space? Thats
right. The sun is found in space. Can we see the sun during the day or at night?
Thats right, Q. We see the sun during the day. What do we see at night in space?
Thats right we see the moon at night. We also see stars at night. Here is a picture
of stars in the sky. B, what is this picture of? Have head switch prepared to say
star. B will respond by activating the head switch.
Design for Learning:
I.

Teaching and Opportunity for Practice:

Sometimes stars are big and sometimes stars are little. Show students a
big star and a little star. Which star is big? Have a child that will be
differentiating between big and little point to the big star. Which star is
little? Have a child that will be differentiating between big and little point
to the little star. Good job! Sometimes we have medium sized stars.
Medium isnt big or little. Its somewhere in between. Hold up three stars.
Which star is medium? Have a child differentiating between little, medium,
big point to the medium star. Good job! Lets try putting the stars in order
from little to big. Model putting 3-4 stars in size order to the students who
will be ordering rather than sorting.

II.

Assessment:
Okay, now I am going to give you some stars and some glue. I want you to
put the stars in order. Remember how we just put them in order from little
to big? Put them in order and then glue them in a line. Next, some of your
stars are big, medium, and little. I want you to glue them into the right
place on this paper. Where do the big ones go? Where do the little ones
go? Where do the medium ones go? Next, you have big stars and you
have little stars. Where are we going to put the big stars? Where are we
going to put the little stars? Okay, I want you to glue these stars onto the
sky. With B and A help them hold the slick stick and make marks.

III.

Closure:

The students can color their stars. Please, color your stars. Help students
write their names. Some can write their name alone. Some will trace, and
some will require hand over hand. When they are done they will place
their work in their cubby and wait for the rest of the group to be done.
Differentiation Strategies:
Option 1: Order 4 stars from smallest to largest on a piece of paper. (A1, A2, H, S, L)
Extension.
Option 2: Sort stars into three categories: big, medium, little. (J, P, E2, D, MG)
Adaptation.
Option 3: Sort stars into two categories: big, little. (N, Q, R, E1) Adaptation.
Option 4: Glue stars on paper. (C) Modification.
Option 5: Make marks on one big star. (B, A3) Modification.
Seating: N, C, Q seated near the teacher.
Groups: #1 S, E2, B, R, J. #2 - A1, D, C, Q, N. #3 A2, L, A3, E1, MG, P
Materials and Resources:
6 blank sheets to glue stars from small to large.
5 sheets divided into three sections: big, medium, small.
4 sheets divided into two sections: big, little
2 sheets with one big star already glued into place.
15 big stars
6 stars between big and medium
11 medium stars
6 stars between medium and small
15 small star
Pictures of stars
Glue sticks
Markers
Crayons
Crayola Slick Sticks
Head switch for B and A
Reflection:
This lesson plan was designed to meet the developmental level of every child
in the classroom. The students were expected to learn how to sort things according
to size. The activity was designed to meet the theme of the week, space. I chose for

the students to sort stars by size because stars do come in all different sizes. The
students were divided into three small groups. Each group was at my table for 15
minutes each.
Overall, I feel like this lesson went well. My strategies improved during each
group. My first group showed some challenge for me. After I finished explaining
what to do, they all asked me What do we do? which makes me wonder if I wasnt
clear enough in my instruction. I need to model more in my teaching. B successfully
activated the head switch. She did not want to make marks today so I helped her
color through hand over hand. R showed a lot of need when doing individual work. I
feel like she is capable of doing her work so next time I teach I am going to try a
praise, prompt, leave strategy. This will allow me to help her but also give me more
time to work with each individual student.
My second group was my most difficult to manage. I did realize later that I
forgot to state a behavioral expectation before starting with this group. I think if I
had then this group would have been smoother. Q did not want to do work today
and I spent a lot of time managing behavior. C and N were gone from the classroom
during this time so I didnt get to work with them.
By the final group I figured out that I needed more manipulatives for the
students to work with during the teaching/practice section. I used different sized
glow in the dark stars that the students could hold and point to. This final group
seemed to understand the lesson better than the first two and I believe it was
because they had manipulatives. This group was able to do their personal work
more independently than my first two because I taught the lesson better.
After this lesson I would say I have strength in planning activities for each
developmental level. Next time I teach I would like to focus on managing all
students at one time when they are all working on different things. To do this I will
be more purposeful about where the students are sitting so that they ones doing the
same activity are close together. I will sit the students needing a lot of help right
next to me rather than across the table. I am hoping the purposeful location will
help me serve each child in a better way.
Assistive Technology Reflection:
In this lesson I used AT with B. She used a head switch to answer questions.
The switch works by someone besides that student recording what you want the
answer to be. Students are able to participate with other students when AT is used
in the classroom. In this lesson I pre-recorded the word star on the device. When
the time came, I showed B a star and asked her B, what is this? She then tilted
her head to activate the switch to say star. It took a few moments for her to
perform the task. I asked her the questions a couple of times and she answered. I
was only able to use the switch with her one time during the lesson. I wish I could
record more during the lesson so that she could participate more. If I were to use

this again I would use the switch a little more during the assessment time. When
the other students are working I can ask her a few more questions before she
colors. If the students were older I could have a student record on the switch as long
as it didnt become distracting. Overtime, I will improve my management skills to be
more inclusive using these devices.